Chapter Bonanza (10/10)

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Qiyu and Dan Xingyu had not misjudged the situation. 

That display of intimidation had indeed deterred others from daring to challenge them, though covert surveillance was inevitable. Everything the two did—every word spoken and every action taken—after they left the Duke’s mansion was under the watchful eyes of others.

Given their status as “elf and dragon riders from a legendary land,” whatever the two of them do, no one seems to find it strange.

Going to a large general store to buy a huge pile of items—some for cooling off, others for staying warm—was interpreted as,  “They’ve never seen this before; they’re curious, and since they’re not short on money and have storage items, they spend without a second thought.” 

Going to a bookstore was even more normal—after all, they’d come from some mysterious family and wanted to read some books to learn about the outside world; wasn’t that perfectly reasonable? Even when Qiyu dropped his disguise as soon as he stepped out, revealing his black hair and black eyes, people had already come up with excuses for him.

An elf’s appearance is simply too eye-catching; if he didn’t change his look, walking down the streets of Ophelia, he’d be stared at by so many people that he wouldn’t be able to do anything. 

However, they felt the elf was still too inexperienced: if they were going to disguise themselves to blend in, they should at least make themselves look ordinary. Simply changing their hair and eye colors didn’t make their features any less striking, so they hadn’t achieved the goal of keeping a low profile. 

According to their original plan, they intended to stay in Ophelia for the full twenty-four hours. But their previous experience at the Duke’s mansion had been far from pleasant.

Moreover, they were both clearly a bit shaken up.

After finishing their shopping, they went to a restaurant recommended by a shop owner to sample some of the Kaila Empire’s specialties; it was just getting dark.

“Going back?” Qiyu asked.

Dan Xingyu, with his hands behind his back, followed behind him, kicking small pebbles along the roadside as he played, and said with a smile, “I told you, since I’m out with you, I’ll do whatever you say while we’re out.”

Qiyu: “Then let’s go home.” 

He summoned the survival panel and selected

“End Quest.” Soon, the clop-clop-clop of horse hooves rang out.

Dan Xingyu’s eyes widened as he saw clearly: ahead lay a narrow dead-end alley—there was no path at all. This wilderness carriage must have come from the void, or perhaps some kind of alternate dimension.

Qiyu glanced back and said quietly, “Let’s go.”

The two climbed into the carriage, and in the blink of an eye, their presence vanished completely from the Royal City of Ophelia.

To the “eyes” watching them, these two mysterious young people had walked into a secluded alley.

After standing there for a few moments, they vanished abruptly—along with their auras. Soon, several beams of light appeared at the spot.

Someone closed their eyes to sense the area for a moment before saying, “They’ve vanished without a trace throughout the entire Royal City of Ophelia. Is this… spatial power?” 

Or perhaps they used an extremely rare spatial teleportation artifact to leave.

Or… perhaps the one from earlier today intervened directly and took them away.

One of them murmured, “With such a figure backing them, it’s no wonder they have a few tricks up their sleeves.”

The elegant female spoke slowly: “Ladies and gentlemen, I advise you not to go along with their plan. The one standing behind them is not someone you can afford to provoke.” 

One of the clansmen snorted coldly, “I may have acted a bit brutally earlier today, but I didn’t lie. With elves and dragons— who’ve been missing for so long—appearing in the royal capital, I simply must get to the bottom of it.”

Among the group, the few who had taken action were indeed rough and direct, and they treated the two juniors with a haughty, contemptuous air. Yet from start to finish, no one had shown the slightest hint of murderous intent toward Qiyu and his companion.

Clearly, everyone was keeping their guard up: anyone daring to appear so brazenly must have something to fall back on. The few who “took action” were doing so partly to test the waters.

The only surprise was that this backing turned out to be a bit too formidable, leaving them battered and bruised. 

The female mage said, “Perhaps these two young friends just felt like it and came out to Ophelia for a bit of fun?” 

The others: …

Do you even believe that nonsense yourself? 

With their target completely gone, the group lost all interest in small talk. Soon, only the female mage who had spoken remained in the alley.

It had already grown dark, and warm yellow light shone from a house on one side of the alley, casting a glow on her beautiful face. It was none other than the magister Corinne, who had come to Qiyu and the others’ rescue earlier that day.

“Sigh,” she said wistfully. “I was telling the truth, so why doesn’t anyone believe me?” 

One afternoon was enough for the Ophélie Mages Association to find information about Qiyu within its own records. There was very little information about him, but every piece was shocking enough.

A month ago, he appeared in a small town called Gold Hole City in the Black Rock Mountain Range and passed the mage certification exam.

At 19 years old, he was a Level 3 Mage.

During his professional certification, he triggered a celestial phenomenon involving magical elements and received the favor of the Supreme God of Magic. 

After that, he vanished without a trace. He reappeared today in Ophelia, this time accompanied by a dragon knight friend.

Nineteen years old, a Level 3 Mage—a truly dazzling talent.

However, the Ophelia mages association was a bit baffled: Was this young man named Qiyu human or an elf?

Judging by his appearance today, he was undoubtedly an elf.

And with that certain someone backing him, his elven identity should be a foregone conclusion. 

Yet he listed his ethnicity as human on the registration form in Gold Hole City, and the test results showed his age as 19.

Nineteen is considered extremely young even among humans. Among the elven race, that would be nothing more than a baby.

The two of them drew a lot of suspicion and stares, but they simply patted the little alchemical horse on the rump and headed home.

In the blink of an eye, they were back in the Star Forest.

Both Qiyu and Dan Xingyu breathed a sigh of relief.

