My Misfortune Crushed Instances-Chapter 169: Maximum Difficulty

At first, Hea Yang didn't understand what was happening or what the purpose was, but when he noticed several optional tasks added to the list, he got it.

"What the heck? It works like this?"

Although the rewards for optional tasks are small, it's better than nothing.

Li Rui had long since studied the strategy thoroughly, found every point that might be manipulable, and it's proving useful now.

Although the Tree Spirit Elder couldn't understand what he was trying to do, what can you say when you're the one needing help?

"I'd heard that people down the mountain play with flair, some even like being mistreated by others, but it seems I misunderstood."

It felt like it had gained some insight, "The true meaning among all of this should be to go through more hardships to then reach the Great Dao. I once thought of it in another way, shame on me."

It let a piece of bark fall from its chest, using a twig to write down its realizations on it.

Li Rui didn't bother with him. Anyway, he had learned about many executable tasks from the elder, with experience points ranging from eight to nine thousand to a bit over ten thousand.

This is normal; optional tasks usually have low difficulty, just earlier it was probably bad luck that got him the hardest one right away.

Most of the others involved things like helping the Walnut Spirit uncle with building a log cabin displaying diligence, playing coin toss with a group of little foxtail grass elves to show kindness, and defeating the misbehaving oleander elf to persuade it to reform, showcasing strength and wisdom, etc.

In a typical scenario, showing just one quality would gain the Tree Spirit Elder's trust, but Li Rui did all seven or eight optional tasks in one go for the experience points.

With his actions, he filled up the favorability for the entire fortress at the entrance, and the Forest Spirit residents around the towering giant tree all praised him whenever they saw him.

At the entrance of the hollow, the Tree Spirit Elder sighed with emotion.

"So proactive and righteous, truly a Daoist from Shenxiao Palace."

After completing all the optional tasks, Li Rui and Hea Yang gained several tens of thousands of experience points, not much considering their current level since this was only the first phase's task location.

"Elder, can we proceed now? Please lead the way."

At this point, the Tree Spirit Elder no longer harbored the slightest doubt about him and immediately started walking inside.

Its eight legs made it look like a wooden crab. As it walked, it explained to Li Rui, "Our elders here are protected by Lady Peach Blossom, who is powerful and has shielded us for centuries. However, Spiritual Qi has grown more chaotic, so she mostly sleeps nowadays."

In the settings of the Secret Realm World, spirit monsters are mostly products birthed from weak, vital objects by the push of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

Although the cultivation of humans, demons, and barbaric beasts also depends on Spiritual Qi, their level of dependency on it is not deep. For spirit monsters, it's different. Any problem with Spiritual Qi could lead to the doom of their entire species.

As they essentially are not naturally dynamic entities, it is likely that over generations, plants will return to being just plants, rocks will go back to being earth and stone.

Initially, Li Rui only listened as one would to gossip, but hearing that Lady Peach Blossom had existed for hundreds of years piqued his interest.

"Wait a moment, Elder. Might I ask, can Lady Peach Blossom be manually awakened?"

"Ah?"

The Elder was clearly a bit baffled.

"What I mean is, I've something to inquire about, is it possible to have her awaken?"

"That might be...difficult. Our mana is too weak."

Li Rui persisted, "Are there any senior spirits in the clan with a lifespan of several centuries?"

"Little Daoist, indeed there are not. Since the decline of Spiritual Qi, all predecessors have passed away; now anyone over a hundred years old among us is considered elderly."

The age of a spirit monster is only counted after gaining sentience, after all, they have no consciousness before that.

Seeing no alternative, Li Rui planned to think it over more gradually. He had thought this Lady Peach Blossom might know something about the Immortal Grave or even the story of the immortal who once aided Liangting's founder.

The two continued through layers of forest, only to discover that what lay ahead wasn't simply natural flora; a wooden palace had been built in imitation of human architecture.

"This hall is where, many years back, Liangting's master craftsmen assisted us in constructing. It is where we host banquets and hold discussions on weekdays."

