【Cultivator Level Up】
【Cultivator: Nan Zhi】
【Bone Age: 18】
【Level: 17】
【Cultivation: Fifth-level Qi Refinement】
【Constitution: 18 (+1+1) (You can fight a wild wolf and hold your own)】
【Combat Power: 31 (+1+15) (Even if you encounter an evil ghost, you seem to have the strength to fight)】
【Reputation: 86 (+2) (No matter which world you're in, you seem to be starting to become famous. Is this a good thing?)】
【Planting: 5 (Perhaps you could try raising a cactus)】
【Gathering: 8 (You're starting to be able to tell the difference between leeks and wheat sprouts)】
【Current Equipment: “Butcher’s Daughter”, “Nan Village Slaughtering Knife”】
【Skills: Five Thunder Protection Curse (Chanting the thunder incantation can summon heavenly thunder to protect the body, drive away evil, and keep ghosts at bay)
(This skill has a certain restraining effect on ghosts and demons. When using the skill, there is a 10% chance of causing a deterrent effect on enemies)】
【Heavenly Treasure Tree Lottery Ticket: 17】
Hearing the system notification indicating the mission's completion, Nan Zhi's hand jerked, and the stinky tofu in her paper box almost flew out.
It had only been four days, right?
The national team's speed was way too fast.
It seemed they hadn't just contacted Chen Ping, but had also stumbled into completing the random mission for her.
This meant Nan Zhi didn't have to do anything to level up twice and even get a high-value blue-quality cultivation technique.
No, actually, she had done some real work.
At the very least, she had learned quite a few new things from Master He and Wanniang.
Most importantly, she had saved up seventeen lottery tickets, enough for a ten-pull.
Nan Zhi looked up and around. People were coming and going, tourists with happy smiles on their faces, competing to take photos with the waterfall in the background.
She wasn't in the city center right now.
The place where she stood belonged to Guangfu Temple, the most prosperous temple in the city.
Built against the mountain and by the water, it was located inside a national 4A scenic forest park.
Every New Year's Eve at midnight, the road leading to the forest park would be so congested it was packed tight like sausages.
——All of them were wealthy people coming to snatch the first incense of the New Year.
More than half of the people here were pilgrims coming to offer incense and worship Buddha, while the other half were tourists drawn by the temple's reputation.
Only a tiny fraction were citizens of Qianli City simply strolling through the park.
Since the company had announced a week of paid leave for all employees, Nan Zhi had immediately hopped onto a tour bus.
Her first stop had been Taisu Monastery.
Nan Zhi had specifically looked up information online. Taisu Monastery had a long history, said to have been built during the Ming Dynasty and preserved to this day.
However, compared to Guangfu Temple, Taisu Monastery was clearly much more deserted.
Never mind large crowds of tourists, even the ticket office at the entrance only had a sign hanging there for show, like a decoration.
When she went to visit the main hall, the little Taoist priest looking at hexes was listless. He told Nan Zhi that the temple head, Taoist Master Dingyi, had gone out to catch ghosts.
Nan Zhi was completely bewildered and asked in return, “Then what does that have to do with me going inside for a visit?”
The little Taoist gave a lazy yawn and said righteously, “The temple head took the keys to the main hall with him. Even if you want to go in, you can't.”
How poor are you guys exactly?
The temple head has to carry the keys to the main hall with him at all times.
Was he afraid she’d go in and steal the Patriarch’s golden body, or was he afraid she’d steal the paper bills from the merit box?
The little Taoist kindly suggested to her:
“Since you can't get in without the keys anyway, you might as well go for a walk in the snack street at the foot of the mountain. There are more people there, it's lively.”
Nan Zhi couldn't argue with that.
The next day, she appeared at Guangfu Temple.
Looking at the glittering, magnificent temple and the neatly paved parking lot as large as a small park, Nan Zhi felt a pang of sympathy for Taisu Monastery:
“Comparing the two, it’s a bit too pitiful. Taisu Monastery is at least a cultural relic, while this is entirely a commercialized park.”
Guangfu Temple was in an excellent location, situated halfway up the mountain and built right next to an artificial waterfall.
The waterfall splashed, water droplets fell, and the thick incense smoke in the temple was almost visible to the naked eye, rising gracefully with the mountain wind. It truly gave the illusion of a celestial land or a blessed grotto.
Tourists could see this scene as soon as they entered, so it was no wonder the incense offerings at Guangfu Temple were so abundant.
——These days, even worshipping gods requires this kind of packaging.
The world is truly going to the dogs.
I wonder if it's effective. Maybe I should go and get two fortune-bringing sachets later?
Nan Zhi chewed on the stinky tofu in her mouth, peering through her sunglasses as her gaze swept through the crowd again.
Nothing.
Not a single one.
Never mind gods, there wasn't even a ghost.
She did see large clumps of Yin energy on a few people, but that Yin energy was as thin as a patch of grey mist that could be dispersed with a wave of her hand.
There was spiritual energy as well, but it was extremely sparse, just floating vaguely in mid-air, barely holding together.
But what attracted Nan Zhi was the carmine glow hanging in the sky above the temple.
She had originally thought it was the reflection of the sunset, but later she discovered that the layer of red clouds didn't dissipate for a long time. Moreover, as the crowds surged, the red clouds grew even larger.
Eventually, the entire sky above the temple was dyed a pale pink.
That pinkish hue hung distantly in the sky, flowing slowly as if someone were painting in the heavens—truly beautiful.
However, it seemed she was the only one who noticed this wonder.
The people beneath the red clouds were completely unaware of it.
