Upon hearing this, Pockmarked Wang's pretentious face finally broke into a knowing, wicked smile. He then took the opportunity to say, "Ah, in that case, I won't hide it from you, my dear brother and sister. Recently, I've made some progress in the Ghostly Dual Cultivation."
"If I could have the assistance of a well-qualified female ghost with abundant ghostly energy, we could cultivate together. Reaching the true realm of Wandering Soul would be just around the corner."
"But as you know, in my small domain, there's not a single female ghost with such qualities."
"So, how about this? Could your wife endure a bit of hardship and assist me in my cultivation for a few days? Once I break through to the Wandering Soul realm, I'll definitely accompany you to deal with that old ghost Jiang Yun. It will be a sure thing, without any risk."
"Of course, I won't force this matter."
Pockmarked Wang's words were like a sharp knife stabbing into Guang Fang's heart, almost making him explode with anger.
This was simply too humiliating!
Pockmarked Wang was directly implying that he wanted Guang Fang's wife to help him cultivate.
However, without Pockmarked Wang's help, the couple had no chance of reclaiming their lost hut, not even if they waited until their ghostly lives ended.
Guang Fang gritted his teeth, finally exchanging a look with his wife, Kou Miao.
After a moment, Kou Miao's slightly reddened eyes quickly returned to normal. She softly said, "If I can help Brother Wang advance his cultivation, it would be my honor."
Pockmarked Wang still feigned seriousness, looking at Guang Fang and asking, "Brother, do you think this is appropriate?"
Guang Fang forced a smile more painful than crying, his voice trembling, "Appro... appropriate, of course, it's appropriate."
Upon hearing this, Pockmarked Wang clapped his hands and laughed heartily, giving Guang Fang a thumbs-up, "Good! As expected of my good brother, you have the courage and responsibility!"
"Then there's no time to lose. I'll break through as soon as possible, so I can help you reclaim everything you've lost."
With that, Pockmarked Wang picked up Kou Miao, laughing as he turned and walked into the house, leaving Guang Fang in the courtyard, like a withered leaf in the wind, desolate and sorrowful, his hair seeming to glow with a ghostly green in the breeze...
"Damn you, old ghost Jiang Yun, it's all because of you, because of you!"
Guang Fang gritted his teeth, his heart filled with rage, "I, Guang Fang, swear that I will make sure you die a miserable death, never to reincarnate!"
Meanwhile, in the game world, Jiang Yun was diligently clearing out the Corpse Ghouls in the pit.
Suddenly, he sneezed, rubbed his nose, and muttered, "Ah-choo! Which dead ghost is badmouthing me behind my back?"
Jiang Yun snorted, cursed at the air, then downed a Mana Potion and continued pulling monsters.
After a while, when a set of Mana Potions was used up, he activated his talent on a recently slain Corpse Ghoul.
Suddenly, a purple light enveloped Jiang Yun like a dream.
"[Reset Successful! Congratulations on obtaining Lucky Stars Shine, Corpse Ghoul kill experience: +100!]"
"[You have leveled up to 8, gaining 5 Unallocated Attribute Points.]"
Jiang Yun was so excited he trembled all over.
Finally, he had accumulated enough luck to trigger a Lucky Stars Shine!
Not only did he instantly level up to 8, but the Corpse Ghoul he killed also dropped a piece of equipment and a skill book, a rare double drop, how delightful!
Jiang Yun quickly picked up the equipment and skill book into his inventory, not even bothering to check them, and hurriedly refreshed his upgraded attribute points.
But as expected, after triggering Lucky Stars Shine or Heavenly Fortune, the subsequent refreshes were extremely unlucky.
He refreshed for 5 minutes and 30 seconds, barely managing a Good Fortune, gaining two extra points, totaling 7 points.
"Alright, alright, 7 points it is!" Jiang Yun consoled himself.
He allocated the 7 attribute points: 5 to Intelligence, 1 to Spirit, and 1 to Agility.
Instantly, his attack power became 438, his Mana cap 160, and his movement speed increased to 4.8, a slight improvement.
After allocating the points, he took out the equipment and skill book that had dropped to examine them.
—[Coarse Hemp Belt]!
[Durability]: 30/30
[Quality]: Basic
[Health]: +20
[Defense]: +3
[Equipment Requirement]: Level 5 and above, all classes!
