Soaring Health Points

However, Ancient Pool Village only had the Divine Sacrifice profession. If Lin Yi wanted to change to another profession, he would probably have to find another way when the time came.

Realizing they had drifted off topic, Gu Chenghu frowned and said, "All right, weren't you asking about Squad Five? How did we end up talking about professional level?"

"If you truly want to join Militia Squad Five, the biggest concern is whether you can accept the contract you'll have to sign upon joining."

Lin Yi was startled. "A contract? Captain, joining Squad Five requires signing a contract?"

"Of course. Once the training is complete, all the Newborns in Squad Five will head out under the Village Elder's lead to seek out scattered Monsters in the Wilderness and kill them, helping the Newborns level up quickly."

"But this expedition will consume resources Ancient Pool Village has accumulated over many years to deal with Monsters and Ghost Spirits. Therefore, all participating Newborns must sign a contract to remain in Ancient Pool Village for one year and serve us."

Hearing the terms of the contract, Lin Yi frowned.

Having to remain in Ancient Pool Village for a year was clearly beyond his expectations.

"Captain, must I sign the contract?"

Gu Chenghu patiently explained, "Naturally. Qingshan, you Newborns must kill Monsters and Ghost Spirits to level up quickly. But Ancient Pool Village is protected by the Temple. Though Monsters occasionally enter the village, they are only scattered stragglers. To raise you Newborns to Level 10, we must go into the Wilderness and find a large number of Monsters. The resources this consumes are no small amount."

"I understand. Thank you for the reminder, Captain. In that case, I won't join Squad Five."

Lin Yi shook his head. After hearing what Gu Chenghu had said, he changed his mind.

Militia Squad Five was good, but he could not accept the condition of signing a contract.

With the Omnipotent Talent in hand, Lin Yi felt that it should not take him long to reach Level 10.

So signing a half-year contract was not worthwhile for him.

Gu Chenghu patted Lin Yi's shoulder and said with a smile, "Good. I also think Squad Five doesn't suit you. Joining Squad Five means truly going out and risking your life. How could it compare to our Second Team? Usually, we only need to guard the city gate and kill a few lone Monsters."

Ancient Pool Village was highly efficient. The selection process to form Militia Squad Five quickly began throughout the village.

The next day, nearly every Newborn in the village received a mission: "Ding! Ancient Pool Village is forming Militia Squad Five. All Newborns may register, and those who pass the selection may join Militia Squad Five..."

Although Lin Yi had been in Ancient Pool Village for one or two weeks, he truly did not know how many Newborns there were in the village.

This time, all the Newborns applying for Militia Squad Five gathered at the Yao Field in the eastern part of the village, giving him a chance to find out.

By noon, the sun was blazing.

Yet only around a dozen people stood scattered across the empty Yao Field.

Most of them had short hair, making it obvious that they were players.

Some carried weapons such as sabers, swords, and bows. Others were empty-handed and still wore the beast-hide clothes given to beginners, apparently having arrived in Ancient Pool Village only recently.

At that moment, someone approached from the crowd and said, "Brother Qingshan, Militia Squad Five has such good treatment. Why didn't you join?"

It was Qin Changsheng, Butcher Ling's apprentice.

"Didn't you also choose not to join?"

Qin Changsheng spread his hands. "I can't. My level is too low, I have no special skills or talents. Even if I registered, I wouldn't make it to the end. Unlike you, brother—you're a probationary member of the Militia Team. Once you reach Level 5, you'll definitely become a core member of the Militia Team."

Lin Yi smiled and looked at him. "You looked me up?"

"Heh, listen to you. I'm a game merchant. There aren't many players in Ancient Pool Village to begin with, and I know all the high-level players. A few casual questions are enough to find out."

Qin Changsheng continued flattering him, "But I've been in the village for so long, and I've never seen anyone join the Militia Team at Level 1. Brother Qingshan is definitely going to become a great expert someday."

"Thanks. By the way, there are quite a few players in our village. Do you know them all?"

"Saying I know all of them wouldn't be entirely accurate. Mainly, my master slaughters pigs, and I've been in Ancient Pool Village long enough that I've met most of the players here. But I'm not familiar with the newly arrived Newborns."

Qin Changsheng pointed with his finger. "Look at the players in the back rows of the Yao Field. I've never seen them before. They probably arrived in Ancient Pool Village within the last few days."

Lin Yi asked curiously, "Then how many players does Ancient Pool Village have?"

Qin Changsheng said, "Including the people here, fewer than fifty, probably. Some are like me—they're afraid of Monsters and Ghost Spirits, so they only log in occasionally to experience life and have remained at Level 1. Some players are lone wolves and rarely interact with other players. Then there's a group of high-level players in the Militia Team, or high-level players who never joined the Militia Team. There are around five or six of them, all big shots above Eighth Rank."

