Chapter 58: Ten Consecutive Draws

After the immortals departed, aside from taking a few outstanding youths from Leaf Family Village with them, nothing else changed. The cultivators of Lingyun Sect did not bother to clear away the poisonous miasma, nor the soul-corpses—neither the human nor the animal ones—lurking near the village. These tasks still fell to the villagers themselves. The afternoon sun lingered, and everyone had returned to their usual posts, resuming their daily labor.

Of the original seven-person hunting party, only three were still able to work. Ye Mingyu had become a half-soul and left the village; Ye Wenjing had been taken away by Lingyun Sect; Ye Tao was blind; Ye Hai lay injured and in need of rest. As captain, Ye Mao regarded the two remaining members—Ye Little Wolf and Yun Qing—and summoned them to share his thoughts. “I’m considering merging our group with another,” he said. “What do you think?”

Ye Little Wolf replied, “In the coming days, I have something to do for Wenjing. I don’t know when I’ll be back. When I return, I might act alone, or I might come find you. Captain, you don’t need to consider me for now.”

“And you, Miss Yun Qing?” he asked.

And so the hunting party was scattered. Yun Qing most desired to act alone, but in Leaf Family Village, solitary action would only invite suspicion. She glanced at Ye Mao, unwilling to join a new group, wary of exposing her secrets, and averse to fetching and carrying for unfamiliar faces.

She replied tactfully, “The smithy has been very busy lately. I promised Master Li I’d help out there. Perhaps, when things quiet down, I’ll rejoin a hunting group.”

Ye Mao nodded. “Very well!” He clapped them on the shoulders. “Then our Seventh Hunting Team is hereby temporarily disbanded. May we someday join forces again.”

For once, Ye Little Wolf did not object but nodded. Yun Qing nodded as well, though a premonition told her this group would never truly come together again. Ye Mao was content enough with this outcome; with only himself to consider, he could choose whichever group he wished, whereas with others, more concerns would arise. Yun Qing’s abilities were modest; Ye Little Wolf was aloof—other teams might not accept them.

Waving farewell, Ye Mao strode away toward the other teams.

Ye Little Wolf quirked a smile. “I could use someone to help with chores. When I return, shall we move together?”

“All right,” Yun Qing replied, the corner of her mouth twitching. In reality, Ye Little Wolf probably needed a large storage bag more than an errand-runner.

After he left, Yun Qing stood in place, struck by how, after merely a month, only she remained of the seven.

Yun Qing did not immediately go to the smithy. She had already told Master Li that she would arrive late; her mind was filled only with thoughts of her cave-dwelling.

Back in her room at the relief station, she took out the soul-corpses she’d brought from Wheatfield Village and searched them. She gained fifty taels of silver—blackened and tarnished—which she deposited straight into her system. The soul-corpse bodies went into her system backpack. She washed her hands and cleaned the soiled area.

On the lottery interface, Liuliu had told her that, at her current level, she could only draw low-level items. But she had few low-level tools anyway, and if she drew something truly useful, so much the better.

She had been tested and told she had no spiritual root—but she didn’t believe that. Surely Lingyun Sect had simply refused to test her properly.

Taking a deep breath three times, she silently intoned, “I sacrifice the crystal I touched for the Lingyun Sect’s spiritual root test to exchange for luck—ten consecutive draws!”

Eighty favor points spent; the numbers on the lottery wheel ticked from ten down to zero, and a pointer appeared, spinning faster and faster before slowing and coming to a stop. The wheel vanished, leaving ten question marks, which revealed themselves all at once.

System prompt: “Congratulations! You have obtained: Skill—Crouch; Skill—Roll; Recipe for Coarse Cloth and Beast Hide Robe x1; Recipe for Coarse Cloth and Beast Hide Backpack x1; Rope Recipe x1; Fence Recipe x1; Level One Building Reinforcement Recipe x1; Refined Iron Pickaxe Head x1; Wild Strawberry Seeds x1; Illusory Realm Dungeon Scroll x1.”

An Illusory Realm Dungeon Scroll!

She had drawn something good again. Yun Qing immediately checked her system backpack for the miraculous dungeon scroll.

Illusory Realm Dungeon Scroll: Rescue the villagers—find all the trapped villagers in the village and rescue them within three hours. Can be completed solo or in a team. Number of uses remaining: 0/2.

Was this not the unfinished quest from Wheatfield Village, now transformed into a dungeon? But the cultivators of Lingyun Sect had already rescued those people.

She consulted her sprite: “Liuliu, does the Illusory Realm dungeon mean you go there in a dream while sleeping?”

“No. Illusory Realm means it’s not reality; it doesn’t need to affect the real world. You and your teammates enter as yourselves.” Liuliu seemed to know exactly what Yun Qing wished to ask, answering concisely.

“As ourselves—then if there’s danger, can we hide inside the dungeon? Bring teammates to safety too?”

“You can do that, but once you clear the dungeon, you’ll be ejected.”

A life-saving artifact!

The Illusory Realm dungeon could be used twice. Never mind that it wasn’t a beginner’s dungeon, with rare treasures strewn about at the start—the life-saving function alone made it too valuable to use lightly.

She could enter twice, alone or with teammates. Not bad at all.

This scroll was a worthwhile draw. Yun Qing then examined each of the miscellaneous items.

Two skills: Crouch and Roll.

Crouch: Level 1. Costs 2 stamina. Use to crouch and evade ordinary grabs and attacks, or to approach enemies stealthily from behind. Note: Can be upgraded to Stealth Crouch using ten low-grade spirit stones and one skill point; available at character level 31.

At last, a skill that didn’t cost silver to use—but stamina was limited, and once it was depleted, she’d have to sleep to recover. At such times, skills that used silver seemed preferable—so long as she had enough money, she could use them endlessly.

No, the Purify skill also consumed stamina, just without showing the numbers.

Still, the upgraded crouch skill seemed worthwhile, if only it didn’t require spirit stones for the upgrade.

Roll: Level 1. Costs 1 stamina. Use to roll and evade enemy attacks, in any direction at will. Note: Can be upgraded with five hundred taels of silver and one skill point; increases rolling distance and force absorption; available at character level 31.

“Liuliu, this is outrageous. Level 31 should be easy enough, but everything requires silver. Are you trying to bankrupt me?” All the skills she drew required money to upgrade—only the Purify skill, a reward from an early dungeon, leveled up with her character.

“That’s not quite right. Even children need ten taels of gold to open their meridians. The cost to upgrade your skill is nothing compared to their expenses. After opening their meridians, they also require vast quantities of rare herbs for optimal results—so they don’t fall behind at the starting line.”

Yun Qing sighed. “That makes sense. Children from wealthy families have rare herbs and fine food to aid their cultivation from the beginning. I’m well into my teens and still stuck at the starting line, left behind by several cities’ worth of distance.”

“So, do your best—and remember to buy me more meat.”