Maximizing Talent Benefits

After leaving Butcher Li, Lin Yi began considering how to maximize the benefits of the Blood Siphon talent.

First of all, killing a thousand creatures in Apocalypse World was clearly unrealistic.

However, Lin Yi had another idea: killing large animals in the real world.

Lin Yi remembered that when he first solidified the Astonishingly Good Bones talent, he had brought the small attribute boosts from that talent into the real world. This showed that talent abilities could also be brought into reality.

If killing creatures in the real world could also trigger the Blood Siphon talent, then he might be able to reach the talent's required limit within a few days.

Lin Yi then logged off and went directly to a market near his apartment, where he bought and killed a live duck.

Lin Yi did not feel anything after killing it, but whether his Health Points had increased would have to be checked on the Attribute Panel after entering the game.

He then returned to his dormitory, entered Apocalypse World, and checked his Attribute Panel.

Player: Green Mountains Never Age

Status: Normal

ID: 007

Gender: Male

Level: Level 1

Health Points: 101.8

Experience Points: 300/100

Satiety: 98/100

Strength: 7 (Normal male limit: 10 points. Affects the character's physical damage and the maximum weapon weight you can use...)

Constitution: 8 (Normal male limit: 10 points. Affects maximum Health Points, Health Point recovery speed, basic toughness...)

Agility: 7 (Normal male limit: 10 points. Affects movement and reaction speed...)

Endurance: 11 (Normal male limit: 10 points. Affects maximum stamina, stamina recovery speed, carrying capacity)

Qi-Blood: 13.5

External Skill: Starfall Archery-LV1 (9/500): For every 1 point of Qi-Blood attached to an arrow, arrow damage increases by 2%. The seventh consecutive arrow can unleash an additional 12% damage.

...

Initial Talent: Omnipotent Talent (Red)-LV1--Blood Siphon

...

When Lin Yi saw the Health Points on the Attribute Panel, his face lit up with delight.

It had increased, just as he thought!

He remembered having 101 Health Points before logging off. Now he had gained another 0.8. This meant killing creatures in the real world still worked, and the Health Point increase was the same as in Apocalypse World.

That night, Lin Yi searched online for slaughterhouses of all sizes near Linhe City, mainly looking into those that slaughtered cattle, sheep, and pigs.

The next day, instead of entering Apocalypse World at his usual scheduled time, Lin Yi hired a car and headed directly to slaughterhouses near Linhe City to investigate in person.

The main issue was that the thousand live creatures he needed to slaughter was far too large a number. Ordinary small factories probably could not meet his needs.

But large slaughterhouses generally used machines and had strict management. Even if he spent money to pull some strings, they probably would not allow him to slaughter the animals personally.

Over the course of the entire day, Lin Yi visited more than ten slaughterhouses in a row, yet failed to find one willing to cooperate.

Fortunately, the research Lin Yi had done the night before was quite thorough. By evening, he finally found a rural slaughterhouse that mainly handled live cattle and pigs.

After agreeing on a price, the owner happily accepted Lin Yi's request.

Slaughtering pigs and cattle was one thing, but slaughtering a thousand of them? He had never encountered such a request before.

But it made no difference to him. As long as he was paid, that was all that mattered.

That evening, Lin Yi gave it a simple try and slaughtered more than twenty live cattle.

Because cattle were much larger than pigs and had more abundant Qi-Blood, Lin Yi had tested it: one live cow could increase his Health Points by 1.6 under the Blood Siphon talent.

If he used all one thousand kills on cattle, he would gain two hundred more Health Points than if he slaughtered pigs.

Lin Yi decided that from now on, he would only slaughter cattle and not pigs.

After being busy all day, Lin Yi was exhausted. Rather than return to Linhe City, he found a guesthouse near the slaughterhouse and stayed there directly.

After checking that there were no hidden recording devices in the guesthouse, Lin Yi entered Apocalypse World.

Honestly, this was Lin Yi's first time entering the game at night.

Ghost Spirits appeared at night. Lin Yi knew it was dangerous and had no intention of going out, only planning to practice archery in the courtyard.

After all, he had not had time to log in all day. He could not waste his six hours of game time for the day.

After eating some food to replenish his Satiety, Lin Yi walked out of the Militia Team dormitory. Looking up, he saw that the sky outside was pitch-black, but a strange red glow illuminated the entire heavens.

It was said that the red glow was the protective radiance emitted by Ancient Pool Village's Temple. It could drive away some of the Ghost Spirits lurking in the darkness. Lin Yi had heard of it long ago, so he was not surprised.

There was no one in the entire dormitory compound. It was completely dark. Lin Yi found some Candle Flame and lit it, then went into the courtyard to practice Starfall Archery.

One arrow, two arrows...

Lin Yi practiced his archery seriously.

