Chapter 237 The Ruthless Senior Brother of the Path ...
Seeing Heng Mo casually pick up a jade pendant and play with it, the stall owner cleared his throat and began to make up a story—no, to give a detailed introduction:
"This thing is said to be the key to a secret realm of immortals left behind by a powerful cultivator in the Tribulation Transcending stage three thousand years ago. It is said that there are also the inheritances left behind by the powerful cultivator in the immortal realm."
If someone were to have the right opportunity, they might be able to soar to great heights, easily reaching the Golden Core and Nascent Soul stages, and perhaps even the Deity Transformation realm, where they could rival the number one person in the world.
Shen Ting casually took the jade pendant and glanced at it, clicking his tongue in amazement, "As expected of a great master's work, these carving marks, even after three thousand years, look almost the same as when they were carved three months ago."
The stall owners who do this kind of thing are shameless. Hearing Shen Ting say this, they weren't angry at all. Instead, they smiled and flattered him:
"I've only heard this secondhand, so please just enjoy it. Anyway, someone like me doesn't have any special opportunities. But you two are both handsome and elegant, with extraordinary bearing. You are clearly blessed people, so who knows what kind of opportunities you might have."
Shen Ting had seen this kind of thing before in the martial arts world: spending a little money to amuse oneself. Since Heng Mo wanted to join in the fun, he wouldn't let a few low-grade spirit stones spoil the mood. He would just treat it as paying to listen to a story.
Shen Ting glanced around the stalls and deliberately picked up a glass peach blossom hairpin that looked obviously handmade. He then stared at the stall owner, waiting for him to tell him its origin.
Lin You had never visited an antique stall, but she had seen short videos of this kind of thing. Every stall owner was a master storyteller, making up stories from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to Sun Wukong. As long as you were willing to listen, they could find the stone that Sun Wukong jumped out of.
Knowing that Heng Mo and Shen Ting were somewhat knowledgeable, the stall owner, of course, fabricated a story within reasonable bounds. Looking at the crystal-clear peach blossom glass hairpin, he said mysteriously:
"The origin of this hairpin is quite remarkable. Have you heard of the number one beauty in the cultivation world, Fairy Fuyao? This is her beloved possession. It is said to be a token of love between her and her childhood sweetheart when she was in the mortal world."
Unfortunately, mortals have limited lifespans. After the lover passed away, the token of their love disappeared without a trace. There was a rumor that whoever found the token would have the chance to be with her.
However, this also depends on fate. Only two gentlemen with such handsome faces, striking eyebrows, and profound cultivation could catch that beauty's eye.
Seeing the two customers finally showing some shock, the stall owner finally felt a sense of accomplishment. Although the two seemed to be shocked in different ways, their expressions were much more pleasing to the eye than when they were just watching the spectacle.
Shen Ting rolled her eyes and whispered to Heng Mo, "That one is from the Hehuan Sect. She practices dual cultivation. As long as a cultivator is good-looking and has decent cultivation, he can become her lover."
In other words, as long as a cultivator is good-looking, whether he's wearing a hairpin or not, he can get close to the beauty, since everyone's just there to give the beauty experience points.
After being exposed, the stall owner gave a thumbs-up and praised Shen Ting, saying, "This young master is very knowledgeable. But if you had taken the hairpin with you, you could have had some fun chatting with people."
Heng Mo coughed to interrupt him, then picked up a dark stone as if to change the subject, "Let's not talk about the hairpin for now, is there any special meaning behind this?"
The stall owner had enjoyed the two men's embarrassment enough, but he didn't dare to tease the God of Wealth any further. If he angered the man, things would be terrible. So he quickly pointed at the black stone and started making up a story.
What about the Heart of the Spiritual Vein? Holding it allows you to sense vast stretches of spiritual veins and stones, making you the world's richest person and reaching the pinnacle of life.
Before he could finish speaking, Heng Mo and Shen Ting couldn't help but burst into laughter. Heng Mo forced a laugh and explained, "Sorry, but your story is a bit too far-fetched. The center of a spiritual vein is usually a top-grade spiritual stone. Even larger spiritual veins only have spiritual crystals. Spiritual stones are formed by the condensation of spiritual energy and do not have any interaction with each other."
