Absolute Death Game

The spell was learned, but a new problem had emerged. How could he use these spells in reality?

Xiao Buli didn't immediately start experimenting, as past experience suggested that it would take at least a few hours for the changes in the game to reflect in reality.

He restrained the urge to run back to his room and wildly cast spells on himself, and continued with the daily tasks of his sect. Since he had already completed the harvesting and breeding tasks, he reluctantly chose lumbering, an activity he wasn't particularly good at.

Although it might mean earning Contribution Value at a slower pace initially, he would still gain Attribute Points, so it wasn't a total loss.

Finally the evening came, and Xiao Buli hoped by then he would be able to use the spells. Back in his room, however, he began to feel perplexed again.

The game hadn't taught any incantations, let alone how to cast spells in reality. Moreover, it seemed that talisman paper was needed for the spell to work.

The only spell that didn't require talisman paper was Resurrection Skills, which required an injured target to be effective. He thought for a moment and remembered the fish tank in the kitchen where they often kept live fish, perhaps that would work for experimenting.

At night, he took the opportunity to slip into the kitchen. Fortunately, due to it being late, there was no one around. He chose a small fish and hid it in his pocket before returning to his room.

After securing his room door, he did not start experimenting in the bedroom, but went directly into the bathroom.

He made a cut on the fish's body with a fruit knife and held the fish in his hands, silently invoking the Resurrection Skill. There was no effect.

He hadn't expected it to be so easy to succeed, so this time he placed his right hand on the fish, somewhat reminiscent of a Wizard casting a spell on a Crystal Ball. He imagined a white light, symbolizing the Resurrection Skill, emitting from his hand, but after a long while, there was no response.

Is it because my Spiritual Power isn't focused enough? Or could it be that I need an incantation? He recalled that there was no incantation involved in the game.

Forget it, focus the Spirit! He stared intently at the increasingly weak fish, with nothing else visible in his sight but the fish—"Resurrection Skill!" he shouted. Yet—there was no response, and after a few final struggles, the fish flipped over, spat out white foam, and stopped moving.

What exactly is going on here? Xiao Buli thought to himself as he flushed the dead fish down the toilet. Previously, the Basic Swordsmanship and Chain Sword Strike came naturally to him in emergencies. Could it be that the first use of a spell required him to...?

As he thought, he picked up a fruit knife and looked at his left hand, measuring along the palm for quite some time.

For the sake of the spell, here goes nothing! He gritted his teeth and hesitated no longer, cutting down with the knife.

Intense pain arrived as expected, with the knife penetrating about half a centimeter into the palm, and after he made a cut more than a centimeter long, he stopped, the bright red blood flowing down the palm lines dramatically.

Xiao Buli took a deep breath and began trying to use the spell to heal the wound. He concentrated his Spiritual Power on the wound just like before, imagining some form of energy passing through and healing it, but still there was no response. Despite staring until his eyes hurt, nothing happened.

Xiao Buli raised his right hand, imitating a Wizard from a movie, then closed his eyes, like a fortune-teller in deep meditation. After trying for an hour, the wound on his hand showed no signs of healing.

FUCK! Xiao Buli smashed the fruit knife against the wall in frustration, huffing and puffing for a while before he managed to calm down. However, he wasn't someone easily discouraged. He believed there was an issue with his method—the game's magic was beyond doubt, he must have mastered the spell already, it was just that he didn't yet know the method.

Perhaps he should start with Passive Skills first.

He dressed the wound on his hand and went to bed early.

Due to the pain in his hand, it was difficult for him to fall asleep. It wasn't until around eleven or twelve that he managed to doze off, but even then, his sleep was restless. The pain continued to torture him, keeping him in a state of semi-consciousness. In his haze, he thought how nice it would be if the pain wasn't so bad.

