"Hmmph! Are you trying to look for a way out?" answered Li Yuxin after reading Li Wei's message.

"In that case what about a bet? If I was right, you'll leave me alone for a while but if I'm wrong, then we'll duel in 2 days."

Li Yuxin smiled, "Sure! Remember those words!"

"Alright! See you in two days then, I still need to prepare for this."

"Wait! I won't be a miser! What do you need to buy? I'll contribute..." asked Li Yuxin.

Seeing her message, Li Wei became pensive. Upon seeing the Pyro bomb's description, an idea sparked in his mind. It was so simple that few people would actually realize it. His plan might work but when he saw that the world record was so low, he did not want to take any risk and ended up inviting Li Yuxin to join him.

She just so happened to be sending him a message when he came up with the idea. After all, Li Yuxin was someone Li Wei acknowledged as being strong, he had no guaranty to be able to defeat her.

However, he did not want to share his plan yet! Li Yuxin might share this with the guild or her teammates. That was something Li Wei did not want. He was aiming for the world record and could not allow her to easily reveal the plan. And so, they agreed to sign a contract, but they needed to physically meet to do so!

If he asked her to buy specific things, Li Yuxin might deduce his strategy.

As a result, Li Wei paused for a moment before answering: "The ring you used during our duel, it would be good if you can bring 4 more! It is just borrowing, I won't take them for myself!"

On the other side of the line, Li Yuxin quickly agreed. This equipment was not cheap, but it was not expensive either for her. She had a good supply of whatever she needed and so, could obtain these rings easily.

"Alright. See you in two days"

As she saw Li Wei's reply, Li Yuxin let out a "hmmp". She did not believe that guy could have actually found a way to get the world record. In her mind, he was only trying to buy enough time to level up! That way, he would have the advantage. However, Li Yuxin did not really mind; one stat point meant a lot but at the same time, it was not an unbridgeable gap. She was excited at the idea of fighting him again. The other martial artists all preferred to secretly learn their techniques. As such, they rarely accepted duels. Now that someone presented himself, Li Yuxin was naturally delighted.

...

"Sigh... At least, she will leave me alone for now!" said Li Wei after he sent the message. He went back to his bed and sat down.

He was already tired, but since he got this idea, he was excited! There were some preparations that were required; a lot of items needed to be bought but right now, he did not have more than 20 gold!

He could convert part of his contribution points into gold, but that was something he was not willing to. This transaction only worked in one way, he would not be able to get the contribution points back with money.

He could go to the dungeon to hunt tomorrow for money, but there was another way to get money or even get the items for free! He could simply ask his guild... More precisely: Cai Wenji and Bright Sun.

...

The next day went by as usual, Li Wei still went to the dungeon and hunted with his party. This time, Bright Sun actually came along, and they killed their way through the goblins. Many teams had already climbed to the eleventh floor but there was a major increase in difficulty after the tenth floor.

In the end, most players preferred to train on the tenth floor or lower. The dungeon floor was vast and even with the huge number of players, it did not feel overcrowded. The tenth floor was also the spawn location of the goblin king. It was the most highly sought boss!

Every day, similar battles to what Li Wei experienced when he first arrived at the city were occurring at the dungeon. However, Li Wei chose to avoid these fights; over time, he realized how dangerous they were. People would often fight to death and many would lose levels. Although they will be compensated and generously paid if they participated in these fights, the one thing one could not buy was time.

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In the end, no matter how many resources he obtained, if he just kept on losing levels, it would not be worth it.

"So? What is it you wanted to talk about?" asked Cai Wenji. The party just finished their daily hunt at the dungeon and were now on their way to the city.

Looking around him to make sure there was no one else listening, he said: "I think that I might have found a way to clear Alyssa's Lair very quickly."

"Oh? What is it?" asked Cai Wenji. He was not very surprised; many players came up with ideas on how to deal with the Time Attacks. However, many of them failed and it would often be a waste of time and resources.

"Mmm, I am not trading it. It is just that I would like to invite you two if you are willing to bring some resources," answered Li Wei.

"Mmm" The two siblings looked at each other. They did not say a word, but it seemed that they somehow communicated with each other.

"Although we trust you, we cannot blindly invest resources like that! I am willing to give you the money I made from cooking, but you first need to explain your plan to see if it's feasible!" said Bright Sun.

Li Wei nodded, "That's understandable. However, I would like to sign a contract first! Just to make sure that no one else will learn about my idea and that you won't use it for your own purpose!"

"It's reasonable! You should want to keep the record for yourself. But let's first go to the inn, there are too many ears nearby here!" said Cai Wenji.

...

Inside one of the private rooms of the inn, Li Wei and the siblings were sitting around a table. They were carefully studying the contract in front of them. Both parties put forward their conditions, Li Wei would provide the idea while if they thought it was feasible, the two siblings would agree and provide the necessary resources for that. Naturally, they will also participate in the Time Attacks themselves.

Additionally, they should by no means share this information or any possible hints of the plan to others! If the idea was proved to not work, then they could simply ignore this contract.

