Taking advantage of the gap, a female candidate quietly approached Bai Pu for a chat.

Bai Pu exchanged identities with her.

The female candidate's code name was Cuttlefish, and the male candidate next to her was Iron Crocodile.

Bai Pu didn't want to reveal his real name directly, so he temporarily came up with a code name for himself—Gangxin.

"Gang" represents a strong physique, and "xin" signifies an evolving heart!

"Gangxin, in the Chibi scenario, going solo is at a great disadvantage! Why don't we unite?" Cuttlefish whispered, "Do you know? The 'Overlord' from the Western Capital Region has already recruited over a dozen candidates and formed an offensive and defensive alliance! Their goal is to sweep the top ten in the Spirit Realm exploration subject."

Bai Pu had no objection to this; he certainly understood the benefits of uniting. Although everyone was a candidate and in competition, Bai Pu's opponents were not just the two in front of him, or even the dozens of candidates in this plane, but tens of thousands of Awakened candidates distributed across other mirror planes!

A small-scale alliance could greatly boost the overall rankings of a trio group, so why not?

As for the internal competition among the three and whether someone would backstab, Bai Pu had some confidence in his own intelligence.

The male with the code name "Iron Crocodile" suddenly asked bluntly, "Gangxin, are you above Level 3?"

Cuttlefish retorted, "Why ask like that? Most of our batch got full marks in virtual combat; how could they not be above Level 3?"

Bai Pu knew Iron Crocodile likely had a reconnaissance skill that revealed his level. He didn't hide it and directly showed his professional level.

"Level 2?"

Cuttlefish's eyes widened, evidently surprised by Bai Pu's low level.

It wasn't that she discriminated against lower levels, but such are the rules of the Spirit Realm Will!

When low-level Awakened face high-level opponents, their damage is reduced, and the damage they receive increases! With such disparities, the difference cannot be explained simply.

Not to mention the threshold from Level 3 to Level 4, which is a transition from a low-level Awakened to a mid-level Awakened, where there's a significant power gap!

Once Iron Crocodile got confirmation, his attitude changed markedly, from friendliness to becoming somewhat aloof.

He cleared his throat and said, "Gangxin, you have a good relationship with Doctor Liu, right? Your Charm Value isn't low, is it? Try to see if you can secure free movement space for us; there will naturally be benefits for you."

Cuttlefish hesitated, seeming to think Iron Crocodile's tone was too arrogant, and added, "Gangxin, as long as you can do it, when we have a chance to earn more points, we'll definitely take you with us."

Bai Pu didn't mind Iron Crocodile's attitude and calmly said, "Alright, but I need your cooperation. Opportunities are created, not waited for!"

"What do you mean?" The two immediately perked up.

...

Next morning, at dawn.

Bai Pu had read until late at night, getting only two or three hours of sleep. After getting up, he stretched lazily.

The Spirit Realm Will sent a prompt:

[Now announcing the real-time leaderboard for the Spirit Realm exploration subject of all Awakened candidates in Mirror Plane No.1 (only code names displayed).]

[First: Overlord, 57 points.]

[Second: Crazy Zen, 44 points.]

[Third place...]

[...]

[Tenth: Iron Cavalry, 19 points.]

[Your current converted score is: 5 points. Please keep up the effort.]

"These 5 points probably came from my transition from a lowly soldier to a Medical Officer in the Wounded Soldier Camp, a slight status elevation; yesterday's efforts earned me twenty Merit Points, which can also be converted into score."

Bai Pu squinted his eyes, browsing through the information.

The "code names" on this leaderboard were self-chosen by the Awakened. If someone were to name themselves something extravagant like "Dragon Leap Crazy Overlord of World Destruction," as long as it adhered to the word limit of the Spirit Realm Will, it would be fine.

But know this, those who entered Mirror Plane No.1 are all essentially Awakened geniuses with full scores in the virtual combat subject, and those who break into the top ten here are geniuses among geniuses!

They wouldn't resort to such crowd-pleasing antics.

Using their common code names to enhance their reputation is more in line with personal interests.

In just a day and a night, the first rank "Overlord" had scored 57 points, which was terrifying.

But Bai Pu wasn't worried. He had a vague guess about the way Overlord achieved such high scores.

The path Bai Pu chose had not yet reached the point of exertion!

Arriving at the Wounded Soldier Camp, Bai Pu saw Doctor Liu.

Doctor Liu was anxiously pacing around early in the morning.

"What should we do? The camp's medicine storage caught fire last night, with nearly half of the stock destroyed! With the war intensifying and medicine in short supply, if the Governor blames us, even our heads wouldn't be enough!"

