Astral Ascendant: My Goldfinger's Forte is Deception

New Mission

Zhao Fao was pleasantly surprised that taking the pill met the cultivation requirement for the full usage of the Ultimate Deception System, albeit only temporarily.

"What functions can I use at the moment?"

[Ding! In conjunction with your entrance mission, you can exchange beast cores for system's Exchange Points. The exchange shop can also be stocked temporarily to include a variety of resources useful for your mission under the condition that you simultaneously take on a system mission]

Zhao Fao's eyebrows arched upwards. This was a conditional mission?

[This kind of mission will not give any direct rewards. Also, the difficulty level will be high]

Zhao Fao fell into thought.

Ignoring everything else the system mentioned.....there was something about no direct rewards.

Did that mean there would be the chance to get rewarded indirectly?

Zhao Fao did not hesitate and chose to activate the exchange shop conditional mission.

[Ding! The exchange shop had been restocked]

Zhao Fao took a peek and was dazzled by the new inventory.

[Aura Masking Talisman– Conceals the user's breath for two hours]

[Sketch Radar Talisman– Maps out the life signatures within three thousand metres]

[Mirror Beast Talisman– Replicates the strength of a selected beast to possess the user. The stronger the beast, the longer the activation duration]

[Shadow Animation Talisman– Animating the user's shadow. Shadow doesn't possess any combat capabilities]

[Divine Alchemy Talisman– Transmutates one product to another under certain conditions]

[Mission System Initialization....]

[Mission: "Tyrant."]

[Details: Assume the role of a tyrant and prevent any student in your forest zone from completing their entrance assessment.]

[Duration: Three days]

[Rewards: None]

[Mission Penalty: Fifty years of lifespan]

[System Comment: You might not be the hero saving the damsel in distress but you get to be the villain wrecking the future of countless youngsters]

Seeing this, Zhao Fao wanted to cry but had no tears.

The system hadn't lied earlier....

The difficulty level of this mission was extremely hard!

On a rough estimate, the number of students in each forest zone was close to five hundred.

Most universities used the same format of hunting down Ironlimbed Apes for their assessment, although the number of beast cores required for submission differed.

The lowest number was five.

The highest was twelve.

With this tyrant mission, Zhao Fao had to make sure that not a single one of the students hunted down enough beasts to pass.

Excluding himself, of course.

There was also the fact that his fellow school mates might select the same forest zone as him!

It was simply torturous thinking about the details.

"But there's no way I'm letting myself enter my late sixties prematurely!"

Zhao Fao's hesitation vanished immediately when he saw the mission penalty.

It was too late to regret activating the shuffle mission, but it was certainly early enough to work towards completing it.

Looking at the items in the exchange shop, Zhao Fao suddenly asked the system a question.

"What is the exchange rate of beast cores to system points?"

[One beast core can be exchanged for ten system points]

"Good!" Zhao Fao's eyes were cold.

It should take about half a day for the effect of the Astral Brew Pill to get exhausted.

Technically, it was impossible for anyone to complete the mission before then.

Zhao Fao had a speculation......

He proceeded to enter the forest to prove it.

*****

The Ironlimbed Apes weren't the only animal species in the forest. There were also climbers, insects, venomous snakes and birds.

However, the arboreal primates were the strongest of the bunch and basically dominated the forest.

Their packs were orderly and even featured a primitive government.

Zhao Fao quietly approached a stray pack of Ironlimbed Apes with a bow and arrow in his hand.

Little Zhao Fao's theoretical education hadn't been for nothing. Basic skills like scouting and crafting primitive weapons from limited materials were all within his grasp.

Zhao Fao made sure to stay as quiet as possible as he inched closer to the apes basking under the shade of the tree.

The pack had three agile adults, four pregnant females and three young ones.

Relatively, it was a pretty vulnerable pack.

Sixty metres......

Forty.....

Twenty...

Just as Zhao Fao entered the ten metres range, he accidentally stepped on some dry twig.

"Shit!"

He quickly hid behind a cover.

The resting Ironlimbed Apes instantly jerked to attention and looked around warily.

One of the mature apes climbed the tree to scout.

Zhao Fao suddenly drew his bow.

Whoosh!

The arrow flew through the air and pierced into the brains of the target through its eyes and drew blood.

The female apes squealed.

The baby apes hollered in fright.

Seeing this, the male apes halted their action of chasing in the direction where the arrow came from.

Instead, they ignored their fallen comrade and used their bodies to shield the females and kids.

When they saw more arrows flying, they hurriedly picked their members and ran away.

The three arrows hit nothing.

It was actually within Zhao Fao's expectations.

Killing one Ironlimbed Ape with a primitive weapon was already the best result possible.

It was a combination of simple psychology and meticulous planning.

Zhao Fao had read that Ironlimbed Apes had a strong familial nature and knew they would likely escape than fight in the presence of vulnerable members.

He also knew that the most vulnerable pointe of their bodies were their open mouths, nostrils, anus and eyes.

Staking all his strength for one good strike.

He succeeded in killing one Ironlimbed Ape.

It would be rare to have such a good result in the future.

Technically, if the pack didn't have vulnerable members, what would have happened was that the Ironlimbed Apes would chase after him as soon as he struck his blow.

Outclassed in speed and in number, the only outcome would to be thus pummeled to death.

Zhao Fao came out of hiding and cautiously walked up to the carcass.

After confirming it was dead, he dragged it to a covered space and began to dissect it.

It was hardwork, given the thickness of their fur and their strong bones.

Zhao Fao finally dug out the core after half a day.

Simultaneously, he felt the strength from the pill leave his body.

"This entrance examination is truly crazy. I bet less than one percent would be able to complete the mission."

Zhao Fao cursed under his breath before looking at the bloody core in his hand.

It looked like a pearl and was very hard.

He tried pinching it with his fingers but failed to break it.

Zhao Fao hesitated for a bit before putting it in his mouth.

As soon as it touched his saliva, the core dissolved into a pure stream of energy that entered his body.

Zhao Fao closed his eyes and analyzed the feeling.

"Hhm, it's almost as effective as the pill provided by the university. Also, it seems to have some side effects!"

Zhao Fao could sense he was more irritable and volatile.

"It should be the demonic nature of the core creating trouble!"

The effect wasn't very strong though, so he didn't pay mind to it.

At least, things made more sense now.

The school didn't expect them to hunt down ten Ironlimbed Apes within the span of half a day as it was simply impossible.

That was barely enough time to dig out a beast core from a carcass.

Instead, the school expected them to have hunted at least one within that period, then consume the beast core to replenish their energy.

Even though it wasn't as powerful as the Astral Brew pill...

It was still effective enough for them to plot more huntings.