Treasure Map

The pointer spun merrily between the four areas.

Watching from the sidelines, Li Shuyi said expectantly, "I hope we'll have the same luck as last time."

"I'd be satisfied with just a normal C-Tier Spirit Realm Ticket," Bai Xiaowen said softly, his eyes also glued to the roulette wheel.

Last time in the lottery, Bai Xiaowen directly won the 10% special reward zone, and then also won a ticket, which was upgraded to B-Tier Spirit Realm Ticket. Such good luck is hard to replicate.

Gradually, the pointer slowed down, passing the 40% Psionic Points reward zone, the 30% Spirit Realm Ticket reward zone, and the 20% psionic equipment reward zone...

The pointer, moving slower and slower, sluggishly glided across the 10% mark, then moved forward at a snail's pace.

Bai Xiaowen wished he could blow on it to make it move faster, faster... because the pointer had now circled around and landed in the Psionic Points reward area, which was the least valuable thing to Bai Xiaowen!

The C-Tier Bronze Roulette has a 40% white area— the Psionic Points reward zone—which will ultimately reward two to three thousand Psionic Points. For an Awakened with C-Tier renown, this Psionic Points reward is merely a consolation prize.

Fortunately, although the pointer moved slowly, it never stopped, eventually crossing the white area and entering the ticket reward area.

"Let's stop now..." Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi both kept their eyes glued to the roulette wheel.

However, the slowly crawling pointer unexpectedly had a long finish, eventually crossing the ticket area and stopping at the boundary between the ticket area and the equipment reward area...

Bai Xiaowen almost spat out blood. He had encountered this situation before, and it would ultimately be counted as the later area, which is the equipment reward, rather than the ticket reward.

Sure enough, a notification from the Spirit Realm Rules sounded:

"You have won an equipment reward in the roulette draw."

"Based on the level of the roulette wheel you summoned (Bronze Tier), your equipment reward is: Custom Elite Tier Equipment (Blue). Custom equipment is untradeable and can only be worn, dismantled, or used as an auxiliary combustion item during equipment enhancement by the drawer."

Please specify an equipment location.

Bai Xiaowen breathed a sigh of relief, "Customized Blue Gear... is better than random blue equipment. You can choose to customize a lower-quality piece of equipment. If the customized equipment is of good quality, you can switch it out."

Bai Xiaowen glanced at his equipment. He was now almost entirely covered in Gold Gear, and his two accessories were even more powerful. The Black Soul Stone and Blood Essence Stone were essentially the best equipment for the Awakened stage.

After looking around, there's only one spot left for a blue ring (finger), a blue wristband (wrist), and a blue belt (waist), where some reinforcements might be needed.

Li Shuyi suggested, "Let's not consider the ring; you already have a spare gold ring. As for the bracers, the 10% ranged damage increase is excellent for you. Only the belt is something you can change."

Bai Xiaowen's "Rhino's Might Belt" increases his strength by 2 points, which he obtained during his adventure in the Spinebreak Mountain Grand Rift Treasure Grounds. He nodded and selected the option to customize his waist equipment from the choices provided by the Spirit Realm Rules.

Spirit Realm Rules Message:

"Please choose one of the following three options as an attribute or skill attached to the equipment."

A: Strength +3.

"B: Movement speed +5%, evasion rate +5%."

"C: Physical recovery speed +10%"

Bai Xiaowen shook his head slightly, feeling a little disappointed. None of the three enhancement options were particularly impressive. However, considering that this was a custom blue-grade equipment, it was understandable.

First, Bai Xiaowen eliminated option B. Compared to defense and evasion, Bai Xiaowen prefers offense. For his hybrid class of ranged archer/caster with summoned creatures for protection, evasion rate can be ignored, and movement speed is not that important.

As for close-quarters combat using the Kusanagi-Style Ancient Martial Arts, movement speed is indeed necessary. However, Bai Xiaowen's golden shoes with a +4 enhanced Sprint effect can increase movement speed by 30% for 5 seconds, which is more than enough. In comparison, a permanent 5% movement speed bonus is somewhat lackluster.

The last attribute, stamina recovery speed, is rather rare, but Bai Xiaowen considered it carefully and ruled it out. Although using the Kusanagi-Style Ancient Martial Arts consumes stamina, Bai Xiaowen doesn't engage in close combat very often. In addition, if he needs to recover stamina, Bai Xiaowen also has ale, a food he can exchange for in the Kane Plane, which has a more immediate effect on restoring stamina.

