Chapter 8: Long Yilan

“Cough cough…”

Zhuang Huai Shui looked on coldly and said, “July Wildfire, although you performed well and have the rightto choose an elder as your master based on Black Castle’s rules, my disciples must be in the Body Refining Realm at least, so…”

I knew that this guy did not want to take me in.

Right at that moment, the celestial-like old man on the left spoke. “July Wildfire, I am the elder in charge of the Wind Cloud Platform; you should have seen my spiritual body, right?”

I nodded my head. Right, the giant face that had appeared on the Wind Cloud Platform was this person.

Deacon Elder Ding Heng (Precious Boss)

Level: ???

Introduction: One of the five Deacon Elders in Black Castle, in charge of Wind Cloud Platform and cultivates the power of death. His cultivation is so extremely deep.

……

“Then…” he said seriously, “are you willing to become my disciple?”

I nodded my head. “I am.”

What else could I say? My master should be the nicest out of the three. Not only didhe not look down on me, he even asked and solved the awkwardness. If everyone did not want me, I would die from all the awkwardness.

Ding!

[System notification: Congratulations for taking a master; you have obtained the identity of a Wind Cloud Platform disciple!]

In the next moment, Ding Heng waved his sleeves and a jade token landed in my hands. “This is your token; from today onward, you are a member of Black Castle. You don’t have to work at the Soul Refining Furnace and can cultivate on your own. With this token, you can head to every place in the outer five locations of Black Castle.”

Status increased?

I laughed out loud and said happily, “Thank you, master.”

“Let’s go; I shall bring you around.”

“Okay!”

……

After heading out of the hall, we followed the mountain path. Ding Heng floated in front of me with his arms behind his back, while I chased him from behind. We did not head back to Reincarnation Valley and, instead, headed up the mountain. The first thing we passed was the Wind Cloud Platform. This platform, which wascharged with killing intent, still stood at the waist of the mountain and was guarded by a bunch of Undead Guards.

After passing it, we continued forward and we saw various weird undead cultivators. There were Undead Warriors carrying swords, Undead Cavalry with a thick aura, and also some Zombies. Who knew how these things were formed? Apart from that, there were some young men who were not in any undead form. As they had white skin, clear faces, I felt really envious.

“En?”

Ding Heng turned around and looked at me. It was as if he had seen through my thoughts and he smiled. “Kid, there is no need to envy others. The cultivation of death is a long journey. Cultivating the perfect body is only the first step. You will be like them and will eventually have your own fleshy body.”

I nodded. “That’s good… That’s good…”

“You seem to care about appearances.Haha~”

He laughed. One could tell that this master was a nice person and was good at communicating.

Not long after, a really majestic-looking building appeared on the mountain path. It was bustling and many undead cultivators lived in it. There were guys and girls and even Ghosts. Ding Heng stopped and said, “This is Precious Treasure Pavilion; it is where undead cultivators in Black Castle buy weapons, cultivation materials, etc. You can use your contribution points here.”

“Yes, master.”

“Continue on.”

As we walked, not long after, another building appeared. Different from how majestic Precious Treasure Pavilion was, this building was more of an ordinary wooden hut and its whole appearance really exuded coldness.

“This is Heaven and Earth Pavilion,” said Ding Heng. “A weird old fellow lives here and he loves refining corpses. Don’t bother about him; don’t come here, too.”

“Old Ding, who did you call ‘old’?”

Within the Heaven and Earth Pavilion,a really sinister voice came. “Why, you want to taste the skill of the latest zombie I made?”

Ding Heng held his hands behind his back. “I’m not that free; Junior brother Lin can play yourself!”

As he said that, he brought me away and walked to the back mountain. He pointed and said, “Kid, look there.”

I looked out and my gaze passed through the clouds and landed in an ethereal-looking thing. There seemed to be the sounds of swords, spears, and halberds clashing, as if a war was going on there which had not stopped after many years.

“That is…” I was shocked.

“Ancient Battlefield,” said Ding Heng calmly. “The most mysterious place in the five outer locations. A sword cultivator guards it and that place is filled with killing and dangers. At the same time, it is filled with cultivation opportunities. If you can grow into a strong death cultivator, you can head deep in to take a look.”

“Oh…”

“Done.”

Ding Heng’s body turned into the wind and scattered. “I have brought you around the outer mountain. You should cultivate now, and if you face problems, just come to Wind Cloud Platform and find me.”

