Chapter 83 Utterly Heartless!
In the courtyard filled with rising evil energy, the Human Puppet Master, tall with slender limbs, screamed in agony as it fell to the ground.
However, when Li Muyang chopped off its head, there was no blood spurting out—only a continuous stream of black malevolent energy.
Watching the Human Puppet Master fall, Li Muyang chuckled, revealing a satisfied smile.
That's what gaming is all about.
You, the BOSS, can win ten thousand times, but it doesn't matter. Winning just once as the player is enough!
Can't defeat it on the first try? Then try ten times, a hundred times!
However complex the BOSS's attack patterns may be, after dying enough times, you get used to it.
Having entered the game himself, Li Muyang indeed had been repeatedly killed by the Human Puppet Master at first, but after dying numerous times, he began to enjoy this method of personally projecting himself into the game to fight monsters.
He had piled up resources to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining, yet he hadn't learned a single combat spell and was completely clueless about cultivation combat skills, with frighteningly low combat experience.
After projecting into the game, he had hacked at this difficult BOSS, the Human Puppet Master, for two days and died over a hundred times, getting better with each successive fight.
By now, Li Muyang had finally gained some combat experience.
He wasn't sure about fighting others, but fighting this Human Puppet Master was absolutely under his control.
As the Human Puppet Master fell down the alley in his field of vision, Li Muyang called back the hovering wheel in the air.
He could now skillfully control the wheel with his thoughts, making it fly around like a flying sword—agile and swift.
As Li Muyang recalled the wheel, he was surprised to see a wisp of green smoke rising from the corpse of the Human Puppet Master and settle on his Magic Artifact, the wheel.
Seeing this, Li Muyang was slightly surprised.
"What did this wheel absorb from the Human Puppet Master?"
It couldn't be the soul, because the decapitated head of the Human Puppet Master was still there, screaming and babbling non-stop.
Previously, when he killed a leopard in reality, a wisp of white smoke had drifted from the leopard's corpse, and now in the game, killing a BOSS had produced a similar light smoke?
Li Muyang glanced at the Magic Artifact in his hand and found that there were now data points displayed on the wheel.
[Destructive Magic Wheel: Ordinary (18%)]
"Huh?" Li Muyang's eyes widened in surprise.
Although he knew that this wheel could grow and its limit was an Immortal Artifact,
in the days since he had acquired the wheel, he had been too busy running around to explore the upgrade path of the wheel. From the previous leopard kill, Li Muyang had vaguely guessed that the wheel needed to kill living beings to grow.
He did not expect that killing a game BOSS could also facilitate growth.
Astonishing.
And killing just one game BOSS, the Human Puppet Master, directly yielded 18% Experience Points—this game's BOSS gave quite a high amount of Experience Points.
In the game interface's alley, Jiang Xiaoyu was holding the Human Puppet Master's head, frozen in action.
Returning to the third-person perspective, Li Muyang saw this and chuckled.
"Killing a BOSS in the game and absorbing its essence allows the wheel to grow..."
He did not follow through with the subsequent game narrative, but directly loaded the save and returned to before Jiang Xiaoyu killed the Human Puppet Master.
When Jiang Xiaoyu entered the courtyard of the Human Puppet Master with two half-demons, the one that Li Muyang had already killed once was smiling serenely.
However, this time when Li Muyang struck down the Human Puppet Master, no white smoke rose from the corpse, and the wheel's data still showed only 18% Experience Points.
"Does this thing only yield essence the first time it's killed?"
Not believing his luck, Li Muyang loaded the game two more times, repeatedly killing that Human Puppet Master.
Yet, none of the three subsequent killings of the BOSS produced any essence.
He had to admit, the system was quite foolproof, giving him no chance to exploit any bugs repeatedly.
"Alright, good enough."
Unable to exploit bugs or take advantage of the system, Li Muyang clicked his tongue and reluctantly accepted it.
Though he couldn't exploit bugs, the fact that killing a game BOSS could add Experience Points to the wheel was surprise enough for Li Muyang.
Moreover, the game bosses offered a great deal of experience points.
Killing just one Human Puppet Master rewarded 18%, so this "Immortal Sword Legend" must have other bosses coming up, right?
If I cleared all the bosses in this city, could I then upgrade to a low-grade Spiritual Artifact?
Hehe...
Li Muyang, invigorated, entered the game.
He controlled Jiang Xiaoyu to pick up the head of the Human Puppet Master from the ground and, carrying the incessantly babbling head, made his way through streets and alleys to find the half-demon general Luo Feng.
[Luo Feng: You've got the head of the Human Puppet Master? Good!]
[Luo Feng: Hand over the head to me, I'll have someone interrogate it, and we should soon know the whereabouts of the Startling Swan Immortal Sword]
[Main Quest: Defeat Human Puppet Master completed]
A quest prompt popped up in his field of vision.
The half-demon general Luo Feng spoke again.
[Luo Feng: While I have someone extract information, could you do me a favor? You're free right now anyway, and I'm short on hands]
The classic RPG protagonist errand task appeared at this moment.
— Why should I, the future savior of the world, go fetch your lost cats and dogs?
But facing the [Accept the mission?] option popping up in his view, Li Muyang was all smiles.
"Sure, absolutely."
The best would be monster-killing quests; the more monsters killed, the faster the Magic Artifact upgraded.
He selected yes without hesitation.
There shouldn't be any errand tasks in this city, right? With the situation this chaotic...
Sure enough, Luo Feng had arranged a transitional monster-killing task for him.
[Luo Feng: There's a demon in this city, named the Red Flame King, a conspirator among demons, always plotting to overthrow Nanjiang City]
[Luo Feng: You managed to defeat the Human Puppet Master, and with your strength, defeating the Red Flame King shouldn't be difficult]
[Luo Feng: Please trouble you to kill the Red Flame King; he will be going alone to Metasequoia Courtyard tonight to meet another demon king's wife]
[Luo Feng: It's a perfect opportunity; the Red Flame King will not bring his subordinates when meeting his lover]
[Luo Feng: Your elimination of him will clear the obstacles in our search for the Startling Swan Immortal Sword]
[Main Quest: Go to Metasequoia Courtyard and kill the Red Flame King]
Upon seeing this system task, Li Muyang did not question why killing a demon would clear obstacles in the search for the Startling Swan Immortal Sword.
He only knew there was a boss to chop.
"The Red Flame King, huh?"
At the same level as the Human Puppet Master, killing him should also yield 18% experience points, right?
A few of these level bosses, and he could upgrade his wheel to a low-grade Spiritual Artifact.
Li Muyang accepted the task and briskly controlled Jiang Xiaoyu to leave the house and set up an ambush at Metasequoia Courtyard.
This Red Flame King had previously appeared at the broken bridge, one of the demon leaders of Nanjiang City.
Who would have thought he would actually steal another demon king's wife...tsk...
Such a morally bankrupt act must be condemned!
Following the system's map directions, Li Muyang traveled through the vast Nanjiang City and arrived at a courtyard on the eastern side of the city.
This area thrived with demons, and most of the inhabitants were demons.
But Metasequoia Courtyard was a secluded spot on the edge of the demon settlement, with hardly any demons outside the door.
Li Muyang hid in the shadows and waited for a bit, soon spotting the figure of the Red Flame King at the gateway.
He then stealthily followed, sneaking in from the shadows.