Jake gave him side eye. “So your motivation is greed?”

  “Damn right it is. Besides, it’s all the same. Your goal to become more powerful is just a different type of power. The Dead City holds many secrets. Why else would the place attract enough would-be explorers to require a Council guard!?”

  “Yeah, well, I kind of appreciate the warning. But I really don’t want to do what I have to for the means to pass this test.”

  Slim ran his hands across his head in frustration. “I am not even asking because I know you won’t tell me what you are talking about. But you wanted to come into this side building to discuss it in this vague way, probably because Big Sis Yarissa is out there. You know she can probably still hear you here, right?”

  “Yes, but this makes me feel better.” Jake shot Slim a harsh look.

  “What? You’re saying that you can help yourself, but not me, right, boss? Why should I be polite?”

  Jake rolled his eyes. “The situation isn’t great for you, true, but you aren’t using any of your resources or sacrificing anything in all of this either. You led me here, so if you stop complaining, and if I am able to get into the Dead City and return alive, maybe I can find something of value and bring you back some of it.”

  Slim gave him a flat look. “I am hearing a lot of ‘if,’ and ‘some,’ and ‘maybe’ here.”

  “Yeah, but I’ll be the one who might die. Or worse. It’s not like it’ll cost you anything.”

  “It will if you get yourself killed and I’m not even there to die too. What is going to happen to me if you turn into a ghost, boss? Am I going to make it by myself to the Skull of Secrets sect?”

  “Probably not,” came Yarissa’s voice, floating over the distance.

  Slim glared in the direction the voice had come from but was smart enough not to respond. They truly did not need to offend the powerful serpent lady.

  Jake was starting to get even more annoyed that he couldn’t see any way out of this situation other than to use the Eternal Struggle Reward System. The Reward System was supposed to be his backup plan, or a way to get an advantage in a pinch. It bothered him that he was going to need to use points again so soon after getting out of the Web Burrows.

  It was maybe possible he had enough renown points to get both him and Slim something to protect them while exploring the Dead City, but something Slim was not mentioning was that he was far less powerful than Jake, and far less likely to come back alive. Jake didn’t want to waste points just to get his friend killed.

  He said, “Well, unless you have a better plan, you should just trust me for the time being, Slim. Let me lean back and close my eyes for a little, okay?”

  “Fine. I have seen this before. There is no changing your mind. But if you come back alive, you owe me big time.” Slim stomped off to another room in the ancient temple. Jake watched him go. Then he opened his Eternal Struggle Reward System interface and tried to figure out how many points he should spend, if any.

  Chapter 34

  Six renown points, thought Jake.

  He kept thinking of ways to avoid spending the points. Nothing and nobody was forcing him to enter a dangerous, dead city. He could just walk away, maybe even use the Reward System to get some sort of invisibility or fast travel.

  But that would still require using renown points, and it also wouldn’t address the fundamental problem that Jake was too weak right now. Just flying and hoping for the best was risky as hell.

  Jake was even too weak for Earth. The power of enemies where he'd come from had been increasing. Fast. The fact that anything like Conophta could be roaming around back in Georgia was wild. Even if most of the current adventurers in the area banded together to fight an enemy that powerful, they’d be wiped out. Hell, even tanks and heavy military weapons wouldn’t work well against an enemy like that. Maybe if Conophta just stood still to take it, but that would not happen.

  In fact, Conophta’s fire magic in particular would have been dangerous to armor. It didn’t matter if attacks didn’t penetrate a tank's armor so long as the inside of the vehicle turned into an oven.

  This line of thinking helped Jake decide that before spending points, he needed more information. Sometimes the unexpected side effects of a dangerous situation could be even more deadly than the obvious threats.

  He moved out of the temple he was in and looked around. The outside illusion had changed from night to dusk and was quite beautiful. He didn’t see Slim or Yarissa anywhere. “Big Sis Yarissa,” he said. He bowed politely and said, “I am sorry for bothering you again, but would you mind answering a few questions.”

  Jake could barely register the motion before a blast of wind from displaced air almost bowled him over and Yarissa was before him again. This time, she curled her tail tighter and was sitting on the coils, almost like it was a throne. “Normally, my time is far too valuable to spend babysitting low-level cultivators that are not even of my sect, but I am an extremely unlucky woman. I cannot even cultivate in this place! You are fortunate for my boredom. It’s probably why anyone on this post has to stay here so long, so we don’t just kill all who approach. That would be far easier, you know.”

  “Thank you, Big Sis,” said Jake. He bowed again, and while his face was pointed at the ground, he moved his lips, silently saying, What the fuck!? Then he straightened and kept his face blank as possible. This was one of the strangest interactions he’d ever had with an individual that was so much more powerful than him. The others all had their own motives and objectives. But Yarissa was basically…on duty. Like a hall monitor who could crush mountains.

  “What is your question? I would say I don’t have all day, but I do.” She grunted and made her cigarette appear from nowhere again. In seconds, the area began to smell like cloves and other spices mixed with medicinal herbs.

  Jake pointed at the portal at the far side of the cavern. “I was hoping you could tell me more about the Dead City, and what sorts of protections would be the most appropriate. What sort of dangers are most common?”