In the end, Bai Xiaowen chose the +3 Strength option. When there aren't enough good skill options, the benefits of strengthening the four main attributes are real.

After Bai Xiaowen made his selection, a flash of light appeared, Psionic Particles condensed, and a blue card took shape before being flipped over.

"You have acquired a custom item: the Wild Bear's Might Belt."

There's no need to read the detailed attribute descriptions of the equipment; it only added 3 points of strength. Bai Xiaowen had placed high hopes on this C-Tier Bronze Roulette draw, but the result wasn't very satisfactory. However, a slight improvement is better than no improvement at all, right? Bai Xiaowen could only console himself with this thought, swallowing the bitter pill of being an unlucky player alone.

"Alright, Xiao Wen, there's no need to be so downcast. Just like you said, this bad luck is just building up good karma for the next lucky draw," Li Shuyi comforted Bai Xiaowen. "Let's go wish Mom and Dad a Happy New Year."

Bai Xiaowen wasn't too discouraged and immediately went to Li Beihai's house with Li Shuyi.

As the guild leader, Li Beihai was quite busy during the Chinese New Year, with a constant stream of Awakened members from the Super God Guild coming to offer their New Year's greetings. He finally had some free time around lunchtime.

"Little Bai's here? Have a seat!" Li Beihai smiled as he saw Bai Xiaowen. "I was just about to call you two."

"Did the president want to see me about something?" Bai Xiaowen asked.

"Well, I guess so," Li Beihai chuckled, keeping everyone in suspense, "It's good news, you guys guess."

Bai Xiaowen narrowed his eyes slightly, then opened them again. "There was a progress on the matter of asking the guild leader to acquire a batch of equipment Enhancement Card through guild channels...?"

Li Beihai laughed heartily, sitting down in a chair that creaked in protest. "Little Bai, you're quick-witted, but you didn't guess right this time. As for equipment Enhancement Card, I'm collecting them, but you know they're rare and hold their value. Most people who don't lack Psionic Points rarely sell them, so there's no rush."

"So what good thing is Dad talking about?" Li Shuyi asked cutely. "Dad, stop keeping me in suspense."

Li Beihai chuckled, took out a slightly tattered sheepskin, and placed it on the table.

Bai Xiaowen glanced at it and said in surprise, "Spirit Realm Ticket? It even has two prefixes... Is this B-Tier Spirit Realm Ticket?"

Li Shuyi: "Dad, how did you get these tickets? They're B-Tier Spirit Realm Ticket!"

Li Beihai waved his hand and said, "When I was buying Enhancement Card, I overheard a seller saying he had a ticket to sell, so I thought I'd buy it as a New Year's gift for you guys. But don't get too excited yet. Although this ticket is B-Tier, the prefixes you get from it are probably not very good. Otherwise, the seller wouldn't be in such a hurry to sell it."

Bai Xiaowen examined it carefully.

[The Treasure Map of Speculation and Challenge: Teleports the user to the Spirit Realm; disappears after use. Remaining validity: 6 days, 18 hours, 44 minutes, and 52 seconds.]

Bai Xiaowen carefully examined the ticket's description and could see detailed explanations of the two prefixes.

[Speculation: After you enter the Spirit Realm, the difficulty of the main quest will be reduced by 50%, while the rewards will remain the same.]

[Challenge: An Elite Tier challenge quest will be generated upon your entry into the Spirit Realm.]

Bai Xiaowen already knew about the prefixes for B-Tier Spirit Realm Ticket. The last time he used the roulette wheel and won a special reward ticket, it was B-Tier, which allowed him to draw two tickets from six prefixes.

These prefixes have different functions. Some strengthen the identity and status of the character, some reduce the difficulty of the main quest or even ignore the main quest, and some extend the duration of the main quest, that is, the duration of stay in the Spirit Realm Plane.

In comparison, Bai Xiaowen's favorite prefix is "Durability," which extends the time limit, followed by "Freedom," which ignores the requirements of the main quest.

This "treasure map" for the Spirit Realm Ticket randomly yielded the prefixes "Speculation" and "Challenge," which are clearly not very effective, no wonder the seller was in a hurry to sell. Functionally, this ticket isn't much better than a D-Tier ticket (the standard entry identity), because the Speculation" and "Challenge" affixes are inherently conflicting.

Think about it: those Awakened Ones who can complete Elite Tier Challenge missions are all incredibly powerful individuals, so they obviously wouldn't value Speculation affixes that reduce the difficulty of the main quest.

