Chapter 1256: Players Arrive (III)

Luo Quan, already fired up, wasn't about to pass up this chance to farm monsters risk-free; she rolled up her sleeves and prepared to charge out, only to find a burly figure blocking her path.

She looked up and realized it was the hunter uncle who had just rescued her.

"Don't chase them, Miss. The forest is those bandits' home turf." The uncle was covered in green blood, clearly having killed quite a few goblins.

More and more villagers gathered around, and Luo Quan finally calmed down.

As the adrenaline faded, overwhelming exhaustion took over her entire body.

Soon the faces around her blurred, and voices reduced to a mere buzzing.

After swaying a few times, Luo Quan lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

When she opened her eyes again, Luo Quan found herself lying on a wooden bed.

The air was filled with the fresh fragrance of grain; turning her head, she saw a bowl of yellow paste on the table beside her.

There was a spoon in the bowl; it looked edible.

Although she didn't know what it was, she needed energy desperately and couldn't care less; she picked it up and drank two big mouthfuls.

The taste wasn't bad, sweet and glutinous like corn chowder, and even more fragrant than corn.

After the hot food went down, the weakness from exhaustion finally improved considerably.

At this point, she finally remembered a more important matter.

She hurriedly looked down at her clothes — hmm, no signs of tearing; she didn't know if the villagers here were just that simple and honest, or if her current beggar-like appearance simply aroused no interest.

As for why she fainted, her body had likely been trapped for a while before the hunter uncle rescued her from the pit.

It was just that she had only just transmigrated over and hadn't fully grasped her body's condition, mistakenly thinking her stamina was ample.

Coupled with excessive excitement after activating the system, she kept pushing until the goblins all retreated before finally collapsing from exhaustion.

Speaking of the system, Luo Quan closed her eyes and moved a thought; a panel appeared in her mind.

"Name: Luo Xi Qing Quan

Race: Human

Class: Apprentice Knight Attendant

Rank: None

Sequence: None

Attributes:

Strength — 18

Agility — 13

Spirit — 11

Resistance — 3

Talent: Yu

Skills:

【Knight Contract】, effective only on non-humanoid creatures; upon use, with mutual consent, enlists the creature as a mount. (Cannot be upgraded)

【Basic Swordsmanship】, entry-level knight swordsmanship, the most fundamental of fundamentals. (Initial Stage · Consumes 10 Free Points to upgrade)

Slaughter Points: 48, conversion ratio to Free Points is 10:1.

Experience: 4800 (conversion ratio to Slaughter Points is 100:1)

Worship Points: 1, conversion rate to Free Points is 1:1."

This was her current panel, quite ordinary, but aside from "Sequence," the rest wasn't hard to understand.

She hadn't counted exactly how many goblins she killed, but vaguely recalled five waves total; if each wave had around ten, the figure 48 made sense.

As for Worship Points, they probably came from those villagers; after all, she had exhausted herself to the point of fainting to protect the village, so their gratitude was only natural.

To summarize point acquisition methods: do good deeds, kill monsters.

However, the exchange ratios between the two and attributes differ greatly; which to choose requires further observation.

Currently she could exchange for 5 Free Points total; putting them into skills wouldn't do much good since they couldn't level up, better to put them all into attributes.

She could currently increase four attributes.

【Strength】 is straightforward, representing power, vitality, endurance, etc.

【Agility】 represents reaction speed, bodily control.

【Spirit】 represents the intensity and storage cap of extraordinary power within the body.

【Resistance】 is the resistance effect against all damage and negative states.

From the current situation, 【Strength】 seems to have the highest cost-performance; raising it yields a considerable boost on the physical level.

Close-quarters brawling compares who hits harder and who can take more hits, doesn't it.

So as long as she can get close enough that no one can kill her, and then kill anyone with one punch, wouldn't that make her invincible under heaven?

So Luo Quan didn't overthink it and directly allocated all 5 Free Points to Strength.

The system's enhancement was immediate; the moment the points were added, her previously weak body recovered almost instantly.

Luo Quan got off the bed and bounced twice, finding her movements remarkably light.

She wondered if this attribute could be increased mid-combat; if so, it would practically equal a full-heal revive on the spot.

As for those 4800 Experience points, they were prepared for other players; once she encountered them later, she could issue quests for them to accept.

