"Drip, drip."
Qin Jie's blood dripped, and his face was somewhat pale.
With his left hand severed, the devouring abyss in its greatsword form was no longer usable. So Qin Jie reverted it to its han sword form and swept away the wolf that attacked again.
Was he going to lose? Although extremely unwilling, the wolf's attributes, now in its Red Eyes and Yaksha Massacre states, were terrifyingly high. Qin Jie, able to wield his sword with only one hand, was no longer his opponent.
Finally, the moment the wolf suppressed Qin Jie's devouring abyss, Qin Jie keenly noticed movement from a mechanism within the wolf's Shinobi Prosthetic.
A long spear suddenly shot out. Although Qin Jie deployed a shield at the first opportunity, the long spear still pierced his throat.
He was defeated.
His consciousness plunged into Chaos, his surroundings darkened, and as his blood flowed, Qin Jie felt his body gradually grow cold.
Inside the room.
Qin Jie, having recovered, replayed the recent battle in his mind.
The long-overdue defeat came at just the right time, pouring a basin of cold water on the current Qin Jie and making him realize his shortcomings.
It was fortunate that he realized his shortcomings within the wrathful demon buddha, rather than in a real-life struggle.
This was worth celebrating.
Qin Jie reflected that part of the reason he was defeated by the Asura in his heart was indeed due to underestimating his opponent. He hadn't expected the wolf to have so many tricks.
After all, in the previous derivative world, the wolf's Shinobi Prosthetic didn't have so many mechanisms.
However, the enemy in his heart was, after all, somewhat stronger than the original. Firecrackers, long spears, red-eyed beads, Yaksha Massacre—these methods, originally belonging to the wolf, were fully realized on the battlefield of his mind.
However, Qin Jie's own methods were also somewhat restricted.
If Qin Jie had been able to stack a certain amount of shield value with the gluttony ring before the battle, he might not have been so disheveled.
Heh.
Qin Jie let out a long breath, then showed a wry smile.
A loss is a loss; there's no need to make so many excuses.
This lesson will surely become the nourishment for his future growth.
--- For the next few days, besides challenging the wolf once daily, Qin Jie went to the arena for matching.
But the arena at this time felt like a dead silence to Qin Jie; he couldn't find a suitable opponent.
"Due to prolonged inability to match opponents, compensation mechanism activated. Hunter's ranking automatically rises."
"Current ranking: 1 (tied)"
Seeing this, Qin Jie was somewhat bewildered. He hadn't expected to reach first place in this manner. Afterward, Paradise issued Qin Jie the reward for being ranked first.
"Obtained Arena Apex Medal."
"Arena Apex"
"Origin: Reincarnation Paradise"
"Category: Medal"
"Durability: None"
"Equipment Requirements: DNA binding, exclusive item."
"Equipment Effect: God of Honor: After entering combat, Strength +2, Agility +2, Intelligence +2, Stamina +2. After defeat, randomly strip two attribute points from self."
"Rating: None"
"Description: A medal representing the first place. The God of Honor is watching you."
"Price: Not for sale."
--- Time passed quickly, and Qin Jie raised his herbalism to LV7. This skill's advancement required a terrifying amount of proficiency. To go from LV7 to LV8 already needed 311 experience points.
This meant that if it were ordinary medicinal herbs, Qin Jie would have to consume nearly a hundred types to raise one level.
But at this moment, he had also mastered more than ten prescriptions, one of which was quite practical.
"Rejuvenation Potion"
"Quality: Green"
"Recipe: Sakura wood from under the Sakura Dragon, evergreen tree leaves, liver of a Bifu beast."
"Effect: After consumption, temporarily increases maximum health by 20%, and an equivalent amount of health cap."
"Consumption: 50 Mana Points."
Qin Jie concocted this himself. In fact, every time he analyzed some medicinal herbs, he would randomly arrange and combine the consumed herbs. Although most attempts failed, a few would accidentally fuse into a medicine.
While most of them were poisons, only this new one, containing Sakura Dragon wood, was a medicine that could increase maximum health by 20%.
If only he had broken off more back then. Now, to exchange it with Paradise, 50 grams would cost 650 paradise coins.
Qin Jie sighed, putting down the dregs of medicine in his hand.
It was time to return.
"Hunter is about to return to the real world. Please remember the Reincarnation Paradise regulations."
"You may not disclose any information about Reincarnation Paradise in the real world by any means. Otherwise, a warning will be issued. If the warning is ineffective, the Hunter will be forcibly executed."
"Hunter cannot use abilities acquired within Reincarnation Paradise in the real world, with the exception of personal attributes and passive skills."
"Most equipment or items obtained in Reincarnation Paradise cannot be taken out in the real world and are in a locked state. They will be restored upon returning to Reincarnation Paradise."
"Teleportation begins. Location: Real world."
As the countdown ended, Qin Jie suddenly felt a heavy blow to the back of his head, his vision went black, and then his consciousness fell into a coma.
When will this teleportation be a little gentler?
When Qin Jie regained consciousness, he had already returned to the Dao temple his Master had left him. The surroundings were dark, and there was no sign of the main door having been opened.
Standing up, Qin Jie stretched. He checked the time; he had been gone for about fifteen days.
He needed to go home and see how Li Xiaoyu had been doing these ten days.
In fact, this was the longest Li Xiaoyu had been alone since Qin Jie could remember.
Opening the door, the house was completely dark. There were a few packed trash bags on the floor. It seemed that although the girl rarely went out, she at least went out to take out the trash.
This reassured Qin Jie slightly. He then raised his hand to turn on the light.
The living room immediately lit up. Qin Jie spoke to the empty living room.
"Xiaoyu, I'm home."
With a thud, a gasp came from Li Xiaoyu's room. Then, Li Xiaoyu poked her head out, her hair a messy tangle like seaweed.
Clearly, she rarely groomed herself at home. Although she maintained normal hygiene, she had no interest in things like makeup that girls her age would do.
Upon seeing Qin Jie, her face showed uncontrollable joy. She didn't speak for a moment, but simply burrowed into Qin Jie's embrace, then wiggled around.
Like a wild boar, Qin Jie thought.
At the same time, he vaguely felt something was off. He had a feeling Li Xiaoyu had never been so enthusiastic.
He rubbed Li Xiaoyu's head. When she looked up, Qin Jie finally noticed the source of the abnormality.
Li Xiaoyu's face had an unhealthy flush, and her forehead felt warm to the touch.
Qin Jie quickly realized.
"You have a cold?"
"Mhm, but I've taken medicine."
Li Xiaoyu mumbled, deliberately coughing a few times, while secretly thinking.
If big brother also caught a cold, wouldn't he be able to take sick leave and stay for two more days?
Thinking this, she rubbed against him with more force.
Little did she know, her attempt to infect Qin Jie, who possessed thirty points of stamina, with a cold was akin to ZJQ (Qin Jie's college roommate) sticking a leg out on the highway to trip a fully insured semi-trailer—