Chapter 80. Xiaoxiao's Negative Factors...
After the BOSS fell, Lin Xiaoxiao stood behind Xiao Weizhi and retrieved the power of faith that had exploded into the air, sealing it into a 12-centimeter-sized crystal ball.
Congratulations on obtaining: 50,000 points of Unclaimed Faith Power (Advanced)
Wang Hao and his friends excitedly collected the dropped supplies and then carried the treasure chest back.
The epic-level BOSS treasure chest is a square box with eight corners inlaid with gemstones. The chest is decorated with inscriptions and exquisite patterns made of gemstones of various sizes, making it look even more luxurious than the diamond-level chest.
Even the black wooden box, resembling black jade, exuded a powerful aura, clearly made from the finest wood from some high-level tree spirit.
At the urging of her friends, Lin Xiaoxiao opened the treasure chest.
But the next second, everyone around the BOSS treasure chest was stunned.
The empty treasure chest contained only a secret realm core that shimmered with a dark purple light; there was nothing else inside.
Lin Xiaoxiao pursed her lips helplessly, then licked her dry lips with the tip of her tongue.
The reason why the core of this secret realm has not been found for so many years is because the BOSS hid the core inside its body, and the BOSS was sealed deep underground.
Wang Hao circled the box several times in astonishment, then rubbed his eyes and wailed, "Where's the equipment? Where are the resources? Am I seeing things?"
I finally defeated an epic boss, thinking I'd at least get an epic piece of equipment, but I got nothing.
Although Chen Feng was also a little disappointed, he still coughed twice to comfort him, "Alright, you got an S-grade secret realm core for free, aren't you satisfied?"
If it weren't for Mu Yunzhi's team and that eighth-rank expert helping to wear them down, they wouldn't have been able to defeat this BOSS so easily without taking any damage.
Although Liu Huihui and his group were disappointed, they were still able to remain calm.
Jiang Tao, on the other hand, stood to the side, looking somewhat absent-minded.
Xiao Weizhi walked over to Jiang Tao and patted him on the shoulder: "No rush, there will be other opportunities in the future."
Jiang Tao forced a pale smile: "Hmm, no rush."
Having successfully completed their mission, the Dragon Fang Squad returned to reality with the good news of conquering the S-rank Secret Realm: Thorn Forest, and attended the celebration banquet hosted by H.
The group of friends were kept drunk for three consecutive days before, with slightly unsteady bodies, they boarded the airship back to the capital.
After arriving home, Lin Xiaoxiao took advantage of Xiao Weizhi's break while he was washing up.
Taking a moment to organize the power of faith in the space, he closed his eyes, spread his arms at his sides, and used the skill: [Sacrifice to the Goddess of Fortune].
A point of golden light appeared out of thin air, and then expanded outwards to cover the entire surface.
Before long, the entire room was bathed in a golden glow.
Where the golden light was originally, a translucent pale gold crystal tray appeared.
Lin Xiaoxiao gently placed several crystal balls of various sizes, each containing the power of faith, onto the tray.
Immediately afterwards, a faint, emotionless voice rang out:
[Detected: 20,000 points of Faith Power (High Level), 130,000 points of Faith Power (Medium Level)]
Should all offerings be made to Lady Luck?
Lin Xiaoxiao was very familiar with this process and answered directly, "Yes, sacrifice them all."
The crystal tray, carrying all the power of faith, vanished from its spot.
Before long, a ball of light containing two items floated in front of her:
Congratulations on obtaining: A negative buff that reduces 1% of your stamina.
Congratulations on receiving: 1 Lucky Fragment (claimable) [Cumulative Lucky Fragments: 52/100]
[Congratulations on completely clearing the negative buff from your body: -20% Stamina (Permanent)]
A dark gray energy shackle slowly drifted out of Lin Xiaoxiao's body and shattered into a pile of energy light points in mid-air.
