Chapter 23 - In the Midst of a Mission

[Option 1: Locust.]

[Option 2: Scorching Dwarf.]

[Option 3: Steel Swordwind.]

[Option 4: Skeleton Lord (Weakened) (Incomplete) (Sealed).]

The system inspected what type of race Han Wu had in his divine realm, transforming them into options for him to choose.

Han Wu immediately ignored the first option. The locusts could only injure other creatures by exploding themselves. Choosing them would be nothing short of suicidal. The Scorching Dwarves were better, but they were still far too weak when compared to the Swordwind race.

Han Wu hesitated, unable to immediately decide between the Swordwind race and the Skeleton Lord.

With their devastating offensive skills, individuals of the Swordwind race were capable of attaining Heroic life form status. They could defeat a thousand enemies on their own.

The Skeleton Lord wasn’t a pushover either, though. After all, it was still a Lord life form—a level higher than a Heroic life form. Also, as an undead, a Skeleton Lord could completely ignore the effects of demonic energy.

Even though its full strength was suppressed by the three additional negative statuses, in terms of overall advantage, it surpassed the Swordwind race. In the end, Han Wu chose to appear in the Demonic Civilization in the form of a Skeleton Lord.

His body swiftly shrank down to a meter as his flesh and blood disappeared, becoming nothing but a glittering skeleton.

He examined his new body, noticing that he closely resembled the little skeleton in his divine realm. He patted his bald skull and touched the burning Spiritual Fire in his eye sockets out of curiosity.

The demonic energy in the air didn’t affect him at all; it actually felt quite pleasant.

“I can now see why the Demonic Civilization is a haven for demonic beasts and the undead,” he mused.

Having selected his body, he began deliberating over which race to summon. According to the exam email, he could summon 100 units a day, so as a test, he chose to summon 100 Elite Glutton Locusts.

Immediately after appearing, the locusts were impacted by the ambient demonic energy. Within an hour, 94 Glutton Locusts died after being eroded by the demonic energy. Out of the surviving six, three of them were incapacitated while the other three had been mutated by the demonic energy.

The outcome was within Han Wu’s expectations. Demonic energy was like poison to living beings. When exposed to demonic energy, they usually either died or mutated into demonic beasts. However, after the transformation, they would usually lose their sanity, becoming relentlessly violent.

Thankfully, the surviving locusts didn’t lose their sanity, as they never possessed any. Consequently, even after their mutation, they still heeded Han Wu’s orders faithfully.

Han Wu officially started his test after the successful mutation of three of his Glutton Locusts.

He surveyed his surroundings and noted his starting position according to the map he had been given. He revisited the mission list, now focusing on selecting one he could feasibly attempt.

[Mission 49: Collect 100 Skeleton Fruits. Reward: 20 Points.]

[Mission 280: Destroy a Flesh Golem nest. Reward: 60 Points and one random Rank 1 Sacred Object.]

[Mission 423: Mine 100 Demonic Flame Ores. Reward: 50 Points and one random piece of Faith equipment.]

Han Wu chose to tackle the Skeleton Fruits first; he had recognized its relative simplicity. He followed the map and led his three Demon Locusts into a black forest.

From the blackened trees hung black fruits, each bearing an ominous imprint of a skull. Those were the Skeleton Fruits that he needed.

With his newly acquired one-meter height and evident inability to climb trees, Han Wu had no choice but to instruct his three Demon Locusts to pick some up for him.

Unlike those of the Glutton Locusts, the Demon Locusts’ mandibles were serrated, allowing them to easily pluck over 100 Skeleton Fruits within moments.

Han Wu collected the Skeleton Fruits and sealed them into a card. Just as he was about to turn the mission in, he heard growling nearby.

He glanced downward and saw multiple corpses pushing up from the ground.

The corpses, surrounded by a greenish gas, were in an advanced state of decay, their bones clearly visible beneath the rotten flesh.

Thank goodness I don't have a nose in this form. I'm certain the stench alone could kill me!

Despite their inability to rationalize and process information, the corpses, also known as ghouls, retained the primal instinct to attack any nearby creatures.

They slowly approached Han Wu, intent on attacking him. He mumbled to himself, “This is the perfect opportunity to test out my strength as a Skeleton Lord.”

With a swift motion, he drove his bony claws into a ghoul’s chest with ease. Due to its undead nature, however, it remained unaffected by the injury. Even with his arm through its heart, it persisted in its assault, flailing its arms in an attempt to attack.

In retaliation, Han Wu instantly crushed the ghoul’s head to pieces. The ghoul, now headless, fell limply to the ground.

He systematically shattered the heads of roughly twenty ghouls, effectively incapacitating them and finally restoring tranquility to the area.

“I didn't think a mission worth just 20 points would be this annoying. Just how hard will a mission worth 100 points be?”

Han Wu finally sealed the Skeleton Fruits into a card, submitted it as proof of completion of the mission and obtained the rewards, once again browsing the mission list.

Upon checking the mission which rewarded 100 points, he almost fell over in surprise.

[Mission 500: Kill a Demigod Dark Frogman. Rewards: 100 points, 1 Divine Essence, 1,000 Class Points.]

“I need to kill a Demigod? That’s crazy. I might as well do the other missions first.”

Even the weakest Demigods had at least five Divine Essence and tens of thousands of underlings. They were entities that he couldn't defeat at the moment, especially not with his three Demon Locusts.

Han Wu closed the mission list and noticed his Demon Locusts actively devouring the ghouls. He felt his stomach churn at the gruesome sight, even though he didn’t have one at present.

He looked deeper into the black forest, observed that there were many more Skeleton Fruits and suddenly had an idea. He ordered his Demon Locusts to pluck all of the Skeleton Fruits in this forest. The three Demon Locusts stopped feeding and proceeded to follow his orders.

After an entire day of effort, all the Skeleton Fruits in the black forest were finally in Han Wu’s possession.

He sealed 100 Skeleton Fruits each into a card, and soon, he had 40 cards in his possession, with each card containing 100 Skeleton Fruits. If he could repeat the mission, he could obtain 800 more points.

Unfortunately, each student could only attempt a particular mission once. Han Wu might not be able to complete it again, but other students still could. He was certain that many of them would be happy to exchange some resources for 20 points.

He opened his interface and navigated to his class’s chat group to announce his trade.

“Does anyone want to buy 100 Skeleton Fruits to complete mission 49? I can accept resources too.”

For about ten seconds, the chatroom was completely silent. However, seeing that Tian Wen did not forbid it, the other students quickly bombarded Han Wu with messages.

“Wait, we can do that? Isn't this cheating?”

“What are you talking about? This is resource management. Han Wu, I want a set of Skeleton Fruits. I’ll send you 50 Divine Points.”

“I want a set too. I can pay 50 Divine Points.”

This time however, Tian Wen gave them a stern warning. “Students, you may only exchange resources with what you’ve obtained in the Demonic Civilization. Those who break this rule will be given a warning, and receiving three of such warnings will get you disqualified.”

The students grew even more excited, sending out trade requests to Han Wu, who replied to them one by one.

“I have 30 Dark Frogman skins. Can I trade them for a set of Skeleton Fruits?”

“Deal.”

“What about 100 ghoul teeth?”

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

“Deal.”

“I have 20 stalks of Black Grasses.”

“Get out.”

***

Zhang Xiaolong, carefully monitoring the chatroom, snickered.

I’ve been thinking about how to find you. I never thought you would reveal yourself like this so quickly. Prepare to die!

Zhang Xiaolong, now a Demonic Drake, sped towards Han Wu’s location, with 100 Hellhounds following directly behind.