136: Chapter 136 The Dire Wolf Who Needs to Study Elementary School Textbooks

With the help of Lin Rui and Su Wan, the three-person team cleared the [Temple of the Jade Serpent] dungeon in less than an hour.

They also happened to obtain the achievement [Seed of Doubt]. The achievement rewards were distributed accordingly, with each person receiving one Skill Re-roll Ticket. Hu Jinsi put the ticket into his backpack, planning to use it later; after all, using [Disillusion Kick] for the draw had always been part of Hu Jinsi's plan.

In addition, the third boss, Liu Flameheart, and the final boss, Sha of Anger, contributed two extra pieces of equipment.

The first was a necklace.

[Remnant Flame Core]

[Type: Necklace]

[Soul Burning: Consume 1 Qi to enter the Soul Burning state. Your unarmed strikes and melee weapon attacks deal an additional 1-4 fire damage. While in the Soul Burning state, you lose 1 HP per second for the first 10 seconds; you lose 2 HP per second from 11-20 seconds; you lose 3 HP per second from 21-30 seconds, and so on. HP loss caused by Soul Burning cannot be reduced by any means. The Soul Burning state can be terminated at any time.]

[Remnant Flame Burst: You can activate the necklace's power. Your next melee attack deals an additional 8-12 fire damage. This effect can be used 2 times per day, and all charges are restored after completing a long rest.]

[Item Description: A golden-red glass bead the size of a pigeon egg, inside which seems to be a tiny, never-extinguished flame that flickers slightly with the wearer's breathing. The bead is strung on a worn, deep-red silk cord, with a small piece of charred wooden plaque tied to the end, inscribed in ancient Pandaren script: "Anger is like fire — do not suppress it, do not indulge it. Guide it, burn it, and let it illuminate your next kick. Once burned out, it extinguishes."]

---

The second piece was a ring.

[Sha Energy Ring]

[Type: Ring]

[Sha Energy Surge: When you cast a spell ability that deals Shadow/Sha damage, you may choose to activate this effect to deal an additional 4-8 points of Shadow damage; at the same time, you take 1d4 psychic damage. This effect can be used 3 times per day, and all charges are restored after completing a long rest.]

[Sha Energy Affinity: When you cast a spell that deals Shadow/Sha damage, the spellcasting difficulty is slightly reduced (-1).]

[Echo of Doubt: When you take Shadow/Sha damage, you can convert half of the value (rounded down) into temporary HP, lasting for 10 seconds. After using this effect, you gain the curse - Doubt, your psychic resistance is reduced by 1. This curse can stack, has an infinite duration, and can only be recovered after the curse is removed.]

[Item Description: This ring is polished from dark jade, with purple-black Sha energy patterns flowing on its surface. When worn, you will feel a faint chill seeping from your fingers into your forearm; that is not temperature, but a feeling of "being gently denied by something." A line of small text is engraved on the inside of the ring: "Doubt is not an enemy. It is the last thought in your heart that dares to speak the truth."]

---

Su Wan stared at the attribute panels of these two pieces of equipment, her brows furrowing tighter and tighter. She first glanced at the [Remnant Flame Core], then looked down at the [Sha Energy Ring], the look of disgust on her face almost overflowing.

"No way, why does everything dropped in this dungeon have negative effects?" Su Wan closed the equipment information window, turned to Hu Jinsi, and let out a rant, "Look at this necklace, it burns HP! And it burns in increments! After ten seconds, you lose two points per second; after twenty seconds, you lose three points per second. Who can withstand that?"

She raised the [Sha Energy Ring]: "Look at this ring again. You use a skill and it deals psychic damage to yourself first; use the passive and you stack a curse that reduces resistance. If you stack three or five layers of this, your psychic resistance will directly become negative. When you encounter enemies that use psychic attacks later, won't you shatter at a single touch?"

