Chapter 238: The Victory of the Scenery Faction

It should be around here!

Looking at his marked game map, the pink Mao Mao rabbit's face wore a smug expression—he was a classic scenery player, fond of outdoor activities but lacking the courage for extreme sports.

Since this virtual game launched, he'd finally awakened his adventure talent; he didn't care about poor gameplay or outdated online game skins, because this game's map was real enough, and large enough.

Over the years in the game, he'd climbed mountains, dived into oceans, leaped off cliffs, and explored caves; compared to the central city areas familiar to most players, he clearly knew the map's edge regions better.

After all, compared to the central map zones designed purely for player interaction, the farther out you went, the more challenging it became—this was precisely why he switched to the cultivation profession, as it offered the most balanced stats: not as fragile as an assassin, not as clumsy as a warrior, perfect for outdoor exploration.

That's also why, during the nationwide search for the Hidden Village, he felt curious—he'd climbed the northern mountains countless times and knew every inch of the northern map; precisely because of this, he believed that if a new village truly existed, he'd be the first to find it.

But after roughly touring the northern region, he was stunned to discover nothing at all.

Just as he began doubting whether the NPC's mention of "north" simply meant the northern fortress, he suddenly sensed something wrong—he realized that during his map-sweeping, there had been some odd inconsistencies.

As previously mentioned, he knew the northern map too well; just like speedrun veterans who memorize every hidden spot, he couldn't claim to remember every single stone, but he knew the exact locations of all landmarks—he could be randomly teleported anywhere in the north, glance left and right twice, and without any in-game map, instantly confirm his position.

At the time of scanning, he'd only thought he'd been distracted, but now, recalling it, this was clearly a major flaw!

Returning along the same path, the pink Mao Mao rabbit carefully measured his distance from the northern peaks, using two uniquely shaped mountains to triangulate his position.

"Sure enough, it should be right around here!"

Losing his sense of location again, the pink Mao Mao rabbit felt no despair—only heightened challenge. He knew the entire northern region; now that it had become unfamiliar, it must mean something was wrong!

His strong confidence drove him to keep calibrating using landmarks, until sunset and moonrise, even after the monster siege event ended, he still stayed up scouring the area.

Only this game could replace sleep—otherwise, his playstyle would surely have killed him from exhaustion.

But heaven rewards the diligent: when the first ray of morning sun rose, he finally spotted a flaw—the mountain peak, bathed in dawn light, cast a shadow like a pointer; he followed the edge of that shadow, ignoring the sky, ignoring the mountain, ignoring the path, moving only along the mountain's silhouette—and after an odd, indescribable dizziness, a feeling of clouds parting and sunlight breaking through surged within him.

A small village nestled at the mountain's foot appeared before his eyes.

"Found it!"

At that moment, the pink Mao Mao rabbit's emotions mirrored his first time reaching a mountain summit in the game—achievement mixed with a strange sense of loss, quickly replaced by intense curiosity.

What kind of reward could possibly justify such elaborate concealment of this map?

Arriving at the village entrance, the pink Mao Mao rabbit immediately saw two old men playing go, surrounded by several other elderly men; at the entrances of simple huts, several old women plucked vegetables while chatting about village gossip—it looked no different from a real village.

"Grandpa, I'd like to ask—"

Over the years, to pursue extreme gameplay, he'd interacted with countless NPCs—he wasn't socially anxious. After briefly organizing his words, he approached an elderly man watching the go game, but halfway through his sentence, the old man waved him off impatiently:

"You're looking for Master Feng, right? The Immortal already told us—just walk straight down the road in the center of the village!"

Saying that, he ignored him entirely, refocusing on the go board.

"Uh…" The pink Mao Mao rabbit glanced at the board—couldn't understand it—so he shook his head, but thought to himself: "So the elderly men here entertain themselves with go. Maybe I can play with them later… Hmm, I don't know how, but I could just open a go program on the forum! Hope these old go players aren't trolls."

Though he thought this, the pink Mao Mao rabbit didn't linger—he knew many players were searching for this place right now; even if he didn't care much about the reward, failing to be the first to find it would annoy him deeply.

Walking along the village's dirt path, he arrived at a place that was neither a temple nor a shrine—a plaque above the gate bore three large regular script characters: 【Four Qi Temple】. In the small courtyard before the main hall stood a massive incense burner; behind it, inside the main hall, he could faintly see an altar piled with offerings and candles—but no ancestral tablets, only two tablets: 【Heaven】 and 【Earth】.

"Only Heaven and Earth… Some kind of Zhenyuan Great Immortal?"

Though not an insider, the pink Mao Mao rabbit understood this well-known reference; seeing this temple honored only Heaven and Earth, his perception of the NPC instantly rose.

"Friend, may I ask what you need?"

As the pink Mao Mao rabbit was about to enter, a clear voice called out—he turned to see a young acolyte dressed in a Daoist robe.

Though he'd chosen a cultivation profession, he didn't know how cultivation practitioners spoke; after some hesitation, he decided that using half-archaic language would only make him look foolish—better to speak normally from the start.

So he took a deep breath and replied:

"I am the hero who seeks to slay the Demon Dragon. An elder told me I could find him here."

"Oh, Master has already informed me. Follow me."

The acolyte nodded, stepped aside, gesturing for the pink Mao Mao rabbit to follow; as they walked, he explained:

"Since you passed the first trial, your Qimen Dunjia skill is sufficient—but to defeat the Demon Dragon, that alone isn't enough. Master used the Demon Dragon's Talisman and Spell to construct four training grounds, where you can learn to control and guide your Qi, rapidly building combat ability."

"Can I still say I got here just by following the path?" The pink Mao Mao rabbit felt embarrassed inside, but aloud he said:

"If this is a shortcut method, is there a non-shortcut way?"

To his surprise, the acolyte's eyes suddenly lit up, and he immediately nodded: "There is! I'll take you right now~!"

(End of Chapter)