Chapter 34: Ring Toss Pets, Salvation Arrives

After waiting for a while, the quest still hadn’t appeared, nor was there any reaction. Could it be a short circuit? But thinking about it, that seemed highly unlikely.

Greenwater Sprite, it’s decided—you’re the one. Alone, I headed to the main city and found the Muxuan River teleportation point, clicked to transmit, and arrived near the enormous steel port of Muxuan River, utterly astounded. Hundreds of river channels branched off, and within them were hundreds of thousands of intricately constructed wooden boats, large and small. Unfortunately, my goal wasn’t the ships, but to catch a Greenwater Sprite on the Muxuan Bridge.

I searched for a traveling tool and spotted various mounts: flying steeds like Pegasi, Winged Tigers, Eagles, and Pengs. Glancing at their prices, I immediately turned away. I looked for land mounts—Horned Tigers, Wind Horses, Furious Bulls, Savage Bears—and then sea mounts—Tiger Sharks, Sea Kun. The most expensive mounts ranged from sea to flying to land. Eh, you have to buy the whole mount, no installments. Even the cheapest cost 500 gold coins each.

I hurried into the Muxuan Bridge district, opened the map, and found it spanned 6,000 kilometers in length and 10 kilometers in width. I ran intermittently for two hours, now 100 kilometers from the shore. Reaching the edge of the bridge, I looked down and saw countless Greenwater Sprites flying, swimming, and diving beneath the bridge.

Since Water Serpents dislike flying—they simply can’t—the space beneath the bridge was almost entirely the domain of the Greenwater Sprites. I took out a pet sprite lasso I’d just bought for one gold coin, relying purely on luck. One hundred chances to see if I could catch one, preferably one of higher rank. Let’s go!

...

“Did you hear? The Wealthy Warriors pulled an orange and a red item and pet. They claim they have outfits, but no skills whatsoever.”

“That’s such a pity. Outfits below the Void tier don’t grant skills, and in the pro league, even red gear doesn’t add attributes. I hope their pet isn’t red; otherwise, they’d get two extra skills out of nowhere—how would the other teams survive?”

Hua Tian was busy lassoing Greenwater Sprites, but of course she overheard the conversations behind her. She thought to herself, our team still has two rainbow-tier pets, and our worst gear is purple. Maybe you all should start digging your graves.

She didn’t dwell on it. Shaking off the annoyance, she focused intently on the sprites’ flight paths below. Twenty attempts used, eighty left. If she failed, she’d have to go back and buy more. Jumping into the river to catch them would be suicidal—the official news had reported on this. You could capture sprites from the bridge without angering them, but fall into the river and try to snatch them, and you’d face a concentrated assault—unless you had the strength to survive.

...

“Why do you think Wealthy City went to the Death Forest instead of the Ancient City to farm? Isn’t weaponry better than outfits? Look at the Han Crown Warriors—all went to Startrace Forest for skills. I wonder why they don’t chase gear or pets, just skills—isn’t that odd?” A team captain, hearing players mention Wealthy Warriors, shared what he knew with his teammates.

“Damn, only fifty chances left. This is too hard,” Hua Tian couldn’t help but cry out.

“Hey, bro, check out his outfit.”

Five players were lassoing sprites to Hua Tian’s right. One heard her exclamation, glanced back, and thought the outfit looked like the Han Crown Warriors’ uniform. Uncertain, he quickly told the captain who’d just spoken.

“Oh! That team’s outfit—I recognize it, it’s Han Crown Warriors.” The captain, interrupted, was annoyed and impatiently confirmed.

“Didn’t you say all Han Crown went for skills? Why is he here?” a teammate suddenly asked loudly.

Players nearby, hearing that Han Crown was here, looked around for the famed beauties of the team. Soon, someone spotted a player in what looked like the Han Crown uniform. Players who’d been around longer recognized it instantly, shouting, “Yes, that’s the Han Crown Warriors’ outfit.”

At that moment, Hua Tian was failing attempt after attempt—ninety-nine times she’d failed, but just as she’d found a pattern, her final attempt succeeded. Yet a loud shout startled the Greenwater Sprite, who activated its Water Shield and slipped away. That hard-won catch was lost. Hua Tian was left with a face full of question marks.

...

“Hey! You there, player. Isn’t your team supposed to be in Startrace Forest? Why are you, Han City, in the far southeast, now showing up in the west? Your team keeps monopolizing areas—how are ordinary players supposed to survive? Am I right?” The player, seeing Hua Tian nearly catch a sprite but lose it thanks to the shouting, felt oddly satisfied. Seeing her lasso vanish, he cursed inwardly and deliberately approached Hua Tian, pretending to be pitiful.

Hua Tian turned, charging up her Devouring God Fist. At level five, proficiency maxed, and they couldn’t see her charge-up. She eyed them leisurely, ready to play along—soon, she’d be a one-punch wonder.

