Chapter 164: Official Beginning
There were two conditions Ling Chen needed to fulfil in order to defeat the Celestial grade Warring Palace Skeleton. The first was to be able to break through its Defence without Soul Sacrifice. The other was to either increase his own Movement Speed, or at least find a way to nullify the semi-spirit girl’s Movement Speed debuff. If he did not have even one of these prerequisites, he would not be able to defeat the Warring Palace Skeleton.
Returning to Azure Dragon City, Ling Chen mulled over these two prerequisites. If he wanted to raise his base attack power to 1,000, without changing his equipment, he would need to be a least LV30. Moreover, compared to increasing attack power, increasing one’s Movement Speed was much, much harder. Right now, with his Wind Chaser Stone, Wind Chaser Bandanna and Wind Riding Boots, his Movement Speed without a mount was 143, which was far above any other player’s. If he wanted to raise his Movement Speed, it would be almost impossible.
In that case, he had to find a way to nullify Movement Speed debuffs.
He had spent too much time in the Forest of Bones, and needed to go take care of Ruo Ruo.
In the evening…
Ling Chen pushed a wheelchair with a smiling Ling Shui Ruo on it. The light from the sunset reflected a red glow onto her face, causing her to look extraordinarily beautiful. Although she could now walk by herself, Ling Chen didn’t want to tire her out too much, and still insisted on taking her out on her wheelchair.
“How are you, Uncle Li?”
Passing by the community’s Police Station, Shui Ruo greeted the old uncle standing outside. Uncle Li immediately smilingly replied, “Good, good… taking a walk? You look much better today, haha.”
Ling Shui Ruo’s face was filled with a healthy red glow, but he did not dare to come close to her. Isrock, which had almost become a synonym for ‘death’, was no small matter. As such, Ling Chen and Ling Shui Ruo were known by every person in the community, but no one dared to approach them. Most families that had lived around them had already moved away, and no one wanted to rent the surrounding residences, much less buy them.
They all respected Ling Chen for being so loyal to his little sister with Isrock disease, but they could only do so from a distance. Most people were not even willing to get too close to Ling Chen, as they were not sure if he had been infected with the Isrock disease himself.
Ling Chen did not tell anyone about Ling Shui Ruo’s recovery. Although people would continue to shun and avoid them, at least no one would come to disturb them. Otherwise, with how pretty Shui Ruo was, many men would try to approach her.
The cool breeze blew over the outskirts of the town…
This was a place where Ling Chen and Ling Shui Ruo often came. Green fields were sprawled as far as the eye could see, and only very rarely did other people come here. People were usually so engrossed in their real life work or in the virtual world that they rarely came out to appreciate the beauty of nature. Every time they came here, the pure air would make them forget about all the unpleasant things, and, facing the heavens and earth, they would silently pray… perhaps it was their prayers that caused the heavens to have pity on them, and granted them their desires.
This time was different to all the other times they had come together. This time, Shui Ruo had left her wheelchair behind, and walked hand in hand with Ling Chen on the soft grass… from the calm and elegant way she walked, no one would be able to guess that she had been diagnosed with one of the most terrifying diseases known to mankind. They walked for ten metres, a hundred metres, two hundred metres… Shui Ruo continued to walk steadily, and did not even get out of breath.
Shui Ruo’s current condition caused Ling Chen to feel so happy that he felt his heart would burst.
At this moment, Shui Ruo suddenly let go of Ling Chen’s hand. Ling Chen thought she was about to fall down, and hurriedly went to catch her. Instead, what he saw was her joyfully skipping forwards, and effortlessly ran a short distance. Under the glow of the setting sun, she raised both hands to her lips and shouted, “I, Ling Shui Ruo, want to be with big brother… forever and ever!”
No matter if it was in the past, or in the present, this was her biggest dream.
Ling Chen smiled. Only in front of Shui Ruo would he show such a warm smile. He walked in front of Shui Ruo, and copied her actions. He faced the sunset and shouted, “I, Ling Chen.. want to be with Ruo Ruo forever and ever!!”
The wind carried their voices very, very far away. Under the sunset, their shadows were mingled together. Perhaps it was because the heavens did not want to see them separated that Shui Ruo was given a new chance at life.
“Ruo Ruo, of course I’ll be with you forever. This time, there’s nothing that can take you away from me. Before, my reason for living was for revenge. However, now, the reason I live is to see you living happily. Everything else is not necessary.”
………………………………
The second day.
Ling Chen and Shui Ruo came together to the small house that belonged to Heart’s Dream. When they entered, Meng Xin, Xiao Qi, Su’Er and Mu Bing Yao were all there. As soon as they entered, they were surrounded by the other girls.
