Repaying a Favor

"Xu Xiao, come here for a moment."

Lu Li waved Xu Xiao over.

She looked wary, hesitating for quite a while before slowly inching forward.

"What is it? Are you going to kill me to silence me?"

After watching Lu Li skillfully loot the corpses and collect the spoils, Xu Xiao was far from relaxed.

She felt like Lu Li had become a completely different person.

The Lu Li she used to like had merely been quiet and reserved. His behavior had still fit that of a high school student.

How had he changed so drastically the moment the apocalypse arrived?

"Kill you to silence you?"

Lu Li froze for a moment, then laughed helplessly.

"Why would I kill you? You saved my life, so I'm giving you something in return."

Seeing Lu Li's relaxed expression, Xu Xiao finally eased up a little.

She stared curiously at the short skirt in Lu Li's hand.

"This?"

"That's right. This is for you, to repay part of what I owe you first!"

Lu Li tossed the short skirt to Xu Xiao as if he were throwing away a plague god.

If that thing stayed in his hands for even one more second, it would be an insult to his image as a straight man of steel!

Xu Xiao's expression turned strange. She assumed Lu Li had opened some useless equipment and wanted to dump it on her.

But after reading the skirt's description, she was completely stunned.

"It can raise a Talent Rank unconditionally?!"

When the apocalypse arrived, all Players had been infused with relevant information.

Xu Xiao was no exception.

She knew very well that a Player's Talent Rank was determined at awakening and could not be improved afterward.

Unless one relied on items.

But even among items, those capable of raising one's rank were exceptionally rare.

Lu Li had finally obtained such an item, and it was even a perfect-quality treasure!

And he was just giving it to her?

"...So if I put on this skirt, I can raise [Amplify Domain] to Jade Rank?"

Lu Li walked toward another Slaughter Chest while casting Scout on the skirt again.

Only after seeing that the item information showed the binding had succeeded did he let out a sigh of relief.

"That's right. It should suit you quite well... both the item's effect and its appearance..."

Xu Xiao's face reddened again at his words.

From the sound of it, Lu Li wanted her to put it on immediately?

Xu Xiao looked around and figured Wang Chao and Ma Han would not be back anytime soon. She turned and headed toward the podium at the front of the classroom.

There were stage curtains there, which could serve as a temporary changing room.

"I-I'll put the skirt on now. Lu Li, y-you're not allowed to peek..."

Without turning around, Lu Li replied, "Don't worry. I'm opening a Treasure Chest."

Standing before the last Slaughter Chest, Lu Li curled his lip and prayed silently.

Please don't let me get anything weird this time...

He raised his hand and opened the Treasure Chest. A burst of golden light flashed!

Lu Li's eyes widened, and excitement gradually spread across his face.

He had actually obtained this item!

[Item Name: Crystal Dissolving Mixture]

[Quality: Mythic]

[Function Description: This Solvent can dissolve Origin Crystals of any rank, absorbing and storing the Experience within. Drinking the Solvent grants 80% of the stored Experience.]

[Note: The main ingredient in this stuff comes from... never mind, what's dissolved in the broth stays in the broth...]

Lu Li knew this item.

In his previous life, it had been known as the most useless Mythic item.

Its value on the trading market was not even worth ten Fate Coins.

The reason lay in its function.

[Dissolve Origin Crystals, store Experience, release Experience.]

Not only did the entire process offer no benefit whatsoever, it even reduced the Experience gained by 20%.

Its only useful feature was that it could ignore the limit of Players being able to absorb only ten Origin Crystals per week.

But compared to the Experience lost, that benefit seemed utterly insignificant.

However, Lu Li knew this item's true value!

[Crystal Dissolving Mixture] had to be used together with the Ranking List's hidden rule!

In his previous life, it was not until the third year after the apocalypse game descended that a Player discovered the hidden rule of the Ranking List.

That was, holding a spot in the top three for a long period could bring Players astonishing rewards!

And to remain at the top of the rankings for a long time, a Player needed to meet two conditions:

First, survive the challenges of numerous Challenger Cards.

Second, absorb more Experience than other Players in the same amount of time and reach a higher level.

The first condition was not difficult to meet.

After all, Players who could rise into the top three of the Ranking List were either powerful experts or well-connected people backed by immense forces.

But the second condition was extremely demanding.

After all, monster levels also rose as time passed.

During the early days of the apocalypse, Third-Order Mana Crystals might appear.

But Fifth-Order or Sixth-Order Mana Crystals would never appear.

Therefore, all Players would still have their levels suppressed within a certain range.

But with [Crystal Dissolving Mixture], things would be different.

This item could dissolve large quantities of low-rank Origin Crystals to accumulate Experience!

Although gathering massive amounts of low-rank Origin Crystals would not be easy for other independent Players.

For Lu Li, a reincarnator, it was as easy as turning his hand!

"[Global Trading Market] should go online at midnight on the third night after the apocalypse begins. I still have two days and eleven hours!"

Lu Li pondered silently.

Players would soon discover the limit of only being able to absorb ten Origin Crystals per week.

When that happened, the trading market would likely be flooded with low-rank Origin Crystals!

Meanwhile, high-rank Origin Crystals would be driven up to absurd prices!

Lu Li only needed to trade high-rank Origin Crystals for a huge number of low-rank ones, then he could quickly "create" a "super Origin Crystal" containing an enormous amount of Experience!

Taking first place on the Ranking List would be no problem!

"I need to find a way to get more high-rank Origin Crystals in the next eleven hours..."

Lu Li muttered to himself. Then he suddenly sensed someone approaching and looked up.

It was Xu Xiao, who had already changed into the skirt.

It had to be said that the pink JK plaid skirt suited the beautiful girl perfectly, making her seem full of youthful energy.

It was just...

A little too short...

So short that it was hard to keep oneself under control!

"Lu Li, d-does the skirt look good...?"

"Uh, it looks good..."

Lu Li nodded and shifted his gaze elsewhere.

The atmosphere became incredibly awkward.

To ease the awkwardness, Lu Li spoke up.

"Oh, right. You still have one Third-Order Mana Crystal on you, don't you? I want to trade five Second-Order Mana Crystals for it."

One Second-Order Mana Crystal contained twenty Experience points, so five made exactly one hundred.

Xu Xiao glanced at Lu Li's bulging pockets. Thinking he simply wanted something easier to carry, she agreed immediately.

"Sure, but the Mana Crystal is with Wang Chao. You'll have to wait for him to come back."

"Oh, okay..."

The awkward atmosphere continued.

Fortunately, before long, the sound of Ma Han and Wang Chao's footsteps came from the doorway.

Wang Xuyan and her group followed behind them.

When Wang Xuyan saw three corpses lying in the classroom while Lu Li stood there perfectly unharmed, her eyes shifted. Her face immediately filled with a fawning smile.

She hurried over to Xu Xiao and asked with apparent concern.

"Oh my, Sister Xiao, are you all right? Wang Chao said you wanted me to come over and save someone. Was Lu Li hurt?"

Seeing Wang Xuyan put on such an act, Wang Chao and Ma Han both rolled their eyes.

Back in the classroom earlier, Wang Xuyan's attitude had been like an old hag haggling at a market stall.

And now, she had actually taken the initiative to cozy up...