A huge thanks to GreenKiTea and Empires for the kofis, enjoy the bonus chapters!

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

He still had three more draws left.

He spent another 10 Adventure Shards to draw. This time, he got a treasure map fragment.

【Treasure Map Fragment: Collect 100 fragments to unlock the complete treasure map. Current progress: 1/100.】 

Qiyu: “How many?”

He silently put the fragment into his backpack. Barring any surprises, he wouldn’t be able to collect them all anytime soon. 

With two chances left, he decided to use them all at once. 

This time, he drew another streak of golden light. 

Once again, the images flashed by rapidly. This time, it seemed to be a large crowd—no, more than just people.

Besides humans, there were creatures with furry ears and tails… half-human, half-beast? People with green skin, and elves with pointed ears… It looked like several different races gathered together, as if they were holding some kind of celebration.

A cheerful song drifted through the air.

Qiyu faintly made out a few words: “…To the beautiful spring…surrounded by flowers…”

Qiyu snapped back to reality and surmised: Was a large group of people celebrating in honor of spring? In addition to this golden light, another item appeared:

【Gain +3 attribute points. Do you want to allocate them?】

Qiyu opened his personal panel and clicked on the Combat Power tab: 

Survival ID: I Love Survival Game

Age: 195

Attack: 50

Defense: 26

Agility: 36

Mental: 140

He glanced over the stats and allocated the three attribute points to his relatively low Defense. 

According to Survival Game standards, whether it’s item quality or chest level, gold is the second-highest quality after the legendary crimson.

These valuable attribute points didn’t seem to emit any special glow; instead, it was that inexplicable image that was bathed in golden light. 

So, what is the Survival Game trying to tell players? He opened “01 Survival Squad”:

【I Love Survival Game: I just saw two new scenes—one was a beautiful forest, and the other showed many different races gathered together, in a celebration in honor of spring.】

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: I feel like we saw the same thing! I also saw a forest full of flowers, where a group of children was playing with snow-white beasts that looked like unicorns.】

【Civil Engineering Brother: The newcomer didn’t get a scene.】

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: Didn’t get a scene +1.】

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: I didn’t see the scene either. But I did get a silver dagger—excellent quality, very light, and beautiful. They say it’s made with elven craftsmanship.】

【I Love Survival Game: Did any of you get a treasure map fragment?】This time, three “Nos” appeared in unison. 

Qiyu forwarded the message.

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: Collect 100 to unlock the treasure map? Wow, if you don’t want us to get the treasure map, just say so.】

【I Love Survival Game: Let’s take it slow.】

【Civil Engineering Brother: Yeah, everyone’s talking about the leaderboard right now. The competition for a few spots is super intense—the newbies’ rankings keep going up and down.】

【Need A Little Money To Save Me: Anyway, the boss is firmly in first place on all three leaderboards, so I feel at ease.】 

The regional leaderboards will be finalized at 12:00 a.m. tonight.

Qiyu clicked on the leaderboards.

On the Combat Power Leaderboard, the Shelter Leaderboard, and the Personal Wealth Leaderboard—he was ranked first on all of them.

The Combat Power Rankings go without saying—though his gear, compared to many players, isn’t particularly extensive or flashy,

But with his base stats, Level 3 Mage, and the semi-artifact Guardian Mage Robe, his position was completely unassailable.

The Shelter Rankings were even more of a given. Not to mention that he was the first player in the entire server to upgrade his sanctuary to Level 3, nor the 200 energy towers, advanced energy towers, and Statue of the Goddess of Nature in his territory, along with all those farmlands, small lakes, gardens, and magical plants. 

Just the Tree of Life he’d just acquired, along with the 66 Ancient War Trees he’d recently dug up from the Star Forest, were enough to grant him immense bonuses.

As for the personal wealth rankings… a friend message popped up.

【God Has No Form: Check out this screenshot!】

What he sent was a screenshot of the leaderboards.

