Why was this guy playing dead every single time Liu Xuan ran into him?
He hadn’t actually died here this time, had he?
Liu Xuan hurried over and checked the man’s stats.
[Bell]
Level: 14
Attack: 200
HP: 104/1800
Armor: 40
Skills: [Charge: Rapidly rush toward a target within 20 meters.]
[Heavy Strike: Deliver a powerful blow that deals physical damage equal to 1.5 times a normal attack.]
[Parry: Attempt to block one enemy melee attack with your weapon, reducing up to 100 physical damage.]
Thankfully, he still had a breath left in him.
But after only a few days apart, this guy had leveled up again.
And not by a little, either. His level was already higher than that of many people.
His stats, though, were truly awful.
Even at level fourteen and above, he was still inferior to those Hamovi Soldiers Liu Xuan had encountered before.
He did have three additional skills, which Liu Xuan hadn’t expected.
Still, they were all extremely common, run-of-the-mill skills.
A standard player-character template.
Liu Xuan stepped forward and helped him up. Bell was covered in mud, groaning weakly, and looked seriously injured.
He was in even worse shape than the first time Liu Xuan had met him.
Sensing someone supporting him, Bell struggled to open his eyes. When he saw Liu Xuan, he visibly relaxed, though excitement also flashed across his face.
“Brother, it’s you!”
Liu Xuan pulled out several potions and fed them to him. “Drink these first. We’ll talk afterward.”
Bell knew perfectly well what condition he was in and didn’t refuse. “Thank you.”
Once his HP had begun to recover, some color returned to his face, and his breathing steadied, Liu Xuan finally asked, “Bell, what are you doing here?”
“I came to save Orenburg.”
“Uh...” Liu Xuan looked at the ruined village not far ahead, wearing the expression of an elderly man trying to figure out a smartphone. “What does saving Orenburg have to do with this village?”
“Isn’t this Yellow Ox Village? A small village outside Orenburg.”
Liu Xuan rubbed his forehead. “Brother, Orenburg is to the north. You have to cross the river and head north. This is west...”
“I went the wrong way? Then I’ll go right now.”
Bell struggled to stand.
Liu Xuan quickly held him down. “We’ve already finished the battle for Orenburg.”
Bell’s eyes widened. “That fast?”
Liu Xuan felt a little guilty. Could it be that Bell was originally supposed to be powerful, but because Liu Xuan had cleared the campaign too quickly, he had remained this weak the whole time?
“Ahem. Anyway, Orenburg has already been taken. If you want, you can settle down there.”
Bell waved a hand. “No. It’s not time for me to live in comfort yet. I need to become stronger, so I can protect more people!”
“What do you plan to do?” Liu Xuan asked.
He wanted to see whether this might trigger a quest.
Even now, he still hadn’t figured out whether Bell had a questline or not.
“I’ve figured it out. I need a mount. As a knight, how can I not have a loyal, dependable mount that knows the way? If I had one, I wouldn’t get lost, and I wouldn’t miss crucial battles.”
Liu Xuan’s eyes lit up. Could the quest be to help him find a mount?
“What kind of mount are you looking for? If there’s anything I can do to help, just say the word.”
“Thanks a lot. But I can’t take this lightly. I need to look into it first and find the right mount. If I really need your help, brother, I’ll get in touch.”
Liu Xuan knew at once that Bell didn’t need him just yet, though at least he’d gotten a promise.
“What about you now? Want me to walk you back?”
Bell shook his head. “No, thanks. I’ll follow the riverbank back to the outpost. I came this way, so I know it’s safe.”
Liu Xuan tried asking a few more times, but Bell was just as stubborn as before and refused to let him come along. In the end, Liu Xuan could only watch him go.
“Oh, and be careful in the village. There are monsters hiding in all that mud. I just got caught by one myself.”
Bell had gone some distance when he suddenly turned back to warn him, then continued on his way.
“I’ll wait and see if he gets in touch about finding a mount.”
Once Bell had disappeared into the distance, Liu Xuan shook his head and turned his attention to the village nearby.
It had once been an ordinary little village. According to Captain Finch, the Destroyers had swept south from the north, and the people in villages like this had either been killed or fled into the wilderness.
Even after the Destroyers retreated and confined themselves to the cities, the places they had occupied began to spawn ordinary monsters for reasons no one understood.
That made it impossible for people to return and settle there.
This village had it worse than most. It sat near the Orchid River, and it had probably been hit by a flood. The whole place had been submerged for years.
When the river finally returned to its normal level, the village emerged from the water, but it was completely buried in silt.
Most of the wooden structures had been swept away. Only a few stone foundations remained, half-buried in the mud, reminders that people had once lived here.
According to reports from others who had been here before, something strange was going on in this place.
As soon as you went in, your head started to swim for no apparent reason.
And the mud made it especially hard to walk, slowing you down as if you had a debuff. No one else wanted to come.
That was why Liu Xuan had come here to grind monsters.
He was the only one on the battlefield suited to wading into dangerous places like this. The information he got from his [Eye of Insight] could also be shared with the others.
Besides, he had a pair of [Waterproof Boots] that kept him from sinking into the mud.
After changing into them, Liu Xuan stepped into the mud-covered village. His head suddenly began to spin.
He felt dazed and started to walk forward, but he quickly came to his senses.
A notification appeared before his eyes:
“Defeated [Demonic Fish Spore (Minion)]: gained 43 experience.”
“Defeated [Poisoned] monster: base health +1.”
“Defeated [Fear] monster: intelligence +0.1.”
[Demonic Fish Spore]?
What kind of monster was that? And why did its name have “Minion” after it?
Was it different from an ordinary monster?
Liu Xuan hadn’t even seen where the monster was. As for the kill notifications, though, he knew exactly what had caused them.
He had a passive skill called [Free Will], which he’d acquired alongside [Fleet-Footed].
[Free Will: When you are affected by a control skill, it is treated as an attack.]
The thing called the 【Demonic Fish Spore】 had clearly used a control skill on him just moments ago, only to be killed instantly by 【Nightmare Avatar】.
Liu Xuan also noticed that the monster had given him very little experience: just 43 points.
He had nearly a 28-fold experience bonus right now, which meant the monster would normally have given him only a little over one point.
Was that because it was classified as a “minion”?
There was no monster corpse in sight. Liu Xuan looked around, then down at the mud beneath his feet.
Could it be underground?
He took two more steps forward. His head swam again, and when he came to, he received another kill notification.
This time, though, he saw it clearly. Not far ahead, an almost completely transparent thing was slowly drifting down from a height of four or five meters, landing right in front of him.
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
