Absolute Destiny Game

Xiao Jie pondered for a moment.

It was obvious that the rewards for the three options were different.

The first one would undoubtedly yield the full reward, but it also had the highest difficulty. With only him and I Want to Be Immortal challenging the Tree Demon Derivative, it would be dangerous if that thing turned out to be a huge monster.

The second option was relatively safer, but the reward would be discounted. From the old village chief's tone, it seemed that there were only Equipment rewards, no monetary ones.

The third option posed no danger at all but also offered the least reward, which was only a monetary one. It was the safest and required no action on their part.

"Sui Feng, which one should we choose?"

"Let's go with the second one."

Xiao Jie gritted his teeth and spoke, feeling the pain in his heart at the thought of the top-tier task reward becoming second-rate.

Those were 1,000 copper coins, which would require chopping who knows how many trees or herding how many sheep to earn.

But there was no other choice, even if it was a loss. As he had said before, a stroke of luck was the biggest trap in such games and absolutely should not be relied upon. Safety had to come first in everything.

He promptly clicked on the second option.

"It would be good if Old Village Chief could assign some Militia to accompany us, just in case."

The old man nodded. "Hmm, that makes sense. Alright then, I have a Village Chief Token here. You two can take it to Captain Tie and have him dispatch a few Militia to go with you."

[System Prompt: You have received the Task Item "Village Chief Token."]

Xiao Jie glanced at the Token in his bag.

He thought that with this, there shouldn't be any danger.

Let's go. It's best to get this done while it's still not dark.

It was already past three in the afternoon, and it would soon be night if they continued to delay.

The two arrived at the Militia Team's training grounds, only to find Tie Qianli training a group of over a dozen Militia.

The Militia of Ginkgo Village were generally equipped with leather armor, armed with swords and shields, long spears, bows and arrows, and their levels were around Level 5 to 6.

Xiao Jie took out the Token and directly explained his intention to Tie Qianli.

"Captain Tie, the village chief has issued an order for you to dispatch a few Militia for official duties with us."

Tie Qianli took the Token, looked at it, and nodded. "I understand. These are all my best men. You can choose anyone you like. However, all of my subordinates have families to support. If they are to accompany you on an adventure, I'll need to charge a home fee to issue the order. It's not much, just 500 cents per person.

"Choose as many as you need and pay per head."

So that's it. The dispatching of the Militia had a flexible fee, the more you required, the higher the cost.

Since they were going to spend money anyway, Xiao Jie wasn't interested in trying to save it. With 2,000 cents, he could hire four.

He immediately began to select one by one.

Feng Qisheng: Sword and Shield Civilian Soldier: Level 5, Skill: Shield Defense.

Teng Qizhi: Long Spear Militia: Level 6: Skill: Thrust.

Duan Le Yue: Sword and Shield Civilian Soldier: Level 6: Skill: Helical Slash.

Wang Yidou: Bow and Arrow Militia: Level 5: Skill: Volley.

Liu Liangyu: Bow and Arrow Militia...

It was surprising that for such a small village, there were quite a few Militia to choose from, easily over a dozen.

Xiao Jie didn't hesitate and chose all Sword and Shield Soldiers.

For chopping trees, long spears and bows and arrows certainly wouldn't be effective. Swords were more suitable.

"Cheng Xian, let's each spend an extra 200 cents to buy four Firewood Axes."

"Huh? Why?"

Xiao Jie explained, "The Willow Leaf Blade only has an Attack Power of 14 for chopping; the damage is too low, and I don't have confidence in it. Although the Firewood Axe only has 12 Attack Power for chopping, it has the Weapon Effect Chopping Wood that enhances damage by 50%, which is just what we need for fighting Tree Demons. Anyway, we're not short on cash, right?"

"Got it. I'll get on it. You can cover the money."

Xiao Jie was not polite, "That works, get going. We'll meet up at the back mountain."

Ten minutes later, the two arrived at the back mountain alongside four Militia, near the ginkgo tree.

All four Militia had switched to Firewood Axes.

