Can't I Cultivate Myself? Chapter 9

[Magic Power +0.6]

"That was quite a lot of experience."

After killing the Spirit Binder, 'Lin Qi' leveled up again. She was now only one final step away from reaching level ten and changing classes.

"I wonder if clearing out this house will be enough."

'Lin Qi' stepped out of the room. The corridor was pitch-black, and the Coal Lamp illuminated only a small area.

['Who is it?']

A questioning message popped up on the interface. This room was at the end of the corridor, and a Shadow Figure appeared around the nearby corner. It looked like a Believer from the Hand of Darkness.

Lin Qi: 'It's me, Deke.'

Visitor: 'You're clearly a woman!'

Lin Qi: 'Deke was a woman to begin with.'

Visitor: 'How is that possible? Just yesterday, I...'

The Shadow Figure approached warily. 'Lin Qi' acted decisively, driving her knife into his chest. She then shoved forward hard, and as his strength gave out, she pulled the blade free and slashed it across his throat.

Rip—

Ryan could even hear the sound of blood spraying.

Unlike killing monsters, having one's throat slit basically meant death. He had already confirmed that with Deke.

But what surprised Ryan was that 'Lin Qi's experience bar actually rose by a noticeable amount.

"Fuck, killing people gives experience too?"

There had been no increase when he killed Deke earlier, so he had thought that route didn't work.

If that was the case, then he wouldn't hold back.

"Hehehe~"

Ryan guessed that experience was only gained from killing certain types of people—for example, those who had performed rituals and come into contact with Outer God Power. As an imperial Police Officer brimming with justice, he would never show mercy to people like that.

'Lin Qi' followed the corridor and took out two more Believers in quick succession.

They were both ambushes, so there was little commotion. But when she turned down the corridor and entered the mansion's main hall, the lit lamps exposed her, and the Believers still lingering there immediately spotted her.

At the same time, Ryan finally saw the situation in the hall clearly.

"Fuck, what a bunch of animals."

The center of the hall was piled with corpses—at least thirty at a glance, including even Children.

The heap of bodies looked like an altar. Blood flowed through patterns carved into the altar floor, forming mysterious runes that faintly glimmered.

Ryan noticed that the Singer who had met with Deke was among them. He appeared to be a leader and was speaking with the others.

['Someone broke in!']

['Quick! Kill her!']

The Singer shouted angrily.

Without a word, 'Lin Qi' drew her revolver and fired.

Bang!

One shot took out a Believer. 'Lin Qi' turned and rushed up the stairs to the second floor, reloading as she went before firing again. There were too many enemies; she had no chance in close combat.

"Good thing we have a gun."

Ryan stared at the interface. Kiting wasn't difficult, but avoiding the Believers' attacks was another matter. Some of them were about as strong as Deke, while others were much stronger.

So far, though, he hadn't seen a single Believer capable of directly using Transcendent Power.

"Out of bullets."

The number of bullets an ordinary Police Officer could carry was limited. 'Lin Qi' originally had only ten rounds, and Ryan had given her another fifteen, for a total of twenty-five. She had dealt with six people just now, leaving only two bullets.

There was no helping it. Visibility was poor, and the hit rate was too low.

After thinking for a moment, Ryan decided not to keep using the gun. Instead, he controlled 'Lin Qi' into a room—then had her start eating Steamed Buns.

As she waited for her HP Bar to slowly recover, 'Lin Qi' gripped her dagger and guarded the doorway. She wasn't the only one with poor visibility; the enemy had the same problem.

After a while, a head poked through the doorway. Without hesitation, 'Lin Qi' stabbed at it.

A ball of light rose from the fallen corpse.

[You obtained 'Roasted Chicken x1'.]

"Huh?"

Ryan froze.

Roasted Chicken?

Something that restored health?

Come to think of it, the game did seem to have those. Their effect was three times that of Steamed Buns.

Still, couldn't they drop something else?

The sounds of killing quickly drew the others over. 'Lin Qi' rushed out of the room, only for her body to suddenly freeze in place.

[You have been hit by 'Soul Guidance'.]

A debuff appeared on the status bar. Its source was the Singer in the middle of the hall, who was chanting. The effect was continuous.

Ryan decisively used a cleanse. During the brief opening provided by Mental Sanctuary, 'Lin Qi' quickly closed the distance to the Singer.

Singer: 'So you're Janus's lackey. The shadow of death will envelop you!'

He raised a hand and rapidly recited an incantation. Immediately, a large number of Spirit Binders rushed out from the center of the altar.

"Fuck, he's a summoner too!"

Ryan cursed inwardly. In a moment of carelessness, 'Lin Qi' lost half her HP Bar to the group attack. He could only retreat in a hurry and flee to the second floor.

The Singer controlled the Spirit Binders to pursue her. Just then, the mansion's front doors were blasted open with a bang, and a Maiden in armor, majestic beneath the moonlight, appeared in the doorway.

The Knight and the Princess

Ryan's eyes lit up when he saw the newcomer.

"It's actually her!"

Eiko Kano, Cassidy's royal guard Knight in the game—a genuine Transcendent!

Ryan hadn't expected her to appear here. By all rights, she should have been at Cassidy's side right now.

As he considered this, the Singer's pursuit of 'Lin Qi' was interrupted by Echo's arrival.

Singer: 'Who are you?!'

Echo: 'Damn Cultists!'

The Knight's gaze fell upon the altar in the hall, and her face instantly turned icy. Without another word, she charged straight at the Singer.

