【Cultivator has leveled up】
【Cultivator: Nan Zhi】
【Bone Age: 18】
【Level: 27】
【Cultivation: Qi Refinement level 7】
【Constitution: 36 (+1+1) (In terms of constitution and agility alone, you can hold your own against top-tier experts in the martial world. Generally speaking, you are still a glass cannon mage.)】
【Combat Power: 98 (+1-5) (A budding newcomer in Qi Refinement; you do not seem to fall behind when fighting those of the same rank.)】
【Reputation: 120 (+2) (You killed the fierce tiger, and your fame has spread further. It seems you have attracted the attention of certain factions.)】
【Planting: 10 (You can now begin attempting to cultivate medicinal herbs.)】
【Gathering: 15 (You have a basic understanding of gathering; your knowledge base is equivalent to an alchemy apprentice.)】
【Cultivation Methods: 《Small Huanzhen Manual》 (First-tier, middle stage), 《Moon-Worshiping Breathing Method》 (First-tier, early stage)】
【Skills: Five Thunder Protection Curse, Mirage Pearl Escape】
【Currently Equipped: "Butcher’s Daughter", "Mountain Lord’s Curse" (Luck -10, Combat Power -5)】
Nan Zhi looked over her significantly changed status panel, unable to help calculating whether she had lost or gained from this venture.
It was a bumper harvest!
Although she had taken some risks this time, the payoff was massive. Not only did she obtain two pieces of blue-quality equipment, but she also leveled up ten times in a row, and her cultivation even jumped two levels.
【White Tiger Demon Core: A spirit tiger of the mountains that fell to evil, devoured human blood, and condensed into a demon core.
(Can be used to refine artifacts and pills, or to train Dao soldiers. However, a trace of baleful aura remains in the core; use with caution.)】
【Azure Sea Sky Boots (Blue Quality): Constitution +10
Among the twelve provinces of Dongsheng, there is the Heavenly Spirit Azure Sea. These boots were crafted by a Daoist during his early travels by capturing the spiritual energy of the Heavenly Spirit Azure Sea.
(This artifact allows one to travel a thousand miles in a day using spiritual energy. It is truly a divine tool for looting, killing, and making a quick escape. After use, a twelve-hour cooldown is required to restore wood-element spiritual energy.)】
【Azure Sea Sky Garment (Blue Quality): Constitution +50, Combat Power +10
Among the twelve provinces of Dongsheng, there is the Heavenly Spirit Azure Sea. This garment was crafted by a Daoist during his early travels by capturing the spiritual energy of the Heavenly Spirit Azure Sea.
(This dharma garment can withstand three full-strength strikes from a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Afterward, it will lose its spirituality, and its rank will degrade to green.)】
【Dream Soul Flower: A spiritual herb that grows upon special skeletal remains. It emits a strange fragrance when blooming and is one of the main ingredients for refining Foundation Establishment Pills.】
【Tiger Saliva Grass: A spiritual herb that grows where a mountain tiger’s saliva falls. It is difficult to cultivate and is one of the main ingredients for refining Foundation Establishment Pills.】
How could the game developers be so generous this time?!
Nan Zhi's eyes sparkled, and she was just a step away from shouting "Long live the developers!" three times.
Leaving aside the White Tiger Demon Core and the two spiritual herbs, just the Azure Sea Sky Boots and the Azure Sea Sky Garment—these two pieces of blue-quality equipment—were enough to support her smoothly and safely through the Qi Refinement stage.
The former combined with the Mirage Pearl Escape for running away, and the latter worn for picking fights—it was simply too perfect.
Even if Nan Zhi encountered an enemy at the Foundation Establishment stage one day, with these two treasures, she wouldn't be completely without a chance of victory.
Could this be the long-overdue newbie gift pack?
Nan Zhi couldn't wait to equip these two treasures, and sure enough, her character stats changed again:
【Cultivator: Nan Zhi】
……
……
【Cultivation: Qi Refinement level 7】
【Constitution: 36 (+1+1+50+10) (In terms of constitution and agility alone, you are the number one mortal in the current world. Among cultivators of the same rank, it is difficult to find anyone more tortoise-like than you.)】
【Combat Power: 98 (+1+10-5) (A budding newcomer in Qi Refinement; even when fighting above your level, you have a slight chance of victory.)】
With sixty points of constitution added all at once, the corners of Nan Zhi's mouth were about to curl up to the sky.
By comparison, the five-point reduction in constitution from the "Mountain Lord’s Curse" seemed completely insignificant.
However, that thing didn't sound very auspicious.
With luck reduced by ten, she wondered if it would have any impact on her real life.
Nan Zhi stroked her chin, planning to find someone who knew the ropes to remove this thing when she had the chance.
