Chapter 046 Chapter 46 (Part 2)

Magic City.

This coastal city seems to have magical powers. Even at night, it is still brightly lit, and the dazzling neon lights make the city's streets and alleys look like daytime.

The suburbs were quieter, but even then, bright lights were on. Inside a large research institute, a skinny, mysterious beast lay sprawled on a hospital bed, its ears drooping listlessly.

Its once sturdy body has shrunk severely, and is now only the size of a palm. Its golden hair has become dry, yellow and sparse, like bleak weeds in autumn, and is falling off in clumps as the toxins penetrate into its lungs.

The Tibetan Golden Dog's body was filled with tubes and drips of medicine were being injected into it. There was also a mystical circuit arranged next to it, with a dozen crystals neatly inserted on it. These crystals, collected from another dimension, contained rich mystical power, which was now continuously flowing through the circuits and into the Tibetan Golden Dog's body, trying to help it retain its vitality.

With both traditional medicine and mystical methods used, the owner was completely at his wit's end and could only try any possible remedy.

The Tibetan Golden Dog's body was so weak that even breathing took a lot of effort. In the dead silence, it tried hard to open its eyes. Tears welled up in its eyes, which had become cloudy due to years of illness, and it looked fixedly at the head of the bed.

There, a middle-aged man in his forties was pacing back and forth anxiously, grabbing his remaining hair tightly. His head was so bald that his shiny scalp was visible, and the dense white hair on his temples appeared even more mottled under the incandescent light.

“Tick-tock, tick-tock…”

The bedside instrument made short, extremely harsh sounds, as if the god of death was blowing a trumpet, foreshadowing that the patient in the bed would not live long.

The man's fingers trembled, and he took out a cigarette from his pocket and put it to his lips.

He didn't bother to light it, but grabbed his cell phone and made a call.

The phone rang for a long time before it was connected. The woman on the other end was obviously devastated: "Professor Xuan, we've tried everything we can think of, but we really can't cure it!"

"Really? Unless a healing beast with the ability to 'resurrect' appears, it will be able to rescue that golden dog from the clutches of death. Please don't torment us, and don't torment it either!"

Professor Xuan bit down hard on his cigarette holder, his brows furrowed in a frown. After a long silence, his voice rasped, "You guys... think of another way."

Blue Star currently didn't have any healing beasts, otherwise he would have found a way to ask them for help. But it was too difficult. Comprehending attack skills into divine skills was incredibly difficult, let alone healing skills that could heal illnesses and save lives.

"I'm not married, and I don't have any children. Xiao Jin has been like my own son all these years. You want me to give him up like this? I can't help it. I can't bear to do that..."

Professor Xuan said a few words, and his voice couldn't help but be choked with sobs. His nose felt sore and he could hardly hold his cigarette holder.

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds, followed by a helpless sigh.

"Really, we tried our best," she said. "We tried to extract the toxin from the golden dog, but once it leaves the body, it turns into a pool of clear water in less than half a second. We have no way to decompose and identify it."

"The same goes for that mysterious Dark Beast King. You haven't even seen it, and you can't provide any information about it, so we can't analyze it even if we want to. No one has submitted any reports related to it over the years. If it weren't for your solemn oath, we would almost think..."

Having said this, the woman suddenly paused.

Professor Xuan: "...you thought it didn't exist, right?"

He took a deep breath, sat down at the table and bent down deeply, almost burying his head in his knees.

There was another silence on the phone. After a long moment, the woman said softly, "I'm really sorry."

"Now, we can only pray for a miracle."

On the hospital bed, the Tibetan golden retriever seemed to understand their conversation. It stared with difficulty, its thin, straw-like paws exerting their last bit of strength to grasp the striped sheets, and a "grunting" sound came from its nose.

“Woo, woo…”

Don’t treat it anymore, forget it.

It couldn't bear to see its beloved master so lonely. Over the past three years, Professor Xuan's investment in it far exceeded its value. If it hadn't wasted so much time, with Professor Xuan's academic ability, he might have been elected as an academician by now.

Professor Xuan raised his head and wiped his face vigorously.

"It's okay, we can still hold on."

He walked to the bedside, lovingly stroked the sunken body of the Tibetan Golden Dog, and whispered, "I still have money and can afford to buy crystals. I also have many talented students... There will always be a way, Xiao Jin, just hold on a little longer, just a little longer."

