"Of course, it's Lin Yun Er! Who else is dear to me in this life!" I said confidently, hitting my chest.
"Wait." she said, holding out her hand. Everything around us turned into smoke, which settled, and we found ourselves on a bloody lake. Behind Jiaxing Xia, people knelt with their heads hidden in sacks.
"Point out all the people who are not dear to you." Jiaxing Xia said and disappeared, turning into blood. I was left alone with a row of people, whom it was difficult to recognize due to the sacks. What strange nightmares, one after another!
"Can't choose? Then let's take off the masks!" someone chuckled beside me. That voice sent shivers down my spine. Turning around, I saw my pseudo-me! Meanwhile, he snapped his fingers, and all the sacks turned into smoke and dissipated. When I saw who all these people were, my heart skipped a beat. There stood Mo Jiaxing, Mo Fan, Jiaxing Xia, Lin Yun Er, Zhang Xiao Hou, He Yu, Xu Zhao Ting, and several other former classmates.
"What the hell am I supposed to choose!" I roared at my pseudo-me.
"Ha, those who are dear to you." my pseudo-me merely chuckled.
"Well, since you can't choose yourself, I'll choose for you!" he said confidently, then approached the first person in the line, Mo Jiaxing.
"The man who sheltered you and protected you until you reached adulthood, but you always felt you were using him and never grew attached to him. He will be the first." Saying this, my pseudo-me pulled out a dagger from who knows where and stabbed Mo Jiaxing in the chest, after which he dissolved into blood. At that moment, shivers ran down my spine, and my heart skipped a beat. I remembered all the moments of my second adolescence in Mo Jiaxing's family; he was definitely not indifferent to me, and I couldn't just watch him being killed.
"Next will be..." he approached Mo Fan.
"Although we need him for quite a long time, in the end, we can get rid of him." My pseudo-me repeated his actions, and Mo Fan also dissolved into the lake of blood. Shivers ran down my spine again, but I wasn't as upset as I was about Mo Jiaxing.
"Now her, the sister, with whom you were always together, whom Mo Fan helped protect from bullies many times, but she is only needed as access to the resources of the Parthenon. If she acts up, she can be sacrificed." my pseudo-me said coldly, with his usual devilish smile, and stabbed Jiaxing Xia in the chest. She followed the others into the bloody lake.
"No! Stop!" I shouted, unable to bear watching her being killed. I considered her, if not one of the people dear to me, then at least quite close, compared to the others. When I saw her die, everything in my chest tightened, and I could no longer remain a passive observer!
"Hmm... Don't want to continue? Will you decide for yourself who is dear to you and who isn't?" my pseudo-me feigned slight thoughtfulness.
"Stop, don't kill..." Before I could finish, I stumbled and fell from the tree.
In my fall, I hit myself quite hard. Fortunately, I wasn't very high up in the tree, and I managed to brace myself. Looking around, I realized it was still deep night, my things were where I had left them, and everything was quiet. Cold sweat ran down my forehead and back, my hands were trembling. Climbing back to my previous spot, I fell asleep again. This time, I had a rather standard nightmare lately, related to today's hunt, only now I was shaking even more at the sight of my pseudo-me; he seemed to radiate some unknown aura that made my knees tremble.
The next day, after a hearty breakfast, I went hunting again. My magic reserves were restored, so I was in full combat readiness. If we don't consider the fact that I was very mentally exhausted due to two strange nightmares in a row, but now was not the time to think about them; I had to do everything to pass the test of capabilities!
My first victims were spiders again, as they were quite simple opponents, even when in groups. Besides, there were a little more than half of them left, so they could be finished off to a hundred by this morning. And so it happened that around noon, I killed my hundredth spider, put its entrails in jars, and stored them in the refrigeration unit. I was quite exhausted again, so I took an hour break and rested. The positive fact was that I had almost gotten rid of unnecessary thoughts about my nightmares.
Immediately after resting, I went for a red-eyed triton, as I still needed to kill nine more. The battle went more successfully than yesterday; I managed to tear apart its hindquarters, after which I finished it off with a lightning shock. In my joy, I went for another leader, but the second battle was harder than the previous one. The triton managed to almost completely dodge my attack, so I had to jump around it and direct about ten lightning strikes at it until it lost its shocking mobility for its species, and I could use lightning shock again to finish it off. It seemed the second one was quite a strong representative of its species and was approaching the level of a true leader.
After the second leader, I was quite exhausted, but it was only three o'clock, and I still had too many monsters to kill. After resting and recovering some of my energy, I went, as yesterday, in search of alligators. I would only fight the green-skinned snakes tomorrow; after all, they were quite formidable opponents.
I was walking towards the lake shore, as that's where the alligators were most numerous, but suddenly I felt a powerful aura behind me. Almost reflexively, I jumped up, reinforcing myself with an aerial dash. In mid-air, I turned around and saw a green-skinned snake crash into the spot where I had just been! It was clearly stronger than described in the handbook! It had evolved and become a junior leader! Damn, how did I get into this situation?