“You, over there, don’t spread rumors. Han Crown Warriors never monopolize areas. They drive players away because whenever they show up, everyone stares at the team’s beauties—some even drool or act indecently. Not wanting to see those lecherous smiles and gestures, they started driving players away. Other teams, seeing Han Crown do it first, imitated them and shifted the blame onto Han Crown,” a higher-level player explained, sneering at the complainer.

“Shut up, you think I don’t know? Oh, the Beauty Team… just how beautiful are they!” The pitiful player, previously unaware, had once been chased off by the Hanyu Warriors. He’d worked hard to level up and held a grudge against the first team to do it—rumored to be Han Crown Warriors. Now, hearing another explanation, he doubted it but considered the possibility, given the beauty team’s reputation.

“Uh, hehe.” The player, knowing the real situation, was speechless. The facts had been twisted by other teams, so he let it go and returned to lassoing sprites, hoping for a high-level catch to trade for team coins. He’d had his eye on a skill for a long time and couldn’t let others snatch it.

....

Hua Tian listened to the players’ discussions. She’d never understood why her team drove players away, especially since Han’s members were decent folk. She never imagined the reason was that the team’s beauties were simply too stunning.

Wait, what if someone comes forward as a victim and insists on fighting me? Should I retaliate? If I do, the team will get blacklisted. In situations like this, even if I’m right, it’s hard to explain. But not fighting back isn’t my style—the punch is already charged.

Alas, the pet lasso was gone; she’d have to go back and buy another. Why could she only buy one at a time? But seeing the bridge’s center, with all sorts of mounts rushing back and forth, players riding them to deliver lassos to others, she suddenly understood. Damn, these players were crafty merchants. No wonder mounts were so outrageously expensive. The options for buying a mount boiled down to two: ride yourself for fun and style, or help other players buy lassos. One player called “Looking for Snow River” charged five gold per trip; running back and forth yourself took at least five hours. If, during those five hours, a high-level Greenwater Sprite passed your spot and you missed your chance, wouldn’t that be a massive loss? Why lose hundreds of thousands of gold when five would suffice? Thanks to her brainwashing, a whole industry sprang up. With good mount speed, you could easily run ten thousand trips a day, earning 1.5 million gold a month. She did it for a month, but in the end, one person couldn’t compete with a coordinated group, and she was forced out—her fate was tragic. She faded from the players’ view, and Hua Tian looked at her official story.

Suddenly, two knocks echoed in her mind. Out of nowhere, a line appeared: Quest about to begin, Muxuan River—not Muxuan Bridge.

“Muxuan River, not Muxuan Bridge.” Hua Tian murmured, gazing at the broad, tranquil river, and immediately sprinted toward the port.

After more than an hour, she arrived near the port, gazed at the vast ship market, yet found no players interested. She rested for a minute, then kept running.

Upon arrival, Hua Tian found an NPC guard and told him she wanted to buy a boat. As time passed, she understood:

The smallest, most ordinary wooden boat:
First type: 0.1 gold, permanent, very fragile—sinks after two hits from tiered wild monsters.
Second type: 0.5 gold, permanent, withstands four hits from tier-two monsters or lower.
Third type: 1 gold, permanent, withstands six hits from tier-three monsters or lower.
....
Eighth type: 200 gold, one day, withstands sixteen hits from tier-eight monsters or lower.
Ninth type: 500 gold, one day, withstands eighteen hits from tier-nine monsters or lower.
Tenth type: 1,000 gold, one day, withstands twenty hits from tier-ten monsters or lower.
Eleventh type: 10 million gold, one day, requires good credit or 1 billion gold for permanent use, withstands endless hits from tier-ten monsters, but demands vast materials for repair.

Looking at her pack—only 207 gold left—she reconsidered: I often encounter monsters above level five. Maybe the level-five boat, five meters long, ten gold for a day, is acceptable.

Just then, the treasure map in her mind buzzed three times, ‘doo doo doo.’

The second salvation quest officially began.

Quest: Find the Supreme Phantom Skill, the Poison Dragon Egg, [ten Starstone Skill Gems, Starstone Recipe Book. Choose either or both], and recipe material clues.

Condition: Locate them within seven days for direct acquisition; fail to find the Supreme Phantom Skill or Poison Dragon Egg, and they vanish. All hints are in the cave of Muxuan River’s strongest being; the egg is among a group of eggs.

Time: Seven days.

Reward: Supreme Phantom Skill, Poison Dragon Egg, ten Starstone Skill Gems, Starstone Recipe Book, recipe material clues.

Hua Tian slapped her forehead—well, the strongest. I’ll buy the most expensive boat I can afford! No need to save gold—if I can’t handle the strongest boat I can afford, and something goes wrong, Han’s team will kill me.

She prepared to spend 200 gold on a boat. If there was only one chance, saving now meant no second shot.

Eyeing the eight-meter-long, tier-eight boat: as long as I don’t run into monsters above tier nine right out the gate, we can be friends.