CHAPTER 45: CHAPTER 42: ADDITIONAL TRIAL SLOTS

"What did you do?"

Lin Qi glanced at the system prompt and quickly shifted his gaze to the somewhat manic One Leaf Floating Cloud.

"I succeeded!"

"I really succeeded!"

One Leaf Floating Cloud completely ignored the arm splattered with blood, holding up the rubber long spear in celebration, as if a beggar winning five million.

After a brief moment of ecstasy, One Leaf Floating Cloud heard Lin Qi’s questioning and quickly calmed down.

"Hall Master, I lost my composure a bit, please forgive me." One Leaf Floating Cloud suppressed the joy in his heart, quickly covering the spraying blood of the severed arm with his reasonably intact hand, paused, and said, "I was just trying out a Martial Arts skill I learned before, but the side effects of that skill are enormous, that’s why it turned out like this. Please rest assured, Hall Master, I will clean the room very soon and definitely won’t cause you any trouble."

No one is willing to violate the new rules of the Martial Arts Hall, especially now that it’s about successfully reappearing.

This leap has granted him combat power equal to Luo Wushang and Zhang Qingwei, no longer being a second-tier player. If he is kicked out of Descent of High Martial now, he might as well want to die.

"Alright, let’s forget it this time. Clean this place thoroughly later."

Lin Qi looked at One Leaf Floating Cloud, who was reluctant to explain further, understanding that no player would explain to an NPC how another game’s skills are replicated in Descent of High Martial.

Instead of wasting time asking, it would be more efficient to hide to one side and eavesdrop.

"Old Ye, you’re amazing!" Fang Zhen looked at One Leaf Floating Cloud, covered in blood, and exclaimed full of admiration, "I used to think you were just a casual wealthy player. I didn’t expect you to recreate the Tier Three Gunman’s ultimate move from the Divine Demon Battlefield. Awesome! Really awesome!"

Divine Demon Battlefield, this fantastic virtual game, though far less popular than the martial arts masterpiece Pilgrimage, is still a divine work with millions of players online.

Players can play various professions like swordsmen, knights, gunmen, magicians, etc. Each profession has numerous skills, and the higher the tier, the stronger the skills that can be learned.

The current upper limit in Divine Demon Battlefield is Tier Five, and the Tier Three Gunman’s Spiral Demon Spear Kill, when normally used in Divine Demon Battlefield, is a mountainous spear attack, resembling the terrifying assault of a Super Electromagnetic Cannon.

Fang Zhen really didn’t expect that One Leaf Floating Cloud, who seemed like a wealthy player, could recreate Spiral Demon Spear Kill, even if it was a very simplified version standing at less than one percent of the original’s power.

But being able to recreate it earned him a Fifth Rank Martial Artist evaluation from Mentor Number One, anyone would say it’s incredible.

"Thankfully, if it weren’t for my breakthrough in Fixed Star Explosion Visualization Technique and physical attributes, I probably wouldn’t have achieved this." One Leaf Floating Cloud laughed, "I feel like if my physical attributes and Fixed Star Explosion Visualization Technique could be further enhanced, I should be able to fully showcase Spiral Demon Spear Kill."

"No wonder, I was wondering how you could spin so powerfully, just like the Electric Poison Dragon Drill, the final explosive shot of the spear, I feel like my quasi-apprentice’s limit physical ability couldn’t manage with Shattering Stone Fist. Turns out, you broke through." Twilight of the Gods responded with shining eyes, "So if I want to use that move, I just need to find a way to improve physical attributes and the Fixed Star Explosion Visualization Technique!"

"The gameplay of this game is really deeply hidden." Outer Gunman sighed, "No wonder Hall Master previously offered the Fixed Star Explosion Visualization Technique at a discount. It was originally a preparation for us to create our Martial Arts skills."

Everyone suddenly understood and realized the game company was incredibly calculating.

Listening outside the room, Lin Qi also broke into a cold sweat.

He really didn’t think that much; he just wanted to repair the Martial Arts Hall and have a formal residence.

"However, the 20 entry quota obtained this time can alleviate the shortage of personnel somewhat." Lin Qi looked at the system’s entry quota limit at the bottom of the screen.

From the original 10, it has been raised to 30, undoubtedly a huge improvement.

Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall is too big, roughly the size of a regular stadium, and even recruiting a hundred people from the Abandoned Area, the internal repairs of the Hall are entirely reliant on players.

And the winter of this world is coming soon. Based on his understanding of the High Martial World’s winter, it is exceptionally harsh, generally at temperatures of minus fifty degrees, and the coldest can reach minus eighty degrees.

Such terrifyingly low temperatures, even if a quasi-Martial Artist doesn’t have enough warm clothing and heating equipment, wouldn’t survive the winter.

Although players can infinitely resurrect, considering the gameplay, it’s necessary to prepare a set of warm clothing and residential heating equipment for all players.

However, warm clothing and heating equipment require significant funds.

Currently, although he has Crocodile-toothed Rhinoceros meat and over a hundred kilograms of Blood Essence Rice, these items are not for arbitrary sale, even if sold, the money obtained would probably just barely suffice to repair the Martial Arts Hall.

