I logged off and took off my helmet. I took a deep breath and walked out of the door. There were two dishes in plastic containers waiting for me on the table. The first dish was chicken giblets cooked in Sansho pepper and the second dish was pickled hot and sour fish. When I touched the plastic containers, I found that they were still warm.
I went over to the rice cooker and, to my surprise, the rice was still hot. Beiming Xue must have just made it for me.
I took out a large bowl from the drawer, filled it up with rice, and sat down to devour the food in front of me. I ate extremely quickly, finis.h.i.+ng both dishes in less than ten minutes. At the end of my meal I smiled contentedly, patting my full stomach.
……
I stood up and drank a gla.s.s of water before I pushed open He Yi and Murong Mingyue"s doors. To my surprise, neither of them had come back yet. It was already midnight, which worried me a bit. Could something have happened to them?
I picked up my phone and called He Yi. A few rings later, He Yi picked up.
"h.e.l.lo, Lu Chen?"
"Hey, where are you right now?"
"I"m on the expressway! I"m gunning it back to Suzhou as we speak!" He Yi said with a giggle.
Relief flooded my heart. "Haha, okay. Drive carefully! Oh, that"s right. How did the business discussions go?"
"Well, Blue Star wants to confirm the strength of our financials and our competency first. They can"t put anything to paper yet. However, they have agreed to work together with us and Ling Xue"s att.i.tude toward us is very good. She is really looking forward to working with us. The server architecture of the Heavenblessed servers in China has always lacked the support of high-end technologies, so this will be a mutually beneficial project for both parties involved. Once our company has been formally registered, Ling Xue will personally pay us a visit to confirm everything before Blue Star signs a contract with us."
"Oh, that"s great news!"
He Yi laughed before she suddenly asked, "Hey, Lu Chen. Has Mingyue returned from her trip to Hangzhou yet?"
"Not yet. It seems to be raining outside too…"
"Hmm, give her a call then. After you"ve confirmed that she"s safe and sound, send me a message to let me know."
"Okay!"
After I ended the call, I called Murong Mingyue"s phone.
"Sis, where are you?"
"The expressway… Can"t you hear your sister"s car engine roar…"
I immediately nodded my head. "Yeah, the roar of the A8"s engine is really loud! Oh, that"s right! Hangzhou is so far away from Suzhou, why didn"t you stay the night in Hangzhou before coming back?"
Murong Mingyue snorted softly before she snapped back at me, "What the h.e.l.l, how can your big sis stay outside?! I wanna go home!"
"Okay. It"s raining right now, so drive carefully. Don"t go over 100.”
"I got it already! I"ll probably reach Suzhou at about two in the morning. You won"t be asleep by then, right?"
"Yeah, I probably won"t be able to sleep tonight. I"ll wait for you and Eve to get home."
"Got it!"
……
Even Murong Mingyue"s voice had turned gentle and sweet when I said that I"d wait for them to come home. Those words seemed to close the gap between us.
As I looked at rain drizzling outside my window, a small smile appeared on my face. That"s right, this place was our home and it was precisely because of this home that He Yi had rejected GGS" request. Murong Mingyue was running herself ragged for the sake of this very home while Beiming Xue and I were desperately trying to earn money in the game as well. Everything we were doing was for these moments that we shared, this place that we could call "home”.
……
I turned around and went back to my room. It was time to go online and turn in my quest. This quest had taken very long, so it was time to bring it to a close.
Swhoos.h.!.+
I appeared at the edge of Cyan Tiger Forest when I came online. I checked my skill window. Apparition"s cooldown was only twenty minutes, so I could summon a specter now if I wanted. I immediately summoned a specter again but when I looked at it, I dismissed it nearly just as fast. f.u.c.king h.e.l.l, this looked way too weird! If players saw me walking around with another character that looked just like me, everyone would think that I had suddenly become Naruto!
Sword in hand, I strode into the forest and soon found the place where G.o.d Hunter Zatch was staying. The old man was lying comfortably in a makes.h.i.+ft bed of shrubs and his soft snores filled the air. However, the moment I entered the area, his eyes shot open and he leapt up to greet me. He laughed loudly as he said, "Oh, young man! Did you bring me something good?"
I fished out Blood Skull"s head from my inventory. "I brought you a big ghastly head…"
As I said those words, I tossed Blood Skull"s head straight to G.o.d Hunter Zatch. He caught it and immediately drew an extremely sharp knife from the inside of his robes. His eyes were filled with a fierce intensity as he ignored Blood Skull"s furious glare and cut his skull open. After that, he carefully retrieved Blood Skull"s brain and dropped it into a furnace.
