Absolute Death Game

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Upon arriving at the East City Gate of Nine Dragons City, they saw twelve knights lined up in a row, already waiting there, one of whom Xiao Buli did not recognize, but was the guide sent by the Vermilion Bird Group.

"Eh, you don't have a horse? Dizzy, it was my oversight, I forgot you haven't learned riding skills yet." Zhang Yaoyang was somewhat annoyed as he smacked his head, "That Zhao Yunlong, you've learned expert-level riding skills and can carry someone, right? You'll be the one to carry him then. We need to get you a horse later, Wu Tao, remember to push his reputation with the Golden Dragon Legion."

Once Xiao Buli got on Zhao Yunlong's horse, the team set off. Since he was being carried, there was no need to watch the screen, so Xiao Buli started to ask Wu Tao about the game's content.

"What's with the Golden Dragon Legion?"

"The Golden Dragon Legion is the army controlled by the rulers of Nine Dragons City. Reputation with them is a must. When your reputation reaches reverence, you can learn advanced riding skills and buy warhorses with a speed of 280. Otherwise, you can only ride a travel horse with a speed of 150."

"Also, you can buy quite a few blue chainmail and leather armor pieces, various types of weapons, and forging blueprints. But you probably won't need those later on. Aside from that, there are also several powerful battle techniques available like the Tyrant Spear Skills, but you need to reach reverence before you can learn them."

Xiao Buli nodded, understanding the importance of mounts in the game. It seemed that reputation with the Golden Dragon Legion was indeed essential to build up. "Oh, any other reputations I need to work on?"

"If you are a Necromancer, Onmyoji, or Corpse-driving Warlock, then you must also work on the Grand Yin Sect's reputation. If you're a Daoist or an advanced profession of Daoist, then you should build reputation with the Sanqing Sect. I don't know much about the rest."

Xiao Buli chatted for a while and then noticed that under Wu Tao's energy bar, instead of a blue mana bar, there was a white bar, which he found somewhat strange, "You're a Qigong Master, is that white thing internal energy? How is this calculated?"

"Indeed, it's internal energy. It's quite complex. I practice three different sets of Inner Strength, each with different additional effects. Depending on the situation, I can switch between them, and it seems I'll be able to learn even more Inner Strength techniques later on."

Xiao Buli nodded, thinking whether he could also practice Inner Strength in real life. It was something he felt would be worth testing when the opportunity arose.

Naturally, riding was much faster than running. In less than an hour, the group reached the foot of the desolate mountain. When they hadn't even reached the top, they already saw bodies scattered everywhere.

Xiao Buli was taken aback, "Has someone been here already?"

"It was the White Tiger Group's people. They came ahead to clear the field for us." The man named Zhao Wei dismounted while speaking, and everyone else followed suit. The higher they went up the mountain, the more bodies there were. When they reached halfway up the mountain, they saw the White Tiger Group's members, about thirty strong.

A dozen melee fighters formed a line, pushing forward in a sweeping move, with a dozen long-range members behind them. A Divine Archer specifically responsible for marking targets—if any bandit got marked, a barrage of long-range attacks would immediately focus on them, nearly all of them resulting in instant kills.

While the White Tiger Group wasn't as elite as the Azure Dragon Group, with each member being a standout, their coordination and performance were still quite decent. Plus, they outnumbered their enemies, which made dealing with these wild monsters rather easy.

Just as they were about to clear them all, suddenly a high-level elite—the Bandit Stronghold Guardian, Qiu Ba—appeared, wielding two huge sabers and charged down. This field boss launched ferocious attacks, causing the formation to become a bit disordered.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Hey, Azure Dragon Group, come over and help!" Someone on the other side noticed their situation and called out.

Xiao Buli saw that no one else was moving and asked, "Aren't we supposed to help?"

"They do their job, we do ours. Everyone get in line, I'm going to distribute potions now." Zhang Yaoyang said nonchalantly. Xiao Buli didn't say anything else, knowing that in such large corporations, rules were strict, and rushing to help would not only lead to no rewards but might also lead to mistakes.

As he thought this, he observed the people around him, noticing that aside from the health bar and the energy bar, everyone's third bars were all different: some had blue mana bars, others white inner strength bars, red rage bars, and black shadow energy bars. Under that Swordsman Liu Xing's inner strength bar, there were even a few red bead-like things hanging.

