167: Chapter 167 Level 6

Xiao Niao sat on the ground, recovering the stamina he had just spent walking from the entrance to the end of the passage. At the same time, he took his bow and arrows out of his backpack to check their durability, looking very professional in his pre-battle preparation.

Hu Gualing, however, was so exasperated he laughed: "Aside from you, who else among us needs to sit down and recover after walking such a short distance?"

Xiao Niao didn't react much to Hu Gualing's teasing. Instead, he said with a serious face: "Although the cave is likely to contain puzzle-solving or exploration content, we can't rule out the possibility of encountering monsters as soon as we enter. It's better to be cautious. Otherwise, one life costs one fantasy point. If we die a few more times, I'm afraid we won't even be able to pay back our debt."

Hu Gualing didn't care at first, but when he heard the word "debt," he immediately took it to heart. He opened his backpack and glanced at the currency column: [fantasy points: 12]

Both he and Xiao Niao had entered the game after signing the Ascension Agreement. Upon entry, they had incurred a 15-fantasy point debt for the game slot fee, which would be automatically deducted after seven calendar days. If they couldn't pay it off, their accounts would be deleted.

When he first entered the game, it seemed he could only receive about 3 fantasy points a day—at least, he remembered the first two days being like that.

All the fantasy points he received on the first day were used for Resurrection. Although dying three times in a row was a bit of a tragedy, it earned him Miao Cuihua's sympathy, and she threw him a Farmers Three Punches skill book. It was precisely this skill book that saved his life that night. So, those 3 fantasy points weren't exactly a loss; you could even say he made a huge profit by getting a life back.

As for the 3 fantasy points received for being online on the second day, he saved them all and didn't dare use them recklessly. Otherwise, it was very likely that when the time came, he wouldn't have enough to cover the one-time deduction of 15 fantasy points.

However, it seemed that from the third day—the night he was unconscious in the hospital—the online rewards he received after re-entering the game suddenly increased. It went from the previous 3 points per day to 6 points, exactly doubling! He guessed the game development team had quietly increased the benefits without releasing an announcement like other games.

Because of this stroke of luck, he now had a savings of 12 fantasy points, only 3 points away from the 15 points needed for the one-time deduction. It should be easy to save up enough, provided that he didn't spend the existing game points recklessly.

So, just as Xiao Niao said, they should be cautious and try not to die.

After mulling it over, Hu Gualing understood the situation. He silently closed his backpack and also checked if his equipment was properly equipped and what useful items were left in his bag.

At that moment, Xiao Niao suddenly remembered something and looked at Hu Gualing: "Check your skills. Is there any experience bar that's almost full?"

Hu Gualing: "Probably not."

He didn't actually have many skills. The ones that could be considered combat skills were just Fist Techniques, Hammer Techniques, and Movement Techniques—three types in total. Among them, the Movement Technique was a special skill he had realized on his own, and its experience bar was longer than his life; no matter how he used it, leveling up remained a distant dream. The so-called Hammer Technique was just the [Hammer Mastery] skill, which was almost passive. Since realizing it, he had barely used it, so naturally, the experience bar hadn't moved at all.

As Hu Gualing thought this, he opened the skill interface and was immediately surprised.

"Huh? I haven't even used a hammer since I got the Hammer Mastery skill. Where did this extra bit of experience come from?"

Hu Gualing was puzzled, but since this skill didn't help in combat at all, he didn't dwell on it for now. He shifted his attention to his main combat skill, [Farmers Three Punches].

This look surprised him even more.

"How is my Fist Technique almost ready to level up?"

"Heh, I told you so." Xiao Niao looked at Hu Gualing's pleasantly surprised and bewildered reaction, his face wearing a calm "I saw this coming" expression.

Hu Gualing looked at Xiao Niao in confusion: "That's strange. How did you know I had a skill about to level up?"

Xiao Niao: "Because didn't you ask me last night if I wanted to try out the effects of the newly added Training Room?"

Hu Gualing froze, then involuntarily opened his mouth and let out a long "Oh!" He said in surprised realization: "So the newly added Training Room actually has this kind of function!"

Tang Yao was a bit confused and asked curiously: "What are you guys talking about? What Training Room? Where is it?"

Xiao Niao smiled awkwardly, not knowing how to explain for a moment.

Hu Gualing, being thick-skinned, said casually: "It's just a small mobile game. When there's a chance later, I'll pull you into our game group."

"Oh... okay." Hearing that it was a game in reality, Tang Yao's curiosity vanished instantly, and she stopped caring.

Xiao Niao: "Gualing, check your Combat Experience. Is it enough to level up your Fist Technique?"

"One thousand six hundred and seventy-six, two thousand... six hundred and four..." Hu Gualing counted on his fingers for a long time, making Tang Yao and Xiao Niao anxious just watching him. Finally, he figured it out: "Enough! It's enough to level up!"

Only then did Tang Yao and Xiao Niao breathe a sigh of relief.

Hu Gualing allocated all the Combat Experience he had gained from killing dogs and pigs, as well as from his previous challenge against Miao Cuihua, into [Farmers Three Punches]. He watched as the skill's experience bar surged forward and filled up instantly.

A golden light flashed, and a game notification appeared: [Your Farmers Three Punches has increased from Rank 5 to Rank 6.]

Hu Gualing checked the skill description again and found that aside from the Rank difference, nothing else had changed. No new passives or base attribute increases had appeared. However, as he clenched his fists, they did feel more powerful, and he felt an indescribable new insight into this Fist Technique in his heart.

"Not bad, not bad. My strength has increased again. I'm sure I'll face the upcoming challenges with more ease." Hu Gualing clenched his fists and put on an act. It was clearly just a basic martial art increasing by one Rank, but he performed as if he had reached Major Achievement in some divine skill, making Xiao Niao and Tang Yao laugh.

"Alright, I think everyone is ready. Let's prepare to head in." Xiao Niao had recovered his stamina. Holding his bow, he stood up from the ground.

"Oh, right," Tang Yao took out three bamboo-tube-shaped Fire Starters from her backpack and gave one each to Xiao Niao and Gualing. "There might be no light inside the cave. Take these and give them a blow to provide light."

As she spoke, Tang Yao removed the cap of the Fire Starter, held it in front of her, and gave it two light "hu-hu" blows. A small flame immediately flared up.

Both Xiao Niao and Gualing were somewhat surprised. Firstly, they hadn't expected to need lighting equipment. In other games, no matter the scene, it was impossible for it to be pitch black where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face; even if the light was dim, you could still see. So, they habitually hadn't realized the need for lighting.

Secondly, they had seen Tang Yao take many things out of her backpack—pig feed, euphorbia humifusa, and now even more than one Fire Starter for lighting. They really couldn't imagine what else was inside her bag.

Xiao Niao and Hu Gualing marveled as they followed suit, blowing their Fire Starters into flame. The three of them then walked toward the cave entrance.