It was only then that G.o.d Hunter Zatch turned around to look at me again. He let out a loud roar of laughter before he said, "This is great! You brought me both the Cyan Tiger Teeth and the head of Blood Skull! Young man, your bravery and strength leave me dumbfounded! You have pa.s.sed this test and you are absolutely capable of inheriting my legacy! Come, these are the rewards you have earned!"
Ding~!
System Notice: Congratulations, you have completed the quest [The G.o.d Hunter"s Request]. You have gained 37000000 EXP, 50000 gold, 24000 Reputation, and an account bound skill book—[Spirit Cooking]!
……
Spirit Cooking?
Joy raced through my heart. I hurriedly opened up my inventory to see a skill book blinking with indigo light. When I took it out and read the description, my head went blank.
Spirit Cooking: A divine art that melds both Cooking and Alchemy. Once the user learns Spirit Cooking, they will automatically gain Rank 10 Herbalism and Rank 10 Foraging. The user will be able to create a variety of dishes with Spirit Cooking, with unique effects like buffs, debuffs, healing, resource regeneration. Level Requirement: 130. Reputation Cost: 30000.
……
Swoos.h.!.+
The Spirit Cooking skill book had disappeared from my hands, so I quickly opened up my skill interface window.
Spirit Cooking Rank 1
Saint Spirit Potion I: Instantly recovers 400 HP and 200 MP. Required Ingredients: b.u.t.terfly Orchid, Applesauce, Lemongra.s.s.
Agility Supplement I: Raises Agility by 50. Required Ingredients: Lemongra.s.s.
Intelligence Supplement: Raises Intelligence by 50. Required Ingredients: b.u.t.terfly Orchid.
Strength Supplement I: Raises Strength by 50. Required Ingredients: Applesauce, Seven Star Gra.s.s.
Stamina Supplement I: Raises Stamina by 50. Required Ingredients: Seven Star Gra.s.s.
Deadly Poison I: Reduces target"s health regeneration by 10% while dealing a fixed amount of damage every second. Damage dealt is calculated based on the user"s stats.
……
I lapsed into a long period of silence, staring at the new Spirit Cooking skill that I had obtained. Yes, the appearance of this skill had signaled the end of the era of both Health Potions and Magic Consumables, because this Saint Spirit Potion recovered both HP and MP!
Furthermore, Spirit Cooking could also create stat supplements and poison. The ability to create poison really caught my eye. More types of poison would definitely appear as my skill rank increased. These were necessary items for both boss-killing and PvP. Heh, this was especially true for a troublemaker like me. I needed this kind of stuff a lot more than others!
The G.o.d Hunter immediately concocted the antidote and smeared it on his wound. Then, he climbed to his feet and rushed past me with the swiftness of a soaring dragon. He waved at me once before he disappeared into the forest.
I was rather stunned by that turn of events. Whatever, he could do as he pleased. I had to go back to the city and sort out the stuff in my inventory. I also needed to use the rest of the night to rush my Spirit Cooking to Rank 7 at minimum, but it would be the best if I could push it to Rank 9. After all, all of the required ingredients could be bought inside the city and there would be more than enough foragers and herbalists at this stage of the game. I just needed to show them the money!
I fished out a return scroll and tore it!
Swoos.h.!.+
The moment I appeared inside Sky City, I made a beeline to the auction house. Yeah, there were quite a few good items in my inventory. I had eleven sets of the b.l.o.o.d.y Dawn armor and I arranged the minimum price for each set at 100000 RMB. I also put the three Outstanding Spirit-grade Earth Fiend items up for sale, setting a minimum price of 200000 RMB on each of them. As for the Tempest Staff, I put it up at a minimum price of 500000 RMB. There were plenty of willing victims in the market. Outstanding items would always be hot property as long as they were still relevant at the current stage of the game.
With all that sorted out, I strolled through Sky City"s market to find that there wasn"t anyone selling Rank 1 herbs or food ingredients. It was only then that I realized that Sky City was one of the main cities! I ran to the teleportation formation and went to Floating Ice City!
Swoos.h.!.+
I appeared in the city that I hadn"t visited in a while. This was the place that Princess Karinshan used to rule and the market was still bustling even though it was late at night. There were still many low-level foragers players that were hawking their wares, their boisterous voices intermingling in the air.