The boss showed no embarrassment at being exposed, and continued to smile: "Oh dear, this is all hearsay. That's what others told me. Just take it as a joke, young master. Is there anything else you'd like to hear?"
Shen Ting couldn't help but wave his hand, "Alright, stop listening to these stories. There seems to be an auction ahead, it should be more fun than this."
Seeing the stall owner's somewhat anxious look, Heng Mo left ten low-grade spirit stones, picked up the black stone and the jade pendant from before, and asked, "I want these two items. Are these spirit stones enough?"
The stall owner nodded hurriedly, his ingratiating smile tinged with eagerness. "That's enough, that's enough. Thank you both, gentlemen. You two are indeed extraordinary and have a bright future ahead of you!"
The items on this stall are mostly mortal objects, at most nourished by spiritual energy. Even the most expensive item is not worth a single low-grade spirit stone.
He thought these two would just spend one or two low-grade spirit stones to join in the fun, but he didn't expect that they would only choose two items and give him ten low-grade spirit stones.
It was obvious that the two of them felt they had listened to his story for a long time, so they deliberately gave him more money as a reward, and were worried that he would feel uncomfortable, so they deliberately gave him the money first.
When he said that the future was limitless, his tone became much more sincere. This generous, young, and inexperienced young master was clearly a disciple of the Xuan Yang Sect, and perhaps even a personal disciple of that elder. He would definitely be an elite member of the Xuan Yang Sect in the future.
The stall owner had originally tried to give them the peach blossom glass hairpin, which was said to bring good fortune in love, as a free gift, but the two refused. In the end, Heng Mo only accepted a travel guide to Chaoyang City that the stall owner insisted on giving him.
[Ding! Side quest 1 in Chaoyang City has been completed. You have obtained the top-grade material Star Pattern Refined Iron and gained 30 points.]
[Ding! Side Quest 2 in Chaoyang City has started. Please go to the auction house and bid on the seventh item. (30 points)]
[Ding! Special reminder: Please advance your cultivation to the Foundation Establishment stage as soon as possible to unlock the main quest!]
Heng Mo played with the dark stone, squeezing it with his spiritual power. It didn't leave any marks, but it was pitch black and had no special features other than being solid. If it weren't for the system's prompt, he really wouldn't have been able to tell that this thing was a top-grade material.
Star-patterned refined iron, born along with the star trails, condenses the power of the stars, making it a top-grade material suitable for forging swords. Its hardness is comparable to the black ice of the North Sea, yet it contains the flexibility of the stars' movement.
"This thing was found with the help of a game quest. The Star Pattern Refined Iron should also be considered a cheat item, right? How do we give it to it?" Heng Mo looked at the Star Pattern Refined Iron and asked Lin You, who was studying the newly appeared quest, through telepathy.
Lin You didn't know much about this either. In the modern era, she mostly played stress-relieving games like Snake, Tetris, and Candy Crush.
Those large-scale games are either grindy or require spending money, which is a huge waste of time and money. Whether before or after her transmigration, Lin You has always been engrossed in studying and has no time to play games that require following the storyline and completing tasks.
Now, I've suddenly experienced a live-action immersive game with Heng Mo, and putting everything else aside, it's undeniably very fun.
After discussing it, the two left a message on the message board asking questions, since they were testing the cheat code and would naturally report any problems they found in a timely manner.
Every system can accept the "Golden Finger" test mission, but as the bizarre nature of the Golden Finger missions is exposed time and time again, and the points for the entire mission are deducted upon failure, there are not many systems willing to choose the Golden Finger test anymore.
Of these few people, only Lin You was able to truly complete the Golden Finger test, submit a complete trial report, and provide suggestions for improvement.
The employees who developed the cheat system were all in the same department. After witnessing how well their colleagues' modified cheat systems were at collecting energy, they were extremely excited about being selected by Lin You for a trial.
The creator of the game system "Golden Finger" that Lin You was trying out this time was called Xiao You. When he first discovered that the user was the famous Lin You, he was very excited and bragged about it in the office for several days. However, more than half a year has passed, and his progress in using the Golden Finger is still stuck in the most basic task guidance stage.
