Back on the Holy Tree, Su Xi easily met Empress Bai Ya.
Empress Bai Ya was reminded by Rosalía's words and upon investigation, she discovered that so many pollution incidents had recently occurred in the country, more than doubling the number compared to the past.
Just as Empress Bai Ya was troubled by these matters, Her Highness the Holy Maiden visited.
She had to temporarily put aside her official duties.
When Su Xi saw the Empress, she first told her about the strange problem she encountered while completing the "Unidentified Roar" quest.
"What you're talking about, the priests of the Hall of Service and some noble elves who do missions have also told me that the guards in the Empire have indeed become much more lax recently, to the point that we didn't even know the Fallen Ones had set up a teleportation array right under our noses."
Empress Bai Ya pressed her temples.
It seems that the recent events in the Elven Empire have indeed been troubling her.
After discussing the mission, Su Xi took the opportunity to suggest that she wanted to recruit some followers and asked the Empress if there were any restrictions on her as the Holy Maiden.
Empress Bai Ya was lenient about this and did not limit the number of followers Su Xi could recruit. She only said that Su Xi would have to bear the expenses of those followers herself.
Su Xi's eyes lit up. If the Empress didn't limit the number of followers she could recruit, then this matter had great potential.
Before leaving, Empress Bai Ya said earnestly, "Your Highness, when recruiting attendants, you must find suitable people. If your attendants do anything outrageous, all the negative consequences will ultimately fall on you."
Su Xi understood the Empress's meaning: the trouble caused by the attendants would be blamed on her, and it might even lower her reputation...
I knew this in my past life.
Su Xi nodded and went to the Forest City.
"Sister Su, you told me before that awakening Zenitsu's incarnation Nichirin Blade requires [Equipment Awakening Copper Stone], is that right?" Mop God of War saw Su Xi coming over and quickly stepped forward to ask.
Su Xi checked the item's attributes.
[Equipment Awakening Copper Stone]
Quality: Rare
Effect: Allows excellent-level equipment to be upgraded to rare-level equipment.
Description: This is a stone containing a unique power. If you are willing to give it to the blacksmith, he will upgrade your equipment for free.
"Huh, where did you explode?"
Su Xi had always wanted this, but unfortunately, all she got were gold stones, which could only be used to unlock epic equipment.
She had been eyeing Ilena's wide-range magical attacks for a long time. If she could unlock Ilena's weapon, it should be able to enhance Ilena's avatar to a usable level.
After all, rare-grade ores are plentiful, and once unlocked, they can upgrade weapons to the same level as the character.
"It's from the dungeon we just cleared. We found it in the loot pile after you finished it."
Oh, the dungeon I just cleared...
In order to speed up the game, Su Xi gave them all her equipment and items. After all, the Cleaver God of War had generously sponsored 10,000 Gold Coin, so those equipment and items were dispensable.
She just didn't expect to get an [Equipment Awakening Copper Stone]. Since she had already given it to them, Su Xi was too lazy to ask for it back. As long as she knew the source, she could go and farm for it herself.
"You transform into Agatsuma Zenitsu, then open the avatar panel, select 'unlock weapon,' and the system will ask you questions."
"I see. But now I have another incarnation. Sister Su, do you think I am awakening the weapon of [Agatsuma Zenitsu] or the weapon of [Hiyori Hiyori]?"
Hiyori Hiyori?
She seems to be from the same anime as Kurumi; she's a little girl with blue hair.
"You got it from a treasure chest?"
"No, I bought it from someone else for over five thousand Gold Coin."
Yoshino seems to be a relatively weak rare-level incarnation, with skills that lean towards support and protection. Selling her for 5,000 Gold Coin is like being ripped off.
However, there are relatively few players with the [Dimensional Avatar] talent, and the pricing of core items for character avatars is unclear. It's likely that the five thousand Gold Coin were offered by Mop God of War.
"That's up to you to choose," Su Xi said, refusing to offer advice.
To avoid offering suggestions that you later regret and then blame me.
"Okay... let me think about it." Mop God of War fell into deep thought.
Find Yan Hu, tell him, and ask him to organize the people.
Su Xi planned to take fifty people with her first to help them familiarize themselves with the Elven Empire, and then take more people in, so that the fifty people could help them become familiar with the Elven Empire.
By repeating this process, they can adapt on their own.
Su Xi agreed to take them there, but only as a tool. With the country as their backer, this group of people would definitely have a think tank to help them complete the mission, so the puzzle-solving task in the Hall of Service could be completed easily.
Su Xi could even sit down like an old man, wait for them to solve the mystery, and then kill the monsters herself.
In this way, task efficiency will be improved.
While Yan Hu was organizing people, Su Xi went to the Mining Association of Forest City again.
I want to buy ore from the president.
"Your Highness, this is some ore we recently mined. Look..."
The president of the Mining Association led Su Xi to the warehouse and pointed to the sorted ores.
"No Epic Ore?"
"No, even legendary-grade ores have become much scarcer recently. Most of what we're mining now are common-grade ores."
"I see... Give me Legendary Ore, and also give me all the rare ores." Su Xi walked around the scene to determine the approximate amount of Gold Coin needed, and then said to the guild leader.
"OK."
The president of the Mining Association took out the slip of paper again and began to calculate. "Your Highness, the amount of Gold Coin circulating in the market has increased significantly, so our ores also need to be priced higher. How about 50 Gold Coin for a Legendary Ore and 18 Gold Coin for Rare Ore?"
That's too expensive...
It's probably because there are too many gold farming studios now; prices in the game have started to rise.
With 130,000 Gold Coin in her backpack, Su Xi remained calm. "Okay."
"11 Legendary Ore, 550 Gold Coin; 102 Rare Ore, 1836 Gold Coin; a total of 2386 Gold Coin. After deducting the elite adventurer's discount, it's 2266 Gold Coin and 70 Silver Coin. Rounding down for the saintess, it's 2260 Gold Coin in total."
"This time, there's no reverse rounding down?" Su Xi was surprised, especially since the shopping discount for elite adventurers was also included.
"Hehe, I was wrong last time. I apologize to the Holy Maiden this time." The president of the Mining Association, a burly man, scratched the back of his head and chuckled.
Su Xi shook her head with amusement. She guessed that the last time she reversed the price to zero, she was probably trying to embarrass the president of the Adventurer's Guild. She just didn't expect that after the price was increased, she would still pay so readily, which confused him.
Put all the ores into your backpack and say goodbye to the guild leader.