The absurdity of gossip, a partnership between rivals

He had almost stepped into the attack range of the Nine Yin Candle Dragon before he barely caught a glimpse of the information displayed on the dropped item.

"The intelligence is very valuable."

"We're struggling with how to improve the overall survivability of our team members; this is definitely a direction we should consider."

"When you approached, did Chongxing notice anything unusual?"

"In fact... he's not currently within my sight."

The Red Garment briefly reported her current situation and what she had seen.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the communication before the voice said:

"... Has the gap widened to this extent?"

"Since we can't investigate further, let's leave it at that for now. You will continue with your observation duties."

"I will coordinate a high-level team to go to the Strange Stone Forest area. The level 89 monsters are too strong, so it may be necessary to join forces with several guilds."

"Also, there's something else," Lu Zheng suddenly remembered the secret report that had just been delivered, "According to our sources, a guild has already found the Ghost-Type Spirit Herb, and it's a stable spawn location."

The Red Garment immediately perked up.

He certainly understood what this meant—the supply bottleneck of resurrection potions was expected to be broken, and players' survival would be greatly improved.

If the distribution scope could be expanded, perhaps even he could get a share.

At that time, you will have much more confidence when operating in the dangerous wilderness.

"I'll tell the expert this as soon as he gets back."

"Which guild discovered this? That's a huge achievement."

After all, during this period, almost the entire global player community has been searching for clues about the Ghost-Type Spirit Herb. Even their respective factions have dispatched multiple search teams, but to no avail.

It's not that there are none at all, but even if there are, they are only sporadic, not large-scale, and have no strategic value.

"It's the 'Meow Meow Meow' guild."

"The member in their guild who's in charge of resource management has a talent for treasure hunting," Lu Zheng replied.

The woman in Red Garment suddenly seemed bewildered.

Those who possess this kind of treasure-hunting talent are extremely rare; there are only two known individuals in the entire God's Domain, and they have always been sought-after by various organizations.

Of course, there are cases where similar effects can be achieved with the help of special pets or items, but those are external things and cannot be compared with talent.

"They're going to reap a huge reward this time. This discovery alone is enough to bring them a fortune," the Red Garment said enviously.

Lu Zheng's expression was grave. "Things are probably more complicated than we imagined."

Taking advantage of the gap in his spirit pet's advancement, Zhang Mingzhen returned to the Deep-Sea Dragon Palace. After absorbing the newly formed "Spirit Core," his Life Level progress climbed to 75% of the first rank, which made him quite gratified.

Looking at Xichen's tired face, he softened his tone, a rare occurrence for him. "Don't worry, I remember all the sacrifices your people have made."

"I promised that once I break through to the second level, I will set you free."

"At that time, the Tide Clan will be able to choose any place on Earth to live—I said this to Lan Yue before."

Having received this definite assurance, Xichen finally felt relieved.

Since that's the case, let's not rush to find a way to betray them for now.

For a long time, he urged the entire clan to do their best to complete various missions, simply to leave a reliable impression in the mind of this "master".

After all, this person only cares about results and is by no means a soft-hearted person.

From the fragments of memories of previous generations of holy maidens, he had discerned. "If the Azurewave Clan wants to truly take root on Blue Star, the only way is to continuously prove its own worth."

Now, I've finally received a promise, and all my hard work over the years has finally paid off.

Of course, if the other party is like the Holy Lord, breaking their promises, then don't blame them for self-destructing.

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty. On behalf of the entire clan, Xichen will forever remember your kindness."

"Sure thing," Zhang Mingzhen shamelessly agreed.

He never intended to take care of the Azurewave Clan, but fortunately they know how to assess the situation and have worked diligently all the way to this day.

Of course, the main threat comes from the Game System itself.

If it becomes useless in the future, letting it develop freely is the greatest act of kindness.

Zhang Mingzhen then went to the residence of the city lord, Shius.

After Lan Yue passed away, the old man was depressed for a long time. Fortunately, he had other clansmen to accompany him and gradually cheered him up, but they still treated him coldly.

Zhang Mingzhen cut to the chase. "I need you to mobilize the entire clan to search for a creature called the 'Fragrant Whale' in the deep sea."

"It contains Whale Pearl, which is the material I need."

Previously, the Starlight Merchant Guild had revealed that the pearl nucleus inside a certain type of Fragrant Whale has the miraculous effect of condensing spiritual energy and calming the mind.

If placed in your home, it will emit a special fragrance that doubles the recovery speed of resting players.

This discovery stemmed from a chance experiment by a furniture craftsman—when he was making a decorative piece, he incorporated Whale Pearl as an ornament, and that night, while resting, he received a system notification: the recovery effect was being doubled.