With the contract signed, Li Wei relaxed before quickly explaining his idea.

"The reason I approached you two was first because of our relationship but also because Bright Sun is a cook! She can easily purchase..."

Two minutes later, Li Wei was already explaining the fine details, "I also invited Li Yuxin to come with us! I believe that she would be a great addition to the party!"

Hearing that name, Bright Sun raised an eyebrow but decided to keep quiet and listen to the whole explanation. Right now, they were discussing business!

As Li Wei explained, the two siblings slowly hardened their face!

“Sigh!”

“What is it?” Asked Li Wei.

Cai Wenji explained: “That’s true! It is impressive that you noticed that the spider webs could be burned by normal fire! Most people would tunnel vision on that and only see magic as a source of fire! However, that does not mean you are the only one who came up with this idea!”

Bright Sun quickly continued, “After yesterday’s Time Attacks, I went to do some research! Setting the cave on fire from the entrance was indeed something that people thought of. However, the cave was designed to prevent that! With the way the tunnels are, the fire will lack oxygen somewhere along it. I don’t know much about the subject, but the fire will only burn up to a certain point. Beyond that, the lair will be unharmed! And the result would be that the players would not even be able to enter the lair due to the lack of oxygen in the tunnel while some spiders would be safe deeper inside the lair. To complete the Time Attack, the players will have to wait for the air to circulate before being able to enter.”

“However, if that can help you, it was found that fire was effectively a loophole; once you reach Alyssa’s room, you can set up the large cocoons, hanging from the roof, on fire. They contain dry corpses that will easily burn and emit a lot of smoke! This way, the spiders will be disoriented and even slowly take damage. But if you aim for the record? That is a waste of time! It would be faster to just blast everything with Explosive Potions.”

After Bright Sun’s explanation, the two siblings awkwardly looked at Li Wei. They did not expect much but they knew that it was an awkward situation for Li Wei to have his idea rebutted so easily.

As for Li Wei, he was indeed embarrassed, “How could I be so stupid! Of course people would realize that! I was too impulsive!” thought Li Wei.

He did not know what to say. His plan was indeed just to set up the entrance on fire and wait for the fire to spread! He would use some items to maintain the fire but that was it.

He thought of how foolish he had been. He even said that Bright Sun had an important role since she could easily purchase some items. But as he was thinking, something suddenly clicked in his mind!

“Then all we need is basically a way to spread the fire deeper into the lair, right? Why don’t we just use…”

As they heard Li Wei’s proposal, the two siblings could not help but be enlightened. It was such a simple addition but yet, it would make all the difference. More importantly, this plan would not cost more than 40 gold. Considering that the guild's previous plan cost in thousands, this plan was clearly better in all the aspects.

"This sounds feasible. In fact, it seems very likely to succeed!" declared Bright Sun, excitement could clearly be seen on her face.

"I wonder how could we have missed such an obvious thing? I guess we were too obsessed with magic!"

"Anyway, if you can buy these items, it should be perfectly fine! If the solo guy did not bring the record so low, I would probably have tried that by myself. But now, we might be able to shave a few seconds if we are as a group!" said Li Wei.

"Who do you think should be the fifth person? It would be a waste to leave an empty spot! Can we invite someone from our party?"

"I don't mind! As long as he or she signs the contract and does not reveal anything. If the guild finds out about that, I can say goodbye to the world record."

The two siblings nodded, "Sure, don't worry. We won't do something like that."

"Then let's meet again tomorrow, I need to go to buy the materials quickly! The Association won't allow trading if it's too late!" declared Bright Sun as she quickly left the room.

Cai Wenji and Li Wei remained silent for a moment but the former quickly broke it.

"It is really fascinating how we all tunnel vision and forget the obvious so easily," commented the blonde rogue.

"Haha, I almost thought what I said was futile! I hope it will work," answered Li Wei.

"I am sure it will! It is really simple and looks like one of the things they could have hidden!"

...

The next day, at 10:00. Li Wei arrived at the Hall of Fame. He asked Li Yuxin to come a little bit earlier than the others so that he could explain his plan and they could sign their contract.

The Hall of Fame was not very busy at this time of the day. Most people would be fighting at the dungeon, but a few players could be seen with their parties.

In a corner of the room, Li Wei immediately noticed Li Yuxin leaning against the wall.

"Mmm I thought you were rushing to level up! It seems that you are quite honest," said Li Yuxin.

Li Wei rolled his eyes, "Anyway. Here's the contract. Sign it if you agree."

She quickly grabbed the piece of paper and carefully read it. She did not know Li Wei too well and was wary that he might have put in some conditions or tricks. But after a few minutes, she quickly signed the contract and the piece of paper disappeared.

"Good! Now explain your plan, I have the rings you asked!" said Li Yuxin as she took out 4 grey rings from her inventory.

"Mmm thanks, I'll return them after the Time Attacks. My idea is quite simple! I simply want to burn down the lair!"