On the evening of the sixth day of the mock exam for Maple City Thirteenth Middle School, at the gathering point in the Wild Wolf Valley dungeon.
"Roasted wolf leg!"
"Oh! Sorry, I was spacing out."
Hearing Bai Shasha’s voice and seeing the wolf leg she was handing him, Li Heng felt a little apologetic.
In truth, Li Heng hadn’t been daydreaming. He was looking at his current status.
Li Heng: Unranked
Soul Energy: 36
Strength: 12 (+4)
Agility: 10 (+2)
Spirit: 7 (-1)
Soul Energy Skills: None
Soul Energy Pets: None
Soul Energy Equipment: Exam Longsword (Wild Wolf Valley), Blood Wolf Fang Bracelet (Rare)
Soul Energy Items: Teleportation Talisman (Wild Wolf Valley), Waterskin (Wild Wolf Valley), Ten-Year Wolf Blood Grass (Rare) x3
Skills: Basic Swordsmanship (Level 4), Basic Body Technique (Level 4)
Before entering the dungeon, Li Heng’s three stats had been very average, all at 5 points, which was the value for a normal person.
But after six days of exploring the dungeon, his three stats had all increased from the original 5 to 8. During that time, he had been fighting almost constantly.
For these six days, aside from returning to the gathering point to rest at night, Li Heng and Bai Shasha had been in the forests of Wild Wolf Valley, killing wolves.
His basic skills had also all leveled up by one, reaching Level 4, through numerous battles.
Li Heng had lost count of how many wolves he’d killed in battle, but the Soul Energy he’d obtained was enough to upgrade his original Fine Wolf Fang Bracelet.
Name: Blood Wolf Fang Bracelet
Category: Soul Energy Equipment
Value: Rare
Effects:
1. Wearer’s Strength +4, Agility +2, Spirit -1.
2. Intimidation +4 against wolf-type creatures.
3. Blood Perception +1.
[Consume 1000 Soul Energy to upgrade this equipment?]
The next upgrade required 1000 Soul Energy. Li Heng felt that was completely impossible to achieve in this dungeon, at least not during the exam period.
So, Li Heng used his other Soul Energy points to upgrade something else.
Name: Ten-Year Wolf Blood Grass
Category: Soul Energy Items
Value: Rare
Effects:
1. A primary ingredient for crafting medium-grade Wolf Blood Pills.
2. If consumed directly by someone below the rank of Soul Disciple, permanently increases Strength by one point.
[Consume 1000 Soul Energy to upgrade this item?]
Over the past six days, in addition to killing wolves, Li Heng and Bai Shasha had also harvested some Wolf Blood Grass. They had originally agreed that Bai Shasha would get all the Soul Energy Items and Li Heng would get none.
In the end, however, Bai Shasha gave Li Heng three stalks of Wolf Blood Grass. As for the other Soul Energy Items, like wolf pelts, wolf meat, and Wolf Fangs, she didn’t stand on ceremony with him. She took them straight back to her tent and sold them to the teacher for points.
"Class 5... it’s just us left."
Seeing Li Heng snap out of his "daze," Bai Shasha commented casually, her voice tinged with a rare hint of emotion.
Li Heng, however, thought the dwindling numbers at the gathering point were perfectly normal. Not everyone was suited for the dungeon exam, and it was expected that some would drop out midway.
Some students had been injured in battle or poisoned while exploring the forest. Others had encountered dangers they felt they couldn’t escape. There were even some who felt they had already secured a passing grade and simply didn’t want to stay any longer. All of them had torn their Teleportation Talismans and left the dungeon.
Three hundred people had entered originally, but now, no more than thirty remained at the gathering point. As for Li Heng’s Class 5, only he and Bai Shasha were left.
The class president, Lei Huailun, had teleported out of the dungeon on the afternoon of the fourth day. Apparently, he’d been scratched by a wild wolf while protecting a female classmate and had left to get treatment.
"Yeah! It’s just us left from Class 5. But we’ll be teleported out of the dungeon tomorrow at noon anyway. This mock exam is almost over."
After taking the wolf leg, Li Heng didn’t immediately start gnawing on it. Instead, he stared into the bonfire, a little dazed, as if lost in thought.
"Tomorrow... I want to go check out the valley entrance!" Li Heng said to Bai Shasha after a long silence.
They would be teleported out of the dungeon tomorrow at noon. This meant he had less than twenty-four hours left—not even twenty, in fact.
Since he was going to be teleported out no matter what, Li Heng wanted to push through the forest and see what the entrance to Wild Wolf Valley was like. Perhaps he’d find some unexpected reward.
It wasn’t that Li Heng was getting reckless. It was just that over the past six days, he and Bai Shasha had become thoroughly familiar with the Wild Wolf Valley forest.
The dangers they encountered in the forest were usually small packs of two to six wild wolves.
In these six days, Li Heng had gone from barely being able to handle two wolves to being able to take on five at once if he went all out. That’s why he had the confidence to dare to check out the valley entrance.
After all, the Wild Wolf Valley forest had yielded him three stalks of Wolf Blood Grass. After being upgraded by his Golden Finger, such a Soul Energy Item that could permanently increase his Strength was an absolute windfall.
When Bai Shasha heard Li Heng’s words, she didn’t respond immediately. She, too, was silent for a moment before asking, "You’ve reached Soul Disciple?"
Soul Disciple!
For other people, becoming a Soul Disciple meant they had practiced a corresponding Cultivation Technique, their physical attributes had reached a certain level, and they felt completely reborn, advancing from an ordinary person.
But for Li Heng, thanks to his system’s bonuses, the data was crystal clear. For him, the mark of advancing to Soul Disciple was having all three of his base stats—ignoring bonuses from equipment and pets—break past 10.
Right now, Li Heng’s base stats were all at 8. He was still a little short of becoming a Soul Disciple.
In fact, Li Heng was slowly realizing that his stats had risen to 8 because his Basic Swordsmanship and Basic Body Technique had leveled up.
Upgrading his basic skills didn’t come with a prompt to use Soul Energy; instead, Li Heng had figured out how to advance them gradually through combat. This made him even more eager to go check out the valley entrance.
"I’m not a Soul Disciple yet. Teacher Wang did say that the pack leader roams the valley entrance, and it’s best not to get close if you haven’t reached Soul Disciple. But tomorrow is the last day. I can tear the Teleportation Talisman at any time, so it shouldn’t be dangerous."
Li Heng’s confidence came from his Blood Wolf Fang Bracelet, which brought his Strength and Agility to 10 points. In the words of those novels from Earth, his current state could be considered a ’Pseudo-Soul Disciple’.
With the ability to face the pack leader, the insurance of a Teleportation Talisman, and the fact that it was the last day, Li Heng felt strongly that he had to go take a look.
Bai Shasha didn’t ask Li Heng if he was confident or anything of the sort. But after being classmates for two years, plus spending these last six days together, she didn’t think Li Heng was a reckless person.
In fact, Bai Shasha sometimes even felt that Li Heng was a little too cautious.
"Wait for dawn. We’ll go together."
A few more minutes passed before Bai Shasha spoke. Then, paying Li Heng no more mind, she closed her eyes and began to rest by the bonfire.
Hearing that Bai Shasha would go with him, Li Heng felt his confidence grow even stronger. But more than confidence, what Li Heng felt was anticipation.
If the entire Wild Wolf Valley dungeon was treated as a game dungeon, then the wolf pack leader at the valley entrance was a stage boss!
’Since I’m already in the dungeon, I have to go see the boss!’