novelraw Chapter 230 - 98: Competition Underway [Second Update]
Chapter 230 - 98: Competition Underway [Second Update]
Yue Zhao looked around and calculated based on past experiences."That makes sense. If you look at it that way, the more precious the spirit flowers and herbs, the higher the points must be," Gu Qingqing nodded thoughtfully, rubbing her chin.
"So, we need to find those relatively rare spirit flowers and herbs to get more points," Nan Hua said, fanning himself.
The others exchanged glances, nodded, and agreed with Nan Hua’s suggestion.
"Then let’s not waste time. We only have three days. Let’s hurry and find those tokens," Gu Qingqing said eagerly.
Although she is quite the homebody, capable of not leaving her house for weeks, she, like Si Lin and the others, is very interested in fighting and similar activities. Now, she can’t wait to find those tokens.
Yue Zhao and the others saw Gu Qingqing like this and didn’t object, just indulgently shook their heads and started moving forward.
Speaking of their team, they could be considered quite talented. They had Yue Zhao, who was a walking encyclopedia, Nan Hua, who knew arrays, Mu Chen, who practiced alchemy, Gu Qingqing, who mastered the Word Spirit Technique, and Jun Wu, proficient in artifact refining. Only Yun Ran and Zhuo Tingqiu seemed a bit weak, but they had already reached the ninth level of cultivation.
Of course, the most important aspect was having Yue Zhao and Mu Chen with them, enabling them to find over ninety-five percent of the spirit flowers and herbs, thereby avoiding wastage.
After walking for just half a quarter of an hour, Mu Chen found a fourth-level spirit grass, Wind Breath Grass, in a patch of weeds. He also found a token engraved with the character "肆" (four).
"Does that mean this is a four-point points card?" Gu Qingqing squinted at the small card in Mu Chen’s hand and asked.
"It should be," Yue Zhao nodded. "Wind Breath Grass is a fourth-level spirit grass, yielding four points. Does this mean that the level of the herbs corresponds to their points?" he quickly deduced.
"Not sure, but we can test it," Gu Qingqing shook her head, her eyes bright.
Jun Wu, standing next to Gu Qingqing, suddenly looked up at a nearby tree. He squinted, then lightly tapped his toe on the ground, flying up to a branch of the tree.
Gu Qingqing and the others were startled, quickly becoming alert and watching the spot where Jun Wu was flying.
Jun Wu landed gently on a branch, which swayed slightly before resuming its posture. He looked at a bird’s nest-like thing in a fork, where three white eggs lay. His gaze fell on a spot in the nest, and suddenly he extended his right hand, emitting a suction force that drew a very small wooden token into his hand.
He landed next to Gu Qingqing with the wooden token and opened his hand to her.
"Qingqing, for you," he said, stretching his hand forward.
Gu Qingqing took the wooden token from Jun Wu’s hand, inspected it, and saw the character "贰" (two) on it. She blinked and looked at Jun Wu, "Is this a two-point points card?"
"It seems so." Yue Zhao glanced at Jun Wu, remaining silent.
Gu Qingqing hurriedly pulled Jun Wu’s hand and placed the jade token back into his hand, "You found this token, you should keep it; why give it to me?"
Jun Wu furrowed his brows, looked at the wooden token in his hand, pressed his lips together, and after glancing at Gu Qingqing, put it away without saying a word.
The consecutive discovery of two tokens with several points had largely proven Gu Qingqing and the others’ hypothesis. They searched more carefully, for these tokens were indeed very small and could easily be overlooked!
...
Lin Xian’er, Zhao Yan, and the other disciples from Lingxi Sacred Land teamed up, with the command naturally falling to them as they had the highest cultivation among their group.
After entering the Secret Realm, they discussed and, like Gu Qingqing and her group, concluded that the most likely places for finding tokens were near those spirit flowers and herbs. So, while traveling, they also searched the forest, and the first to discover a wooden token was a young girl in their group.
The young girl’s name was Ruan Tian’er, and she was around the same age as Gu Qingqing. Cute in appearance, she teamed up with Lin Xian’er out of admiration. Her luck was quite good; she felt tripped while traveling and then looked down to spot a small wooden token. She picked it up, saw the character "壹" (one) on it, and happily showed it to Lin Xian’er.