Suddenly, a cool sensation came from his hand, as if he had applied menthol to it. The pain gradually subsided, and Xiao Buli finally fell into a deep sleep.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

When he woke up the next morning, he was surprised to discover that the palm of his hand no longer hurt. Removing the bandage, he found his left palm completely healed, not even a scar remained—only some dried blood to show that it had indeed been injured the day before.

Xiao Buli was overjoyed at first; the spell had indeed worked. But then he fell into confusion, wondering how exactly could he use these spells?

This question could only be answered through practice. For this reason, during the day he continued to work feverishly on acquiring Contribution Value. Despite how hard he worked, it was in vain. Tasks like lumbering and harvesting, which were laborious in nature, only awarded 5 Contribution Points each, and he could only complete two such tasks a day at most.

In order to maximize his gains, he spoke to Li Jian and arranged to start an hour early in the morning and finish an hour late in the evening. Coupled with the hour saved from not studying the Tao Te Ching, he eventually decided to have his lunch at the workroom as well, saving another hour. That way, he effectively gained four extra hours a day, and he could now earn 15 Contribution Points per day.

During the breaks from labor, he would run to Xuanxu Zi to study the hundreds of skills available for exchange.

He initially planned to exchange for those seven spells, but clearly some modifications were needed. First, he needed to learn how to restore Spiritual Power Value, so he had to learn meditation. Secondly, he didn't know how to make Talisman Paper. In the game, one could use silver coins to solve that problem, but there was nothing like that in real life. And even if there was, he wouldn't trust it.

After inquiring with Qingfeng Mingyue, Xiao Buli was told that not only spell-related skills were exchangeable at Xuanxu Zi's place but also professional skills, with Talisman Paper crafting being one of the auxiliary skills within a professional field. Upon checking with Xuanxu Zi, he indeed found several professional skills available for exchange.

There were a total of four: Alchemy, Rune Crafting, Mechanism Puppetry Technique, and Refining Treasures.

Alchemy allowed for concocting various Elixirs, essentially equivalent to the World of Warcraft Alchemy, only that the Elixirs in this game were more precious and more effective.

Rune Crafting was somewhat a combination of Enchanting and Inscription. It enabled crafting Talisman Paper and talismans, as well as carving Runes into equipment to add special effects to them.

The Mechanism Puppetry Technique could initially create some interesting trinkets. Later on, it could even be used to make combat puppets that could fight alongside the owner. (The 'Armored Mystic Lions' at the entrance of the Mystic Hollow Palace were rather powerful combat puppets.) It also included the ability to make flying mounts like the Griffin.

Refining Treasures was even more impressive, capable of producing legendary Magical Treasures. For instance, something called the 'Jade Tiger,' which was a jade sculpture that could be carried in a bag. In times of crisis, it could transform into a combat pet to assist in battle. Or the 'Brilliance Orb,' which could generate a protective shield with a thousand health points, usable once per day.

There was also the formless mask. Wearing it allowed one to take on the appearance of any person one had seen before. This might just be a toy in a typical online game, but in the highly realistic 'Absolute Death Domain,' it was undoubtedly a heaven-defying treasure.

However, regardless of which professional skill it was, exchanging to learn it wasn't expensive. But the price for subsequent blueprints and materials was exorbitant. Especially the Refinement Treasures specialty required not only powerful spells to create corresponding treasures but also a variety of heaven and earth treasures as basic materials.

Just hearing the names of these materials, Xiao Buli felt that even if he spent all he had, he wouldn't be able to afford them. Moreover, a single Magical Treasure often required several, or even dozens of different materials to be crafted, which was synonymous with burning money excessively.

Thus, after a slight hesitation, Xiao Buli chose to learn Rune Crafting, which he needed the most at the moment. Although he couldn't afford the more advanced Runes yet, being able to craft his own Talisman Paper was still very useful.

Meditation was a very cheap skill, costing only 20 Contribution Points, while Rune Crafting was merely 10 Contribution Points. It took Xiao Buli only two days to learn these two skills.