Although the “one-shot kill 666, plus starting ultimate gear” sounded tempting, the requirement of 10,000 points was something Ye Chui absolutely couldn’t accept.
Damn, with 10,000 points, he could directly exchange for becoming Superman, so why would he waste them on a VIP membership that’s only usable in this game?
This VIP seemed like nothing more than an impractical gimmick.
Of course, if he had plenty of points to spare in the future, he might try out this mindless thrill of a pay-to-win game…
After encountering the one-eyed swordsman and starting the [Ancestor’s Remains] game, Ye Chui and his group continued along the Liangshui River. In the distance, they could faintly see the shadow of a mountain, the Holy Mountain Guni had mentioned, where the Ancestor’s Remains were located.
“Roar!” A strange, ferocious, and evil beast suddenly burst out from the grass on one side, charging at Ye Chui’s group.
It was a black panther, covered in scales, with three long horns on its head. Its tail was like a snake, with the snakehead raised, hissing and preparing a terrifying attack.
Cass quickly rushed forward, swinging his greatsword with gusts of wind, striking the strange beast. With a scream, it was sliced in half at the waist.
At the same time, Ye Chui glanced at his iPad magic book screen. On it, Cass’s pixel avatar had just slain the pixel beast that charged out. Ding, as the pixel beast fell, a red “+10” appeared above it.
“This eerie beast is worth ten points?” Ye Chui nodded.
The beast was killed by Cass, but the points went to Ye Chui, as they were in team mode.
This was a function Ye Chui had just discovered while studying the game interface.
In this game mode, he could form a five-person team. Adding someone to the team was simple: just verbally ask if they wanted to join, and if they agreed, their name would appear on Ye Chui’s magic book.
So, Ye Chui (mage) added Debbie (main tank), Cass (tank), Leisha (healer), and Green (warrior) to his team. His iPad screen now displayed their status, just like in a typical team-based game, showing health and mana (or sword aura) at 100, likely shown as percentages for health and mana consumption.
Jirga and Jiji, being Debbie’s spirits, were listed under her, like her two battle pets.
Ye Chui’s team invitation felt odd to them, but given his history of bizarre powers, they didn’t dwell on it.
Previously, Ye Chui had to personally deal the killing blow to earn points. Now, this hassle was gone. After the iPad’s upgrade, he had more uses for points, but earning them had also become much easier.
After travelling for a few more hours, they reached the end of the Liangshui River.
Here lay a black lake, its water inexplicably thick and dark, making people instinctively want to stay away, as if endless danger brewed within. Ye Chui also noticed the surroundings growing increasingly desolate, with withered grass, dead trees, and rotting mud everywhere. The sky seemed gloomier, visibility reduced to about a hundred metres.
The beasts here were fiercer, their appearances more bizarre and evil.
The animals in this relic world were unlike those in the outside world, as if from entirely different systems. At the end of the Liangshui River, the beasts Ye Chui’s group encountered seemed to transcend ordinary animals, resembling magical beasts. Their flesh was inedible, and some, when killed, turned into a puddle of muck.
“Everyone, be careful. It’s getting more dangerous,” Cass warned, gripping his greatsword tightly, alert to their surroundings.
Debbie stretched her neck, scanning around, “That Holy Mountain is huge. The Liangshui River ends here, so do we head that way next?” As she spoke, she glanced at the black lake beside them and suddenly yelped, “Oh, what’s that!”
A terrifying tentacle suddenly emerged from the lake, covered in sharp, barbed spines, swiftly reaching for Ye Chui’s group on the shore. But as Debbie cried out, Jirga quickly stepped in front of her, slashing the tentacle with her sword. Swoosh, the tentacle sprayed black blood and retreated into the lake.
“Don’t get close to the lake. There’s a terrifying monster in there!” Ye Chui shouted, leading everyone to back away.
Whether due to the commotion caused by the tentacle monster’s attack, Ye Chui suddenly looked around warily. He saw glowing eyes approaching from the shadows, belonging to large, black wolf-like beasts covered in scales. Though they resembled wolves, they flicked long, snake-like tongues from their mouths.
There were many of them, and these wolf-like beasts seemed to have the pack mentality of wolves.
“Each one has a combat strength of 20 points!” Ye Chui concluded after using [Camera] to scan them. Twenty points wasn’t too formidable, but their numbers made them challenging.
Just then, Ye Chui received a game prompt: “Side quest detected: Eliminate Fallen Beasts (50). Reward: Location hint for Ancestor’s Remains.”
Seeing this, Ye Chui’s eyes widened in surprise. It could work like this? The Holy Mountain was vast, and who knew where Guni’s Ancestor’s Remains were. A location hint would make finding it much easier!
“Ye Chui, what do we do?” Cass turned to ask.
They had already realised Ye Chui had some uncanny detection abilities, making him the de facto leader of the group.
“We’ll stick together and deal with these beasts first. Debbie, have Jirga take them down. Cass, protect us all and block damage. Green, attack any beasts that enter your brick range. Leisha, restore our mana as I direct,” Ye Chui assigned roles based on their strengths. As a mage, he would stay safe and attack with long-range spells.
And, of course, the most important buff, “Let’s add some epic BGM, ‘I Not Afraid to Die’!”
“I Not Afraid to Die” was a heavy metal rock song. Ye Chui remembered it as his favourite for group battles in his previous world, its rhythm and energy incredibly rousing. When used as BGM, it had an additional effect: courage.