"Selling freshly-gathered b.u.t.terfly Orchid and Lemongra.s.s in stacks of 20. 1 silver a stack. Come get them while they"re still available! Only 21 stacks left. After I sell them all, I"m going to log off and pay my taxes to my wife!"
"Selling a large amount of Glutinous Rice and Chicken Meat. If anyone needs a constant supply of these items, please add me to your friend list. We can form a long-term partners.h.i.+p! I"m a forager who is only looking to earn a living!"
"Come one, come all! I"m selling the high-rank Magic Consumable, Turtle Soup, in stacks of 100. Every stack will cost 10 gold, so come get them while they"re still in stock!"
……
As I heard these boisterous yells ring in my ears, a grin crept across my face. This was great! I simply loved the hustle and bustle of a market!
I found a few low-level players and bought a large amount of Rank 1 and 2 herbs and food ingredients that I needed. Goods purchased, I began using my Spirit Cooking skill in the middle of the square. My ma.s.s production yielded stack after stack of Rank 1 Saint Spirit Potions, so I decided to sell them on the spot. I shouted, "Selling Rank 1 Saint Spirit Potions. These pills recover 400 HP and 200 MP per use. Whoever needs some recovery potions should come and buy these pills instead. I"m selling them at a newbie rate! A stack of 20 for only 1 silver! First come, first served!"
As expected, I could still do this sort of small business in a low-level city like this. The Rank 1 Saint Spirit Potions that I had created were exceptionally popular and my entire stock had been depleted in an instant.
I soon heard the ringing sound that signaled my skill going up a rank. After a few rounds of crafting, my Spirit Cooking skill had upgraded to Rank 2. I could now produce Rank 2 Saint Spirit Potions and supplements. I also saw a new Rank 2 poison appear on my Spirit Cooking List. Oh well, I was in no rush to produce these things yet. If I could ma.s.s-produce these poisons and introduce them to the battlefield later, it would definitely produce earth-shattering results. I should wait until I could ma.s.s-produce high-rank poisons before I sprang this nasty surprise on my unsuspecting victims.
It felt as if I was producing Saint Spirit Potions nonstop. I ate a Magic Consumable every time my MP was depleted, it wasn"t as if I didn"t have enough in my inventory. My level was pretty high now anyway, so I had quite a fair bit of MP. This was actually a very profitable business.
After more than an hour had pa.s.sed, I had more or less finished my business in Floating Ice City. My Spirit Cooking was now Rank 7 and I couldn"t buy the high-rank herbs or consumables I needed to continue my skill grind from the vendors here! It was time to go back to Sky City!
Swoos.h.!.+
The moment I appeared in Sky City, I immediately inspected the new batch of Saint Spirit Potions I had just created. A warm feeling of satisfaction surged through my heart as I read the description.
Saint Spirit Potion VII: Instantly recovers 4000 HP and 1600 MP. Cooldown: 60 seconds.
Yeah, these Rank 7 Saint Spirit Potions had already exceeded the Rank 9 Health Potions that Sun Qingqing could create. They were beyond OP!
I was overcome with joy. Alright! If I could raise my Spirit Cooking to Rank 10 and produce the corresponding Saint Spirit Potion, that would be incredible! Rank 10 Saint Spirit Potions would instantly recover 9000 HP and 5000 MP. This was absolutely an essential item for both boss fights and PvP. I was also the only player who could create these little goodies at the moment, so my future prospects were extremely bright.
……
Beep!
Beiming Xue sent me a message: "Big bro, I went offline to check in on Sister He Yi and Sister Mingyue. Sister He Yi got held up by a roadblock and she"ll only be able to reach home in another half an hour. However, there"s no news from Sister Mingyue and I couldn"t get through to her. The message I got when I dialed her number was that her number wasn"t reachable…"
"What?" I said in a shocked voice. "Beiming, I"ll go offline to take a look. You should stay online."
"Okay! Be careful, big bro!"
……
I went offline and the first thing I noticed was that it was raining dogs and cats outside. When I saw lightning light up the dark sky, worry surged through my heart. I tried calling Murong Mingyue and, as expected, her phone couldn"t be reached. It wasn"t the usual response I heard when I was calling a phone that was out of battery. Could something have happened?
Heart in my mouth, I grabbed an umbrella and headed down to my car. The moment I hit the road, I sped off in the direction of Hangzhou.