"There are only ten hours left before all the scoring is finalized. Old Shen, can you do it?" Wu Rui asked Shenhua in the Tianxun discussion group.
Shenhua was his father's subordinate. His father had helped Shenhua immensely in the past. For this reason, Shenhua had always used his best efforts in working for Wu Rui's family. Shenhua had also always helped Wu Rui in his role at the helm of Tianxun Internet Technology Ltd. Furthermore, he dared to take risks.
For all these reasons, Wu Rui had invested a lot of resources in him. Shenhua didn't disappoint. He'd become a superb individual who was extremely professional, and he also was able to explore caves at a rapid rate.
"Yes," Shen Hua replied, "I am currently challenging an elite cave. Give me a few hours, and I should be able to conquer this cave. Our points will increase by 50 points when that time comes. We will be able to charge to first place."
"Great! Brother Shen, I've always trusted you. Do your best!" Wu Rui continued, "The more powerful you become, the more powerful we will become. I believe that my father is also developing at a decent rate. We will be able to meet when this area expands."
Shenhua agreed, "I am totally in agreement with your ideas, Chairman Wu!"
Shenhua had remained very obedient toward Wu Rui even after entering this world, and it was not only because of the favors he'd received in the past. He also knew that he depended on Wu Rui's resources. Shenhua also knew that Wu Rui's father was even more scheming and commanded an even greater influence in the world than his son did.
He might be able to become even better off in this crypt world if he depended on their methods and his previous connections.
Furthermore, he was also pretty certain that area 2222 wouldn't continue to stay as it was. Wu Rui's connections would come into play as the area expanded and the population increased.
...
"Number one, number one!" Yu Pengfei was also trying his best to conquer a cave.
He had a tall physique and was extremely muscular. He was dressed in steel armor. Yu Pengfei had been a gym and brawling enthusiast before he came to the crypt world. Thus he didn't encounter many difficulties after he entered the crypt world. He easily became a superb individual.
Currently, there were two merciless three-eyed magic bears in front of him. They were Lv7 monsters and had powerful abilities.
The three-eyed magic bears roared in fury as they charged toward him.
"Darn it, I'll have to use my skill again…" Yu Pengfei was very reluctant to use this skill. However, he had no choice but to twirl his body around as he engaged in a strange dance.
"Allure Magic -- Magic Beast Mating Dance!" Yu Pengfei started to dance like a female bear. Strange magic energy rippled around him, and it caused the two three-eyed magic bears to halt in their tracks.
They looked as if they were smitten. They roared toward Yu Pengfei and let out excited cries asking to mate.
They acted as if they'd seen a sexy female bear dancing in front of them.
The enemy had been smitten. Seizing the opportunity, Yu Pengfei suddenly charged forward and stabbed a knight's longsword into the chest of one of the bears. "I'm going to finish you off."
The two three-eyed magic bears didn't have time to react before they were killed by him.
"Done!" Not only did Yu Pengfei not feel any joy in such a victory, but he instead felt a strange sense of humiliation.
Fortunately, he was battling alone. If anyone else had seen a muscular bloke like him dancing to seduce magic beasts, they might have died laughing.
"I shouldn't have listened to Breeze. Wouldn't it be great if I could have a normal profession? I could become something like a Charm Knight. It all makes me sick." Ever since Yu Pengfei had gotten the rod of divine light and the brilliant dance technique, he had become a devout disciple of a certain deity.
Under normal circumstances, he should have become a holy knight or a holy warrior. However, some accidents had occurred, and so he became a Charm Knight.
He had to participate in strange dances and seductive movements if he wanted to use the abilities of this profession. It was hard for a straightlaced muscular bloke like him to be in this profession.
Fortunately, the only things he faced were monsters. Otherwise, he would have died from awkwardness.
"I have to take first place on the scoreboard and learn a normal knight's skills." Yu Pengfei twirled as he entered the monster cave.
…...
"There are still a few hours left. I can't rest on my laurels." Xia Chengfeng left the leader's cave. That was a full 100 points.
He changed into new gear. [Tauren Warrior Leggings Lv7 (Good)], [Tauren Elder's Ax Lv8 (Great)], [Tauren Elder's Power Belt Lv8 (Great)], [Tauren Shaman's Wizard Technique Mask Lv7 (Good)].
He then learned the techniques from the [Mental Attack Skill Book (Exceptional)], [Heavy Cleave Skill Book (Exceptional)], and [Earth Tremble Skill Book (Exceptional)].
