RPAGF Chapter 37: Merit Settlement, Dungeon Unlocked
Chapter 37: Merit Settlement, Dungeon Unlocked
[Network notification: The Taoist quest "Catching Ghosts and Exorcising Evil Spirits" has been completed]
[Assessing the historical impact of his achievements...]
Exorcising Ghosts and Evil Spirits: Find and resolve the conspiracy behind the character "Qiao Mingyang" (Completed)
The Path of the Hero: King of Knights
Evaluation: You have successfully averted an extremely serious act of rebellion. This crisis, unforeseen by both you and the entire Redwater City security department, could have had a devastating impact on the planet's future security. Fortunately, you prevented it from happening. You are aware of many suspicious circumstances surrounding this matter. Perhaps you can investigate further, or you may choose to stop here and let the official authorities handle it.
[Task Settlement: This Path Quest has earned [30] Merit Points]
Lin Zhuo disposed of the armored warrior's corpse as trash by throwing it into the virtual training field, then retrieved the broken Meteor Chain Hammer from the group of police officers.
After that, he left the scene without lingering nearby. He went to a secluded spot, retrieved his hidden backpack, removed the talisman, restored his normal appearance, and went straight back to his bachelor apartment.
After closing the door, Lin Zhuo went into the bathroom, took off his clothes, and stood in front of the mirror to examine his body.
There were five tiny, jet-black scorch marks on the skin around his chest, without any blood seeping out. Although the armored warrior's claw attack had its force neutralized by his protective technique, it had still managed to penetrate the protective aura, leaving a minor injury.
The knuckles of his fists were torn and bleeding, the result of colliding with the metal armor. It was fortunate that he had used his true energy for protection, otherwise he would have been turned into a pile of minced meat long ago.
After leaving the scene, he simply wrapped his hands with bandages. The wounds were almost closed, but they were still itchy. Lin Zhu removed the sticky, blood-stained gauze and wiped them with iodine for disinfection.
This operation was extremely successful.
Thirty merit points! Many daily quests only give three to five points at most. This is a double digit, which shows that the historical impact of this quest is quite significant.
According to the forum, important events involving the entire planet and billions of people usually receive higher achievement points from the comprehensive network.
However, the examples cited by those veteran players were often about unifying the world or eliminating apocalyptic disasters, etc. Lin Zhuo only patched up the internal defense department of Cuirang Star, and he was able to get double-digit merit points, which can be considered as benefiting from it.
Or perhaps his act of chivalry could not completely resolve the crisis of the leaked coordinates of Emerald Land Star, but only postponed the arrival of that day, thus failing to achieve a greater historical impact.
Regardless, Lin Zhuo now needs to reassess his future plans.
His actions were discreet, but not entirely without anyone noticing.
Not to mention that the Security Bureau's criminal investigation would eventually uncover clues and suspicious points, how could Chijiang, which monitors the entire Hongshui City, not know Lin Zhuo's whereabouts?
Even if he didn't carry a mobile phone or other location tracking devices, his movements were still traceable under surveillance.
Every child who grew up in Hongshui City knows an old saying: Don't do bad things. Comrade Chijiang always knew this perfectly well.
The extent and depth of this artificial intelligence within the network surpassed the predictions of scholars on this planet many years ago. Today, no one knows just how many secrets Chijiang is hiding.
If it so desired, Emerald Land might become like those other lost worlds ruled by AI tyranny, its sole domain. But for now, this planet still belongs to the communal masses of the human community.
The organization might see this as effective oversight of artificial intelligence. But many more believe it's the long revolutionary history embodied in Comrade Chijiang that forged his great character, preventing it from sliding into the abyss.
Lin Zhuo also holds this view.
The phone and email have remained silent so far, indicating that Chijiang has no intention of having a heart-to-heart talk with him for the time being. This unsettling silence is actually a way of extending goodwill.
Lin Zhuo appreciated the gesture, but he didn't intend to just sit and wait for future developments to drag him into it.
Now that you have achieved success in the path of cultivation, what is the most important thing?
Of course, you should buy a dungeon invitation!
Clear dungeons, gain experience points and disaster coins, improve your realm, and with real and tangible power, what is there to fear about tomorrow's turmoil!
Lin Zhuo pondered which instance invitation he should spend his thirty merit points on first.
The dungeon purchase pool on the network is extremely abundant, and the stock is increasing daily. Low-level dungeon invitations are updated daily with unlimited quantities, while mid-to-high-level invitations are updated weekly, monthly, or even quarterly, with very considerable quantities available.
As for legendary-level dungeons, they are released in limited quantities only on an irregular basis and are often sold out. Anyway, they are still too far away for him to care about.
Thirty merit points are enough to buy advanced dungeons of levels 5-10, and most beginner dungeons of levels 1-5 are no problem, so there is a wide range of options.