Hu Jinsi rarely argued back with her, instead straightening his expression and explaining, "Think about it, how many of the bosses in this dungeon are proper villains? Liu Flameheart is a monk in the temple corrupted by Sha energy, and the Sha of Anger is something formed from negative emotions. Since even the bosses are in a corrupted state, how clean can the dropped equipment be?"

He paused, holding up two fingers: "The two pieces you see right now already have two positive effects and one negative effect, and the negative effect isn't even that outrageous. If it were a dungeon with more severe pollution, they might give you one positive and two negative effects, or a negative effect so strong you'd want to throw the equipment away. That would be truly annoying."

Su Wan curled her lips, her fingers unconsciously twisting a strand of hair: "Regardless of whether the negative effect is strong or not, if I wear the equipment and it has a negative effect hanging on me, I just don't feel at ease."

"Well, Big Sister Su," Hu Jinsi sighed and handed over the [Sha Energy Ring], "Do you want this ring? If not, I'll put it away and sell it later to recover some funds."

Before he could finish speaking, Su Wan had already snatched the ring from his hand.

"Of course I want it! Why wouldn't I?" She righteously slipped the ring onto her finger, "Look at my ten fingers; with this [Sha Energy Ring], I'm only wearing two. That's too few. In TV shows, which high-level spellcaster doesn't wear rings on all ten fingers? Necklaces, earrings, pendants—they're desperate to make themselves look all gaudy. I feel like their teeth might even be enchanted dentures."

"Especially those spellcasters who have advanced to the Red Wizard class; they are even more exaggerated. They shave their heads, cover their heads with tattoos, and deliberately expose them. You can tell at a glance they aren't decent people. Look at those transcendent-level spellcasters abroad; in order to increase equipment slots, they go to extremes with nose rings and tongue studs. They've completely lost all shame."

She shook the hand wearing the ring and continued: "Besides, the negative effect of this ring is just stacking a curse that reduces psychic resistance. Doesn't your [Renewing Mist] slowly remove curses? With this addition and subtraction, what difference does it make for me compared to having no negative effect? What reason do I have not to want it?"

Hu Jinsi opened his mouth, unable to find a retort for a moment. He could only silently tuck the [Remnant Flame Core] into his backpack. The Soul Burning effect of this necklace had a high return for melee classes, but the cost of burning HP was indeed not to be ignored.

He planned to study the timing of its use carefully when he got back to see if he could coordinate it with his skills to unleash burst damage.

...

After the three finished tidying up the loot, they walked out along the light gate at the dungeon exit. The sunlight outside the Temple of the Jade Serpent was dazzling. Su Wan narrowed her eyes and held the newly acquired ring up to examine it. The dark purple Sha energy patterns flowed in the sunlight, squirming slightly as if they were alive.

"This thing won't glow by itself in the middle of the night, will it?" Su Wan suddenly asked, "I don't wear an eye mask when I sleep."

"Probably not." Hu Jinsi didn't even look back, "At least in the dungeon, the Sha energy was black and white. At night, it'll be even harder to see. Unless they emit black light during the day and white light at night, that would truly be insane."

"...Can I return it?"

"Who was just saying 'what reason do I have not to want it' with such conviction?"

Su Wan choked, and sullenly tucked the ring into her pocket. The corners of Hu Jinsi's mouth curled up slightly; it was rare for him to get the upper hand over this girl.

The Dire Wolf followed at the trio's heels, its iron-grey fur rising and falling in the wind. It yawned, clearly having no interest in the humans' equipment discussion. Compared to some Sha Energy Ring, it was more concerned about what to have for dinner.

"Where are we going next?" Su Wan flexed her wrist; she was still not used to the new ring on her finger.

"Depends on what you want?" Hu Jinsi checked the time, "Whether you want to take it easy or move around a bit, both can be arranged."

"What kind of arrangement?"

Before Hu Jinsi could answer, Lin Rui, who was to the side, suddenly stopped in his tracks. He stared down at the terminal screen, his fingers sliding rapidly, looking as if he had been petrified.

While Hu Jinsi and Su Wan were discussing and roasting the equipment, Lin Rui on the side hadn't participated in their conversation at all.

