Absolute Death Game

Completing this task cost him a total of more than three Gold Coins, and together with the money previously spent on the "Sacrificial Book of the Ancient Gods," he was now completely out of money, left with only a few dozen silver coins to scrape by on.

With all the task items in tow, Xiao Buli mounted his horse and galloped towards the direction of the Mystic Hollow Palace.

He would need to venture into the Dark Forest for his daily tasks tomorrow, and dealing with the Demon Clan was no easy feat. The last time he fought in the bandit hideout instance, it was just some demonized humans, and they were already quite formidable.

This time he definitely couldn't afford to overlook the challenge, as he had gathered quite a bit of information on the Demon Clan in anticipation of the instance they would assault a month later. The Demon Clan was an extremely powerful monster system in his memory, and the White Tiger group had previously suffered significant losses just scouting the Dark Forest instance.

Now that it was his turn to take the stage, he naturally had to be extremely cautious.

Therefore, Xiao Buli planned to exchange for several powerful skills to have on hand.

Having been there twice before, he found his way back to the Mystic Hollow Palace quite easily this time, making the journey on horseback in a little over an hour. To his surprise, Gu Yuexuan was already waiting there at the entrance.

Upon seeing Xiao Buli, Gu Yuexuan immediately descended from his flying sword, "Junior Brother, you've finally returned. If I'm not mistaken, you must have completed the task this time, right?"

Xiao Buli typed, "Indeed, here are the pearls Brother needed." He selected to hand over the task, and Gu Yuexuan hurriedly took the Soul Absorption Pearl. Although he didn't say anything, his expression was visibly filled with excitement.

Xiao Buli couldn't help but feel curious, "What does Brother need Xuan Zhenzi's Soul Fragment for?"

Having received the pearl, Gu Yuexuan seemed a bit cheerful. He didn't get angry when Xiao Buli asked the question, and explained, "That's something you don't need to worry about. Remember, you must not tell Master about this."

System notification: You have completed the task "Elder Brother's Secret Operation," Gu Yuexuan's favorability towards you has increased by 200 points, and your personal Prestige with Gu Yuexuan has reached "Equality."

Xiao Buli thought to himself that it was not easy at all, gaining Prestige with this Elder Brother was indeed tough, wondering what kind of rewards he might get. Then, Gu Yuexuan was gone in a leap.

Was it all for nothing? Xiao Buli thought to himself as he returned to the Mystic Hollow Palace to hand over the tasks. The tasks from Jingci and Ji Xiangyun were both turned in smoothly. Although he didn't achieve a hundred percent completion for either, he still managed to earn over 800 Contribution Value.

Unfortunately, it didn't increase his Prestige in the Mystic Hollow Palace, seeming like only the first completion of similar tasks would raise Sect Prestige.

Afterward, Xiao Buli proceeded to the main hall of the Mystic Hollow Palace to hand in his task to Xuanxu Zi, but encountered some trouble during this task turnover.

Xuanxu Zi looked at the severed head and his face immediately turned sour, "This head is fake."

Xiao Buli expressed his surprise, "How is that possible? This is definitely the head I cut from Xuan Zhenzi himself."

Xuanxu Zi sighed, "It seems that Xuan Zhenzi has managed to escape pursuit once again. Why is it always like this? Ah, but it's not your fault. This Xuan Zhenzi is cunning and elusive, not so easily killed."

Xiao Buli wasn't too surprised to hear Xuanxu Zi say this; instead, he felt that 'things are never that simple.' But in that case, did he still complete the task?
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Just as this doubt crossed his mind, a system notification appeared on the screen.

System notification: You have completed the task "Purging Betrayal." Due to your exceptional performance in the task, Xuanxu Zi's favorability towards you has increased by 250 points, your Prestige in the Mystic Hollow Palace has increased by 500 points, and your Prestige in the Mystic Hollow Palace has reached Reverence. You have gained 400 Contribution Value.

Xiao Buli breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, the reward was still given, and his Sect Prestige had also reached Reverence, which would allow him to learn some more powerful spells.

