Damn it! Let’s smash the darkness together!
Chapter 134 - 97 Joker Crown! Planning and Scheming (2nd Update, Subscription Request)_2

Chapter 134: Chapter 97 Joker Crown! Planning and Scheming (2nd Update, Subscription Request)_2

"Review: Asking for a war without providing provisions, demanding chastity without giving a room! Master, the Tai Chu Scroll is filled with thoughts of offering up its heart to you, but what’s in your head? Take a look at your..."

"Your usage count this time: two!"

"You failed to connect to the Dao Mark, and as per the rules, you can’t obtain the ’Mark Altar’ reward for continuing the legend this time."

"Implementing the principle of equivalent exchange to refund you: deducting one count as compensation for the consumption of the Tai Chu Scroll’s source; you get one legendary reward count."

"You have obtained the title: [Joker Crown (Fine)]

"[Joker Crown (Fine)]: Don’t bow your head, the crown will fall; don’t shed tears, Huang Mao will laugh—Someone has to play the fool, so why shouldn’t it be you?"

"When you wear this title, you become a complete clown, and the louder you cry, the louder your enemies laugh."

[Today’s available uses: 0/3]

...

"F*ck?"

Fine?

God f*cking damn green hats!

"The legend’s over?"

"No, I f*cking haven’t even boarded the train!"

Watching the eye-hurting green title ’Joker Crown’ drop into the inventory, Xu Shu licked his lips and thought rapidly.

So, without a Dao Mark, starting it would fail!

I used it twice, and a failure made the Tai Chu Scroll deduct one; they returned one to me.

But what if I had only started it once? Would they return it to me first, or deduct it first?

"Forget it, no more thinking! Can’t say it’s a loss, this ’Joker Crown’ is actually pretty good!"

Xu Shu stroked his chin, pondering.

That is to say, he needed to gain a ’Legendary Dao Mark’ himself to continue the legend?

The meaning was quite clear, indeed.

But the problem was that the Tai Chu Scroll didn’t say which mode would drop the Legendary Dao Mark!

Damn it, it was the same before. It only said there were rewards in both the legendary and the journey modes, but it never told in advance what the rewards would be. Xu Shu had to test them all out himself.

As far as Xu Shu knew, neither the legendary mode nor the journey mode had ever rewarded a Dao Mark.

The journey mode gave two types, "Items" and "Skills."

The legendary mode, however, gave three types.

Based on the spent counts of 1/2/3, they respectively dropped "Titles," "Marks," and the fate-defying "Mystical Chapters."

That is to say, the Tai Chu Scroll was Xu Shu’s own creation; he was the planner, so he couldn’t complain, there was nothing he could do.

Otherwise, if this were in a game from his previous life, dare to do so without listing the "expected rewards" on the details page for players’ reference, the planner’s entire family wouldn’t have enough lives to pay.

Anyway, more words would just bring tears.

"Right, speaking of Marks and Mystical Chapters..."

Xu Shu narrowed his eyes.

These two things were the directions he was preparing to focus on next.

His Warrior Seal was already level 12, approaching the max level of 20 was just a matter of time

—For someone like him, who possessed ’Sit-ups’ and wasn’t afraid of the curse power erosion or the physical damage, as long as he didn’t hit a bottleneck, he could blindly use potions to level up by sheer brute force.

But if he encountered a bottleneck, there was nothing he could do. Even sit-ups were useless; he had to rely on enlightenment.

Just like the Doctor’s path he followed in the legendary [Sword Qi Frenzy], it was as if he had three Purple Curse Seals.

One Purple Curse Seal, theoretically maxed out at level 18.

Back then, Xu Shu hit a bottleneck when his third Curse Seal reached level 17, causing his total level to be 18+18+17=53, unable to reach 54 and contain another soul ring (Curse Seal).

—This knowledge was all learned recently by Xu Shu from his teacher Gu Pan.

Such basic knowledge was not discussed on the upgrading network, thanks to Gu Pan, she played a crucial role in enlightening him.

Xu Shu now knew that after the max level of a Transcendent’s first-tier Curse Seal, he could try to apply to Lie Zhenzi for authorization to "upgrade" the drive.

Thus containing a second Curse Seal and advancing to a Second-order Transcendent.

There was a requirement, though; the Second-order Curse Seal must be of the same profession as the first-tier Curse Seal.

If you contain a Curse Seal of a different path, there are only two outcomes: either containment fails and death ensues, or the second-order Curse Seal is absorbed as fodder and results in zero improvement, damaging the individual’s vitality greatly.

In short, no one would do this; it’s like hanging oneself because one is bored with life, a ’try and die’ situation.

