Chapter 54: The Fated Encounter

【Resentment from Xu Longyun; +1】

The City Lord masked it well, but her emotions still exposed her true heart.

Obviously.

Lin Bai had run to the City Lord's Mansion for no reason to watch the players level up, yet he hadn't let a single word slip, causing the City Lord to develop a great sense of insecurity.

After all.

The City Lord's words implied that Lin Bai's whereabouts were under her control...

"Her desire for control is truly strong!"

Lin Bai gave a scoffing laugh and didn't take the City Lord's attitude to heart; as long as he maintained his growth and sense of mystery at all times, there shouldn't be any problems with his safety.

Aside from binding interests, in this strange world, how easy is it to truly win a few friends?

The only person Lin Bai trusts is likely only himself.

Both the closed beta and open beta posed a greater threat than the City Lord.

On the way back to the Kitchen God Rice Divination, Lin Bai composed his thoughts and sorted through his gains.

While at the City Lord's Mansion, the Wanwu Youque System's reward quest was completed automatically, and the reward for the Seven Injury Hand was issued to him; this was also the reason he had suddenly bid farewell.

Seven Injury Hand, seven injuries in one hand.

Tearing tendons, dislocating bones, severing pulses, pulling nails, breaking fingers, folding palms.

This is the introduction to the Martial Art Seven Injury Hand; it has nothing to do with the Seven Injuries Fist, as it is a small-range attack Martial Art targeting the hands.

The disadvantage is that one must get close, and it can only be used against the hands;

The advantage is that it consumes very little Internal Energy...

Screw that advantage!

Since I'm already in close combat, why would I bother with his hands?

It's not even as good as the Seven Injuries Fist!

Lin Bai's emotions have always been well-controlled; the only thing that can make his veins pop is the Wanwu Youque System.

After finishing the introduction to the Seven Injury Hand, Lin Bai stood by the side of the road, stunned for several seconds before he came to his senses—could this Martial Art have been created by someone who cooks pig trotters?

But players don't feel pain!

Then what the hell is the use of this Seven Injury Hand...

What's most infuriating is that it's called the Seven Injury Hand, yet no matter how you count it, there are only six types of injuries.

It's enough that such a trashy Martial Art technique isn't even complete!

The dog-R Wanwu Youque System, the rewarded Martial Arts are becoming more and more useless...

After the Seven Injury Hand quest was completed.

The follow-up quest for the Wanwu Youque System is as follows: 【Keep up the good work, make two thousand six hundred and thirty-nine people feel the Flaw of...; Reward: Bow Body Single Shadow · Flaw】

Bow Body Single Shadow, a Martial Art Lin Bai had never heard of; he doesn't know what its function is for now.

However.

The number two thousand six hundred and thirty-nine piqued Lin Bai's interest.

Thus, he did a calculation and immediately knew the origin of this number.

The total number of the Incomplete System's previous quests adds up to 7360, and adding the 2639 from the new quest, it makes a total of 9999 people.

This is just the Incomplete System rounding things off...

The 9999 Residual Value looks very lucky; Lin Bai has a glimmer of expectation in his heart, wondering if the Wanwu Youque System will reward more useful Martial Arts after passing this integer?

Even if it's one that occasionally goes offline like the "Nine Suns True Scripture," it would still be better than the Seven Injury Hand or Morning Flight...

But in the end, Lin Bai relaxed his mind; with fewer expectations, there will be less disappointment.

In Jiamu City, Lin Bai has already pushed the sport of Flaws to its peak.

Once the publication of "Collection of Heavenly Flaws" and the City Lord's plan to renovate Jiamu City are launched, the Residual Value should see a massive explosion.

No matter what Martial Art is rewarded, he is profiting; it's better than practicing it himself.

Still the same saying: if he can't use it, he can teach it to his disciples!

The two Emotion Trees are one large and one small.

The Positive Emotion Tree has just sprouted and put out branches; it is still a long way from flowering and bearing fruit.

The new fruit grown on the Negative Emotion Tree hangs on the branch; Lin Bai didn't pick it, as there is nowhere to put it once picked, and it's fine growing on the tree.