Looking at the ginkgo tree in front of him, Xiao Jie thought to himself that if only he had fire, it would be extremely effective against this—fire defeats wood, and Fire Magic would be perfect for dealing with this thing.

However, such thoughts were just wishful thinking; there was little chance of learning any spells in the short term.

"Get ready, you guys. If this tree makes any moves, chop it down immediately," Xiao Jie ordered the four militiamen accompanying him.

"Rest assured, two strong warriors, we are prepared," they replied.

The four of them took positions at the four corners of the ginkgo tree. Xiao Jie drew his sword, and I Want to Be Immortal picked up his axe, and the two attacked together.

Crack!

Thump!

Their axe and sword hit the trunk of the ginkgo tree simultaneously, and blood instantly splattered out.

Yet the ginkgo tree didn't react at all, as if it were just an ordinary tree.

The two didn't hesitate, hacking away with one axe and one sword strike after another.

After several rounds, the ginkgo tree was streaming with blood, presenting a ghastly sight.

Just when Xiao Jie thought this thing had no fighting power at all, the ginkgo tree suddenly shook violently, with countless branches quivering like tentacles. The ground churned as more than a dozen vine-like roots burst out from underground and entangled toward the two of them.

Even a long health bar emerged above the ginkgo tree.

Tree Demon Derivative (Secondary Monster): Elite Unit: Level 9, Life Value 590.

Damn it, it is alive! Xiao Jie was both startled and delighted.

"Charge, charge, charge!" he shouted to the militiamen urgently, as he quickly stepped back.

As a Level 1 newbie, it was better not to engage the monster at such a time.

The four Sword and Shield Civilian Soldiers wielding their Firewood Axes rushed forward, hacking away chaotically.

I Want to Be Immortal was about to charge as well, but Xiao Jie quickly yelled, "Don't be impulsive, just our participation is enough, let those four take on the monster."

While saying that, Xiao Jie approached and performed a One Cut, Two Pieces, swiftly severing a root and then quickly retreated, allowing the four militiamen to attract the tree demon's aggression.

The militiamen all wore leather armor with a Blood Volume of around 200; a few hits would injure but not kill them, much more durable than him.

Seeing this, I Want to Be Immortal followed suit, chopping with his axe and then rolling to the edge of the fray.

The two of them took turns striking from the side, contributing to the damage, while the militiamen were responsible for most of the main offensive output.

Sure enough, the Firewood Axes were surprisingly effective against the tree demon, cutting off over a dozen points of life with each strike. After several rounds, the tree demon's health was almost depleted.

"No! Why! Why!"

The Tree Demon Derivative let out a bizarre roar, with its roots flailing wildly.

Seeing this, Xiao Jie quickly retreated a few steps; it was clear that the creature was about to unleash a powerful move.

Even I Want to Be Immortal sensed something was wrong and took two steps back as well.

All of a sudden, dozens of roots wrapped around the militiaman closest to it; in the blink of an eye, the militiaman was bound up like a mummy.

The roots pierced directly into the militiaman's body, starting to siphon off his Life Value. The nearly depleted health bar began to recover.

"Quick! Chop off its roots," Xiao Jie yelled, rushing forward.

One Cut, Two Pieces!

With a flash of the blade, a thick root was chopped in two, blood spraying from the severed end.

I Want to Be Immortal also leaped up forcefully, his logging axe delivering a heavy chop down on another root, similarly severing it.

The three militiamen also hacked away in a frenzy, and after several rounds, they finally cut off all the roots.

Boom! The Tree Demon Derivative finally depleted its health bar and crashed down.

[System Prompt: You participated in killing the Elite Monster "Tree Demon Derivative" and gained 189 Experience Points. Your level has increased, you are now Level 2, and you have gained 5 Free Attribute Points.]

"Haha, we did it!" exclaimed I Want to Be Immortal excitedly.

"We did it," Xiao Jie also let out a sigh of relief.

"Old Liu!" exclaimed one militiaman suddenly.

Only then did Xiao Jie notice that the militiaman entangled by the roots was already dead.

His body had been drained to the appearance of a dried-up mummy.