Chapter 26: Persistence and Effort!

As a newcomer, Xiao Yang still lacks a great deal, which is hardly surprising. After all, he is essentially an anomalous player; currently, he is the only participant in the first round of the closed beta for the God’s Game in plane 33214.

That player is Xiao Yang.

Furthermore, he is not just the only player participating in this early-access beta; the only transcendental map in the entire 33214 plane is the skeleton dungeon connected to the basement of his home.

Xiao Yang had gathered some extra information from Redbeard, such as the respawn rules for dungeons and the rarity of hidden areas. The higher the status of a world, the more powerful the dungeons and instances tied to it, and the faster the monsters within them respawn. Hidden areas are extremely precious due to their uniqueness; in other words, only one player can explore a specific hidden map at any given time.

Redbeard, not yet fully sober, spoke to Xiao Yang in a disjointed manner. However, he wasn't completely unconscious; he suddenly opened his eyes and pulled Xiao Yang into a hug.

"Little brother Xiao! Remember, whether it’s dungeon instances or hidden areas—especially hidden areas—these things will make people green with envy. If you can, don't tell anyone except those you trust the most!"

Following Redbeard’s gaze, Xiao Yang turned his head. In the corner, several figures in black robes were watching them. They were the Taoists from the Nether Cave. It was clear that even with Redbeard’s protection, these guys had not completely given up.

"Also, didn't I tell you not to add friends randomly? If I had taken an interest in that hidden branch you discovered, you’d be finished!"

Xiao Yang received a notification that his friend request had been rejected. He shrugged and sent another request to Redbeard. This time, Redbeard accepted it decisively, let out a chuckle, and collapsed onto the ground, falling into a deep, snoring sleep.

After Redbeard drifted off, Xiao Yang glanced at the black-robed cultivators lurking nearby. Being targeted didn't feel great, but at least he hadn't fallen for their traps and had managed to secure a powerful backer. He had to keep chugging potions! He had to keep grinding the dungeon hard! If his stats were all over three thousand and he was above level thirty, would these guys still dare to covet his belongings?

With this thought, Xiao Yang poured another mouthful of low-grade healing potion down his throat. It was incredibly foul—still that sour, rancid, strange taste—but that didn't matter. What mattered more was the increase in his stats.

Xiao Yang's health had already broken through fifty, doubling to a full sixty points. It’s worth noting that he had only put one attribute point into health; the extra forty points were all gained from drinking life potions. Relying on the Pitcher of Greed, he had managed to "leech" four attribute points into his health stat for free.

And it wasn't just health; he had also leeched ten points of permanent strength, one trait, and one elemental resistance. He was only level five, yet his stats were already incredibly luxurious.

[Player: Emperor of Screams
Level: 5
Health: 60
Strength: 13
Defense: 12
Agility: 11
Remaining Attribute Points: 1]

Such a stat line was beyond the imagination of a level-five player, especially since Xiao Yang had no class bonuses. And this was not his limit; as the low-grade life potion settled in his stomach, his health ticked up by one more, jumping from sixty to sixty-one.

With the Pitcher of Greed, Xiao Yang was destined to become a "super bucket" character. He wouldn't specialize in any single attribute; he would simply let time pass. Once he had spent more time chugging potions, he was certain that even bosses would tremble at the sight of him!

Xiao Yang was quite confident in this. He cast a distant glance at the fellows from the Nether Cave. The Nether Cave, was it? This grudge was now settled; he would certainly pay them a visit to settle the score eventually.

Time passed, and soon, the day came to an end. Xiao Yang was whisked away from the Heavens Trading Zone by the God’s Game and dumped back into the skeleton dungeon.

A delightful discovery awaited him.

The skeletons on the first floor of the dungeon had respawned; they had climbed back up from the ground. Although it was a pity that not all of them had returned, the three ordinary skeletons he had defeated on his first day had respawned. They were crawling up from the floor, wandering aimlessly through the dim corridor outside his safe house.

This made Xiao Yang overjoyed. Checking the time, he realized exactly one month had passed, meaning the respawn cycle for the skeleton dungeon was one month. This was truly a great thing, as it meant he would be able to "restock" from these skeletons again in a few days.

As for experience, he wasn't really counting on it anymore. Once a level is high enough, the experience these skeleton warriors provided was truly negligible. Pushing open the door to the safe zone, Xiao Yang strode toward the few skeletons that had just risen and were still looking rather dazed.

Seeing Xiao Yang approach so brazenly, the skeletons attacked without hesitation. However, they posed absolutely no threat to him now. A skeleton holding a large, pale bone club struck down hard at him, but with a crisp *clack* and the reinforcement of his Tough Skin, it dealt zero damage. Simply put, they couldn't break his defense. Xiao Yang even felt that if he were to take off all his equipment, these ordinary skeletons still couldn't break through his defense.

After all, the "forced one point of damage" when an attack fails to break defense was the God’s Game’s mercy toward players, but the monsters didn't enjoy that benefit. Although it sounded pathetic, that bit of mercy had helped Xiao Yang a lot; otherwise, he might not have even been able to beat these skeleton frames at the very beginning.

Enjoying the skeletons’ "massage," Xiao Yang was in a great mood.

"I’ve grown, too! Is this the reward for persistence and hard work?" he remarked with brazen shamelessness.

In a few quick moves, Xiao Yang knocked the skeletons down and crushed their soul fires. Now, each skeleton only gave him one or two experience points, though they did drop some large skeleton bones. Xiao Yang was now essentially grinding these skeletons just for the drops.

Just as Xiao Yang was indulging in the thrill of bullying weak mobs, a message popped up from his only friend.

[: Little brother, I might be heading to the Abyss soon. It will probably take me a month to come back to the Trading Zone. I’ll have to trouble you to sell some goods for me then. By the way, take this. If anyone crosses planes to mess with you, remember to send me a distress signal. Also, there will be a fee for the assistance—I’ll give you a discount, but even good friends need to settle accounts clearly. That’s it!]

Along with this letter came an Epic-grade talisman.

[Visitation Permit
Quality: Epic
Effect: Allows one to invite a friend to visit their plane.
Description: Friends coming from afar!]