Li Rui felt it sounded absurd to hear a giant wooden stump talking about banquets and council, though he meant no disrespect.

The Tree Spirit Elder was the commander of the guards in front of the mountain; with him leading, Li Rui and Hea Yang had no obstacles.

Soon, several Elder Council members gathered at the location.

The tree spirits guarding the entrance were less senior than these members, who were the real decision-makers of this Holy Land, with the leading elder being a large Banyan Tree Spirit.

Also standing 1.5 meters tall, it had more wrinkled bark and fewer leaves atop its head.

It was already so old that it needed a branch to support itself while walking.

"Thank you, little Daoist, for saving our people's lives."

The Banyan Tree Spirit's voice was notably more resonant.

Li Rui exchanged a few polite words and then said proactively, "Well, Elder, I've observed the mountain's evil Qi is dense, and there must be Evil Spirits at work. My master once said, 'If you see injustice, unsheathe your sword to assist,' so I wanted to ask about it."

You an ascetic want to unsheathe your sword to assist?

The Banyan Tree Spirit frowned slightly but didn't press for details, only letting out a long sigh: "Indeed, at Five-Colored Cave, Yellow Flower Gorge, and near the Cold Abyss Pool, evil spirits have appeared. Ah, it's a turbulent time."

"These places originally were areas for our people to frequent, but the Elder Council has now forbidden anyone to approach them due to the issues."

"Your righteous heart, Daoist, deeply moves this old one. I dared not trouble you, but the situation desperately needs a good doctor. If the Daoist could remove one or two of the issues, our people would be greatly indebted."

"But let there be one more thing said to avoid misunderstandings. The Spiritual Qi at our locations is disturbed, and with the wood-aligned Spiritual Qi already thin, it's unfeasible to host Human Race cultivators for long—not out of unwillingness but out of impossibility. Your True Yang force is strong. Should you linger too long, the Spiritual Qi may become even more disturbed."

"Thus, I must thicken my face to say that before sunrise tomorrow, the two of you must leave this place, then this old one will personally escort you down the mountain. My sincerest apologies, I hope for your understanding."

At that moment, both Li Rui and Hea Yang received notifications.

[Main Quest Update, Phase Two: Choose Task Location: Five-Colored Cave, Yellow Flower Gorge, Cold Abyss Pool. ]

The Banyan Tree Spirit was also very polite; Li Rui realized its words were truthful, for the main quest of this Secret Realm was timed.

Moreover, there was still a hidden mechanism because the main enemies were evil spirits, so once night fell, they would become enraged.

Following the normal strategy would mean choosing one of the three locations and clearing it before sunset, which would be the safest bet.

If choosing too many locations, one could easily get killed at night, and even if the task locations' evil spirits were cleared, being forced out after missing the deadline would still count as a failure in the quest.

But, of course, Li Rui had thought it through; even a mainline clearance and the previous tasks only yielded up to a hundred and fifty thousand experience points. That's lower than the first-place rewards in an arena, given that both were level 21-25 Secret Realms.

He couldn't accept that; he had to collect enough side quests to earn the experience points.

"Come here."

He grabbed the reckless yet obedient Hea Yang, turning him into a doting little bunny. "I'm taking on all three main quests, but if I haven't misjudged, you could stick to just one or two. If you're worried that taking on all three will be problematic, choose whatever feels safer."

Hea Yang swallowed nervously, "Are you confident?"

"I am, but you don't have to believe it."

Li Rui never forced his clients; they were free to decide.

Given that He Pengxi had already told him to follow closely and be humble, he still took a moment to think it over.

"Such a powerful man like Uncle He praises him so highly, I should trust him even if I don't believe ME."

"This Secret Realm has been completed across all three lines several times; the guides are very detailed, so it shouldn't go wrong."

"Go for it! Just a five-star Secret Realm; how hard could it be? If it can fill me up with random events for each line, give it a shot!"

With these thoughts, he felt again competent, so resolutely stated, "I'll take on all three!"

Li Rui gave him a thumbs up: "That's the spirit! You've made a wise decision."

Encouraging the client is also part of the service.