Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?!-Chapter 680 - 666: Hahaha, 666
Jiang Yuan, who had a comfortable sleep in the Prajna Hall, was actually oblivious to everything. He didn’t even know that there were demon beasts gathering with bad intentions towards him, and that he had unfortunately taken a slap to the face.
At the moment, he was happily upgrading the brewing workshop. Once upgraded, he could produce various types of spiritual wine and complete the main quest, aiming to upgrade the courtyard to Level Seven as soon as possible.
At that point, he could unlock the void relics that come with a spirit stone vein; the protective shield would be more advanced, so he wouldn’t fear the things wrapped in the mist cloud. Additionally, he could make a trip to the nooks and crannies of Cold Spring Temple to take on a side quest.
"Farming really relies on accumulation over time; if you want to play well, you can’t be lazy. Otherwise, missing one or two special ingredients might block you from upgrading for an unpredictable amount of time," Jiang Yuan clicked on the little gear to upgrade the brewing workshop to Level 2, silently musing during the waiting time.
One has to admit, the system is quite rigorously designed.
Take the main quest for example; the big goal is to upgrade the courtyard, with step-by-step tasks essentially involving farming, building workshops, and then upgrading them.
Upgrading the fields requires the scraps left from workshops, poultry sheds, livestock pens, and fish ponds, while upgrading workshops requires special materials, primarily sourced from the public orders at the floating market.
The materials needed for public orders are sourced from the fields, breeding, and workshop manufacturing, forming a perfect loop.
And the order rewards are random. Although you can spend a certain amount of spirit stones to refresh the orders for special materials, this would require a large base of materials and an enormous number of spirit stones. The key is that spending money and contributing materials still might not yield a desperately needed special material.
If unlucky, you could burn through millions of spirit stones, deplete your warehouse’s material reserves, and still not manage to gather a complete set with random rewards that don’t have a guarantee.
Part of the materials for workshop manufacturing comes from harvesting in the fields; another part must be slowly gathered in different small maps.
It’s one link after another, each tied to the next, with no loopholes to exploit and no bugs to glitch.
Being overly laid-back, with a low-level courtyard shield, offers no sense of security. If the seasons change to a dangerous land, encountering a powerful demon beast could wipe out the entire courtyard and take his life with it;
Being too aggressive is like being on adrenaline; with one link stuck, you can’t advance by leaps and bounds, no matter how much you hurry.
After weighing it all, Jiang Yuan feels like his current progress is fine.
The focus is on building a home; exploring more parts of the Wilderness World, triggering side quests to earn various rewards as a secondary goal. This not only maximizes involvement but also yields a large number of items, boosting his strength while also accelerating the completion of main quests.
[Brewing workshop upgraded to Level 2, new products unlocked]
[Brewing workshop upgraded to Level 3...]
[...Level 4...]
......
Using the recently acquired package of special material items, the brewing workshop finally caught up with the main group and upgraded to Level 7.
Opening the door again, Jiang Yuan first collected the three jars of fruit wine that had been completed, then clicked to start making spiritual wine.
"Tsk tsk, does one jar of wine really require so many types of materials?" Seeing this, he couldn’t help but frown.
It not only requires wild specialty rice and wheat from fields above Level 2 as the main ingredients, but also various spirit fruits and herbs as auxiliary materials.
[Galaxy Dream Wine: Formed through the fermentation of numerous raw materials containing spiritual power, it has a mellow taste with a light fruity aroma, making one feel as if immersed in a galaxy full of stars.
Capable of unlocking various plant restraint methods, including thorn vine, click to view details; provides fifteen minutes of intoxication to repel poisonous insects, keeping them away within one meter of the user as the center. Physical Strength +500; Life +500]
[Crafting Materials: Jade Millet Rice*50; Agate Spirit Fruit*20; Phoenix Eye Fruit*10; Golden Flower Palm*20...]
Jade Millet Rice is the crop with the shortest harvest time and the lowest price in Level Three fields, akin to regular millet in ordinary fields, and is a frequent player in public orders. Brewing one jar of Galaxy Dream Wine requires fifty portions, truly proving itself as a staple grain.
The spirit fruits are also produced in his own fields, with stocks being fairly abundant, but the number and variety of herbs needed is quite significant, consuming a considerable amount of herb reserves to brew one jar.
He wonders how Miss Hu Jiu is getting on with her progress. Hopefully, she can quickly help with the side quest, as the small courtyard really needs the spirit medicine support produced from the underground caves!
Despite feeling the pinch, the task still needs to be done. Jiang Yuan chose four spirit wines and clicked to begin crafting.
These four jars of wine will take nine days together to turn into finished products, and using spirit stones for haste isn’t really worth it. Waiting patiently would be better.
By the time it’s ready, summer would almost be over, transitioning into autumn, with no idea where the Wilderness will land next.
"Buzz buzz～"
Just as he left the brewing workshop, a notification popped up at the top of his vision from the communication stone with the latest message.
[Master, I have successfully entered the center of the Secret Realm and everything is fine, don’t worry. I heard Brother Long mention that master is increasingly busy these days, please take care of your health and don’t overwork, wait for your disciple to return from wandering and share your burdens!]
The daily greeting message, consistently from morning to afternoon, following the habit of apprentice Wan Mingchuan, reporting only good news and not the bad. It has taken days for him to reach the center of the otherworld’s Secret Realm, which evidently wasn’t smooth.
But with Old Dog secretly following, presumably, there shouldn’t be any issue.
Sure enough, just after he replied to the message advising his disciple to stay safe, a message from Old Dog arrived as well.
"Don’t listen to that silly kid’s nonsense, he almost lost his life earlier! If it weren’t for my quick legs and sharp mouth dragging him out, he’d be minced into pieces by the space-time turbulence, maybe even ended up in some demon beast’s stomach!"