Lin Xian’er, when facing others besides Gu Qingqing, always put on a gentle and dignified demeanor, gaining much goodwill. Upon knowing Ruan Tian’er found a token, a cold gleam flashed in her eyes. Yet, when realizing the token was only one point, the smile returned to her lips as she praised the young girl, who was even happier than finding the point token herself.
After the young girl left, Lin Xian’er’s smile faded, her expression twisted briefly in a place unseen by others before quickly reverting to normal, continuing the search with the others.
After another half hour, they found three tokens and then encountered a herd of fifth-level wild deer, with whom they immediately engaged in combat.
...
Chen Jiawei also participated in the Sub-immortal Realm competition this time. Despite her talent being decent, following the punishment for targeting Gu Qingqing last time, she noticeably restrained herself. Upon encountering Gu Qingqing, she did not cause any more trouble, though her gaze toward Rong Ye remained infatuated, showing her ongoing affection.
Of course, her grudge against Gu Qingqing hadn’t faded, but she no longer displayed it outwardly. Entering the Secret Realm, she plotted to teach Gu Qingqing a lesson.
She was teamed with her fellow disciples, who pampered her due to her status. Her luck was good; upon entering the Secret Realm, found a fifth-level spirit flower, Shuiyang Flower, and beside it a small wooden token with a "伍" (five) character on it.
Playing with the token, she contemplated and glanced at her senior brother.
"Senior Brother, since this token appeared next to the fifth-level Shuiyang Flower, does it mean that these wooden tokens appear near those spirit flowers and herbs? And perhaps the levels of these spirit flowers and herbs correspond to the points on the tokens?" Without Rong Ye present, Chen Jiawei displayed decent intelligence, directly sharing her speculation.
"Hmm, there’s a high possibility you’re right." Chen Jiawei’s senior brother, Lin Zheng, nodded, agreeing with her hypothesis and also complimented her, "Junior Sister is really smart."
Lin Zheng was Master Chen’s eldest disciple, gifted as well. Although not as monstrous as Si Lin and others, among his peers, he was considered quite talented. Now at the ninth level peak cultivation, he was believed capable of breaking through to Half-step Immortal Rank soon.
Seeing Lin Zheng as his favored successor, Master Chen also intended for Lin Zheng to marry Chen Jiawei, ensuring she wouldn’t end up with the wrong person if she did.
Lin Zheng himself liked Chen Jiawei. Although aware that Chen Jiawei fancied Rong Ye, he still treated her well.
"Let’s hurry and find those spirit flowers and herbs. It’s such good fortune to get a five-point token at the start; we must become the first!" Knowing Rong Ye was not competing, and Gu Qingqing was, winning the first place would mean beating Gu Qingqing, something Chen Jiawei was eager for.
"Indeed." Lin Zheng, with no objections, nodded, looking dotingly at Chen Jiawei.
The other disciples naturally had no objections. Who wouldn’t desire first place, especially with numerous rewards for it? Enthusiasm surged among them.
...
Simultaneously, disciples from other sects also discovered the distribution pattern of the tokens, prompting a frenzy of searches, making the Secret Realm lively.
Gu Qingqing and her group initially had a smooth run, finding twenty tokens within an hour. The points varied greatly, but overall, the harvest was acceptable.
After half a day’s walk in the woods, Yue Zhao thought it best to rest a bit. Conveniently reaching a creek, they decided to stop for a meal and water break.
"Found twenty wooden tokens in an hour, with three five-point tokens, four four-point tokens, six three-point tokens, and seven two-point tokens, totaling sixty-three points. We haven’t found any above six points, so we must keep searching further," Gu Qingqing, with her good memory, had remembered the score of each found token, summed it up, and commented.
Though twenty might seem many, they had no idea how many others had found. In such situations, the more, the better; the tokens might be limited, following a first-come-first-served principle, so they needed to speed up.
"Exactly. Since we’re here, we must aim for first place to save face," Nan Hua fanned himself and stated matter-of-factly.
Yue Zhao and the others unanimously nodded. Indeed, since entering, they needed to get the most points and become number one, or it would be embarrassing!
"Qingqing, have some pastries." Jun Wu glanced at Yue Zhao and the others, then retrieved previously made pastries, handing them to Gu Qingqing.
"Thank you, Jun Wu." Seeing her favorite pastries, Gu Qingqing beamed a big smile at Jun Wu and began eating them.
Jun Wu indulgently watched Gu Qingqing beside her, holding the Spiritual Dew to offer after she finished each piece of pastry to prevent her from choking.