Absolute Death Game

(Are green-named NPCs really that worthless, or is it because Mystic Hollow Palace is set by the system to be so powerful that it can gather so many NPCs with high potential as disciples?) Xiao Buli understood in a flash.

From Jingci's reaction earlier on, it seems that this Ji Xiangyun must be quite a troublesome person, right? Best not to take the elixir.

Typing he said, "I am neither injured nor ill, I'd better not take this medicine."

Ji Xiangyun, upon hearing this, was unwilling to give up, "My Myriad Turn Spiritual Pill can cure diseases and heal injuries if you're sick or hurt, detoxify you if poisoned, and even if you're healthy it can strengthen your physique. Who knows, it might even permanently improve your attributes."

Xiao Buli got a bit confused, "Wait a second, what exactly is the name of this medicine? Is it a silver pill, a golden pill, or a spirit pill?"

Ji Xiangyun giggled, "Well, I haven't quite decided yet. I'm waiting to see the effects after you've taken it to decide on a name."

So, she wants to use me as a guinea pig, Xiao Buli thought to himself.

(The risks are too big, and the benefits are unclear. Better to refuse.)

Thank you for your kind offer, Miss, but before he could finish typing, and send the message, Ji Xiangyun suddenly said, "You should think carefully, you know. If you refuse, it might decrease your favorability."

Xiao Buli froze for a moment, why did it feel so incongruous to hear such a thing from an NPC?

He hesitated for a moment and tentatively asked, "What do you mean by favorability?"

"What favorability? I didn't say anything," Ji Xiangyun denied bluntly, "Hey, are you going to eat it or not? I must tell you, there are benefits to eating my elixirs."

System Notification: Triggered the quest 'Ji Xiangyun's Medical Experiment'.

Quest details: Try eating the elixir refined by Ji Xiangyun. Completing this quest can earn Ji Xiangyun's favorability.

Xiao Buli looked at the quest trigger notification and the saved conversation between the two for a long moment, then suddenly laughed. If it weren't for the fact that the other party's words were colored like an NPC's, he would have almost thought she was another player. But then again, this wasn't a game that followed normal logic, was it?

"May I ask who has been testing the medicine before me?"

"Of course, it was Second Senior Brother," Ji Xiangyun replied.

(I see, so it shouldn't be that dangerous; otherwise, Jingci wouldn't still be alive to this date.)

"Then, may I ask if Master Xuanxu Zi is also proficient in alchemy?"

"Of course, I learned my alchemy from him. But his alchemy skills are much more formidable than mine," Ji Xiangyun said.

Xiao Buli breathed a sigh of relief, (That way, if I do get poisoned, Master Xuanxu Zi will be nearby. He surely can't just stand by and do nothing, and who knows, maybe he will take me as his disciple out of guilt for his disciple's mistake? Hmm, it's not very likely, but I cannot completely rule it out.)

"Hey, are you going to eat it or not?" Ji Xiangyun urged again.

After weighing the pros and cons, Xiao Buli decided to accept the quest.

Accepted Quest: Ji Xiangyun's Medical Experiment.

Quest details: Try eating the elixir refined by Ji Xiangyun. Completing this quest can earn Ji Xiangyun's favor.

Ji Xiangyun became immediately overjoyed, "That's more like it. Here, my precious Immortal Pill is right here."

Xiao Buli glanced at the quest item he had received.

Mysterious Blue Pill: A pill made by an unknown method, emitting a strange smell, with unknown effects.

(I do have a protagonist's aura with seventeen luck points, maybe I could really gain some attributes.)

With that thought, he double-clicked on the pill and swallowed it.

As he swallowed the pill, his character suddenly fell to the ground and started trembling.

System Notification: After swallowing the pill and feeling a strange sensation flowing through your body, you feel weakened. Your strength has permanently decreased by one point.

What does this mean? Doesn't seem too good, he glanced at his character's portrait and noticed a new icon indicating weakness DEBUFF, its effect was a 10% reduction in all attributes for 24 hours. He then opened the attribute panel for a look and jumped, his strength value had indeed decreased by one point, and it seemed to be permanent.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Xiao Buli sighed. It wasn't going to be that easy, but at least he wasn't dead, so he could accept this outcome.

Ji Xiangyun looked terrified, "Hey, are you alright?"

"Still not dead," Xiao Buli responded tersely as he typed, his character appearing to be in agony, which made him worry if this pain would manifest on his own body.

At his answer, Ji Xiangyun smiled, "Don't be like that. I wouldn't let your sacrifice be in vain."

No sooner had she spoken than a system notification appeared on the screen.

System Notification: Thanks to your fearless spirit of self-sacrifice, Ji Xiangyun's favorability towards you has increased by 30 points, and your prestige at Mystic Hollow Palace has increased by 30 points.

It turned out to be a way to earn prestige points after all. Not a total loss, Xiao Buli comforted himself, checking the prestige points which were now at 100/300. At this rate, reaching a friendly reputation level within three days should be achievable.

"Alright, it's getting late, I need to rest. See you tomorrow."

Watching Ji Xiangyun vanish in a blast, Xiao Buli also shut down the computer to log off, and as he lifted his leg, he noticed that he couldn't feel any pain from the injury on his leg anymore.

When Xiao Buli woke up the next morning, his whole body felt as if it had been run over by a car; he was sore all over, and he could barely muster the strength to walk. This must be the side effect of that pill.

As he walked into the dining hall, Li Baocheng and Han Baiqiang were happily discussing something. They quickly stopped their conversation when they saw Xiao Buli enter.

