Absolute Death Game

Actually, the key is to determine what kind of role one envisions for themselves. Initially, Xiao Buli thought that if he could learn spells like the Invisibility Technique or Earth Escape Skills, he could then join the Vermilion Bird Group. Therefore, his skill development naturally leaned toward subterfuge and life-saving.

However, among the spells he was currently able to exchange, there were no such skills available. Even the most basic Shadow Escape Skills required a Taoist Heart LV2 to learn, which forced Xiao Buli to reconsider his positioning.

According to the clues he gathered from Li Jian, Wu Tao, and others, the Mana-based Classes were the most scarce in this game, whether it was magic system DPS or support healers; both were extremely rare. In contrast, the tank roles that are usually very popular in other games were not in short supply, and physical DPS were ubiquitous.

Among them, the healing and support classes were the most desperately needed within the Mana-based Classes. After all, most of the time, a magic system DPS can be replaced with physical DPS, but healing and support are irreplaceable.

Thus, Xiao Buli positioned himself as a hybrid class capable of both healing and dealing damage, with even more emphasis on healing abilities. In choosing his skills, he took both aspects into account. Eventually, he selected eight spells to prioritize for learning and listed them in his notebook, although he was not sure how many he would actually be able to learn.

Burst Talisman (Instant Cast Spell): Converges the power of flames with spiritual power onto the talisman, launches it at the target to inflict damage, range 30 meters, deals 5+9 (spiritual power×0.6) = 14 points of flame damage, consumes 3 points of Mana, and uses one piece of Talisman Paper.

Exchange requirements: 20 Contribution Value points, Mystic Hollow Palace Prestige Friendly, Taoist Heart LV1.

Thunder Talisman (Instant Cast Spell): Converges the power of lightning with spiritual power onto the talisman, launches it at the target to inflict damage, range 30 meters, deals 5+7.5 (spiritual power×0.5) = 12.5 points of lightning damage, consumes 3 points of Mana, and uses one piece of Talisman Paper.

Exchange requirements: 20 Contribution Value points, Mystic Hollow Palace Prestige Friendly, Taoist Heart LV1.

Ice Talisman (Instant Cast Spell): Converges the power of ice with spiritual power onto the talisman, launches it at the target to inflict damage, range 30 meters, deals 5+6 (spiritual power×0.4) = 11 points of ice damage, and reduces the target's movement speed by 10% for 3 seconds (this effect can be stacked up to three times), consumes 3 points of Mana, and uses one piece of Talisman Paper.

Exchange requirements: 20 Contribution Value points, Mystic Hollow Palace Prestige Friendly, Taoist Heart LV1.

Resurrection Skills (Instant Cast Spell): Uses spiritual power to heal a target, restoring their health points, range 30 meters, allowing them to heal 10+15 (spiritual power×1) = 25 points of health over 5 seconds. Consumes 5 points of Mana.

Exchange requirements: 25 Contribution Value points, Mystic Hollow Palace Prestige Friendly, Taoist Heart LV1.

Touch of Healing (3-second Casting): Uses spiritual power to heal surface wounds of the flesh, removing or weakening an injurious effect (bleeding, tendon cut, fracture). Must be in close proximity to the target to use, consumes 10 points of Mana.

Exchange requirements: 30 Contribution Value points, Mystic Hollow Palace Prestige Friendly, Taoist Heart LV1.

Summon Rune Soldier (3-second Casting): Summons a Rune Soldier to fight for you, lasts for 30 minutes. Consumes 30 points of Mana, one piece of Talisman Paper, (you can control a number of Rune Soldiers equal to your Taoist Heart level).

Exchange requirements: 40 Contribution Value points, Mystic Hollow Palace Prestige Friendly, Taoist Heart LV1.

Spirit Armor Skills (2.5-second Casting): Uses spiritual power to enhance the target's Armor, increasing their Armor Value by 7.5 (spiritual power×0.5) points for 30 minutes. Range 30 meters, consumes 5 points of Mana.

Exchange requirements: 25 Contribution Value points, Mystic Hollow Palace Prestige Friendly, Taoist Heart LV1.

Ethereal Armor (3-second Casting): Uses spiritual power to conjure intangible armor to protect a target, Ethereal Armor can last for 30 seconds or absorb 100 points of damage, and the target will not receive any external damage before the Ethereal Armor dissolves. Range 30 meters, consumes 10 points of Mana, one piece of Talisman Paper.

Exchange requirements: 30 Contribution Value points, Mystic Hollow Palace Prestige Friendly, Taoist Heart LV1.

There were a total of eight spells that he could currently learn, each of which appeared to be quite useful. However, since his Contribution Value points were limited, Xiao Buli needed to make judicious choices.

Among them, the Burst Talisman, Thunder Talisman, and Ice Talisman seemed somewhat redundant in effects, so he planned to choose just one. After much deliberation, he finally selected the Ice Talisman. After all, his positioning was primarily support-oriented, and a spell with a slowdown effect would better demonstrate this role.

