Infernal Artist

Under night.

The bonfire crackled and burned.

A hand reached out and dropped the card onto the hot grill.

On the card, the injured green dragon was dazed, as if he was unconscious.

"Looks like we need to add some fire."

Someone said with a smile.

Alande's voice sounded: "Is that so?"

The barbecue grill glowed with more intense red light, and even the void began to crack.

On the card, the green dragon finally showed a painful expression.

"The marching equipment can indeed withstand the high temperature - do you want to eat dragon meat today?" Another voice sounded.

"No, I still have something to ask this dragon later. Let's save its life first." Alande said.

The firelight faded.

The cards were just thrown on the grill and no one cared.

Alan stood up, clapped his hands and said: "Okay, now let's talk about something serious. As soon as we arrived at this sacred pillar, we found new people who are qualified to join the expeditionary force. This is worthy of everyone having a drink together."

No one answered.

Suddenly a female voice sounded: "Forget it, you bunch of cheapskates, I'll buy you this drink."

A bottle of wine was opened.

It flew in the air, filled the bowl for everyone, and then slowly flew back and landed in front of the woman again.

Five or six people in front of the campfire raised their glasses together.

Liu Ping also raised his cup.

"Thank you everyone, thank you." He smiled at the woman.

Everyone drank it all.

Alan put down the cup, looked at Liu Ping with an encouraging look, and said:

"After becoming an expeditionary force, the first thing you need to do is hunt."

"Go, go hunting in this dark world, and kill the beings hiding in this world. Before tomorrow morning, you have to come back with your prey and exchange it for merit points from me - merit points determine you. Is there any food to eat?”

"OK."

Liu Ping stood up, turned around and walked towards the night.

It wasn't until he was out of sight that Alan looked back and smiled at everyone: "I bet this kid can survive."

"Of course, the boss's vision has never missed it." A bearded man said.

"For recommending outstanding members of the same race to join the army, the leader will also receive a large amount of merit points." The woman who invited everyone to drink said with a smile.

"That's what I deserve. I rely on my eyes to make a living." Alan said with wide eyes.

"That's right," the woman stood up, stretched, and yawned: "Let's talk. I've been very poor recently, and I have to grab something to bring back."

"Who told you to bet so much every time you play cards that you can't bet less?" Alan asked.

Everyone laughed.

"If you don't have enough chips, what's the point of playing - I'm leaving."

After the female soldier finished speaking, she disappeared in a flash.

Alande shook his head helplessly.

"Come here, come here, let's play cards." Several soldiers greeted Alande.

"It's a small gamble. You can't bet more than 10 merit points at a time. Do you hear me?" Alan said.

"Yes, boss." Everyone responded.

…

Liu Ping walked forward in the darkness.

He has a blank card in his hand, which Alain gave to him.

Any prey you kill or capture can be put away with this card.

The rabbit emerged from the void and whispered:

"What's going on with those people?"

"I don't know yet. If I observe for a while, I should have an answer." Liu Ping said.

He landed lightly on a rock several meters high, his eyes scanning the wilderness from left to right.

Two lines of small characters suddenly jumped out.

This line of small words appeared on a pile of dirt hundreds of meters away, showing that it was a note inspired by "seeing and hearing like a god":

"The Digger Turtle."

"The title of the Good Virtue among the Turtles. Because of his compassion, he often carries all the corpses and buries them in the eternal night, making them sleep peacefully and killing them for omen."

okay.

If you see this, you cannot kill him, otherwise your merits will be deducted.

Liu Ping turned his eyes and looked further away, only to see two more lines of small words emerging from another sunken pile of sand:

"The soul-eating snake."

"It can eat all plants to make a living, but it likes to devour souls and is excited by feeling the pain of souls struggling in the body."

This one can be killed!

Liu Ping closed his eyes and thought for a few breaths, then he slightly tilted his body and flew towards the direction of the demon snake.

Flying silently halfway, Liu Ping shouted:

"Rabbit, get it out!"

"good."

The rabbit waved his paws enthusiastically.

The ground was immediately covered with frost, which continued to spread towards the place where the Soul-Eating Demonic Snake was hiding.

The demon snake knew immediately that he had been exposed.

"A human... ate you!"

It emerged from the ground, soared into the air like a lightning bolt, and opened its bloody mouth to bite Liu Ping.

Liu Ping pulled out a long knife and trembled all over. He didn't drink until the snake was about to bite him:

"Click!"

In an instant, the huge figure of the Soul-Eating Demonic Snake was frozen by the frost, motionless.

Liu Ping sighed helplessly.

If you don't move, how can I kill you?

I can only chop things!

But I have to shout "Ka", because if you don't shout, you will bite me, which means losing both sides.

Fortunately, at this moment, the rabbit thoughtfully threw out a huge ice crystal and hit the snake on the head, causing it to tremble imperceptibly.

