In the afternoon, all online players received a system notification.
Backyard of Tianxin Pavilion.
Chen Xiaoyan, Chong Chong, Xianyun, and A Curtain of Dreams were sitting on the roof of the inner room, enjoying the view, feeling relaxed and carefree.
Since Liu Yue hadn’t come online, the plan to raid the new instance was put on hold. Everything had to wait until she logged in.
“Big Sister, the instance has opened,” Xianyun said, seeing the system notification and turning to Chen Xiaoyan.
“Mm.” Chen Xiaoyan nodded slightly.
She opened her friend list; Liu Yue’s ID was still gray, indicating she was offline.
She looked at the sky; it was nearly dusk.
It seemed they wouldn’t be able to do the instance today.
Since they couldn’t do the instance, sitting around here was useless. Might as well go out and check out the new wilderness monsters.
“Let’s go hunt some wild monsters and see what rewards we get.”
“Mmm~ Finally, I don’t have to be a salted fish and just stare blankly,” A Curtain of Dreams said upon hearing this, immediately standing up and stretching.
“With the four of us being healers, isn’t it a bit dangerous out there? Should we call a few people for protection?” Xianyun suggested.
Chen Xiaoyan thought for a moment and agreed it made sense.
The Wushuang Tower’s bounty order was still active. As core high-ranking members of Xueyan Pavilion, they would definitely be the first targets.
In the past few days, they had either been in the sect or in non-PvP areas like Shangjing City, which had prevented those assassins from making a move.
In the wilderness, the field areas, there was no game protection mechanism. The four healers might not be afraid of being attacked, but they definitely couldn’t fight back. They could only passively take hits.
If there was no pain simulation, it would be a bit better. With pain simulation, it was different. Chen Xiaoyan didn’t think she was a masochistic pervert.
“Alright.”
When looking for bodyguards, Chen Xiaoyan immediately thought of Mu Qingxue and Liu Yue. These two girls, one offense and one defense, were practically invincible unless overwhelmed by numbers.
But since Liu Yue wasn’t online, forget it.
Mu Qingxue: “Sorry, Yan Bao. I’m a bit busy and can’t get away.”
“Ah, well,” Chen Xiaoyan said, shrugging speechlessly after seeing her reply. “Okay, now both bodyguards are gone. I’ll have to find someone else.”
She scrolled through her friend list and stopped at the IDs of Hongchen Jiumeng and Hongchen Rumeng.
Should she call them?
Boss Old Dream was a Shushan player, considered a decent DPS. Liu Mengmeng was an old Shence player; she could definitely tank damage.
Finally, they just needed to bring along a Zhenwu player.
For Zhenwu, Chen Xiaoyan suddenly thought of a manager from Xueyan Pavilion: Zhenwu Xiaoshimei.
This girl was skilled and strong. Chen Xiaoyan had her on her friend list, so she sent a private message to ask.
Zhenwu Xiaoshimei: “Xiaoyan-jie, I can’t come. Sister Xue asked us to gather materials in the wild. I can’t get away.”
Chen Xiaoyan: “What materials?”
Zhenwu Xiaoshimei: “It’s the materials for enhancing equipment. We’re sick of it. The places where Wind Shadow Grass spawns are really hellish—all on cliffs. A few idiots even fell to their deaths.”
Chen Xiaoyan: “Need any help?”
Zhenwu Xiaoshimei: “No, no, we have enough people.”
Chen Xiaoyan: “Okay, get to work then.”
Zhenwu Xiaoshimei: “Got it.”
Chen Xiaoyan sighed, feeling a bit worried.
She didn’t know what was going on today. Everyone was either busy or offline.
And then there was Shen Qingqing.
What a coincidence.
“What’s a young girl like you sighing about?”
The sudden voice startled Chen Xiaoyan. She quickly turned around to look.
Shen Qingqing was standing behind her, watching her with a gentle smile. The faint fragrance of peach blossoms that belonged to her spread through the surroundings.
Strangely, interwoven with the fragrance was a hint of blood.
“Shen Elder Sister, you’re back!” Seeing it was Shen Qingqing, Chen Xiaoyan smiled and waved. “It’s Big Shen!” A Curtain of Dreams was also startled, turning around to stare at Shen Qingqing in a daze.
Chong Chong and Xianyun, on the other hand, didn’t react much, just quietly glanced at her.
“Mm,” Shen Qingqing nodded with a smile, but exhaustion was written all over her face.
She glanced at the other three girls and then asked, “Xiaoyan, why were you waiting for me?”
“Shen Elder Sister, does our sect have any senior sister who can forge equipment?” Chen Xiaoyan asked.
Shen Qingqing shook her head.
“Among the Eight Major Sects, only our sect has no forge master.”
“Then what about our equipment…”
“It’s taken care of by the alliance.”
“Uh, Shen Elder Sister, do you mean I should go to the Sect Alliance to find a forge master?”
Shen Qingqing was taken aback for a moment, then shook her head with a smile. “You still know too little about the Tianxiang Sect. Whatever our sect needs, we just report it to the alliance. They will arrange for a forge master to craft the items and then send someone to deliver them to Tianxin Mountain.”
This statement left the four inexperienced girls dumbfounded.
They knew the Tianxiang Sect’s treatment was outrageous, but this was the first time they had seen something so extreme.
The Sect Alliance practically treated Tianxiang like its own precious daughter.
‘What was this? They had food handed to them and clothes brought to them, right? This was simply too good.’
‘I, Chen Xiaoyan, love this feeling of having equipment delivered to me while I just lie around.’
Shen Qingqing took in the shock in the four girls’ eyes and smiled slightly as she explained, “Among the entire alliance, only the Tianxiang Sect enjoys this treatment. However, don’t get too happy too soon. This treatment isn’t given for free. Naturally, we also have to pay something. I believe you understand.” The four girls nodded silently.
There was no such thing as free benefits in this world. Paying a price was normal.
“Shen Elder Sister, if I want to enhance my equipment, what should I do?”
“Enhance equipment?” Shen Qingqing didn’t immediately understand what ‘enhance’ meant.
“It means upgrading the rank of a magic artifact.”
“Oh, that’s what it means.” Shen Qingqing suddenly realized, and then, for some reason, a strange smile appeared on her face.
“What a coincidence. I can also upgrade ranks.”
“Shen Elder Sister, you… are you a forge master?” Chen Xiaoyan was dumbfounded, her stammering tone tinged with anticipation.
“No.”
Chen Xiaoyan blinked her confused eyes and asked, “Then how can you enhance equipment?”
Shen Qingqing was deeply speechless at the girl’s ignorance. She walked over and knocked her on the head, saying quite displeased, “Silly girl, who said only forge masters can refine artifacts?”
Chen Xiaoyan rubbed her forehead, looking dazed, still a bit confused.
But soon, she began to get excited.
‘That meant she would never have to worry about enhancing equipment ever again, right?’
‘Holy shit, this golden thigh is so worth hugging!!!’
“Shen Elder Sister, since you can refine artifacts, can you also forge equipment?” Chen Xiaoyan suppressed her excitement and started scheming.
Just one look at her scheming eyes, and anyone could tell she was up to no good.
Shen Qingqing let out a helpless sigh.
“Karmic fate.”
“I don’t know how to forge magic artifacts.”
“Huh?” Chen Xiaoyan was stunned, completely dumbfounded on the spot.
Her mood was like a roller coaster, going up and down, up and down.
Well~_~, now she couldn’t freeload a set of equipment.