After quest completion, she would gain 1.5x returns, compounding more and more, then convert to Free Points to raise attributes, achieving a perfect cycle.

Thinking of this, Luo Quan couldn't wait to "run into" those game players.

Pushing open the door, the villagers were still gathered in a pile, not yet dispersed.

The fire had died out, but no one cleaned up the mess; instead, they all gazed into the distance.

Following the villagers' gazes, Luo Quan saw an armored warrior on a tall horse, aggressively berating an old man at the top of his lungs.

"What happened?" Luo Quan asked a villager beside her.

"This is the tax collector sent by Lord Fergusson; he comes every month like this." The villager shook his head and sighed, his tone full of bitterness.

"Tax collector?" Luo Quan muttered to herself as she pushed through the crowd and walked over, then she heard their conversation.

"My lord, we really didn't mean to delay this month's taxes."

Village Chief Hak knelt on the ground, tears and snot streaming down as he cried out to the tax collector: "It's just that we were recently raided by goblin bandits, not only were our livestock and food stolen in large amounts, but the fire dragon crystals we had prepared were also missing over a dozen pieces."

"Don't give me that crap!"

The tax collector jumped off his horse, raised his hard leather boot, and kicked Hak so he lay face up with all four limbs in the air, then pointed at the surrounding villagers and shouted: "Head tax, head tax—however many heads, that's how much tax you pay; if you don't want to pay, fine, then chop off your heads!"

The kicked village chief trembled as he rolled over, continuing to plead: "My lord, please have mercy on us poor, unfortunate people; give us five days, and within five days we will surely make up the twelve fire dragon crystals we owe."

"Have mercy on you—then who will have mercy on me?" The tax collector spat a mouthful of saliva onto the village chief's face: "I, my lord, have to ride an hour to this damned place every month to collect taxes, and still have to wrangle with you damned lowlifes—it's enough to make one see ghosts!"

Still not satisfied after his scolding, the tax collector drew his whip and smashed it down on the village chief's head and face.

With a dull thud, the village chief's coarse cloth shirt instantly tore open a large gash, and he cried out as he rolled on the ground.

At the torn spot on his clothes, one could see a fresh red bloodstain on his shoulder.

Luo Quan frowned and was about to step forward to stop it, but found her arm tightly gripped by someone.

She turned her head and saw it was Hunter Uncle, his face grim as he shook his head, signaling her not to act rashly.

The tall tax collector, having beaten and cursed, saw Hak this old thing still wouldn't yield, guessing he truly couldn't come up with it.

Gathering enough fire dragon crystals to hand over to Lord Fergusson is the real business; truly beating someone to death would also be troublesome, so he suppressed his anger and said: "Give you three more days; if after three days you still can't gather enough, I'll want to see how many heads you lowlifes have that are enough for this lord to chop!"

After saying that, he swung up onto his horse, paid no heed to the villagers nearby, and charged straight out of the village.

"Village Chief, are you alright?" After the tax collector left, the people hurried forward to help Hak up.

"I'm fine, this old bone of mine is still pretty tough." Hak held his arm, gritting his teeth.

"Village Chief, I have some herbs here—apply them first." Hunter Uncle took out a bottle from his clothes pocket, pulled the stopper, and handed it over.

Hak gripped the bottle base, carefully pouring the green medicinal powder onto the wound, then winced and sucked in a breath of cold air from the pain.

Seeing the village chief had applied the medicine, Hunter Uncle finally breathed a sigh of relief, turned his head to look at Luo Quan: "Young person, you're too impulsive; just now, if I hadn't pulled you back quickly, were you planning to attack that tax collector?"

Luo Quan gave an embarrassed smile: "I did have that thought, but after calming down I realized, acting rashly would only bring real trouble."

When one's blood is up, they often act without thinking of consequences, just seeking a moment of satisfaction.

But when one lacks sufficient strength, that satisfaction will only bring disaster upon oneself.

Of course a mere tax collector isn't anything to fear, but he represents a lord behind him; if something happens and the lord investigates, the village might not leave a single soul alive.

"There's no helping it—this is our fate as vassals; even if I had really been beaten to death just now, I could only endure it."

Hak sighed, and the other villagers also lowered their heads in silence.