Buzz——

With a clear sound, the Prison Suppressing Sword was immediately unsheathed and turned into a giant beam of lightning that shot directly into the sky, splitting the surrounding dark void, revealing the endless turbulence hidden behind the void.

A glowing lightning line appeared between the demon snake's pupils, extending to the end of its body.

When the line disappeared, the whole snake was cut into two halves.

A line of burning small words jumped out:

"Congratulations, you have gained 300 points of merit."

Liu Ping fell down and gently tossed the blank card in his hand.

The demon snake's body disappeared instantly.

On the card, there were broken corpses and blood clots all over the ground, which looked like huge snakes.

"finished."

Liu Ping breathed a sigh of relief.

At this time, another line of small words appeared:

"Current merit: 310 points."

"When you get 1,000 merit points, you can choose to create secondary combat skills, or continue to accumulate merit."

Liu Ping asked curiously: "What will happen if we continue to accumulate merit?"

Sequence said: "When you obtain 1,200 points of merit, you can upgrade your original primary skills."

"The upgraded skills are secondary skills, but because they are obtained by upgrading the pre-primary skills, they are stronger than ordinary secondary skills."

After Liu Ping read it, he made a decision after thinking about it for a while.

It's nothing more than accumulating 200 more merit points.

If it can be exchanged for stronger skills, it is still a good deal.

Then continue to accumulate merit!

Just as Liu Ping was about to leave, he suddenly felt alarmed. He held down his long knife and looked around.

I saw a figure slowly appearing not far away.

——It’s the female soldier who bought herself a drink!

When he first entered the military camp, Liu Ping heard Aland calling her Delia.

Delia folded her arms and looked at Liu Ping in the dark, and suddenly smiled: "That knife just now was good. No wonder Alan took a fancy to you."

"Thank you for the wine. When I earn my merits, I'll buy you a drink too." Liu Ping cupped his hands.

"You're on the right track - for the sake of being so well-behaved and sensible, I'll give you a piece of advice." Delia said.

"I'm all ears," Liu Ping said.

"Give your best to accumulate merit. After three days, if your merit does not reach the passing line, Alande will kill you without hesitation and use your soul to make up for his loss." Delia said.

"Kill me? Why?" Liu Ping asked confused.

"Newcomers are assessed in this way."

"What about you?"

"For us, the person with the least merit in the team every day will be eliminated immediately, and his soul will be sent to the transformation pool - so you see no one is willing to buy you a drink, because even one meritorious service may determine whether they live or not. Die." Delia said.

Suddenly there was a card in her hand.

On that card, there was a monster drawn. It stood in the mist, with only a strange face showing, quietly overlooking the human camp on the ground.

Half of its face is that of a man, and the other half is that of a woman.

——A nightmare monster.

Liu Ping stared at the card, and lines of small burning characters quickly appeared in the void:

"Nightmare Card: Transformation Pool (Fake)."

"This is a deceptive card that can deceive all sentient beings, but it cannot do anything deceptive in front of you."

"You can see it for what it is:"

"Nightmare Card: Devouring."

"Once this card is activated, it will immediately absorb the user's soul and send it directly to the nightmare monster painted on the card."

Liu Ping's heart skipped a beat.

I see!

There is no doubt that these people should be the "fruits" of that nightmare monster.

It's pitiful that these people think they have established a civilization and are conquering all realms for their tribe, but in fact they are just serving as pawns for that nightmare monster, collecting food for it.

And every other day, someone must become the monster's food.

How cruel and tragic this is.

Liu Ping looked at Delia and said with a smile: "Contribution is so precious, but you are willing to spend it to buy me a drink."

"Because I am the strongest." Delia laughed.

A line of small words quietly appeared above her head:

"The confused woman surrounded by bones."

"She has killed countless living beings, and the bones are piled up like mountains, and the peaks cannot be seen even after climbing all year round."

She waved her hand at Liu Ping and continued: "It's ten o'clock in the evening, and there are still two hours left before the merits are settled. I have to go fight for a while. See you later."

"Wait!" Liu Ping called to her.

"What's wrong? Is there anything else?"

"What would happen if those ordinary people--Aland met ordinary humans?" Liu Ping asked.

"Of course he will be sent back to do hard work. A person is too ordinary. If he doesn't do hard work, how can he help the tribe maintain its fighting capacity?"

"Do it for a lifetime?" Liu Ping asked.

"A lifetime? You think too much. You will die in a few years, and your soul will also enter the transformation pool to contribute the last bit of strength to the living."

As Delia spoke, she walked forward with a smile and whispered in Liu Ping's ear: "Little guy, don't have any naive illusions. The only thing you can do is to climb up on other people's bones. otherwise--"

"Just prepare to turn into a skeleton and let others step on you and climb up."

As soon as she finished speaking, a burst of blue starlight suddenly appeared on her body, and she completely disappeared from Liu Ping's eyes.

Liu Ping stood there for a while.

"Whether it's for merit or to continue to understand these people... I will continue to hunt those monsters."

He shook his head and walked deep into the endless dark wilderness.