Chapter 17: A Bountiful Harvest
After the teleportation ended and his vision stabilized, Cao Yu realized he had returned to the graduates' classroom of the Fourth Academy.
Outside, the sky was pitch black; it was clearly late at night.
The classroom was nearly empty. Only a dozen or so graduates had returned from their dungeons—not because the others had perished, but because each had a different dungeon with varying completion times.
According to the Federation's compiled experience, rookie players entering a dungeon for the first time would always return within a day.
If they took longer than a day... well, it was basically game over.
The bald teacher stood at the podium, seemingly having been there for a long time. When he saw Cao Yu return, his gaze met Cao Yu’s with a look of relief. He nodded approvingly and stretched a somewhat grim smile across his face.
“…”
Cao Yu naturally understood this as a congratulation. He smiled back faintly, then glanced to the side. Chen Ran was already seated there, her eyes fixed intently on the empty air in front of her—she was focused on her player panel.
Her lips curled upward persistently, almost harder to suppress than an AK, clearly immersed in the joy of her harvest.
Noticing someone watching her, Chen Ran turned her head and locked eyes with Cao Yu, surprised: “Cao Yu, you’re back so soon?”
“There was a bit of an accident,” Cao Yu replied, concealing the lingering unease in his heart.
If he had been slower escaping, he might have had to explain himself inside the dungeon.
“What kind of accident?” Chen Ran asked.
“I’ll tell you later,” Cao Yu said, pinching the bridge of his nose to alleviate the exhaustion brought on by the severe mental strain. “I’m going to rest for a bit and sort out my thoughts.”
He still had one last bottle of the mental recovery potion he had obtained from the bald teacher.
But Cao Yu didn’t drink it. Exiting the dungeon meant safety; a good sleep would restore his spirit just as well, so there was no need to waste the potion.
The earlier “Mother Buddha Temple Adventure” had left him with many lingering questions.
He was glad the Mother Buddha had appeared, but he disliked the power she displayed... For an E-level dungeon, the presence of the Mother Buddha was seriously overpowered!
Cao Yu recalled the Federation’s publicly released Evolution Game intelligence—never underestimate any dungeon.
Some dungeons had dangers commensurate with their level, considered relatively safe, with no forbidden taboos that would trigger crises exceeding the dungeon’s rating.
Others appeared low-level but concealed extremely terrifying hidden dangers. However, these dangers did not emerge during normal player trials... In other words, as long as players didn’t recklessly provoke trouble, nothing serious would happen.
Without spoilers, these two types of dungeons could not be distinguished.
‘I must have encountered the second type,’ Cao Yu concluded.
After reviewing everything, he found a method to defeat the Mother Buddha.
Besides the “Puppet’s Grudge” representing “suicide amplification,” the ordinary ghosts in the dungeon also represented a type of amplification—controlling blood and growing stronger by absorbing it.
This skill happened to counter the blood sea unleashed by the Mother Buddha.
As the saying goes, the counter is mightier than the sky, a special attack against the Day God Immortal... Even if not that strong, facing the blood sea should not be too disastrous.
Moreover, turning into an ordinary ghost was simple—just have his girlfriend killed by “Puppet’s Grudge,” then be killed by his girlfriend.
At that point, strengthened by two types of amplification, he might stand a chance against the Mother Buddha.
If he was willing to fight desperately, there was a chance to earn an S-level dungeon rating.
Having reached this speculation, Cao Yu dismissed his regrets.
There was no need to obsess over a single dungeon.
Refocusing, he looked at the rewards from this run.
【Dungeon Rewards: 1500 Evolution Points, one E-level item, 3 E-level dungeon invitations, 1 Evolution Game invitation, 3 mental recovery potions, 3 stamina recovery potions, 3 virility potions, 3 hemostatic sprays】
…Some strange items seemed to have slipped in?
---
Cao Yu stared at the virility potions... He didn’t even have a girlfriend; what use did these have?
【Evolution Points transfer permission activated】
【Player Reserve Space activated】
【Player Panel regenerated】
【Nickname: What’s the Difference Between Me and That Scoundrel Cao】
【ID: C09009233333】
【Item: Hair Dryer (E)】
【Level: E】
【Superpower: Seven Kill Soldier Master (ID 11)】
【Evolution Progress: 1%】
【Evolution Points: 1500】
【As an E-level player, you must participate in at least one dungeon every six months. Failure to comply will result in forced teleportation to a high-risk dungeon】
Cao Yu first checked his Player Reserve Space.
Its volume was one cubic meter, and his dungeon rewards had been automatically stored there.
Next, the Evolution Points...
‘1500 Evolution Points—the maximum attainable in an E-level dungeon... How much will my evolution progress increase if I use them all?’
Cao Yu was somewhat eager but didn’t rush to use them.
Evolution was like cultivation—not to be hurried, it required choosing the right method and proceeding step by step.
It was best done in a private and quiet place.
After adjusting his mindset, he examined the item obtained from this dungeon.