“Big brother Ling Tian, the person who completed the Forest of Bones Quest was you, wasn’t it? It was definitely you, right?” Xiao Qi impatiently asked. Although she was asking him, all of the girls’ eyes were clearly saying “apart from you, who else would it be”. “We wanted to ask you immediately, but we were afraid that we’d be disturbing you.”
“It was indeed me.” Ling Chen replied. He was very aware that the Forest of Bones Quest could only be completed once, so he knew that him completing the Quest on the very day it was released was bound to cause great commotions.
“So it was you!” After hearing Ling Chen’s confirmation, Xiao Qi became very excited. She grabbed Ling Chen’s arm, and said proudly, “Did you know, yesterday my big brother told me that even the Yan Huang Alliance’s strongest twelve-man team led by Long Tian Yun, which even had the Sword Emperor and the Flame Emperor, was not able to complete the Quest! Big brother Ling Tian, you’re simply too amazing! You must be even more powerful than the Sword Emperor and Flame Emperor combined!”
Xiao Qi’s eyes sparkled as she gazed at Ling Chen in admiration. As the ‘Princess’ of the Battle Alliance, what she liked was different to most other girls. Since she was young, she had worshipped strong figures such as the Sword Emperor, who were like legends to her. But now, a person who was much, much stronger than the Sword Emperor was standing right in front of her, and had become her companion. She was simply bursting with happiness. Deep down in her heart, she began to secretly admire this man in front of her even more than her own big brother, whom she had looked up to for her whole life.
“Hmm, perhaps.” Ling Chen scratched his nose… He wouldn’t tell Xiao Qi that without Xi Ling’s help, he would not have been able to complete the Forest of Bones Quest either.
Yun Meng Xin followed up, “Yesterday when the Yan Huang Alliance had not been able to complete the Quest, many people saw the defeated team come out. Thus, most people concluded that at the current stage of the game, it was impossible to complete the Forest of Bones Quest. Afterwards, when the announcement sounded that someone had completed the Forest of Bones Quest, the Yan Huang Alliance…”
“The Yan Huang Alliance felt that their strongest team’s reputation had been tarnished, and was unable to remain calm?” Ling Chen finished, while coldly laughing.
Yun Meng Xin nodded her head, “From yesterday to today, the Yan Huang Alliance has been trying to investigate who was the one who completed the Forest of Bones Quest, and you were their primary suspect. Before, when your name appeared again and again in system announcements, the Yan Huang Alliance didn’t pay too much attention to you. After all, this is just the beginning stage of the game. However, yesterday, you completed a Quest that even their strongest team was not able to complete. If it really was you… then they would definitely keep their eyes on you.”
“As they wish.” If anyone found out that the Yan Huang Alliance was paying attention to them, they would either be filled with joy and pride, or shock. However, Ling Chen remained completely calm, and changed the topic, “How did the ‘Collect Red Crystal Grass’ Quest go?”
“That Quest was super hard!” Xiao Qi immediately said, “It took us ages to find the Forest District, and then we searched for suuuuch a long time in the Forest District. Luckily, with big sister Bing Yao leading the way, we didn’t run into any danger. After looking for a long time, we only found one. However, with more and more players going there, finding any will become even harder in future- who knows when we can finally find three.”
“It took me a long time to find three as well… try looking around the mountains, there are probably more there.” Ling Chen replied. The second Quest had been very frustrating, even for him… but what had been even more frustrating was that all of his money had been stolen by that damn Lucky Cat.
“Around the mountains?” Xiao Qi’s eyes shone, and she immediately committed Ling Chen’s advice to memory. She, as well as all of the other girls in Heart’s Dream, all trusted Ling Chen immensely.
“There’s something I also need to tell you,” Yun Meng Xin said slowly, “Tomorrow, the Money Exchange System will be opened.”
“Tomorrow?” Ling Chen was a bit shocked. This was somewhat earlier than he had expected.
“To be precise, it’s tomorrow at 12:00AM. The conversion rate will be the same in every country, and in China it will be 1 Chinese Yuan = 1 Gold. The major banks are all getting ready for the exchange. When the time comes, everyone will have a Funds Card that will be bound to their identity, as well as their bank account, allowing easy and quick conversion of funds. As such, from tomorrow onwards, this game will truly ‘begin’. With the inflow of gold, different powers will start to rise, and strong players will become even stronger with their increased financial support. The levelling speed of players on average will increase as well.” Yun Meng Xin said, her expression serious. Even if Heart’s Dream had Ling Tian and Mu Bing Yao, without any funds, they would never be able to compete with the big powers.