(Auxiliary Mundane Grade Skill Book)
[Durability]: 1/1
(After learning, you will permanently gain Level 1 Tranquility Aura, automatically restoring 0.1% of Mana every 12 seconds.)
This Breath of Tranquility auxiliary skill book is quite something!
It comes with percentage-based sustain; although the effect isn't obvious with low early-game stats, it becomes significant when high-level stats are strong.
Jiang Yun happily learned Breath of Tranquility immediately and equipped the Coarse Hemp Belt, finally adding another piece of equipment to his body.
This further improved Jiang Yun's base stats, his Health becoming 187, and Defense increasing to 12 points.
Though still quite fragile, he was slightly tougher than before.
Leveling up and gaining another piece of equipment gave Jiang Yun more confidence in taking down the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul next.
Twenty minutes later, Jiang Yun successfully cleared all the Corpse Ghouls at the bottom of the pit.
Mainly because the ordinary Corpse Ghouls kept respawning; otherwise, they would have been cleared long ago.
Now, under the pit where eight Black Demon Arum Orchids grew, only the ferocious-looking Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul remained.
After replenishing his state, Jiang Yun took a deep breath and began to act.
Due to the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul's aggro range being 10 yards, even though Jiang Yun had leveled up, his ranged attack range was only 6.8 yards.
So, he couldn't preemptively strike like he did with ordinary Corpse Ghouls.
As soon as he got within 10 yards of the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul, its two heads and four eyes locked onto Jiang Yun with a fierce gleam, rapidly climbing up towards him.
Jiang Yun steadied himself, and once the distance was sufficient, he launched a Basic Attack, simultaneously predicting the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul's charge position and casting the Falling Rock Spell.
The Falling Rock Spell descended like a divine stone, smashing towards the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul with thunderous force.
"[Basic Attack Damage: -398!]"
Due to Jiang Yun's increased attack power after leveling up, his Basic Attack damage was considerable against the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul.
Moreover, the predicted Falling Rock Spell hit perfectly, the stone falling from above, though not hitting a vital spot, it struck the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul's spine.
"[Spell Damage: -836!]"
Jiang Yun's Basic Attack plus a skill took 1,234 Health from the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul.
The Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul only had 3,200 Health, immediately losing more than a third.
It roared in pain, a deafening sound.
At the same time, it became even more ferocious, roaring on the spot, its body erupting with ghostly energy, forming a rotating shield.
The shield was like a solid fortress, tightly protecting the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul within.
After executing the Basic Attack and skill, Jiang Yun quickly started kiting to maintain distance from the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul.
He swung another Basic Attack.
Unexpectedly, the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul's skill, Ghost Breath Shield, was incredibly effective, absorbing half the damage.
This caused Jiang Yun's Basic Attack to only take 199 Health from it.
Jiang Yun frowned.
Fortunately, Jiang Yun had the advantage of terrain, and at this moment, his speed slightly surpassed that of the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul.
Without hesitation, Jiang Yun swung another ranged Basic Attack at the monster, instantly taking another 199 Health from it.
Immediately after, he decisively stopped attacking, sprinting upwards at full speed like an arrow leaving the bowstring.
As a result, the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul chasing from below struggled to close the five-meter gap between it and Jiang Yun.
The Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul pursued relentlessly, like an enraged beast, baring its fangs and claws; Jiang Yun fled desperately, dodging left and right.
Until the Falling Rock Spell's cooldown was restored, and the Ghost Breath Shield effect on the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul conveniently disappeared.
A hint of excitement flashed in Jiang Yun's eyes, and he immediately abandoned the idea of fleeing at full speed, abruptly stopping in place. A Basic Attack combined with a precisely predicted Falling Rock Spell shot towards the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul like a meteor.
The double combo dealt a total of 1,234 damage to it.
The Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul was left with only 334 Health.
However, the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul went berserk, its speed suddenly skyrocketing, like a black lightning bolt, rapidly closing the distance with Jiang Yun, frenziedly launching another skill—Vicious Ghost Rend.
Jiang Yun remained calm, his expression steady. As he launched the final Basic Attack at the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul, he crossed his arms in front of him in a defensive stance.
