CHAPTER 197: CHAPTER 192: LET’S GET THE PARTY STARTED! (REQUESTING MONTHLY TICKETS)

Xu Nian had no choice but to slack off. The players were advancing too quickly. No sooner had his realm been raised to the Foundation Establishment Stage than the players also advanced their realms through the lottery. There he was, the Sect Leader, looking rather foolish.

They just wouldn’t let him enjoy the game, would they? Fine, you all can play then. I’m done caring!

Xu Nian chose to lie flat, completely giving up on continuing. Do whatever you want; I’ll just lie here and level up. He decided to leave everything to the System, becoming the ultimate hands-off manager!

The players, however, were clueless about his decision to slack off. And it was precisely at this moment that the System issued a new task to them.

[Task: Spiritual Vein!]

[Description: The Profound Yellow Sect has begun to take shape as a cultivator sect, and a Spiritual Vein is an indispensable resource. Use a large quantity of Spiritual Stones to condense a Spiritual Vein exclusive to the Profound Yellow Sect!]

[Reward: 3,000 Contribution Points.]

Three thousand Contribution Points?! Seeing this task, the players couldn’t help but gasp.

With such a tempting offer, who would log off now? No logging off! My life belongs to your game company now!

"I write novels in Antarctica" and "Great Inventor" sped up the development of their Immortal Artifacts when they saw this.

Spiritual Stones! That was the current target for the players. To condense a Spiritual Vein, a massive quantity of Spiritual Stones would be required—an astronomical number for them.

"Where can we get Spiritual Stones? I’m overwhelmed; this reward is just too insane!"

"There should be some in the Demon Beast Forest, right? Anyone want to team up to farm the Demon Beast Forest? Preferably bring a Fire Technique user!"

"We need a few high-level players proficient in Earth Techniques. Let’s just go mining in the Demon Beast Forest."

"Buying materials: Void Spiritual Stones, Celestial Heart Stones, Rootless Water, Cold Wood; prices are negotiable."

The players who had planned to log off and rest abandoned the idea upon seeing the task. There were quite a few dedicated grinders in the game. What if they logged off and other players completed the task? Three thousand Contribution Points would vanish.

Forget it! We’ll grind all night if we have to!

Seeing the players about to head out for the task, Xu Nian reactivated the Teleportation Array and cautioned them not to bring outsiders to the Profound Yellow Sect. The players all nodded in agreement, assuring him, before passing through the Teleportation Array to the Celestial One Daoist Sect.

The disciples of the Celestial One Daoist Sect had all been taken away by Liu Ruyan, which was a stroke of karmic opportunity for the players. So now, the Celestial One Daoist Sect was deserted. Upon arrival, the players headed straight for the Demon Beast Forest without hesitation.

Boss Dung Beetle hesitated as he led the Ao Xiang Squad. The inexplicable pursuit he had endured before was still vivid in his memory. What if they got chased again once they went up there? It was better to play it safe and figure out what was really going on first.

"Boss Dung Beetle, are we not going in?" One Blade 999 asked from the side.

"Go in for what? To get killed?" Boss Dung Beetle rolled his eyes. "I’ve had enough bad luck. Let’s find out why I was being chased before anything else."

The members of the Ao Xiang Squad nodded in agreement. Indeed. Their boss had been inexplicably chased by demonic beasts for three city blocks. Anyone would be apprehensive in his place.

"Should we go take a look first?" Steady as an Old Dog spoke up. "If we can figure out the reason, we’ll come back and tell you, Boss."

It seemed the Ao Xiang Squad would have to go ahead first. Boss Dung Beetle nodded. "Be careful. Come back immediately once you find out the reason. I’ll be waiting for you at the entrance to Taibai Hall."

With his consent, the four members of the Ao Xiang Squad rushed toward the Back Mountain Forest Sea. One Blade 999, Starting with a Dog, Output Relies on Shouting, and Steady as an Old Dog—all four of them had a fearless demeanor. They still had Contribution Points, so dying was of little consequence.

If Boss Dung Beetle were with them, he might get dragged into trouble. So... the four of them were free to do as they pleased.

"Old Dog, stay steady. If something seems off, let us know right away."

"That’s right, the squad’s counting on you now."

"Unleash your ’steady’ technique; whether we strike it rich depends on you, brother."

Steady as an Old Dog nodded heavily. At that moment, he felt the weight of responsibility on his shoulders.

"Let’s be cautious," Steady as an Old Dog said in a grave voice. "We don’t need to go mining yet. Let’s just collect materials around the periphery for now. Aren’t Great Inventor and Brother South Pole buying materials? It’s too dangerous deeper in, and we’re not strong enough. There’s no need to throw our lives away. We can just gather materials safely and look into other opportunities when our power has increased."

The other three nodded in agreement. He truly was an Old Dog, incredibly steady.

Junlin and his team from Lingxiao Hall headed directly into the depths, intending to target demonic beasts. Based on their knowledge from novels and anime, they knew demonic beasts were valuable materials and selling them could fetch a good price.

"There’s movement ahead!" Under the Phoenix Tree stopped abruptly and gestured for the others to be careful. They still had to leave the Demon Beast Forest, so there was no need to die senselessly and waste time here.

The group crept closer and saw, behind a thicket, a band of demonic beasts resembling centipedes surrounding several Non-player Characters.

