Chapter 8: Significant Improvement, Re-entering the Instance

This battle armor was equipment on par with the Celestial Master’s Demon-Slaying Sword. It offered both resilience and regeneration. Its simple yet practical functions perfectly aligned with Lu Wenwu’s “Virtue-Conquering Body Refinement Technique,” and he instantly took a liking to it.

Though called a body refinement technique, it was still a genuine cultivation method. By circulating the power of qi and blood, it could unleash life energy from the muscles, activating various armors, weapons, and tools. Therefore, this battle armor was doubly efficient—quite impressive.

Besides these, the rewards included an advanced-level cultivation technique and a finely crafted battle knife. Lu Wenwu already possessed a superior Celestial Master’s Demon-Slaying Sword and the “Virtue-Conquering Body Refinement Technique,” so these two rewards were put aside for now. He planned to contact Liu Ming later to see if he could exchange or sell these items for something else—perhaps other weapons or skills.

The full set of rewards sent down consisted of some healing pills, three skill manuals, a cultivation technique, a set of armor, and a weapon. From Lu Wenwu’s perspective as a player who started with top-tier cultivation methods and rare weapons, the official rewards didn’t seem overly generous. However, considering most players’ general conditions, the rewards were actually quite lavish.

The vast majority of players used skills, cultivation methods, and equipment a whole tier below their own level. Rare-grade equipment usually lasted until level 20 or 30 in the B-rank. Only prodigies could wield equipment matching their own level. Those who used gear above their level were exceptional talents—one in a million. Thus, the official rewards were indeed sincere.

After all, this wasn’t a mere game, nor was there any studio farming for money. The rewards were squeezed out of the pockets of advanced players themselves. Official players had a mandatory dungeon completion quota each month. Even if they delayed, the system would force matchmaking in the final stage. Hence, there was no such thing as useless equipment.

High-level players might find lower-tier gear useless for themselves, but they could always sell it for spirit coins to boost attribute points or buy healing potions. Every spirit coin could genuinely improve their chances of survival in dungeons—who wouldn’t care about that?

After organizing his equipment, Lu Wenwu casually browsed the so-called official forum. It was roughly like a community board, filled with experience sharing, pairing requests, and equipment trading posts—nothing novel. By contrast, the official materials helped Lu Wenwu understand many important points for new players, such as how to allocate attribute points, choose appropriate skills and cultivation methods, spend spirit coins wisely, and the general types of dungeons and mission modes.

He focused especially on the topic of microtransactions and immediately began spending lavishly. Since Mao Mao had no usable equipment or skills, all his spirit coins were converted directly into attribute points.

After this spending spree, Mao Mao’s speed skyrocketed to a staggering 56. Without having practiced any advanced cultivation or body techniques, even C-rank players weren’t as fast. Lu Wenwu himself, after learning three skills, spent spirit coins to slightly improve his proficiency in “Military Combat Techniques” and “Shadow Step.”

Advancing an advanced-level skill from the initial “Shallow Comprehension” to “Initial Insight” required a whopping 20,000 spirit coins. Two skills meant 40,000—an impossible sum for ordinary practitioners. Completing only the main storyline in a dungeon yielded a “Pass” rating and only 1,000 spirit coins; “Good” gave 4,000; “Excellent” about 9,000; and “Perfect” just over 16,000. Doubling proficiency to the next level cost 40,000 spirit coins per skill again.

Even Lu Wenwu, with his considerable wealth, dared not waste so much, instead buying ten “Tenfold Quick Training Cards,” each costing 1,000 spirit coins per day, to train himself properly. The hardest part was the beginning. Once he had initial comprehension, combined with the acceleration cards, improving proficiency levels quickly wasn’t difficult—at least until reaching the “Entering the Hall” proficiency stage.

Out of the remaining 25,000 spirit coins, after buying some special healing potions for protection, Lu Wenwu converted over 20,000 into attribute points. After such a heavy expenditure, feeling the flood of knowledge in his mind, he decisively threw himself onto the sofa and picked up his phone.

“Well, first order some takeout, ask Liu Ming to help me cash out, and then start the proficiency training!”

...

Eleven days later, in the underground training chamber, Lu Wenwu stood shirtless, a broad smile on his face, fists clenched. His muscles were thick and knotted, and behind him, his back muscles vaguely formed a ghostly face.

[ID]: Invincible Tyrannosaurus War God
[Level]: lv5 (D)
[Body]: 53
[Health]: 5300
[Talents]: Nemesis of Evil, Eye of Insight
[Cultivation Method]: Virtue-Conquering Body Refinement Technique
[Skills]: Egg Pancake Cooking [Mastery], Military Way Killing Fist [Proficient], Military Combat Techniques [Proficient], Shadow Step [Proficient], Firearms Mastery [Shallow Comprehension]
[Free Attribute Points]: 0
[Spirit Coins]: 987
...

After ten days of accelerated training, Lu Wenwu was transformed, his overall combat power soaring. Besides the attribute points bought with spirit coins, his body attribute rose by one point through practicing the Virtue-Conquering Body Refinement Technique during rest.

Notably, Lu Wenwu had a particular talent for boxing techniques. He traded his unused cultivation method and battle knife for an advanced-level Military Way Killing Fist. Thanks to the training acceleration cards, he reached the “Proficient” level within just ten days—nearly close to the next stage, “Skillful Mastery.” Had he not run out of acceleration cards, he would have surely pushed through in one go.

“Little Treasure, be a good kitty at home. Liu Ming will come take care of you later.”

Dressed now and with some supplies packed into his backpack, Lu Wenwu waved goodbye to his kitten Mao Mao. Today, unusually, Little Treasure hadn’t been sleeping but instead looked up from the top of the cat tree. Its bright feline eyes showed a rare hint of disdain exclusive to cats.

Little Treasure didn’t understand the concept of going out to work! It only knew its little brother and owner were gone again!

Pouting in feline fashion.jpg

[Matching]
[Pet detected; your dungeon difficulty range is being adjusted upward]
[Match successful]
[Dungeon: The King’s Fall]
[Synopsis: An unknown corruption has descended upon this city, twisting minds and bodies into a new norm. The most powerful corrupted being has self-proclaimed as king and begun exterminating the last remaining sane humans.]
[Players: 5]
[Main Quest: Assassinate the King of the Corrupted]
[Current Assimilation Rate: 37.8%]
[Dungeon Level: D~C]
[Time Flow Rate: 10:1]
[Note: Multi-player dungeon main quest progress is shared; individual evaluations are calculated separately. Any malicious sabotage or teammate killing will result in an immediate [Fail] rating and forfeiture of rewards for the next two dungeons.]
[Warning: Persistent offenders will be erased on the spot.]

No killing among teammates? Not bad—that should filter out some ill-intentioned players.

When Lu Wenwu regained his vision, the surroundings had become unfamiliar. He and four others appeared together on a dim, desolate wilderness.