After the chains broke, Lin Xiaoxiao felt a sudden lightness in her body, as if the heavy burden she had been carrying had been removed, and she felt much lighter.
She opened her personal information panel and glanced at it:
Name: Lin Xiaoxiao
Age: 23
Occupations: Treasure Chest Merchant [Hidden Occupation], [Divine Agent]
Destined Bound Person: Xiao Weizhi [Effect: Shared Life and Death]
Level: LV231 (...) [Currently retained experience points: 8,243,475...]
Job Skills: Daily Treasure Chest [0/10], Luck Treasure Chest [1 per day], Experience Treasure Chest [0/3], Sacrifice to Lady Luck, Treasure Chest Crafting (Diamond Level)
Other skills: Wisdom Spirit (Diamond Level), Divine Eye (Diamond Level), Extraction of All Things (Diamond Level), Listening to the Sound of All Things, Sealing Technique (Diamond Level), Special Perception Technique (Diamond Level), Gold Coin Critical Hit (Diamond Level)
Talents: Extra-large storage space, Lucky Libra, [Negative Buff: Experience Points -50% (Permanent)], [Identity Concealment Buff (Permanent)]
Special Contacts Module: Currently recorded contacts: [27/27] (List collapsed)
Task module: [Task 3 (please expand to view details)]...]
The negative buff has been confirmed to have completely disappeared.
She slumped onto the small sofa, sighed softly, and muttered to herself, "It took nearly a million units of faith power to remove a -20% negative buff. If you don't have a lot of money, you can't even afford to worship a god."
Even so, Lin Xiaoxiao did not borrow any divine power; she only paid the offerings required to eliminate the energy-reducing effect.
Like other agents, they occasionally borrow the power of the gods, requiring even more offerings. No wonder those people seem to have gone mad, racking their brains and resorting to any means to desperately extract the power of faith.
Xiao Weizhi, wearing a gray bathrobe and wiping the water droplets from his hair, came out of the bathroom and saw Lin Xiaoxiao slumped on the small sofa, her face scrunched up like a bun, sighing incessantly.
He crouched down, bent over, and touched her cheek, asking with a puzzled look, "What's wrong?"
Lin Xiaoxiao pouted: "It's nothing, I just suddenly feel like I'm really poor."
Compared to other agents of the gods who could readily contribute hundreds of thousands or even tens of millions of points of faith power, she could only offer tens of thousands of points of faith power at most each time, making her practically penniless.
Xiao Weizhi chuckled: "I will continue to work hard. Now you should go wash up."
Lin Xiaoxiao leaned back on the small sofa and looked at him lazily: "Tired, don't want to move, don't want to wash."
Xiao Weizhi swept her up in his arms and carried her towards the bathroom: "Then I'll help you wash..."
Meanwhile, many people in the capital were secretly taking action.
Before long, a rumor that sounded plausible spread like wildfire throughout the capital, reaching everyone from aristocratic families to ordinary professionals in the back alleys:
[The Xiao family possesses a treasured artifact that can enhance their strength. Now, this artifact has surfaced and is in the possession of the former heir, Xiao Weizhi. Anyone who eliminates Xiao Weizhi can obtain this treasure.]
This has led to a dramatic increase in the number of people attempting to assassinate Xiao Weizhi recently, rising several times over.
Whenever Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi go out, they encounter their pursuers/bounty hunters in all sorts of places, corners, and around every corner.
That day, Xiao Weizhi drove his flying car, with Lin Xiaoxiao in the passenger seat, to attend a dinner invitation from several childhood friends.
The communicator rang.
Xiao Weizhi glanced at the communicator on his wrist, then answered the call with a cold face and turned on speakerphone.
Gu Qingqi's voice rang out instantly, echoing in the cramped flying car: "Weizhi, where are you? We're waiting for you to order."
Xiao Weizhi replied coldly, "You guys eat first. I have something to do here and will be there later."
