Absolute Death Game

System Prompt: A quest 'The Conspiracy of the Taiyin Sect' has been triggered, do you wish to accept? Yes/No.

Quest Annotation: This quest is a sect quest, whether you accept and complete this quest will affect your prestige points within the sect.

Quest Content: Investigate the truth behind Wangliang Mountain.

Quest Reward: 1000 sect prestige points, 1000 contribution points.

Xiao Buli was so pleased he almost laughed out loud when he saw it. It was really like someone brought a pillow as soon as he wanted to sleep; he quickly clicked accept. Currently, his need for contribution points was urgent indeed, and moreover, having joined the Mystic Hollow Palace for so long, it was his first time encountering a sect quest worth 1000 prestige points. Although even a fool could see that this quest wouldn't be easy, he couldn't be too concerned about that at the moment. Besides, Xuanxu Zi wouldn't possibly assign him a task too arduous. Would he really want to harm his own disciple?

Seeing Xiao Buli accept the quest, Xuanxu Zi nodded and said, "Considering the extreme peril of this quest, my disciple, I am very worried about you going alone. Therefore, pick one of your three senior fellow disciples to accompany you. This way, it's better to have someone watching your back, and I will be more at ease."

Xiao Buli was both alarmed and excited upon hearing this. Alarmed that the quest required completion with an NPC—clearly indicating its complexity. Excited because this meant the presence of a powerful NPC assistant, making the task much easier and, if the conditions allowed, possibly taking the opportunity to accomplish other things on the side.
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In the past, when Xiao Buli played games, he had encountered similar scenarios. Whenever he could complete a quest with an NPC, he usually wouldn't hurry to complete the mission, instead wandering around with the NPC, looking for bosses to battle. Since they were part of the same team, as long as the NPC was powerful enough, some bosses that were normally impossible to tackle alone could be easily dealt with. And if it caused the quest to fail, no big deal—he could just accept it again.

Although it seemed in this game that NPCs couldn't be revived once dead, he still decided to make appropriate use of one. It would be a shame not to take advantage of such a strong teammate.

The current issue was, which one to choose as a teammate? Having bid farewell to his master, Xiao Buli left the main hall and went through the strengths and weaknesses of his three senior fellow disciples in his mind.

All three fellow disciples had green names for NPCs, signifying that each of them possessed great potential for growth and combat strength. However, considering that the task involved investigation, stealth and ambush aspects would be more important, so clearly the decision couldn't be based solely on combat capabilities. Duo coordination and action skills would also be very important.

First, there was the eldest senior brother, Gu Yuexuan. Obviously the strongest in combat among the three, he was a master of the Sword Control Technique and absolutely excellent at clearing enemies. Although there had been no chance to see him in action, the Sword King of the Longquan Sword Pavilion with the golden name had targeted him as a challenge, which said enough about his terrifying combat ability. His action skill was Sword Flight, which was definitely top-notch in terms of speed, but it didn't quite cut it in terms of stealth. Moreover, out of the three, the eldest senior brother was the most stubborn and rigid, and difficult to communicate with. But considering it was a mission, maybe it wouldn't be too hard to instruct him.

Thinking of the third senior sister, Ji Xiangyun, with her unreliable personality, Xiao Buli shuddered. As an Immortal Skills Practitioner, she was clearly the most powerful in terms of spells among the three. In terms of action skills, she had Short-distance Teleportation and Invisibility Technique, which didn't seem too shabby. Most importantly, since the mission involved dealing with Corpse-driving Warlocks, the main enemies would be of the undead variety, making Ji Xiangyun's spells particularly useful. However, Xiao Buli wasn't sure why he somewhat resisted working with this quirky woman, wondering if she might end up using him to accomplish her own missions instead. He felt a bit uncertain about her controllability, so it was a tentative choice.

Then there was the second senior brother, Jingci. As a fellow Cursed Swordsman, his strength was likely a bit weaker than the eldest senior brother's, but that was somewhat compensated by his Beast Taming Skills. His action skills included stealth skills similar to the Skimming Shadow Steps, so his stealth was also quite strong. Moreover, he interacted with Jingci the most out of the three, so his favorability was relatively high. He was also easy to talk to. Heh, clearly the best choice.

With his thoughts racing, Xiao Buli had already made up his mind. Without any hesitation, he headed to the Beast Pen.

At that moment, Jingci was playing with a large beast. The creature looked somewhat like a tiger, but not quite, covered in a coat of fine golden fur that was smooth and dense. However, many scales emerged along the flanks, and a sharp horn grew on its forehead, making it look extraordinary, and strangely familiar. Xiao Buli suddenly paused, "Maoqiu?" Though still doubtful, his fingers were quicker than his brain, and the name "Maoqiu" had already been typed out.

The large beast paused, then looked up at Xiao Buli and pounced towards him. Xiao Buli was startled and about to dodge when the beast, with its agile movements, blurred in front of him, and he was swiftly bowled over. The beast licked his face with its barbed tongue, clearly delighted, wagging its body like a happy puppy. And since his character wasn't losing any health, Xiao Buli finally breathed a sigh of relief. But it seemed that this bulky creature was indeed the Maoqiu he had once known. Surprisingly, it had grown so much, appearing to have developed quite formidably.