  She eyed him. “This is not just for your curiosity, is it?”

  “No, Big Sis. I promise that it is a practical line of questioning.”

  The enormous, beautiful snake woman gave him a considering look as she tapped ash off the end of her cigarette. “Curious. You seem to be telling the truth, or at least think you are. My curiosity is piqued.” Then as she stared at Jake, her eyes changed. They became green, deep as the sea, and glowed. The pressure that Yarissa was giving off didn’t increase. She was still holding back, but it felt sharper.

  “Ah! I see now.” Her eyes dimmed and returned back to normal. “What an impressive set of titles you have. And a Champion too. Now I understand. The fact you are not wasting my time is good for you.”

  Is everyone able to see titles except me!? Jake bowed and covered his fist with one hand. “Thank you, Big Sis. I would never knowingly waste your precious time.”

  She puffed on her cigarette. “A sweet one too. It’s too bad you are heading to the Skull of Secrets sect or I would potentially tell you to look up mine. However, I can feel that spider woman’s geas on you. It doesn’t take a Grand Calculator to figure out that would not be an option here. It’s also too bad you look like a demon beast.” She sighed. “I originally thought you might be hiding your cultivation base before, that this was your transformed form, but that is not the case. You and your friend are just unlucky under the heavens. Unfortunately for you, not everyone in the Murim world is as tolerant of…different forms as I am.”

  “Thank you, Big Sis,” said Jake. Be bowed again and his heart sank. That was one question about the world he had a better answer to. Slim had said as much before, but it was always good to validate information.

  The snake woman pulled her coils even tighter. “To answer your question properly would take days, and no matter how bored I am, that is not going to happen. So I will give you an overview out of the goodness of my heart.”

  When Jake began to bow again, she snapped, “Stop bowing and just listen. Good. You adapt quickly. The Fighting Time Dead City is a mysterious, ancient ruin that was discovered inside the hollow hill thousands of years ago. It is a fountain of natural death energy, so thick it will kill anyone who is unprotected in a very short amount of time.

  “Before you get any stupid ideas about trying to find the original entrance, the tunnel was filled in long ago and would take a group of cultivators of your level years to dig. The only entrance is the portal behind me.”

  “Yes, Big Sis.”

  “Good. Now the best way to describe the Dead City is…mysterious. The ancients who built the place used profound but ugly architecture. The shapes are not uniform, but are also similar enough that there is no harmony. However, while seen up close, the Dead City is ugly, but viewed from a distance, there is beauty to be found. This paradox has drawn cultivators for thousands of years to study the Dead City, trying to understand any part of a lost Dao hidden in the Dead City’s Contradictions.

  “There are signs and other notices written in another language. If anyone has ever properly translated them, I am not aware of it. And the nature of the place makes it hard to focus on scholarly pursuits. The thickness of the dead energy actually allows dream energy to swirl around the city too. Only powerful cultivators with strong minds can tolerate it.

  “The main thing I am looking for is a strong resistance to death energy, either by technique or treasure. But the city is also full of powerful ghosts, jiangshi, and other spirits. Even revenants. Most high-level cultivators have ways to keep these creatures at bay, but none are brave or stupid enough to come in direct contact with a truly powerful revenant.

  “Luckily, most spirits and other inhabitants of the city stay asleep unless woken, but there will always be a few roaming, searching for the living. Some will want to devour, some will want to own, to control. Others will wish for your emotions or to break your mind. Always assume that the dead hate the living.

  “I can let you through into the Dead City if you have protection against death energy, but make no mistake. You will probably still die.”

  The way she delivered some of her explanation was obviously copied from somewhere, or rehearsed, or maybe repeated so many times she could rattle it off without thinking. Maybe some combination of all three. “I am very thankful for your time and your very thorough explanation, Big Sis. May I bow in thanks?”

  “Yes.” She smiled and gave a genuine chuckle. “You can be a charming one, can’t you? Unfortunately for you, you look like a demon beast possessed by a jiangshi at the bottom of a dream well.” She blew smoke out the side of her mouth. “Alright, bow and be off now. I need to get back to doing nothing again.”

  Jake bowed, spun on his heel, marched right back into the temple. He sat with his back against the wall and rubbed a hand on his horns, thinking about how well the conversation had gone, but how he’d realistically been in danger the entire time.

  I need to get stronger, he thought. His fists tightened, and he opened the Eternal Struggle Reward System. He went to the menu used for exchanging points for rewards.

  As before, there were boxes listed numerically. There were one-point to five-point boxes. He could add points to all of them. Once again, Jake read out loud, “Standard boxes offer three choices of its tier. Every point added will offer one more choice, and a higher chance for higher rarity rewards.”

  Yup. Loot boxes.

  Red, orange, green, blue, purple loot boxes, all from low to high levels. And he could pump points into any tier of box for a better reward.

  He stared at the screen for what felt like hours, agonizing over how many points he should spend. His rewards so far had been pretty good, but some of that had to be due to luck. Right? There’s no way I can keep getting really good rewards for minimal point spend.