Moreover, he also wants to verify how many days the Mental Power increased by one fruit can actually sustain him.

With the fruit growing on the tree, it doesn't affect it from continuing to flower and bear fruit; in a single day, the second small flower bud has already emerged on the Negative Emotion Tree.

However.

As people have become accustomed to the mode of the Kitchen God Rice Divination, the growth of the Negative Emotion Value has become somewhat slow.

Lin Bai feels that he still needs to develop new avenues for generating revenue...

While 【Lao Mi】 carved out his own territory, he also completed the follow-up quest of having ten subordinates, and Lin Bai once again freeloaded two points of Qi Luck from him.

Now, 【Lao Mi】's quest is to win over people's hearts, and the reward is still Qi Luck.

As long as he doesn't come to ask for help, Lin Bai doesn't intend to interfere with his development; after all, a person's energy is limited, and it's impossible to attend to everything—some things should be let go when they should be.

If the big brother really runs into any problems, the system will give him a prompt, and it won't be too late for him to intervene then...

……

The bright moon hung in the sky.

After the night session began, the human energy suppressed the ghostly energy, and the area outside the Kitchen God Rice Divination became extremely lively, showing a clear trend of developing into a second night market.

By the time Lin Bai returned, Luo Congwen and the others were already in position.

Inside the Kitchen God Rice Divination, the lights flickered on and off, and bursts of screaming could be heard from time to time.

Whenever a scream rang out, the crowd watching outside would immediately follow up with a round of cheers, even though they could not see what was happening inside.

But that did not affect their ability to feel the atmosphere...

With so many people watching and cheering, the terrifying atmosphere of the Haunted House was greatly weakened, which theoretically should have affected business.

But when the crowd cheered, a massive wave of Positive Emotion (Pleasure Value) suddenly erupted, and Lin Bai quickly abandoned the idea of clearing the venue.

Compared to the erupted Positive Emotion, the few Negative Emotion Values provided by the customers inside suddenly seemed insignificant.

Either way, he was the one profiting; what did it matter which one he collected!

……

Outside the restaurant, 【Deng Li Buduo】 and 【Longxi】 stared at each other with wide eyes.

Glancing occasionally at the rowdy Haunted House, Longxi's expression was somewhat ugly: "Deng Li Buduo, you can't play like this. I discovered this Haunted House first. I don't know what method you used to deceive Shopkeeper Lin, but your actions are unethical..."

"Just because you discovered it, it's yours?" 【Deng Li Buduo】 laughed. "Brother, that old way of playing games is outdated. You should change your mindset. If you want to fight monsters, you can go to Xishan!"

"Outdated?" 【Longxi】 snorted and used a Provocation: "Dare to find a place for a one-on-one fight?"

"……" 【Deng Li Buduo】.

"I think you're the fool who has gone down the wrong path." 【Longxi】 used a Zhaofeng. "What's the use of earning more money? One slap to kill you, and everything you have will be dropped clean."

To tell the truth.

【Longxi】 felt like he was going crazy. After becoming a disciple of Daoist Qingfeng, he had shut himself off from the world, practicing his Martial Art day and night, just to secure the first kill of the Jiamu City Haunted House BOSS.

As a result.

He took a break to log off, only to see the internet flooded with praise for 【Deng Li Buduo】.

The place where 【Deng Li Buduo】 made his fortune was clearly the dungeon he had reserved. Others didn't know what was inside, but didn't he know?

For a moment, 【Longxi】 felt as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a fly. Once he logged back on, he didn't even say goodbye to Daoist Qingfeng before storming off to find 【Deng Li Buduo】.

He felt that guy must have done it on purpose, just to steal his dungeon.

"There are too many people now, so I can't deal with you." 【Longxi】 glared fiercely at 【Deng Li Buduo】. "When there are fewer people later, I'll kill you along with the ghosts inside..."

Looking at the 【Longxi】 whose anger was off the charts, 【Deng Li Buduo】 secretly groaned, but when he turned his head and saw Lin Bai, he was immediately overjoyed: "Shopkeeper, you're back."