"Hey, Xiao, you don't look so hot. Are you sick?"

"It's nothing, just a bit of a cold."

Han Baiqiang took over the conversation, "Old Xiao, guess what, we found Nine Dragons City last night, and we've settled down there. Next, we plan to save money to change classes. Where are you now, and when can you come over?"

Xiao Buli shook his head listlessly, "I'm afraid I'll need some more time, I'm trapped in a valley with a tiger outside and I can't get out for now."

"That's too bad," Li Baocheng said, though his face betrayed no disappointment. Han Baiqiang patted his shoulder but didn't say anything else.

A while later, Li Jian arrived and seeing Xiao Buli in this state, he advised him to rest a bit. Xiao Buli dared not agree; his time was extremely limited. If he failed, all his efforts would have been in vain.

After a quick breakfast, he went to the computer room and logged into the game. Before him was the sunny Mystic Hollow Valley. The beautiful, picturesque scenery made Xiao Buli a bit curious. Since entering the game, whether it was Dahuang Village, the black wastelands, or Misty Forest, the game had mostly presented a desolate and bleak atmosphere, with a very obvious dark theme.

However, this valley seemed like a completely different world, which made him even more curious about what kind of existence Mystic Hollow Palace really was.

After his moment of reflection, he headed to the Beast Pen, where Jingci was already waiting.

"Ah, Buli, you've come! My little apprentice sister didn't give you a hard time yesterday, did she?"

Xiao Buli replied, "It wasn't too bad, she just gave me a pill to take."

"You don't look so good. Maybe I should do it myself today."

Xiao Buli said, "No worries, I can handle it." He thought to himself that if Jingci really felt bad, it would be good if he could earn some favor points.

Jingci saw this but said nothing else, "Well then, let's start."

Fifteen minutes later, the first feeding was done, but this time he only gained 5 favor points and 5 Prestige Points. It seemed like it was going to get slower, but Xiao Buli was already prepared and wasn't disappointed. He kept working.

He had only fed the beasts twice and just increased his Prestige to 110/300 when suddenly, a blast of flame exploded beside them. When the smoke cleared, Miss Ji Xiangyun made her dramatic appearance once again.

Jingci's instinct was to run, but Ji Xiangyun said, "Don't worry, Second Senior Brother, I'm not here for you."

Then she turned to Xiao Buli, "How about it, are you still interested in continuing?"

Trigger quest: Ji Xiangyun's Second Medical Experiment. Accept / Decline?

Quest details: Take the pill concocted by Ji Xiangyun. Completing this quest will increase Ji Xiangyun's favor toward you.

Xiao Buli thought, do I even have a choice? It seemed like this girl had him pegged, but indeed he didn't have an option; in order to raise his Prestige as quickly as possible he couldn't let any opportunity pass him by.

He clicked accept. This time the pill was a small, black tablet.

Mysterious Black Pill: A pill made by an unknown method, emitting a strange smell, with unknown effects.

Aside from the color, there was no difference, so he went ahead and double-clicked his mouse without another word.

Once again, his character collapsed to the ground, a Weakness DEBUFF stacking on him once more, though fortunately the previous one was about to end.

System Notification: As a strange sensation emerged in you, you feel even weaker, permanently decreasing your stamina by 1 point.

Checking his Attributes, his stamina indeed decreased by 1 point.

System Notification: Due to your fearless spirit of self-sacrifice, Ji Xiangyun's favor towards you increased by 20 points, and your Prestige in Mystic Hollow Palace increased by 20 points.

This was a fast way to boost Prestige, but the hit to his Attributes was painful. Fortunately, in this game, Attributes could be increased through the practice of Professional Skills, otherwise, it would truly be a ridiculously demanding quest.

(The cost of gaining Prestige was steep, but it was still acceptable compared to the rewards.) Xiao Buli thought calmly and asked Jingci, "Can we continue?"

What he didn't notice was the amused look that crept onto Ji Xiangyun's face as he resumed feeding.

By late afternoon, Xiao Buli had earned 100 points of favor by helping Jingci feed Immortal Cranes, thus gaining 100 Prestige Points for Mystic Hollow Palace.

Glancing at his Prestige, which was now 200/300, Xiao Buli was about to continue earnestly with the feeding when Jingci stopped him.

"Brother Buli, you really have helped me a lot and I would feel terrible imposing on you further, especially since you don't seem to mind. The Immortal Cranes have grown big enough, and I think they can now fend for themselves in the valley, so there's no need to trouble you anymore, Brother Xiao.

I can't possibly repay you for the great favor you've done for me, but here's some of the knowledge I've recorded about the wild beasts of the Immortal Realm. If you wouldn't mind, please accept it."

System Notification: You have completed the quest 'Jingci's Free Labor'.

Quest reward: "Wild Beast Knowledge: Immortal Realm Edition".

Xiao Buli sighed with some relief but also with disappointment; he had feared that the continuous Prestige boost couldn't last forever, and it seemed that was now true.

However, it hadn't been for nothing, and the unexpected quest reward was a pleasant surprise.

He inspected the Skill Book he received.

"Wild Beast Knowledge: Immortal Beasts Edition": This is an informative book on wild beast knowledge. Using this item, you will learn how to tame the wild beasts of the Immortal Realm. The prerequisite skill 'Wild Beast Knowledge' is required.

What a great item! Although he didn't know what made Immortal Beasts so special, they must be far superior to ordinary beasts, probably akin to special pets or spirit beasts in World of Warcraft?