Chapter 362

"This secret is earth-shattering, but I'm not yet at the level to uncover it."

"It will arrive soon." Shiki Ryougi lowered her head and continued the tea ceremony. "You are nearing the epic; do you wish to obtain the path ahead?"

Yuki immediately sat up straight and nodded without hesitation. "I will listen to your teachings, senior."

"It's not really about giving advice. The prerequisite is to obtain the epic achievement, then overpower monsters with your score. You can stack up your score by accumulating Chaos Item or absorbing various random skills, but I suggest you don't do that."

"Why?" Yuki thought to himself that this was either a pay-to-win strategy or a farming team approach.

"The process before reaching the epic level is one of quantitative change, but true powerhouses may have many skills and items, but they won't have many true core abilities."

Shiki Ryougi stared at Yuki, her eyes a deep, dark blue that seemed to connect to the very source of existence, drawing in one's soul.

"Strengthen this core ability, use it as a sharp sword to cut open the gates of epic power, and you will achieve a true qualitative leap."

Yuki left satisfied, leaving only the mother and daughter in the room.

The tea was warm, emitting a sweet aroma. Shiki Ryougi knelt upright, her cool face displaying a variety of expressions. Mona sat obediently beside her, her azure eyes filled with curiosity.

She rarely saw her mother have such a rich range of expressions. The last time was when they found some crucial clue, and she remembered that her mother was very excited at the time.

Just then, a hand was placed on top of my head and gently stroking it.

"Mona, you did a great job."

"Uh, I didn't expect to be able to help Mom so much." Mona scratched her head. Her initial intention was that she thought Yuki was very capable and might be a good henchman, so she could use information to keep him in check.

Unexpectedly, the two parties collaborated, but the content of the collaboration was related to the mother's wish.

"This is cause and effect, indescribable cause and effect, just like the clue I stumbled upon." Shiki Ryougi didn't have the air of a charlatan, yet every word she spoke was like the Truth. "This Mr. Li is no ordinary person. It was because your ' Manas Consciousness couldn't see through him that I decided to meet him."

"No player who can be hunted down by the Judge is simple, but I think he's more mysterious."

Mysterious? There are countless players with this trait. Strength is the key. Without strength, no wish can be fulfilled, and having strength but no path will only make you a weapon in the game.

Shiki Ryougi took a few steps and looked at the knight standing straight in the courtyard. There are many players who want to leave the game, but only in Monster IV do they have the right to do so.

Therefore, she decided to place her bet on the other party, paying a deposit along with a task.

He's quite powerful, his identity is mysterious, yet he's surprisingly ignorant. Could it be that he recently ascended to immortality?

"Mom, is there really a way to go back?" Mona hesitated for a long time, but finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"Yes, and someone almost did it." Shiki Ryougi refused to reveal the name, as if doing so would trigger karma. "Mona, go with him."

"Ah?"

"I have a feeling this person is very important." Shiki Ryougi gently stroked the door frame, recalling the 'root' she had glimpsed when recounting the key clues.

I couldn't see anything, but it was closely related to the inheritance. After hesitating for a long time, I finally made up my mind.

Most importantly, my journey is nearing its end, and I'm running out of time.

"You can sign a contract with him, the closer the better. I don't want to be left behind in the game when that path appears."

Mona tilted her head, her clear blue eyes looking as if she hadn't understood.

Is this... is this selling a daughter?

Now I have no other choice.

At the same time, Yuki was walking on the road at the Borderlands, brushing past all sorts of players. The main quest had progressed a long way, and through a chance encounter, Yuki learned a lot of inside information.

It turns out that the Borderlands used to be a base for reincarnators. No wonder it needs to be linked to various Outpost. This link is also a test. In a closed world, you don't even have the qualifications to be cannon fodder.

Many questions were answered, horizons broadened, and most importantly, Yuki finally had a clear path forward.

"Being a corporate slave within the framework of this Reincarnation Game' is useless. Your boss won't show you any pity just because you're ambitious; they'll only exploit you more. The worst part is that this piece of crap game can't even be bothered to make any promises."

"You either die or you keep going; either way, He won't lose out."

Yuki pursed his lips. So what if he reached the Reincarnator stage? Could he still unify all the 'games' and become the true sole one?

That might work, but it's too far off, and there are too many variables along the way.

"Then I can only bet on 'Taiyi'. Although I don't know what He is, He must have a grudge against the Reincarnation Game and has been protecting me all along."

Once the route is clear, figuring out the next steps becomes as easy as clearing away the clouds.

