Absolute Death Game

"What, you want me to help you train a few apprentices?" Jingci asked with a puzzled face after hearing Xiao Buli's words.

Xiao Buli said, "Yes, is there a problem?"

Xiao Buli was asking knowingly; he was somewhat anxious inside. Originally, he thought the other party would pour out their grievances, but Jingci shook his head, "Nothing. It's a deal, but you must never tell Master about this, otherwise, if he investigates, it's not just for fun."

Xiao Buli roughly understood why Jingci was so nervous and naturally agreed immediately.

However, it definitely wouldn't work in the next two days. Even if they were to learn, it had to wait until after the Black Mountain Bandits were wiped out. But he could still ask about it.

"Hey, I've found you a master who can impart the 'Taoist Heart.' Who's interested?" Xiao Buli turned and asked. His words immediately startled the four who were playing games.

Han Wenhuan spoke up first, "Damn, Guild Leader, you're so awesome, totally impressive! I'm interested, definitely interested!"

Gu Shaobang and the others also echoed one after another. No one could resist the allure of learning spells.

"Then it's settled. Come over after defeating the Black Mountain Bandits."

Everyone agreed, and Xiao Buli turned back to complete the transaction with Jingci. Deep down, he was a little pained to part with the Exotic Core. However, in order to help his brothers improve their strength, he let it go. Besides, such gambles were uncertain. Who knew what the pets would become after consuming it?

Currently, he didn't rely on pets for his livelihood, so it didn't matter to him anymore.

After concluding the negotiation with Jingci, he was ready to learn spells. With only 500 Contribution Points in hand, Xiao Buli intended to learn a group damage spell this time. His only active AOE attack was Mystic Skills, which were very limited in number, so learning a spell seemed like a better choice.

Browsing through the list of third-level spells, Xiao Buli locked onto two skills with similar descriptions.

Freezing Cloud Skill (Three Seconds Casting): Summon a freezing cloud to envelop an area, inflicting 1 point of Ice Element damage per second on units within the area, reducing their speed by 30%, lasting for 30 seconds, consuming 30 True Yuan Points.

Spell Special Effect - Turn Water to Ice: Water Spells in this area are temporarily transformed into Ice Element spells.

Exchange requirement: 240 Contribution Points, Esteemed Prestige with Mystic Hollow Palace, Taoist Heart LV3.

Burning Cloud Spell (Three Seconds Casting): Summon searing clouds to envelop an area, dealing 5 (Spiritual Power x 0.2) points of Fire Attribute damage per second to units within the area, lasting for 30 seconds, consuming 30 True Yuan Points.

Spell Special Effect - Deep Burn: Wood System Spells in this area will temporarily gain additional Flame effects.

Exchange requirement: 250 Contribution Points, Esteemed Prestige with Mystic Hollow Palace, Taoist Heart LV3.

Both were good area-of-effect skills. One didn't deal much damage but had a slowing effect; the other did more damage, but five points per second were still too low. Even if it went up to LV5, it would probably only do about ten or so points of damage per second.

If a target stood in the burning clouds for 30 seconds, they could suffer three to four hundred health points of damage, but who would foolishly stay there and get burned?

In comparison, the slowing effect of the Freezing Cloud Skill seemed more useful.

The Turn Water to Ice special effect of the Freezing Cloud Skill also caught Xiao Buli's eye because, among the third-level spells, there was one he had always considered quite underwhelming, which now seemed potentially useful.

Summon Torrential Rain (Ten Seconds Casting): Summon a dark cloud over a large area, causing it to rain for 180 seconds, consuming 50 True Yuan Points. Within the range of the rain, Fire Spells' power is reduced by 30%.

Exchange requirement: 200 Contribution Points, Esteemed Prestige with Mystic Hollow Palace, Taoist Heart LV3.

This spell was probably useful for some rain-seeking tasks. Other than that, it was only somewhat effective against enemies with Fire Spells, so Xiao Buli had never thought about learning it. But if it could be combined with Freezing Cloud Skill, it didn't seem so underwhelming anymore.

With this thought, Xiao Buli chose to learn these two skills.

After learning the spells, Xiao Buli's Contribution Points dwindled to less than a hundred. After finishing these tasks, he went to find Gao Bainame. Gao Bainame was working on some equipment. As soon as he saw Xiao Buli, he scurried over.

"I say, Master, when are you going to take me away? I've been toiling away here every day; I'm nearly dead from exhaustion."

Xiao Buli said, "What's the rush? It's chaotic out there right now. You're just a merchant without any strength. Wouldn't going out be a death wish? Here you're safe and comfortable. Where else would you find such a good life?"

With a few words, he sent Gao Bainame's complaints right back, "Here, help me process these pieces of equipment, make them look old." Xiao Buli took out a few plain whiteboard equipment pieces, and Gao Bainame, having no choice, took them and said, "It will take about an hour. You can wait a bit."

Xiao Buli looked at the time and wasn't in a hurry.

But Gao Bainame extended his hand toward him again.

"What's this for?" Xiao Buli asked.

"Money! Do you think crafting equipment doesn't need materials? One piece of equipment requires a gold coin," said Spirit.