Dan Xingyu mused, “The royal capital was clearly convenient and had a pleasant climate. But now that we’re back, I finally feel that sense of peace and security that comes with being home.” 

Qiyu was feeding beast crystals to the little alchemy pony in his territory when he heard this and asked curiously, “Now that you’re in my territory, do you finally feel at ease?”

Dan Xingyu looked at him with a smile: “Yes, I feel just as at ease as if I were in my own territory. If one day the Golden Desert becomes too unbearable and I can’t stand living there anymore, please take me in, Lord.” 

Qiyu replied without hesitation, “No problem. My territory is vast—you can live wherever you like.”

Dan Xingyu raised an eyebrow, pressing his advantage: “Is a treehouse okay, too?” 

Qiyu: “Sure. My treehouse is so big—it won’t be cramped even with one more person.”

Then he heard Dan Xingyu sigh softly: “My Lord, you’re so easygoing—aren’t you afraid I’ll move right in and take over your home?”

It took Qiyu a moment to process what Dan Xingyu had said. 

He smiled: “I’m not afraid.”

“Hm?”

The last bit of beast crystal in the palm of his hand was licked clean by the little horse at the end of the year. Qiyu stroked its warm little head—which felt incredibly real to the touch—then turned around and said earnestly:

“You don’t need to take over—I’ll just share my warmth with you.” 

“I’m alone—a small room to sleep in is enough for me.” 

If all else fails, lying under the Tree of Life would be just fine. 

Dan Xingyu stared at him, then quickly looked away: “Hmph. I have a grand palace much bigger than your treehouse, so I won’t take your little room.”

“Okay.” 

The little horse trotted away. 

It was getting dark.

Dan Xingyu said, “I have to go home now, My Lord.” 

They’d bought a lot of things; they’d have to sort through them when they got

back and list everything on the trading page. Qiyu: “Mm-hmm, see you tomorrow.”

Dan Xingyu didn’t move.

Qiyu asked in confusion, “Is there something else?”

Dan Xingyu: “Hmm, wait a few minutes—didn’t they say the quest panel would show the settlement?” 

No sooner had he finished speaking than he noticed a change in his Survival Panel: “Here it comes.”

Qiyu couldn’t see his panel, but he could roughly guess what he was seeing.

He opened his own Survival Panel.

As he tapped it, a flash of light suddenly appeared on the Reputation Leaderboard.

Originally, the leaderboard had featured only a single entry for “Star Forest,” but now another region had appeared. Moreover, the numbers had changed dramatically.

First place: Star Forest, with 3,660 Reputation points. 

Second place: Golden Desert, with 3,000 Reputation points.

Qiyu was momentarily stunned. After all, he had previously visited Gold Hole City and the Winter Ice Plains, and even with the encounter with the Gareth siblings in the resource zone, he had only accumulated a total of 660 Reputation Points.

A single trip to the Royal City of Ophelia had actually earned him 3,000!

He couldn’t help but recall the people he’d met—the duke’s family, and that bunch of “dumplings” up in the sky. 22 He thought in amazement: They’re actually worth that much!

Just as he was pondering this, the numbers on the list changed again. Star Forest went from 3,660 to 3,680.

Golden Desert went from 3,000 to 3,020. The numbers were actually still rising slowly. 

It seemed that, perhaps because they were in a party, both of their Reputation values had increased by the same amount. 

Dan Xingyu suddenly looked up and told Qiyu, “All players in our server have received rewards.”

Last time, when Qiyu opened the Reputation Leaderboard, it triggered a server-wide announcement, and all players in Zone 01 received a random green resource point reward.

Although there was no server-wide announcement—since Golden Desert was in second place—all players in Zone 88 received a message and found an additional common resource point reward in their backpacks. 

Now, the entire region chat channel was in an uproar.

Dan Xingyu ignored the people tagging him for the time being.

He said dramatically, “This time, I hit the jackpot by tagging along with the Lord. A server-wide resource point reward—oh no, at this rate, I won’t even be able to pay off my debt by selling myself.” 

Qiyu:?

“You don’t need to sell yourself.” 

Dan Xingyu’s tone sounded almost regretful: “Really? It’s rare for me to be this proactive—once this opportunity’s gone, it’s gone for good.” 

Qiyu brushed the topic aside and rummaged through his backpack, pulling out a pile of items: “I almost forgot about these.” A stack of treasure chests—a “pleasant surprise” from this trip to Ophelia.

Exactly twenty.

He counted out ten: “Here’s half for you.”

Dan Xingyu: “No, no, no! I tagged along on your mission to Ophelia—I had nothing to do with those locals. I don’t want any of these!”

Qiyu: “But those people were all drawn here by your little dragon. Without the little dragon, we wouldn’t have received that many Reputation points.” 

Dan Xingyu insisted he didn’t want them.

Qiyu thought for a moment, then threatened him: “If you don’t take them, I won’t invite you to party up next time we go out.”

Even though it was a threat, his tone remained flat, and he didn’t look the least bit menacing. And yet, precisely because of that, it felt like he wasn’t just bluffing—he really would follow through. Dan Xingyu meekly accepted the box. 

Qiyu waved at him in a cheerful tone: “Well then, do as you please, Dan Xingyu. I’m going to talk to Teacher Aegnor first.” 

Actually, his personal panel was pretty busy right now, too. But he didn’t have time to pay it any mind right now. He had so much he wanted to say. 

Dan Xingyu guessed that this “Teacher Aegnor” was most likely the mysterious powerhouse who had stepped in today to defend the local kid. 

He’d probably just benefited from the situation.