Monster collectors on the cross-platform

"Wait a minute, I'm not ready yet," the clone Huo said, continuing to punch and kick.

Five minutes later, Huo, whose combat ability was far inferior to his opponent's, was bruised and battered and unable to get up again. He was able to hold on for so long thanks to the bonus of the pseudo-dragon scale trait, which made Huo's defense much higher than his offensive ability.

However, the beating wasn't for nothing. The clone's energy invaded Huo Huan's body, boosting Huo Huan's own energy. The energy he used to be unfamiliar with became much more skillful.

Huo opened the panel and took a look. The experience bar for basic energy control had increased significantly. He estimated that he would be able to level up after a few more tries.

After Huo Huan, who was lying on the ground, finished his comprehension, a flash of white light appeared in the training ground, and Huo Huan's injuries disappeared without a trace. The next second, the clone Huo Huan kicked the Huo Huan lying on the ground.

"Oh, wait a minute, let me stand up first."

The clone remained silent, only kicking repeatedly, while Huo rolled on the ground in a sorry state.

……

An hour later, Huo reappeared at the entrance of the training ground. The previous hour of 'training' felt like a nightmare, but the skills on the panel clearly reminded him that he hadn't been dreaming.

Basic Energy Control: Lv2 (30/100)

Basic skills have short experience bars and low level caps, with a maximum level of only 3. This means that Huo only needs to train for another hour to level up this skill to the maximum level.

However, this training method is really unbearable. A clone beats you up, then heals your injuries and beats you again. You spend an hour just being beaten up. Unless you're a masochist, very few people would like this kind of training.

However, this training method is indeed effective. Not only has the basic energy control been upgraded, but the experience bar for another basic skill—basic melee combat—has also increased significantly.

So it seems those beatings weren't for nothing; at least he's improved a lot in how to defend himself.

After hesitating for a moment, Huo gritted his teeth and entered the training ground again. Taking shortcuts would inevitably come at a price. It was also possible to train slowly and methodically, but this was what the new dungeon required.

After another hour of intense and exciting 'training', Huo finally managed to raise his basic energy control to the maximum level, and his basic melee combat skills were also about to be upgraded.

Basic Energy Control: Lv3 (max)

Huo has now mastered how to condense energy. If he wants, he can concentrate energy in any part of his body in the next instant, greatly improving both his offense and defense. The only drawback is that his already limited collection points are consumed even faster.

Feeling deeply traumatized, Huo decided to visit the trading area to buy some snacks to comfort himself and also to enchant his axe.

The trading area was still bustling with activity, with players of all races coming and going. Huo was looking for an enchanting stall while also glancing around for something delicious to eat.

"We're selling cloud buns! Freshly baked, delicious cloud buns!" Upon hearing the keyword "delicious," Huo immediately turned his head.

The stall owner was a winged human, and his stall was filled with various cloud-like objects.

"How much is this, boss?" Huo asked with a curious look.

"10 Zongwang coins per share, the price is the same for each type."

"It's a bit expensive. Give me one of those charcoal-black ones." Huo clicked his tongue, feeling the price was a little high, but still bought one.

"Young man, you should get another one. You can't eat this without intermediate fire resistance," the stall owner said with a smile, looking up at Huo Huan carefully.

"Do you have to be so picky about food? Boss, could you recommend something?"

"Then I'll have this one, I guarantee it'll be delicious." The owner said, picking up a cloud that looked like a sunset and placing it on the cutting board. He then took a knife in his left hand and gently cut the cloud into several pieces.

"Thank you for your patronage." Huo accepted the plate from the owner, paid in full with the network coins, and ate as he walked.

On the plate, the cloud slices were neatly arranged, and the owner thoughtfully placed a fork inside.

Huo picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. The texture was strange; it was softer than cake, chewy and sweet, and it gave him a warm feeling in his stomach.

[Network Notification: You have consumed a delicious meal. Your energy recovery speed and stamina recovery speed have increased for 1 hour.]