The surrounding Believers rushed forward to stop her, but Echo swung her fists, each strike bursting with scorching flames and sending the Believers—none of whom were even Transcendents—flying.

"Now that's a Transcendent."

Ryan remembered that Echo was a fire-element Melee Tactician. It wasn't a Hidden Profession, but her attributes were quite good. She could deal damage and take hits, making her a pretty solid purple card in the Early Stage of the game.

White cards, blue cards, purple cards, gold cards—the classifications in Empress Online for a character's abilities. There was nothing much to say about it; it was basically the standard mobile-game cultivation system.

"Cassidy should arrive in two days. Did Echo come ahead to scout things out? Makes sense. Her situation is special right now, so naturally she has to be careful every step of the way."

Because of Echo's ferocity, the Singer called all the Spirit Binders back. 'Lin Qi' watched the battle without any pressure, cautiously poking her head out from the corner of the second-floor staircase.

Though there was a huge difference in numbers between the two sides, their Combat Power was completely reversed. Ordinary Believers had no ability to resist a Transcendent at all, let alone Echo, whose strength had likely reached the realm of a Second Tier Transcendent.

[Eiko Kano ???]

The moment 'Lin Qi's gaze fell on her, a string of question marks immediately appeared above Echo's head.

In less than three minutes, all the Believers were dead. Echo apparently had no intention of leaving survivors, so she struck heavily.

Once only the Singer remained, more than half of the Spirit Binders he had summoned had also died. Seeing that the situation was bad, the Singer decisively chose to run, only to be beaten senseless by Echo's flaming combination punches.

"That guy isn't weak either. Good thing—Lin Qi definitely couldn't have beaten him alone."

If every ten levels in the game counted as a tier, then the Singer should have been around level sixteen or seventeen.

'Lin Qi' hadn't changed classes yet, so she was definitely no match for him.

Against Echo, there was even less to say.

But Ryan had no intention of running away.

Seeing that the Singer's HP Bar was nearly empty, 'Lin Qi' edged out from the second-floor corridor and extended her revolver from the corner.

Bang!

One shot, a precise headshot!

The Singer let out a howl and collapsed to the floor. Five balls of light burst from his body in succession... a huge drop!

The Knight, who had been about to deliver the final blow with her fist, stood frozen in place. Turning around, she saw 'Lin Qi' and seemed unable to understand the situation for a moment.

A Cultist killed the Cultist leader?

Real-world characters couldn't see dropped items, so Echo didn't loot the corpse. Instead, she charged at 'Lin Qi'.

With a single leap, she jumped from the hall to the second floor, standing in the corridor some distance from the stairway and studying 'Lin Qi'.

Echo: 'Who are you?'

Ryan didn't answer. 'Lin Qi's identity was concealed, and it was best not to expose it if possible.

'Lin Qi' lowered the brim of her hat and turned to rush back into the stairwell. When Echo ran after her, she heard the crash of shattering glass. There was a landing between the flights of stairs, with a window set into the wall. Seeing the broken window, she instinctively assumed 'Lin Qi' had escaped through it.

But after sticking her head out and searching around, she found no trace of anyone. Instead, she heard noises from inside the mansion. When Echo rushed down the stairs, she found 'Lin Qi' crouched beside the Singer, reaching out and feeling around in the air above the corpse.

'Stop!'

Boom!

A flaming punch slammed into the ground, erupting with a wave of heat.

"Fuck, is she that strong?"

Ryan hurriedly controlled 'Lin Qi' to flee. Looking back, he saw that her HP Bar, which had just been fully restored, was now down to only one-third.

The gap was too huge!

Why hadn't he noticed Echo was this strong in the game?

Sure enough, the powerful ones were all story characters. They were completely different from the ones in the players' hands!

'You can't escape. Surrender now! I'll give you a chance. If you're not a Cultist, I won't kill you!'

Echo tried to put psychological pressure on 'Lin Qi'. She was certain that the latter had been seriously injured just now, and her movements would definitely be affected. It was only a matter of time before she was caught. But 'Lin Qi' had a gun, so Echo couldn't rush in carelessly.

Even a Second Tier Transcendent had to dodge a revolver, unless they possessed a profession with special abilities.

But when Echo followed 'Lin Qi's trail, she discovered that the latter had already climbed out through the window and was sprinting toward the outside of the mansion.

How was she so fast?

Echo froze.

Bang!

Another gunshot rang out in the night. Echo, who had been about to climb out, could only stop for the moment. The bullet struck the wall inside the house. She waited for a while, and only after confirming that 'Lin Qi' wouldn't fire again did she pursue her.

By then, 'Lin Qi' had already rushed out through the mansion gates and into the street outside.

The distance wasn't actually that far. Echo was fully confident she could catch up, but 'Lin Qi' suddenly accelerated. Seeing this, Echo decisively threw out a magic bomb.

It wasn't some ultimate move; it was simply compressed magic power thrown out. If she were fighting a Transcendent of the same level, wasting magic power like this would have been incredibly stupid, but she could tell that 'Lin Qi' wasn't very strong.

The magic bomb exploded with a boom in the street, landing directly in 'Lin Qi's path. She was blasted into several rolls, and beneath the night sky, Echo saw silver-white hair spilling out from under her hood.

A woman?

Echo paused slightly, only to see 'Lin Qi' swiftly scramble to her feet and dash into a nearby alley without looking back.