Absolute Death Game

After several days of completing sect tasks, just one day before the end of the one-month apprenticeship period, the day to set off for Nine Dragons City finally arrived.

Early in the morning, the three of them had just started playing for a while when Li Jian walked in from outside.

"Everyone, stop what you're doing for a moment, I have something to say."

Once the three had leisurely prepared themselves to listen, Li Jian spoke loudly, "Today is the final day of the apprenticeship period, and tomorrow, senior management from the company will come to review your performance over the past month. This evaluation will determine your positions, team assignments, and salary treatment.

So, please ensure that you move your characters to the safe zone in Nine Dragons City and log out before tonight's session ends. If you encounter any difficulties, let me know in advance, and I will communicate with Manager Qin. I don't want things to get ugly at that point."

After he finished speaking, he waved his hand to indicate the end of the discussion.

As Li Baocheng and Han Baiqiang turned back to their screens, Li Jian approached Xiao Buli.

"Xiao Buli, will you be able to get to Nine Dragons City by tonight? Do you need me to speak to Manager Qin to send someone to pick you up?" As he spoke, he glanced at Xiao Buli's screen. Xiao Buli had been laying low these past few days, so low-key that it struck him as odd. What kind of bind was this guy in to still not have made it out to meet up with them in Nine Dragons City?

Disappointingly for him, it seemed that Xiao Buli had logged off the game, perhaps to listen to his speech, but he didn't pay much mind to it. After all, it was just a newbie; no matter what, how much trouble could they stir? Real life was not like those third-rate web novels filled with fortuitous encounters after a stumble.

At most, Xiao Buli might have stumbled upon some hidden map and wished to explore it alone. The Misty Forest was probably not very challenging.

Xiao Buli heard him but shook his head, "No problem, I'll definitely be able to reach Nine Dragons City by tonight. Is there anything else?"

"Nothing else," Li Jian shook his head and walked away.

Once Li Jian had left, Xiao Buli logged back into the game and, facing the familiar vista, sighed. It was finally time to leave.

He opened his character panel. In the last few days, he had accumulated another 60 Contribution Points, and by upgrading his Lumbering skill to LV10, he also increased his Strength and Stamina by two points each. Xiao Buli felt these five basic attributes were quite easy to enhance and planned to learn more similar professional skills when he had time to further raise these attributes.

With these 60 Contribution Points, he once again visited Xuanxu Zi's great hall. The first spell he wanted to exchange for this time was "Summon Rune Soldier," having a summoned beast to tank the monsters would always add a sense of security. Secondly, he also wanted to exchange for "Spirit Armor Skills"—a very practical buff skill.

However, no matter how he calculated, he didn't have enough points. Unless he gave up on "Summon Rune Soldier," which wasn't very useful in team battles anyway, he could exchange for two slightly cheaper spells. Yet, Xiao Buli needed the Rune Soldier to help him get out of the Misty Forest.

If only he could have stayed a few more days. Xiao Buli thought with some regret, but there was no helping it—tomorrow was the day of the apprenticeship period's settlement, and he certainly didn't want to be discovered by the company's high ranks having found this place, the Mystic Hollow Palace.

"Master, could you make it a bit cheaper?"

Almost jokingly, Xiao Buli typed the question without any real hope.

Xuanxu Zi: "Cheaper is definitely not possible." Xuanxu Zi's response wasn't surprising, but the next sentence piqued his interest.

"However, I can give you a well-rewarded task, and even preallocate some of the task's reward points to you."

What luck! Xiao Buli was delighted and curious at the same time, "May I ask what task the master has for the disciple to undertake?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Xuanxu Zi seemed somewhat embarrassed to say, "To tell you the truth, it's quite shameful. Although my Mystic Hollow Palace may not be prominent in the eyes of the world, it has been established for a few hundred years. Thirty years ago, a dishonorable disciple emerged from our ranks. This person committed many evils and behaved improperly.

I have sent people out several times to purge our sect of this individual. Unfortunately, although he is not particularly skilled in anything substantial, he is extremely adept in the Art of Mysterious Phantoms, capable of changing appearances. After escaping our sect's pursuit numerous times over three decades, we still haven't resolved the situation.

If you can kill this person and retrieve his head, you will be awarded 500 Contribution Points as a task reward. As the master of the Mystic Hollow Palace, I can also advance you 100 Contribution Points as operational funds."

System Prompt: You have triggered a sect task, 'Purge the Betrayer.' Do you accept? Yes/No.

Could this be such good fortune? Xiao Buli thought, but he didn't hastily accept the task even though the 100 Reward Points were very tempting.

"May I know what the punishment would be in the case of failure?"

"As long as you earnestly undertake the task, there will be no punishment even if you fail. Also, the 100 Contribution Points will not be reclaimed."

Xiao Buli reasoned that there was nothing more to consider. He was currently both short of Contribution Points and methods to raise his sect's Prestige. The previous labor-intensive sect tasks had only raised his Prestige by a little over 200, roughly equivalent to the Contribution Points earned, still far from the 1000 Prestige Points needed for respect. Continue your saga on empire

He immediately accepted the task and received 100 Contribution Points, plus 100 Prestige Points for the Mystic Hollow Palace.

He checked the detailed introduction of the task.

Purge the Betrayer (Sect Task): Kill the betrayer 'Xuan Zhenzi' of the Mystic Hollow Palace, return with his head to the master of the Mystic Hollow Palace, and you will receive Contribution Points and Prestige Points from the palace for completing this task.

The task did not provide the exact location of Xuan Zhenzi, but Xiao Buli was unconcerned. In his opinion, it would be better not to encounter him—the name suggested that Xuan Zhenzi was of the same generation as Xuanxu Zi, having defected from the sect thirty years ago, and might be quite formidable seeing as he had survived for so long.

He decided it was best not to act rashly; in the future, if he were to engage, he should recruit more people for the task.

With these 100 Contribution Points, Xiao Buli now really had some leeway. He directly exchanged for the "Touch of Healing," "Spirit Armor Skills," "Thunder Talisman," and "Burst Talisman," leaving him with 25 points. After hesitating for a while, he exchanged for an Invisibility Talisman at Qingfeng Mingyue's.

Invisibility Talisman: A product combining the Taoist Invisibility Technique with Rune Crafting. Upon use, it makes a unit invisible for 30 minutes. Any offensive action or spell casting will cancel this state, and approaching high-alert units may also reveal the invisible unit (made by Qingfeng Mingyue).

In reality, what Xiao Buli really wanted to exchange for was the Teleportation Talisman, which could have directly transported him back to the Mystic Hollow Palace, making it easy to return to learn more spells in the future. Unfortunately, that item required 100 Contribution Points to exchange, so Xiao Buli had to settle for the next best thing.

With this talisman, he felt even more confident about reaching Nine Dragons City.

PS: Another chapter coming tonight.