The sinister and terrifying Blood Palace resounded with the friction of bones, creaking and cracking as if performing a symphony in Hell.

Hearing Lord Demon King's summoning, the Little Demon Mi Xi flew from afar, folded her wings, and respectfully prostrated herself on the ground.

"Respected Lord Demon King, may I ask if you have any instructions?"

If previously Mi Xi had only felt fear and respect for the Demon King, now she was utterly adoring him.

The Blood Ritual of the Blood Palace no longer startled her soul.

Because there was no need for that anymore.

Like the original adventurers in the little black room, she no longer contributed faith values in shock, but instead offered her tributes automatically every day.

Simply put, her soul had been branded with the mark of the Demon King.

Although Luo Yan had no recollection of having intensively PUA-ed her, the entire process seemed to have been completed without his knowing.

"I need the Land of Nightmare to keep an eye on someone... This person is named Miranda, their strength unknown, an alchemist who is skilled in Undead Magic."

"It's not just me looking for him, humans are also searching. If you find him, remember to bring him to me alive... remember, alive."

"The knowledge in his head might prove useful to me."

As he spoke, Luo Yan gently waved his wand, a wanted poster fluttered from his sleeve like a rocking little boat and landed in the respectful hands Mi Xi held above her head.

"Understood! The Little Demon of the Land of Nightmare obeys your command!"

Luo Yan nodded.

"That's all for this matter, you may leave."

His labyrinth was vast, and finding him might take some time, but he wasn't in a hurry, as long as they found him before the humans did.

Additionally, he had Yao Yao put up a task for the players who had ventured to the second floor to keep an eye out as well.

Mi Xi carefully put away the wanted poster, then bashfully rubbed her knees together and shyly looked up at the Demon King.

"Lord Demon King... Is this matter urgent?"

"Not really urgent, what is it?"

Mi Xi, blushing, fumbled with her fingers.

"That... can Mi Xi wait to go back after dinner?"

Luo Yan, who thought she was about to say something important, couldn't help but burst out laughing and with a grand gesture, said,

"Granted!"

"Thank you for your gracious approval, Lord! I will lay down my life for your diabolical plans—"

"Dispense with formalities, go wash your hands."

"Yes!!!"

Excited, Mi Xi clenched her fist. Upon receiving permission from Lord Demon King, she soared into the air like a helicopter taking off and whooshed towards the staircase.

Watching that jubilant figure, Luo Yan couldn't help but smirk.

These rural Little Demons seem no different from the Little Demons in Demon City...

...

The dinner was still masterfully cooked by Little Fish Cake Juice.

Under this diligent player's bustling to and from, tonight's "Lord's Hall" dinner was as lavish as a feast!

Replacing the absent Yousi, Oke from Demon City was also invited to the dinner table, but seeing his snotty and teary "pre-dinner prayer," Luo Yan was starting to regret letting him join the table.

Next time, it might be better to have someone deliver the meal to him instead.

"Oke, why don't you also give your thanks to the donkey in the mill out in the field? It also put in a lot of effort."

"Yes! Lord Demon King."

Seeing Oke about to leave his seat to actually do that, Luo Yan immediately called out to him.

"Come back! Can't you tell I was joking? I mean, just eat your meal and go do your work well after that!"

Oke's eyes grew moist with emotion again.

"Yes!!! Lord Demon King, you truly are a… good demon!"

Luo Yan: "…"

Good demon?

Eating her meal, Mi Xi looked around.

Was that a criticism of demons?

Nevermind...

Filling her stomach was more important.

As a Little Demon, she couldn't simultaneously think about too many things; right now, eating clearly made more sense.

After awarding Bond and Octo a large piece of bloody raw meat, Luo Yan shook the wine in his glass before dinner and enjoyed watching the guests savor their meal.

Compared to the timid Oke, Alakdo and Mi Xi's heads-down eating style was rather appetizing.

The former ate like a whirlwind, while the latter like Jerry blowing up a balloon.

The most refined at the table, surprisingly, was Sarah.

Compared to the little wild cat that gnawed vigorously on a large pig's trotter two weeks ago, she was evolving in her choice of food towards being more like a house cat.

Speaking of which, Silver Pine Town's church just received some new stock, including local specialties like wild boar meat and juniper liquor, along with imported goods from the ports of Thunder City.

For example, spices from the south coast of the Vortex Sea and soybeans from the colonies.

Thanks to the sheriff, Adela, Luo Yan had the pleasure of tasting carp tofu soup again after a long time, and it was incredibly delicious.

Especially unexpected was that the little genius had managed to make the tofu!

"This stuff is great."

Wiping his mouth with a napkin, Luo Yan couldn't stop praising it.

Hearing Lord Demon King's praise, Little Fish Cake Juice could hardly hide the joy in reality, responding gleefully,

"If Lord Demon King likes it, I'll make more next time!"

Luo Yan smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I really like it. Please do make more. I will send some to my... vassals and servants as well, to broaden their horizons!"

It wasn't just Ms. Qianqian.

There was also Father Matt and Adela involved.

In his memory, the process of making tofu shouldn't be too difficult, and it might even create a new source of revenue for the Great Graveyard.

Hearing that the delicacies she made had a chance to become popular on the NPC's dining tables, the eagerness in Youyou's eyes burned even brighter.