As soon as he finished speaking, he slammed the steering wheel all the way to the left and simultaneously slammed his right foot on the accelerator and brake pedals.
The car made a big drift, crashing into another car before heading straight into the left-hand side road, changing its original route and heading towards a less populated, desolate mountain area.
The flying cars behind immediately followed without hesitation.
Gu Qingqi's somewhat disgruntled voice rang out: "You're always the one who's so busy and late. Can't you hurry up?"
Xiao Weizhi didn't reply and reached out to end the call.
Lin Xiaoxiao glanced at the speeding car chasing behind her through the rearview mirror, then relaxed in the passenger seat with a black cat nestled on her lap, purring softly as it dozed off.
Redtail perched on her shoulder, sparks flying from its mouth, its fur slightly bristling, eagerly watching the flying cars behind it.
She lifted Redtail off her shoulder, skillfully pinching its muzzle, her tone calm, as if she didn't care about the group behind her: "How many waves is this? Redtail, you can't use skills in the flying vehicle."
Redtail was too excited and couldn't help but let out a howl and cast a fireball in the car. Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi were not hurt by the pursuers at all, but were almost killed by it.
As a reward, he received a brand-new flying car that very day.
A hint of helplessness flashed in Xiao Weizhi's eyes as he replied gently, "The 136th wave."
In just five days, there were 136 waves of assassination attempts, which shows that the person behind the scenes had put a lot of effort into spreading that rumor.
Thirty minutes later, the flying car stopped at the edge of the western city, at the foot of a barren mountain under development.
Xiao Weizhi quickly put on his robe, draped it over his shoulders, and before getting out of the car with his staff, he whispered, "Wait for me a moment."
Lin Xiaoxiao let go, and Hongwei jumped out of the open car door on Xiao Weizhi's side. She stroked the black cat's soft fur and replied softly, "Okay."
As soon as Xiao Weizhi got out of the car, more than a dozen fierce-looking professionals jumped out of several speeding cars that followed.
Seeing that the professionals were about to make threats and harsh words, Xiao Weizhi impatiently waved his staff, and a huge magic circle quickly formed above them.
Thousands of bolts of lightning struck at an incredible speed, turning the pursuers into charred remains before they could even react.
One of the assassins got out of the car and immediately went invisible, rushing towards Lin Xiaoxiao in the flying car. Just as he touched the door handle, a spatial blade suddenly appeared and severed his neck.
Inside the flying car, the black cat lazily did a cat-like backbend on her lap, stretched, and then opened its eyes, squatted down, and licked its paws.
Lin Xiaoxiao glanced at the blood splattered on the car window, then closed her eyes helplessly and said, "Brother Cat, could you do something different next time? It's too dirty."
The black cat paused in its grooming, gave her a disapproving look, and said, "Disgusted? Do it yourself next time."
Finally, the black cat nodded its head reluctantly with an almost imperceptible arc.
Not long after, the local patrol officers arrived at the scene in a speeding car with its horn blaring.
After getting out of the car, the patrolman looked at the land scorched black by lightning and the charred remains of the professional, whose survival was uncertain. He instinctively raised his weapon at Xiao Weizhi.
He shouted sternly, "Put away your weapons and raise your hands. Fighting among professionals is not allowed in the capital city. Now come with me to the police station to give your statements."
Xiao Weizhi put his staff back into his spatial storage, helplessly raised his hands, and analyzed in a deep voice: "These people are all here to kill me..."
As a result, the process of giving a statement at the police station took more than four hours.
With the coordination and guarantee of many parties, Xiao Weizhi and Lin Xiaoxiao were finally released, turning lunch into dinner.
When they arrived at the agreed-upon private hotel, they opened the door and saw...
Gu Qingqi, Shen Bi'an, Lu Xumo, and Pei Shuyan were already in the private room, playing cards idly, while Wen Feifei sat alone to the side drinking tea and reading.
Today, only Gu Qingqi brought Wen Feifei; the other three came alone.
