Absolute Destiny Game
Chapter 411 - 35 Erniu Mountain

Chapter 411: Chapter 35 Erniu Mountain

Xiao Jie looked at the life story of Niu Dali and felt something was odd, yet he couldn’t pinpoint what exactly was weird.

He clicked to view the biographies of two other demons.

Li Jinlin was originally a fisherman from Sanhe Village who, unable to pay the fish tax, was oppressed by the local government. In a fit of rage, he destroyed his fishing boat and jumped into the river to become a water bandit, eventually consuming the government soldiers sent to suppress him and thus transformed into a demon.

Ying Baiyu had been a captain in the Canglin Tianyu Army. Dismissed from his service due to unsuccessful campaigns against mountain demons, he returned home only to find his ancestral home seized by local tyrants, and his father dead after a fight with them. Overwhelmed by anger, Ying Baiyu killed the tyrants and fled into the Three Forests, turning into a demon...

The more Xiao Jie read, the less he could understand—these accounts didn’t seem like introductions to demon origins; they felt more like descriptions of heroes from Liang Mountain.

One thing did seem to be true, though; these ’demons’ of Canglin State truly did retain a lot of human traits with all the mundane tales that had unfolded in their lives.

Lost in thought, Xiao Jie was suddenly interrupted by An Ran, "What’s up? Why are you so quiet?"

"Just feeling a bit confused. The boss monsters on these wanted lists seem a bit different. The ones like whatever King at the beginning and the likes of Niu Dali, Li Jinlin at the end really feel like two different stories," Xiao Jie expressed his doubts.

An Ran laughed, "That’s natural because in Canglin State, there is a distinction between true demons and fake demons, which might as well be described as the difference between wild demons and domesticated demons.

Like the Green Flood Dragon King, Golden Crow King, Black Lion King, these are great demons who have lived for thousands of years, who might have even known Master Xiao Yue in the past, and naturally possess immense strength, usually ranking among the top few. No matter how high the bounty, hardly anyone takes on these missions.

These demons don’t care for Master Xiao Yue’s mandate, so they are essentially unschooled in the Heavenly Book, categorized as original demons.

Whereas those named later are younger generations, domesticated demons, all educated by the Heavenly Book. Though they turned to banditry and transformed into demons after consuming humans, they still preserve some civil traits of humanity, like having names, forming cohorts, and such. Thus, most of these demons are Boss-level Bosses.

The rule here for being a Boss-level boss isn’t about strength but more about status and background. A Boss-level boss must wield some power, commanding a large number of lesser monsters, like Niu Dali.

Otherwise, no matter how strong, they are just ordinary bosses.

Like the Green Flood Dragon King, Golden Crow King, they are loners, not mixing with lesser demons, and naturally can’t be leaders, though there are exceptions, like the thirteenth-ranked Golden-furred Rat King, who having produced a bunch of Rat Demon Descendants, naturally became a Boss-level boss.

Boss-level bosses, compared to ordinary bosses, aren’t exactly about hierarchy but rather about having additional traits.

First, there’s an increase in blood volume, then there’s the presence of followers, and third, there’s the special skills of summoning or enhancing lesser monsters.

So that’s why Boss-level bosses are powerful in these aspects..."

Xiao Jie suddenly realized, thinking to himself that this was the first time someone thoroughly explained the rules about Boss-level bosses after playing this game for so long.

No wonder back in the Hundred Wolves Cave, Wolf King Chi Mei Jian was a Boss-level boss, while Dong Lingzi, who was stronger, was just an ordinary boss.

"So, besides more health and subordinates, a Boss-level boss is pretty much comparable to an ordinary boss?"

"That’s right, like Green Flood Dragon King, Golden Crow King, mighty as they are but without any followers, they’re just ordinary bosses.

Of course, there’s also a difference in the loot—normal bosses start from three items, Boss-level bosses from five."

Xiao Jie nodded and carefully reviewed the objectives of his three missions.

The task was to slay three [Monster Leaders], but it didn’t specify to slay three [Boss-level Bosses].

Even if they are ordinary bosses, or even Elite Monsters, as long as they are powerful enough, they could still make the list—it doesn’t necessarily have to be Boss-level Bosses.

It seems he had misunderstood.

Monster Leader—Boss-level Boss, they sound similar but are entirely different.

An Ran then explained, "As for why Niu Dali is ranked last, probably because he’s a landholder with a fixed respawn location, whereas the other two—one in the water and one that can fly—are hard to track."

"Got it, let’s target Niu Dali first."

Even though there wasn’t a strict rule to kill Boss-level bosses, Xiao Jie decided to start with Niu Dali.

After all, being ranked last indirectly suggested that this boss should be relatively easy to handle.

With that, the group took on the mission and headed toward Erniu Mountain.

Niu Dali’s haunt, Erniu Mountain, was located near a town in the southwestern part of Canglin State.

Canglin State was covered with forests with very few arable lands; however, there were several small plains here, which gradually developed into the breadbasket of Canglin State, with multiple farms and market towns.

Thousands of years ago, it used to be a human settlement until the demons consumed all the local inhabitants. When Master Xiao Yue transformed demons back into humans using the Heavenly Book, these farms naturally became the property of the ’demons’ that settled in the area.

Ma Yuanwai’s ancestors were once great demons; after being transformed into humans by Master Xiao Yue, they became local magnates with ’dozens of acres of good land and hundreds of tenant farmers.’ However, as Ma Yuanwai’s family was slaughtered, the farm declined.

When the group arrived at Anping Town, they saw the town walls heavily guarded. A group of demons wearing militia’s distinctive leather armor and wielding long spears and crossbows stood on guard, keeping the town gates closed even during broad daylight.