And if ten players are repairing the Martial Arts Hall, then no one would be earning money afterwards, leaving him a poor fellow in the end.

Now the twenty quotas can be seen as solving his urgent needs.

Chasing Light City, Cangjing Weapon Shop.

A trike carrying a cartload of minerals slowly drove to a seven-story building, the streets bustling with people of various races, completely stunning the Outer Gunman and Unmatchable Spear sitting on the trike at the sight before them.

"That’s freaking awesome! It’s like a complete blend of cyberpunk and wasteland."

"I really didn’t expect this to be the outskirts of the city. Being picked by the Hall Master, what luck!"

The two acted like curious babies, frantically surveying their surroundings, completely overwhelmed by the grand scene designed by Descent of High Martial.

Especially the scenery between the outskirts and the Abandoned Area, it’s like night and day.

One is futuristic cyberpunk, the other is an apocalyptic wasteland, they’re completely two different worlds.

And after arriving on the outskirts, they held greater hopes for the future development of Descent of High Martial the game, after all, if the game company has designed such a city, then surely these players will live here in the future.

Otherwise, the game company wouldn’t have bothered to create such a vast outskirt.

"Later, don’t say anything, just do whatever I tell you to do, got it?" Lin Qi stepped off the vehicle, casting a glance at the two.

Originally, he didn’t plan to bring players to the outskirts, given the large number of people there and the vast amount of information that could be accessed—even if the players only understood Human Race language, they could gain quite a lot of information.

Yet Lin Qi reconsidered, now that the Martial Arts Hall has launched the Contribution Points System, compared to Points, players probably value Contribution Points more, especially since they all want to create their own Martial Arts. Points aren’t as important anymore; they’re more concerned about how much Contribution Points they can get.

Under such circumstances, he could completely open up player awareness of Bits. Even if players realized their task earnings in Bits were minimal, tasks had Contribution Points, which were far more important than money.

Of course, he had two more important reasons for bringing them here.

Firstly, unloading!

A whole truckload of minerals; doing it alone would take a long time. But if players do it, it only costs five Contribution Points, and not even Points are needed.

Secondly, procuring some supplies.

Currently, the quota has increased by twenty people, but the resources in the Martial Arts Hall only cater to ten people, so they need to buy more Alloy Shovels, and a month’s food and water for twenty people, which will likely fill another small truck.

"Rest assured, Hall Master, we won’t say a single word if you instruct us not to."

"That’s right, Hall Master, we won’t utter a single word!"

Outer Gunman and One Shot Supreme nodded repeatedly, eager to curry favor with Lin Qi so they might be brought along next time.

"Alright, go unload the goods." Lin Qi nodded, signaling the two to start unloading minerals.

Seeing this, the two immediately jumped from the rear trunk and began unloading minerals from the vehicle.

"Why isn’t Luo Qi here?"

Lin Qi looked at the employees from Cangjing Weapon Shop who came to receive the goods and asked curiously.

"Are you talking about Luo Qi?" The three-eyed young employee from Cangjing Weapon Shop hesitated for a moment before saying, "You’d better consider her not here, it’s better for both of you."

"What do you mean?" Lin Qi asked, his face somewhat darkened.

Luo Qi, being an employee at Cangjing Weapon Shop and a registered resident of Chasing Light City, should have reasonable safety assurances in Chasing Light City, otherwise she wouldn’t frequently venture into the Abandoned Area to deliver goods alone.

It’s difficult to imagine Luo Qi encountering trouble.

"Don’t be mad," the three-eyed young employee said calmly, "You should know, in our line of work it’s just like this, delivering weapons usually falls on us employees, the same even when venturing into the wild. This time Luo Qi took a job from the Cyan Sparrow Gang, twenty weapons, twenty pieces of armor, but was intercepted halfway by the Cyan Sparrow Gang’s nemesis, the White Feather Gang."

"Though the Cyan Sparrow Gang dispatched quite a few people for escort, the White Feather Gang had more, with several teams. In the end, all the Cyan Sparrow Gang’s people died, and the White Feather Gang demanded a ransom from the Cyan Sparrow Gang to free Luo Qi, but the Cyan Sparrow Gang naturally wasn’t stupid. Luo Qi isn’t one of them, so of course, they wouldn’t pay, and our shop being neutral, we’re just employees, the manager naturally wouldn’t pay the ransom."

"So the matter is at a stalemate, and the White Feather Gang has announced they won’t wait more than three days. If no one pays the ransom, they will kill the hostage, and after that, they’ll claim no responsibility."

"What’s the ransom amount?" Lin Qi frowned, asking in a low voice.

"I’ve already told you, you’d be better off considering her not here; it’s better for both of you," the three-eyed young man looked at the determined Lin Qi wanting to pay the ransom, slightly shaking his head, "Luo Qi, being a registered resident of Chasing Light City, is insured by the shop. Even though she went into the wild, she’d receive a substantial compensation."

"How much?" Lin Qi directly stared at the three-eyed young man, questioning.

The three-eyed young man sighed looking at Lin Qi, who was somewhat angry.

"300,000 Bits!"