"Please leave it to me!"

Looking at the quest popup flickering before her eyes, she zipped to the kitchen like a busy bee, not resting for even a moment.

Watching the figure disappearing at the doorway, Luo Yan commented to the air beside him.

"...Youyou, you didn't need to rush to issue the quest like that, at least wait until dinner was over," he said.

Yoyou's voice soon reached his ears.

"But Lord Demon King, players feel anxious while waiting for quests, Youyou thinks it's better to give them the quests as soon as we decide to issue them?"

"Alright, you have a point," he conceded.

Recalling his own experiences playing games, Luo Yan felt that Youyou might have a point.

NPCs dragging their feet could indeed make players anxious.

Moreover, he was the Demon King.

Why should the Demon King act courteously?

Indeed, his cultivation was still shallow; he had to act more confidently next time...

...

The Lord Demon King's dinner party continued, and the players who didn't need to eat were leveling up in the maze, like the top-ranked players of the server.

When the Demon King had asked whether he needed to be reborn, Yiye Zhiqu hadn't told his lordship one thing.

That was, besides being accustomed to it, the main reason he chose skeleton soldiers was because they didn't need to rest or eat!

The source of this guy's strength was a mystery; perhaps it was the perpetual aura of death in the maze, or perhaps it came from the Great Graveyard or the Demon King himself.

In any case, to players, this guy was simply a "perpetual motion machine"! As long as their bodies in real life could handle it, they could keep leveling up endlessly in the game!

On the contrary, humanoid zombies, Lizardman zombies, and Earth Cave Spiders all needed sleep and food, though the former two required less sleep.

If players didn't sleep for extended periods, they would get a fatigue debuff, and their spiritual power would keep decreasing until it dropped to zero and they passed out. If they didn't eat for a long time, players would get a weakness debuff, and their HP would keep decreasing until it reached zero and they entered a near-death state.

These were issues other players had reported on forums.

Compared to them, skeleton soldiers, which were low-cost, didn't need food, and never tired, seemed quite cost-effective.

Even if their initial attributes were a bit low, it wasn't a problem; the relative advantage of initial attributes became increasingly limited as the game progressed.

Especially after reaching the Bronze stage, where each level-up resulted in two attribute points, Yiye Zhiqu became even more convinced of his speculation!

The second floor of the maze's cave.

Looking at the scorpion burnt to a crisp in front of him, an elated expression spread across Yiye Zhiqu's face as he raised his left hand.

"It worked!"

For a whole two and a half weeks!

During this time, he kept trying to imagine the shape of flames in his mind, as Luo Yan had instructed, while using his spirit and will to give it the power of flight.

He had failed countless times, even doubting at one point whether there was a BUG in the game or if the spell-casting function had not been implemented into the player's skill system...

Fortunately, persistence pays off!

After experiencing one failure after another, his unyielding spirit finally made a breakthrough during this attempt!

The realization hit him suddenly, like when he first figured out how to whistle — before he learned it, no matter how he puffed his cheeks, it just wouldn't whistle. But once he figured it out, it became as simple as breathing!

Recalling that feeling, Yiye Zhiqu silently muttered the spell and raised his left hand to release another Fireball Technique.

The fiery fireball shot out like a cannonball towards the distant wall, striking the rock and exploding into a brilliant burst of sparks!

"I see... I think I'm starting to understand how spell-casting in this game works!"

Looking at the ecstatic Yiye Zhiqu, Hu Wan genuinely felt happy for him and, tossing his musket on his back, he teased with a smile,

"Looks like next time we can try taking on the giant centipede!"

Yiye Zhiqu laughed and said,

"That might be challenging. But trying doesn't hurt."

He felt incredibly powerful now!

He even felt confident enough to challenge the Demon King!

Of course, it was just a thought. Poor kids had tried it before, and with a flick of his fingers, their screens had gone black.

Hu Wan opened the player system to check, then spoke.

"Right, I've finally managed to save up 10,000 Contribution Points," he said.

Yiye Zhiqu suggested, "Shall we go back for a while?"

Hu Wan shook his head with a smile.

"No rush, let's max out the experience first. I'm still a bit short... If I leave now, I'll just have to hurry back again soon."

"Sure, if you think that's alright," Yiye Zhiqu paused for a moment before continuing, "By the way, there's something I'd like to ask your opinion on."

Looking at the serious expression on Yiye Zhiqu's face, Hu Wan also adopted a serious demeanor.

"What's up? If you're asking for a loan, I have none, I'm quite broke," he joked.

"It's not about borrowing money; how could I possibly ask a friend in the game for that," Yiye Zhiqu responded with a wry smile before continuing, "It's like this, my constitution training is almost done, 11 points are enough. From now on, I plan to focus on leveling up my spell-casting... But then we'll lack someone in the front line, so I'm thinking of adding one or two main tanks from random players."

Listening to him beat around the bush and finally come out with just this issue left Hu Wan temporarily speechless.

"What the heck, you made me think it was something serious. You're the team leader, just decide by yourself," he said.

Yiye Zhiqu shook his head earnestly.

"We're teammates, so of course, I need to consult you."

Hu Wan sighed in resignation.

"You still can't stop being so courteous, can you."

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