First place on the Personal Combat Power Rankings for Server 88, first place on the Shelter Rankings, and first place on the Wealth Rankings. All three were held by God Has No Form. 

【God Has No Form: I was actually planning to transfer 100,000 gold coins to you, but on second thought, I’ll wait a bit. I’ll buy them from you after the rankings are finalized at 12:00, just in case.】 

What about the 100,000 gold coins? What if some scoundrel steals it? 

【I Love Survival Game: I have it too.】 He sent a screenshot back.

【God Has No Form: I knew from the start that you’d be number one on all three leaderboards in Server 01.】

【God Has No Form: You’re so good—how could anyone possibly surpass you?】

【I Love Survival Game: Same goes for you—you’re that good. Even among all the #1 players from different regions in the Arena, you’re still the best.】

Dan Xingyu: Ahem! Why are you praising people so much?

【God Has No Form: Not necessarily—you’re in the Arena too.】

【I Love Survival Game: We are not rivals; we are the number one team.】

Qiyu recalled what he’d just said and opened Civil Engineering Brother’s chat window:

【I Love Survival Game: The rankings are about to be finalized. You spent 50,000 Beast Crystals on a Body Tempering Technique—are you sure that’s okay?】

【Civil Engineering Brother: Haha, don’t worry, don’t worry—I wouldn’t forget something like that. Anyway, you, the gaming big shot, are definitely number one. The rewards for 2nd through 10th place are the same, so as long as I don’t drop out of the top ranks on the wealth list, it won’t make a difference.】 

He’s currently fifth on the personal wealth leaderboard in Server 01.

I have to say, the Merchant class really is quite wealthy. Here are the top rankings across all lists in Server 01:

Combat Power Rankings:

1st place: I Love Survival Game.

2nd place: Reaching for the Moon in the Heavens.

3rd Place: “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens.” 

4th Place: “Tides Rising in the Azure Sea.”

5th Place: “Traveler in the Misty Rain of Jiangnan.” 

6th Place: “Liver Emperor.” 

7th Place: “Tranquility Yields Transcendence.” 

8th Place: “The More I Involution The Bitterer My Life Becomes.” 

9th Place: “Little Old Me.” 

10th Place: “I’m Domineering.”

Qiyu was just surprised that *My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens* had lost its second-place spot on the Combat Power Rankings when he noticed that the tenth-place entry, “I’m Domineering,” had changed to a somewhat unfamiliar ID: “Bright Moon, Gentle Breeze.”

Qiyu thought back carefully and realized that this ID wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. If he remembered correctly, when the rankings first appeared, this player had been in the top ten.

However, this person didn’t seem to post much in the region chat—or perhaps he simply didn’t pay much attention to the chat himself and hadn’t noticed him. In the Team 01 group chat, aside from himself, Teacher Tranquility Yields Transcendence actually held the highest combat power ranking. 

What’s more, he didn’t just suddenly rise to the top—he’s consistently ranked among the top players on the power rankings.

In Server 01, everyone knows this 70-year-old grandpa—still going strong and easily outclassing a whole bunch of young people.

According to the saying “Cockroach Taste Is So Weird”: Teacher Tranquility Yields Transcendence feels like the kind of old man who does morning exercises in the park and can easily do five one-armed push-ups. 

Qiyu checked the rankings of the other group members: Civil Engineering Brother was 23rd in the region’s combat power rankings, “Dare Not Open My Eyes” was 49th, and “Money” wasn’t even in the top 100. The two were quite candid in the group chat: “Our stats are actually pretty average—we’re relying entirely on spending money to upgrade our gear.”

One is a merchant and the other an alchemist—they’re certainly not short on cash.

As for Money, he had neither much liquid cash nor any top-tier gear. However, he said he was already quite satisfied just to be in the same group as a bunch of big names on the leaderboards.

Now let’s look at the other two leaderboards.

