First steps in Rodos

The moment Zhang Yao lowered his head to look at the ring, a translucent panel appeared beside it, displaying its attributes.

Ring of the Cunning Jackal: contains ten cubic meters of storage space. Special effect: automatically collects loot within a ten-meter radius of the ring.

View character information. After scanning the ring's attributes and finding none of the bonuses he needed most right now, Zhang Yao silently called up his own stats. At his mental command, a translucent panel like the one for the Ring of the Cunning Jackal appeared before his eyes.

Zhang Yao's information: level 0, 0/100.

Attributes: strength 7, agility 7, constitution 9, mental power 6. (The average value for a healthy thirty-year-old man is 5.) Strength determines damage output and carrying capacity. Agility determines movement speed and reaction time. Constitution determines resistance to abnormal conditions and the ability to withstand damage. Mental power represents intelligence and willpower. Beneath these attribute descriptions was a health bar displaying 90. (Health = constitution × 10)

Skills: none.

Items: none.

At the very bottom was the entry:

Talent: nine netherworlds (first layer).

Apart from that brief label, there was no further explanation of this talent.

Zhang Yao compared the values and found that all his basic attributes exceeded those of an ordinary person. His constitution, in particular, was nearly twice the average.

What's going on? Even if I'm healthy, there's no way I should be this healthy! Puzzled, Zhang Yao scanned the Attribute Panel back and forth, scarcely able to believe it. When his gaze reached the talent entry, inspiration struck. Could this have something to do with my practice of the Nine Nether Art? Even though I've only reached its first layer, has it already been strengthening my body without my noticing?

The more Zhang Yao thought about it, the more sense it made, giving him a little more confidence in facing the perilous future.

While there's still time, I need to restore my true qi! In this place full of unknowns, every bit of true qi gave him another measure of security. Seeing the nine netherworlds entry immediately reminded Zhang Yao of the true qi the Guiding Stone had drained from him earlier. Without another word, he sat cross-legged and began regulating his breathing and circulating his energy to replenish it.

It had taken Zhang Yao nearly eight months to cultivate his first wisp of true qi from nothing. This time, the Guiding Stone had drained every last bit of it. As he began regulating his breathing, he could not help feeling a little apprehensive, afraid he would have to endure that long process of starting from scratch all over again.

He was not afraid of hardship or loneliness. He was worried about time! He had only twenty-four hours in this hall, while cultivating his first wisp of true qi had taken eight whole months! There was simply no comparison!

If he really needed another eight months to cultivate true qi again, his chances of surviving in Rodos would undoubtedly shrink further. Eight months was a long time, after all. Who knew what unforeseen events might happen in between?

Zhang Yao already regarded true qi as the very foundation of his survival in Rodos!

As he gradually settled into a meditative state, Zhang Yao discovered that his earlier worries had been completely unnecessary. He felt countless streams of spiritual energy pass through his skin, muscles, and internal organs before slowly gathering in his dantian and transforming into a wisp of pure true qi.

With that first wisp of true qi present, the influx of spiritual energy instantly doubled in speed. Like a greedy man spotting gold and jewels, or a lustful man seeing a beautiful woman, it surged in without end, transforming into strand after strand of true qi. Within just a few breaths, the newly cultivated true qi exceeded the entire amount Zhang Yao had previously held in his dantian.

His true qi continued to increase. Only when his dantian began to ache from the pressure did Zhang Yao reluctantly emerge from his meditative state. Sensing that his total true qi was now twice what it had been before, he wanted to shout with sheer exhilaration.

It took Zhang Yao quite a while to calm down. The sensation of his true qi growing at such an incredible speed had simply felt too good.

Character attributes, Zhang Yao commanded silently. Now that his true qi had recovered and even surpassed its former level, he wanted to see whether his attributes had changed.

He carefully checked each attribute and found no changes. The only addition was a long blue bar beneath the health display on his character panel. Seeing the number 50 marked on it, Zhang Yao immediately guessed that it represented his true qi.

All that true qi, and it's only 50? I thought it would be at least several hundred! Looking at the blue bar displaying his true qi value, Zhang Yao felt somewhat dissatisfied. To him, the vigorous true qi surging through his dantian, responding as naturally as his own limbs, surely deserved more than a two-digit number.

Not only was his newly cultivated true qi more abundant than before, but Zhang Yao also felt that controlling it now took noticeably less effort. He wanted to sit down and study exactly what had happened to it, but a countdown beneath the Attribute Panel forced him to abandon the idea.

00:10:59

The number on the countdown made Zhang Yao freeze for a moment. From his arrival in the Chosen One Hall, through that bitch's vicious humiliation of him, to the moment he began meditating, no more than two hours could have passed! That meant the meditation session that had felt so brief had actually lasted more than twenty hours!

The realization gave Zhang Yao a fright. Thank goodness I woke up in time! Otherwise, there wouldn't even have been any bones left of me!

Chosen Ones could remain in the hall for only a limited time. As the deadline approached, a portal would appear. If a Chosen One stayed in the hall beyond the time limit instead of leaving, the hall would drag them into the warped void and reduce them to dust.

When Zhang Yao had received that vast mass of information, this had been the very first notice to appear. It had even been specially highlighted to emphasize its importance.

Whoosh! While Zhang Yao was still shaken by the close call, an oval, pale blue portal appeared in the middle of the hall.

"Heh, looks like I'm still lucky! I hope that luck stays with me!" Looking at the portal before him, Zhang Yao chuckled and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Just in time! I almost died! If I'd died like that, I might really have become the Chosen One with the most pathetic death of all. Filled with both the exhilaration of narrowly escaping death and uncertainty about what lay ahead, Zhang Yao slowly approached the portal.

Standing before the portal, Zhang Yao glanced back at the hall one last time, then gritted his teeth and plunged through.

Zhang Yao's adventure in Rodos had officially begun.

(PS: Today's second update~~~ Guys, keep cheering Tuifei on~~~~~~~~)