After multiple verifications, it was confirmed that it was the Whale Pearl that caused the problem.

Zhang Mingzhen wasn't particularly interested in increasing the recovery rate, but he wondered if this multiplication effect could also accelerate the cultivation of Life Level within his home.

It's worth a try, no matter what.

Since they are deep-sea creatures, it would be most convenient to entrust the search to sea creatures like Shius.

"I've been very busy lately..."

Shius was about to refuse when he suddenly felt a chilling aura emanating from the other person. He immediately recalled his near-death experience, and cold sweat broke out on his back. He hurriedly changed his words: "... I understand."

He still remembered the promise he made to Xiao Lan Yue —to Protection the continuation of the Azurewave Clan and never die.

"It's good that you know what's good for you."

"If you continue to show this attitude, I wouldn't mind replacing the administrator of Dragon Palace City."

Before leaving, Zhang Mingzhen gave a faint warning, lest this old man keep testing his bottom line.

Little did he know that his aloof and cold attitude had once again aroused the resentment of Gao Linzhi, the mastermind behind the scenes.

After all, Gao Linzhi detests nothing more than bullying others by abusing one's power.

He then successfully advanced to level 91 in the Red Leaf Forest.

Thanks to the rich experience gained from previous exploration activities, we broke through the barrier today without spending too much time, bringing us one step closer to perfection.

[Chongxing (Priest) - Level 91]

"Physique..."

After returning to the Strange Stone Forest in high spirits, he received another piece of good news—they had actually found the regular Spawn Point for the Ghost-Type- type spirit herb!

Unlike the previous scattered acquisition, this time it can be refreshed in batches, and the supply can be stable.

This is news of strategic value.

[Hundred-Vein Ghost Fungus: A Ghost-Type fungus that grows in damp, dark underground environments. When in danger, it burrows into the soil and disappears quickly, leaving no trace. It is one of the core ingredients for refining Ghost-Type potions.]

"Hundred-Vein Ghost Fungus" is shaped like two black chopsticks held together, with the bottom forked into two branches, resembling its roots. Holding it in your hand, it exudes a chilling aura.

"Don't be fooled by its still appearance, sir. As soon as it lands, it will burrow into the ground and disappear at an extremely fast speed."

"The arrest was reportedly quite difficult," the Red Garment informed him.

Zhang Mingzhen had no interest in placing it on the ground to observe it and directly stored it in his home space.

After confirming that the Golden Toad was usable again, a hint of satisfaction finally appeared on his face.

"Yes, it works."

"Give me whatever you have on hand."

"I can allocate 30% to the guild players who provide the materials."

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the Red Garment looked troubled:

"Just this one... there aren't any more."

Zhang Mingzhen was stunned.

Just one? That's not enough.

Putting aside the possibility of failure in Medicine Making that guy Golden Toad kept mentioning, even if it succeeded on the first try, the amount of medicine wouldn't be nearly enough.

"Which guild found it? Where was it discovered?"

"It was found by the person from 'Meow Meow Meow'."

"As you know, this kind of spiritual herb that can move freely underground is impossible to find without special methods."

"Although there are fixed Spawn Point, they are not easy to harvest."

"There's a player in their guild whose talent is 'Detection,' allowing them to sense nearby spiritual matter."

"Talent Detection (Rank B): When activated, this skill can detect spiritual matter in the surrounding area. Cooldown time: 60 seconds. Daily usage limit: 10 times."

"Then let him keep looking."

No wonder the rating is only B; there's a daily limit on the number of attempts.

"Otherwise, such talent is truly exceptional," Zhang Mingzhen commented.

"You're unaware of this. This talent sounds impressive, but it actually has flaws."

"Depending on the distance, the detected location may be blurry."

"For example, it can only detect a range of one kilometer. If the target is far away, it can only get a rough location."

"And this 'Hundred-Vein Fungus' is exceptionally agile; it can easily escape if there's even a slight delay."

"We only managed to catch this one by sheer luck; it's really difficult to capture a large number of them quickly."

"Does that mean there's no other way?" Zhang Mingzhen frowned.

"That's not true... As long as another player with the ability to Detection can assist, and the two of them can take turns using their skills, there will be enough time."

"This is the best solution we came up with."

"There happen to be two gifted Detection in the God's Domain. If one of them can pinpoint the general location first, and the other can then narrow down the area, they can basically determine a fairly precise location," the Red Garment continued.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Zhang Mingzhen asked, puzzled.

The woman in Red Garment had a somewhat complicated expression.

