The Flying Broom

Deep in the Gray Mist.

A monster wreathed in black mist was hopping around as a branch lashed it. "Ow! I'm sorry, sis! Stop hitting me!"

The branch kept whipping it. "Hmph! You're nothing but a newly born Dark Creature. You think you can corrupt me just by absorbing some energy from a newborn Dark Spirit Tree? I'll teach you what it means that there's always a bigger tree out there!"

Only after the monster had been beaten half to death did the branch finally stop. It turned toward Ji Xinghe.

"Blue Star fledgling—well, you're one of our Nine Yuan fledglings now, too. I was planning to bring you along, but since you jumped down, you can come collect this yourself."

"I think you'll like this gift. I look forward to seeing you again."

With that, she took out a Teleportation Stone, and a black vortex appeared before her.

She curled up her roots and stepped inside, then vanished.

After she left, the Dark Creature lying on the ground looked in Ji Xinghe's direction and sneered.

"Just as expected of the famous fool of the Nine Yuan Continent. It would've been great if she'd brought you in. Then I'd have had another high-talent puppet."

It touched the crystal in its chest and added, "Unless I die, no one can stop the Mist Heart's mutation from accelerating at this stage."

It looked up at the hazy gray sky. "Just two more days. In two days, I'll be free. I won't have to be trapped on this island anymore."

......

The eastern side of the island.

Ji Xinghe was examining a Water Spirit Fruit, while Xiao Xi drooled hungrily on her shoulder.

Even so, Xiao Xi stayed right where she was.

Water Spirit Fruit: Edible

Effect: Unlocks or increases the water element attribute when eaten.

Note: A legendary attribute fruit from the Nine Yuan Continent, extremely precious! The fruit was only a legend, but you've found one today.

The panels for the two Water Spirit Fruits were identical.

Ji Xinghe handed the smaller fruit to Xiao Xi, so they each had one.

Neither of them hesitated, even though Xiao Xi had just been injured protecting her.

She had to maximize her combat strength, and elemental attributes were a major boost to a player's power.

For every additional elemental attribute, she could learn three more skills per order.

The higher an elemental attribute was, the faster she could learn skills. All skills required a certain attribute value, and she couldn't learn them if hers was too low.

Skills were hidden combat strength. They might not seem important under normal circumstances, but when she really needed them, she couldn't afford to be without them.

Xiao Xi eagerly began munching on the Water Spirit Fruit as soon as she got it.

So did Ji Xinghe.

[Player 001 ate a Water Spirit Fruit and successfully unlocked the water element attribute. Current water attribute: 5]

[Pet Xiao Xi ate a Water Spirit Fruit and successfully unlocked the water element attribute. Current water attribute: 3]

She checked her personal stats.

Elemental attributes: metal 60, light 99, dark 61, water 5

She now had four elemental attributes, which meant she could learn twelve skills without advancing to the next order.

Other players usually only had one elemental attribute, so before reaching Second Order, they could learn three skills at most.

Just imagine: while everyone else's skills were still on cooldown, she'd still have moves left. The thought alone was amusing...

Next, Ji Xinghe opened the exploration map.

[Current island being explored: Orchard Island]

[Exploration progress: 32%]

[Remaining exploration time: 08:05:26]

There were still eight hours left, and she'd only explored 32% of the island. She'd lost some time earlier collecting Mist Heart Fruits, but she didn't regret it.

Mist Heart Fruits were an important strategic reserve.

If her exploration progress wasn't high enough, she could always come back the next time she drew a designated exploration scroll.

She'd come to explore the island for resources in the first place, hadn't she?

Ji Xinghe stood up and set off to explore the surrounding area with Xiao Xi.

Half an hour later, she found some ruins.

A vast stretch of broken stones covered the island before her, spanning roughly ten thousand square meters.

Ji Xinghe tried putting them in her backpack. Some could be collected, while others couldn't.

She threw the unusable stones into the Trash Bin and told Xiao Xi to toss in any stones she could reach, too.

There were so many stones here that she wouldn't finish collecting them all before nightfall, even if she tried, so there was no need to be too particular.

The Trash Bin could upgrade after devouring 100 kilograms. Maybe it would surprise her again.

As for the useful stones, she put them in her backpack. Whether she used them herself or sold them on the trading platform, they'd bring in a nice profit.

Only when the stones in her backpack reached 999 units did she remember the backpack's slot limit.

She put those 999 units of stone on the trading platform and set the exchange rate at four units of stone for one Wow Coin.

If someone traded for them, that was a nice bonus. If not, they'd still serve as a temporary storage spot and at least wouldn't take up space in her backpack.

Then Ji Xinghe started another round of stone collecting, her smile growing wider and wider.

Suddenly, among the ruins she'd finished clearing, she spotted a familiar object.

A broom.

The bottom of the broom was made from a row of yellowish-brown stalks resembling sorghum seedlings, while its handle was made of brown wood.

It looked 90% like the brooms Ji Xinghe used back in the countryside.

At the thought, Ji Xinghe remembered the happy times she'd shared with Grandma before she died. People in the village had always called her a jinx, but she'd argued with them.

Her parents had died in a car accident when she was born. Since she'd never known them, their deaths hadn't affected her much.

But Grandma's death had left her completely heartbroken.

Grandma had been so young back then.

She'd only been sixty-eight, and Ji Xinghe had still ended up being the death of her.

Afterward, she'd shut herself away for a long time. She hadn't made any friends at school, and things had only gotten worse after she started working.