Awakened individuals with average strength who need to reduce the difficulty of main quests to increase their success rate will likely find it difficult to complete Elite Tier challenge quests.

Overall, this B-Tier Spirit Realm Ticket is roughly the same value as C-Tier Spirit Realm Ticket (single prefix).

However, no matter what, a ticket is a ticket. Even an E-Tier ticket grants ten days of exploration opportunities in the Spirit Realm, which is definitely very valuable.

Bai Xiaowen asked, "Guild Leader, should I buy this ticket with Psionic Points or exchange it for Merit Points?"

Li Beihai waved his hand. "No need, it's a New Year's gift, just like the money elders give to you younger generation... uh, lucky money! Yes, that's it."

Bai Xiaowen broke out in a cold sweat. "To avoid gossip, I'd better..."

"Little Bai, stop being so stingy, be a man!" Li Beihai patted Bai Xiaowen's shoulder hard, making half of Bai Xiaowen's body go numb. "I always keep public and private matters separate. If it were guild stuff, I would definitely deduct your Merit Points or have you barter for it. But this was bought with my personal savings of Psionic Points, who can say a word against it?"

Bai Xiaowen could only nod in agreement; he couldn't refuse. The feeling of Li Beihai's massive hand, comparable to a bear's paw and covered in black hair, slapping him down was truly unpleasant. According to Bai Xiaowen's estimation, the Taishan leader's strength was probably comparable to that of Advanced Boss.

Seeing Bai Xiaowen nod, Li Beihai was quite pleased and waved his hand, "Alright, you guys finish dinner here, and then get ready. The tickets are valid for less than seven days, so make sure you're fully prepared before you set off."

Bai Xiaowen thought for a moment and said, "President, I received a warning prop during a school event."

As he spoke, Bai Xiaowen took out the [Alert Stone], a pair of stones that were joined together. Bai Xiaowen separated them and handed one of them to Li Beihai: "The use of this warning tool is very simple. If one stone breaks, even across the Spirit Realm Plane, the other stone will also break. When we are venturing into the Spirit Realm, you can hold one of the stones with you, which should give you some peace of mind."

Li Beihai understood. "In other words, as long as the stones on my side are fine, it means you're safe in the Spirit Realm. Good, this is a good item." He was quite moved; the last time the two of them were gone for so long in the Kane Plane, he was worried sick.

Although Li Beihai knew that Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi both had return items, who could say what would happen in the Spirit Realm? Just like Zhao Zhixiong, who clearly had return and teleportation items, he still died at Bai Xiaowen's hands.

Although this Alert Stone couldn't be of much help, at least seeing it put Li Beihai at ease.

Bai Xiaowen then said, "Actually, if something happens on Earth that requires us to rush back, the guild leader can also crush the stone and we can abandon the main quest and return directly."

Li Beihai laughed heartily, "Hey, what could possibly happen here? You all focus on exploring the Spirit Realm, don't worry about home."

Through his words, Li Beihai had already come to regard Bai Xiaowen as part of the family.

Bai Xiaowen could certainly hear this, and felt a warm feeling in her heart.

Bai Xiaowen originally wanted to give the Alert Stone to his younger sister, Xiao Jun, but Xiao Jun is not yet an Awakened, and it would be inconvenient for her to carry a spiritual item. It would be better to give it to Li Beihai, who is also an Awakened. Anyway, Bai Xiaowen would explain the Alert Stone to Xiao Jun, so having it in Li Beihai's hands would have the same effect—it would put the family at ease.

Next, Bai Xiaowen entered Li Beihai's study and began to collect some intelligence information in a targeted manner.

"Xiao Wen, which dimension do you think this ticket will match us into?" Li Shuyi asked.

Bai Xiaowen, engrossed in a book of Western Qihuan legends, replied to Li Shuyi, "From the words 'treasure map' alone, we can't determine the type of world. However, the map's material is sheepskin, which basically confirms it's a Western legend. I think... this time we'll be entering the homeland of Eliki, Kasares, and Majik, the mother plane of that Dead Spirit Lake Treasure Ground Space."

"Why? Is it because of that clay tablet with the prophecy written on it?" Li Shuyi had a good memory and quickly recalled it.

The Spirit Realm Rules often match awakened individuals to related dimensional worlds based on the special spiritual items they carry. For example, when Li Shuyi Class Change, she was transported to the Three Kingdoms Plane World because she carried a Yellow Turban Army identity token.