Reaching Level 20, the Exclusive Second-Tier Advancement Quest for the Tactician of the Zenith!
After learning the skill "Heart of Devotion," Li Yao carefully sorted the remaining equipment and items into his storage space. In the primal dungeon, aside from two Tongue-Ripping Tribe monsters, many other monsters had dropped a considerable amount of gear. Being a primal dungeon, the drop rates were extremely high, and the quality was no less than fine bronze or silver—some even exquisite. Accumulated in quantity, the haul was quite substantial.
At this point, the only loot left from the primal dungeon was a single scroll. Since Li Yao had never encountered such an item before, he saved it for last.
“Could this be a special item similar to the Null Air Stone?” he wondered, opening the scroll.
[Hunter (Specialization Scroll)]
[Grade: SS]
[Type: Agility-oriented Warrior]
[Usage Conditions: Warrior class, second job transfer task not yet completed]
[Description: A class born for hunting powerful monsters, naturally endowed with exceptional agility and robust physique.]
[Current Year One National Border Drop Count for this Item: 3/12]
“Gasp...” Li Yao inhaled sharply.
A thousand words condensed into a single green plant.
"Damn!" he cursed. "They actually have such items! No wonder all those scions of noble families are top-tier professionals."
Even if physical aptitude somewhat influenced job transfers, it couldn’t possibly be just luck for every single one of them, right?
At the same time, Li Yao realized the immense value of this item. It was undoubtedly hundreds or thousands of times more powerful than that Null Air Stone. Such a thing was useless to him personally. The challenge now was how to make use of it.
If he traded it away, he would surely lose out. But keeping it and not using it would be a waste of a precious treasure.
After much thought, it seemed the only viable option was to hand it over to the Federation in exchange for other items. Surely only the official authorities could provide matching items for such a treasure.
But what did the last line mean?
Li Yao solemnly placed the scroll into his storage ring and recalled the final note: only twelve SS-grade second job transfer scrolls drop within the Dragon Nation border each year?
If such a hint was given, there must be a way to increase the drop rate, right? Perhaps it depended on national power.
For now, that was all he could speculate. These things were far beyond his reach and opportunity.
Shaking his head, he cast these thoughts aside.
The most important thing was to quickly reach level 20, complete the breakthrough task, and achieve the second job transfer. Only then could he face the martial exam in his strongest form.
Li Yao lay down and fell into a deep sleep.
The night passed without incident.
---
The next day.
Li Yao summoned Qin Yue and informed her of his plan to entrust the auction to the Qin family’s full management.
Upon hearing this, Qin Yue excitedly hugged Li Yao.
Fortunately, Li Yao stopped her just in time from saying something reckless.
Qin Yue glared at him with lingering resentment for a moment.
“By the way, how many benefits did you get from the primal dungeon to be able to hold an auction in Sangyu City?” she asked.
“Not much, just a tiny bit,” Li Yao replied, noticing she seemed unaware of what had transpired after the primal dungeon.
That made sense. Publicly killing the top prodigy of the Yan family, who was like a tyrant in the capital, was a slap in their faces—it was unlikely such news would spread easily.
Moreover, with his later announcements, the Federation would try to suppress the information.
However, Li Yao wasn’t worried that the news suppression would nullify his words.
The Hell-level first-clear treasure chest was enough to tempt most to take big risks.
Even within the Federation, there would be those tempted.
Information would spread rapidly among the upper echelons; it was only a matter of time.
The Yan family was a behemoth in the capital. One treasure chest might not be enough to topple them, but it could certainly cause them some trouble.
That was Li Yao’s intent.
If he couldn’t defeat them outright now, he would at least make their lives miserable.
“Hmph! If you won’t say, I’ll find out at the auction myself!” Qin Yue scoffed, then rubbed her hands together with a fawning smile.
“Master Li... uh, I mean, Young Master Li, you didn’t call me here just to talk about the auction, right?”
“Of course not.”
“Earlier I asked if you had any friends who own items like the Abyss Mirror?”
With a flourish, Qin Yue pulled a mirror from her storage space and dramatically declared, “Look at this! The Abyss Mirror Plus! It lets us run five Nightmare-level dungeons!”
“Xuanyuan has to follow the blacksmith tutor now and can’t come, so she lent this to me. How’s that? Reliable, right?”
“Reliable!” Li Yao agreed.
...
Over the next two days, Li Yao and Qin Yue ran the Nightmare-level Blood Moon Forest dungeon seven times.
The Abyss Mirror allowed for five runs, with the first run and the final run after cooldown included.
Finally, on the last run, when the final boss died an unexpected death:
[Overleveled kill of boss creature, Vampire Count, experience +15%]
[Void Predator completed evolutionary devouring, maximum HP increased by 25,000]
[Reached level 20, gained 10 free attribute points; increased population limit of Chess Pieces by 1; Hex draw ×1]
[Hedge Fund triggered, gold +10]
[Professional level reached 20, current experience limit 0%, accept second job transfer task?]
Li Yao glanced at the prompt.
Both the new Chess Piece population and the Hex draw were grayed out on the system panel, indicating he needed to prioritize completing the second job transfer task.
At this time, nine days remained until the martial exam.
Qin Yue, following Li Yao to gain experience, had reached level 18, so she would likely hit 20 in the last few days.
“Next, you’re going to complete the second job transfer task, right?” Qin Yue asked contentedly, stretching.
She had gone through three stages in these two days: shock, existential doubt, and enjoyment.
Enjoying the extreme speed of leveling, she now believed that leveling up was supposed to be like this.
“That’s right,” Li Yao nodded.
“Quick, tell me which dungeon you have to go to. I’ll help you look up information!”
“Don’t take it lightly. With your strength, the task will surely be terrifyingly difficult!” Qin Yue shivered as if imagining something dreadful.
The breakthrough task would be related to his own power.
Since Li Yao could swim like a dragon in Nightmare-level dungeons, the second job transfer task would most likely be Hell-level.
“Let me see...” Li Yao selected the option to accept the second job transfer task on the system panel.
[Ding! Accepting second job transfer task!]
[Acceptance failed!]
[Hex system interference detected during second job transfer task...]
[Ding! Cloudtop Chessmaster exclusive second job transfer task accepted!]
[Task Description: As the strongest summoning class, how could you lack a trump card summoned creature? Proceed to the highest floor of the Tower of Heaven, defeat Darkwing Gaenyat, and task completion will be judged by the results. The higher the completion, the more perfect the transfer.]
[Received temporary task item: Chess Piece Contract Card: Can contract monsters to become Chess Pieces. The lower the monster's remaining health, the higher the success rate. (Remaining time: 23:59)]
“The Tower of Heaven...” Li Yao was very familiar with this building.
Most professionals’ second job transfer tasks took place inside, with the challenge floor varying by class rank.
He knew the monsters inside quite well.
But this ‘Darkwing’ monster—he had no recollection of it at all.
He looked at Qin Yue, who also seemed unaware.
He immediately took his leave.
Back in the StarNet Trading Room, he typed the keyword ‘Darkwing’ into the computer.
[Darkwing Gaenyat: Humanoid creature residing on the Hell-level difficulty of the Tower of Heaven. Appears after the Hell-level final boss is defeated and is responsible for awarding clearance rewards.]
Reading the description, Li Yao was stunned.
This wasn’t an NPC?
How was he supposed to defeat it?