Nan Zhi decided to ask the Big Bellied Ghost at the City God Temple if she got the chance.
It had lived a long time and seen many strange things, so it should know what this was.
As for the completion of the mission, it was purely an unexpected joy.
...
Nan Zhi's original plan was to use the yellow paper to open a path, lead Chen Ping to the twenty-seventh floor, and after making a scene, attract the attention of metaphysical experts at the national level.
She hadn't expected the country's efficiency to be so high. In just a few days, the cause of Chen Ping's death had been cleared up, and her mission had been completed as a result.
“The cultivation level of that Master He I met that day shouldn't be low.
Fourth-level Qi Refinement? No, it's even possible that his cultivation is above mine; otherwise, there’s no reason I wouldn’t be able to see the spiritual energy on him.
And since the authorities could handle Chen Ping's case so quickly, it means there must be practitioners within the government whose cultivation far exceeds mine.”
Nan Zhi recalled bit by bit whether she had left any flaws:
“The only ones who should have seen me that day were Chen Ping, the delivery man, and the employees on the seventeenth floor.
But I was wearing the 【Paper Skin Garment】. Even if I was caught on camera, no one would suspect me for the time being.
Even if Chen Ping told the authorities about me, he wouldn't recognize me, so there's no need to worry.”
As for the yellow paper and the yellow chicken she used that day?
They were brought out from the game, of course. Even if someone in the real world investigated, they wouldn't find a single shred of a clue.
Although it was a bit risky, if there were more real-world missions in the future, she could completely let the national team act first while she hid behind and “picked up the scraps.”
The more Nan Zhi thought about it, the more feasible this plan seemed.
In a sense, she was hitching a ride on Mother Motherland's coattails.
Even a secret hitch is still a hitch!
......
......
The joy of jumping two levels was something outsiders obviously couldn't know.
By the time Nan Zhi returned home, she was greeted by Corn, the treasure-seeking mouse, who was squeaking “zhi zhi zhi” in tearful protest.
“Alright, alright, it’s not that I didn’t want to take you out, but you’re too easy to spot.
What if someone took a photo and posted it online, and someone recognized your identity and tried to snatch you away?”
Nan Zhi quite seriously told Corn about the tropes in cultivation novels where people were killed for their treasures:
“I’m just a little Qi Refinement rookie right now and can’t beat anyone. What if someone captured you to be their spirit pet?”
This was naturally her concern as well.
Haven't you seen in cultivation novels and even in movies? The plots of killing for treasures and snatching opportunities are countless.
Nan Zhi was only a fifth-level Qi Refinement cultivator. In the cultivation world, she would probably just be there to make up the numbers.
Although she hadn't seen any cultivators in the modern world, since she could cultivate, there must be others out there.
Therefore, it was better for her to stay low and grow for now.
“Zhi zhi zhi! Zhi zhi zhi zhi!”
Corn puffed out its chest, its two large ears twitching, looking “loyal and true” to Nan Zhi:
“Zhi zhi zhi!”
Nan Zhi didn't need to guess to know what the little mouse was saying.
She was in a great mood and showed Corn the new spell she had learned: “I tested it out secretly; the power is just a bit small, like an electric fly swatter.”
Nan Zhi extended her palm and chanted toward a withered potted plant in her home:
“The wind moves first, the thunder follows. Three thousand thunders descend, a million soldiers of thunder and fire. The fire burns the world, and demons turn to dust.”
As the incantation fell, a wind suddenly rose in the room.
A gust of wind swirled around Nan Zhi, and then, lightning seemed to brew in her palm, sparks flickering—
“Crack!”
A thin bolt of lightning, as if alive, leaped on Nan Zhi's index finger like a silver snake.
If normal thunder and lightning were as thick as a thunder dragon...
Then this one on Nan Zhi's hand was a tiny lightning snake.
No, at most, it could be considered an earthworm.
Nan Zhi was very excited, though, holding up her index finger to share this joy with her pet:
“It worked! Corn, look—eh?”
She turned her head only to see Corn hiding inside its hamster ball, shaking like a leaf, refusing to poke its head out.
“Zhi zhi zhi!”
“Zhi zhi zhi zhi!!”
The treasure-seeking mouse screamed loudly, desperately squeezing into the hamster ball, leaving only half its butt sticking out.
Although it didn't understand what its master had done, it could still feel a power from that flash of electricity that made its mouse-heart tremble.
It was a power that could make a creature shudder from the depths of its soul.
It was as if its ancestors, and the ancestors of its ancestors, had once faced such power and could only curl up in dark caves, waiting for the storm to pass.
It couldn't muster even the slightest thought of resistance.
“Oh no, I forgot that you count as a demon too, Corn. I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
Nan Zhi had no choice but to give it a double portion of mouse food and open a bottle of Qi-Supplementing Pills as an apology.
But...
With thunder this thin, even if she used it in a fight, its power would probably be as weak as an electric fly swatter, right?
In those TV dramas, the female leads always have things like a “Azure Phoenix Fire Feather Fan” or a “Seven-Aperture Exquisite Pendant.”
Their spells are each more flashy than the last.
How come when it's her turn, there's only one thin bolt of thunder?
Imagine fighting an enemy in the future; others would charge in with swords.
Only she would be standing there like a fool, holding up a finger and smiling sinisterly at the enemy:
“I’ll poke you to death with one finger, believe it or not!”
Basically, at that point, she’d win.
——Because the opponent would have already collapsed on the ground laughing.
Nan Zhi’s stomach hurt a little.
Rate on N.U.
