Chapter 82 Comparable To

Chapter 82: Comparable

Ling Qingjue grew even angrier. "Then why did you go and swear to that cow cat that you would definitely find Cat Island, and that you would die if you didn't? Did you not consider the consequences?"

"I..."

Ling Qingjue kept pressing. "If you want to find Cat Island, you must have the ability to defeat me."

But Meng Shu never planned to survive.

The three-year term had not yet arrived, but his real body had already died.

That was just a means for him to stall the cow cat.

He couldn't tell Ling Qingjue this. Once Ling Qingjue found out, he would blow the roof off.

So he could only pretend to be suddenly enlightened, feigning anxiety. "Then how can I surpass you?"

Ling Qingjue believed him and said harshly, "Are you that stupid? If you hadn't gone around making vows, you wouldn't have gotten to this point."

He could have directly modified the final affection gift, eliminating the need for Meng Shu to kill the Demon King.

Who would have thought that Meng Shu would go and make reckless vows himself, forcing him to revert to the Demon King to make Cat Island reappear?

This idiot hero hadn't realized it at all!

The more he looked at Meng Shu, the more displeased he became. How could he have fallen for a fool whose IQ was below the human average?

Meng Shu sighed bitterly in his heart. "I really didn't think it through enough."

Ling Qingjue's expression softened a little. "The human limit is a combat power of one hundred. It's really kind of hard for you to surpass me. However, after reaching max level, there are advancement quests that can help increase your combat power."

Meng Shu asked, "How much can that increase?"

"Everyone's limit is different. I've seen an adventurer before who, after advancing, reached a combat power of nine hundred and is now a deputy general in the Kingdom."

Meng Shu let out a bitter laugh. "Nine hundred points still can't break your defense, right?"

"After advancing, you'll choose a specialization. Skill damage doubles and there are special effects." Ling Qingjue patiently went on to explain. "There are always some skills that ignore defense. I remember there are also skills that grant invulnerability. Although short-lived, they can be quite effective."

Meng Shu gave a wry smile. "Then do you have invulnerability skills?"

Ling Qingjue was stunned and thought carefully. "I don't know. I've never truly been the Demon King. Back then, I only cast a Fireball before being sealed away."

The most basic fireball had wiped out Cat Island.

Only then did Meng Shu realize that people sometimes laugh when they're speechless. He gave a light pat on Ling Qingjue's shoulder, a smile that was more pained than happy. "Then what if you do have invulnerability skills?"

"...If you don't defeat me, I'll be trapped in the Demon King Tower forever." Ling Qingjue didn't actually know what skills he possessed. He had learned many magics and even created various school skills. If asked directly, he didn't know what he could do either.

The more he spoke, the more aggrieved he became. "I'm the only cat in the Demon King Tower. If no one defeats me, I'll be imprisoned alone."

"Then... what if you don't become the Demon King?"

Ling Qingjue suppressed his anger. "Are you planning to die?"

"I..." Meng Shu was at a loss for words. He thought, maybe he should just spill everything to Ling Qingjue.

Just to avoid any future complications.

But Ling Qingjue's eyes were clear and pure, full of anticipation, looking at him like that, and he couldn't bring himself to be so cruel.

He would talk about it later.

He still had two years to stay in this world; there was no need to rush.

Meng Shu smiled. "Alright. I'll do my best."

Seeing that he agreed, Ling Qingjue's uneasy heart settled down. "Since the Deep Sea Dragon is hibernating, let's use this winter to complete the advancement quests."

It was now early winter, and snow had yet to fall.

It was said that Moon Bay had a heavy snowfall every winter.

Ling Qingjue's true form was a cat, and he seemed immune to the cold, wearing only a light hoodie in winter.

There was a cat paw print on his clothes.

Meng Shu's eyes naturally landed on the cat paw print. Ling Qingjue was a weird guy—aside from not being able to cook, he was good at laundry, embroidery, and cleaning, and he was obsessed with mending Meng Shu's clothes.

Sometimes when Meng Shu fought monsters, his clothes would get torn, and Ling Qingjue would sew little cat faces onto them.

Now almost every piece of clothing Meng Shu owned had been embroidered with a cat face by Ling Qingjue—angry cat faces, smiling cat faces, sleepy cat faces...

Because of these various cat face embroideries, Meng Shu couldn't bear to throw away his old clothes and became even more stingy with his money.

Worried that Meng Shu might get discouraged, Ling Qingjue added, "Equipment can also boost your stats."

Meng Shu figured he wouldn't be going out today, so he turned and went back inside, pouring himself a cup of hot water to warm himself up. "Equipment is way too expensive."

In this world, equipment could only be made by blacksmiths, and leveling up as a blacksmith was extremely difficult. Combined with the scarcity of raw materials, high-level equipment cost an arm and a leg.

It was practically robbery, yet they still had the nerve to offer him a set.

Meng Shu, being poor, had only managed to buy a few passable sets, patching them up year after year.

"Besides, the stat boosts from equipment are limited. Compared to your stats..."

Ling Qingjue's expression turned a bit unusual. He had already prepared a set of equipment for Meng Shu, hoping that with that set, Meng Shu could beat him.

Who would have thought that his stats had been skyrocketing over the years, reaching a level he himself couldn't believe?

Even with that equipment, Meng Shu probably couldn't beat him.

He steeled himself and said casually, "I suddenly remembered I left a set of equipment in the basement a while ago. It's useless. If you need it, I'll give it to you."

"How come I didn't know?" Meng Shu was skeptical. "I just cleaned your basement."

It was so clean that even a cockroach would starve to death.

Ling Qingjue wouldn't admit that he had spent the better part of the year crafting that equipment and only moved it home yesterday. He sneered, "Then you must be blind."

Six months ago, Meng Shu brought him a ton of silver ore, and later sent him some worthless gems.

According to Jia Zhao, those materials were for crafting equipment.

Meng Shu had waited eagerly for a long time, but when Ling Qingjue showed no reaction, he forgot about it.

He pretended to be surprised, holding back a laugh. "Really? Then I'll go take a look."

Ling Qingjue was still putting on a tough act. "Don't overthink it. I only gave it to you because it was useless. I've even forgotten where it came from."

Meng Shu nodded repeatedly, not calling him out. "Got it. I won't read into it."

It wasn't until he had walked into the stairway to the basement that Ling Qingjue let out a huge sigh of relief, and he raised his hand to touch his cheek.

It was burning hot.

Meng Shu... he probably didn't notice, right?

Ling Qingjue thought his acting was excellent, on par with a movie star.