Ever since clearing the [Temple of the Jade Serpent] dungeon, Lin Rui had buried himself in the Daibei City professional forum, his fingers sliding rapidly across the terminal screen. The more he checked, the more excited he became; his eyes widened, and his breathing became a bit rapid.

"This dungeon... this dungeon is practically tailor-made for me!"

Lin Rui roared in his heart. He could already see the image of himself slaughtering everyone on the arena stage. Those monsters were still using fists and demonic energy to clash head-on, while he, Lin Rui, a modern Soldier, would directly pull out a shotgun, bang, bang, bang—no matter what demons or monsters they were, he would turn them all into sieves.

"The times have changed, everyone!"

He looked up and screamed in his heart, his facial expression completely out of control. A passing pedestrian was startled by his ferocious expression and walked around him. The person kept looking back twice while walking, muttering, "Young people these days are under so much pressure."

"It's not that I, Lin Rui, am not powerful! It's Wei City that has failed me!"

He felt more and more sorrowful and indignant as he thought about it. In that place, Wei City, the dungeons were all weird; a single mob in [Burning Village] had 4 skills, and [Double Dragon III] was pure torture. Where was there a dungeon like [Dark Martial Arts Tournament] that was purely about fighting?

If he had been born in Daibei City, he would have taken off long ago. Why would he need to follow Hu Jinsi and Su Wan to those annoying dungeons with such bitterness! Perhaps his level would already be higher than Hu Jinsi's, and he would be the expert in others' eyes.

"Wei City! What will you use to repay what you owe me!" Lin Rui yelled frantically in his heart, his fists clenched tight, making a rattling sound.

His inner drama had already reached the 30,000th episode. Episode 1: Solo clearing the dungeon, crushing everything along the way; Episode 10: Winning the national championship, the center of attention; Episode 100: Becoming a legendary Soldier, going down in history; Episode 1000: Standing at the pinnacle of the world, overlooking all living beings, with everyone prostrating at his feet; Episode 30,000: He had already surpassed the limits of humanity, becoming the first person on Water Blue Star to be deified with the Soldier class, and even those high-and-mighty transcendents would have to bow down to him.

Throughout the whole process, Hu Jinsi could only yell "Brother Rui is 666" behind him, Su Wan would be responsible for playing the zither on the side to liven things up, and the Dire Wolf would become his exclusive mount, majestic and awe-inspiring. Lin Rui even imagined his life after retirement: buying a seaside villa in the most prosperous area of Daibei City, being woken up by the sea breeze every morning, instructing juniors in a private training room in the afternoon, and sitting on the terrace with Su Wan and Hu Jinsi in the evening to eat seafood barbecue. That was the life of a human!

He even decided on the decoration style of the villa: modern minimalist. The floor-to-ceiling glass windows would face the sea, the equipment he wore when he won the championship would be displayed in the living room, and various dungeon-dropped souvenirs would be lined up in glass cabinets. Every junior who visited would be grabbed by him to listen to the story of "how Brother Rui fought his way out from that small place, Daibei City" once, and when he got to the emotional part, he would slap the table twice, scaring the Dire Wolf into jumping off the sofa.

"Lin Rui?"

A palm patted his shoulder. Lin Rui shook all over, waking up from his fantasy. He turned his head and saw Su Wan looking at him with a puzzled face.

"Have the equipment all been distributed?" Lin Rui asked subconsciously, his eyes still a bit unfocused.

Su Wan nodded: "It was done long ago, and we chatted for a while afterward. Seeing you not moving at all, like you were possessed, I came over to ask."

Lin Rui straightened his clothes, took a deep breath, as if he wanted to spit out all the tens of thousands of words of plot he had just imagined. He waved his hand, his voice loud: "Let's go! Let's head to the [Dark Martial Arts Tournament] dungeon! Jinsi, hurry up and lead the way, let's hurry! Watch your brother show off his power inside!"