Played in team mode, the song instantly dispelled the subconscious fear in Cass, Green, and Leisha, making them feel as if they’d taken a fearless drug.
The song cost Ye Chui 150 points to unlock, earned from the beasts their team killed on the way. As the BGM played, the evil wolf pack attacked, swiftly encircling them.
With golden sword aura, Jirga charged into the pack, a golden flash weaving through, turning the fallen beasts into bloody muck. Any wolves that slipped past Jirga faced Green’s unpredictable brick attacks. After this period of practice, smashing a wolf’s skull with one brick was no challenge for Green.
He was starting to grasp the essence of this combat style. As his skills improved, Green increasingly felt Old Merlin’s unspoken care: this brick hadn’t cracked once, proof it wasn’t ordinary but a magical artefact enhanced by Old Merlin’s space magic.
The few wolves that reached Ye Chui’s group couldn’t find a gap in Cass’s whirlwind-like greatsword swings, getting beheaded on the spot.
“Leisha, Cass’s sword aura is almost depleted. Restore his mana,” Ye Chui called out while casting spells to attack the wolves.
Terms like “restore health” and “restore mana” sounded odd, but Windsor knew they meant healing and restoring mana or sword aura.
This was Leisha’s forte, chanting holy words, though she found it increasingly taxing. Fortunately, it was enough for the current situation.
The wolf pack was being systematically reduced.
(21/50), (22/50), (24/50)…
Ye Chui kept an eye on the game interface’s kill count.
Unbeknownst to him, on the Holy Mountain’s waist, in a recessed cave, a dark humanoid figure crawled out. Its blood-red eyes glowed like two flames in the black mist enveloping the mountain. It watched Ye Chui’s group fighting, then slowly retreated into the cave.
(50/50)!
After about ten minutes of fighting, Ye Chui’s iPad game interface showed they had killed all the “Fallen Beasts”. Ding, a prompt appeared: “Side quest completed. Reward obtained.”
A flashing white dot appeared on the map, beyond its visible range, clearly marking the destination: the location of the Ancestor’s Remains.
A few scattered wolves still tried to attack, but the threat was nearly gone. Ye Chui shouted, “Alright, let’s not waste time with them. Head to the Holy Mountain. I know where the Ancestor’s Remains are!”
Led by Ye Chui, the group hurried toward the Holy Mountain. Ahead, a cold, murky mist shrouded the mountain’s shadow, exuding an evil aura. Debbie recalled Jirga to the spirit world and summoned Jiji in her full form.
Jiji’s holy aura countered all corruption. With this high-powered human lightbulb leading, they followed Ye Chui’s directions.
During this time, Ye Chui checked Jiji’s point value in her adult form: 80 points, second only to himself and Jirga.
“Hey, there’s a light ahead!” Debbie soon noticed something. On the ground ahead was a faint glow. As they approached, they saw a figure lying there, with dark skin, simple, wild attire, short messy hair, and a massive stone sword nearby—it was Guni, whom they’d come to find!
She seemed unconscious, a pendant around her neck emitting a gentle light, enveloping her and protecting her from the evil mist. The light seemed to carry some power.
“Jiji?” Seeing the faint glow, the adult Valkyrie Jiji, leading the way, let out a puzzled sound. Her face showed a hint of excitement, as if the light felt familiar.
When they first met, Ye Chui had noticed Guni’s pendant but hadn’t paid much attention since it was tucked into her chest.
They quickly reached Guni’s side. Ye Chui saw they were already at the foot of the Holy Mountain. Ahead was a massive cave, and in front of it stood a warrior!
Or rather, it was just a suit of armour. The person inside had long died, reduced to a skeletal corpse, yet still stood upright, as if guarding against anything emerging from the cave.
He faced away from Ye Chui’s group, staring into the dark, evil-filled cave.
His rusty iron sword rested on the ground, held by a skeletal hand.
Even in death, he stood guard.
Was this the Ancestor’s Remains Guni came to worship?
Leisha began chanting healing words to check Guni’s condition. Windsor suddenly noticed something, leaning closer to Guni’s glowing pendant, and said in surprise, “This white jade pendant… I think I’ve seen it before.”
“You’ve seen it?” Ye Chui asked, curious.
“It’s a gift from my father. He said it’s one of a kind. I later gave it to Linda…” Windsor said, puzzled. “I wouldn’t mistake the design. Linda was thrilled when I gave it to her, but how is it on Guni now? And it’s emitting this light. The one I gave Linda didn’t have this power…”
Hearing Windsor, Ye Chui frowned and looked at the so-called Ancestor’s Remains. Approaching cautiously, he noticed the armour looked familiar.
Despite the rust and damage, the style and faint patterns were unmistakable.
Most importantly, judging by the remains’ condition, the armour’s wearer was clearly a large, hefty person…
A soft moan sounded. Under Leisha’s healing chant, Guni slowly opened her eyes. Seeing the group around her, she was slightly startled, “Why are you here? How did you get here?”
“We heard you might be in danger, so we rushed to catch up. Why did you pass out here?” Debbie asked with concern. She liked Guni, partly because Guni’s chest was even flatter than hers, and flat-chested girls were usually kind…
“Guni!” Before she could answer Debbie, Ye Chui hurried to her side, pointing at the Ancestor’s Remains. With a voice full of astonishment, he asked, “Your ancestor, what was his name?”
Guni glanced at the remains, her face quickly showing reverence. She stood up and said respectfully, “Our ancestor’s name was Godo, the leader of the ten who first came to this world and founded the Holy Light Forest.”