"Protect the Young Master! Zhang Yuan, don’t fall back!"

"Watch out for the demonic beasts behind you! Don’t let them encircle us!"

"Get the Young Master out of here first! We can’t go on; we need to retreat!"

"Damn it, why are there Purple Centipedes here? Our route was supposed to be clear."

The three guards, all injured, were protecting a visibly panicked youth in their midst. However, the surrounding Purple Centipedes had already closed in. Each was three meters long, and there were around ten of them present.

The youth swallowed, his face pale as he watched the scene unfold. He had come here in search of Bitter Heart Grass. Unlike cultivators who came to temper themselves, he just wanted to take the Bitter Heart Grass back with him. But now, that clearly seemed impossible. He had brought more than twenty guards, but by the time they reached this point, only three remained alive. Escaping alive now seemed incredibly difficult.

Behind the thicket, Black Immortal Art stroked his chin, murmuring, "Don’t Purple Centipedes have Celestial Heart Stones inside them?"

"They do indeed have Celestial Heart Stones!" Junlin nodded. "Great Inventor doesn’t offer a high price, only fifty Contribution Points each. But there are quite a few Purple Centipedes here, so we can make a few hundred Contribution Points."

If there’s profit to be made, that’s good enough. So why hesitate?

Old Mo immediately activated the Eight Gates Escape Armor and leaped towards the group of Purple Centipedes.

BANG!

A foot stomped down. The nearest Purple Centipede had its head crushed, and the ground cracked like a spiderweb.

"Charge, charge, charge! For Contribution Points!"

I want to eat breakfast yelled, "Damn you! Are you actually using the Fire Control Technique to boost your Brahma Battle Body?"

"Learn the Fire Control Technique yourself if you’ve got the guts!"

"Fire Escape - Fire Dragon Bullet!"

The members of Lingxiao Hall charged out from the thickets and, without a word, began thrashing the surrounding Purple Centipedes. With Old Mo spearheading the attack, the others just needed to clean up. In just a few moments, they had dealt with all the Purple Centipedes.

The youth and the three guards were left dumbfounded. What just happened? A few Qi Cultivation Realm individuals actually killed Foundation Establishment Stage Purple Centipedes, and with such ease?

Junlin and his team paid no attention to the four individuals. They quickly extracted the Celestial Heart Stones from the Purple Centipedes and then hurriedly left.

The youth and the guards were thoroughly confused. Since when did such a team appear in the Demon Beast Forest? Especially that first young man who charged out. He was clearly only at the Qi Cultivation Realm. Yet, the aura he emitted was far stronger than that of someone at the Foundation Establishment Stage. Even though they were worldly and knowledgeable, they had never witnessed such a scene.

"Young Master, it seems we’ve been saved?" the guard named Zhang Yuan said, turning his head.

Yes. They were saved. But the martial prowess of that young man had already been deeply seared into their minds.

Just then, Junlin came running back, staring at them and asking, "How much are these Purple Centipede corpses worth in Spiritual Stones?"

Everyone was stunned for a moment. The youth was the first to react, quickly saying, "A Foundation Establishment Stage demonic beast corpse is worth at least one hundred Lower-grade Spiritual Stones. There are people in Kuhai Town who buy them."

One hundred Lower-grade Spiritual Stones? That’s so little. And even if we took them all out to exchange, carrying thousands of Lower-grade Spiritual Stones back wouldn’t be easy. It’s so troublesome without a Storage Ring!

"Brother," the youth hurriedly spoke up, "I’m willing to buy these Purple Centipedes! How about one hundred and fifty Spiritual Stones for each one?"

Hmm? Are there such naive NPCs? Junlin turned back and shouted to Old Mo and the others, "Old Mo, come back! Someone here wants to buy the Purple Centipedes."

Upon hearing him, Old Mo and the others ran back, each one looking at the NPCs before them. They couldn’t even handle Purple Centipedes? Too weak. Are all cultivators outside this useless?

"Brothers," the youth said, taking off his Storage Ring, "I’m looking for Bitter Heart Grass. It’s less than a hundred miles to the right. Could you please lend a hand? There are one thousand Middle-grade Spiritual Stones in here. Consider it my payment for your help. The price for these Purple Centipede corpses is separate. As long as you help me get the Bitter Heart Grass, that will be enough."

Bitter Heart Grass? Junlin turned to look at Black Immortal Art. Black Immortal Art had done his research before coming; he remembered most of the materials and demonic beasts in the Demon Beast Forest.

"Where the Bitter Heart Grass grows, there’s bound to be a Three-Eyed Black Tiger, a peak Foundation Establishment Stage demonic beast," Black Immortal Art said, hesitating for a moment. "We can probably fight it, but I’m afraid Old Mo will have to go all out."

"Don’t worry, I’m in great shape right now! I could kick a Golden Core expert to death with one foot!" Old Mo grinned and gave them a thumbs-up.

With his assurance, everyone else breathed a sigh of relief. Their top fighter still had to be Old Mo; no one else would suffice.

"We can help you," Junlin said to the youth, "but the Three-Eyed Black Tiger’s corpse must belong to us. If you agree, then let’s set off together."

"Yes, yes!" the youth exclaimed, overjoyed. "Thank you, Brothers, for your help! If you need anything in the future, just come to Celestial Rhythm City and look for me. My name is Lin Chen!"