Hu Jinsi clearly didn't know that in the past few minutes, Lin Rui had already imagined tens of thousands of words of plot in his head. He just looked at Lin Rui and Su Wan uncertainly and asked: "Are you two sure you want to continue to this dungeon? The intensity is not low, you know."

Su Wan shrugged indifferently: "Anyway, I definitely won't be going up for a one-on-one fight. If Lin Rui is willing to go up himself, then just let him play by himself."

Hu Jinsi turned his gaze to the eager Lin Rui and confirmed again: "Are you sure you want to go to [Dark Martial Arts Tournament]?"

"Confirmed! Confirmed!" Lin Rui urged hastily. "Let's get moving, don't waste my time here! If we can't finish the entire instance just because you delayed us for this little while, that would be such a loss!"

Hu Jinsi could only cast a helpless glance at Su Wan. Originally, Su Wan had just said she wanted to go to the seaside to watch the sunset, feel the sea breeze, and eat seafood in the evening. She had even looked up the highest-rated seafood stall nearby, planning to take a few photos under the sunset to post on her social media.

But clearly, Lin Rui, who was right beside them, hadn't heard any of this. As soon as he regained consciousness, he insisted that Hu Jinsi take them to the [Dark Martial Arts Tournament].

"Forget it," Su Wan muttered, closing the review app she had just opened. "The instance entrance is by the sea; we'll have to come out for dinner eventually."

She was still thinking about the seaside sunset and seafood barbecue that evening, holding onto a glimmer of hope that it might still happen. The Dire Wolf seemed to sense her mood, sweeping its tail against her calf and letting out a low whimper, as if comforting her.

Fortunately, the distance between the two instances wasn't far. After twenty minutes of travel, the team arrived at the entrance of the [Dark Martial Arts Tournament] from the Temple of the Jade Serpent.

It wasn't even two in the afternoon yet, and the three of them and the Dire Wolf were already standing in front of the small boat floating on the sea. The sea breeze, carrying a salty, damp scent, rushed toward them. Su Wan reached out to tuck away her hair, which had been tousled by the wind, while the Dire Wolf shook its fur, flicking off the moisture it had collected.

Hu Jinsi stepped forward to complete the team's registration. The staff member at the instance entrance was an old man in his fifties who had already remembered Hu Jinsi's face over the past couple of days. People brave enough to solo this instance were rare enough as it was, and it was even harder to forget someone who went in and out every time with a Dire Wolf in tow.

"Young man, carrying people through instances is risky!" The old man reminded him kindly while entering the information. His gaze swept over Lin Rui and Su Wan, his tone carrying the concern of someone who had seen it all.

Hu Jinsi smiled, immediately understanding the old man's concern. He took out his communication terminal, pulled up a few photos of the three of them together since childhood, and showed them to the old man. "Sir, I'm really not carrying people through instances. These two are official members of my team. They just came out of [Unparalleled Hulao Pass] with others a few days ago and insisted on following me into the [Dark Martial Arts Tournament] to see what it's like. Don't worry, I don't do that kind of paid carry business."

The old man leaned closer to the terminal screen, squinting his eyes to carefully examine the photos. In the pictures, the three of them were wearing school uniforms, standing on the playground of a school in Wei City, their smiles youthful and genuine. He looked up at the three in front of him again; although they were wearing gear and looked much more mature, the contours of their faces and eyes definitely matched.

"Alright then," the old man said, returning the terminal, the wrinkles on his face smoothing out. "You young people, you're all in such a hurry to get stronger. But let me tell you one thing: some paths are easy to take but hard to turn back from. Charging to carry people through instances or farming gold to sell gear—these things might look like quick money, but in reality, you're pushing your own future into a fire pit. Once you step one foot in, it's hard to pull it back out."

"Understood," Hu Jinsi nodded earnestly. "Thank you for the reminder."

The old man waved his hand, signaling that the registration was complete.

The three of them and the Dire Wolf stepped into the vortex of the instance entrance. After a flash of light and shifting shadows, when they opened their eyes, they were already standing on the deck of the small boat floating on the sea.

