For the following hours, Li Heng was caught in a repetitive cycle of hunting and killing wolves. He started at noon, with the sun still in the sky, and continued until night, when the stars and moon came out.
Li Heng felt his condition becoming unstable. His sword hand was shaking violently, and his legs were trembling. He couldn’t summon another ounce of strength; it was as if his body had been completely drained.
It had been manageable during the day, but after nightfall, Li Heng discovered the sturdy wild wolves seemed to have grown even more ferocious.
Li Heng couldn’t keep his nerves on edge indefinitely. As he grew fatigued and the wolves became more aggressive at night, one managed to get past his defenses. It bit him and raked its claws across his waist.
It was this injury that finally made Li Heng stop hunting. He found a spot to lean against and rest.
Li Heng was now exhausted and starving. His wounds throbbed with a dull ache. On the other hand, his Soul Energy points had reached an all-time high: 1570!
He started with 242 Soul Energy points, and each sturdy wild wolf was worth 8 points. That meant in nearly eight hours, Li Heng had killed a total of 166 sturdy wild wolves!
’It’s time to leave the Dungeon.’
Li Heng knew that in his current state, it was impossible to continue killing wolves. If he kept going, he’d probably end up being devoured by them.
Besides, his gains from this single trip into the Dungeon were unprecedented. He had earned more today than he had during the entire week-long Mystic Realm exam.
Of course, his success today wouldn’t have been possible without the foundation he’d laid during that exam.
[DING! Exiting the Dungeon in a safe state. No Talisman uses consumed. No loss of gains.]
[DING! Wolf King Mountain Dungeon Results!]
[Grievously Injure the Blood Wolf King (Not Achieved)]
[Kill the Blood Wolf King (Not Achieved)]
[Clear Rating: F]
[Dungeon Rewards: None]
(Loot from farming mobs counts as gains, not rewards.)
[An A-rank or higher rating is required to unlock this God-tier Dungeon.]
[Consume 100 Soul Energy points to enter the Wolf King Mountain Dungeon?]
After choosing to leave the Dungeon, Li Heng found himself back in the park where he had first entered. The time had synced with his time in the Dungeon; it was now night.
’First, I’ll go home and disinfect the wound with some alcohol. I can figure out the rest later...’
Li Heng felt just as exhausted and hungry now that he was out of the Dungeon. He remembered the wounds from the sturdy wild wolf’s claws and teeth. He planned to go home and treat them first, and then head to a clinic if necessary.
But as Li Heng took a step, he realized the wound he remembered didn’t hurt as much as he’d expected. In fact, he couldn’t feel the scratch or the bite at all.
Filled with uncertainty, Li Heng looked down at his waist. There was no wound! Even his school uniform was intact!
’This means... injuries sustained inside the Dungeon don’t carry over to reality?’
Li Heng remembered it clearly. At night, in his fatigued state, a wolf had gotten close and managed to claw and bite him. Though he’d finished the wolf off quickly, he had still been injured. It was only after getting hurt that he realized his condition was deteriorating and decided to leave the Dungeon.
He had been injured in the Dungeon, but after leaving, the wound had completely healed! Even his clothes were fine!
’If injuries from the Dungeon don’t affect me in reality, does that mean... if I die in the Dungeon, I can still return to reality safely, just as the system indicated before? With only a 90% deduction of gains and rewards?!’
The thought kept surfacing in Li Heng’s mind. The physical exhaustion and the hunger in his stomach were reminders that he had, in fact, spent the entire day grinding a Dungeon.
But the vanished wound also reminded him of how unreal it all felt.
’As for whether death in the Dungeon truly has no effect on reality... I’ll have to verify that later...’
Unable to reach a conclusion, Li Heng decided to put the thought aside for now. First, he would go home, eat something, and get some proper rest.
When he left home, he’d had a dozen or so Alliance Coins on him, plus water and rations in his Space Stone. After one trip to the Dungeon, the coins, food, and drink were all gone.
Li Heng couldn’t think of any place to rest other than home.
Thankfully, it wasn’t too late. When Li Heng got home, Father Li and Mother Li were still awake. The couple was nestled on the sofa, watching TV. They were both quite happy to see him return unexpectedly.
After all, they would have worried if their son had stayed out all night, especially since Li Heng had left his phone at home.
"Mom! Can you make me a bowl of noodles?" Li Heng said shamelessly to Zhang Yu Yao as soon as he got home, collapsing onto the sofa.
Li Guobin, seeing his son’s exhausted expression, frowned and asked, "Where were you running wild today? You look completely worn out."
"Nowhere! I just went hiking with some classmates! We walked there and back!" Li Heng lied casually.
"Hmph. Eat up and get some rest. If you’re short on money, just ask... uh... just ask your mom. Take some more with you when you go out."
Li Heng had previously considered selling the unwanted Soul Energy wolf hides, wolf heads, and other materials for Alliance Coins to help with the family’s expenses.
But the thought was just a fleeting one, and Li Heng dismissed it. ’I’ll help my parents with their finances later, when I’m stronger.’
’No need to rush now. I’ll lay low and build my strength.’
Besides, the family could still afford to eat pork every couple of days, so it wasn’t like they were desperately short on cash.
The main issue was that suddenly producing so many Soul Energy Items would be difficult to explain.
After finishing his noodles, Li Heng went back to his room. He closed the door and began to take stock of his total gains from the Dungeon trip and assess his current status.
Li Heng: Unranked
Soul Energy: 1570
Strength: 17 (+4, +3)
Agility: 14 (+2, +3)
Spirit: 7 (-1)
Soul Energy Skills: Wolf Walk Technique Lv.1 (Rare)
Soul Energy Pets: None
Soul Energy Equipment: Cyan Blade Longsword (Rare), Blood Wolf Fang Bracelet (Rare)
Soul Energy Items: Space Stone (Rare), Ten-Year Wolf Blood Grass x2 (Rare), etc... (Mostly materials from wild wolves, temporarily ignored)
Skills: Basic Swordsmanship (Lv. 5), Basic Body Technique (Lv. 4)
’My base attributes... Strength has reached 10, Agility is at 9, and Spirit is still 8.’
’To advance to the Soul Apprentice rank, my Agility and Spirit must both reach 10. For Agility, I have the Wolf Walk Technique. I just need to spend 1000 Soul Energy points to level it up, and that should do it.’
’Alternatively, I could max out my Basic Body Technique to get my Agility past 10. But this Spirit attribute...’
Li Heng thought back. The last time his Spirit attribute increased was during the Mystic Realm exam. It had gone up during those six days he spent exploring the forest.
During the day, for all six of those days, he had been constantly on edge, his focus absolute, in a state of high tension. That was how his Spirit attribute had increased.
’Perhaps increasing my Spirit attribute requires being in a state of intense mental focus?’