As for who to find?
Nan Zhi already had a plan in mind.
……
……
With the white tiger dead and the chang ghosts' bones burned to ashes, everything had scattered into the mountain forest.
The thunder-fire Nan Zhi had summoned seemed to target only yin-baleful ghostly energy; after burning the chang ghosts, it extinguished silently.
She looked at the blood-stained corpse of the giant tiger on the ground and the tiger head that died with its eyes open. Suddenly, her heart stirred, and she walked toward the tomb where the three ghosts had tried to deceive her earlier.
That tomb had been out of repair for years and was already in ruins, but the blue bricks used to build it were of high quality, showing that the tomb's owner had been wealthy or noble in life.
The characters on the tombstone were blurred and unclear, but one could vaguely make out "Youngest son, Yi", "Born in the Great Zhou, Tianshou era...", and "Died in the Shenlong era."
Was this a Tang Dynasty tomb?
The owner of the tomb was a young man named Yi, born in the year Empress Wu ascended the throne and died when he was fifteen.
Nan Zhi walked around the tomb and saw that it was intact, except for the tombstone being tilted, as if some animal had dug an opening.
Recalling how Chunsheng and Mei Niang had lured people into this tomb to harm them, this place must have been the white tiger's lair.
The white tiger's death wail had scared off the beasts in the forest. Even though the smell of blood here was very strong, there wouldn't be any other danger for the time being.
Nan Zhi simply lit a torch and leaned halfway into the tomb to see what the situation was.
The bottom of the tomb had been hollowed out by the white tiger to create a massive hole, which must have served as its nest.
She didn't know how that giant tiger, with its massive size, had managed to squeeze in.
The tomb was filled with piles of bones and a ghostly aura. In the corner were some decomposing shoes, socks, and skeletal remains.
Dead human hair was piled haphazardly, still stuck with dried blood and scalp, making anyone who saw it shudder.
Seeing that there was no danger, Nan Zhi jumped in to take a closer look.
Inside the tomb, the coffin was undamaged, leaning neatly to one side.
Although the seven coffin nails had rotted beyond recognition, they were still firmly nailed into the coffin lid, untouched by anyone.
On top of the coffin was a large red flower that had already withered, its petals scattered all over the ground. In the center of the stamen, a fruit no larger than a sesame seed had formed.
The ground was slightly damp, as if someone frequently watered this flower.
【Immature Dream Soul Flower: Ripening countdown (one year, three months, and seven days)】
Could this be the spiritual herb the tiger's mother swallowed all those years ago?
This white tiger was quite clever, digging a hole here to make its nest and guarding this spiritual herb day and night.
Nan Zhi walked around the coffin, finding it increasingly strange.
The coffin was pitch black, its entire surface covered in black ink charms. The crooked, dense characters covered every wooden board; looking at them for too long would make one feel dizzy.
It had been over three hundred years since the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the blue bricks on the tomb were nearly weathered away.
Yet, looking at this coffin, it was still perfectly intact. Not only were there no signs of decay, but not even a single worm-eaten spot could be seen.
The filth in the hole had also been piled aside by the white tiger, not touching the coffin at all.
There must be a reason for this.
Nan Zhi didn't think this white tiger was the type to respect its elders or the deceased.
The entrance to the tomb was narrow; even she had to lower her head to enter, let alone a giant tiger like a small mountain.
Why didn't it just move the coffin and the flower away together?
Either the white tiger had been neighbors with the coffin for so long that it developed feelings for the flower and thus didn't disturb the coffin,
Or the growing environment for this Dream Soul Flower was unique and it couldn't be moved.
There was another possibility...
And that was that the white tiger didn't dare open the coffin, fearing it would provoke whatever was inside.
Nan Zhi suddenly had an unreliable guess.
She squinted her eyes, carefully memorizing the patterns and text on the coffin.
Fearing she might forget, Nan Zhi used her phone to take dozens of photos of the screen from various angles before crawling back out.
Ten minutes later, Nan Zhi crawled back in and moved the bones and human clothing out one by one.
There were many skeletal remains in the hole, and it took Nan Zhi several trips to finish moving them.
After finishing this, she bowed to the coffin with a face full of sincerity:
"My friend lying inside, I've dealt with the giant tiger that forcibly occupied your house. You're welcome. Since I'm already here, I might as well help you clean up the inside. No need to say thanks. Let's meet again in a year, okay? We should stay in touch to build our friendship, don't you think?"
The pitch-black coffin: ...
How presumptuous of you.
Look at me; do I look like I can speak?
And are you really thinking about me?
You're clearly thinking about the Dream Soul Flower!
Rate on N.U.