The top players on the Shelter Leaderboard, in order, are: I Love Survival Game, My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens, Reaching for the Moon in the Heavens, Traveler in the Misty Rain of Jiangnan, Liver Emperor, Need A Little Money To Save Me, I Am Lily, Little Old Me, I’m Domineering, and Civil Engineering Brother. 

Qiyu wasn’t particularly surprised—all the players listed up to Money were those who had earned enough points during the last Swift Points Event to redeem the Level 3 Shelter blueprint.

As for the ones further down the list, they’d consistently ranked at the top of the shelter leaderboard as well.

Next were the top players on the personal wealth leaderboard: “New Love for Survival,” “Reaching for the Moon in the Heavens,” “Traveler in the Misty Rain of Jiangnan,” “Liver Emperor,” “Civil Engineering Brother,” “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens,” “Little Old Me,” “I’m Domineering,” “Dare Not Open My Eyes,” and “Need A Little Money To Save Me.”

The wealth rankings didn’t seem very stable; in the blink of an eye, Qiyu watched as the player rankings changed, and “The More I Involution The Bitterer My Life Becomes” went to eleventh place. In fact, it wasn’t just the wealth rankings that were unstable.

Earlier, things were still somewhat stable, but as Qiyu looked further down the list, he saw the rankings and usernames constantly shifting—especially on the personal wealth leaderboard. Suddenly, an announcement popped up:

【Frequent trading among some players in this region has been detected. To maintain the fairness of the leaderboards as much as possible, from this moment until the leaderboards are finalized at 12:00, trading and gifting of items that affect leaderboard rankings are prohibited.】

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: Oh well, no more fun to be had.】

【Be A Good Person: Haha, I’ve never seen the trading board this lively.】

【I Am Lily: Xin actually thinks this is pretty good. At least now Xin can relax a bit and doesn’t have to stay on edge, constantly watching the rankings until 12:00 a.m.】

【Be A Good Person: Are even the top players on the leaderboard this nervous?】

【Civil Engineering Brother: This is a major issue that affects the treasure chest rewards. In our region, aside from the top players, who can really hold their ground completely?】

【I’m Domineering: Haha, you loser. @My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The HeavensMy Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens—how come you can’t even hold onto second place on the Combat Power Leaderboard anymore? And you’ve dropped all the way to sixth on the Wealth Leaderboard.】

【I’m Domineering: I’ve been wanting to say this for a while—when it comes to luck, who can compare to you? If it weren’t for your good luck, how could you have stayed at the top of the rankings for so long?】

【I’m Domineering: You’re not worthy of your rank—you’re bound to drop even further.】

Actually, “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens” is still ranked in the top spots across all three categories, and they’re still second on the Shelter Leaderboard. 

After all, as someone who held the top spot for quite a while right from the start, he’s got plenty of depth.

Players ranked 2–10 can all receive a Gold Chest reward.

“I’m Domineering” used this to taunt him, but aside from getting a verbal thrill out of it, it didn’t really mean much. 

But “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens” fell for it.

He really cares about it a lot.

What disgusts him the most, though, is this: “I’m Domineering” and “Little Old Me”—the two who betrayed him—are both in the top ranks this time, using the resources they previously swindled from him.

【My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens: “You’ve scammed resources from me just to scrape into the bottom of the top ranks—you think you’re so great, huh?”】

【My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens: Even if I drop in the rankings again, I’ll still have more than enough to crush you, you good-for-nothing.】 

They’re arguing again.

A group of players who couldn’t sleep watched with great interest. 

Qiyu wasn’t interested; he pulled out the chests he’d obtained during his daytime exploration. 1 brass chest, 6 fine iron chests, and 14 wooden chests.

He opened the brass chest first.

A blue light surged forth.

【Obtained alchemy puppet Butler x1.】

【Alchemy Puppet Butler: A best-selling product from the Dawson Trading Company, a highly intelligent alchemy puppet. Your all-purpose butler, helping you keep your home in perfect order so you have absolutely nothing to worry about.】