Bai Pu, who had anticipated this, said, "Medical Director, the only option now is to go to Chaisang City to purchase more medicinal herbs."

Doctor Liu shook his head and said, "With wounded soldiers arriving daily, how can I leave?"

Bai Pu bowed slightly and said, "I, Lu Mou, humbly volunteer to undertake this task."

Doctor Liu, delighted, said, "Being from the Wu County Lu Clan, you're familiar with Chaisang and well-versed in herbal medicine; there couldn't be a more suitable person to purchase herbs."

Bai Pu received a prompt indicating an increase in Doctor Liu's favorability, reaching acquaintanceship level.

Bai Pu pointed to Iron Crocodile and Cuttlefish who were behind him, looking expectantly, and said, "The task of purchasing is significant; I fear I cannot manage it alone. Please allow me to take these two along."

Doctor Liu readily agreed, as Iron Crocodile and Cuttlefish wouldn't be of any use here; what they could do could easily be done by a few servants.

Doctor Liu wrote a note, sent it to the main camp, and the Deputy General in charge of logistics authorized it, strictly investigating the cause of the fire and dispatching a team (fifty soldiers) to set sail, taking Bai Pu and others to Chaisang City to buy medicinal herbs.

Before departing, Doctor Liu called Bai Pu aside and whispered, "If you're interested in Daoist Alchemy, you can inquire at Huilong Temple in Chaisang City, but don't neglect your main task."

Spirit Realm Will prompt:

[You have learned information about Daoist Alchemy from a native.]

[Detected that you have a sub-profession: Alchemist. Transition quest activated.]

[Transition Quest: Pill Master]

[Quest Objective: Visit a Pill Master at Huilong Temple in Chaisang City to learn Daoist Alchemy.]

[Quest Deadline: None (equivalent to the remaining duration of your stay in this plane's scenario)]

[Quest Difficulty: S]

[Quest Reward: Sub-profession: Pill Master.]

Thanking Doctor Liu, Bai Pu felt excited inside.

He understood why Doctor Liu mentioned it only today but not yesterday; it was due to the increase in favorability — with the medicine storage burned, Bai Pu volunteered to purchase herbs, turning this goodwill into increased favorability with Doctor Liu.

In fact, Bai Pu felt a bit guilty, as he was the one who suggested burning the medicine storage to gain the opportunity to venture out for herb purchases, which Iron Crocodile and Cuttlefish executed.

However, Awakened individuals often engage in such opportunistic and profit-driven activities, with very flexible moral boundaries, and Bai Pu must adapt to this, or else he would be eliminated from the Awakened world!

All he could do was purchase good herbs, hoping Doctor Liu wouldn't lose his head over this.

...

Standing at the bow, watching the mighty Yangtze River, the three candidates felt an exhilarating sense of vast opportunities stretching before them.

"Gangxin is really clever, the idea was indeed effective," Cuttlefish said joyfully.

"As we sail downstream this time to Chaisang City for herbal purchases, excluding the travel time back and forth, we can stay in Chaisang City for at most three days."

Bai Pu glanced at the commander of the warship, the native team leader named Zhou Yue, and whispered, "Within these three days, I need to purchase the herbs. The two of you have free movement, but don't forget the agreement."

"Yes, yes," Cuttlefish hurriedly said, "when you need help, we'll assist you, giving it our all. This was certified by the Spirit Realm Will, so you can rest assured."

Iron Crocodile also nodded. Now there was a team of Sun Quan's Army sailors on this warship, led naturally by Team Leader Zhou Yue. However, as the head of the herbal procurement, Bai Pu also had the authority to deploy these sailors for non-combat tasks.

Even without the Spirit Realm Will's certification, the two wouldn't dare break their promise.

Because when purchasing herbs and returning to the camp, they'd still rely on Bai Pu to put in a good word with Doctor Liu.

If they annoyed Bai Pu and he complained to Doctor Liu, they'd surely suffer, with the best outcome being sent back to their original troops!

If Bai Pu were ruthless, he could even fabricate charges to have them imprisoned, causing them to miss the pivotal plot of the final burning of Chibi and the pursuit of the Cao Army, which would be a huge loss.

Iron Crocodile and Cuttlefish hadn't realized that their attitudes towards Bai Pu had subtly shifted, from initially looking down on him to now cautiously trying to please him, with their small group subtly centering around Bai Pu.

Cuttlefish, trying to curry favor, softly said, "Gangxin, last night, besides the small act of burning the medicine storage by Iron Crocodile and me, something big happened!"

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