This time, the boat was much more spacious than when Hu Jinsi entered alone; at the very least, several people could spend the night on it without issue. Inside the cabin were several simple beds, clearly the scale of the instance automatically adjusting to the number of team members.

"The preliminary round starts right away?" Lin Rui rubbed his hands together, his shotgun already in his grip.

Hu Jinsi nodded. "I've already said everything I needed to on the way. As long as you know what to expect, that's fine."

Lin Rui grinned and silently initiated the match. Hu Jinsi and Su Wan confirmed simultaneously, entering the competition.

Arriving at the preliminary round venue, Lin Rui jumped up without a word. Hu Jinsi, meanwhile, took Su Wan and the Dire Wolf to find a spot in the preparation area to sit down.

He directly summoned the projection for the instance point exchange and synced it for Su Wan to see, while simultaneously pulling up the list of exchangeable abilities he had accumulated in this instance for her to observe.

"I only gave you a rough idea before. Take a look for yourself."

Su Wan looked at the projection, her gaze slowly sliding down the list. The more she looked, the wider her eyes became. The abilities of those monsters from the Mo Xiao Team were listed one by one: Zen's flight and gale manipulation, another monster's gravity casting, and several other ways of using demonic energy that she had never even heard of.

"These…" She looked up, her voice tinged with disbelief. "Can all be exchanged?"

"Yes, but the conditions are strict." Hu Jinsi leaned against the ship's railing, his gaze fixed on the churning waves in the distance. "You have to enter the arena yourself, see the enemy use the skill, and have enough points saved up. All three conditions must be met."

Su Wan's expression quickly slid from excitement to dejection. She looked down at her hands, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing the edge of the terminal screen.

"My abilities… aren't very good for one-on-one fights." She said in a low voice. "I might be able to handle the mobs Lin Rui is encountering in the preliminaries now. But those opponents in the tournament you mentioned—I've looked at the data, the strength levels are completely different."

Hu Jinsi didn't rush to refute her, waiting for her to finish speaking. The sea breeze blew against his clothes, making a snapping sound.

"The maximum entry level for this instance is level 22," he said, his tone steady. "Just because you feel like you can't win now doesn't mean you won't be able to later. There are still two months of summer vacation; you can pick up some magic or gear suitable for one-on-one duels. By the time you're fully prepared and come back, it will still be in time."

Hu Jinsi had also done some research on this instance. Since the battles were mostly one-on-one, only a few people had cleared the 150% difficulty version of this instance so far. As for the subsequent 250% difficulty version, no one had passed it yet, with most falling at the hands of the Elder Toguro team.

He paused and added, "And I deduce that this instance won't disappear within at least a year. There's plenty of time, no need to rush."

Su Wan was silent for a moment, her gaze falling back onto the list. Her finger lingered on the line for "Gravity Attachment," her eyes showing a mix of reluctance and eagerness.

"Then… I'll keep looking." She looked at the projection. "The summer vacation is long anyway."

Hu Jinsi nodded, saying nothing more. He looked up at the arena, where a monster had just lunged into mid-air before being blasted into fragments by Lin Rui's shotgun, green demonic energy residue splattering everywhere.

"The times have changed, everyone!" Lin Rui's voice came from the light screen, filled with a bit of chuunibyou-esque fervor.

Hu Jinsi's mouth twitched, while Su Wan simply rolled her eyes.

"Has he been like this lately?" Hu Jinsi asked.

"Not all the time." Su Wan sighed. "Maybe he was stimulated by the experiences of others at [Unparalleled Hulao Pass]."

On the light screen, Lin Rui had already taken care of the third opponent. His fighting style was simple and brutal: the monster rushed over, he pulled the trigger, and the monster fell. Occasionally, when he encountered one that could fly, he would switch to a flamethrower, spewing a tongue of fire that burned everything to charcoal, regardless of any demonic energy shields.