As soon as he finished speaking, Professor Xuan's cell phone suddenly buzzed and a message popped up.

[Your post in "Adventurer's Home" has new replies, click to view! ]

Professor Xuan pursed his lips and ignored it.

When he first posted three years ago, he received dozens of messages like this every day. But every time he enthusiastically checked, he only received meaningless nonsense, with some even replying that he should cancel the account and open a new one, saying the next one would be better.

It's so funny!

Now that so much time has passed, Professor Xuan has long lost hope.

After all, he later contacted the professional mysterious beast medical team in Shanghai and gave the Tibetan Golden Dog the most advanced treatment. But even these methods failed to help the Tibetan Golden Dog recover. Could he still count on those friendly netizens on the forum?

Professor Xuan was about to turn off the screen when a WeChat message popped up. His finger paused for a moment, then slipped and accidentally clicked on the forum message pop-up.

The "Adventurer Forum" APP popped up immediately and jumped to the reply page, displaying a string of dense text.

Professor Xuan subconsciously glanced at the other person's avatar and found that it had a small label of "Trial", and he was still using the fixed avatar that came with the system, and the forum level was also LV1. His expression suddenly became even uglier.

"The management of the Adventurer's House is really getting worse and worse. They even pushed my request for help to a trial account?"

In this circle, who doesn’t know that most of the people behind the “trial accounts” have failed the qualification assessment, and are often used by scholars to give special lessons to young students?

"This student is also reckless. He dares to answer any question without thinking."

Professor Xuan had even less hope for the reply. He casually scanned a few lines, his finger already expertly touching the "Wrong Complaint" button, and subconsciously pressed it.

"Um?"

Suddenly, the man's eyes changed.

With just a glance, he saw many new professional terms.

The answer was very long, the description was very detailed, and it even included examples of other similar mysterious beasts. It didn't seem like a fabrication...

Professor Xuan frowned, then studied it for a moment longer. Suddenly, his heart raced. He quickly pulled his hand back, his fingertips feeling as if they had touched scalding water. The lines of tiny words on the screen magnified before his eyes, rumbling like thunder in his ears.

[Black-crowned leech...tiny leeches...]

[It's very easy to treat... Because there is a mysterious beast that is the natural enemy of the Black-crowned Chanzhi, and that is the Thunder Rooster. Simply take the comb blood of a second-level Thunder Rooster and inject it into the Tibetan Golden Dog, and it will eliminate the leeches of the Black-crowned Chanzhi.]

[However, the one you encountered was the Dark Beast King. Its toxins are likely stronger than those of ordinary black-crowned leeches. The treatment process will probably need to be repeated multiple times.]

"...Leechworms?"

Professor Xuan recited these two words, chewing them repeatedly between his teeth, his eyes becoming brighter and brighter.

He didn't know whether the statements about "black-crowned leech" and "natural enemy" were true or false, but this answer did provide him with a new, logically self-consistent, and very realistic new idea!

Professor Xuan immediately called the treatment team and said in a resounding voice, "Doctor Xu, is it possible that the poison in the Tibetan golden dog was caused by a leech so tiny that it's invisible to humans?"

"Yes, it's a poison with life force. That's the fundamental reason why it can't be preserved outside of a living body."

"And the Thunder Rooster... If I remember correctly, the mysterious beast possessed by humans in the Demon University Research Institute is a Level 2 Thunder Rooster?"

…

Late at night at Shanghai University, the atmosphere became bustling with activity because of a phone call from Professor Xuan.

At the same time, the "Adventurer's Home" forum was also very lively.

Posts offering high rewards were pushed up by new replies, and a fiery red prompt "New reply awaiting review" floated above the forum.

The forum users are going crazy.

[Who is this guy, so arrogant, solving a difficult problem post in 10 minutes on average? Even if Shennong were reborn, he wouldn't be this awesome, right?]

[Oh my god, you're still answering? I've been answering since 9am, and it's already upvoted at least ten times!]

[Treatment of old ailments, identification of evolutionary materials, recognition of new profound beasts, discovery of synergistic skills... Isn't the coverage a bit too broad? And it's even a trial account... Tsk, what kind of people are using trial accounts? They're either idiots who haven't even earned adventurer status, or losers who've failed the assessment multiple times. How could they possibly have such knowledge?]

[If this wasn't a made-up answer, I'd do a live show of me doing a handstand in women's clothing!]