【E-level Item: Bloodwind Bone Unyielding】
【As the highest form of zombie, the Bone Unyielding possesses immortality, imperishability, and agelessness. Taoist practitioners fear it yet regard it as a precious treasure. They found its transformation site, collected materials, and used mysterious methods to forge 100 magical artifacts, borrowing part of its power】
【Effect: Equipping this item grants you a fraction of the Bone Unyielding’s power, transforming you into a zombie with impervious defense, strength capable of shattering jade and metal, wind-speed movement, and regenerative self-healing. Maintaining the zombie form consumes mental energy】
‘This item... suits me very well.’
Cao Yu quickly identified the key point, focusing on the description of “wind-speed movement.”
With the “Seven Kill Soldier Master” power, his physical-level offense and defense were already off the charts, so strictly speaking, he didn’t need an offensive item.
What he lacked was a means to rapidly approach enemies.
The Bloodwind Bone Unyielding item perfectly compensated for that deficiency.
The howling wind speed approached 30 meters per second, enough to cover 100 meters in under 4 seconds.
With this speed and his superpower combined, he could confidently get through the newbie phase.
This might not be the best among E-level items, but it was the most suitable for him.
‘The higher the dungeon rating, the more fitting the item you get—this saying is quite accurate.’
Cao Yu was very satisfied.
He immediately reached out and pressed on the player panel—mainly on the “item slot.”
The player panel was touch-operated like a smartphone, and the item slot was for equipping items.
E-level players only had one item slot.
Items weren’t usable simply by picking them up; they needed to be equipped in the slot to establish a stable mental connection with the player.
Thus, equipping or unequipping required some time.
To use an analogy: inserting a USB requires recognition, and removing it requires safely ejecting.
---
Fortunately, equipping or unequipping E-level items took only about ten seconds.
“Are you unequipping your item?” Chen Ran noticed Cao Yu’s strange gesture of pressing the air. “Ready to switch to a new one?”
“Yes,” Cao Yu nodded and asked, “Have you tried your new item yet?”
“Not yet, I just read the description.”
Chen Ran sighed softly:
“You know, my ‘Flame Staff’ is so big and looks heavy! If I keep carrying it, won’t people think I’m some kind of strongwoman? It doesn’t matter in the dungeon, but in reality, I can’t just explain to everyone that it has the ‘lifting with ease’ effect. So...”
She shook her head:
“I’ll just keep it stored in the item slot for now. When I get home, I’ll unequip it, return it to my brother, and then try out my new item.”
Who would have thought that little Chen also had such adorable worries...
Cao Yu reminded her:
“You can put it in the Player Reserve Space.”
“Dummy,” Chen Ran retorted, “E-level players have only one cubic meter of reserve space, and my staff is over two meters long. How could it possibly fit?”
“...Are you misunderstanding the ‘Space Container’?” Cao Yu explained: “‘Space Containers’ store objects based on volume, not length or width compatibility. As long as the staff’s volume is less than one cubic meter, it will definitely fit.”
“Ah? Is that so?” Chen Ran was surprised.
The Fourth Academy hadn’t provided players with this knowledge.
“Little Chen, try to broaden your thinking,” Cao Yu patted her shoulder and said earnestly, “Don’t let narrow understanding limit your grasp of spatial mysteries.”
By this time, Cao Yu’s right hand had pressed on the item slot for more than ten seconds, and the “Hair Dryer” was unequipped.
He took out the “Bloodwind Bone Unyielding”—a necklace formed of a black cord holding a silver-white bone crescent.
He pressed the necklace onto the item slot, and after about ten seconds, successfully equipped it.
The crescent moon necklace disappeared from his hand, only to be summoned again shortly after.
This was the “item storage” feature inherent in the item slot.
Just like Chen Ran’s staff, items could be stored in the slot when not in use and summoned when needed, eliminating worries about loss.
However, a necklace was hardly likely to get lost when worn around the neck. For convenience, Cao Yu simply put it on and tucked the bone crescent under his clothes.
Having done all this, he glanced around.
Three more classmates had returned, all engrossed in their player panels, tallying rewards, paying no attention to him.
Seeing this, Cao Yu put away his player panel and summoned the system panel of [Strongest Player 1.0].
【Strongest Player 1.0】
【Career Achievement: E-level player. As an E-level player, you gain 10 achievement points passively every day】
【Dungeon Achievement: You received an “A+” rating in an E-level dungeon, earning 1500 achievement points】
【Achievement Points: 1510】
‘The achievement points gained from the dungeon match the number of evolution points I received...’
Cao Yu pondered.
His dungeon rewards gave him 1500 evolution points, and he had earned the same number of achievement points... This basically confirmed that the higher the dungeon rating, the more achievement points he could obtain.
This also meant that if he wanted to achieve “achievement point freedom,” he could never slack off in dungeons and must always strive for high ratings.
“Ah, looks like I’ve got some grinding ahead!” Cao Yu sighed.