His overall strength must have doubled!
He would now dare to take on a Tauren elder alone without any poison or traps.
...
In the crypt world, as long as a player had the appropriate powers, they could learn any techniques they wanted. However, having more techniques was not always better. Every technique had to be improved with levels and familiarity to be effective in battle.
Learning too many techniques could result in a player not having developed a technique that he specialized in to a very high level. He could be at a disadvantage if he faced high-level monsters or opponents.
Currently, Xia Chengfeng had too few techniques and didn't have to worry about that problem. He would have to learn more techniques to guarantee his safety.
He started digging for a cave and found a One Star cave several hours later.
There were a horde of [Bloodthirsty Magic Wolves Lv6] in the cave. There were almost 12 of them.
The horde of wolves pounced toward him. Xia Chengfeng sent one flying with his ax. Then he cleared off the rest of the wolves with his [Vine Slash], [Mental Attack], and the support from Xiaozi's [Lightning Flame]. He achieved utter domination.
"I'm slowly getting stronger." Xia Chengfeng felt rather proud. He no longer had to flee and use surprise attacks on every monster he came across.
"Currently, what I lack most are techniques unique to alchemists. As long as I can create a few alchemy puppets or magic equipment, I'll become even more powerful." Xia Chengfeng thought about the rewards of the scoreboard: a Lv10 exquisite weapon for superb individuals and an extraordinary skill book.
There was still half an hour left to the end of the rankings.
There were not many changes to the scoreboard. There hadn't been many changes during the last ten hours.
The players became extremely excited in the forums.
"The scores are about to be tallied. I managed to squeeze into the top 100!"
"The scoreboard basically summarizes the strengths of the survivors in our area. Have you guys noticed? The number of survivors in our area has dropped by a few hundred over the past month, and we are left with only 2,017 people. One-third of the players have died!"
"It's too difficult!"
"I have bet all of my money on Feifei. He is currently at 324 points, still number one."
"Why have the points of the other players not changed? Did I bet on the wrong person?"
"I don't want to fight for a spot on the scoreboard. All I want to do is live life one day at a time and wait to die."
The time of the tally was rapidly approaching. When there were three minutes left, the people who were holding something back finally couldn't stand it any longer. They started to take action.
The first to do so was Feifei. His points suddenly rose by 20 points and reached 344 points. He led Yang Yong by 37 points.
"So Feifei still had points. I guess he'll definitely be ranked first then?" The players were manically discussing the matter on the betting thread.
"It's a pity that the payout is so low. We can't earn any money this way…"
"That's all he's got?" Shenhua let out a cold laugh when he saw the rankings change. He chose to conquer the elite cave he had just taken down.
His points immediately rose by 50 and reached 353 points. He had surpassed Feifei and become number one.
"To think that he still had 50 points!" Yu Pengfei was a little indignant. "I won't keep my number one spot this time."
"Ha, ha, ha, Tianxun is still the strongest faction!"
"Congratulations @Shenhua for being ranked first on the scoreboard!" Wu Rui left a comment on the discussion board. A flurry of congratulations came after that.
"Congratulations, boss!"
"(Image: Scattering flowers as congratulations!)"
Dahai Wang: "We're number one. You're impressive, Chairman Shen. You're impressive, Chairman Wu!"
They had not been gloating for very long when the top three spots on the scoreboard changed again.
Yang Yong's points rose by 50 and became 357. He occupied first place.
There was only one minute left before the scoreboard was tallied!
The players had different reactions when they saw the change.
"I knew that Yang Yong was hiding something. It's all right, it's decent enough to be in the top three!" Yu Pengfei had been prepared for this.
"That Yang Yong explored an elite cave...? Or did he dare to leave behind five One Star caves? Wasn't he afraid of being spotted by monsters?" Wu Ru and Shenhua were pissed off.
The stream of congratulations in the Tianxun group chat came to an awkward end. No one commented.
"Brother Yong is the best indeed!" The members of Xingyuan started to shout in the forums.
"Brother Yong, number one! The strongest in area 2222."
"Darn it, I miscalculated. I should have bet on Yang Yong."
"There aren't any changes left, right?"
"There shouldn't be. The distance between the top three players and the rest of the players is too large. The other players won't be able to catch up even if they are hiding something."
"The last 30 seconds. The outcome is decided. Yang Yong will definitely rank first."