When Gu Qingqi saw Xiao Weizhi and Lin Xiaoxiao push the door open and enter, he threw the cards in his hand onto the table and said sarcastically, "Oh, who is this? Isn't this the young master Xiao who is always late? So you haven't forgotten that there are four people waiting for you here."
Xiao Weizhi pulled out a chair at the table and let Lin Xiaoxiao sit down, then handed her the menu: "Order what you like."
I could hear her stomach growling at the police station. Although she ate some snacks to tide her over, it wasn't a proper meal and it's not good for her health.
Lin Xiaoxiao took the menu and quickly ordered a table full of dishes.
Xiao Weizhi briefly explained to the few childhood friends who sat down next to him that he had gone to the police station on business and was not intentionally late.
Before long, the food was served in a line by the staff.
Gu Qingqi and the others originally wanted to eat and chat, but Xiao Weizhi stopped them with a single sentence: "A broken promise is a broken word."
More than an hour later, the food on the table was removed and replaced with tea.
Gu Qingqi asked tentatively, "Weizhi, are you going to watch the ranking matches in front of the Heavenly Pride Trial Arena?"
Xiao Weizhi replaced Lin Xiaoxiao's cup with a cup of sweet osmanthus tea, removed the plain tea in front of her, and replied in a deep voice, "I'm not going."
The Trial of the Prodigies is a once-a-decade, globally-watched mega-event, and not every professional can obtain an entry ticket.
Each country has only 100,000 slots, and only professionals with a 5th or higher rank but a 7th rank or lower can participate, with an age limit of 37 years or younger.
The Dragon Fang Squad consists entirely of members at level 5 or above, giving them a significant lead in points. They also recently submitted an S-rank Secret Realm Core, and all members have already received their entry tickets to the Prodigy Trial Grounds from the Combat Department.
Unlike other professionals, they don't need to participate in ranking tournaments and fight their way through to win entry tickets.
Shen Bi'an was somewhat envious of the fact that the entire Longya team didn't have to participate in the ranking competition. His Nuclear Star team had several members who might not be able to pass this ranking competition.
Pei Shuyan put down his teacup: "Weizhi, are you really not going?"
Just as they were chatting, Lin Xiaoxiao reacted quickly, grabbing the red tail that was trying to pounce into the snacks, and pulling it back into her arms by the scruff of its neck.
Xiao Weizhi placed a plate of dried fish in front of the black cat, and after making the arrangements, he sat back down and replied in a deep voice, "I'm not going."
Organizations like the Operations Department, certain families, and guilds enjoy watching these ranking matches because they want to recruit lone wolf professionals or poach talent from other organizations.
His Dragon Fang team has no shortage of members, so watching this ranking match is a waste of time.
Several people took turns trying to persuade her, but Xiao Weizhi just wouldn't budge. No matter how they tried to persuade her, she would only receive one reply: "I don't want to go."
Looking at Lin Xiaoxiao, who was sitting leisurely drinking tea, Wen Feifei smiled and suggested, "Xiaoxiao, why don't you go watch the ranking matches together?"
Upon hearing Wen Feifei's suggestion, Lin Xiaoxiao realized she had never been to a large-scale event like this before: "When does the ranking competition start?"
Consort Wen replied with a smile, "It will officially begin the day after tomorrow and will last for more than two months."
Lin Xiaoxiao nodded: "Okay, I'll make time to go and take a look."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xiao Weizhi immediately changed his mind: "Okay, I'll go when I have time."
Gu Qingqi, Shen Bi'an, Lu Xumo, and Pei Shuyan exchanged a glance, then laughed in exasperation. It turned out that all their efforts to persuade her were no match for Lin Xiaoxiao's simple statement that she wanted to go.
Next time something happens, it's better to just talk to Lin Xiaoxiao directly... But at least they've completed the task assigned by their family.
The next day, Xiao Weizhi completely forgot about the ranking competition and led the entire Dragon Fang team to the secret realm to level up.
