An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 16 Rooftop, Trialer's Stronghold

The sudden surge of inspiration made Chu Xiu frown.

After reaching level 2 of the Mortal Rank, not only does the experience required to advance to the next level double, but the difficulty of gaining experience also increases significantly.

He estimated that even if it was a solo kill this time, without Wang Long's assistance, he would only get a maximum of sixty or seventy experience points.

"take it easy."

Chu Xiu thought to himself, raised his hand and waved it, and the corpse on the ground began to melt and eventually merge into the white bone armor.

[Forging complete! Job experience +18, enhancement progress +2]

Next, Chu Xiu did not immediately change locations, but instead used this room as a trap to continue luring and killing the nearby corpses.

And so, the group worked for almost an entire afternoon, managing to kill three more ghouls without any major incidents.

But whether they ran out of luck or there was an extra drop rate bonus for the first kill, these four ghouls didn't drop anything.

This left Wang Long and Li Shan with obvious disappointment.

Chu Xiu didn't care and happily continued to upgrade his bone armor, successfully advancing it to +5, increasing its defense and even improving its [Energy Absorption] trait.

This made Wang Long and Li Shan hesitate to speak. It was clear that they wanted to say that these corpses should also be distributed, and that they shouldn't be given to Chu Xiu for free every time, but they didn't dare to.

As he killed the fifth ghoul, Li Shan suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "I leveled up!"

"You upgraded?"

Wang Long stared at Li Shan in disbelief, his face ashen as if he had swallowed a fly.

Chu Xiu was also somewhat surprised, but he quickly came to his senses.

Li Shan's profession is "Poacher," which is similar to "Thief" or "Assassin"—the type where you can gain experience by hiding.

Using him as bait to lure ghouls should be a great way to gain experience.

In contrast, Wang Long, whose "barbarian" tribe requires direct combat, always ambushes from behind with his club, so he doesn't necessarily gain as much experience as Li Shangao.

Of course, the most important point is that at the very beginning, Li Shan used the [Breath Holding] talent to escape unscathed from a ghoul, which must have brought him a lot of experience. It is not surprising that he was able to level up before Wang Long.

"Congratulations," Chu Xiu said with a forced smile.

"Hehe," Li Shan chuckled twice, then happily began to examine the changes in himself.

Chu Xiu also glanced at him.

He could vaguely sense that Li Shan's physique after the upgrade was no worse than Wang Long's, and he had most likely awakened basic skills.

"Have you acquired the skill?" Chu Xiu asked.

“Yes,” Li Shan didn’t hide anything, “I’ve awakened two skills, one is [Skinning] for gathering materials, and the other is [Basic Precision Strike] for ranged attacks. It’s a pity that I don’t have a bow and crossbow right now, so this skill is useless.”

"Not bad," Chu Xiu praised.

He actually had the ability to forge a set of crossbows for Li Shan, but he certainly wouldn't be so kind.

With a wave of his hand, the corpse of the ghoul merged into the bone armor.

[Profession Experience +17, Enhancement Progress +1]

Li Shan, now upgraded, was full of fighting spirit and wanted to continue grinding monsters. However, Chu Xiu glanced at the sky, licked his dry lips, and said, "It's getting late. Let's hurry up and see if there's any water on the rooftop. You don't want to drink the blood of the ghouls, do you?"

Upon hearing Chu Xiu mention the thick, foul-smelling, pitch-black liquid, the expressions of the group changed simultaneously, and they shook their heads repeatedly.

And they were indeed extremely thirsty, especially the Cloud Deer and the King Dragon, who hadn't been upgraded yet.

The group carefully dodged the monsters as they moved toward the rooftop, searching for suitable food at the same time.

When they reached the twenty-second floor, the group killed a mutated rat that was as long as their forearm. They thought it was edible, but Chu Xiu didn't even bother with such a small corpse, so he didn't absorb it.

After climbing for almost fifteen minutes, just as Yunlu was panting and exhausted, the group finally reached the thirtieth floor, only two floors away from the top.

It has to be said that climbing the stairs in a water-deprived state was somewhat arduous even for Chu Xiu. Just as everyone was preparing to climb three more floors to reach the rooftop, Chu Xiu suddenly stopped and looked sharply at a corner.

There, close to a large doll the size of a child.

The doll was dressed in children's clothing, its cheeks were painted bright red, and it had an unnatural, strange smile on its face.

"What's wrong, Brother Chu?" Li Shan asked.

Chu Xiu gave the puppet a deep look, then turned his head away: "It's nothing, I just always feel like someone is watching me."

Li Shan laughed and said, "Brother Chu, you're too nervous."

Chu Xiu nodded, and just as he was about to continue walking, the feeling of being watched returned.

This time, he didn't hesitate. He raised the spear in his hand and thrust it at the puppet!
"and many more!"

Just as the bone spear was about to pierce the puppet, a sharp sound came from inside the puppet.

Chu Xiu paused slightly in his spear-wielding hand, and the other three behind him turned around in shock.

Did the doll just speak?
Isn't this a post-apocalyptic dungeon? There are supernatural occurrences in post-apocalyptic dungeons?
Fear appeared on the faces of the three of them simultaneously, but Chu Xiu remained calm. With a thought, he equipped the bone armor from his inventory and then stepped forward to grab the doll and examine it carefully.

"Didn't I tell you to wait?"

Another voice came, but this time it didn't come from the doll, but from upstairs.

Chu Xiu turned around and saw a girl with a single ponytail walking down the stairs aggressively. She had a wheat-colored complexion, wore only a black vest that revealed her two muscular arms, and wore white worker gloves on both hands. She was carrying a hammer in her right hand.

He wore a pair of gray cargo pants, which showed off his long legs and height, exceeding 1.75 meters.

Her features are striking, and you can tell she's a beautiful woman with a cool and aloof temperament—if it weren't for that scar.

On her face, there was a horrifying scar that started from the center of her forehead, ran along her left nostril, and extended to the corner of her mouth like an earthworm, which made her eyes look even more fierce.

Chu Xiu couldn't help but take a few more glances.

However, the girl seemed to be used to it. She simply crossed her arms, looked at Chu Xiu's hideous armor, and clicked her tongue in annoyance.

“Another rich young master has arrived,” she said.

"What rich young master?" Chu Xiu asked, stepping forward to hand over the doll.

He could tell that the girl in front of him didn't seem to have any hostility and was probably a trial participant who preferred to cooperate, so he took the initiative to show some goodwill.

Sure enough, the girl's expression softened considerably after receiving the doll, and she said, "It's nothing, I was just talking about the rich kids in our team."

Then, she glanced at the four people's cracked lips, and with a flick of her wrist, a bottle of mineral water appeared in her hand.

"Drink up, this is water we just filtered."

With that, he tossed the water bottle to Yunlu.

Yunlu accepted the gift with a flattered expression. She first took a small sip cautiously, then her eyes lit up, and she couldn't help but swallow a large mouthful before reluctantly licking her lips and handing it to Chu Xiu.

Chu Xiu took the water bottle, glanced at it, and didn't drink from it. He casually handed it to Li Shan beside him and asked, "Is there water on the rooftop?"

His actions caught the girl's eye, causing her to click her tongue in annoyance, but she still replied, "There's quite a bit of water in the tank. We've already installed a filtration system, enough for the next six days. If you're worried, you don't have to drink it."

Chu Xiu smiled faintly, ignoring the girl's yin and yang, and continued to ask, "How many of you are there?"

"Seven people."

"so much?"

"Yes, all the trial participants in this building should be here."

As she spoke, the girl raised an eyebrow: "Shall we go up and take a look?"

(End of this chapter)