Qinglan

"It just rained, so these people came out to pick mushrooms. Newly spawned mushrooms have very low contamination levels, and some civilians buy them too," the Village Chief explained as they walked.

"Aren't they afraid of running into danger?" Hada asked in puzzlement. "We're already outside the town, aren't we?"

"Qinglan Town is very large, completely different from our village. Patrol teams are usually assigned to patrol the area around the town and regularly clear out the nearby monsters. As long as they don't go too far, there generally won't be any problems."

The Village Chief seemed to be explaining things to Hada, but in reality, he was revealing plenty of information to Yun Xi so she wouldn't be clueless upon arriving in a new place.

"Village Chief, how is the official authority in Qinglan Town?" Yun Xi asked proactively.

"As far as I know, their benefits are excellent, but correspondingly, their contracts are very strict," the Village Chief answered honestly.

"I have a warrior friend who serves in Qinglan Town's Patrol Team. As a squad leader, he receives one Attribute Potion every year, one ordinary medicinal treatment each month, and, after adding up all kinds of allowances, earns a salary of 100 Silver Coins per month."

100 Silver Coins was already an extremely high salary.

100 Silver Coins = 10,000 Copper Coins. That was only the official exchange rate. Because Silver Coins were so valuable as currency, in private transactions, exchanging 100 Silver Coins for 12,000 Copper Coins would basically be no problem.

12,000 Copper Coins were enough for a family of three to eat expensive uncontaminated food every day.

The everyday food of ordinary civilians was actually the Coarse Wheat Cakes and murky water sold in the system shop. Both cost 1 Copper Coin, and their total monthly living expenses came to only 60–200 Copper Coins.

100 Silver Coins could support more than 200 people at most.

But that was secondary. The most important things were the one Attribute Potion received each year and the medicinal treatment received once a month.

An Attribute Potion could directly increase attribute points. It was an exceptionally precious high-grade potion that ordinary people might never even see in their entire lives.

The Spirit Attribute could not be increased on its own. Therefore, unless they were pure warriors who did not intend to become sorcerers in the future, most people would choose a potion that increased the Spirit Attribute.

The effects of the medicinal treatment were similar to those of an Attribute Potion. With long-term medicinal treatment, it was possible to subtly increase the Constitution Attribute.

"But his contract is also very strict. First, the contract period is fifty years. Second, if the town encounters danger, he cannot flee or retreat, and he cannot take leave without a valid reason. Finally, there are some standard contract provisions, such as not revealing the secret knowledge learned within the Patrol Team, and so on."

A contract period of fifty years? How many fifty-year periods could a person have in their life?

Even after advancing to Intermediate Sorcerer, one's lifespan was only 200 years.

As they chatted, Yun Xi and the other two saw quite a few disputes caused by "mushroom picking."

"I discovered this patch of mushrooms first! Didn't you see me picking them?" shouted a young man in a Coarse Cloth Robe, his neck stiff with anger.

"Please, this isn't your backyard. I didn't even take the mushrooms from your hands..." The delicate-looking young woman rolled her eyes. They were all players wearing Coarse Cloth Robes—who was afraid of whom?

There were many scenes like this, but without exception, they all had one thing in common: they were almost all "battles" between the "Coarse Cloth Robes."

The indigenous people nearby occasionally cast puzzled or amused glances at them, seemingly unable to understand where they got such tempers.

"You two, stop arguing. These mushrooms aren't worth much. Their purchase price is only two Copper Coins per pound. There are plenty over there, so go pick them there. Stop making such a racket."

A middle-aged woman dressed in a warrior's outfit walked over. A long blade was slung across her back, and the badge of the Patrol Team hung from her waist.

The scolded young man and young woman immediately restrained their expressions. Like kittens caught by the scruff of the neck, they tucked their tails between their legs and swiftly stopped arguing.

That was the current state of the Blue Star players.

After the first closed beta, most players knew how fierce the indigenous people were. These outsiders had no intention of offending them.

The last player to speak rudely to a member of the Patrol Team had been hung upside down from the city wall for several hours. When he tried to log out, he discovered that he had entered a special status.

It was exactly like being locked in combat. During the "punishment," he could not log out.

Just as the native inhabitants had to follow rules when dealing with adventurers—for example, they could not cause trouble for newly arrived adventurers without provocation—the players could not casually violate the laws of the Godfall Continent Authority either.

In a town, the official authority might not necessarily be the strongest force, but it was certainly the most respected one in public.

If a player spoke rudely to them, the person involved had the right to give the player a "harmless" minor punishment.

Being hung upside down from the city wall naturally posed no danger to one's life, but it was extremely humiliating.

After that, no player dared cause trouble in Qinglan Town again. Everyone was deeply shaken. Fortunately, they had not been the first to "eat the crab"—they would have died of embarrassment.

The mushroom-picking incident came to an end. As Yun Xi followed the Village Chief forward, she heard many complaints from her fellow players.

"Make us pick twenty pounds of mushrooms? When are we supposed to finish? And even after completing the quest, they don't give us any experience. What's the point?"

"You don't understand. This raises the indigenous people's favorability toward us. Maybe once they become familiar with you, they'll take you as a disciple and teach you sorcery or martial techniques."

"If you ask me, we might as well take the Patrol Team exam."

"You're dreaming. You think we don't want to? The problem is that the Patrol Team doesn't allow people to take leave without a valid reason. We don't know when the closed beta will end. If we fail to show up on time, we'll violate the contract. That could cost you half your life."

"Then after the game officially launches, we can join?"

"Yeah. As long as you're prepared not to return to Blue Star for a long time, you can."

"I really envy those who spawned in the villages. I heard that joining the village's Patrol Team doesn't have so many rigid requirements. Their main quest guidance is also much simpler, and they even get Resurrection Talismans as rewards."

"But the village's resources aren't as good as the town's. You should be satisfied. If we take the supplies we buy in town back and resell them, one transaction will be enough to make us rich.

"As for the main quest, maybe the reward for activating Main Quest Two later will be even better than theirs. There's no need to be jealous."

"That's true. It's just a shame that Blue Star's supplies can't be brought here. Otherwise, wouldn't completing the mushroom-picking quest be a piece of cake..."

Qinglan Town was getting closer and closer, and more and more people appeared in sight.

It was only when she truly saw the gates of Qinglan Town that Yun Xi suddenly realized that the Shuyu Plains were completely different from the land where she had descended in her previous life.

If the small wooden houses in the two beginners' villages had been almost identical, then after reaching the towns, one could clearly see that the two civilizations had entirely different styles.