In the valley shrouded in blood-red mist, the air was filled with a thick and pungent blood scent.
Wearing a sharp-beaked crow mask, Li Muyang incessantly shook the bell in his hand, creating a tingling jingle.
Upon hearing the bell, the group of black goats in the valley all lifted their heads in a daze and then uncontrollably started walking towards Li Muyang.
“Souls return~ Souls return~”
Li Muyang, swaying his head, shook the bell while emitting a weird and eerie soul-summoning sound.
This strange and sinister soul-summoning sound, combined with the ringing of the bell, seemed to possess a peculiar magic power that induced dreams.
That group of bipedal black goats staggered after Li Muyang, exiting the Blood Mist Valley step by wobbly step.
After exiting the valley, the air instantly became fresh, and Li Muyang also took off the crow mask and took a long breath of clean air.
“I’m really fed up with this damn valley…”
Li Muyang turned to glance back at the Blood Mist Valley behind him and sighed.
Having crossed into this world two months ago, he had the misfortune of becoming an Outer Sect Disciple of the Refinement Demon Sect, a demon path sect, burdened with menial daily chores.
The task assigned to him this month was herding goats, which sounded easy: all he needed to do was drive this group of bipedal goats into the blood-colored valley in the morning and back to the pen at night.
However, the blood mist inside the valley was irritating to the nostrils, and even with the mask provided by the sect, he could only block half of the stench.
After spending a day inside, the bloody smell seemed almost to be baked into his very being.
Li Muyang, ringing his bell, walked along the road while the foul blood scent filled the air, causing the Demon Sect disciples he passed to hurriedly avoid him from afar.
Thus with an unhindered path, Li Muyang, ringing the bell and herding the goats, drove the group of pitch-black bizarre goats into their pen, handed his identity token to the overseer, and then walked towards his thatched hut.
A dilapidated and drafty thatched hut was all the property that Li Muyang possessed in this world.
Exhausted, he lay on the hard wooden bed, looking up at the cobweb-laden ceiling beam, and the busy Li Muyang could finally rest.
He closed his eyes and saw a long progress bar.
[Game template loading, current progress 99.99%…]
At the sight of this number, a flicker of joy passed through Li Muyang’s heart.
Was it finally about to load successfully…
This thing that seemed like a system had appeared after Li Muyang crossed over.
From the initial 0% to the current 99.99%, it had taken a full two months, and Li Muyang had been anticipating what exactly this system was—perhaps it was the legendary cheat-code golden finger.
Too excited to rest, Li Muyang, who had planned to lie down for a while, sat up with a jolt and waited attentively for the progress bar to finish loading.
Another ten or so minutes passed, and the 99.99% progress bar finally moved.
[Game template loading, current progress 100%… Load successful.]
The next second, a vast scroll unfolded in Li Muyang’s view.
Mystic mists swirled, mountains meandered, and the scroll depicted pavilions, towers, the calling of immortal cranes—it was a veritable immortal landscape.
Yet what drew the eye most was a series of figures scattered throughout this Immortal Realm.
They could be seen faintly through the white fog, their figures graceful and elegant; even without clear faces, one could still feel their peerless beauty.
Li Muyang marveled at the scroll, which was magnificent and grand as if a vast world unfolded in his field of vision.
The next second, large golden characters emerged in the center of the scroll.
[The Game with the Fairies loaded successfully, host bound successfully. Would you like to start the tutorial?]
Tutorial?
Li Muyang blinked and immediately chose [Begin].
The next second, the scenic view in the scroll changed.
A massive city surrounded by high walls appeared in Li Muyang’s field of vision.
The town under the moonlight seemed ghostly, with shadows that roamed the streets like haunting specters.
Straightaway, rows of vigorous and forceful blood-colored characters silently floated up on the scroll.
[In the final years of the Tianyuan Dynasty, when chaos reigned, it was rumored that evil spirits appeared in Loushan City at the western frontier. Eerie howls were often heard in the city at night, striking fear into people’s hearts. Magician Zhang Daniu was ordered to investigate Loushan City, but he mysteriously disappeared.]
[Now, as a rising talent of the imperial court, you have been assigned by your superiors to assist Glass Immortal Maiden in investigating the situation at Loushan City.]
[Please choose your talents]
Li Muyang’s lips twitched sharply at the text that appeared in his field of vision.
Why are the character names in this game so abstract?
Zhang Daniu, really? There is no problem with that?
But from this description, this so-called game… is about investigating demons with a fairy?
Is this investigation… serious?
Li Muyang was incredibly curious. He noticed that the scroll in his field of vision had changed again, with two blank talent slots popping up, allowing the choice of two talents to enter the tutorial.
As Li Muyang selected a blank talent slot, a dense list of twenty-six available talents immediately popped up.
The instant he saw those talent skills, Li Muyang’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
“Holy shit!”
Li Muyang was shocked.
One of the talent skills was especially eye-catching, instantly drawing Li Muyang’s attention.
[Time Stop: Upon equipping this talent, you can stop time for 7 seconds with a cooldown of 10 seconds.]
This talent skill left Li Muyang utterly dumbfounded.
Using a skill to stop time for 7 seconds, with only a 10-second cooldown… isn’t that just invincible?
What kind of system is this, giving time stop, of all abilities?
Li Muyang continued to look at the other available talent skills, finding that almost all selectable talents were top-tier skills.
[First Encounter Kill: When engaging in combat with a target for the first time, you can kill it with a 100% success rate, no cooldown.]
[World’s End Neighbors: Select a target, and both parties receive 30% of each other’s attributes, with a cooldown of 24 hours.]
[Mind Reading Technique: Allows you to read the target’s innermost thoughts, no cooldown.]
[Instantaneous Movement: Allows you to instantaneously move to a place you have been before, with a cooldown of 10 seconds.]
[Blood Conversion (Passive): When damaged, you gain attribute growth, the more severe the injury, the higher the attribute increase, entering a near-death state doubles the increased attribute values and grants a ten-minute immortality BUFF.]
[Invisibility Technique: Grants the ability to become invisible, no cooldown.]
[Great Healing Technique: Instantly heals all injuries of a target, ineffective against corpses, with a cooldown of 60 seconds.]
[Hidden Sword in the Belly: Spits out a flying sword that hits the target with 100% accuracy, with a 50% chance of instant death, with a cooldown of 20 seconds.]
…
A dense array of talent skills dazzled Li Muyang’s eyes.
This system is truly powerful, it even provides cheats.
Although you can only carry two talents at a time, any of these skills would be top-tier, and the system lets him select two!
Among them were passive skills, active skills, and even support skills – truly, there was everything one could need.
After sifting through the options, Li Muyang finally chose [Time Stop] and [Hidden Sword in the Belly] as his two talents.
Time control for slaughtering minions and mobs.
A flying sword ability with 100% accuracy, plus a 50% chance of instant death, was meant for battling bosses with large health bars.
These two skills paired together were nearly invincible.
After selecting his talents, Li Muyang clicked confirm.
He looked forward with anticipation to the eerie and mysterious Loushan City in his field of vision, eager to see what this tutorial, and the Glass Immortal Maiden, were really like.