「Next Day.」

Players logged on and commenced the search for materials, just as they had the day before.

The current task was to earn Spiritual Stones and then use them to gather Spiritual Veins.

Yesterday, the Demon Beast Corpses that the players had slain were sold in Kuhai Town, earning them a considerable number of Spiritual Stones.

These Spiritual Stones were also piled up in the iron mine on the Back Mountain.

With so many players now, those assigned to mining had long since excavated all the iron ore from the mine, and the mine itself had begun to be used for storing Spiritual Stones.

Xu Nian had completely become a hands-off shopkeeper.

No one disturbed him yesterday, so he and the Blood Demoness started "playing house."

While he was still at the Foundation Establishment Realm, and his cultivation wasn't very high, he decided to secure a successor early on. This was to avoid problems having a child later, when his cultivation realm became higher.

The Blood Demoness didn't go out all day, staying inside the Great Hall to "play house" with Xu Nian.

Of course, they couldn't "play" all day long in broad daylight.

Xu Nian, shameless as he was, didn't mind, but she still felt the need to maintain some appearances, fearing the Disciples outside would discover them.

Bored during the day, Xu Nian sat inside the Great Hall studying the map.

Their location was the Demon Beast Forest, and the entire surrounding area was densely forested. To the east and south lay the Endless Sea.

Previously, the containment Array had provided some safety for the common people.

Now that the Array was gone, the true nature of the Endless Sea was completely revealed.

The Demonic Beasts in the sea were much stronger than those in the Demon Beast Forest, and there were even Special Races like the Sea Race.

In such circumstances, it wouldn't be easy for the common people to survive.

But if they were lucky enough to find a few Demon Beast Corpses, eating them could give them a chance to become cultivators.

This era could be said to be equal for everyone.

Except for the Profound Yellow Sect!

The people of the Profound Yellow Sect were far from normal.

They needed Contribution Points to enhance their realm. The more Contribution Points they had, the stronger their power became.

It was as simple as that.

"Sect Leader?"

At the door, a player poked their head in and asked with a smile.

Xu Nian turned his head to look and recognized her as a Third-Test Female Player.

"Favorite Duck Leg Rice? Do you need something from me?" Xu Nian asked, puzzled.

This female player seems to be connected to a Second Test player; in fact, it was that Second Test player who had recommended her for a slot, Xu Nian recalled. What was that name again? A Bowl of Duck Leg Rice? These damn couple usernames! Wait a minute! Favorite Duck Leg Rice is wearing clothes bought with Contribution Points, and they look a bit like couple outfits. Is she here to rub their relationship in my face?

"Sect Leader, I just want to ask, what should we do if we get pregnant here?" Favorite Duck Leg Rice walked out with a giggle, dragging behind her a blushing A Bowl of Duck Leg Rice.

Pregnant? Xu Nian thought. What does she mean? I, the Sect Leader, haven't even managed to make a baby yet, and you lot want to beat me to it? It's one thing for your cultivation realms to catch up to mine, but now you want to surpass me in making babies too?

"Figure it out yourselves!" Xu Nian said with a dark expression. "From now on, don't come to me with matters unrelated to the Sect. If you want to have children, go to the Back Mountain, build your own house, and have them there!"

Seeing his displeasure, A Bowl of Duck Leg Rice quickly pulled Favorite Duck Leg Rice away.

"I told you not to drag me! The Sect Leader is like an advanced AI; he won't understand." Outside, A Bowl of Duck Leg Rice's voice could still be heard. "He's destined to be alone; asking him is pointless."

Xu Nian: ???

What was that supposed to mean? he fumed internally. Just because I shooed you away, you're going to curse me? Don't you know who's in charge of this Profound Yellow Sect?

The Blood Demoness quietly laughed to one side, her seductive charm fully on display.

She certainly knew what Xu Nian meant, but she was also aware of the Profound Yellow Sect Disciples' situation: they could easily switch bodies.

But if they had children before changing bodies, would those children still be biologically related to their parents after the parents switched bodies? Hmm... That is a problem!

At this moment, another player walked into the entrance.

Half Dream, Half Wake, Half Life? Xu Nian recognized him. A wealthy player among the Third Test Players. He bought a lot of Contribution Points from the Three Great Merchants and even led others to mock them for being too poor. There were quite a few nouveau riche among these Third Test Players. They splashed money around without a second thought—definitely the kind of people worth befriending!

"Sect Leader, I have a question."

"Speak!" Xu Nian, still thinking about the previous incident, said coldly, "If it's about you wanting to get married and have children, I'd advise you not to mention it."

Marry and have children? Half Dream, Half Wake, Half Life thought, puzzled. Where did that come from?

He shook his head and said, "Sect Leader, you've seen my strength. I used Contribution Points to advance to the Foundation Establishment Realm, but I feel there's no difference between it and the Qi Cultivation Realm. In fact, when I logged on earlier and sparred with someone in the Qi Cultivation Realm, I actually lost."

"Oh? That happened?" Xu Nian was intrigued and asked curiously, "Who did you spar with?"

"Poisonous Panda!" Half Dream, Half Wake, Half Life replied. "He almost instantly defeated me. I felt like the Foundation Establishment Realm had no effect."