"First, continue to improve your strength and unlock the Black Blade; this is a necessary condition for getting closer to the truth. Second, cooperate with Shiki Ryougi; she is definitely a core figure of the Return Faction, and she will inevitably have cross-faction collaborators around her."

Shiki Ryougi is truly taking a risk, which is much better than just shouting slogans. As an epic-level player and one of the five Heroic Spirits, she can also make up for Yuki's weak foundation.

After all, there are only two instances after ascension, and one doesn't dare to act ostentatiously. How can one find allies?

"But Sister Shi is too cautious. As an ally, she actually assigned me a task."

Yuki snorted, but felt much more at ease. After all, he was going against the game, so the more cautious he was, the better. He didn't want to hide any spies from the Judge and expose himself.

"And there's the advancement to Epic rank. I knew there was something fishy going on. Sister Shi was a huge help."

He finally understood what a true epic-level powerhouse was. There were many paths to reaching this point, and simply boosting one's rating wasn't very useful. Even if one's energy underwent a qualitative change, one would still be much weaker than others of the same level.

There are no shortcuts to becoming stronger; if you insist on taking one, you'll have to pay the price.

The best approach is to accumulate knowledge and experience to reach the door, then use your core competence to kick the door open, and the force that kicks the door will undergo a complete transformation.

If you accumulate 32 specialization points and raise your physical attributes to LV9, you can advance to Epic rank, and you will most likely become a melee specialization.

If you invest heavily in the Night Furnace and can take that step, you'll become an epic item-based player.

If you upgrade Demon Possession to LV6, you may become an epic-level demon.

If he continues to enhance his Ego Trait, Yuki himself doesn't even know what he'll become.

These are not the core strengths, or rather, the benefits are not yet significant enough, because once a qualitative change is determined, one must continuously advance along this path, and these are all too ordinary in Yuki's eyes.

The core power should be able to connect all my skills, items, and bloodlines to achieve a synergistic effect greater than the sum of its parts.

He looked at the player panel again and again, and gradually got an idea.

Soul power, or soul energy, is something Hunter's Blunderbuss, Demon Possession, and Soul Infection.

But how can we be 100% certain that the qualitative change will occur in the 'soul'?

Yuki finally had an idea.

"No rush, we're going to participate in the faction war soon, maybe we can solve it then."

Yuki stopped in his tracks. Kaguya had sent a message saying that she had finished trading the items with Ouroboros and was asking if he wanted to go and meet her.

"A high-ranking member of the War Orphans wants to see you. Will you come?"

"No, I'm not on the same side as Thorny Rose. I don't want to expose that I can still contact them after I return." Yuki had already thought it through. The Judge was keeping an eye on Thorny Rose, and he needed to get his seniors cleared of wrongdoing as soon as possible.

"I've adjusted your mission acceptance permissions to the fastest speed. Quickly get used to the tools and prepare for the new mission."

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a series of sighs and lamentations. One of the weaknesses of the Thorny Rose is that it can easily turn players into lazy bums.

"Stop complaining. Didn't you want to settle things with me? At the same frequency, you wouldn't even get a whiff of my exhaust."

"Who wants to eat your exhaust fumes? Fine, I'll get started right now!" Kaguya Shinomiya immediately became incredibly energetic, wishing she could complete ten dungeons a day and crush Yuki under her feet.

"Mr. Yuki, be careful, the Judge will definitely keep tracking you." Hiyori's voice came immediately.

"I'm afraid they won't come. If we run into you and me every time, even a fool would know there's a direct connection," Yuki sneered. He was most afraid that the Judge would target his seniors. Once might be a coincidence, but what about the second time?

"The Judge might also come looking for you. The plan has already been sent to you. When that happens, make sure you're well-coordinated and don't keep focusing on the Thorny Rose."

"Okay, my senior asked me to pass on a message to you, telling you to behave yourself."

"Don't worry, I'm always the most honest." Yuki rolled her eyes, paused for a moment, and then instructed, "Hiyori, I'm counting on you. Contact me by fax if anything happens."

"Be careful, the Judge will come after you too."

He gave the Hyperdimensional Fax Machine to Hiyori; this device could transmit messages across instances, allowing him to track progress.

"But we've already cleared our name, and even the causal investigation hasn't yielded any results." Hiyori was a little confused. Causal investigation is the highest level of tracking, and the Judge had already used it.

The result was obviously invalid, because they had never actually come into contact with 'Taiyi'.

"It's always better to be careful. There's a super cunning guy among the Judge." Yuki was already extremely wary just because of the name 'Aizen'.

"All right."

With communication cut off, Yuki took a deep breath. It would be a lie to say he wasn't worried, but rationally speaking, this team had experience flying solo, worked together seamlessly, and was very strong.