The snake quickly recovered from the impact and quickly coiled, pursuing me. Using the residual energy from the aerial dash, I pushed off the snake's maw and landed on a branch of a nearby tree. Immediately after, I jumped further away, quickly removed the cooling chamber, and with another dash, moved to the side, closer to the snake but further from the chamber. I can't let it get hurt! If it gets hurt and what's inside spoils, I'll have to start all over again, I definitely won't make it in time!
The snake, meanwhile, recovered from the powerful gust of wind in its mouth and, finding me, lunged at me. By then, I had already used the wind dash a couple of times and was on the opposite side from the cooling chamber. The snake was rushing at me, while I stopped in place and cast two spells of lightning's wrath simultaneously. It was harder than a lightning shock, but while I was jumping and the snake was recovering, I had enough time for it.
Two lightning's wrath, amplified almost three times, were directed at the snake's eyes. I only need its venom glands from it; everything else can be destroyed. Seeing that I had unleashed magic, the snake tried to dodge, but it was too late. The two spells hit its eyes and burned them. After all, lightning's wrath amplified three times is a rather powerful spell, and the snake's eyes can be considered its weak point, but it was too early to relax. Even such magic, when hitting the eyes, wouldn't kill a green-skinned snake at the pack leader level!
The snake crashed to the ground near me. I used the aerial dash and bounced off it, then used the wind step to circle further away. The snake doesn't necessarily need sight to follow an opponent, unlike many other beasts. It slowly recovered and lunged at me again. By then, I was quite far away and had already prepared a whirlwind of wind blades, so timing it perfectly, I used the spell right in the middle of the snake!
The snake couldn't resist such a spell and was easily torn into small pieces, so only the head remained more or less intact, flying towards me. However, this spell was harder for me than the previous ones, as I spent a lot of energy controlling it. I had to protect the snake's head from the magic so as not to damage the venom glands. After this battle, I was even more exhausted. If such snakes appear often, I might not be able to complete the task!
The rest of the day, I decided to hunt alligators after a short rest. In total, I killed ten more, leaving thirty, a perfectly achievable number. At night, I had another standard nightmare related to hunting.
On the third day, I decided to finally deal with the alligators so that I could then concentrate on stronger monsters. By four in the afternoon, all the remaining monsters were killed. It was quite difficult, and after that, I was even more exhausted. The fatigue from the past two days was compounded by this one, and there were still many monsters to kill! For this reason, I went in search of green-skinned snakes, but on the way, I stumbled upon a red-eyed newt. What can I say, it was very unlucky; its death was quick and painful, and at the same time, one of the easiest for me. It was probably too stupid, or just too young? I don't know.
By the end of the day, two more snakes had died, so I consider it a good hunt, but the fatigue from it was immense. I was literally falling off my feet after today! However, I had to seize the opportunity. In the evening, I was cultivating, and to my great surprise, I managed to easily subdue the twenty-seventh lightning star. Does such hunting really have such an effect on cultivation?
On the fourth day, I was focused on killing snakes and also planned to kill a couple of newts. There were only six left in four days, including this one; I should manage. The catch on the fourth day was as follows: as planned, two newts and five snakes. But the fatigue increased even more. Overnight, considering the constant nightmares where there was a pseudo-me who could instill terror, I couldn't fully recover, so it became harder and harder each day.
The fifth day was similar to the fourth, except that I managed to kill six snakes, leaving only twelve for two days. Why did I kill so few monsters compared to the first days? Well, firstly, the monsters themselves were stronger; among the snakes, I encountered junior leaders a couple of times. Secondly, I was alone and could only defeat them thanks to my close-combat skills and two innate, almost small, spiritual seeds. Thirdly, after each battle, I recovered for quite a long time before I could participate in a new one.
The sixth day passed without any particular incidents. I managed to kill two more red-eyed newts, completely fulfilling the plan, but unfortunately, I only killed four snakes. By evening, I could barely stand on my feet, but I still decided to cultivate. I felt that I could cultivate two or even four times faster than usual! However, it also consumed a lot of energy, but the effect! I managed to subdue the twenty-eighth lightning star!
On the last, seventh day, my confidence in my luck was quite high, as I only needed to kill eight pathetic little snakes! However, one should not forget that these are beasts, high-level servants on the verge of becoming low-level leaders! Fortunately, I found the strength within myself and coped with the task. When the last snake was torn to pieces, thanks to the whirlwind of wind blades, I experienced incredible moral satisfaction and relief. I did it!
This snake was quite strong and had almost transformed into a spiny snake! Victory over it was very difficult for me, but I managed. The reward for my efforts was the soul of this snake, which I quickly placed in a suitable vessel. In total, over this week, I managed to completely fill all my soul vessels, with a total minimum cost of about thirty million yuan! This will be enough for a cheap spatial bracelet, five cubic meters, especially if I add the three million I had before.
A spatial bracelet is an incredibly useful item that allows you to get rid of unnecessary bags, which is very important for me. Moreover, time slows down inside the bracelet, and food can be stored longer. If anyone thinks I got such a sum too quickly, they should consider that not all hunters collect souls, and they drop very rarely. If I hadn't engaged in such mass killings, I probably wouldn't have found so many intact souls.