Two hours later, a piercing sound suddenly came from the distance. Judging by the direction, it seemed to be coming from the south of Ancient Pool Village.

Before long, a bright firework exploded in that direction.

Lin Yi frowned slightly. The firework was a signal from the Militia Team, indicating that Ghost Spirits had invaded.

Normally, all Militia Team members were supposed to rush over to provide support at a time like this. But without hesitation, Lin Yi put the bow and arrows from the Wooden Target into his backpack, decisively logged off, and vanished from Apocalypse World.

Ghost Spirits were different from Monsters. They could kill without leaving a trace. Once a person was entangled by a Ghost Spirit, there was practically no chance of survival.

Two previous Militia Team Captains had died at the hands of Ghost Spirits. Lin Yi felt that someone as weak as him had no need to join the excitement. Even if he went, he would only be a burden.

This was not cowardice. It was following his heart.

Early the next morning, the sun was bright and clear. Worried about the Ghost Spirit attack that had occurred in Ancient Pool Village the night before, Lin Yi logged into the game early.

At that moment, more than a dozen corpses had been laid out in an open area on the eastern side of Ancient Pool Village. Most of the members of the Four Militia Teams had gathered there, their expressions grim.

The corpses were all shriveled and horrifying. Some had blood flowing from their seven orifices, while others wore looks of terror, as though they had seen something especially frightening before they died.

Having heard the news, Lin Yi rushed over and came to Gu Chenghu and Gu He's side.

"Captain, what happened?"

Gu Chenghu did not speak. Gu He, standing beside him, said in a low voice, "A Ghost Spirit entered the village last night. More than a dozen villagers had their vital essence drained and died miserably. One member of the Third Squad also died."

"Did you catch the Ghost Spirit?"

Gu He shook his head. "No. Or rather, we never found it. Elder Gu He said this Ghost Spirit can hide within shadows and is exceptionally skilled at concealing itself. All Four Militia Teams searched through the latter half of the night, but we never found any trace of it."

"Then what do we do?"

"I don't know. The Village Elders should have an idea. I suspect there will be a major operation tonight."

Soon, the bodies of the villagers were burned and buried. Village Elder Gu He briefly presided over a sacrificial rite, summoned the Captains of the Four Militia Teams, and then dismissed everyone.

During the day, Lin Yi went outside the city wall to stand guard with the Second Team as usual. However, the entire Militia Team, including the recently returned Gu Chenghu, was worried. They were likely concerned about the Ghost Spirit that had invaded the village.

A stifling atmosphere hung over the entire Second Team.

Lin Yi could not help asking, "Captain, can the External Skills we learn harm Ghost Spirits?"

Gu Chenghu sighed. "Most External Skills cannot. Only a small number can, such as the Blazing Sun Saber Technique, the Spirit-Embedding Technique, and the Village Chief's ultimate External Skill. Of course, Divine Talismans made from Gu Yuan can also harm Ghost Spirits."

After saying that, Gu Chenghu looked at Lin Yi again. "I heard Brother Yongqiang plans to teach you the Blazing Sun Saber Technique. Since you have already awakened your Qi-Blood, learn it as soon as possible. If you encounter a Ghost Spirit in the future, you will at least have some means of protecting yourself. But if your Qi-Blood is too low, the Blazing Sun Saber Technique will not be able to display much power. You need to understand that."

Lin Yi nodded. "I understand, Captain."

Gu Yongqiang had told him before that the reason he would only teach Lin Yi the Blazing Sun Saber Technique after Level 4 was because its power depended on the amount of Qi-Blood one possessed. If his Qi-Blood was too low, he might not even be able to use the Blazing Sun Saber Technique.

But the Ghost Spirit Invasion Incident from last night had given Lin Yi a sense of crisis. He was only Level 1 now, and his attributes were not much different from those of an ordinary person. Whether he encountered a more dangerous Monster or a Ghost Spirit, he had no ability to protect himself.

No. I need to use my Experience Points to level up. I can't keep saving them!

If some sudden incident got him killed, he might not have a chance to regret it afterward.

Having made up his mind, Lin Yi found an opportunity to use his Experience Points to level up.

"Ding! You consumed 100 Experience Points. Your level has increased. You obtained five Free Attribute Points!"

"Ding! You consumed 200 Experience Points. Your level has increased. You obtained five Free Attribute Points!"

He had risen two levels in one go, gaining a total of ten Free Attribute Points.

The current basic Four-Dimensional Attributes were Strength, Constitution, Agility, and Endurance.

Constitution was mainly tied to Health Points. Lin Yi believed Blood Siphon could give him at least over a thousand Health Points, so he did not intend to add points to Constitution for now.

Strength was tied to attack power, so Lin Yi planned to focus on the Strength attribute.