Well, it's similar to the starting area in every online game, where the system guides you to learn how to pick up items, use skills, gather resources, and so on. It's something that could be done in a day or two, but Hengmo has been doing it for more than half a year, and there's still a trend of continuing to do so.
The tutorial mission originally had four stages, and completing three of each stage was enough. Xiao You didn't know why Heng Mo would accept all of the hundreds of tutorial missions each time, and even accept four rounds at once. However, his strength was stuck and he couldn't improve, so he still couldn't unlock the main storyline mission.
Later, it was the ghost who noticed his bad mood and, after figuring out what had happened, slapped him on the head.
"Isn't this blatantly a bug in the game? It's obvious that your game's introductory instructions are inaccurate, yet you still have the nerve to say that the testers don't know how to play?"
While there will be some screening when distributing cheat codes later, there's always a chance of encountering one or two players who don't know how to play the game. Couldn't you add a condition for obtaining the cheat code and provide a detailed explanation in your tutorial?
Xiao You scratched his head miserably and went to modify the basic settings of the cheat system. He also unlocked the side quest for Heng Mo as a guide for the second stage.
Based on the existing information about Chaoyang City, a series of system side quests were connected, which can also be considered as a guide for Heng Mo and Lin You, two game novices, on how to operate the cheat codes in this game.
Heng Mo didn't understand the game's mechanics, and his cultivation level was somewhat low, but he still completed the mission quite well. Xiao You breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that he was able to successfully complete the first mission.
He then saw through the golden finger that Heng Mo obediently went to the auction and carefully studied item number seven.
Many people are willing to obediently complete tasks when playing games, but in reality, it's rare to see someone who follows the task process.
Although this was Xiaoyou's first time completing a cheat system independently, he had participated in other cheat system trials before and had seen quite a few bizarre task participants.
Some threw tantrums and demanded extra rewards, some paid lip service but went against the grain, and others were self-righteous, ignoring all game hints and making a mess of things according to their own ideas, yet still thinking they were incredibly capable.
Heng Mo is a good person who follows the rules. Although he is a bit simple-minded, he is obedient!
Just as Xiaoyou was complaining about Hengmo, she suddenly received a new message: "[Hello creator, how do I submit my Star Pattern Refined Iron?]"
Xiao You was shocked and submitted Star Pattern Refined Iron?
Anyone who has played games knows that once the task completion notification appears, the task is considered finished.
Moreover, the first task he posted only asked people to buy it, without requiring any materials to be submitted.
Xiao You was so focused on improving the gameplay of the cheat system that he neglected the most fundamental aspect: earning energy. By the time he realized it, the basic structure of the cheat system had already been set.
The mission was exciting and indeed very interesting, but the energy he gained was barely enough to keep the Golden Finger Shop running. He thought that his first time was just a losing proposition, but he never expected that he could open up a new track.
Who says being silly is bad? This silly guy is really great!!
The energy gained from the quick transmigration mission is mostly intangible things like faith points and merit points. To obtain tangible items, one must either have the mission recipient willingly give them to the employee or obtain them legally and reasonably through their own abilities.
Items like those submitted willingly by the user of the cheat system can also be counted, but he can only get a maximum of one percent.
But even one percent is pretty good. For example, the Star Pattern Refined Iron in Heng Mo's hand, one percent is only the size of a fingernail, but if you convert it into system points, it's still several hundred.
[Ding! The cheat code backpack has been activated!]
[Ding! Your exclusive inventory for submitting quest items is now open!]
[Ding! Your dedicated customer service chat page is now open!]
[Ding! Hello Heng Mo, tester of the cheat software, this is your dedicated customer service representative, Xiao You. Feel free to contact me directly with any questions; no need to leave a message! *^O^*]
[Ding! To submit your quest items, simply place them in your designated inventory. Our customer service team will appraise the items to determine if they are worth collecting. They will only collect a maximum of one percent; the rest is yours. *^_^*]
Xiao You eagerly set up the submission channel and waited anxiously for Heng Mo's actions. It wasn't enough for the Star Pattern Refined Iron to be placed in the exclusive backpack; the important thing was that Heng Mo was willing to do so.
Although he only took one percent, some people would still be unwilling to accept it. As long as Heng Mo had even the slightest such thought, he would not be able to take the Star Pattern Refined Iron.
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Author's Note: [Owl emoji]
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