By the time the Dragon Fang team emerged from the secret realm, more than forty days had passed, and most of the ranked matches had already taken place.
As soon as they left the secret realm, Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi received a bunch of messages on their communicators, mostly asking when they planned to come and watch the ranked matches.
Lin Xiaoxiao only remembered when she saw the message from Wen Feifei: she had promised Wen Feifei that she would check out the ranking competition when she had time.
She and Xiao Weizhi discussed it for a moment, and then she sent a message saying she would arrive later.
The two went back to wash up and change their clothes before heading to the qualifying match venue.
The venue for this qualifying round is a giant arena in the north of the city.
This arena can accommodate nearly 50,000 spectators. In the very center, there are many specially forged arenas that can withstand attacks from most professionals without collapsing.
Xiao Weizhi had just brought Lin Xiaoxiao to the entrance of the venue.
A stern-looking woman in a black butler's uniform bowed respectfully in their direction: "Young Master Xiao, Miss Lin, our young master has been waiting for you in the observation room upstairs for quite some time."
Young Master? Who?
Lin Xiaoxiao was somewhat puzzled.
Xiao Weizhi glanced at the female housekeeper and said in a deep voice, "Lead the way."
Following the housekeeper, they took the elevator to the top of the venue and walked to the door of room 8012, which was not closed. Looking up, they saw Gu Qingqi sitting awkwardly next to a burly, middle-aged man.
There were also several older men and women nearby.
Shen Bi'an, Lu Xumo, Pei Shuyan, and the others sat obediently next to their respective family members, not daring to speak.
When the man saw Xiao Weizhi enter, he looked up and greeted her, "Weizhi, you're here."
Xiao Weizhi put his arm around Lin Xiaoxiao and went inside. He then found a comfortable spot to sit down and asked, "Um, Brother Gu, did you need something from me?"
This man is named Gu Qingshan. He is Gu Qingqi's older brother, 18 years younger than her, and is the first in line to inherit the Gu family.
Gu Qingshan subtly observed Lin Xiaoxiao for a few seconds, and when he heard Xiao Weizhi greet him, he laughed and replied, "Can't we meet up if there's nothing wrong?"
Xiao Weizhi chuckled, his gaze sweeping over the few 'familiar faces' present, his tone somewhat amused: "Meet them? Looks like a trap."
Shen Bi'an's uncle-in-law, Shen Rulong; Pei Shuyan's sister-in-law, Pei Ansheng; Lu Xumo's elder brother-in-law, Lu Shu... Tsk, they're all a bunch of cunning old foxes.
Gu Qingshan laughed heartily: "Weizhi, I like your personality. Compared to Qingqi, your personality is more like my younger brother."
Xiao Weizhi smiled gently and replied with a subtle barb: "You can ask my grandfather if Gu Qingqi and I were switched at birth."
The implication was, "Do you dare say such nonsense in front of our old man?"
Seeing that Gu Qingshan had been given a soft approach, Pei Ansheng immediately put on a friendly smile: "You must be Weizhi's girlfriend. I've heard so much about you. I'm Pei Ansheng, Shuyan's older sister. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Lin Xiaoxiao replied with a smile, "I am Lin Xiaoxiao, it's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Pei."
Upon hearing Lin Xiaoxiao's self-introduction, Pei Ansheng's eyes flashed with displeasure, but he maintained his friendly smile on the surface: "I'm very happy, very happy."
"Wow..." Cheers rang out from outside, drifting slightly through the thick glass and interrupting the insincere chatter inside the room.
Xiao Weizhi asked directly, "Brother Gu, we're all acquaintances, let's get straight to the point, what brings you here?"
Gu Qingshan glanced at Gu Qingqi, who was swaying like a quail, and sighed with a hint of disappointment: "We would like to ask you and your team to take a few of them with you when you participate in the Trial of the Prodigies."
At least don't let these little ones die inside.
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