Chapter 13: Prism-Class, Demon Contract!

“Pfft.”

The Void Mantis struck swiftly, and the knight in black fell, his head severed.

Since they came to kill, they would kill thoroughly.

Gazing at the three bodies before him, Li Yao narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Is this the Yu Wen family?”

If he remembered correctly, the A-rank Barrier Master from Forest Grove Academy was the second young master of the Yu Wen family.

He hadn’t offended them—so why send assassins after him?

Could it really be, as he suspected, all for profit?

After pondering briefly without reaching a conclusion, Li Yao decided not to dwell on it.

With knives held to his throat, the reason no longer mattered.

He only knew that a grudge had been formed, and he would find a chance to take revenge someday.

The Yu Wen family was a top-tier clan in Jiangzhou, controlling dozens of medicinal shops large and small.

While their professional strength couldn’t match the Silver Wolf Guild, their financial power far surpassed it.

At his current level, revenge was premature.

He needed to plan carefully over the long term...

At that moment, the Void Mantis approached, its two sharp claws clutching several items.

When a professional fell, their worn equipment could be stripped and reused.

Li Yao glanced casually.

They were all roughly level 20 black iron and bronze-grade gear—no silver equipment in sight.

Moreover, the three upper garments had their durability completely drained by the Void Mantis’s attacks.

“Worthless junk,” Li Yao muttered.

Because of his level, he couldn’t equip them anyway.

But even the smallest gains were still gains; they could be sold.

After storing the gear in his storage ring, Li Yao headed toward the camp.

The night passed without incident.

Early the next morning, Li Yao and the Void Mantis set out on another killing spree.

About two hours later:

[Defeated Ruins Plunderhound, EXP +0.16%]

[Combat Training triggered, Void Mantis Strength +1]

A flash of golden light appeared—Li Yao’s level rose to 10.

Simultaneously, several system notifications rang in his mind.

[Level 10 reached, gained 10 free attribute points; increased Pawn population limit by 1; Hex draw ×1]

[Hedge Fund triggered, Gold +10]

Li Yao silently invoked the draw.

[Drawing Hex Enhancement Rune...]

[Congratulations! You have drawn a Prismatic-grade Rune: Demon Pact!]

“Oh? Another Prismatic-grade one!?” Li Yao’s face lit up as he hurried to check the Demon Pact’s effects.

[Demon Pact (Prismatic): Sacrifice current health to increase Pawn population limit; can sacrifice once per job change; currently available for one sacrifice.]

“Sacrifice health?”

“What’s health but a trivial thing? Sacrifice it!” Without hesitation, Li Yao chose to sacrifice.

The Chessmaster talent ensured that as long as his pawns existed, he himself would not be harmed.

With Li Yao’s combat power, if he lost his pawns, more health wouldn’t help.

The Demon Pact took effect.

Li Yao felt something vanish from thin air.

Opening his status panel:

[Name: Li Yao]

[Profession: Cloud Peak Chessmaster (Hidden Unique)]

[Level: 10 (0.01%)]

[Health: 80/80 (original 1250)]

[Strength: 20]

[Spirit: 10]

[Agility: 123]

[Endurance: 25]

[Free Attribute Points: 10]

[Pawn Space: 1/3]

[Equipment: Bloodthirsty Pendant, Swift Boots (2/8)]

[Skills: Void Mantis Summon (SSS), Hedge Fund (Unknown), Combat Training (Unknown), Demon Pact (Unknown)]

[Talents: Hex, Bond, Armament, Chessmaster, Star Ascension]

“80 health points?” Li Yao gasped.

Nearly 94% of his health was directly deducted.

Without the Chessmaster talent, he’d be a fragile glass cannon, shattering at the slightest touch.

This time, Li Yao refrained from spending his free attribute points immediately.

After all, he could still contract with two more pawns.

Better to wait and see their types before allocating points selectively.

Reaching level 10 completed Li Yao’s first stage goal.

Next was to explore the Goblin Nest dungeon.

Barring surprises, he would spend the next few days leveling there.

Before that, he needed to return to the city to prepare thoroughly.

Half an hour later.

At the border checkpoint.

Li Yao dismounted from the Void Mantis, which slipped back into the shadows.

After presenting identification, he strode into the StarNet Trading Post.

Along the way, Li Yao roughly appraised the materials and equipment he carried.

Their total worth hovered around 2.3 million Dragon Coins.

Most of this came from various bronze and black iron-grade gear, valued at over 1.8 million Dragon Coins.

The rest was from monster materials.

He split his goods into several batches, selling everything except quest items to different clerks.

Just as Li Yao had imagined, his bank card soon reflected an inflow of 2.4 million Dragon Coins.

Seeing the figure, Li Yao momentarily froze.

The earning speed of professionals was astonishing.

After some thought, he shook his head again.

Having hunted so many monsters, Li Yao had gained a good grasp of their power levels.

Ordinary professionals below A-rank needed to form teams to hunt monsters of equal rank.

Hunting took time and consumed many potions.

Finally, the spoils were evenly divided.

By that calculation, professional earning speeds weren’t quite as exaggerated.

It was only because he killed monsters instantly, with zero cost and incredible speed, that his income was so terrifying.

Soon after.

Li Yao submitted several quests accepted from the Adventurers’ Guild, receiving another 400,000 Dragon Coins.

Returning to StarNet,

he approached the skill book purchase counter.

At this hour, many young faces were browsing, mostly newcomers.

The rookie dungeon would be open for five days.

Most novice professionals came here after a day of leveling in the dungeon to fill gaps by buying skill books.

Compared to online purchases, the physical store had clerks who could recommend, saving many detours.

“Hello, I’d like to buy summoner skill books. Could you show me what you have?” Li Yao asked.

“Summoner?” The clerk looked up, slightly surprised.

“Mr. Li?” she said.

“Huh?” Li Yao hadn’t expected to be recognized.

Upon his response, the clerk immediately brightened.

“This is the situation: Chairman Li specifically instructed us to deliver this to you as soon as you returned from outside the city.”

“Father?” Li Yao wondered what could be so urgent.

Seeing his reaction, the clerk smiled and handed him a tablet.

“Here, you pick your skill books first. I’ll fetch the item for you.”

“If you have any questions, you can ask me when I return.”

With that, she quickly went backstage.

Li Yao didn’t think much, took the tablet, and began browsing.

His funds would only cover B or C-grade summoner skill books.

However, rank mattered little to him.

Simply spending gold could upgrade even an E-grade summon to SSS rank.

He only needed to find the summons most suited to him.

Two slots.

One for a wide-area magic-type summon.

One for a tank or support-type summon.

After entering keywords, dozens of B-grade skill books appeared.

[Steel Mummy Summon], [Great Hammer Rabbit Summon], [Devouring Worm Summon], [Stubborn Stone Beast Summon]...

“Hm?”

“Why is this Devouring Worm so much more expensive than the other B-grade skill books?”

...