Cultivation: But Not a Game-Chapter 70 - 34: Consuming the Vermilion Fruit, Second Minor Examination
After being transported out of the secret realm, Su Yu found himself not at the entrance of the realm, but on the deck of a massive wooden divine ship.
He glanced around, noticing many guild seniors present, with Chu Xiaoyu waving at him. Only 33 people in total had returned, exactly one-third, indicating that two-thirds of those who embarked on this secret realm expedition had perished inside.
The guild’s logistics manager, Jiao Ting, clapped his hands to get their attention and said:
"You don’t need to participate for now. You can settle your contributions with me and then return to headquarters, or you can go directly to headquarters to settle your contributions."
As he finished speaking, the crowd gathered around to form a line and settle their contributions.
Soon it was Su Yu’s turn. Jiao Ting took out his token to check it and, with a hint of surprise on his face, said:
"Young man, not bad, sixteen heads."
Instantly, dozens of gazes turned towards him.
"Just a stroke of luck!"
"That’s not just luck."
Jiao Ting laughed and said:
"As stated before, killing one person earns you 50 contribution points and 50 taels of silver. If you kill more than ten people, the reward doubles. As a newcomer, you get an extra 100% guild contribution, hmm..."
"In total, it’s 2400 contribution points and 16 taels of gold."
After completing the transaction, Su Yu smiled broadly, showing his teeth.
Adding the 12 gold from selling four Hundred Gu Banners earlier, he now had 28 gold, 62 silver, and 3621 guild contribution points, a decent little fortune.
At this moment, Chu Xiaoyu waved at him:
"Su Yu, over here."
He immediately walked over:
"Sister Xiaoyu, is there something you need?"
Chu Xiaoyu’s smile was as radiant as a flower, and she patted his shoulder with a mature expression: 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
"You did very well, making the young lady proud."
"Thank you, captain, for your concern."
"Work hard and strive to perform well in the year-end major exam."
"I will do my best."
"Good, go on then."
Saying goodbye to Sister Xiaoyu, Su Yu soared into the sky and flew towards the shore.
Upon returning to the Poisonous Mist Swamp base, Zhuang Zhuo and the others immediately surrounded him, chattering:
"So, how much did you earn this time? Did you get any good stuff in the secret realm?"
He held up one finger, then made a six with his hand:
"Sixteen heads?"
"Awesome!"
Then he took out a millennium red fruit and held it in his palm, releasing a faint medicinal fragrance, making everyone’s eyes light up:
"Wow, a millennium red fruit?"
"You’ve struck gold, this thing fetches a market price of 500 taels of gold per piece."
Gu Zhiqiu asked:
"Will you use it yourself or sell it?"
"Of course, I’ll use it myself. I’m just lacking mana."
"Indeed, it boosts mana limit by 500."
After chatting with them for a while and returning to his place, Su Yu directly took out the red fruit and stuffed it into his mouth. A rich, sweet fragrance filled his mouth, flowed down his throat, and quickly transformed into a warm current spreading through his body.
He quickly circulated his energy for one cycle, converting the warmth into new mana that flowed into his Qi Sea.
He opened the panel and saw the prompt: Mana limit +500, Innate Constitution +1, Lifespan limit +10.
The next second, the prompt changed:
"Notice: Unknown factor influence, Mana limit +1000, Innate Constitution +2, Lifespan limit +20."
"Heh heh!"
As he expected, it was enhanced by the Golden Finger like a pill.
With Innate Constitution +2, plus the boost from the Sea-Suppressing Pearl, his current Innate Constitution had reached 26, which is considered good among the excellent ones.
"If only I could obtain two more red fruits."
By then, his mana would increase by another 2000, greatly enhancing his endurance, giving him a substantial advantage in battles where pills cannot be used.
Although he already had a considerable advantage now, with the same fifty levels of Qi Refining Heart Skill, others could only increase their mana by 2000, while he could increase it by 4000. Adding the 1300 mana enhancement from the accessories and red fruit, his total mana was now 5400, far surpassing others of the same level who only had around two to three thousand mana.
"In just over ten days, the second minor exam will be held."
"I hope to rank well."
Su Yu clasped his hands together, making his joints crackle and pop.
One uneventful night passed, and the next day, Su Yu threw himself back into leveling up.
In the following ten days, he went nowhere else, staying in the swamp to level up every day, gaining about a million slaughter experience points daily. By the time the minor exam was about to start, he had accumulated an additional 14.5 million slaughter experience points.
Combined with his previous accumulation, he had amassed a total of 43.79 million slaughter experience points and 76 levels of attainment.
Staring at the panel for a while, Su Yu ultimately decided to keep them unused for now.
These cultivation points and levels of attainment weren’t enough to lead to a qualitative change in his strength. What he could defeat now, he could still defeat, and what he couldn’t defeat with these points and levels, he still wouldn’t be able to.
That day, Su Yu got up very early, and as soon as he went out, he saw that Zhuang Zhuo and the others were already prepared, with Gu Zhiqiu hanging a sign that read ’Temporary Closure’ at the base entrance.
The few of them exchanged smiles, tossed their heads proudly, and said:
"Let’s go!"
The five of them soared into the air and flew towards the guild headquarters.
Upon returning to Thousand Feather City, Su Yu immediately opened the regional channel, ready to see if anyone had started betting.
However, when he entered his own name to check, his face dropped in the next second.
The ranking rewards remained the same as last time, but his betting odds had plummeted to the bottom.
The odds for placing in the top sixteen were directly canceled, starting with the top eight, with odds of 1 to 1.1, meaning betting 10 gold would get you 11 gold including the original stake, a profit of just 1 gold.
The odds for ranking fourth were 1 to 1.5.
The odds for ranking third were 1 to 2.
The odds for ranking second were 1 to 3.
The odds for ranking first were 1 to 5.
"Damn, why have this year’s odds dropped so much?"
Gu Zhiqiu and the others had also read through the odds and were all speechless.
They all looked towards Su Yu and asked:
"So, which rank are you betting on?"
Su Yu scratched his head and said:
"Second, I don’t have confidence in getting first."
"Are you sure?"
"I’m sure!"
"Alright, how much are you betting?"
"All in, 28 gold!"
"Okay, I’ll help you place your bet."
Handing over 28 taels of gold to Gu Zhiqiu, Su Yu was instantly out of money.
He watched as Gu Zhiqiu and a few companions entered Thousand Feather Tower, feeling inexplicably nervous.