It turns out to be food with special effects; no wonder it costs 10 Zongwang coins.

Seeing the benefits, Huo swept up the remaining cloud packs, and the buff's duration reached 3 hours, which he took advantage of to farm dungeons.

Chapter 14 The Noise of a Quiet Town

Stepping through the light blue portal into the instance, Huo found himself in a deserted town.

It was pitch black all around, which seemed to be a fixed nighttime scene. Fortunately, Huo had dark vision, so he didn't have to worry about visibility.

This instance is slightly different from the other two; the scene is larger and more complex, with numerous buildings.

Huo still held his axe, looking relaxed. With the added benefit of his natural armor, the monsters in these low-level, simple dungeons could hardly break through his defenses.

He randomly chose a spot, and a sound of bones grinding together rang out. A skeleton was assembled in front of Huo Huan's left.

Before the skeleton could stand up completely, an axe came crashing down, and with just one blow, the skeleton that had just gotten up lay back down.

The dungeon "The Quiet Town" is so large that, at lower difficulty levels, the monster density is too low, and it often takes several minutes to find just one or two monsters.

Fortunately, the undead creatures' instinctive aversion to life means they will attack spontaneously when they sense the presence of living beings. All Huo needs to do is tour the entire town and, incidentally, collect the undead lining up to die, enriching his collection.

With a single axe stroke, Huo killed a ghoul. He also found a jewelry box in a dilapidated house, containing a pair of jade bracelets and a gold necklace.

It seems that each dungeon has extra resources to obtain. The goblin dungeon has herbs, the kobold dungeon has ores, and this undead dungeon should have various items hidden in the houses.

However, the extra rewards from the Undead Dungeon seem to be just some gold and silver jewelry, and ordinary gold and silver jewelry is not valuable on the general network, indicating that the extra resources in this Undead Dungeon are not abundant.

Upon opening the chat channel, Huo realized that the chat group for the Undead Dungeon had fewer than 50 players.

Players have a limited number of permanent dungeons, and instinctively they will stay in the dungeons that give them the greatest benefits for a longer period of time. Therefore, even though the highest level for the Undead dungeon is 6, the number of players staying in it is not as many as in the Kobolds dungeon.

After eliminating the last ghoul, the notification from the network arrived as expected.

[Dungeon clear conditions met, rewards being calculated]

The rewards you received from this dungeon run are: 25 General Coins and 50 Universal Experience.

Huo then opened the Book of Collections to examine the traits of the newly captured ghouls.

Race name: Ghoul

Description: A monster created by the demon lord Orcus. It worships the demon lord Orcus, and its insatiable hunger causes it to feed on the flesh and blood of the dead.

Trait: Flesh Devouring

Flesh Devouring: Cursed by eternal hunger, ghouls, once equipped, greatly enhance their digestive abilities, increasing the efficiency of absorbing food energy.

A trait that leans towards auxiliary functions isn't very useful to Huo Huan; with too few storage slots, it's currently just gathering dust in the book.

After quickly clearing the easy difficulty level, Huo immediately started the normal difficulty dungeon.

When putting on his enchanted weapon, he casually bought a gas mask, but he hadn't forgotten that there were undead creatures like the Demon Ghost that spread poison on normal difficulty.

Actually, saying it spreads poison isn't entirely accurate. In fact, it's the strong stench emanating from the demons that's comparable to a biological weapon. Anyone with a weak constitution who gets close will be poisoned by the stench.

With gas masks solving the stench problem, the demons themselves are not difficult to deal with.

Aside from demons and ghosts, the only remaining challenge on normal difficulty is the ghosts, which possess resistance to normal physical damage and energy-based attacks.

However, with enchanted weapons and skillful control of energy attacks, plus the +2 energy resistance granted by pseudo-dragon scales, it is easier for Huo to deal with ghosts than with ghouls.