  His rewards so far had seemed to really get great at around tier 3. Jake felt like he might cry tears of blood, but he slowly added points to choose a tier 3 box and he spent one more point to add a +1 to its roll value.

  Just like that, he’d spent four points. Now he had two points left. The fact he knew so little was going to eat at him, but he had no way of knowing what else he could get through the Eternal Struggle Reward System. If he ever discovered that he could have spent one or two points to get a pill and instantly get a reforged body, he was going to beat his head on a stone wall.

  Result found. Please choose three keywords for your rewards.

  As before, he had no idea what the symbols the system was showing meant. This was another item on his to-do list.

  Jake eyed the input line and mentally filled in, “Death Energy protection, death chi resistance–” He stared at the screen, not sure what he should use for his third term. Finally, he thought about the conversation he just had, and finished. “Death Energy Protection, Death Chi Resistance, Hide Titles.”

  Not only was Jake tired of every powerful being being able to see his titles, it was only a matter of time before it caused him problems. Has nothing to do with the fact I’m salty everyone else can see the damn things and not me, he thought. I sure hope spending these points was worth it.

  He very deliberately avoided looking at the portion of the screen showing the number of his remaining points.

  The screen flashed, then flashed again. There were three potential rewards listed.

  (Tier 3) Ring of Sublime Death Protection -- Near perfect protection against all ambient death energies. Powerful resistance against focused, death energy-related attacks.

  (Tier 3) Mantra of Life -- A technique to fill the practitioner with life energy. Can be used for some cultivation methods or to resist death energy. Useful for several crafting disciplines.

  (Tier 5) Four Seasons Discreet Pendant of Insight -- An item of great power, its origins have been lost in time. Prevents observation of the wearer’s divine titles and other statuses. With enough energy, can be used to see through glamours or penetrate other mental blocks. Offers passive protection from extreme concentrations of most types of energy.

  Oh thank God, he thought. He’d been half afraid that he’d need to spend his last two points in a Hail Mary attempt at something else that might work. In for a penny, in for a pound, he thought. Then his face scrunched up. In for a point, in for them all? Nah.

  All three options would work, but one was far less useful for Jake than the other two. Mantra of Life would be absolutely amazing for some cultivators out there, he was sure. Hell, maybe it’d even be great for him in the future, for crafting or whatever. But for right now, it was meh. He was sure he’d have to use energy and possibly even chant out loud to make it work. That was less than ideal.

  Not only that, he wondered if pure life energy might mess with his system or his techniques. It might even harm him. There was just too much he didn’t know.

  One thing he was sure of, though, was that he probably didn’t want to be running out of energy for his manual protection against dying horribly. Even if Mantra of Life would work perfectly, there were just too many variables to pick that option with so little information.

  So that left Ring of Sublime Death Protection, which honestly sounded like the perfect solution to his problem, and the Four Seasons Discreet Pendant of Insight.

  The ring was tier 3, which was super good and very powerful, but tier 5 was just usually another level or two of power; at least Jake thought that should be the case.

  He was torn, similar to when he’d used the Eternal Struggle Reward System before. The ring would likely increase his odds of surviving and coming back alive from this misadventure, but might not be all that useful in the future. The Pendant on the other hand…

  What ended up deciding the matter for him was how disturbing it was to have so many powerful entities prying into his titles that he couldn’t even see himself yet. Its other effect, penetrating glamours, was just the cherry on top.

  I hope I don’t end up regretting this, thought Jake. Then he selected the Pendant of Insight.

  The item itself appeared out of nowhere just like before and Jake snatched it before it could fall. It was a curiously plain-looking chain and circular pendant. He shrugged and put it on.

  As soon as it was against his skin, he felt an indescribable feeling and all at once was very aware of the pendant resting against his chest. This was definitely not a normal, simple piece of jewelry.

  Jake didn’t really have any way to test how effective the Pendant of Insight was, so he shrugged and left the ancient temple to find Yarissa again.

  He hoped she was still in a relatively good mood.

  “You are back sooner than I thought you would be.” The powerful reptilian woman’s cigarette was unlit this time, and she pointed it at Jake. “So you found some good fortune?”

  “I suppose you could say that, Big Sis.” Jake bowed.

  Yarissa pursed her lips and looked at him critically. “You pass now. Barely. You are lucky I know what you are and how you were able to accomplish this so quickly. A less wise or maybe more ignorant cultivator might do something foolish, not knowing what kind of power is backing you. But others knowing might even be more dangerous for you in the long term.”

  Jake bowed again. “You have already helped with that, Big Sis Yarissa. Thank you. I have taken steps to protect myself.”

  “Oh you have, have you?” Her eyes changed like they had before, and she stared at him intently for a solid twenty seconds before the effect faded. “It seems you have. I might be offended if I hadn’t already seen your titles. Now I am choosing to be pleased that I will be carrying your secret.” She smiled, showing some very long, sharp teeth. “But now I am going to assume you owe me a debt.”

  “Excuse me, but what do you mean, Big Sis Yarissa?” Jake’s first inclination had been a far less polite question, but he still had his wits about him.