Chapter 13-Prismatic Class, Demon Contract！

"Puchi."

The Void Mantis struck with its blade, and the head of the black-clad knight rolled to the ground.

Since he had already started killing, he might as well finish the job.

Looking at the three corpses before him, Li Yao narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Yu Wen Clan, huh?"

If he remembered correctly, the A-rank barrier master from Forest Academy was the second young master of the Yu Wen Clan.

He had never offended him—so why would they send people to kill him?

Could it really be as he suspected?

For profit?

Li Yao pondered for a moment but found no answer.

It didn't matter.

With a knife already at his throat, the reason no longer mattered.

What mattered was that the feud had begun.

And in the future, he would have his revenge.

The Yu Wen Clan was one of Jiangzhou's top families.

They controlled dozens of potion shops across the city.

While their combat prowess didn't match that of the Silver Wolf Guild, their financial power far surpassed it.

Right now, revenge was still a distant goal.

He had to plan carefully…

At that moment, the Void Mantis approached, its sharp claws hooked around a pile of loot.

When a professional died, their equipment could be stripped and reused.

Li Yao casually glanced over the haul.

Most of it was black iron and bronze-grade gear around level 20.

Not even a single silver-grade piece.

Worse still, the three chest pieces had their durability wiped out by the Void Mantis's attacks.

"Useless junk."

Li Yao muttered in disappointment.

He couldn't equip them yet due to level restrictions.

But even scraps had value—he could sell them.

After stowing the gear in his storage ring, Li Yao made his way back to his camp.

A Silent Night.

The next morning, Li Yao and the Void Mantis set out on another slaughter spree.

About two hours later…

[Killed Ruins Plunder Dog, EXP +0.16%]

[Combat Training Triggered: Void Mantis Strength +1]

A golden light flashed.

Li Yao leveled up to 10.

At the same time, multiple system notifications rang in his mind.

[Level 10 Reached: +10 Free Attribute Points; Chess Piece Population Limit +1; Hextech Lottery ×1]

[Hedge Fund Triggered: +10 Gold]

Li Yao silently activated the lottery.

[Rolling Hextech Enhancement Rune…]

[Congratulations! You've drawn a Prismatic Rune: Demon Contract!]

"Oh? Another Prismatic-grade?!"

Li Yao's face lit up in excitement as he quickly checked the rune's effects.

[Demon Contract (Prismatic): Sacrifice current HP to increase Chess Piece Population Limit. Can be used once per class advancement. Usable: 1 time.]

"Sacrificing HP?"

"HP means nothing to me—sacrifice it!"

Without hesitation, Li Yao made his choice.

As long as his Chess Pieces were active, his Chessmaster Talent prevented him from taking damage.

With his own combat strength being negligible, extra HP was meaningless.

The Demon Contract activated.

Li Yao felt something vanish from his body.

Opening his status panel, he checked his stats.

[Name: Li Yao]

[Class: Cloud Summit Chessmaster (Hidden, Unique)]

[Level: 10 (0.01%)]

[HP: 80/80 (Previously 1250)]

[Strength: 20]

[Spirit: 10]

[Agility: 123]

[Endurance: 25]

[Free Attribute Points: 10]

[Chess Piece Slots: 1/3]

[Equipment: Bloodthirst Pendant, Swift Boots (2/8)]

[Skills: Void Mantis Summon (SSS), Hedge Fund (Unknown), Combat Training (Unknown), Demon Contract (Unknown)]

[Talents: Hextech, Synergy, Armament, Chessmaster, Star Ascension]

"80 HP?!"

Li Yao was stunned.

It had wiped out 94% of his health.

Without the Chessmaster Talent, he would have become the definition of a glass cannon—one hit, and he'd shatter.

This time, he didn't immediately allocate his free attribute points.

With two more Chess Pieces to contract, it was best to wait and distribute the points accordingly.

Now that he had reached level 10, his first-phase goal was complete.

The next step was to check out the Goblin Nest Dungeon.

For the next few days, he would likely be grinding levels there.

But before that, he needed to return to the city and make proper preparations.

Half an Hour Later

At the Border Checkpoint,

Li Yao leaped down from the Void Mantis's back.

The Void Mantis melted into the shadows.

After providing his ID, Li Yao stepped into StarNet Trading Hub.

As he walked, he mentally estimated the value of the materials and equipment he had collected.

The total hovered around 2.3 million Dragon Coins.

Most of it—1.8 million—came from black iron and bronze gear.

The rest was monster materials.

He split the loot into batches and found different clerks to sell them to, keeping only the quest items.

Just as he expected—

His bank account soon showed a deposit of 2.4 million Dragon Coins.

Seeing the number, Li Yao was momentarily dazed.

The earning speed of professionals was insane.

Then he shook his head.

Slaughtering so many monsters had given him a rough understanding of their strength levels.

For ordinary professionals below A-rank, they needed teams to hunt monsters of the same level.

Their hunts took time, consumed potions, and their earnings had to be split.

With all that considered, the gold farming speed of most professionals wasn't nearly as ridiculous.

It was just that he could one-shot everything, at zero cost, that made his earnings this absurd.

Submitting Guild Quests

After turning in his guild quests, another 400,000 Dragon Coins rolled in.

Then, he headed toward StarNet's Skill Book Store.

The place was crowded, mostly with young faces.

The Newbie Dungeon was open for five days.

Most fresh professionals spent a day leveling up inside before coming here to fill gaps in their skill set.

Unlike online purchases, the physical store had clerks to guide them, reducing the risk of wasting money.

"Hello, I'd like to buy Summoner skill books. Can you show me what's available?"

"Summoner?"

The clerk glanced at him and suddenly hesitated.

"Mr. Li?"

"Hm?" Li Yao hadn't expected the clerk to recognize him.

The moment he confirmed his identity, the clerk's demeanor turned enthusiastic.

"Ah! There's actually something that President Li specifically instructed us to hand over to you as soon as you returned from outside the city."

"Father?"

What could be so urgent?

Noticing Li Yao's confusion, the clerk smiled and handed him a tablet.

"Here, you can browse the skill books while I retrieve the item."

"If you have any questions, feel free to ask when I get back."

With that, the clerk quickly headed to the storage room.

Li Yao didn't overthink it.

He took the tablet and started scrolling.

His money was only enough for B-rank or C-rank summoning skills.

But rank didn't matter to him.

As long as he spent gold, even an E-rank summon could be upgraded to SSS-rank.

What he truly needed was the most suitable summons.

He had two slots left:

• One for a wide-area magic summon.

• One for a tank or support summon.

After entering the keywords, dozens of B-rank skill books appeared on the list.

[Iron Mummy - Summon], [Giant Hammer Rabbit - Summon], [Devourer Worm - Summon], [Stonelord Beast - Summon]…

"Hm?"

"Why is this Devourer Worm so much more expensive than the others?"