"What are those for?"

"Those are Hearts of Mysteries. You get them when you learn Ultimate Skills. There are also Hearts of Rage, usually kept for key moments to use for Ultimate Skills."

Xiao Buli thought to himself about the Ultimate Skills, noting that Swordsman Liu Xing had two Hearts of Mysteries, meaning he could use Ultimate Skills twice.

While talking, the elixirs were distributed to Xiao Buli's group. Although he already had potions, he did not hesitate to click trade, and Zhang Yaoyang traded him two Lifeblood Pills and two Heart Cleansing Pills, one to restore health, the other to restore mana.

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After the trade, Zhang Yaoyang specifically cautioned, "Don't use this thing continuously, it has resistance, and it would be a waste if it's used improperly."

Xiao Buli and Wu Tao asked in detail before they understood. It turned out that in this game, players are able to take medicine in succession, but after swallowing the first pill, a 'Medicine Resistance' DEBUFF would appear above the player's head, reducing the effectiveness of similar potions by fifty percent within two minutes.

This state could be stacked, meaning if the first Lifeblood Pill could restore 100 health, the second would only restore 50 health, the third 25, and by the fourth it couldn't restore health at all.

Therefore, unless it's a moment of crisis, it's better not to consume medicine continuously.

Xiao Buli thought to himself that he had gained more knowledge. After distributing the medicine, a cheer suddenly erupted from the side; the high-level elite had been taken down.

"Alright, it's up to you guys now," Wang Yifan called out to them.

Zhang Yaoyang ignored the leader of the White Tiger Group and asked the person from the Vermilion Bird Group who was leading the way, "That would be Zhao Wei, right? Tell us about the situation inside the instance."

"It's a 10-man instance. The first boss is a Hunter Boss, and I don't know what comes after that," he said.

"What?" Zhang Yaoyang was instantly dissatisfied, "What has the Vermilion Bird Group been doing? You didn't even get clear information about the instance."

"I couldn't help it, that Hunter Boss had a lot of dogs that could Reveal stealth, I couldn't get into the instance at all," he answered.

But Xiao Buli's mind stirred at the mention of the Hunter Boss. He remembered the Divine Archer who hunted them in the Mist Wilderness, who had almost taken his life and killed Sun Bin. Could it be the same one? But could outdoor bosses and instance bosses switch between each other just like that?

Zhang Yaoyang said, "It doesn't matter, let's just enter the instance and see." The entrance to the instance was at the gate of a mountain stronghold, a deep blue barrier that seemed as unfathomable as the sea.

Zhang Yaoyang looked at the entrance to the instance and pondered for a while, then said, "Since it's an open-air instance, Yaoyao should stay out. Wang Gang, Zhang Qiang, which one of you is going in?"

Both were Shield Bearers, apparently not needing to go in together.

Zhang Qiang said, "I'll go in," so the lineup was decided.

The group formed a team and filed into the instance, which revealed the scenery of a mountain stronghold's interior. They didn't charge in right away, instead forming a circle to wait for Zhang Yaoyang to arrange tactics.

Zhang Yaoyang said, "Old Bai, we're counting on you this time."

Old Bai, that is, Bai Yunfei, nodded, sat down with crossed legs, and said, "Protect my body, don't disturb me."

After speaking, he began Casting. As a white light gradually condensed on him, a half-transparent shadow walked down from his body. The semi-transparent shadow, which looked exactly like Bai Yunfei, displayed the name 'Soul of Bai Yunfei'. Meanwhile, Bai Yunfei's status in the team turned grey, a color that only appeared when one was offline or dead.

Clicking on Bai Yunfei's body showed 'Corpse'.

Xiao Buli was startled, "Eh, is this—"

"Soul Out Of Body, in this state, he's a ghost, and normal monsters won't be able to see him, it's safe for him to scout inside the instance," Wu Tao explained.

Xiao Buli's shock had not yet subsided. If Bai Yunfei could use this ability in the real world too—suddenly, he remembered the story Wu Tao had told him about Bai Yunfei seeing ghosts, and he realized what was going on...

Thinking of this, he glanced towards Bai Yunfei's position. Bai Yunfei's pale complexion reflected the white light of the screen, looking extremely focused. Maybe it was a psychological factor, but this typically very silent and introverted guy gave off an eerily ghostly vibe at that moment.