Xiao Buli thought: "Damn, it's even more expensive than buying light blue equipment."

But he had no other choice, so he reluctantly paid up. Fortunately, he still had some gold coins; a few of them didn't really matter much to him.
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After waiting for more than an hour, the plain equipment was finally processed. They all turned into light blue equipment. The basic properties didn't change, but most gained an extra +1 charm or +1 Spirit attribute, and a prefix of 'Ancient' was added in front of the equipment names.

Ancient Iron Sword, Ancient Studded Leather Armor, Ancient War Helmet, Ancient...

Xiao Buli didn't care what the equipment was; he just disassembled it directly. After all, it was just junk; in the end, he obtained 6 Shadow Essences.

To craft one Shadow Cloak, he needed 1 Shadow Crystal Core, 3 Shadow Silk Pouches, and 3 Shadow Essences.

He now had 2 Shadow Crystal Cores, 9 Shadow Silk Pouches, and 6 Shadow Essences, enough to craft two Shadow Cloaks. However, Xiao Buli did not plan to do so. First-level magical treasures were just too lousy and not very useful. Making one to increase his skill level was enough.

While thinking, he opened the treasure crafting interface. This interface looked somewhat like a Skill Furnace but was slightly different. It resembled a Five Elements Diagram, with five slots around it to place the materials needed for refining treasures. Xiao Buli sequentially put the three materials into it. There was another slot in the center for the Magical Treasure Blueprint.

He placed the blueprint there and after triple-checking that everything was correct, he firmly clicked on the refining fusion option.

The process of fusing the treasure was similar to combining skills: constant rotation, continuous convergence. Xiao Buli stared wide-eyed, fixated on the increasingly bright light. Finally, a streak of golden light flashed, indicating the crafting was successful.

System Notification: First-level Magical Treasure 'Shadow Cloak' crafted successfully. You have obtained 'Shadow Cloak'.

System Notification: You have successfully crafted a first-level Magical Treasure. Your Magical Treasure Crafting skill has been increased to LV2.

He checked out the Shadow Cloak in his inventory to see what it was for.

Shadow Cloak: This marvelous cloak allows you to stay hidden in the shadows; it only works when you remain motionless.

"Finally succeeded," Xiao Buli mused as he looked at the black cloak in his inventory, thinking that although the treasure wasn't great, it was still a Magical Treasure. If it were brought into the real world, it would surely be considered a miraculous item.

Now he could craft second-level Magical Treasures. He returned to the main hall of Mystic Hollow Palace and asked Xuanxu Zi for the blueprints of second-level treasures.

But there were only two.

Flame Ring: This medal is filled with flame energy. The wearer can launch fireballs to attack enemies. The flame energy limit is 100 points, and each fireball consumes 10 points of flame energy, which recovers by 50 points daily.

Use: Launch a fireball to attack enemies.

Crafting Materials: 1 Flame Crystal Core, 1 Refined Gold Ingot, 5 Li Fire Essences.

Undead Binding Scepter: A magical scepter capable of controlling the undead. The wand houses an immortal soul, and the more powerful the soul, the higher the level of Undead and Yin Energy it can control.

Use: Control an Undead.

Crafting Materials: 10 Bone Powder, 1 Soul Crystal, 3 Shadow Essences.

Xiao Buli was pleased when he saw this. The Flame Crystal Core he had before was sold, so he couldn't craft the Flame Ring, but he had all the materials needed for the Undead Binding Scepter, except for the Bone Powder.

The Shadow Essence was just left over, and the Soul Crystal was dropped by the Headless Knight, although it was a cracked Soul Crystal and he wasn't sure how that would affect the outcome.

"Master, where can I get Bone Powder?" he asked.

Xuanxu Zi replied, "Qingfeng Mingyue should have some. You can go and check there."

Hearing this, Xiao Buli was even happier. He immediately bought the blueprint for the Undead Binding Scepter. A first-level treasure's blueprint cost only 10 Contribution Value points, while a second-level one required 50 points, which was five times more.

Xiao Buli was now completely broke. After finding Qingfeng Mingyue and asking for Bone Powder, it turned out they did have it for sale—one portion for 50 silver coins or 5 Contribution Value points. Xiao Buli spent five gold coins to buy ten Bone Powders and once again opened the Magical Treasure Crafting interface. He placed all three materials inside and threw in the blueprint, then clicked fusion.

System Notification: Second-level Magical Treasure 'Undead Binding Scepter' successfully crafted. Your Magical Treasure Crafting skill has risen to LV3.

System Notification: You have obtained 'Inferior Undead Binding Scepter'.

This time, the treasure turned out to be of grey quality. It was probably due to the poor quality of the Soul Crystal, but since this item was also meant for practice, it didn't really matter.

The Undead Binding Scepter could control 'Yin Energy LV3' Undead. Xiao Buli guessed that this 'Yin Energy' skill was like the 'Wildness' skill for beasts—a special ability used to measure level and strength. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote with recommendation tickets, monthly tickets at Qidian [qidian.com]. Your support is my greatest motivation.)