Chapter 55: Ability Exchange Conference

“You don’t know? Haven’t you checked the Trading Mall? That’s where the information came from,” Liu Ping said.

Lou Su had checked the Trading Mall last night, but he had been too preoccupied with the idea of transforming into a small animal and hadn’t noticed any announcements about an ability exchange conference.

Seeing that Lou Su and Chu Xihen truly didn’t know, Liu Xurun pulled out a card and handed it to them.

The card’s title read: Ability Exchange Conference, with a brief description in smaller text below: The Ability Exchange Conference will be held at Wanda Plaza in Guangcheng for three days before and after the third instance. Nearby ability users are especially invited to attend.

“What kind of card is this? It can be used to transmit messages?” Lou Su examined the small card closely.

The card looked similar to weapon and skill cards, but its description advertised the Ability Exchange Conference.

Liu Xurun explained, “We aren’t sure either. This skill card was only selling for one point in the Trading Mall, so we bought one out of curiosity to take a look. We happened to be heading that way anyway, so we were planning to attend.”

Yang Linger chimed in, “When we saw you here, we assumed you were also going to the exchange conference, so we wanted to say hello. Turns out it was a misunderstanding.”

Lou Su handed the card back to Liu Xurun, then asked Chu Xihen, “We’re headed in that direction anyway. We could go check it out. What do you think?”

Chu Xihen didn’t object, taking the little white tiger from Lou Su’s arms and holding it.

It had been so long, yet Ling Yao hadn’t changed back. He worried the kid would be stuck as a pet.

The Ability Exchange Conference might offer a chance to find a healing ability user who could examine the little white tiger.

“Great! Then let’s travel together,” Liu Ping said to Chu Xihen in an extremely sycophantic manner. “Xihen, let me hold it for you. Don’t tire yourself out.”

“Thank you, but no need,” Chu Xihen politely declined.

Liu Xurun pulled Liu Ping aside and whispered, “His boyfriend is right there. Aren’t you being a bit disrespectful?”

“You don’t understand! It’s because his boyfriend is there that I need to show off and let that beauty see the difference between his boyfriend and me!” Liu Ping finished speaking and confidently smoothed down his thinning hair.

Liu Xurun disapproved. “Weren’t you admiring Bai Jinli in the last instance? You even made plans to meet at the Ability Exchange Conference. You’re already changing your mind?”

“That was just admiration! But I’m head over heels for Xihen. You can’t compare the two. Don’t say anything in front of them. I don’t want Xihen to misunderstand…”

Before Liu Ping could finish speaking, Lou Su asked, “You know Bai Jinli?”

“Do you know him too?” Yang Linger hadn’t gone over to join the brothers’ whispered conversation but stayed beside Lou Su and Chu Xihen.

“Not really,” Lou Su said.

Yang Linger didn’t care if that was the truth or not, saying, “We met him in the last instance. He led all one hundred people in the instance to clear the game together.”

There was unconcealed admiration in Yang Linger’s tone when she spoke of Bai Jinli.

“How did he manage that?” Chu Xihen was curious.

Guan Yu had proposed a similar idea, but uniting one hundred people wasn’t something that could be accomplished with just a few words. He was curious what method Bai Jinli had used.

“After hearing the rules upon entering the instance, he suggested everyone aim for the same score. No one wanted to die, so they agreed to try,” Liu Xurun chimed in.

Knowing that Lou Su and Chu Xihen had overheard his words, Liu Ping rubbed his nose in embarrassment, not interjecting.

“In a hundred-person instance, not a single person’s score exceeded 10,000?” Lou Su found that hard to believe.

Even if everyone had been initially confused upon entering the instance and easily swayed by Bai Jinli, wouldn’t someone have become greedy once they entered the forest and realized that earning points wasn’t difficult?

“No one dared to exceed it. Bai Jinli’s teammate was powerful—a level four Earth ability user. With him present, even if you had thoughts, you had to keep them hidden,” Liu Xurun said. “But also, Bai Jinli was very charismatic. Everyone listened to him and remained united. Those with selfish thoughts were quickly assimilated.”

Hearing about a level four ability user, Chu Xihen and Lou Su exchanged glances, realizing it was the boss of the base Gao Lin and others had gone to.

“Also, with their team leading, I felt the second instance was much simpler than the first one,” Yang Linger added.

“Did you get fewer rewards in the end because of the large number of people who cleared it?” Lou Su asked.

Yang Linger replied, “After clearing the instance, everyone could choose an elemental ability, with an attached skill. I heard that the skills attached to each element are fixed. The point rewards were lower. We only got the base points for clearing the instance plus 1% of 10,000 points earned within the instance.”

Once everyone saw the points they received, they realized how useful points earned inside the instance were, but by then, they had already cleared the instance and could only accept it.

“If someone had known this rule beforehand, I don’t think everyone would have chosen to cooperate collectively, right?” Yang Linger offered her view.

“Of course not! In this chaotic world, who doesn’t want to take a gamble? Surviving in one instance is only temporary. Obtaining powerful skills and continuing to live is the real ability,” Liu Xurun said, a hint of regret in his voice.

Listening from the side, Chu Xihen couldn’t help but think that human nature was truly ugly. A moment ago, these three had been praising Bai Jinli, but now they already harbored resentment.

“Alright, let’s not talk about this anymore. Let’s set off!” Liu Ping said loudly, “It’s at least a two-day journey to Guangcheng.”

Chu Xihen and Lou Su didn’t have anything to pack, so they left immediately.

Not counting the little white tiger in Chu Xihen’s arms, there were five of them in total. Meeting other people would have a deterrent effect, as if they were a fixed team.

Throughout the day, they didn’t encounter any major dangers on the road. As they were passing through a forest close to nightfall, they encountered a fiery golden lion.

After killing the lion, a weapon card dropped, but Lou Su refused to take it.

After all, only Lou Su had exerted any effort when killing the lion. Chu Xihen had simply stood to the side, holding the little white tiger and watching the fight. With such unequal contributions, he naturally couldn’t accept it.

After killing the lion, they passed through the dried-up forest and stopped to rest by a river.

During their meal, Chu Xihen once again gave the Liu family a small taste of noble life because their points were low, most having been used to exchange for experience cards. They had only a little left, barely enough to survive on some dry rations.

And what were Chu Xihen and Lou Su eating?

They set up a fire, put a pot on it, laid out all kinds of meat and vegetables, and started eating hot pot!

Not only that, but they even saw the little white tiger that Chu Xihen was carrying eat large chunks of meat and fish at will!

“Why are you looking at us? If you don’t mind, you can come join us,” Chu Xihen generously said to the dumbstruck trio.

As soon as he spoke, the three of them pounced over like hungry tigers.

Who would dare refuse? Wouldn’t that be tempting fate?