Lin Zhuo consulted the recommendations of the Qigong Masters Discussion Group and narrowed down several targets. There was a lot to learn about these targets, and he needed to carefully choose among them.
Different dungeons have different refresh cycles for challenge attempts, varying lengths of time players can stay within a dungeon, and differences in map size and freedom of movement.
Some dungeons offer three challenge attempts per day, while others offer one attempt per day, one per week, or even one per month. Generally speaking, the shorter the cooldown interval, the higher the price.
Some instances are small-scale miniature maps where players simply walk around and clear out the hostile targets to complete the level. The maximum allowed time to stay is often only a few hours, and if the map is not cleared by the time limit, it is considered a forced failure.
Some dungeons feature open-world maps with complete storylines and ecosystems, allowing players to interact with characters, trigger quests, and stay for anywhere from several days to several weeks.
Open-world dungeons are typically more expensive than miniature maps.
Considering that time in the real world is relatively still while players are in a dungeon, thus providing an opportunity for cultivation, Lin Zhuo plans to choose an open-world dungeon.
This open-world instance has a large number of side quests to explore, including various classic adventure quests, such as martial arts manuals under cliffs, hidden treasure troves behind pools and currents, and reclusive masters, all of which are real.
With well-developed dungeons, players will inevitably compile exploration guides to help newcomers quickly acquire resources. In terms of actual rewards, these are much higher than simple miniature garden maps.
After careful consideration, Lin Zhuo did not take the risk of choosing those unpopular recommendations, but instead focused on a dungeon with high praise and popularity, whose game environment and challenge were both average.
[Network prompt: Do you wish to consume [XIV] Merit Points to purchase the dungeon invitation [Cangcheng Rain Blood Demon Blade Record]?]
"Yes."
As merit points were deducted, Lin Zhuo's player inventory gained a new item.
He retrieved the object, and as a faint glow gathered, a red letter quietly lay in his hand. The object exuded a delicate fragrance, and the envelope was decorated with gilded floral and bird patterns, splattered with specks of dark blood.
Looking at the information revealed in the envelope, Lin Zhuo had already begun brainstorming.
He imagined the letter was an invitation to a wedding banquet many years ago, but a tragedy occurred during the banquet, causing the invitations to be stained with ominous blood. Years later, the bloodstains had turned black, but the fragrance that permeated the invitations still lingered, like a lingering ghost clinging to this past grievance.
"Interesting." He chuckled to himself, realizing he'd been reading too many storybooks. He opened the envelope, and inside was the actual invitation to the dungeon.
The letter paper is also red with gold foil, on which detailed information about the copy is written in gold ink.
Dungeon Name: Cangcheng Rain Blood Demon Blade Record (Remaining Challenge Attempts: 1 [Refresh Cycle: 14 calendar days])
Grade: 1-5
Difficulty: Special
Expected rewards for clearing the stage: Disaster Coins (tiny to small amount), General Experience (tiny to small amount), Gray quality drops (extremely high probability), White quality drops (high probability), Blue quality drops (low probability), Blue quality Enlightenment Diagram (version limited) (extremely low probability).
[Comprehensive Notice: Dying in this instance will cause players to suffer a Soul Weakness status (1 calendar day)]
After receiving the invitation, the virtual chat channel for the instance was officially activated, and a new message popped up in the chat interface.
"[The Legend of Cangcheng Rain Blood Demon Blade Strategy Channel] has sent you an invitation. Do you agree to join?"
"agree."
[Network notification: Player "Fuyouyue" has joined the current channel]
The system's built-in real-time translation module for all languages in the multiverse is functioning normally.
Current number of players online in this channel: 1794
Total number of players in the current channel: 21083
This instance has a large number of online players, so the chat channel is very lively. Everyone chats, forms teams, shares their experiences and new gameplay tips, creating a vibrant atmosphere.
[Drinking at Eighty Thousand Cups]: We're farming the Enlightenment Map for the main Purgatory quest. Need one more player, level 4 or higher.
[Starry Night Whisper]: [Image] Guys, I accidentally killed this story creature after slashing it for five minutes. Can the "Spirit Turtle Bearing Dew" side quest still proceed?
[Ice Crystal Blade]: You call it an accident after hacking for five minutes straight? (laughing and crying) Just wait for the dungeon to refresh.
[Knocking on a gong]: Anyone with a high-level racing team? Please, please add me! [Little raccoon bowing.jpg]
Lin Zhuo didn't rush to speak, but instead explored the chat channel and found a group file compiled by veteran players. It contained all sorts of dungeon story information, world maps, main and side quest guides, and so on, which was very detailed.
He needs to spend some time studying it before deciding whether to go into the map solo or team up with someone.
However, there is another urgent matter at hand.
After re-bandaging himself, Lin Zhuo quietly went out. He needed to go to the community workshop to repair the Serpent Chain Hammer. He could also scan the dungeon data along the way without wasting any time.