Level 10

The Evil Woodlands. Dozens of ghouls were lured into a tight pack. Yu Xian turned around and drew out a dark stick. The ghouls, which had been sprinting along at no small speed, all widened their eyes slightly, and their pace slowed to a crawl. "Mengmeng, basic attack!" Yu Xian smirked and gave the order to Mengmeng Fortune Cat, who was perched up in a tree. The next instant, Mengmeng Fortune Cat leaped from the branch onto Yu Xian's head. Her paws glowed with golden light, and a volley of copper coins sprayed forward. The ghouls were battered backward step by step, finally dissolving into white light in unwilling despair. A sudden surge of energy flowed into Yu Xian's body. An epiphany formed out of nothing, while his physical capabilities swiftly elevated. Beyond that, it felt as though he had practiced Chaos Summoning for countless years, and through that profound mastery, he unlocked a new skill. [Name: Yu Xian] [Level: 10] [Class: Chaos Envoy] [Skills:] [Chaos Summoning: Consumes one offering to summon a beast to fight for you. The beast's strength is determined by the quality of the offering.] [Chaos Curse: Consumes one offering to inflict a random negative status on the target. The duration and effect of the negative status are determined by the quality of the offering. Max negative statuses per target: 1.] … Finally Level 10. He had gained an additional summon slot and unlocked a new skill. Much like Chaos Summoning, this skill would continue to grow stronger as his level increased. At Level 10, he could only apply one negative status to an individual target, but at Level 20 it would be two, at Level 30 three, and so on. Yu Xian stuck to his old habit, bending down to pluck grass from the dirt, and continued wandering the Evil Woodlands in search of ghouls. Upon spotting one, he immediately unleashed Chaos Curse upon it. The blade of grass in his hand promptly dissolved into white light. In the distance, the ghoul had been aimlessly roaming through the trees when it suddenly sneezed. Then it sneezed again, and again, rattling off sneezes nonstop for ten full minutes before finally stopping. "Ten minutes. A common cold." A smile broke across Yu Xian's face. This new skill was pretty neat. Next, he bent down, plucked another handful of grass, and cast the skill on the poor ghoul once more. This time, the ghoul didn't catch a cold; it was poisoned. After staggering forward a few steps, its body began to twitch violently, white foam bubbling from its mouth. It took ten minutes before it could stagger back to its feet. That was largely because ghouls were undead, not truly living creatures, so poison couldn't actually kill them. Had it been an ordinary living being, Yu Xian's skill likely would have poisoned it to death. After that, Yu Xian continued testing Chaos Curse. If the ghoul possessed sapience, it surely would have wept and begged Yu Xian for a swift death rather than enduring this torment. Diarrhea, migraines, cholecystitis, hypertension, heel pain, rhinitis, insomnia… What kind of absurd negative statuses were these? Experiencing them just once drove the ghoul to utter despair. Little did it know that some humans collected this entire bouquet of conditions and carried them not for ten minutes, but for the rest of their lives. Yu Xian kept testing and testing, until finally he had the Fortune Cat finish off the ghoul with a basic attack. There were simply too many negative statuses. Every test refreshed a different one, but earlier conditions could recur in the process, which made it a waste of time. It would be better to learn them gradually through actual combat later. "Time to go check out Fukang City." Yu Xian walked forward, scooped up the ghoul's dropped loot, and spoke to Mengmeng Fortune Cat. Though becoming the Sword God of Shili Slope had considerable appeal, making money was clearly more important. Only with sufficient coin could Mengmeng Fortune Cat unleash her true power, so earning gold took priority. "Meow-tune!" Just then, Mengmeng Fortune Cat let out a cry. Yu Xian didn't understand cat language, but he knew what she meant. Delighted, he asked, "You awakened new skills at Level 10 too? Let me see!" With that, he pulled up Mengmeng Fortune Cat's stats: [Mengmeng Fortune Cat] [Level: 10] [Skills:] [Fortune Attractor: Monsters killed by Mengmeng Fortune Cat have their drop rate increased by 10%.] [Fortune's Favor: Mengmeng Fortune Cat is more likely to trigger critical hits, and each critical hit increases the drop rate by 1%.] [Preservation: Upon death, Mengmeng Fortune Cat leaves behind the gold ingot atop her head; depositing money can resurrect her.] [Joy: Mengmeng Fortune Cat provides luck to allied units and grants immunity to curse damage.] [Abundant Wealth: Monsters killed by Mengmeng Fortune Cat are guaranteed to drop Fortune Gold Coins.] [Remarks: Whose luck did you sacrifice? To actually summon this little treasure.] … After reading Mengmeng Fortune Cat's new skills, Yu Xian's first thought was that he was about to strike it rich. Monsters in the Zhen Realm did drop gold coins, but the drops were entirely random. As a result, most players were dead broke; only certain factions amassed vast quantities of Fortune Gold Coins through business or other ventures. Mengmeng Fortune Cat's skill meant that as long as Yu Xian killed monsters and let her deliver the finishing blow, he was guaranteed to earn Fortune Gold Coins. "We're not heading back! We're grinding!" Yu Xian changed his mind on the spot. His motivation was now overflowing. Before grinding, however, there was one more thing to do: summon a new companion. Reaching Level 10 allowed him to hold two summons at once. Mengmeng Fortune Cat occupied one slot, which meant he had room for another. He stepped out of the Evil Woodlands and prepared to cast the skill at the border between the Fukang Mountains and the woods. First, he took out a Ghoul's Bento as the sacrifice and activated Chaos Summoning. The magic circle before him glowed with white light, and a ghoul bearing an uncanny resemblance to a goblin slowly emerged. [Charging Ghoul] [Level: 2] [Skills:] [Charge for Love: When charging toward a female ghoul, movement speed surges dramatically, but attack power decreases.] [Remarks: Don't run, I love you!] Yu Xian read this expressionlessly, then ordered Mengmeng Fortune Cat to beat it to death on the spot. Next, he took out another Ghoul's Bento and cast Chaos Summoning again. Another ghoul materialized in the magic circle. [Green-Haired Ghoul] [Level: 3] [Skills:] [Frenzied Licking: The tongue can extend and retract freely; when attacking a female ghoul, the tongue's speed increases.] [Remarks: Behold my licking skills!] … Yu Xian stared at the ghoul's stats and began to understand. As long as a Ghoul's Bento served as the offering, it would most likely summon a ghoul—and guaranteed to be a male one at that. Refusing to accept this bad luck, he killed the ghoul, pulled out another box of Ghoul's Bento, and activated the skill once more. Suddenly, the air filled with a chilling aura of slaughter. The white light of the magic circle flared slowly, as though some great terror were about to emerge. Yu Xian watched the circle and swallowed hard. The next moment, an extraordinary ghoul slowly took shape.