A Transcendent’s first-tier career choice determines the future upgrading route.

If I were to change my approach, I would have to remove the first-tier profession Curse Seal I originally had.

It would be akin to deleting my account and starting over.

"If you want to get stronger, you need to plan accordingly and not waste all your chances on the journey."

Xu Shu pondered for a moment, his short-term goal was to "level up," to strive to reach the maximum level.

Leveling up required grinding Erosion Crystals, with two sources.

One was raiding ruins, the other was pioneering, both team-based activities, far safer than going solo, and also more efficient—plus some could be purchased.

His long-term goal, though, was to collect marks and Mystical Chapters of the "Alien Species Warrior path" to prepare for his advance to the Second-order [Alien Species Iron Armor].

This wasn’t easy to obtain, because before drawing the fate, it was impossible to know what path the fate belonged to—

This double profession Curse Seal, the biggest problem lay right here.

Not to mention that he needed more experience to level up than others, even the process of getting a new Curse Seal for advancement was uniquely challenging.

Because one of the terms in his Curse Seal was "Alien Species."

This was a path term of the Three Deceit Families; Xu Shu figured that he wouldn’t find a second person with the same needs throughout the entire Human Alliance.

He couldn’t buy this Curse Seal, so he had to synthesize it himself.

"However, I could focus on the Mystical Chapters next! As for the Curse Seal, I have a Doctor’s Seal that I could try to upgrade through the network trade..."

Epic ’Doctor’s Seal’ could be used to synthesize an Epic Doctor’s Curse Mark.

Xu Shu couldn’t use this mark himself; initially, he considered using it to train a reliable medic in his team who would be absolutely loyal to him.

After all, a Doctor profession’s Third Rank "Life Player" could evolve to Fourth-order "Fertility Venerable" and actually save a life, which was an incredibly Heavenly Defiance skill.

As for the candidate, Xu Shu had once naively considered someone.

But as his studies with Gu Pan progressed, he had abandoned the idea.

Because that person, like him, wasn’t a qualified aspirant. To become a Transcendent seemed next to impossible unless she also had "Sit-ups," which unfortunately she did not.

Though a "title" could be infused into another "Curse Tool," like a Mystical Chapter, allowing Xu Shu to turn it from an internal to an external feature for her.

However, Sit-ups were at Taboo Level, and he’d need a "Legendary" Curse Tool, or for Xu Shu himself to obtain a Legendary "item," which was unlikely anytime soon.

Therefore, Xu Shu had given up on the original candidate.

Actually, to this day, Xu Shu’s trust in Gu Pan had significantly increased.

If she were willing, Xu Shu wouldn’t mind letting her become his exclusive healer.

The pair had been through life and death situations together, which could be considered a bond forged in fire.

But Xu Shu remembered clearly she had once mentioned that she didn’t want to be a Doctor, which is why she left to seek trials and training.

So Xu Shu had no choice but to exclude her from consideration, for now, planning to think it over in the long term.

Currently, it seemed that the Epic Seal might need to be sold.

Xu Shu did have this thought but he needed to be cautious not to expose himself for the sake of the trade.

Gu Pan had warned him that an Epic-level Curse Seal could provoke the envy and greed of over 99.9% of people.

If he were to rashly sell this thing, it would likely bring him danger unnecessarily—"An innocent man incurs blame by possessing a jade."

Of course, if he were strong enough, that would be a different story.

...

Xu Shu came back to his senses, looked at Gu Pan, who despite slightly wavering steps, seemed inexplicably high-spirited, and asked, "What time is it now?"

Gu Pan, with a struggling expression, glanced at him, clenched her fists, and as if nonchalantly, while starting the engine, replied, "Almost four o’clock."

"That late, huh."

Xu Shu reflected.

Every time a legend used up an opportunity, four hours passed in the real world; this matched the information he controlled.

It seemed that this time the legend, the Tai Chu Scroll, indeed had no bugs; the problem lay with himself, but the Tai Chu Scroll didn’t indicate where the Dao Mark was, making it impossible to trigger a conversation, so he had to handle it with care.

"Alright then, it’s come to this, and it’s time to eat, while the vendors haven’t yet closed up shop."

Xu Shu cleared his throat and said, "Teacher~"

"Hmm? What’s up?" Gu Pan was wary. This guy had a strange way of calling her teacher when he was up to no good.

Xu Shu glanced at the distant market, remembered how enticing she looked leaning over the tub yesterday, and licked his lips, saying:

"Teacher, I miss your special meat-stuffed flatbreads from yesterday."

"Ah?"

Gu Pan, not quite grasping the context, giggled and covered her mouth, "Alright then, let’s go have meat-stuffed flatbreads together."