After a moment, Hak lifted his head again to look at Luo Quan: "But no matter what, I still thank you today for protecting this village and fighting desperately against the goblin bandits; the villagers of Red Stone Village will firmly remember your kindness."

"Thank you, hero."

"You're really amazing, Miss."

"Beautiful lady, are you married?"

…………

Amidst the villagers' voices of thanks, Luo Quan saw her admiration points rising rapidly, soon breaking past five.

It seems that after doing good deeds, having a highly respected person lead the thanks brings even greater rewards.

Luo Quan, in high spirits, also broke into a hearty smile: "Actually, I'm just repaying a favor; if it weren't for this uncle, I'd still be stuck in the boar trap right now, unable to get out."

Hearing this, the village chief blushed slightly: "Kent already told us, this is all York's fault; we've told him before not to dig traps by the roadside, but he wouldn't listen, and now look what happened."

A middle-aged man with an honest appearance in the crowd scratched his head embarrassedly, grinned at Luo Quan with an apologetic smile.

"It's fine, anyway I didn't get hurt either." Luo Quan waved her hand, signaling everyone not to take it to heart.

"Your heart and mind are as vast as the ocean."

Again, a round of praise rose from the crowd.

Such magnanimity earned Luo Quan even more goodwill from the villagers, though unfortunately it couldn't be converted into admiration points.

Because she had just fainted once, the village chief feared she hadn't recovered, so he forcibly pushed her into the house to rest, and said he would prepare a big meal tonight to properly reward her.

After returning to her room, Luo Quan looked at the newly earned five admiration points, hesitated slightly, then ultimately decided to put them all into strength.

Whether basic swordsmanship improves or not makes no difference; the other few attributes won't be usable in the short term anyway.

So Luo Quan plans to first raise this most practical attribute—strength—and then talk about it later.

After adding the points, Luo Quan only felt her body become more vigorous, as if she had inexhaustible strength.

Just then, a piercing scream came from outside the house.

"Is that tax collector back again?" Luo Quan jumped out of bed and rushed out.

However, what appeared before her eyes was not that arrogant tax collector, but a knight clad in silver-white armor, with long limbs.

This knight rode a beast with an eagle's head and lion's body, with double wings on its back.

Nearly three meters in size, extremely oppressive, with fierce eyes and sharp hook claws—all of which demonstrated its danger.

This is an adult Holy Nagrand Griffon!

Luo Quan, born into a knightly family, recognized its identity at a glance.

Griffon breeds on the Herta Luo Continent are quite diverse: there are Windrider Griffons skilled in wind magic, there are Leyas Griffons born with the ability to use net-like lightning spells, and there are Polar Griffons that can whip up ice and snow storms with their wings.

But the griffon before her eyes is entirely snow-white, with a crown-like golden plume on its head; only those who have mastered holy light magic—Holy Nagrand Griffons—match this feature.

This griffon is a special product of the Liming Sect; outsiders have no means to obtain one, so surely this person before us must be the renowned Holy Warrior of the Sect.

Being able to equip a Holy Nagrand Griffon for travel, this Holy Warrior is either a master or has a patriarch archbishop as a father.

Her intuition tells her this person belongs to the former.

"Who is Luo Qi—Qingquan?"

The Holy Knight wore a ferocious lion-head mask, yet the tone from its open mouth was extraordinarily sweet and crisp; just hearing the voice could make one's imagination run wild.

"It is I." Luo Quan raised her arm and walked out from the crowd. "What business does my lord have?"

"This is no place to speak. Let us go to the woods nearby; there are few people there, quiet and secluded."

The Holy Knight spoke, then leapt down from the griffin's back, gently rubbing its mount's head.

The ferocious griffin before her was like a docile pet; after letting out a string of cooing sounds, it flapped its wings and flew into the sky.

Although she did not know this Holy Knight's purpose, she appeared to harbor no ill intent, so Luo Quan followed her into the small woods.

Walking dully for several minutes, Luo Quan halted, expression grave: "Speak whatever business you have; there is no one else here now."

The Holy Knight turned her head, tone suddenly a complete reversal from the stiffness just now, turning incomparably soft and cloying — more coquettish than those borderline female streamers on Bilibili's late-night section: "I've finally found you, Brave One my lord~~~"