But if he wanted to continue to rise in Sect Prestige, it would be even harder from now on. From Friendly to Reverence is 1000 points, but from Reverence to Reverential is a full 5000 points, and from Reverential to Worshipful will only be higher—it could take tens of thousands of points to reach the top, and who knows how long it will be before that's achieved.

Xiao Buli stopped pondering further and started thinking about the skills he could now exchange for. He had over 1,100 Contribution Value points, and he could use them to exchange for several good skills.

He went to Xuanxu Zi to choose skills to exchange. Many second-tier skills previously locked until the Sect's Prestige requirement of Reverence were now unlocked. Xiao Buli checked and found there were over ten available.

After sorting them out and removing those that were redundant or not very practical, there were still seven skills worth learning.

1. Li Fire Talisman (Instant Cast Spell): Harness spiritual power to condense the Power of Li Fire onto a talisman, launching it at the target to deal damage, with a range of 30 meters. It inflicts 10+21 (spiritual power×1) = 31 points of fire damage, with a chance to ignite the target, causing half the incendiary damage over the next five seconds. It consumes 7 mana, one Talisman Paper.

Exchange requires: 150 Contribution Value points, Mystic Hollow Palace Prestige Reverence, Taoist Heart LV2.

2. Mysterious Ice Talisman (Instant Cast Spell): Harness spiritual power to condense the Power of Mysterious Ice onto a talisman, launching it at the target to deal damage, with a range of 30 meters. It inflicts 10+21 (spiritual power×1) = 31 points of ice damage, and it reduces the target's speed by 20% for 5 seconds. This effect can stack up to three times to trigger a freeze effect.

It consumes 8 mana, one Talisman Paper.

Exchange requires: 160 Contribution Value points, Mystic Hollow Palace Prestige Reverence, Taoist Heart LV2.

3. Palm Thunder (2.5 seconds Casting): Harness spiritual power to unleash a lightning strike from the palm, attacking the target within a range of five meters. It inflicts 20+42 (spiritual power×2) points of lightning damage, with the possibility of knockback or knock-up effects depending on the target's size, consuming 15 mana.

Exchange requires: 180 Contribution Value points, Mystic Hollow Palace Prestige Reverence, Taoist Heart LV2.

4. Sunfire Talisman (Instant Cast Spell): Harness spiritual power to condense the Power of Sunfire onto a talisman, launching it at the target to deal damage, with a range of 30 meters. It inflicts 10+21 (spiritual power×1) = 31 points of Yang Attribute damage (damage is halved against biological enemies and doubled against Undead), consuming 6 mana, one Talisman Paper.

Exchange requires: 160 Contribution Value points, Mystic Hollow Palace Prestige Reverence, Taoist Heart LV2.

5. Mirror Image Skills (2 seconds Casting): Create an autonomously moving mirror image to attract enemy fire. The mirror image has the same health points and Armor Value as the caster but cannot attack and takes double the damage. It lasts for 30 seconds, consuming 20 mana.

Learning requires: Taoist Heart LV2, Mystic Hollow Palace Prestige Friendly, spiritual power 22 points, 140 Contribution Value points.

6. Earth Escape Skills (2 seconds Casting): Transforms into earth and sinks into the ground, disappearing from the enemy's sight. You cannot move while in Earth Escape form until the effect is canceled, consuming 15 mana, and an additional 1 mana every minute while under the effect.

Learning requires: Taoist Heart LV2, Mystic Hollow Palace Prestige Friendly, spiritual power 26 points, 160 Contribution Value points.

7. Earth Walking Skills (Passive Skill): Allows you to move slowly while in Burrow Form, consuming an additional 2 mana per minute during movement.

Learning requires: Taoist Heart LV2, Mystic Hollow Palace Prestige Friendly, spiritual power 30 points, 140 Contribution Value points.

PS: There's some repetitive content in the skills, so I wrote a few hundred more words. Don't say I'm padding my word count, okay?

Today, I've written over nine thousand words, marking the first time I've had such a burst of productivity. The next burst will happen within the next five days.

I recommend a well-written book called "Artifact Recycling Center", the author is a beautiful woman, and lastly, I hope everyone will vote and subscribe more. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to go to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)