Agility was tied to reaction speed and movement speed. It would help him escape in time when he encountered danger, so it also needed points.

As for Endurance, it was currently Lin Yi's highest attribute at 11 points, so it could wait.

After considering it, Lin Yi added 7 points to Strength and 3 points to Agility.

After allocating the points, Lin Yi's Four-Dimensional Attributes and Qi-Blood were now:

Strength: 14 (Normal male limit: 10 points. Affects the character's physical damage and the maximum weapon weight you can use...)

Constitution: 8 (Normal male limit: 10 points. Affects maximum Health Points, Health Point recovery speed, basic toughness...)

Agility: 10 (Normal male limit: 10 points. Affects movement and reaction speed...)

Endurance: 11 (Normal male limit: 10 points. Affects maximum stamina, stamina recovery speed, carrying capacity)

Qi-Blood: 16 (6 points came from Blood Food)

As for his Health Points, he had slaughtered 23 domestic cattle the night before, gaining 36.8 Health Points. Adding the 40 Health Points he had gained from leveling up just now, he currently had 178.6 Health Points in total.

Compared to Level 1, Lin Yi had basically gained half again as many Health Points. His sense of security was much stronger than before.

But after leveling up, killing Monsters would probably grant him less Experience Points.

Lin Yi did not care about that small amount of Experience Points. Now that Ghost Spirits had entered the village, Ancient Pool Village was not very safe. Having more ability to protect himself was more valuable.

After exiting Apocalypse World, Lin Yi went to the factory to slaughter live cattle.

Perhaps because he had just leveled up and allocated points, Lin Yi felt his entire body brimming with strength. Small muscles had bulged on his arms and abdomen. He also briefly tested his speed, and it was far better than before. His hundred-meter dash was around ten seconds.

At the factory, Lin Yi slaughtered more than a hundred live cattle in succession, only stopping when it was time for lunch.

Lunch was an ordinary boxed meal. Lin Yi ate only the rice and vegetables, having no appetite for meat.

At that moment, Lin Yi received a message from Liu Bo.

"Brother Yi, I'm going out for a while. I probably won't be back until half a month later, so don't contact me during this time. :)"

There was a smiling face added after the message. This was the secret signal Liu Bo and Lin Yi had agreed upon. Adding that smile meant there was no danger and the message had been sent by Liu Bo himself.

After reading the message, Lin Yi was not worried about Liu Bo's safety. Liu Bo had contacted him frequently recently and often reported that he was safe.

Lin Yi guessed that Liu Bo had already come under the Official's notice. According to what Qin Changsheng had said, Liu Bo would most likely be recruited and become an Official member.

Outside the Linhe City police station, three people sat inside a car.

The leader was Zhao Shuang, an official member of Linhe City's Apocalypse Squad and Zhang Baichuan's subordinate.

One of the other two was Liu Bo, who had just sent Lin Yi a message. He carried a black backpack and pulled a suitcase, as though he were moving house.

The remaining man was an unfamiliar face named Zhou Huaiwen. He looked to be in his forties and had an honest appearance.

As the car started, Liu Bo could not help asking, "Brother Shuang, what kind of training will we undergo when we get to the Capital City headquarters? What if we don't pass?"

Zhao Shuang skillfully changed gears, then looked back and said, "Don't worry. There are no issues with your review. Once you get there, you'll receive the relevant training. As for the assessment, it's just a formality."

"That's good."

Only then did Liu Bo relax.

Ever since he had used that Ordinary Activation Code to enter Apocalypse World, he had followed Lin Yi's advice to develop quietly and slowly explore Apocalypse World.

But because Liu Hong's Special Activation Code had never been found, the Official had kept its attention on him.

Because he entered Apocalypse World for several days in a row, Liu Bo's actions were quickly discovered by the Official.

After that, Zhang Baichuan arranged for Zhao Shuang to approach Liu Bo and recruit him.

However, according to procedure, Liu Bo needed to go to Jingcheng Headquarters for relevant training and learn more about the mysteries of Apocalypse Game.

Liu Bo could not help asking again, "Brother Shuang, if we leave, won't Captain Zhang be the only one left on the team? What if a special incident happens..."

"No need to worry. Special incidents are rare at the moment. Not a single one has happened in Linhe City, and after I send you to the Capital City, I'll return..."

Along the way, Zhao Shuang chatted casually with Liu Bo. Zhou Huaiwen, seated in the back, simply stared silently out the window without saying a word.

Zhao Shuang glanced at him through the rearview mirror before saying, "Old Zhou, don't be so downcast. I guarantee headquarters has information related to your son's case. When the time comes, we'll definitely find the murderer who killed your son."

Zhou Huaiwen slowly raised his head and replied in a hoarse voice, "Okay."

After that, silence fell inside the car.