23 The Test?

"Brother, do you know that I have a formidable classmate? He has already reached level 7 and has the highest level in our class. It's said that the highest level in the entire Evil Federation is only level 7." Little Rain related to Xiao Yu excitedly when the two of them were eating dinner.

Seeing the admiring expression in Little Rain's eyes, Xiao Yu recalled when she used to look at him with the same expression when she was much younger. For some reason, Xiao Yu felt a bit bitter because his position in her heart was being challenged. He quickly shoved rice into his mouth.

"Brother, why are you eating so fast? Yeah, you must be a member of the Evil Federation. What level are you at right now?" Little Rain nudged Xiao Yu a few times while looking at him with beaming eyes.

"Humph… humph. Though my level is not as high as his, your brother is definitely more formidable than him," said Xiao Yu with a pout while waving his chopsticks in the air.

With a mocking look in her eyes, Little Rain said while smiling, "Brother, you're boasting. You're so shameless."

"I didn't boast at all. If I met him, I would beat him for sure. I've finished dinner. You wash the dishes today," said Xiao Yu crossly. He put down the chopsticks and headed toward the bed.

Little Rain made a face while his back was turned, feeling content. She thought her brother looked rather adorable when he was upset.

"Don't make an ugly face behind me."

"How did you know?" Little Rain stuck her tongue out, smiling joyfully.

Xiao Yu entered the game again. He took a look at the sky and found it was getting lighter. He went to the NPC's shop again and bought some bread for his journey. Then he set out north of Tabarka.

The items he had on him were rather outstanding given his current level, and some of his skills had been upgraded to level 2. Moreover, he possessed some special features as a thief. All things considered, it shouldn't be too hard for him to enter Ghost Valley, which was occupied by level-10 monsters, and collect the medicinal grass.

"But I have no idea what Thief Teacher Ode has in mind." Xiao Yu couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious. This task was more like a test to him, so he figured the second task would be more important.

Now that the value of completing the task would be higher when he was at a lower level, he had no intention of going anywhere else to level up. Xiao Yu traveled all the way north and passed through the areas inhabited by low-level monsters one after the other. He crested many sand dunes and finally arrived at an entrance to the valley. The entrance was very narrow. As he came to the entrance and looked into the valley, he could hear the foreboding sound of dark, whistling wind. The gusts of cold wind made the hairs on his skin bristle.

"It's not necessary for me to deal with the monsters when I look for the Adder's tongue inside the valley," Xiao Yu thought while heading inside.

After he had walked a short distance, he discovered a ghost monster.

It was alone, and no other monsters were found nearby. It should be easy to finish this monster off, and at the same time, he could test the strength of the monsters in Ghost Valley.

"I can gain more confidence for my next task," Xiao Yu thought to himself. He went over undetected by using the stealth travel skill.

However, his stealth travel could be discovered by the monster because it was a much higher level than he was. As such, Xiao Yu traveled more carefully.

The ghost monster looked around. Xiao Yu stopped short and stayed in the same spot, not daring to move an inch.

The ghost monster didn't discover anything and resumed its wandering. Xiao Yu continued to approach it slowly and with a great deal of caution.

All of a sudden, Xiao Yu leaped up into the air with a flash of cold light in his eyes. The dagger in his right hand emitted a cold glow in the air before it pierced into the back of the ghost monster's head. Xiao Yu knocked the ghost monster unconscious by using the sneak-attack skill.

A villager of the Lake Tribe's spirit: level 10.

Evisceration!

Since Xiao Yu had no idea where the ghost monster's weakness was, he forcefully sliced the dagger in his right hand downwards after it pierced into the back of the monster. He also attacked the creature with the weapon in his left hand once in a while. Seeing the ghost monster attempt to turn its head around to assault him, Xiao Yu attacked the beast with his right hand by using the backstabbing skill. Without a moment of pause, he attacked again with the reversed backstabbing skill after taking a step back. Then, he struck the back of the monster with his left hand a few times after he got behind it.

A string of damage points emerged from the head of this spirit. Xiao Yu moved his arms like flowing water and clouds without a moment of pause. It was at this moment that Xiao Yu had truly found the feeling of killing monsters. His attacking moves were completed smoothly one after the other.

He had completed every skill with high efficiency. Under Xiao Yu's frequent and effective attacks, this level-10 ghost monster finally died.

"It's much easier to kill this monster than I expected." Xiao Yu took a look at his own health and found it was still full. He thought that maybe this level-10 monster was not so strong after all. He picked up more than 60 bronze coins off the ground.

Since that ghost monster didn't have a chance to strike him, Xiao Yu didn't find out how powerful its attacks were. As such, he didn't want to come to a conclusion about the monster. Usually, monsters with low health and weak defenses often had powerful attacks.

Xiao Yu gradually ventured into the deeper part of the valley, looking for the trace of adder's tongue. Whenever he met the lone level-10 ghost monster, he opted to kill it without hesitation.

Seeing 3% of health left in a ghost monster, Xiao Yu decided to test the attacking strength of the ghost monster. He arrived in front of the beast swiftly, and the beast struck him with its claw.

Xiao Yu was startled when he found that he had lost 36% of his health. He didn't expect the ghost monster to have such a powerful attack and knew that he wouldn't be able to withstand two more attacks from this beast. He attacked it by stabbing, and he knocked the ghost monster onto the ground.

Now that he had found out ghost monsters had very powerful attacks, Xiao Yu told himself that he could in no way fight against two of them at the same time.

The ground in the valley was quite complex and had jagged rocks everywhere. There were high precipices on both sides, the protruding stones on them looking like dreadful and hideous animals.

Xiao Yu was traversing here and there in the valley, looking for the adder's tongue.

From time to time, some thick and white clouds would drift through the valley and tremendously lower visibility. As such, Xiao Yu had no choice but to move around more cautiously in an effort to avoid any unexpected dangers.

As he came to the middle of the valley, Xiao Yu found that the path was completely blocked. The path before him was fairly narrow, about five-meters wide, but there were more than 20 ghost monsters near the narrow path. If he alerted one of them, the others would attack him all at once.