First Arrival at the Abyss (Complete), The Shock of Merit Points

[Ding! You have obtained the material: Mutated Blood Lion skeleton. It has been stored in your backpack.]

[Ding! You have obtained the material: Mutated Blood Lion beast eye. It has been stored in your backpack.]

[Ding! You have obtained the material: Mutated Blood Lion beast whip. It has been stored in your backpack.]

[Ding! You have obtained a Rare Crystal (Psychic type) *1. It has been stored in your backpack.]

[Ding! You have obtained a Common Equipment (Top-tier): Blood Lion Ring *1. It has been stored in your backpack.]

Listening to the continuous chime of notifications, Jiang Yuan's eyes lit up.

What a massive haul!

As expected of a rare mutated monster; the loot it dropped was truly plentiful!

He immediately checked the items.

[Rare Crystal (Psychic type)]: A crystal containing strange psychic energy. It can be used to craft items, accessories, weapons, etc. One can also use certain methods to absorb the pure psychic energy within to expand and strengthen one's own psychic domain.

[Blood Lion Ring (Common Top-tier)]: Equipping this grants +10 Strength, +10 Stamina, and +10 Psychic Resistance.

[Required Level]: LV10.

"Not bad, not bad at all."

Jiang Yuan was quite satisfied. After stowing his Bone Spear back into his backpack, he looked at Liu Shi. "It's over now. You should still be able to walk, right?"

"..."

Liu Shi sat slumped on the ground, staring at him blankly.

Jiang Yuan: "?"

Don't tell me her mind was shattered and she's become a fool?

He waved a hand in front of her. "Hey."

Liu Shi suddenly snapped out of her stunned stupor, stammering, "I, I'm fine. Tha, thank... thank you for sav, saving me..."

"That's good. I'm leaving. The exit is in that direction; keep yourself safe." Jiang Yuan pointed the way and prepared to depart.

Seeing him about to leave, Liu Shi grew anxious and couldn't help but call out, "Pl, please wait a moment."

Jiang Yuan turned his head and looked at her in confusion.

"My teammates are all dead. There's no way I can make it out alone. Could you please—no, I beg you to take me out with you!"

Jiang Yuan was just about to refuse. Killing monsters alone was so refreshing; why bother dragging a burden along?

But the woman before him quickly added, "I, I can pay you one million—no, two million as a reward!"

"Deal!"

Leading Liu Shi from the depths of the Abyss all the way back to the entrance, the Tier 1 ferocious beasts they encountered along the way, regardless of type, could basically not withstand a single punch from Jiang Yuan.

They were all killed instantly.

This left Liu Shi shocked once again, convinced that the overly young boy beside her must be a Tier 2 or even Tier 3 awakened martial artist!

At the same time, she was deeply puzzled.

With the strength of the boy beside her, he could easily go to a Level 2 or even Level 3 Abyss. Why come to a tiny Level 1 Abyss?

[You have arrived at the Abyss exit. Do you wish to leave?]

"Yes."

After spending half a day bringing Liu Shi to the Abyss entrance, Jiang Yuan stepped through the spatial rift and exited the Abyss.

Killing over a dozen Tier 1 ferocious beasts had only increased his LV9 to LV10 experience bar by less than 10%.

Spending time in a Level 1 Abyss to grind levels and break through the bottleneck to become a Tier 2 martial artist would take too long; it wasn't worth the effort.

Besides, there was the duel he promised Xu Yihan at the Thunder Martial Arts Hall... that should be tomorrow.

As the space before his eyes shifted, the blue sky and white clouds came back into view.

Jiang Yuan's first trip to the Abyss had come to an end.

At the Level 1 Abyss entrance, Hunter Plaza.

Several stationed soldiers were quite surprised to see him walk out of the Abyss from a distance.

"It's that kid from four days ago. He's actually still alive. I thought he'd be dead long ago."

"The girl who was with him is gone; she must have kicked the bucket."

"I get it now. That woman by his side was an archer from the Huai River Guild. He definitely clung to her coattails to make it out."

"I knew it. How could a newbie stay in the Abyss for four whole days?"

"Pah! I despise guys like that—handsome enough to live off a woman. I'm so damn jealous."

The stationed soldiers were posted here every day. While it was safe and stable, it was also incredibly boring. In their spare time, they kept a close eye on the guilds and hunters coming and going from the Abyss entrance. Being quite the gossips, they had gathered a fair amount of intelligence and knew people from basically every guild.

Under the astonished gazes of several stationed soldiers:

Liu Shi, overwhelmed with emotion and tears of relief at her rebirth, bowed deeply to Jiang Yuan. "I never thought I'd have the chance to see the blue sky again. Thank you, truly."

"I've already transferred the two million reward we agreed upon to your account."

Jiang Yuan pulled up his panel to check, and sure enough, the account balance had increased by two million.

He nodded. "Received."

Liu Shi didn't say anything else; she bowed to Jiang Yuan once more, then turned and left, eager to get home and see her parents.

Jiang Yuan also walked straight away from the plaza, heading toward the tavern in town.

After eating roasted beast meat for several days, he was desperate for a change of pace and some decent food.

The few stationed soldiers were left scratching their heads.

"She's bowing to that kid? Wasn't she the one who brought him out?"

"What on earth is going on here?"

Jiang Yuan approached the checkpoint. Underground, there was a magic array designed to detect if any passing awakened warriors had been corrupted or possessed by Abyss monsters, preventing them from infiltrating human society.

The gate also required a merit card to pass.

Jiang Yuan swiped his card, and the gate opened.

A stationed soldier caught a glimpse of the glowing numbers on the card and froze. He couldn't help but rub his eyes. When he realized he hadn't misread it, his eyes widened and his mouth fell open, his expression shifting into one of shock and horror.

The magic array glowed blue, and the machine emitted an AI voice.

[No issues detected. You may pass.]

Jiang Yuan departed.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? You look like you've seen a ghost," an older soldier asked.

The young soldier replied blankly, "He... he really was entering the Abyss for the first time, right?"

"Yeah, I let him in myself. Why?" another replied.

"I just saw it—his merit points."

"Oh? How many?"

"I bet 3."

"Too high, I bet 2. Hahaha."

The young soldier swallowed hard. "357..."

The group went silent. Dead silence.

"How many?"

"357," the young soldier repeated, certain. "I swear I didn't misread it."

The expressions of the other soldiers mirrored his own: dazed, bewildered, and incredulous.

This number wasn't particularly high; many lone-wolf hunters could reach it by killing monsters and trading resources or equipment.

Some veteran hunters, guild leaders, or wealthy individuals who bought points could even reach thousands or tens of thousands.

But the problem was...

He was entering the Abyss for the first time!

Going from 0 to 357 meant he had killed nearly three hundred Tier 1 beasts while inside the Abyss!!

"Hiss..."

Realizing this, they all uncontrollably gasped, their faces filled with horror.

"Good lord, is he even human?"

"Where did this monster come from!!"