He felt a sharp pain in his arms, as if struck by a heavy hammer, and Jiang Yun flew backward like a kite with a broken string.
"[Block Successful, Block Chance 38%, Damage Reduction 38%, Damage: -186!]"
Jiang Yun's Health bar turned red instantly, leaving only a sliver, truly hanging by a thread, just shy of being one-shot.
But fortunately, he also landed the final Basic Attack, successfully depleting the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul's remaining Health, completing a thrilling counter-kill.
"[You have slain an elite monster—Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul, gaining experience: +200!]"
With the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul's death, a piece of equipment and dozens of Ghost Copper Coins dropped on the ground.
Seeing his remaining sliver of Health, Jiang Yun felt a chill down his spine.
Lucky, indeed, very lucky!
However, Jiang Yun wasn't satisfied with this drop rate.
He quickly got up and activated Myriad Reset to refresh.
Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side.
After refreshing for 5 minutes and 30 seconds, not a single Good Fortune appeared, all were frustratingly Average Luck.
In the end, the experience from the Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul only increased by 10 points, and the drop rate merely added a few more Ghost Copper Coins.
Jiang Yun shook his head helplessly, forced to accept this less-than-ideal outcome, then picked up all the spoils.
The Two-Headed Corpse Ghoul, being an elite monster, did drop a Basic item.
It was a Basic ring that added 2 attack points.
Jiang Yun put it on, increasing his attack power by two points.
Next, he cleared the three ordinary Corpse Ghouls that had respawned at the bottom of the pit.
After dealing with these small fry, to avoid being ambushed by newly respawned Corpse Ghouls, Jiang Yun quickly harvested the eight Black Demon Arum Orchids.
Moreover, he only dared to activate his talent refresh when harvesting the first and last Black Demon Arum Orchids.
Luckily, this time fortune favored him, with Good Fortune appearing on the first try, and Fortune Turns on the last.
In total, he obtained 12 Black Demon Arum Orchids, successfully gathering 100, ready to turn in the quest.
The free return to town could only be used once every six hours, and the cooldown hadn't refreshed yet, so Jiang Yun had to run back to turn in the quest on foot.
By the time he returned to the novice village, more than two hours had passed.
Jiang Yun immediately sought out the female ghost shopkeeper at the tailor's to turn in the quest.
The female ghost shopkeeper received the quest items and cast a cold smile towards the direction of the Ghost Village Chief's courtyard.
It seemed she planned to use these items to deal with that old lecherous Ghost Village Chief, but that was none of Jiang Yun's business.
The female ghost shopkeeper nodded in satisfaction and promptly issued Jiang Yun the quest rewards.
"[You completed the upgraded quest, receiving rewards: experience: +5,000, Ghost Silver Coins: +5, Basic clothing!]"
Hehe, although the rewards were generous enough, Jiang Yun wasn't satisfied.
He didn't choose to confirm, quickly activating his talent refresh on the quest rewards.
But Myriad Reset sometimes depended on luck; in 5 minutes, after consuming several Mana Potions and refreshing 29 times, Jiang Yun only got Average Luck, almost breaking his defenses.
He could refresh at most two more times before the system locked the result.
Fortunately, at the 5-minute mark, this refresh yielded a Fortune Turns.
"[Myriad Reset Successful! Obtained Fortune Turns, quest reward experience: +15,000, Ghost Silver Coins: +15, Mundane Grade Lower Clothing, confirm?]"
Jiang Yun didn't dare to gamble on the last chance for a better result than Fortune Turns.
He quickly accepted, confirming!
Immediately, a generous 15,000 experience points surged in like a tide, warming his entire body, with continuous prompts ringing in his ears.
"[Congratulations on leveling up: +1, +1, gaining Unallocated Attribute Points: +10, you have reached level 10, eligible for the first transition, you can find the Ghost Village Chief to receive the first transition quest.]"
Jiang Yun drank another Level 1 Mana Potion, sorry, with such a powerful talent, he had to exploit it again.
This time, luck was on his side, with Fortune Turns appearing on just the third refresh.
"[Myriad Reset Successful! Obtained Fortune Turns, level increased to 10, gaining Unallocated Attribute Points: +16!]"
Gaining three extra attribute points per level was quite "nice."
Jiang Yun chose to confirm.