As Huo had expected, the dungeon went smoothly. Apart from being startled by the crawling claws hiding behind doors occasionally, there were just more skeletons and ghouls. He wondered how many of these low-level monsters there were in the Desperate difficulty dungeon.

[Dungeon clear conditions met, rewards being calculated]

The rewards you received from this dungeon run are: 50 General Coins, 100 Universal Experience, and a Fine Attire set (gray).

Name: Exquisite Garment (Gray)

Type: Clothing

Weight: 2 kg

Effect: None

Description: Handcrafted by master tailors, the finest fabrics and exquisite craftsmanship imbue the wearer with an air of nobility, effectively preventing any instances of looking down on others.

The increase in network currency and experience from the two dungeons wasn't particularly high, but the variety of collectibles increased significantly, and the maximum collectible value also increased considerably, reaching 46 points.

The number of different types of traits has also increased significantly.

Race Name: Claw of the Creepers

Description: The Crawling Claw is made by activating the severed hand of a murderer using black magic, and is generally used as labor in the laboratories of sorcerers.

Trait: Hand Enhancement

Hand Enhancement: The Crawling Claw retains a portion of the original owner's rationality and memories, and will try its best to imitate and reproduce the ferocity of its former life. After being equipped, the hands are slightly enhanced.

Race Name: Demon

Description: Created by Orcus by infusing ghouls with stronger abyssal energy, the demon is more cunning than ordinary ghouls and can even incite ghouls to obey its commands.

Trait: Resistant to dispel

Resistance to Dispel: Due to its unique origin, demons have a natural resistance to dispel effects, and when equipped, it provides moderate resistance to dispel spells.

Race Name: Ghost

Description: Formed from the angry and unrestrained spirits of humanoid beings who are unable to be reborn; some ghosts are the product of dark magic directly stripping the souls of the living.

Trait: Drawing Life

Life Drain: The peculiarity of the ghostly entity makes its attacks not conventional physical attacks, but rather Dark Corrosion damage. When it is equipped, it can absorb a small amount of life force to restore itself when it deals damage to carbon-based life forms with its bare hands.

Huo hadn't had high hopes for the special abilities of these monsters, but reality is unpredictable. The ordinary ghosts actually gave him the ability to sustain in combat, even though it had various limitations. It was still a testament to his ability to sustain in combat.

Players who enjoy MMO games know how important life steal is for warriors.

Unfortunately, the limited number of loading slots is a major problem for Hogan. None of the three currently loaded traits can be removed. We can only hope that future upgrades will provide additional loading slots.

After sorting through the harvest, Huo checked the time and realized it was getting late. Uncle Valentine and Lawrence should be getting off work from the factory soon. There was a star-studded concert tomorrow, so the factory workers shouldn't have to work overtime today.

In a slightly secluded corner, Huo Huan suddenly appeared, casually glanced around, and after finding no one nearby, walked out of the corner.

Huo spent 2 Rolls to buy a small gift at a gift shop. He also took out the small gift from the gift box and took out the jade bracelet he obtained from the dungeon from his space backpack and put it into the gift box.

The original owner was grateful for the care she received over the years, but due to poverty, she was never able to properly express her gratitude. Now that she has taken over the account, she will send a small gift on behalf of the original owner to express her thanks.

Chapter 15 Daily Life

"Oh, Little Huo is back. How was your afternoon?" Aunt Maggie, who was tidying up the goods, asked with a smile when she saw Huo return.

"Not bad, this is a gift for you," Huo replied with a smile, handing over the small gift box.

"Oh, thank you. My little Huo is so thoughtful, unlike Valentine, who hasn't given me a gift in years." Aunt Maggie hugged Huo with delight and carefully accepted the gift from him.

Gently open the gift box, and a pair of emerald green bracelets lie quietly inside.

Aunt Maggie knew at a glance that the bracelets were very valuable. She gently closed the gift box and put it back into Huo Huan's hands.