Demon City

"Huff—huff—huff—"

Cheng Xiaoyu ran for quite a while. Seeing that he had already completed the twenty-kilometer run, he prepared to do Push-ups, Squats, and Sit-ups all over again.

In the end, the numbers on the Quest Panel all reached twice their original amount. No matter how much more he kept going, the [200/100] number would no longer increase.

[Notification]

[Hidden quest completed: Preparation to Become Strong]

[Rewards have been delivered. Inspect now?]

"The Daily Task actually turned into a hidden quest... Inspect."

[You have the following rewards]

[1. Status Recovery]

[2. All Attribute Value points +10]

[3. Blessed (Cursed) Random Treasure Chest]

There was nothing much to say about the first two rewards, but the third Random Treasure Chest had actually turned into a choice between two, divided into [Blessing] and [Curse].

A choice-based Random Treasure Chest... In any case, he would choose the [Blessed Random Treasure Chest] first!

The next second, a Small box appeared in his hand. When the outer shell opened, a small ball of light floated before him. After the light faded, a crimson key fell into his palm.

"A key again..."

Unlike the Dungeon Key he had been given before, this key looked extremely special at a glance, giving him a different feeling.

[Demon City Key: Allows entry into Demon City. Please use it at Yinmao Building in Bo City.]

Cheng Xiaoyu continued browsing. Suddenly, his pupils constricted, the corners of his mouth rose unconsciously, and his gaze locked tightly onto the line of text below.

[Materials for "Water of Life" can be obtained in Demon City...]

[Water of Life: Heals all diseases with powerful Mana.]

"Water of Life... huh?"

His eyes went unfocused, and his mom's haggard face appeared in his mind. He made up his mind that he had to obtain this [Water of Life]!

"What are you spacing out for?"

A lovely voice came over. Cheng Xiaoyu came back to himself and turned his head to look. Ye Meng'e was pushing Ye Xinxia over. The two women, each with a different kind of beauty, stood together, forming quite a beautiful scene.

"Older Brother, breakfast we bought for you."

"Thanks."

Taking the breakfast and Soy Milk, Cheng Xiaoyu began eating absentmindedly, his thoughts elsewhere the whole time.

Ye Meng'e and Ye Xinxia both noticed that something was off with him. The two women exchanged a puzzled glance, and in the end, it was the former who spoke up and asked.

"Xiaoyu, you're acting really strange today. Don't tell me you really had your heart broken?"

"Ah, Older Brother, did you and Ning Xue break up?"

Ye Xinxia also covered her Cherry Lips, looking at Cheng Xiaoyu with a face full of surprise, but there was a trace of playfulness in her eyes.

Seeing the teasing looks on the two women's faces, Cheng Xiaoyu sighed helplessly. Though they were girls of completely different styles, deep down, they were both actually a little wicked.

"It's nothing. I was just wondering whether something like that really exists in this world, something that can wake Mom up."

As soon as he said this, the atmosphere instantly fell into silence. Ye Meng'e looked at the siblings and sighed inwardly.

"I do have some connections overseas. I've had people ask around in many places, but there isn't any potion that can help Aunt wake up."

She was also very helpless about this matter. There were some things that were not appropriate to say clearly right now.

Ye Xinxia had actually already accepted it and was no longer as sad as before. She reached out and held Cheng Xiaoyu's hand, comforting him.

"Older Brother, there will definitely be a way. Don't be anxious."

A trace of resolve appeared in Cheng Xiaoyu's eyes. He nodded and did not continue talking about the topic.

That evening, he made a trip to the hospital. Looking at the haggard Ye Chang lying on the hospital bed, he reached out and held her hand.

If that thing called the [Water of Life] could really heal all diseases... then there was no need to say anything more!

Immediately, Cheng Xiaoyu left the hospital and arrived before Yinmao Building, the tallest building in Bo City. Looking up at the towering building, he took the [Demon City Key] out of his [Item Inventory].

As the key emitted a trace of electric current, a suspended keyhole instantly appeared before his eyes. After he inserted it, a spatial vortex appeared in front of him, and gusts of fierce wind blew straight at him, lifting his hair and the hem of his clothes.

If the difficulty of a key was directly proportional to the difficulty of the dungeon, then the dungeon opened this time would definitely be extremely difficult!

If that was really the case, then what would be waiting for me inside would be...

Cheng Xiaoyu hesitated no longer and twisted the key. Immediately, the entire spatial vortex enveloped him, and he disappeared from that space.

He only felt the scene shift, and his whole body arrived in another Other Dimension. He briefly observed his surroundings and was surprised to find that this place was not much different from Bo City.

Before him was still a tall building similar to Yinmao Building, except this one was extremely dilapidated, more like a rotten, unfinished building, with faint flames still flickering above it.

Not only that, everything around him was extremely similar to the dungeon he had entered before. He had pretty much already figured out that whether it was a [Punishment Task] or a [Dungeon], they were all more or less the same as the original world.

Cheng Xiaoyu understood that this Other Dimension was similar to the original world. At the very least, the terrain was familiar, but he absolutely could not let down his guard!

As for whether he had a way to deal with a monster of this level... saying he was not afraid would be a lie.

He looked at the [Return Stone] in his hand. If things really turned bad, he could just use the [Return Stone] he had not crushed the previous few times.

"Roar!"

Suddenly, a furious roar rang out, stirring up waves of wind. In the silent surroundings, it sounded exceptionally loud.

Cheng Xiaoyu looked over and saw a massive figure appear atop a tall building. What came into view was an enormous demon wolf, but what shocked him was that this demon wolf actually had three heads!

"A Hellhound... You've got to be kidding me!"

Hellhound. The quality of this kind of monster was generally extremely high, but luckily, this one's strength should be at Great General... No, wait. He could not beat a Great General right now either!

But things had already come to this. This was his first battle after arriving in Demon City, and no matter what, he had to give it everything he had. He had to become stronger and raise his level even higher. How could he die in a place like this?

[Skill: Dash]

Cheng Xiaoyu activated the active skill and instantly charged forward with his dagger in hand. While the Hellhound was unprepared, he left several wounds on its body.

"The effect really is almost negligible..."

The attack looked powerful, but to the Hellhound, it was not any kind of serious injury. It directly raised its paw and swatted down at Cheng Xiaoyu.

[Skill: Killing Intent]

In an instant, Cheng Xiaoyu's pupils contracted, and a dense surge of killing intent rushed toward the Hellhound.

The Hellhound did indeed freeze for a moment, but only for a very short while. It immediately came back to its senses, and its claws still fell viciously.

[Target's resistance is too high. Effect canceled.]

"It's useless?!"

Cheng Xiaoyu swiftly dodged the attack. Looking at the Information Box that popped up from the system, his expression changed slightly.

Immediately, he charged again, rushing onto the Hellhound's head. The dagger in his hand stabbed down fiercely, and at the same time, he activated the dagger's effect.

[Effect activated.]

[Paralysis]

[Bleeding]

The Hellhound felt the pain from the top of its head and let out an enraged roar, shaking its head and flinging Cheng Xiaoyu away.

[Target's resistance is too high. Effect canceled.]

"As expected, it still won't work..."

Suddenly, a large cloud of dust flew up before his eyes. The Hellhound leapt out, its forelimbs stomping fiercely onto the ground in front of it.

The ground shook violently, and Cheng Xiaoyu could only be forced to hang in midair before falling backward.

But at that moment, a huge head lunged over, opened its gaping maw, and bit down on his arm. Blood splattered on the spot!

"Ah!!!"