Chapter 703: Go Home and Farm

Because Ao Yulie already possessed six skills: Shadow Bind, Five-Strike Slash, Wind Blade, Ice Spike, Heavenly Gang Fire, and Magic Shield.

Without transferring skills, choosing to forget them was necessary; Zhu Bajie did not want these skills.

Ao Yulie chose to forget the Heavenly Gang Fire that Tang Luo had transferred to him.

These two skills conflicted in certain respects.

And Five-Strike Slash, which required weapon equipment to unleash its maximum power, wasn't particularly compatible with a mage's system.

However, adhering to the attitude that "a mage who doesn't know melee combat isn't a good wizard," Ao Yulie kept Five-Strike Slash.

Zhu Bajie obtained a skill named "Communal Body," which sounded slightly strange.

In reality, it was a damage "sharing" skill that allowed selecting a target to link with.

Once linked, damage received by oneself would be reflected onto the other party; likewise, during the link, damage the target suffered would also be reflected onto the caster.

A typical case of mutual harm.

The damage model here was the same as the Martial World Myth Contract created through the remnant pages of the Investiture of the Gods List.

Equivalent to you punching me, and me punching you back with the same force.

If the defensive gap between the two was large enough, a situation of one-sided beating could be formed.

The cooldown was relatively long: 24 hours, 12 hours, and 6 hours for levels one through three respectively.

However, the duration wasn't short, ranging from thirty minutes to sixty minutes, and finally ninety minutes.

The duration was relatively long.

Thus, Zhu Bajie's six "skill slots" were also completely filled.

But he had already fully comprehended and integrated the Earth Fist Strike skill, so one empty slot remained.

Tang Luo continued on his support path, obtaining the Blood Talisman — Substitute Death.

After drawing this talisman, pasting it on a person, and activating it, it could negate one powerful attack within the maintenance duration — theoretically speaking, it could negate one fatal attack.

But in actual operation, there were still upper and lower limits.

Like Communal Body, the activation of the Blood Talisman — Substitute Death did not actually depend on one's own condition.

Rather, it activated based on the intensity of the attack suffered.

If the attack intensity was below the lower limit, even if it could kill a person, the Substitute Death Talisman would not activate.

And the upper limit of damage the Substitute Death Talisman could negate was comparatively high.

Under normal circumstances, the lightning Ao Yulie spat from his mouth could be completely negated by the Substitute Death Talisman.

Stronger attacks could not be completely negated by the Substitute Death Talisman.

The overflow portion would still be borne by the person blessed by the talisman.

Although named "Blood Talisman — Substitute Death," it could actually be considered a special kind of shield.

As the skill level rose, the Substitute Death Talisman's upper limit would increase, and moreover, the lower limit would also increase.

Considering it purely from the "substitute death" angle, this skill was actually somewhat awkward.

If the attack intensity wasn't enough, the Substitute Death Talisman would not activate; for example, stabbing a small knife into the heart, the Substitute Death Talisman would not activate.

Because such attack intensity did not reach the lower limit for the Substitute Death Talisman's automatic activation.

Attacks exceeding the upper limit need not be mentioned.

It wasn't as imagined: blessed by the talisman, and you one hundred percent gain an extra life.

After all, although the God-Demon Game claims to be a game, gods and demons walking about do not have health bars, nor do they have health percentages.

At first glance, this skill seemed rather useless.

However, the Blood Talisman was not a standalone skill; it was actually one skill within a system of skills.

The Substitute Death Talisman's lower limit problem could be perfectly eliminated by the Blood Talisman — Iron Armor.

The Blood Talisman — Iron Armor's defensive upper limit exactly matched the Blood Talisman — Substitute Death's lower limit.

Thus forming a "perfect defense" without flaws.

The benefits of combining skills from the same system were partially displayed here.

Tang Luo naturally accepted this skill; now among his six skills, a full five were "Blood Talismans": Iron Armor, Flight, Invisibility, Healing, and Substitute Death.

The remaining one was a Taunt skill.

Additionally, the level two Immobilization Technique, Tang Luo transferred to Zhu Bajie.

The retained Taunt skill wasn't used much when truly facing enemies, but Tang Luo had always practiced it regularly, and it was now at level three.

Tang Luo planned to fully comprehend and integrate this skill.

To see if it could be combined with the Life-Death Buddha Kingdom; the Life-Death Buddha Kingdom chases people, plus Taunt's "pulling people," the full set could instantly create a fight-to-the-death battle situation.

Used against those who run fast or are hard to kill.

Simply perfect!

Sha Wujing, as an artifact spirit, and Xiaotian Dog, as a mascot, had never joined the team.

They themselves didn't need the God-Demon Game's reward skills, which wouldn't help them much and would instead cause distraction.

They looked just like typical "tool people," with status equivalent to the two maid ghost girls of the Cursed House.

————

"There's a change." On the Dragon King, Kong Ming found Tang Luo and the others, his face grave. "The God-Demon Game has undergone some changes."

"I thought you came looking for me to treat hair loss; that really won't work, even an eye-opening ceremony won't do." Tang Luo said.