"Then do you know how many villages like Ancient Pool Village there are on Apocalypse Continent?"

"Who knows? As far as I know, even the Official doesn't have that figured out..."

Just as Lin Yi and Qin Changsheng were chatting, Gu He appeared. After saying a few words, he led the dozen or so Newborns away from the Yao Field.

Qin Changsheng asked in confusion, "Hey! Where are they going? I wanted to see how the selection would be done."

Lin Yi knew the process from Gu Chenghu and said, "To the Temple. The first round of screening will take place there."

Qin Changsheng said enviously, "Not bad. If these newcomers really get selected, they might rise to the top in a single step!"

"Rise to the top in a single step... perhaps."

Inside Ancient Pool Village's Temple, after a simple screening, only four of the dozen or so players who had come from the Yao Field remained.

One of them had met Lin Yi before. He was the new player named Wang Zilong, who had chopped firewood in front of Gu Yongqiang's house that day.

Wang Zilong had thought that only the four of them players had been selected for the legendary Militia Squad Five. Unexpectedly, a while later, several more players wearing Militia Team uniforms arrived.

These players were already members of the Militia Team, so they did not need to undergo screening to join Militia Squad Five.

Wang Zilong had been in Ancient Pool Village for several days and knew that players who could join the Militia Team were all experts above Level 5. He could not help showing envy.

"Bro, my name is Wang Zilong. You're an Earthling too?"

Dugu Feng glanced at the newcomer who had approached him and nodded.

Although joining Militia Squad Five required signing a contract to serve Ancient Pool Village for half a year, the temptation of directly reaching Level 10 still made Dugu Feng unable to resist joining Militia Squad Five.

Besides Dugu Feng, there was also a Level 5 player named Zhu Qiang from Militia Squad One and a Level 5 fat man named Qian Duoduo from Third Squad, both of whom joined Militia Squad Five.

Outside the Temple hall, Gu He looked at everyone present and said solemnly, "Newborns, welcome to Militia Squad Five. Militia Squad Five is a team specially prepared for you Newborns. Here, you will grow rapidly..."

Meanwhile, Lin Yi brought three Crimson Flower Fruit to the entrance of Ancient Pool Village's Treasure Vault.

Lin Yi urgently needed Blood Food that could increase his Qi-Blood. The only valuable things he had on him were the three Crimson Flower Fruit, so he planned to exchange them for Contribution Points, then exchange those for Blood Food.

He just did not know how much the Crimson Flower Fruit were worth.

After all, they were White-quality Spiritual Fruit, not ordinary fruit. They should have some value.

The team on duty outside the Treasure Vault today was Militia Squad One, and Gu Liehai was standing outside.

Lin Yi was fairly familiar with this Militia Captain, so he explained his purpose.

Gu Liehai said, "Crimson Flower Fruit with healing effects? Take them out and let me see."

Lin Yi took out the Crimson Flower Fruit he had picked a few days ago. Since they had been stored in the Spatial Backpack, the fruit was still very fresh.

"They really are Crimson Flower Fruit. Not bad."

Gu Liehai nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Lin Yi and said, "Qingshan, you're quite lucky to find this kind of Spiritual Fruit in the village. How about this? You don't need to enter the Treasure Vault to exchange them. If you want Blood Food, I have some here."

Lin Yi hesitated. "Captain, this..."

"Don't worry that I'm cheating you. One fruit for two taels of Blood Food. Give me all three. If you exchanged them in the Treasure Vault, those three fruits probably wouldn't even get you one tael of Blood Food."

Good grief, two taels of Blood Food for one fruit!

That meant six taels for three fruits—three hundred grams of Blood Food!

Lin Yi had originally wanted to keep one as a backup, but at the moment, exchanging them for Blood Food was more worthwhile.

"Captain, I'll trade with you."

"Good."

Gu Liehai was delighted. Without wasting words, he turned and entered the Treasure Vault, then returned with a fist-sized mass of fresh, wriggling Blood Food and handed it to Lin Yi.

"If Monsters drop materials or Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures in the future, you can come to me to exchange them. I guarantee what you get will be a better deal than what Elder Gu Yuan gives you. That old fellow loves skimming treasures from Newborns."

So there was that too?

Lin Yi understood.

Damn it, he had exchanged things at the Treasure Vault twice already. Didn't that mean Gu Yuan had cheated him twice?

"Gu Liehai, you brat, stop slandering me..."

Gu Yuan had just stepped out of the Treasure Vault residence when he heard Gu Liehai's words. His face immediately darkened like coal.

Though he was one of Ancient Pool Village's Village Elders, it seemed there were not many people in the entire village who respected him. One after another, they all called him an old fellow behind his back.

