My Misfortune Crushed Instances-Chapter 165: Praying for Brother Zuo’s Divine Intervention

Li Rui had already gone through the materials, noting down some potential points of interest in his mind. He had to figure out a way to squeeze experience from every nook and cranny.

Even though the Secret Realm wasn't great, the worst outcome hadn't occurred yet, so he couldn't just give up.

Days went by, and his research yielded significant results. Even Kong Ji, who had been delaying his trip to the capital, was surprised to find that there were indeed places worth exploring.

But the truth remains that the majority of people's goals are just to complete the main quest and get through, not to find ways to make things lively.

"The good news is."

Kong Ji ran to his place and clung: "At least, this Secret Realm is quite large, and there are quite a few side quests."

Li Rui nodded: "Indeed, I thought about it, and I feel that being fully prepared is best. No one knows what might happen in the Secret Realm; suddenly, a world NPC might pop up and give you experience."

"....."

Kong Ji thought everyone was eager not to encounter world NPCs, but here he goes, thinking oppositely.

At this moment, the doorbell rang. Li Rui went over to take a look and found that Kong Hua had arrived.

"Yo, just in time, your brother is also here."

The puppy-like smile on Kong Hua's face instantly fell.

Yet Kong Ji shamelessly laughed: "Come in, you can't leave now, can you?"

So Kong Hua had no choice and sat on the other end of the sofa, then stated his purpose.

"Brother Rui, this Secret Realm is only five-star, I didn't expect that, so the clients we contacted before...."

Only then did Li Rui remember the boosting service, but in the end, a five-star Secret Realm is moderately difficult, not to the extent that it absolutely requires a boosting service, so they hadn't contacted the client for this Secret Realm.

Seeing the guilt on the other person's face, he said, half-smiling, half-crying: "It's no big deal. I was going to tackle the Secret Realm anyway and lend a hand out of camaraderie, not for the reward. It's all about helping others and finding joy in it."

Hearing this, Kong Ji was filled with respect: "I see, I never expected you to be this kind of person, I'm genuinely impressed."

Li Rui snorted arrogantly: "Brother Kong, you're underestimating me."

Kong Ji nodded: "Indeed, that's my problem. I was originally going to introduce another client, but in that case, it looks like no need for payment? After all, you're doing it for the joy of helping others."

Li Rui felt aggrieved: "Don't let a good man's kindness go unrewarded!"

With just a few words, he could get Chongxu to help out or make Zuo Qiutian's plans fail; it's impossible for him to not charge anything.

Since it was all brought up, Li Rui simply tossed aside the printed strategies and figured out who this client was.

Interestingly enough, it wasn't a stranger. The person they were to serve this time was Hea Yang, whom they had clashed with at the club last time.

"Him?!"

Kong Hua was a bit displeased, "When he bullied us with his age, he didn't mention that he'd need our help later on."

Li Rui earnestly said: "Hey, Xiaohua, I must say something here. As a person, you must distinguish between personal likes and benefits. If I can overcome my aversion and acquire a rare equipment, would it be a loss?"

Kong Hua was indifferent to Kong Ji but admired Li Rui, nodding like a pecking chick.

"But Brother Kong."

He asked, "I see Hea Yang seems capable, why would he need a boost for a five-star Secret Realm?"

Fatty Kong explained: "See, last time Hea Yang also got a five-star Secret Realm, but things didn't go smoothly. In the end, he only leveled up once when he came out, now he's at level 21."

"This level is a bit low for a 21-25 level Secret Realm. Additionally, he's had several unsatisfactory Secret Realms in a row, yielding low returns, and has even failed some. He's about to fall into a negative cycle, which the Hea family doesn't want to see."

With that, Li Rui understood.

Due to previous unsuccessful Secret Realms, the acquired items and attributes must be low, which means that overall quality is falling behind.

Of course, with the Hea family backing, he won't fall far behind others.

Li Rui asked: "Did Mr. Hea assign this task?"

He was naturally referring to He Pengxi. They hadn't met yet, although they interacted indirectly several times, such as with informant Liang Qiucheng, who was planted by the Hea family.