Ling Di grumbled, "But this kid’s growth speed is indeed not slow. Although he’s a bit worse than I was back in the day, overall he learns from his mistakes and has even picked up the ability to draw inferences from one instance to another.
The last time he encountered a fraudster, fortunately, his usual stinginess saved him from being deceived. This time he bumped into a wandering soul in the secret realm trying to cheat him, and guess what? Haha, Xiao Chuanzi played dumb and naive, and he turned the tables and tricked that guy! Hahahaha...
Don’t worry, I’m here to make sure he can stand alone safely and soon. However, I won’t intervene with the injuries he needs to suffer or the pitfalls he needs to fall into. As a cultivator, he can’t be hiding under the wings of seniors forever..."
After listening to Old Dog’s daily bragging, Jiang Yuan glanced at the item display in his storage bag showing it could be used directly.
He simply dialed a "video call".
Reclining with his legs up on the mountaintop, basking in the sun while munching on spirit fruit, Ling Di was just about to put away the communication stone after sending a message. Little did he expect the new master wanted to "inspect" firsthand!
He nervously scrambled to put away the spirit fruit, shook his fur clean, and even rubbed against a rock, trying to appear like he’d just finished a hard battle, ensuring he wouldn’t be found out before connecting.
"Shh! Keep it down, don’t let Xiao Chuanzi hear!" He sneakily relocated the communication stone so that the master could faintly see Wan Mingchuan meditating and restoring his spiritual power in the distance.
Only then did he aim the communication stone at himself, laughing sheepishly, "Heard the apprentice almost lost his life, so not reassured and wants to see with your own eyes, huh?"
Jiang Yuan immediately noticed the poop-colored juice stains from the spirit fruit on the corners of his mouth and laughed quietly, "Remember to leave some good stuff for the child."
"Hehehe... I left some behind, didn’t pick all of them. He’s also learned to find fruit on his own now." Old Dog chuckled sheepishly, "How’s everything at home now? I heard from Sister Hu you took them to the Void?"
Calling her "sister" so smoothly, he couldn’t help but chuckle and nod, "Went to the Void and returned with quite a bounty. You’re at the Mahayana Peak Realm now, right? Just a step away from the Tribulation Crossing Realm?"
Hearing the master mention his cultivation level that had stagnated for years, Ling Di nodded vigorously, "You should know, as the realms get higher, it’s increasingly difficult to advance. Between Mahayana and Tribulation Crossing, even the slightest difference is an insurmountable barrier. Without opportunity or external help, succeeding in advancing is exceedingly hard!"
Is it hard? Well, for you it’s indeed very hard.
But for the system, it’s just a matter of issuing an item card.
Thinking of this, Jiang Yuan felt a bit smug, but in front of the knowledgeable Old Dog, he had to maintain a mysterious and profound demeanor to match the sense of mystery that comes with letting it advance a level without thunder tribulation, completely overturning a cultivator’s imagination.
"You’ve certainly worked hard taking care of the younger generation, and being stuck at your current realm for too long indeed requires some extra help." He pondered for a few seconds, as if making some big decision, then lowered his voice, "I can pay some price to exercise a secret technique to let you cross the chasm without going through a thunder tribulation and easily advance to the Tribulation Crossing Realm."
Old Dog, who was lazily lying down, immediately widened his eyes and perked up his ears at the last few words, sitting up straight in front of the communication stone with a trembling voice, "Sir, you... haven’t been drinking, have you?"
Or maybe he’s been so exhausted lately that hallucinations are starting to show up?
Advancing to the Tribulation Crossing Realm is a ninety percent chance of death! How could there be no thunder tribulation? How could one just advance when they say so?!
What kind of joke is this? Do you take me for some kid who eats crap?
Typically, a cultivator at Mahayana Peak prepares for over a thousand years to gain even a slight chance at success.
Ever since I lost my previous master and deemed my advancement hopes dashed, I’ve secluded myself in the sect for many years without doing any preparation at all!
What do you plan to do with the secret technique? Make me forcibly... oh wait, no thunder tribulation?
How is that possible! Even if the King of Hell himself came, you’d need to undergo a thunder tribulation to advance!
"Close your eyes and get ready to receive my power." Jiang Yuan had no idea it was nearly on the verge of going mad internally; he still had to upgrade others later, so he couldn’t keep wasting time like this.
Ling Di: ...
I’m doomed! The old master is gone, and after finally acknowledging a new master who seemed promising, it turns out he’s inexplicably gone mad.
Went to the Void, what kind of shock did he get?
It sighed deeply, closed its eyes, not wanting to open them, hoping it’s just my delusion, oh heavens, could it be that nowhere under the big sky has a place for me, Ling Di...
"Phew!"
Old Dog’s gripes and complaints weren’t even finished when Jiang Yuan saw it close its eyes and mistook it for being obedient, allowing proceedings to begin. He then used a Contract Pet Upgrade Card on Ling Di and clicked upgrade.
All of a sudden, it felt a strange force descending from the heavens, enveloping it!
The feeling is indescribable, Ling Di opened its eyes in slight panic to find the floating communication stone had vanished, and a vast expanse of whiteness filled with that powerful force surrounded him, eager to penetrate through its seven orifices, all its fur pores into its body!
"Wha- what’s happening?" Ling Di’s whole body was immobilized, only able to feel the jubilant surge of spiritual power within, growing more and more tumultuous, like an army of thousands charging like a tidal wave.
In that instant, the body was like a small boat drifting on the sea, riding on the mighty force gathering wave after wave, then propelling it straight to the peak!
"Woof woof! This feeling is kind of... as if... oh mother!"
