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He fondled the badge, unable to put it down. He took a photo of it for the first time today, eager to send it to God Has No Form right away.

When he opened the app, he suddenly noticed that on the friends page, clicking “God Has No Form” still displayed the option “Exploring, available for party.”

Huh?

Could it be that throughout the entire 24-hour exploration period, he could summon friends to form a party?

A thought struck him. He opened his backpack and selected the party scroll.

Sure enough, just as he’d suspected, the party scroll was usable too—he could use it to summon other friends from his list.

A thought struck him: Couldn’t this party scroll have many other uses?

When exploring alone and encountering danger, the party scroll could be used as a summoning scroll.

【I Love Survival Game: (Image), new badge.】

【God Has No Form: It has an extra star—it looks even better!】

【I Love Survival Game: New discovery—as long as you’re exploring outdoors, the party scroll can be used.】

【God Has No Form: So, does that mean if you invite me now, I’ll appear right beside you?】

【I Love Survival Game: It should work.】

Dan Xingyu was practically itching to try it out.

But looking at the little creature in front of him chirping away, he sighed regretfully.

【I Love Survival Game: I just asked someone from the mages association. Other classes have similar organizations, but Dragon Knights probably don’t.】

【I Love Survival Game: The swordsman class doesn’t have its own guild, but there’s a general Martial Artists’ Association where you can get your class certification.】

When President Frederick spoke of this, his tone was brimming with confidence.

He said that across the entire continent, the mages association was the only one with such immense wealth and resources.

Organizations for other professions—such as the equally massive Martial Artists’ Association—offered nothing beyond professional certification; benefits for members were practically nonexistent.

【God Has No Form: We’ll have to do it next time; there’s something going on with my new territory.】

Upon hearing this, Qiyu immediately said:

【Then the matters concerning the territory are even more important.】

After all, a player’s foundation lies in their territory.

After wrapping up his errands, he returned to find Jin Qian.

Jin Qian: “Boss, did you finish your business?”

He was clearly tactful and didn’t ask at all what Qiyu had been doing during his brief absence.

Qiyu, however, brought it up on his own: “I just went to update his mage level certification. I also asked around for you—there is an alchemists association, but since your profession is relatively rare, there isn’t an alchemists’ guild in Gold Hole City.”

Jin Qian took it in stride: “If there isn’t one, there isn’t one. I am still a rookie; even if I went to the guild, he wouldn’t be able to do anything anyway.”

He followed Qiyu to the payroll office and watched as Qiyu collected a large sum in welfare subsidies.

The staff member asked Qiyu whether he wanted to receive the entire balance of this year’s subsidies for the remaining months in a lump sum or collect them month by month.

Qiyu thought for a moment and said, “I’ll take this month’s first.”

Gold Hole City was a very welcoming place, and it was right next to the Black Rock Mountain Range.

He figured coming here once a month wouldn’t be a problem at all.

Besides, he had a little ambition: over the course of a whole year, who knows—maybe by the time he came back next, he’d have become a five-star mage?

The staff member, who had clearly seen it all, immediately replied, “You’ve already claimed your full annual rank allowance. Since your mage rank was updated this month, according to regulations, a Four-Star Mage is entitled to 4,000 gold coins and 30 Level 4 Magic Crystals each month from the mages association. Please scan your magic and mental energy imprints here so we can issue this month’s supplementary allowance.”

Jin Qian stood by, staring in utter amazement.

The staff member explained everything very clearly, so even though he hadn’t accompanied Qiyu here before, he understood perfectly.

What kind of family is this, giving out so much to association members every month!

Not to mention the massive sum of 4,000 gold coins every month—and 30 Level 4 magic crystals on top of that!

Anyone who’s ever traded with a traveling merchant knows exactly how valuable magic crystals are!

And just listen to what that staff member said! It seems this guild can even advance an entire year’s salary in one go—and if you get promoted (or level up) within that year, you can claim the difference between the two pay grades.

Just a moment ago, he was saying it didn’t matter that there was no alchemist guild, but now his eyes were sparkling with envy, shaped like gold coins.

He muttered, “Are all these guilds this rich? If I hadn’t gone to the guild for certification, wouldn’t I have missed out on a hundred million?”

The staff member, who was just handing a small storage pouch to Qiyu, heard this and asked with a smile, “Sir, are you a mage as well?”

Jin Qian quickly shook his head.

The staff member replied with a tone of pride, “As far as I know, our mages association offers the best benefits of any professional guild on the entire continent. Other professions might not enjoy the same perks as we do.”

Jin Qian immediately seized the opportunity to ask, “Then may I ask—do you happen to know what benefits the alchemists’ guild offers?”

“Alchemists?” The staff member gave Jin Qian a surprised look and shook his head. “As far as I know, the Alchemists’ Guild… well… is rather strapped for cash.”

Jin Qian: “……”

Survival Game, I’ll call you “Dad.”

Can we change the kid’s magical talent?

He seemed to have taken the blow quite hard.

The staff member comforted him: “You’re still so young; there’s no need to rush. As everyone knows, alchemists are a profession that grows stronger as they advance. Look, alchemical products are everywhere across the continent—who knows? One day, you might just create an alchemical product that takes the whole continent by storm.”

