Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Lin Qian Leaves
When Fan Guzhou was exchanging his points, he never expected to receive a "first-time" reward like this.
He was almost overwhelmed by the unexpected favor.
Because this game was so hardcore and defied all conventional gaming tropes, they genuinely respected Song Jiulai as their Sect Master. Most players, having long since cast aside their dignity, would even privately call her "Mom."
As the first player to be personally rewarded by the Sect Master, Fan Guzhou’s face practically glowed red when he heard the System announcement.
Braving the envious gazes of the other players, Fan Guzhou cleared his throat, straightened his gray cloth shirt, and headed to the spawn point to claim his reward.
He had spent a good deal of time reading up on the Yunzhou Continent, so he knew what Green Spider Shells were: materials from a First-rank Demon Beast.
Although not very valuable, players currently had no way of hunting demon beasts themselves.
There was no point in buying such a useless material, so the Sect Master’s reward was mainly symbolic—it was the thought that counted.
The spawn point was just a system-designated transfer station, with no fancy bells and whistles.
As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, the System asked, "Do you wish to claim the reward from the Sect Master?"
Fan Guzhou: "Yes."
WHOOSH. Two Green Spider Shells, each the size of a human face, materialized in the courtyard.
He had read the data, but this was the first time he had seen one up close.
The complete shell did indeed look like jade and was oval-shaped.
Fan Guzhou picked up a Green Spider Shell. Its edge was still warm to the touch, and there were even some sticky bits of flesh on it.
At first, he didn’t know what it was. A moment later, it dawned on him.
The System then cheekily added, "To commend your contribution to the Sect, the Sect Master personally slaughtered this one just for you."
Fan Guzhou’s face turned green.
The Green Spider Shell dropped to the ground as if it had scalded him.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to accept the Sect Master’s kind gesture. It was just that, as a modern player, his conditioned reflex to this sort of thing was to gag.
The main issue was that this game was just too damn realistic!
Nothing was different from reality, including the texture and feel of things.
He had also read up on the Green Spider and knew that, aside from this shell, the creature looked as much like a zombie as you could possibly imagine...
He suddenly pictured Song Jiulai.
Such a gentle and lovely Sect Master, actually...
’As expected of a Sect Master!’
After a long moment, Fan Guzhou reminded himself that this was a game. ’I can’t let the Sect Master’s goodwill go to waste,’ he thought, weeping internally.
Gritting his teeth, he pulled out a cloth and wiped the bits of flesh away. At least the Green Spider Shell was clean and presentable now.
He once again convinced himself it was just a game, and gradually, the mental block faded.
But then a new worry arose. These two Green Spider Shells were refining materials, but they didn’t know Artifact Refining yet and had nowhere to store them. Was he supposed to just carry them around?
For now, Fan Guzhou could only take the Green Spider Shells with him.
To his surprise, the expert Chen Miaomiao was the first to approach him. Seeing the Green Spider Shells in his hands, she asked, "Do you have a use for those two materials right now?"
Fan Guzhou was taken aback for a second. "No, I don’t. You want them, expert?"
Chen Miaomiao shook her head. "Not to keep, but I’d like to study them for a couple of days. I’ll return them to you then, and I’ll give you one of my Spirit Grass stalks for free. How does that sound?"
"Don’t be so formal. If you want to study them, just take them."
Besides, Fan Guzhou had no idea what to do with these refining materials at the moment, so he might as well contribute to Chen Miaomiao’s work. "I’m counting on you to figure out that Spirit Medicine Wine soon, so you can help me strike it rich."
Just selling regular wine was too ordinary.
Food without Spiritual Energy, no matter how novel or delicious, could never fetch a truly high price.
If you priced it too high, mortals couldn’t afford it, and Cultivators wouldn’t give it a second glance.
So far, he had only earned a few dozen low-grade spirit stones.
He and a few other players had been grinding day and night. Their basic Water Control Technique was coming along nicely, but there was no real future in just doing that.
That’s why Fan Guzhou was counting on Chen Miaomiao to quickly figure out if Spirit Grass could be brewed along with the wine.
Hearing this, Chen Miaomiao didn’t stand on ceremony either. "Alright. I have a few leads. I’ll do my best to help you first."
With that, Fan Guzhou handed the two Green Spider Shells to Chen Miaomiao.
***
After Song Jiulai discovered that the System could send rewards directly to the players...
...her clever mind started turning, and she suddenly wondered if the process could be reversed.
For example, the players had a contribution system. Spirit Stones could be deducted directly by the System, and she could even access them from her end. But what about items?
So she tried issuing a quest: a player could receive one low-grade spirit stone to purchase a Blood Replenishing Pill for her, which they would then donate directly to the Sect.
The player would receive one point as a reward for the errand.
Don’t blame her for being stingy; this was an experiment, after all.
The quest appeared on the small stone slate at the spawn point, a feature Song Jiulai had studied when the players first arrived.
The glowing words were spotted by Zhou Xiao, who happened to be passing by and accepted the quest on a whim.
It was perfect timing, as she had to go down the mountain every day to restock on grain anyway. This also gave her a chance to build good relations with the people of Wang’an County and gather more information about the Yunzhou Continent.
’There’s never any harm in asking NPCs for information.’
She had even gotten to know an Outer Disciple from the Feique Sect who was also in charge of procurement.
She had managed to get a lot of information out of him.
For example, the Feique Sect was also divided into Outer Disciples and Inner Sect Disciples. The Inner Sect Disciples simply had higher cultivation, while the Outer Disciples were responsible for most of an odd jobs.
Zhou Xiao bought a Blood Replenishing Pill and submitted it.
The System scanned the item, registered the quest as complete, and awarded Zhou Xiao one point.
She was quite pleased. It was just a simple fetch quest, after all.
Song Jiulai, on the other hand, was ecstatic.
Didn’t this prove she could use the players as a supply relay? She could stay here indefinitely without ever having to go back.
Even Lin Qian was starting to have a hard time.
After all, this was First Mountain, and it was teeming with First-rank Demon Beasts. They would often appear out of nowhere while you were trying to rest.
It was common to take pills when Spiritual Energy was low, but the effects of Qi Replenishing Pills didn’t stack if you took too many.
This was Lin Qian’s first real excursion. She had originally been aiming for the Second-rank Beneficial Spirit Grass, but she discovered they still hadn’t managed to break through to it. The pills she’d brought weren’t keeping up with their consumption. Lately, they had gathered a fair number of assorted wild Spirit Grasses, but they were all scattered and guarded by demon beasts.
If it weren’t for Song Jiulai, Lin Qian would have been in real trouble.
Lin Qian was extremely grateful to Song Jiulai and asked if she wanted to head back.
Song Jiulai, of course, chose not to go back.
She had nothing else to do back at the Sect but watch over the players. Now, she could manage them remotely through the System, so there was no need to return.
Of course, she would stay here and keep grinding—grind until her head spun!
At first, Song Jiulai had wanted to just slack off, but she discovered she’d gone too far down the rabbit hole of grinding. The thrill of hunting demon beasts was too exhilarating, her Spiritual Energy refilled faster, and she found herself wanting even greater power.
"Junior Sister Song, are you sure you’re not going back?"
Lin Qian was surprised by Song Jiulai’s boldness but didn’t press the issue. Instead, before leaving, she left Song Jiulai a Second-order Qi Replenishing Pill.
"I owe you for all your help recently, Junior Sister Song. I’ve gathered a lot of Spirit Grass. Please take this Elixir Pill as a thank you."
Song Jiulai was stunned.
Comments