The strength of the opponents in the preliminary round wasn't high to begin with, making it practically tailor-made for a modern Soldier class like Lin Rui. While the monsters were still using fists and demonic energy to clash, he had already pulled out firearms, blasting them to bits from over ten meters away.

"This instance… really does suit him." Su Wan had to admit.

"Yeah," Hu Jinsi replied. "But the tournament is different. Opponents on the level of the Elder Toguro brothers can't be blasted away by a shotgun."

He didn't continue, but Su Wan understood what he meant. The preliminaries were just the appetizer; the real tough battles were yet to come.

The light in the preparation area was soft and steady, forming a sharp contrast with the slaughter on the arena outside. The Dire Wolf lay at Hu Jinsi's feet, its iron-gray fur rising and falling slightly with its breathing. It yawned, having zero interest in the battle on the light screen. The screams of those monsters couldn't even attract as much of its attention as a plate of takoyaki.

Hu Jinsi looked down at the Dire Wolf and reached out to rub its ears. The Dire Wolf squinted its eyes comfortably, its tail tapping lightly on the deck, making a "pat-pat" sound.

"You're in for a rough time later," Hu Jinsi said in a low voice, his tone carrying a hint of malice.

The Dire Wolf seemed to sense something, its ears perking up, but before it could react, Hu Jinsi had already pulled out his communication terminal from his backpack and brought up a video interface.

On the screen, a female teacher wearing glasses was standing in front of a blackboard, explaining the content of a Water Blue Star elementary school general knowledge class in a crisp voice: "Today we are learning about the composition of basic ecosystems. First, what is an instance…"

The Dire Wolf's expression instantly froze.

"Awooo?" It let out a confused and desperate whimper, burying its head between its two front paws. But Hu Jinsi mercilessly pulled it up, forcing it to face the screen.

"In less than three months, you'll be entering instances to fight with us." Hu Jinsi's voice was serious and earnest. "You can't just be cute every day. From today on, you must study general knowledge, and variety shows are strictly banned."

The Dire Wolf's eyes were full of "just kill me now," but in the face of the Alpha's authority, it couldn't even summon the thought of rebellion. After all, it had seen with its own eyes Hu Jinsi clearing this instance twice by himself; it knew all too well how terrifying the enemies on those arenas were. Rebelling against the Alpha? That was a distant, unreachable notion.

"If you don't study properly," Hu Jinsi lowered his voice, leaning into the Dire Wolf's ear, "when school starts and I go back to Wei City, I'll send you to Su Wan's house and let you face Su Qing and Su Yu every day. Yes, those two little devils you're thinking of, Su Wan's younger sisters."

The Dire Wolf shuddered, its tail tucked between its legs, its ears pressed tightly against its head. The names Su Qing and Su Yu were clearly more intimidating than any monster.

"So, studying is very important," Hu Jinsi patted its head. "Studying can help you avoid running into terrifying things, and it can even save your wolf life occasionally."

Su Wan, listening from the side, couldn't help but laugh out loud. She knew exactly what her two younger sisters were like; they were cute, truly, but if someone called them angels, even Su Wan couldn't do so with a clear conscience.

Mother Su had long ago given up the idea of keeping any plants or animals at home. Ever since those two crazy girls came along, not even a potted flower could survive more than three days in the house. To avoid harming other lives, it was better to keep small animals away from them.

"Using my sisters to scare it," Su Wan raised an eyebrow, "isn't that a bit much?"

"As long as it works." Hu Jinsi replied with a calm face.

The Dire Wolf lay on the deck, staring blankly at the female teacher on the screen, letting out a long, helpless sigh. Its NEET life was clearly over.

On the arena, Lin Rui had taken down another opponent, and the first match of the preliminary round was almost finished. But in the preparation area, Hu Jinsi and Su Wan, along with a Dire Wolf forced to receive compulsory education, seemed to have entered another parallel universe—a universe composed of ecosystems, basic mathematics, and elementary school civics, a universe that filled the wolf with despair.