[Get lost up there! Don't pollute the eyes of the forum lurkers. Seriously, where did this "Bringing Wealth and Treasure" jackass pop up? My three free replies are up now. Subsequent replies will cost money, and there's no refund for incorrect answers.]

[She's been greedy for points! Look at her name, "招财进宝" (Bringing Wealth and Treasure), she's so greedy she doesn't even try to hide it!]

[Where's the moderation? Please get some moderation done! We can't let this kind of guy ruin the reputation our forum has worked so hard to build!]

The forum was filled with a heated debate, like bubbling water.

In the question area, replies and discussions were divided into two sections. There was no fee for discussion and people could speak freely. At one time, many netizens flocked to the discussion area and launched a massive attack on "招财进宝".

Those who are disdainful, those who curse, those who just watch the fun and don't mind making trouble...

Many people went to the review page and asked that the account of "招财进宝" be banned immediately and that she should not be allowed to reply endlessly.

The key point is that every post she pushed up was an old post with a large reward and a long delay. It was extremely difficult, and the old users of the forum had been studying it for months without any results.

The "Adventurer's Home" has a huge user base and is home to a wealth of talented individuals. Many senior researchers, veteran adventurers with extensive experience in alternate dimensions, and even numerous divine beast masters have registered accounts there. Those without the necessary skills wouldn't dare speak up, and those who dared to speak out were confident in their expertise.

How could a newcomer easily conquer a problem that they couldn't solve after studying for a long time?

And at an ultra-fast frequency of once every ten minutes?

The noise grew louder and louder, and the forum administrator finally came online and publicly stated that they would conduct a strict review and would deal seriously with any behavior that maliciously disrupted the order of the forum.

After all, they had never encountered this kind of situation before. People with trial accounts usually came to this forum to learn, and they would behave themselves in front of the big guys. How could there be such an arrogant existence as "招财进宝" (attracting wealth and treasure)?

Xia Muqing was completely unaware of all this.

She was only too busy selecting questions, answering them using her previous life's gaming knowledge and illustrated guides. After three free chances, each subsequent answer would cost 100 star coins. Xia Muqing, rarely showing any remorse, simply tossed herself a 2,000 yuan top-up.

This is not an expense, it's just an initial investment.

If any of her answers to the posts were accepted, it would be enough to cover the cost of the answer.

Swish, swish, swish, Xia Muqing's fingers flew and she answered 12 posts in one breath.

Her thoughts were running too fast, her brain was overloaded, and her mouth was a little dry, so she got up and poured herself a glass of water, and was about to click on the 13th one with a sense of unsatisfied desire.

But at this moment, a prompt suddenly popped up on Xia Muqing's phone:

[Your trial account is suspected of illegal operation. Please wait for the review to pass before continuing to use it.]

Xia Muqing: “???”

How is it a violation?

Xia Muqing was a little confused. She switched the interface and went out to see that there was a lot of uproar outside because she answered 12 posts in a row.

Even the long-dormant [Sticked Rules Post] urgently added a new restriction: [Trial accounts may not reply more than 10 times within 30 days.]

"Well……"

Xia Muqing frowned and sighed helplessly.

Only answering 10 questions in a month, isn’t that too stingy?

It's basically targeting her.

Oh, forget it, let's wait for the results of the first 12 replies. If it can be proven that what she said is correct, maybe the administrator will lift the restrictions...

Xia Muqing comforted herself and put down her phone in disappointment. Seeing that it was almost midnight and the three mysterious beasts were curled up in their nests and sleeping soundly, she calmed down her lost mood and ran to wash up and go to bed.

After all, I have to get up early to go to school tomorrow.

Xia Muqing had excellent sleep quality, the kind that could fall asleep as soon as she touched the pillow. So, she didn't realize that after she fell asleep, her phone, which had been set to silent mode, suddenly started flashing in the night, and bold messages popped up one after another, like a barrage of messages flooding the screen.

[Your reply about "xxx" has been accepted, and the reward of 100 points will be credited to your account within 3 days! ]

[Your reply about "xxx" has been adopted, and the reward of 25 points will be credited to your account within 3 days! ]

[Your reply about "xxx" has been adopted, and the reward of 40 points will be credited to your account within 3 days! ]

…

【You received x private messages! 】

[Your private mailbox is full, please clean it up in time! ]