Trading Blueprints

Player 001: "@Direction of Light, whoever said it should deliver. If you don't hand out supplies, I'll look down on you! Don't say you don't have any—I can see your island's Prosperity isn't low. Don't tell me you just don't want to share with everyone?"

"I'll say this upfront—I'm not some softie like Direction of Light giving stuff away for free. Fair trades only, DM me! If you want handouts, go to him. He's so kind, he'll definitely give you supplies, right?"

With that, Ji Xinghe blocked him without a second thought. Truth was, she couldn't even see his island's Prosperity, but hey—anyone can talk.

In her past life, he'd pulled the same moral blackmail on Ruoshui Sanqian. Back then, Ruoshui Sanqian was the top player in their district, and so many people piled on that she had to give up a chunk of her resources.

And what did those ungrateful bastards do? They only thanked Direction of Light, saying if he hadn't stepped in, Ruoshui Sanqian would've hoarded everything to death.

Sweet Candy Little Sister: "@Player 001, stingy with all those supplies. Everyone, don't beg him. Let's go to Brother Guang."

Pray for the God of Wealth's Love: "Yeah, yeah! Where's Brother Guang? I've cleared my backpack and I'm waiting."

They All Call Me Honest: "I'm just two pieces of plastic short of building my Shelter. Brother Guang, be kind and help me out."

The guy who was just preaching righteousness now went dead silent.

Player 999: "Where's Direction of Light? Don't tell me he's messing with us? I already sent a trade request—just accept it!"

Player 666: "He's busy playing dead. No time for you guys."

On a twenty-square-meter island, a man stared at the glowing screen with venom in his eyes, grinding his teeth. "001, I've got you marked."

Ji Xinghe watched the channel erupt in chaos, a smile tugging at her lips, when a new message tagged her popped up.

South Brother of Erlong Lake: "@Player 001, I've got crossbow bolts. Just added you—accept."

South Brother of Erlong Lake: "Also putting this out: Erlong Gang is recruiting. Join and you can swap supplies with each other, or buy from me at below-market prices. DM if interested."

Seeing this, Ji Xinghe opened the chat window.

[Chat] was divided into Friends, DMs, Survival Circle, and Group Chats. Everything worked except Group Chats, which were grayed out.

Survival Circle was like a social feed—players could post updates, send red packets, etc. Friends could see all activity.

The friend requests tab showed 999+. Ji Xinghe searched directly for South Brother of Erlong Lake.

Accepted the request.

South Brother of Erlong Lake: "Image. You want crossbow bolts? I've got some."

Ji Xinghe tapped the screen to open the image.

[Iron Crossbow Bolts (100): Attack +5]

Player 001: "What's the price?"

South Brother of Erlong Lake: "If you join my gang, I'll sell you these hundred bolts for just 10 Wow Coins."

Player 001: "And the normal price?"

South Brother of Erlong Lake: "Fifty Wow Coins, or 50 Foundation Stones plus 50 Soil."

Was he trying to rip her off?

She could make Wood Arrows herself—one unit of wood gave her seven or eight arrows. No stat bonuses, sure, and it took time, but everything else was a win.

Besides, her Strength stat wasn't low. Bonus damage was just icing on the cake.

One last try: "Any cheaper?"

"Can't do it. Weapons are crucial for everyone right now. If you join my Erlong Gang, I'll only charge you 10 Wow Coins."

That was the second time he'd pushed her to join. But she wasn't interested—being solo was way more free.

Without replying, Ji Xinghe kept scrolling through her DMs.

Too many messages. Beggars topped the list, followed by friend requests, trade inquiries, and even someone worshipping her...

She searched directly for a keyword: arrow.

That cut the list down by a lot.

She clicked through them one by one—mostly questions. It wasn't until the last page that she found the real deal.

Ruoshui Sanqian: "I've got a Wood Arrow Blueprint. Image."

Ji Xinghe opened it.

[Wood Arrow Blueprint]

[Crafting Materials: 5 Wood Arrows consume 1 unit of Wood]

Seeing this, Ji Xinghe replied immediately: "What do you want for it?"

Ruoshui Sanqian: "I want 18 Foundation Stones, 19 Soil, and 3 units of Fishing Line. That's my bottom line—no haggling."

After a second's thought, Ji Xinghe agreed.

Sure, the blueprint used more materials per craft, but it saved time. And time could be spent on other things.

Player 001: "Deal. Add me as a friend, and we'll trade directly in chat."

Ruoshui Sanqian: "Okay."

18 Foundation Stones, 19 Soil, 3 units of Fishing Line for the Wood Arrow Blueprint.

Once the other party confirmed, Ji Xinghe claimed the blueprint.

The next moment, she placed the blueprint onto the crafting table.

[100 wood automatically deducted. 500 wooden arrows crafted.]

[Crafting time remaining: 00:41:39]

Watching the crafting table at work, Ji Xinghe let out a long breath.

While waiting for the wooden arrows to finish, Ji Xinghe decided to try out the treadmill.

Before running, she did a set of warm-up exercises to prepare her body and prevent injury from sudden exertion.

Ten minutes later, Ji Xinghe stepped onto the treadmill.

"Treadmill: one of the Training Room's equipment."

"Trait: For every two hours of focused exercise on the treadmill, Agility +1 (duration can be accumulated)."

On the panel in front of the treadmill were a display screen and several buttons.

At the top of the display, it read: Based on the player's attributes, adjust to a reasonable speed.

The current matched speed was: 36.1 km/h.

In the middle was her running duration, currently: 0:00:00.