Jin Qian swallowed this pie in the sky with tears in his eyes.

As he was leaving the mages association, President Frederick personally handed him a storage ring.

With a smile, he said, “Our association’s head chef heard you like his pastries, so he specially prepared a variety of flavors just for you.”

“And you, young friend,” he said, turning to Jin Qian, “the waiter mentioned you seemed to really enjoy the drink we just served. The head chef has also prepared a large box for you—it contains all the ingredients you need; just add water and bring it to a boil when you get home.”

Jin Qian, of course, knew exactly whose good graces he was riding on, and hurriedly expressed his thanks.

Qiyu began rummaging through his backpack.

He’d come to the Gold Hole City mages association this time just to check his magic level—he hadn’t expected the Gold Hole City mages association to be so generous.

On this trip to Gold Hole City, he’d only packed some screaming lily of the valley in his backpack to see if they could be used as trade goods. Aside from that, there were the emerald crystal peaches he’d found today, along with fruits like strawberries and cherries he’d harvested earlier in his fiefdom—he’d put them in his bag to snack on.

Although he knew this world had no shortage of food, President Frederick’s offer of food was merely a courtesy.

But Qiyu found it hard to shake his ingrained belief: he always felt that when someone gave him something delicious, it was a big deal.

He had to return the favor.

He walked over to the table, and with a clatter, three emerald crystal peaches fell out of his backpack, along with a pile of large strawberries and cherries.

The table was piled high, and almost instantly, the air was filled with the sweet scent of fruit.

Qiyu said to President Frederick, “Here’s my return gift.”

“Oh my, these look wonderful,” President Frederick said, picking up a cherry and sensing the pure life energy within it. “These are all from the Star Forest, aren’t they?”

Qiyu nodded: “I grew them myself.”

President Frederick’s conviction in his identity grew even stronger: Besides an elf, who else could grow fruit of such exceptional quality and with such vibrant life energy?

Kids will be kids—they can’t even hide it.

Jin Qian sniffed the fragrance in the air and swallowed unashamedly.

He’d seen the old man come over personally to greet him and the game leader earlier, and now he saw him seeing Qiyu off—he’d assumed the old man held some kind of PR manager position at the association.

That is, until he heard Qiyu say, “Thank you, President.”

Jin Qian: ???

He was completely baffled.

It wasn’t until they reached the mages association that he whispered, “Boss, that old man just now—you called him ‘President’?”

Qiyu: “Yeah, he’s the President of the mages association in Gold Hole City.”

“Holy shit!” Jin Qian realized he might have underestimated his boss’s authority after all.

He gave a thumbs-up: “Boss, from now on, I’ll never let anyone disobey you!”

Qiyu realized that Jin Qian had been in the territory the whole time and knew absolutely nothing about the outside world.

He pointed to the badge on his chest: “This is a magus badge. The number of gold stars below it represents your rank.”

Jin Qian had seen many people wearing these at the mages association before; he’d assumed they were just a fashion trend.

“Then what about that Guild Master from earlier…” He only remembered that the other person was also wearing a magus badge, but hadn’t paid attention to the number of stars on it.

Qiyu told him, “Guild Master Frederick is a Seven-Star Senior Mage.”

Jin Qian: “……”

He was stunned.

Dude, why didn’t you give me even a little hint?

So, does that mean I was just surrounded by a bunch of big shots—any one of whom could’ve crushed me with a single finger?

People really are most fearless when they’re ignorant.

As he was silently pondering this, a sweet fragrance suddenly reached his nostrils.

A huge strawberry was held out to him.

He turned his head in confusion and heard Qiyu say, “I saw you were practically drooling with envy just now, so here, have some.”

Jin Qian silently took it and took a bite.

Wow! It’s so sweet!

His emotions came on fast and faded even faster.

Just one bite of the strawberry was enough to clear his head.

A Seven-Star Advanced Mage—no doubt, that’s pretty impressive.

But even that Guild Master treated the game’s top player with such courtesy and kindness.

He immediately sensed the disparity in the world: other players in the regional channel—even those ranked second on the leaderboard—were still on edge about their first foray into the wilderness.

Even though everyone knew the game’s top player had already ventured out to explore long ago.

But no matter how hard they racked their brains, they could never have imagined: this wasn’t just about having exploration experience—the game’s top player had already made quite a name for himself in the natives’ world.

He noticed that the Big Boss seemed to carry even more clout here at the mages association in Gold Hole City than he did back in Server 01.

Most importantly, the Big Boss had actually managed to keep it to himself—he’d never once bragged about it.

“With that kind of self-restraint, Big Boss, you’ll succeed at anything you set your mind to!”

Qiyu:?

He was completely baffled by this random remark from the person next to him.

Oh, right.

He told Jin Qian about the party scroll.

As soon as Jin Qian heard this, he opened his backpack and, sure enough, found that the party scroll was still usable.

He exclaimed in delight, “Doesn’t that mean when we’re in danger, our teammates can summon us to safety?”

Qiyu gave him a silent glance.

He didn’t know about much else, but Jin Qian certainly had pretty good luck.

To see if the party scroll was usable, there had to be at least one scroll left in his inventory right now.