"Who cares about that!" Kong Ming waved a hand, touching his shiny bald head. "Also, I encountered a little something in a mission world, so I simply shaved my head bald; before long, my hair will grow back!"

He spoke these words with considerable confidence.

After all, he bore the destiny of Zhuge Liang; the Zhuge Liang in the arcade Romance of the Three Kingdoms series isn't bald either.

No, wait — none of the Zhuge Liangs are bald; as a destiny holder, he wouldn't be afraid!

"Well, what changes have there been in the demon god game?" Tang Luo asked.

"Two aspects." Kong Ming raised two fingers, pressing down one, "During this period, the number of demon god wanderers has been increasing."

"Oh?"

"Just this month alone, the number of newly born demon god wanderers we know of has exceeded 100." Kong Ming said, frowning.

"That many?" Ao Yulie was a little surprised.

Although not particularly knowledgeable about this aspect, I still generally know something about the number of demon god wanderers.

Compared to the previously stable situation, an increase of over a hundred new demon god wanderers in one month absolutely counts as a small explosion in numbers.

Moreover, this is what Kong Ming and his team have statistically recorded.

You must know that even though modern science and martial arts myths have basically merged to the point of being indistinguishable, it is still impossible to fully monitor all demon god wanderers within the range.

Moreover, it's not just Huaxia; the number of demon god wanderers in other places is also increasing.

Kong Ming nodded: "However, nothing has happened, so there's no need to worry."

Walk into Science is no longer producing programs now, focusing entirely on demon god game-related matters.

A small group of newly emerged demon god wanderers have become inflated, but were swiftly suppressed.

Moreover, the line of the demon god game itself remains, like the previous real-world mission type of "major event," which definitely will not happen again.

Undoubtedly, the increase in the number of demon god wanderers is a signal.

It conveys some information, but unfortunately, now everyone cannot figure out exactly what information is being conveyed.

While we can only engage in various speculations, we must focus on enhancing our own strength.

The increase in demon god wanderers currently has little relation to Tang Luo and his group.

The second matter, however, is somewhat different.

"During the mission, time began to flow." Kong Ming said.

"This time, when we returned, we felt nothing." Tang Luo said.

Previously, no matter how long we stayed in mission time, upon returning to the real world, time did not change.

That is to say, in the eyes of outsiders, including other demon god wanderers, demon god wanderers have always been in the real world, never having left.

"Senior Chijing disappeared for two months." Kong Ming said, "During this time, he was in the mission world."

For Chijing Daoist, this mission came much earlier than before; he had "just" teamed up with Tang Luo and the others for a mission.

"Also stayed for two months?"

"No, one and a half years." Kong Ming shook his head, "It's probably related to the number of missions, and it's also possible that the demon god game itself is truly undergoing change."

"Moreover, we are also inquiring with other demon god wanderers who have relatively many missions, to see if they have experienced similar situations. If it truly is related to mission count, we should ideally find a threshold." Kong Ming said.

Tang Luo and the others nodded, indicating they would pay attention to this matter.

If they truly experience time flowing during missions, they will inform Kong Ming and the others immediately.

Unlike Tang Luo and his group's "reckless charge through the intestines" demon god wanderers.

Normal demon god wanderers are naturally very concerned about all kinds of changes in the demon god game.

Kong Ming naturally will enter a period of worry again.

After saying the two important matters, Kong Ming did not leave, but stayed on the Dragon King's ship.

Occasionally sparring with Ao Yulie to maintain combat readiness.

His mission intervals are now also relatively long; he cannot let himself become accustomed to a life of ease.

During this period, he also coincidentally welcomed his next mission.

After Tang Luo's enlightenment, he entered the mission world, and when he came out, it was already a month later.

Becoming the second clear example of time flowing.

However, this also causes Kong Ming some worry, because mission count also exists among demon god wanderers like him and Chijing Daoist.

When they returned from the previous mission, time did not change.

Kong Ming's worry is his own, unrelated to Tang Luo and the others.

After Kong Ming returned, after a period of time, Tang Luo and the others also received the notice for their twenty-second mission.

They did a slight maintenance.

One day later, Tang Luo and the others gathered, the scene before them changed, and mission information surfaced in their minds—

Under the leadership of the demon king, the demon tribe ravaged the land, attempting to rule the world; human heroes drew their swords and rose up, opposing the demon king, achieving victory with difficulty.

Although the demon king of the old era is dead, the remnants of the demon tribe are not extinct.

The terrifying demon king city reappeared above the continent, and the new demon king descended.

Guarding the demon king city stood firm for two years.

"..."

"..."

"What a damn pitfall of a mission!"

Ao Yulie took the lead in complaining; at first, they depicted the demon king as a BOSS descending, and they thought they would play the hero role this time, going to slay the demon king.

Unexpectedly, the plot took a turn, turning into guarding the demon king city standing firm.

So are the remnants of the old demon tribe and the new demon king really that weak?

If they're that weak, they might as well go home and farm!

Don't think about those random things anymore.