Invitation

[Yun Mei: Dad, stop talking. Let me think it over myself.]

Faced with Yun Gu and Yun Mei's string of discussions, Liu Yue'e did not show herself at all, most likely discussing things privately with Yun Hai.

Yun Xi did not participate in the group chat either. Over the past few days since the open beta began, her daily schedule had been extremely regular.

She logged on punctually, cultivated at home in Qinglan Town, returned to Blue Star to eat and sleep when it was mealtime, and cast Light Control Technique on herself at fixed intervals.

By now, more than a month had passed since she learned Light Control Technique. The shield health stacked on her had exceeded ten thousand. Compared with her current total health of 190 points, ten thousand points of shields were equivalent to giving her fifty-two extra lives.

Aside from these fixed daily routines, the clerk at Qinglan Town Official Bookstore also sent her messages every day, telling her what new books had been put on the shelves.

Yun Xi accepted everything that came her way. As long as they were useful potion formulas, recipes, and the like, she bought them all.

She planned to start venturing out to fight monsters and level up during the day after learning the remaining techniques, while using her spare time to practice various sub-professions.

She would do her best to hone her cooking skills before Godfall Continent officially began invading Blue Star, lest she have to spend a fortune later buying the ordinary-tasting yet expensive pollution-free food from Godfall Continent.

She could not neglect the alchemist profession either. Possessing the skill of making potions had always been one of her dreams in her previous life.

"Knowledge" was far too expensive, and Yun Xi had simply lacked the means to learn in her previous life.

Although she now possessed "unlimited currency" and could purchase "unlimited potions," the alchemist sub-profession was a skill that could keep her secure and independent.

As long as she mastered it, Yun Xi would never lose out.

After Appraisal Skill and Fireball Technique, Yun Xi still had five Basic Techniques left to learn: Counter Attack Technique, Healing Technique, Immobilization Technique, Purification Technique, and Wish Technique.

Yun Xi had already examined the Sorcery Patterns of all five techniques in advance.

Wish Technique was the most complex. The difficulty of outlining its Sorcery Patterns was nearly ten times that of Light Control Technique.

In other words, with Yun Xi's previous Spirit Attribute, she would have needed at least ten months to learn Wish Technique.

Even though her Spirit Attribute had increased since then, this period would not be shortened by much. She would still need several months to learn Wish Technique.

Therefore, Yun Xi put Wish Technique last.

By comparison, Counter Attack Technique was about as difficult to learn as Light Control Technique.

The remaining three techniques were much simpler.

Yun Xi planned to learn Healing Technique, Immobilization Technique, and Purification Technique within a month.

However, on the ninth day after the open beta began, just as Yun Xi was planning to learn Healing Technique in one go, a knock suddenly sounded from downstairs.

Although the visitor was very polite and merely tapped lightly at regular intervals, Yun Xi was still somewhat displeased at having her studies interrupted.

To avoid further disturbances, she paused her progress and went downstairs to open the door.

Looking up, she saw a refined-looking middle-aged man standing outside. He wore an elegant black outfit, and a polite smile hung at the corners of his mouth.

The man first bowed to Yun Xi, then said, "Respectable miss, greetings. I am the butler of the Tour Family."

"Hello. Is there something you need?" Yun Xi asked in confusion. She did not know any Tour Family.

Seeing that Yun Xi's confusion did not appear feigned, the middle-aged man's expression stiffened slightly.

"Respectable miss, the Tour Family is your neighbor." He pointed to a house not far away on the right.

Although they were both mansions on Filan Street, the Tour Family's house was at least ten times the size of Yun Xi's small building.

"I'm sorry. I've been too busy lately and don't know much about the identities of my neighbors." Since they had come to visit personally, Yun Xi could not be rude. "Did you need something from me?"

"It is like this. Our Tour Family will be holding a gathering tomorrow, during which there will be a small internal auction. I wonder if you might be interested?"

As he spoke, the middle-aged man handed Yun Xi an invitation.

"If you are interested, the Tour Family welcomes you tomorrow evening at nineteen hundred hours."

Yun Xi had no interest in aristocratic gatherings, but she was naturally interested in a small auction.

The problem was that at a public auction like this, spending large sums to buy auction items would certainly bring trouble.

As if he had seen through Yun Xi's thoughts, the middle-aged man added, "If you do not wish to participate in the auction, you could also attend the gathering and get to know a few more people. That would be a good choice as well, would it not?"

Yun Xi understood what he meant. He simply wanted her to show her face. It seemed that the neighbors on Filan Street had been curious about her for quite some time.

If she did not show up this time, they would inevitably get the impression that she was timid and afraid of trouble.

"Very well. I will attend on time." Yun Xi accepted the invitation.

The middle-aged man once again revealed his polite, standard smile. He bowed, then took his leave.

Yun Xi was not particularly worried about attending the Filan Street gathering.

Not to mention that she had obtained the Black Mist Stone Earring and no longer feared investigative methods below the legendary level, Qinglan Town's security patrols were no pushovers either.

Basically, no one dared to commit crimes openly in town. Otherwise, the punishment they would suffer would not merely be public humiliation from being hung on the town walls.

She had purchased the expensive house on Filan Street and spent ten thousand Gold Coins because she valued the security guarantee in the property contract. Qinglan Town Officially promised that it would do its utmost to protect her safety on Filan Street.

Even if the local powers wanted to do something to her, they would first have to consider whether they could withstand Qinglan Town Official's "best efforts to protect her."

The "best efforts to protect her" mentioned here meant doing everything within their capabilities, with no negligence regarding her safety.

Of course, this guarantee applied not only to her. The other neighbors on Filan Street, as well as those on several other streets with expensive houses, received the same guarantee in their property contracts.

With the system serving as the contract's overseer, no matter how wealthy Qinglan Town Official was, it could not afford to breach the contract several times.

After only a few breaches, the astronomical sums they would have to compensate the homebuyers would be enough to bankrupt Qinglan Town.

Her neighbors were probably merely curious about her. If this invitation failed, there would likely be another one next time. She would satisfy their curiosity, and then they had better stop disturbing her.

Coming back to herself, Yun Xi continued outlining the Sorcery Patterns for Healing Technique.

Because her studies had just been interrupted, she needed to spend more time completing them.

The following afternoon, after numerous experiments, Yun Xi finally mastered Healing Technique.

[Basic Heal LV1: Consumes 10–100 points of spiritual energy and condenses a healing light orb. It can restore a maximum of 52–142 points of health to the target (Spirit * skill level + spiritual energy consumed).]