"The problem is that these two players belong to two rival guilds and have a very bad relationship."

"How bad is it? Even with tangible benefits right in front of you, you can still refuse?"

Zhang Mingzhen is now driven by self-interest and has even forgotten the resurrection of his biological parents, so naturally he cannot understand the meaning of hatred.

"Ahem... I heard it involves the guild leader's wife... You know, some women, once they start making a scene, are completely unreasonable."

"?"

"You should know that Priest have a 'Spirit Transformation' skill, right?"

"Know."

He's never used that skill that allows him to possess other people.

"This skill is actually widely used in the Priest community; it's quite useful for both sustained healing and emergency life-saving."

"Um."

"Some Priest also use Spirit Transformation when running dungeons to avoid projectile skills. This allows them to dodge damage and heal their teammates at the same time, killing two birds with one stone."

"Um."

"The guild leader of Meow Meow Meow is a Priest named 'Minty Early Summer,' a female Priest who is quite well-known in the God's Domain."

"The Shield Guard in her Fixed Team is the guild leader of another guild, 'Dragon Soul,' Longyin."

"Um."

"Their Fixed Team is quite well-known in the high-end raid community."

"As the team's main healer, Early Summer is primarily responsible for stabilizing the Shield Guard's health."

"To save trouble, she often possessed Longyin directly while clearing out the smaller monsters."

"Um."

"That's normal, right? I don't think there's a problem either," the Red Garment said helplessly. "As long as the Priest's healing is sufficient, he can completely keep the whole team healthy."

"I personally approve of this approach!"

"Hmm." Zhang Mingzhen thought to himself, it didn't matter when it was a game, but now reality was merging with the game.

Good grief, your husband is constantly being cuddled by other women, can you really accept that?

He's still a normal person, unlike the Red Garment, who's become a monster.

"But who could have imagined that Longyin's wife— Fengming, the vice president of Dragon Soul —would find out about this."

"This really escalated. They were exchanging insults in the world chat and posting condemnations on the forums. The two guilds were arguing so fiercely that even their Fixed Team disbanded."

"What a waste of such good specs."

"?"

"And those two players Detection their talents happen to be guild managers—one is Fengming's younger brother, and the other is Early Summer's best friend."

"These two are naturally irreconcilable enemies. To expect these two guilds to cooperate is simply wishful thinking," the Red Garment said helplessly.

"?"

"Later I heard that there's an unwritten rule in their Priest circle: the skill of Spirit Transformation can't be used casually, especially when one party has a partner... This skill has practically become a symbol of 'whoever uses it is a mistress!'"

Zhang Mingzhen fell silent.

He understood every word the other person said, and he could comprehend the situation.

However, I don't have Fixed Team, and I've never heard of such a customary rule among Priest.

It seems that he has been isolated from the outside world for so long that he has become out of touch with the atmosphere among players.

Like a tiger, it is a lone wolf and naturally doesn't know the rules of the flock.

He tried to justify himself.

Seeing the blank look on his face, the Red Garment immediately pulled out the famous debate from the old forum and handed it to him.

"Look, this is the post that caused such a stir back then."

"The players are divided into two factions: one side strongly supports Fengming, believing that possession skills should always be used with some restraint; the other side advocates for efficiency above all else, arguing that it's just a Priest skill and shouldn't be dragged into personal feelings—by the way, I belong to the latter faction!"

Zhang Mingzhen glanced at the man in Red Garment with a complicated expression. He had thought this man was steady and reliable, but he hadn't expected him to be so animated when talking about gossip.

He casually swiped through the posts, and the first one was Fengming's sharp question to Early Summer.

Fengming wrote, "My husband and I are legally married in real life, and we even co-founded the Dragon Soul Guild in the game."

"He invited me to join the Fixed Team, but I felt my skills weren't good enough, so I withdrew for the sake of the team."

"Who would have thought the Priest we invited would be so rude! Everyone knows that Priest's spirit cannot be used indiscriminately!"

"Especially since the other person already has a partner, to act so blatantly without any regard for propriety—I really don't know if it's naivety or just a deliberate act of pretense!"

Many people agreed with this below:

"As a fellow Priest, I also believe we should avoid any appearance of impropriety."

"I once saw other Priest becoming involved with my partner, and I immediately made them break off the relationship. I still feel uncomfortable thinking about it now."

"Although it's just a skill, this kind of intimate technique is ultimately more suitable for teammates with whom you have a close relationship."

Those already in a relationship should definitely be cautious.

"A friend of mine found love through this skill—he said he would only ever have that one person by his side, and it actually moved her."