After dealing with the junk, Kaguya carefully selected two items.

One is a level 4 Spatial Rift Spear, which is like Flying Thunder God kunai, allowing the user to teleport between three fixed coordinates; the other is a level 5 Color-Changing Cloak, which can generate a special force field that blends into the environment optically and energetically.

This young lady didn't just think of herself; following Yuki's orders, she bought a level 5 defensive item for Frieren.

The Spatial Armguard creates a spatial rift that can isolate most attacks.

"All of these are high-value equipment with minimal side effects. Including the upgrades, it cost me a total of four thousand points. Damn, I've never been so generous with my money before."

Yuki gritted his teeth. Three items had drained the team's entire score, not to mention the Yuki hadn't even had a chance to enjoy. This item-based strategy was not something ordinary players could do, but you get what you pay for, and his strength rating skyrocketed.

The strongest member, Hayasaka Ai, is Monster II, while Mai Sakurajima, Kaguya, and Frieren have all reached Monster I. Even Shiina Hiyori is only Transcendental Grade IV. Within the entire Thorny Rose team, they belong to the top-tier squad.

He's proficient in stealth, sniping, burst damage, decryption, scouting, and firepower coverage. If there's anything he's missing, it's probably a meat shield.

"Sigh, I guess I'll just pay for peace of mind, so I can focus on my plan."

Yuki picking up girls, and he was even more excited about the growth of his seniors. In this Reincarnation Game, only they would dare to risk everything for him regardless of the consequences.

So the first step is to clear the senior's name and, incidentally, fulfill the promotion requirements.

Half an hour later, Yuki arrived in front of a three-story building. It was a Japanese-style office building, the kind of small building that often appears in anime featuring yakuza companies.

Is this the office of the Demon Extermination Squad?

Yuki observed that this office was not even as good as Shiki Ryougi's manor, and there were also sneaky players spying around.

Players who are ghosts, demons, or evil creatures are making full use of the Borderlands's inability to attack each other.

Yuki touched the Fool's Mask on his face. After reaching LV4, it could cause visual illusions to players below the monster level even without being used. So he straightened his trench coat.

Its gaze immediately locked onto the zombie, whose face was contorted in a ferocious grimace and whose long tongue dangled as it approached, its cataract-like eyes filled with warning.

They are sworn enemies; I doubt most factions would be so 'harmonious'.

"I advise you not to go near, otherwise..."

Before it could finish speaking, Yuki had already vanished. The Transcendental Grade zombie was stunned, turned around to look, and saw that its target had disappeared into the corridor. It was horrified.

"This person is amazing, they can't be an actor, right?"

"Who knows? The player we intercepted last time also had Monster III, but it turned out he just had a higher appearance fee."

"Stop talking nonsense and go find out this person's background immediately."

Ignoring the chaos on the street, Yuki walked up the stairs and saw Kento Nanami leaning against the wall smoking, his eyes looking very strange.

I felt a mixture of admiration and surprise.

"Your 'Night Parade of One Hundred Demons' is quite a spectacle, keeping watch all the way to the Borderlands. What, are you surprised?" Yuki dusted off his sleeves and caught the cigarette that was thrown to him.

"No need for that. You're a big shot, why would you be afraid of these bastards?" Kento Nanami leaned forward to light Yuki's cigarette, flicking the match. "I just didn't expect you to come so quickly and so decisively."

In the Reincarnation Game, most factions accept quests about once a month. This return has only been three days; it should be a time for a long nap.

Then I eliminated Day, arranged the Arbitration Council, met with Shiki Ryougi, and even found time to go on a date with my senior and Hayasaka Ai.

Yuki realized he was the real master of time management. He flicked off his cigarette ash and half-jokingly said, "It's better to have more debts than less. Besides, I can use your favors too."

His knowledge as a time traveler made him good at making friends, and the Demon Extermination Squad and the 'Hero Kingdom' were his most trustworthy friends.

"I'll help you, and then I'll wait for you to help me. I don't mind making some sacrifices for this favor."

"We really do click; there's been much less testing each other now."

"No, this is the most rational thought, a reward for those of you in the Wizard's Tower who, despite your doubts, still followed me to the very end."

The two exchanged a smile. Yuki was certainly not a fool; all his actions were the result of careful consideration.

Didn't the Demon Extermination Squad realize they weren't players of 'Aether Particles'? Didn't they suspect the unusually close relationship between 'Thorny Rose' and others? Didn't they know their pursuers might be the Judge?

They all knew, but none of them asked; they kept their promises and punished evil while promoting good.

"Come with me, your senior is waiting for you." Kento Nanami turned around and opened the door.