"Village Elder, you jest. You must have misheard..."

Caught red-handed, Gu Liehai was not embarrassed in the slightest. He somehow produced a wooden box and placed the three Crimson Flower Fruit Lin Yi had given him inside.

Having received the Blood Food, Lin Yi was also preparing to slip away.

But Gu Yuan called him back.

"You're called Green Mountains Never Age, right? Blood Food is only useful in the early stages. Its effect becomes limited later on. The truly valuable treasures in Ancient Pool Village are all with me, including all sorts of professional-level Divine Talismans that can save your life. If you have genuine treasures, you can come exchange them with me."

After saying that, Gu Yuan glared at Gu Liehai and returned to the Treasure Vault residence.

Lin Yi could not help asking, "Captain, what are professional-level Divine Talismans? The ones on the Treasure Vault exchange scroll?"

Gu Liehai shook his head. "No. The Divine Talismans on the scroll are ordinary items, generally only useful against Yao and Ghost Spirits below Level 10. The professional-level Divine Talismans Gu Yuan mentioned can truly kill Monsters and Ghost Spirits at Level 10 or even above Level 10."

"The Demon Suppressing Talisman we used outside the city last time was a semi-finished professional-level Divine Talisman. You saw its power. After it was released at close range, even the Great Fiend Mirage Crow had little ability to resist for a short time."

"But that thing is extremely valuable. Even I have never used one. That old fellow Gu Yuan is most likely just dangling bait in front of you."

Lin Yi scratched his head. "All right."

Still, Lin Yi felt that Gu Yuan's words carried a hidden meaning, most likely related to the Soul Artifact he had mentioned before.

So Gu Yuan meant that if he had a Soul Artifact, he could exchange it with him for professional-level Divine Talismans?

Unfortunately, he had already used that Strange Stone Soul Artifact.

After handling matters in Apocalypse World, Lin Yi consumed a small piece of Blood Food, logged off, and went to slaughter cattle.

However, the slaughterhouse Lin Yi had found was ultimately a small factory. According to Boss Zhu, in just three days, Lin Yi had already slaughtered the factory's entire beef quota for the month.

If he wanted to slaughter more cattle, that was possible, but he would need to pay extra.

Lin Yi was helpless. He had to max out the enhancement effect of the Blood Siphon Talent within a short time. Otherwise, if he drew a useful new talent in the game, he would have to replace it in time.

Unable to do anything else, Lin Yi added another one hundred and fifty thousand to the agreed price, asking Boss Zhu to stock up on more cattle.

Fortunately, Lin Yi was the owner of a gold-farming Workshop and had some savings. Otherwise, he truly would not have been able to afford it.

With the lure of money, Boss Zhu kept his word. He quickly transferred several hundred live cattle from other factories for Lin Yi to slaughter.

After only two more days, Lin Yi finally maxed out Blood Siphon's limit of one thousand living creatures.

At this time, Lin Yi's Health Points in the game had reached 1714.

It could be said that Lin Yi's current Health Points were far greater than those of a Level 10 player, and even exceeded professional level.

Of course, a thick health bar alone was not enough. He also needed the corresponding combat strength.

Still, looking at his 1700-plus Health Points, Lin Yi's sense of security instantly maxed out.

If he encountered the Great Fiend Mirage Crow again, he could withstand dozens of its demonic shrieks without dying.

That day, Lin Yi logged into Apocalypse World as usual.

In the early morning, Lin Yi simply washed his hands before drawing today's talent.

"Ding! You have drawn the Green Talent 'Demon Slayer'!"

Demon Slayer: Green Talent. The holder's damage against Monsters increases by 20%, but the holder will draw the attention and hostility of Monsters.

Seeing this Green Talent, Lin Yi raised an eyebrow.

It was a good talent, one well suited for killing Monsters.

Unfortunately, it also had a negative effect: it would additionally attract Monsters' hatred.

If he equipped this talent, the chances of Monsters attacking him in the future would likely increase greatly.

Even though Lin Yi currently had abundant Health Points, he did not want to put himself in danger and challenge the weakness of having only one life.

"What a pity. The talents I drew in the last few days were all White Talents. This time, I finally got a Green Talent, but I still can't use it..."

Lin Yi shook his head slightly. After sighing, he packed up and headed to the Second Team for duty.

It was worth mentioning that the Ghost Spirit that had invaded Ancient Pool Village last time had still not been found. No one knew where it was hiding.

It was said that although this Ghost Spirit was skilled at concealing itself, it had not broken through to professional level and could not yet appear beneath the sun during the day.

Therefore, patrolling Ancient Pool Village during the daytime was not very dangerous.

Lin Yi's task today was not guarding the city, but following Gu Chenghu and the others to guard several core buildings within Ancient Pool Village.