【Longxi】 also turned his head back, and seeing Lin Bai, he was equally delighted: "Shopkeeper, it's me, Longxi, that Chosen One. I've come back to help you get rid of the ghosts!"

"What ghosts?" Lin Bai looked at 【Longxi】 strangely.

"The ghosts in the shop!" 【Longxi】 was stunned. "Don't you remember me? I'm Longxi, the one who is helpful and upholds justice. I even died once for you. We had an agreement that when I resurrected and came back, I would help you get rid of the ghosts..."

"What ghosts? Those are my employees. This is a restaurant; if you want to eat, please come inside. If you aren't eating, please leave immediately and don't affect my business here." Lin Bai scolded, "Besides, I don't know any Longxi."

"Shopkeeper..." Longxi's eyes widened, looking at Lin Bai in disbelief. "Have you been deceived by him? Humans and ghosts are on different paths..."

"Ahem!" With a cough, Daoist Qingfeng appeared. He gave Lin Bai an awkward look and pulled 【Longxi】 to the side: "Shopkeeper Lin, this is my disciple. He doesn't know the situation inside; please don't take his words to heart."

"Master." 【Longxi】 was stunned. "There are..."

"There are what? Inside are our employees. Why aren't you practicing your Martial Art properly instead of running out here to cause trouble?" Daoist Qingfeng put on a stern face. "Apologize to Shopkeeper Lin. In the future, when you see Shopkeeper Lin, you must be as respectful as you are to your master."

"Our? Employees?" 【Longxi】 was somewhat at a loss.

"Your master has a ten percent stake in the Kitchen God Rice Divination." Daoist Qingfeng stroked his beard, looking at Lin Bai with extra affection.

He had heard about everything that had happened at the Kitchen God Rice Divination over the past two days.

He had done the math; adding the night session, the restaurant's revenue had at least doubled. By this calculation, when the Spirit Realm node opened, his assets would at least quadruple.

At this moment.

In his eyes, Lin Bai was the God of Wealth. Whoever dared to touch the Kitchen God Rice Divination, he would fight them to the death.

【Resentment from Longxi; +1】

Longxi stood there blankly, his eyes dull. The dungeon he had in his grasp had just flown away like that—you can't play like this!

"Fool." Seeing that Daoist Qingfeng was 【Longxi】's master, 【Deng Li Buduo】's confidence increased greatly, and he couldn't help but curse via private chat.

"NMB! If I can't beat the ghosts, can't I beat you? Let's wait and see." 【Longxi】 glared at 【Deng Li Buduo】 and replied bitterly.

Your master is my master's defeated opponent; do you really think you can beat me?

【Deng Li Buduo】 swept a disdainful glance at 【Longxi】, suddenly remembered the matter of apprenticeship, and hurriedly handed the Good Deed Record Book hidden in his sleeve to Lin Bai with both hands: "Master, am I qualified to be your disciple now?"

"Having passed the test, there is naturally no reason for me not to accept you." Lin Bai had heard their private chat, tossed the Good Deed Record Book aside, and smiled. "It just so happens that Daoist Qingfeng is here, so let him be the witness. From now on, you are the eldest disciple of the seventeenth generation of the Righteous Sect."

Hiss!

The hand Daoist Qingfeng was using to stroke his beard paused abruptly, and several strands of black beard were pulled out.

Righteous Sect?

To actually come up with such a name—your sect really has no shame at all!

"Little Deng, don't be happy too soon. The foundation of our Righteous Sect requires us to always maintain the demeanor of a gentleman, to keep benevolence in our hearts, to keep propriety in our hearts; the benevolent love others, the righteous respect others. Always restrain your own behavior. If I discover that your character is lacking, I will have no choice but to abolish your Martial Art and expel you from the sect." Lin Bai looked at 【Deng Li Buduo】 and lectured him righteously.

【Resentment from Daoist Qingfeng; +1】

【Resentment from Deng Li Buduo; +1】

Listening to the familiar yet completely opposite requirements for taking on a disciple, 【Longxi】 looked at Lin Bai, then at his master's constipated expression, and in a trance, seemed to understand something.

(End of chapter)