Chapter 43: Your Agility Is Too Low

Until afternoon, the porridge distribution passed without incident; only after acquiring 150 faction contribution points did Chu Danqing rise to pack his belongings and prepare to return to the Lu residence.

As for digging deeper into the trial world to raise one’s rating, that requires corresponding clues and direction—otherwise, wandering aimlessly is less cost-effective than reading books while casually earning faction contribution.

“Chu Gongfeng, Yin Di is looking for you,” came Lu Qiaoyun’s voice; she had just stepped from her sedan and waved at Chu Danqing with noticeable excitement.

Chu Danqing pretended not to hear and turned straight toward his carriage.

“Chu Gongfeng,” the coachman began to speak, then hesitated—but Chu Danqing cut him off.

“It’s getting late; we ought to return to the Lu residence,” Chu Danqing feigned ignorance.

He did not wish to be entangled with this love-struck Lu woman.

“But the—” the coachman, thinking Chu Danqing might not have heard, opened his mouth to remind him.

Chu Danqing interrupted again: “Yes, traveling at night is dangerous—so let’s hurry.”

At once, the coachman understood Chu Danqing’s meaning and drove off.

Da Bao walked alongside, puzzled why Chu Danqing had not waited for Lu Qiaoyun, but since they had already departed, he dared not ask outright.

Lu Qiaoyun’s sedan moved slower than the carriage and was soon left far behind.

With Lu Qiaoyun gone, Chu Danqing’s expression relaxed.

“Stop!” Da Bao suddenly roared, activating Tearing Claws and slamming his body into the carriage, forcing it into a sharp swerve.

Then came the crack of a gunshot—a bullet grazed Da Bao’s cheek.

Had Da Bao not acted so decisively, the bullet would have struck Chu Danqing with near certainty; it might not have killed him, but it would have inflicted serious injury.

Chu Danqing steadied himself and leapt out from behind the carriage in one swift motion.

Da Bao immediately charged toward the direction the bullet came from, clearly locking onto the enemy.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

Heavy footsteps sounded behind Chu Danqing; he turned and saw Tieyan’s figure.

“Chu Mo, without your summoning pet, how much are you really worth?” Tieyan’s tone dripped with mockery.

He couldn’t beat the Fierce Fist, but a summoner without a summoning pet had little power left.

At first sight, both sides cast Scouting Spells.

[Reserve-Level Dimensional Adept]

[Attributes]

[Health: 85%]

[Energy: 25]

[Strength: 9]

[Agility: 5]

[Vitality: 9]

[Spirit: 5]

[Perception: 5]

[Skills]

[Iron Smite (Active) LV.5]

[Heavy Charge (Active) LV.8]

“I didn’t expect you to possess a full set of basic system skills.”

“Too bad—you’re still just a summoner,” Tieyan said with glee, immediately activating Heavy Charge and charging toward Chu Danqing.

During the charge, he downed a Weak Energy Potion to restore his energy.

His goal was simple: cripple Chu Danqing and seize his knowledge-type item.

After the Taiping Dao was cracked down on by the authorities, Tieyan’s trial mission was now only a matter of time before failure.

To avoid a downward spiral, he had to obtain Chu Danqing’s knowledge-type item; selling it would not only cover his fine but leave him with surplus.

As for copying the content and selling it endlessly? Not only was the Paradise forbidden from such acts, but no one would buy unnotarized knowledge.

Copying for personal use was fine; selling unnotarized copies triggered immediate Paradise punishment.

Knowledge could circulate, but not be wildly disseminated.

Much knowledge carried unique power and unknown taboos—it could not be freely spread.

Heavy Charge increased damage while restoring energy, giving him enough to unleash Iron Smite for the finishing blow.

As for Chu Danqing’s Health Link and Energy Link? He didn’t care—without a summoning pet to share damage, Chu Danqing was useless.

But the next moment, he saw five links emerge and plunge into his body.

“Your agility is too low,” Chu Danqing said, watching Tieyan’s shield-axe swing toward him, his expression unreadable.

“No, wait—this shouldn’t—” Terror flashed in Tieyan’s eyes; he desperately wanted to cancel Heavy Charge and Iron Smite.

But he couldn’t cancel them—these skills had been leveled up using Paradise points, and he’d used them so rarely.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to use them more—he simply had to treat them as last-resort trump cards.

Even at LV.1, each cast required 10 energy points each; now, at their current levels, they required 15 and 18 respectively.

That’s why he’d needed the Weak Energy Potion—without it, his energy wouldn’t have sufficed to cast both.

Recovery items were too expensive; natural regeneration restored only one point per hour—far too slow for prolonged practice.

High-level skills paired with insufficient practice meant his mind claimed he knew how, but his body said, “You want to try it?”

Unable to cancel, he could only shift his aim—but Chu Danqing had no intention of letting him off; he lunged his head straight up into the path of Tieyan’s shield-axe.

[You received 3.4 points of lethal damage; 106.6 points of damage transferred to Health Link target]

“Aaaah!!!” Tieyan screamed as agony tore through his body; he spat a mouthful of blood.

He collapsed helplessly, unable even to hold his shield-axe, which slipped from his grasp.

Chu Danqing touched his forehead—skin broken, blood seeping—and pulled out a medicinal dumpling, chewing it.

He drew his short knife and slashed himself again.

[You killed a Reserve-Level Dimensional Adept]

He finished off Tieyan.

“No wonder his Strength and Vitality are both at 9—he dealt more damage than the chief of Qingya Village and even took one more hit than him,” Chu Danqing shoved another medicinal dumpling into his mouth.

“I thought these dumplings restored too little to be useful—but turns out they suit me perfectly.”

Ten per steamer, he had five steamers—fifty dumplings total—and he’d used only three; remarkably durable, and no waste at all.

“The Paradise encourages cooperation during the Reserve phase—only default cooperative mode exists; killing an Adept yields no bloodied chest.”

“Though you can’t claim the deceased’s inventory, you may take their external gear.”

Chu Danqing began collecting the loot: Tieyan’s heavy armor and shield-axe.

On the other side, Da Bao dragged a mangled corpse—unrecognizable except for the clothing, which identified it as Hanying.

He was merely bait, a pawn meant to distract Da Bao.

“People’s hearts are hidden behind their ribs—there’s a reason summoner Adepts exist.”

“Little Chu, this thing—equipment,” Da Bao rummaged through the corpse and pulled out a sniper rifle: “Hits hard, cold, hurts.”

“You take it—perfect!”

When Chu Danqing saw the sniper rifle, a smile of delight crossed his face.

(End of Chapter)