Chapter Bonanza (2/10)
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Having never encountered a Riddle-Speaker before, this post-apocalyptic country bumpkin was caught completely off guard.
When he looked back at the Tree of Wisdom, a prompt quickly appeared: his remaining question quota for the month had dropped to 0.
However, although the Tree of Wisdom’s answer was rather cryptic, he wasn’t particularly disappointed. Because this answer confirmed the one thing he most wanted to know: The scene he’d seen in the Adventure Lottery shard was indeed the Star Forest.
Qiyu recalled the flowers blooming everywhere, the many races he’d never seen before, and the lively celebrations… So the Star Forest could actually look like that?
If it wasn’t real, which part of it wasn’t real?
If it’s real, then why has the Star Forest turned into what it is now?
His mind was filled with questions, and his drowsiness had completely vanished, so he simply sat down under the Tree of Wisdom and began his cultivation.
Meanwhile, in Server 88.
After Dan Xingyu returned through the teleportation gate, he opened the server chat:
【God Has No Form: .】
【Life Is Hard Without a Phone: Er Shen is here. Are you still in the Star Forest, or have you come back?】
【Eternal Night: You said there’d be a surprise tonight. What is it? @God Has No Form.】
【God Has No Form: Yeah, I’m back.】
【God Has No Form: @Eternal Night, call me “bro,” and I’ll tell you.】
【Eternal Night: Get lost!】
【God Has No Form: Hold on, hold on—I’m telling you, it’s a real surprise. The kind where everyone in the server will have to thank me—and it’ll make you call me “Dad.” Calling me “Er Shen,” isn’t that at all unreasonable?】
【V50: Night God, why don’t you just give in to Er Shen? After all, you’ve never actually won a verbal spat with him anyway.】
【Low Battery: Wow, you guys up there just won’t let Night God off the hook.】
【Life Without a Phone Is Tough: Ever since I found out Er Shen is a kid, I’ve been super understanding of whatever he does. (Lights a cigarette)】
Eternal Night was the last to speak—they don’t know if he left the server-wide chat out of anger.
【God Has No Form: Check my trade page.】
At first, players in Server 88 thought he’d listed another item similar to “Ice and Snow,” so they eagerly clicked on it, only to see a single item listed on God Has No Form’s trade page.
【Basic Martial Arts: After paying the price, you can view and learn it. Price: 1 Beast Crystal.】
???
【I Just Left: Holy shit?】
【V50: Whoa! Martial Arts?】
God Has No Form made another grand entrance with his flashy special effects.
【God Has No Form: It’s a gem compiled by the big shot “I Love Survival Game” community. He heard everyone in Server 88 is like my own kids, so for my sake, he had me bring you a copy too.】
【God Has No Form: What do you think? For a surprise like this, is it too much to ask you to call me “bro”?】
【V50: Er Shen Bro, I’ll call you “bro” first!】
【Two Dogs Down There: Praise to the game’s top player, praise to Er Shen, my godfather—I’ll buy it first.】
【Life Without a Phone Is Tough: Isn’t the top player “I Love Survival Game” just too awesome? I remember he’s a mage; how come he can even pull off martial arts? Could he be the legendary master of both magic and martial arts?】
【Life Without a Phone Is Tough: 1 Beast Crystal—that’s practically a charity price. @God Has No Form, Er Shen, please make sure to cling tight to this “leg,” okay?】
People in the small group are also frantically tagging God Has No Form:
【My Reaction: The wealthy family that Er Shen married into is truly wealthy. @God Has No Form, come on, be honest—you’re not really going to abandon your brothers and head to Server 01, are you?】
After all, God Has No Form already has a way to get to Server 01—who knows when he might get his hands on an item that lets him transfer to another server.
【God Has No Form: Relax, relax. I couldn’t bear to leave all these kids behind.】
【Two Dogs Down There: Please thank the game big shot for us—this is truly a huge favor.】
【God Has No Form: Got it, I’ll pass it along. He’s just that kind of person—this martial art sells for about the same price in Server 01, too.】
【The Sun Rose From The West: You mentioned before that it’s freezing over there, right? If the big shot needs anything to keep warm, just ask— we’ll help out without a second thought.】
【God Has No Form: The big shot of this game is loaded—they wouldn’t even look at your melons. However, down the line, there might be opportunities to do some business with players in your region.】
None of them were stupid.
They quickly realized that since Er Shen could sell ice and snow as well as swiftlet meat to players in Server 88, he could just as easily buy up useful items to sell to Server 01.
The Earthfire Dragon hides they’d acquired earlier were likely part of a similar scheme.
God Has No Form chatted briefly with his friends in the small group, then checked the chat channel and discovered that Eternal Night had actually popped up again.
Tough as ever.
【Eternal Night: I did call you “bro,” but I was addressing “I Love Survival Game.” It really was a big surprise—I admit my gaming bro is awesome and generous. But you’re just a salesman—what are you trying to pull?】
Eternal Night said this on purpose; there was absolutely no way he’d back down to God Has No Form.
He thought this would get under God Has No Form’s skin.
But to his surprise, it just gave that kid a thrill.
【God Has No Form: All right, all right, I’ll be sure to pass that along to my gaming buddy. If he knew he had a secret fan all the way over in Server 88, he’d definitely be thrilled.】
【Eternal Night: ???】
【V50: Haha, Night God, you’ve definitely never seen the Two Gods together with Game Big Shot. I think praising Game Big Shot probably makes him even happier than praising him directly.】
The entire night passed quickly as he cultivated.