Heh... Xu Nian scoffed internally. Does this guy not know Poisonous Panda's situation? He's a First Test Player and also a support in Lingxiao Hall. Currently, he's one of the strongest supports around. He knows both the Eight Gates Escape Armor and Armament Haki. While the Players' Combat Power List has changed somewhat, Poisonous Panda is still in the top ten.

"Do you know about Poisonous Panda's situation?" Xu Nian asked with a slight frown.

"Of course, I do," Half Dream, Half Wake, Half Life said. "I just wanted to test whether the Foundation Establishment Realm could crush the Qi Cultivation Realm."

What he said wasn't wrong, Xu Nian mused. The Foundation Establishment Realm shouldn't be something the Qi Cultivation Realm can handle. But that bug-level cultivation technique, the Eight Gates Escape Armor, can't be ignored! It ignores realm differences. Open the Death Gate, and even Immortals would have to kneel.

"Try sparring with someone else," Xu Nian advised. "It's best to avoid the Lingxiao Hall members; you can't beat them." He spoke earnestly, "Besides, you could try to develop those three basic magic arts yourself. Although they are foundational, by building upon them, it's possible to create stronger techniques and close the gap."

Hearing this, Half Dream, Half Wake, Half Life nodded in agreement.

He had just broken through today and wanted to be among the first batch of players in the Foundation Establishment Realm. As for challenging Poisonous Panda, it was simply because nobody else had the time to bother with him.

Who would've thought the random person he picked would actually defeat him?

Having no other choice, he turned and left, planning to try his luck with other players.

Lingxiao Hall... he thought. Truly a gathering place for high-level players. Definitely not people ordinary players like us can handle.

After he left, the Blood Demoness slowly spoke, "Your Disciples are almost catching up to your cultivation realm. And you're still not cultivating, day after day?"

"Which of your eyes saw me not cultivating?" Xu Nian rolled his eyes. "Doesn't dual cultivation count as cultivation? Wasn't I working hard enough last night?"

Upon hearing this, the Blood Demoness's pretty face blushed, and she couldn't be bothered to engage with Xu Nian any longer.

This man is becoming more and more improper, she thought.

Xu Nian, however, stroked his chin, thinking about the players.

Should I put more pressure on the players? It feels like the players are starting to slack off. Ever since the System allowed Spiritual Stones to be exchanged for Contribution Points, the players have become too comfortable, somewhat complacent. I can't let them continue like this. I need to come up with a plan. Only if the players fight amongst themselves will there be more pressure, right? Maybe organize an internal competition among them? An open combat tournament? But then, the Lingxiao Hall members would probably crush everyone else, wouldn't they? Should I make them sit out? But that would seem unfair to the Lingxiao Hall members. I need to plan this properly.

「...」

The Great Inventor had used the Nine Immortals Spirit Disc to create special Storage Rings the previous night and was now both making them himself and teaching other interested players.

Life Players were never in short supply, after all. It wasn't as if all Life Players were going to focus on cooking and cultivating Spiritual Medicine, right?

He was currently the leading Refiner and Array Mage of the Profound Yellow Sect, and by training more players, he could earn even more!

"Newly made Storage Rings available now! Come quickly if you need one!" The Great Inventor took out the freshly crafted Storage Rings and started trading them on the spot.

Players were aware of the importance of Storage Rings and eagerly scrambled for them.

"Give me one! I'm going to gather materials soon, and it'll be easier to carry them."

"Great Inventor, don't price them so high, man. Five hundred Contribution Points for one? Aren't you scamming your own people?"

"Make it a bit cheaper, and I'll buy ten right away!"

"Damn, are you that rich, Lord? How'd you get so many Contribution Points?"

"Don't you know killing Demonic Beasts also gives you Contribution Points? Fifty for a Qi Cultivation Realm beast, and a hundred for one in the Foundation Establishment Realm."

"..."

Flourishing Flowers directly bought two Storage Rings, not feeling the slightest pinch from spending one thousand Contribution Points.

With no exchange existing in this game, all trading was done internally among players. As long as you had enough Contribution Points, no one would question you even if you bought everything.

However, Flourishing Flowers buying two rings at once caught quite a few people's attention.

Just when people were thinking of asking if he wanted to team up to clear the Demon Beast Forest, Flourishing Flowers headed straight for the Teleportation Array instead.

Stepping out of the Teleportation Array, Flourishing Flowers immediately mounted his Flying Sword and departed.

But his destination was not the Demon Beast Forest.

"Where's Flourishing Flowers off to?"

"Judging by the direction, it seems he's headed to Jiangnan. Truly the number one bootlicker."

"Number one bootlicker? What do you mean by that? I'm a Third Test player; I don't know a lot of this stuff."

"Flourishing Flowers has fallen for a Female NPC, Yan Ruyu, the shopkeeper of the Celestial Cyan Workshop in Jiangnan. He's given her tons of gifts before, but she ignores him. I suspect he's going to give her a Storage Ring this time."

"Being a bootlicker to this extent... he's really one of a kind!"

"..."

For players, interacting with female NPCs wasn't a big deal. After all, it was just a game.

But judging by Flourishing Flowers' actions, it seemed he was truly smitten.

A real person falling for a virtual character? That seemed problematic, no matter how one looked at it. Something like that was clearly never going to work out. How was his behavior any different from wasting Contribution Points?

In the eyes of other players, Flourishing Flowers' actions were a complete waste!

What was that saying again? Bootlickers never prosper! Especially not this kind of impractical, fantasy-based bootlicking!

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