Kong Ji replied: "Yes."

Li Rui had to pay attention to this man; in the Northwest region, He Pengxi's words held significant sway. Even among the core generation of the five major families, he was vaguely the leader.

Mainly because the Hea family was filthy rich.

"Anything else he wants?"

Kong Ji replied: "No other requirements, but he said as long as Hea Yang can reach level 23 in one go, it's considered satisfactory. Each level up earns extra money."

Ah, so it turns out it's not that the Kong family likes being suckers; this whole Northwest region has this culture.

It's not really a culture issue; mainly, the Northwest region is overall wealthier than the Southeast's Chi Jia Association and Baili Association, at least in terms of Secret Realm products, mainly due to bordering the chaos region, which yields high returns.

Li Rui thought and decided not to meet the client beforehand. After all, they had clashed once, so he had a sense of it—being level 20 back then and 21 now shouldn't make much difference.

After finishing the main business, Kong Ji left swiftly while Kong Hua stayed around, eager to lend a hand in organizing the Secret Realm information.

While they worked, they chatted idly.

"Any news in your club lately?"

"Nothing much, the usual."

Kong Hua said, "Hey, Brother Rui, have you been to the borders?"

"Yeah, I have. Why?"

"Have you seen Dong Sanchuan and the others?"

"I've even done missions with them."

"Wow!"

Kong Hua's eyes sparkled, "Tell me about it, is he really as powerful as the legends say?"

"Feels even stronger than the legends."

Li Rui recalled Dong Sanchuan from previous missions and reckoned that even if he used the mist, he couldn't beat him.

Kong Hua fanboyed for a while, then steered the topic.

"Brother Rui, when you were at the border, did you hear about the Foggy Evil Ghost? I heard he and Guan Gui caused quite the commotion in the chaos region!

"....."

"Guan Gui must be even more powerful than Dong Sanchuan, I bet. That codename Foggy Evil Ghost must at least rank second among the supernovas."

"..... I reckon it's not to that extent."

Li Rui scratched his head, "You don't always need equally powerful people for missions."

Kong Hua playfully patted his shoulder: "Brother Rui, don't be jealous. I believe that after you level up, you'll definitely be more formidable than that guy."

"To level up, I first need to thoroughly understand the Secret Realm at hand."

Li Rui diverted the subject, and then they started organizing guides together.

....

A few more days passed, and on the day before entering the Secret Realm, Li Rui met up with Hea Yang to arrange for them to meet once inside and then proceed together.

He then pondered how to use his contribution points.

Since William West was considered an important figure, his belongings couldn't be looted, and all data had to be returned to the organization. As a result, he earned a significant amount of contribution points, a total of 1500 points, even though the task wasn't completed solo.

He went to the Qing Garden branch, and after inquiring, learned that the organization had allocated a new batch of strengthening materials for restocking. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Delightedly, he cleared out the new stock.

Categorizing the materials, he used them accordingly to upgrade his equipment, and his administrator's coat was upgraded by three levels.

Among them, two levels were enhanced to overall elemental resistance, increasing by a total of 8%, reaching 30%.

Eight percent over two levels may seem small, but it's not because elemental resistance encompasses four types, theoretically needing to multiply by four. Packaged improvements naturally have discounts.

An additional skill was offered by one of the levels.

[Active Skill — Poison Barrier: Provides an additional 10% reduction in poison attribute damage, lasting for 3 seconds, with a cooldown of 2 hours.]

It's a skill targeted towards poison attributes, similar to the 'mud block' skill.

Li Rui couldn't help but think that Zuo Qiutian's Blood Evil Sect is categorized as a poison attribute. If another near-fatal attack like that one occurs, perhaps it won't be so miserable.

Remembering Zuo Qiutian, he silently prayed.

"Please, Brother Zuo, if fate brings us together, your brother is currently struggling. Please bless me by planting an experience package in the Peach Blossom Spring. You don't have to stay, thank you, Brother Zuo, Amitabha, endless blessings."