Qiyu opened his eyes right on time. Having cultivated all night under the Tree of Wisdom, his mind was clearer than ever before.
He got up and first went to take a look at the mist star flower sea next door.
Duo Ju was sleeping sprawled out in the mist star flower sea, so he decisively chose not to disturb him—given how particular this little cat is, it certainly wouldn’t want to be seen in such an inelegant state.
Qiyu walked up to the treehouse, where the tall butler was already waiting.
“Did you and your guest both rest well last night?” he asked.
Qiyu laughed cheerfully: “We both slept very well, butler.”
Butler: “I’m glad to hear it. I’ve already prepared breakfast; you may enjoy it whenever you’d like.”
Qiyu really found it quite magical.
He hadn’t provided the butler with any ingredients—how had the butler conjured up the food?
Curious, he asked the question outright.
Could it be that the butler, just like the “mature trash can,” was capable of producing food on its own?
The butler replied, “My factory settings include a built-in backpack that stores about a week’s worth of food. This week is used to test whether my master likes my cooking program. If you’re satisfied, you can provide ingredients afterward, and I’ll take long-term responsibility for your meals.”
The country bumpkin was stunned once again.
Could a blue-quality alchemy puppet really be this useful?
With the butler being so versatile, Qiyu couldn’t help but ask, “Then how much do you know about the Star Forest, Butler?”
The butler hesitated before answering.
Qiyu looked at it curiously and saw that the butler’s expression was, unusually, blank.
It stood frozen in place, as if searching through its data. A moment later, it replied, “I’m very sorry, My Lord. My database contains no information whatsoever regarding the Star Forest.”
Qiyu thought to himself that it was only natural for the alchemy puppet not to know.
After all, when they went to Gold Hole City, even Leslie and the others had a hard time remembering what the Star Forest was at first.
“It’s not your fault,” Qiyu shook his head and said, “It’s just that our Star Forest is too far away from the outside world.”
He felt that Duo Ju was absolutely right: “I’ll do my best to explore more areas and let more people know about the Star Forest.”
He went back inside to take a shower, and when he came out, he noticed that Duo Ju had already woken up.
When he saw the cat again—he didn’t know how Duo Ju had managed it—it had already groomed itself perfectly, with every single hair smooth as silk.
“Did you sleep well last night, Duo Ju?”
Duo Ju: “It was wonderful! Mr. Game.”
Qiyu said, “The butler has already prepared breakfast. Would you like to join us?”
Duo Ju’s eyes lit up: “Sure thing.”
The butler’s database must have contained information on the Golden Maneki-neko, as he’d prepared a bowl of very light meat congee for Duo Ju, along with slices of ham pan-fried with just the right amount of seasoning, their edges slightly crispy.
Just watching Duo Ju eat without even lifting his head, it was clear the little cat was thoroughly enjoying his meal.
After breakfast, Duo Ju seemed a bit reluctant to leave: “All right, Mr. Game, we need to get ready for the transaction.”
Last night, neither the man nor the cat had mentioned the wandering merchant’s deal. After all, last night was meant to be a gathering among friends.
Qiyu felt a bit reluctant, but what Duo Ju had said yesterday had already given him a vague yet clear direction.
He said, “I’ll do my best to let more people know about the Star Forest.”
Duo Ju’s response was to pull a familiar, oversized gift box out of his small shoulder bag.
With a bang, the gift box burst open.
A familiar product page appeared before Qiyu.
This Wandering Merchant’s Product List:
- Teleportation Scroll, priced at 2,000 Level 1 Beast Crystals.
- Resource Zone Card (any color), priced at 1,000 Level 1 Beast Crystals.
- Energy Crystal Card, priced at 50 Level 1 Beast Crystals. Limit of 5 per purchase.
- Single-Use Party Scroll, priced at 500 Level 1 Beast Crystals.
- Single-Use Location Teleportation Scroll, priced at 500 Level 1 Beast Crystals.
- Random Region Exploration Blueprint, priced at 10,000 Level 1 Beast Crystals.
Qiyu carefully reviewed all the items on the interface this time. He silently looked at Duo Ju and noticed the little cat winking at him.
He was a little worried: “Duo Ju, you haven’t done anything to interfere with your own actions, have you?”
After all, Duo Ju’s identity as a “traveling merchant” seemed to have been connected to the survival game from the very beginning.
Each of these items looked very useful, and their purpose was quite clear.
He was afraid the little cat was giving him special treatment.
Duo Ju’s cheeks puffed up with anger, making them look like they could be pinched at any moment: “What are you thinking, Mr. Game!”
“Even though you’re my good friend, you can’t question a traveling merchant’s professional integrity.”
O-okay, as a traveling merchant, it does indeed have the right to replace one-sixth of the merchandise.
It just secretly slipped in a teleportation scroll that could save his life in a critical moment.
But that’s within its legitimate authority—it’s completely by the book!
The kitten tilted its head back with a touch of pride: “So which ones are you going to buy, Mr. Game?”
Duo Ju looked completely justified, so Qiyu felt reassured.
“Every single one is a very useful item.” He feigned deep thought, catching a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of the kitten staring at him with wide eyes.
“It seems a bit hard to choose.” The kitten was so nervous that its whiskers were twitching.
Qiyu finally couldn’t hold back any longer and said with a smile, “Well then, of course I’ll take them all!”
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