However, even after passing on two spells, it was still a stretch. Exchanging these six spells would require a whopping 175 Contribution Value points, which did not quite match his calculations.

It seems that if it really came down to it, he would have to give up one spell. As he pondered, Xiao Buli first exchanged for the Ice Talisman, Ethereal Armor, and Resurrection Skills.

These three spells were the skills he needed the most at the moment: one for attacking, one for defense, and one for healing. With these three spells, his professional role was essentially taking shape.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The golden light flashed three times consecutively, and Xiao Buli's skill bar was updated with these three spells, which were much easier to acquire than the gradual process of reciting the Tao Te Ching.

Both the Ice Talisman and the Ethereal Armor required Talisman Paper to cast. Fortunately, this paper didn't have to be purchased with Contribution Value. At Qingfeng Mingyue's two silver coins per pack, Xiao Buli spent 20 silver coins to buy 10 packs, with 50 sheets per pack, totaling 500 sheets of Talisman Paper—which he estimated would last him for a while.

He went to the training grounds of Mystic Hollow Palace and placed these three abilities on his most convenient shortcut keys. He lightly pressed 1 towards a training dummy, and with a snap, a piece of Talisman Paper emitting a blue halo flew out, -11, a bright red number appeared above the training dummy's head, and at the same time, the dummy was coated in ice blue.

After releasing five or six Ice Talismans, Xiao Buli stopped. Although the Ice Talisman was labeled as an instant cast, it took about one second per talisman on average. The damage output was actually lower than his physical damage. However, spell damage might seem low, yet it had an incomparable advantage over physical DPS: it ignored armor.

No matter how high the target's Armor Value was, it could deal full damage, which was very useful against those with extremely high defense.

Next, he experimented with the Ethereal Armor spell. The casting motion of this spell was quite pleasing to the eye: he folded his hands together with eyes slightly closed. A ball of white light gradually gathered in his hands, and after three seconds, he abruptly opened his eyes and pointed at his target.

The training dummy was immediately enveloped in a layer of white, semi-transparent, invisible armor. Xiao Buli approached and delivered several slashes, which produced clanging sounds as if striking a highly resilient, tempered glass. It took five or six sword strikes to shatter the Ethereal Armor.

Xiao Buli nodded in satisfaction. The Ethereal Armor's damage absorption ability was decent; it would definitely be useful in critical moments.

He then cast a Resurrection Skill on the training dummy, but the spell was ineffective. After a moment's contemplation, Xiao Buli understood. The Resurrection Skill only worked on living beings, and mechanical units like training dummies obviously could not enjoy its effects. It seemed he would have to test it another time.

After using those seven or eight spells, his Spiritual Power Value had depleted by nearly a quarter. Unfortunately, it couldn't recover on its own. First, it could be slowly restored by meditation-related skills—roughly one point of Spiritual Power Value per minute, fully replenished in half an hour. Second, it could be automatically restored by sleeping each day.

Third, one would need Miracle Elixirs, which were costly. Xiao Buli had seen similar elixirs at Qingfeng Mingyue's; a Heart Cleansing Pill that recovered 30 Spiritual Power Value in ten seconds cost 5 Contribution Value, whereas converting a Lifeblood Pill that recovered 40 health points in twenty seconds cost merely 1 Contribution Value. The difference was substantial.

Xiao Buli thought that his next skill should be a meditation-related one. However, before that, he decided to review his current attributes.

Intelligence: 13. — Higher comprehension, extremely strong analytical ability, average memory.

Strength: 10. — Optimal carrying capacity 50 jin, maximum carrying capacity 100 jin, basic attack power 10, (one point of Strength corresponds to five jin of carrying capacity and one point of attack power).

Speed: 12 — You're quite fast. (Speed determines Movement Speed and attack speed).

Agility: 13 — You have a pair of very dexterous hands. (Agility determines hit rate and the chance to dodge).

Stamina: 12. — Stamina Points 120 (1 point of stamina corresponds to 10 Stamina Points).

Physique: 11. — Health Points 110. (1 point of Physique corresponds to 10 Health Points).

Charm: 12. — You are quite good-looking.

Spirit: 15. — Mana 150, Spell Power 15. (1 point of Spiritual Strength corresponds to 10 Spiritual Power Value points, which corresponds to 1 point of Spell Power).

Luck: 7. — Your luck is a bit unfortunate.

Skills—

Life Skills: Breeding LV10, Grazing LV10, Harvesting LV10.

Knowledge Skills: Wild Beast Knowledge LV2 — Wild Beast Knowledge Immortal Realm (subsidiary skill), Tao Te Ching LV10.

Combat Skills: Taoist Heart (Passive) LV1, One-handed Sword Specialization LV3 (Passive), Taming Skills LV4, Chain Sword Strike LV2, Basic Swordsmanship LV3, Tai Chi Sword Skills (False) LV1, Emergency Dodge LV1.

Spellcasting Skills: Ice Talisman LV1, Resurrection Skills LV1, Ethereal Armor LV1.