“Yes. Thank you, master.”

I nodded.

Ding Heng went with the wind while I ran to the Precious Treasure Pavilion. I earned so many contribution points in the beginner village, so it was time to arm myself. If not, I would just look too embarrassing. Apart from my skeletal structure, I had nothing at all. Based on my current strength, I might not get first during the next Wind Cloud Platform battle.

……

Precious Treasure Pavilion.

When I entered the Precious Treasure Pavilion as a Small Skeleton, everyone looked at me.

“Wh-What is that? Such an undead cultivator actually has the rights to enter the Precious Treasure Pavilion?”

“Tsk, he actually has a Wind Cloud Platform’s token; why did senior uncle Ding Heng choose such a disciple?”

“He isn’t even in the Body Refining Realm.Haha…”

I took a deep breath and puffed out my chest. All of a sudden, an awkward crackling noise came from my chest and my ribs nearly broke apart. I entered the Precious Treasure Pavilion and looked at the NPCs here as if I were looking at statues. Sooner or later, I would destroy all of them! I walked to the counter.

A person with decomposed eyes asked respectfully, “What would you like to see?’

“I will take a look.”

“Okay!”

Thus, the Precious Treasure Pavilion’s sales list appeared in front of my eyes. I selected the Assassin job and many equipment, material, and skill books appeared. Let’s satisfy the skillbook requirements first!

Stealth: Requires 20 contribution points.

Gouge: Requires 20 contribution points.

Backstab: Requires 20 contribution points.

……

Buy all the three basic skills!

Right away, I lost 60 contribution points and three green skillbooks appeared in my bag. I learned them and instantly three pictures appeared on my skill list. I finally had skills!

Time to exchange for some equipment.

Though I could only wear low-level equipment, it could raise my stats. Each time I walked onto the Wind Cloud Platform, the stats would increase by ten times, so even an unassuming piece of equipment would often have a huge effect!

First, time to settle the weapon.

Shua!

When I chose weapons for Assassins, the list showed all the available daggers in the Precious Treasure Pavilion—

(White): Attack 2-5, required level 5, costs 15 contribution points

(Excellent): Attack 8-15, Agility +8, required level 7, costs 200 contribution points

(Rare): Attack 25-60, Agility +20, stamina +18, required level 25, costs 5000 contribution points

(Precious): Attack 145-220, Agility +80, Stamina +78, Strength +75, required level 50, costs 40000 contribution points

……

A total of four daggers; one was white, another Excellent, the Heartbreak Dagger blue, and the terrifying Silver Moon Dagger purple. The last one was overpowered. If the current level of players saw it, they would go mad! Of course, I could only take a look. To get 40000 contribution points, I had to kill 20000 players, which was impossible.

Hence, I could only request for the Wilderness Blade and Water Pattern Dagger!

I gritted my teeth and spent 215 contribution points. With that, I got two daggers. Although I was still a Small Skeleton,I looked the part. Especially the Water Pattern Dagger, it gave off a dark green glow, and it was a high-grade newbie item!

I continued looking at the defensive items.

There were only three in the leather armor section, and none of them fit me. The lowest level was a level 17 Rare Leather Armor and I could not wear it with my current level.

“Only these?” I asked.

Instantly, the attendant gave an awkward smile. “En, there are too few undead cultivators who will headout to hunt, so we only have these, but no worries; when this younger generation grows, we will have endless quantities of resources.”

“En, we can only hope.”

I nodded my head and left the Precious Treasure Pavilion.

The moment I stepped out of the Precious Treasure Pavilion, a countdown timer of Wind Cloud Platform appeared at the top right. It was still three hours. Based on the time, there would be a new Boss at 11 in the beginner village!

Three hours, great!

……

“Hey, you’re that Wind Cloud Platform’s victor, the legendary July Wildfire, aren’t you?”

Suddenly, a voice came from behind me.

I turned around and saw a teen wearing a robe. He had two red dragon horns. His name and level appeared in my field of sight—

Half Dragon Long Yilan (Elite Boss)

Level: 12

Attack: ???

Defence: ???

Health: ???

Skill: ???

Introduction: Long Yilan, a Half Dragon member, able to control dragon energy and death laws. He is really famous in the younger generation of Black Castle and is the personal disciple of Reincarnation Valley Manager Zhuang Huai Shui.

……