Woodland Mansion

"What did you pull out?"

Chen Ming looked at the blue-and-gold Eight Wings and the translucent blue-and-gold crystal in Di Qiu'er's hands, curiosity flashing in his eyes. Dong Qianqiu felt like she'd seen them somewhere before, but couldn't remember where.

"This is Tang San's Sea God Divinity and Sea God Eight Wings. I got them from the treasure in the sea, where you can unlock Sea God stuff. That makes perfect sense."

Di Qiu'er examined them, then explained. Chen Ming and Dong Qianqiu were both stunned when they heard her.

Wait, what? You just unlocked a divinity?

"You... All right. Your luck really does defy the rules."

Chen Ming felt that Di Qiu'er's luck was completely unreasonable. She could pull anything out of a box. With the Four-leaf Clover and Lucky Blocks helping her, she wasn't even trying to hide it.

"It's all right. I've always been lucky. And once we reach level sixty, we can start the God Trial for this divinity. You can keep it."

Di Qiu'er tossed the Sea God Divinity and Sea God Eight Wings to him, clearly unimpressed by the divinity.

"Then we'll hold on to it. At least we'll have a guaranteed path to godhood, right, Qianqiu? Want to consider inheriting the Sea God's power and beating up Tang San?"

Chen Ming turned to Dong Qianqiu, who had been standing silently beside them, and asked. She blinked, then pointed at herself.

"Me... you mean me?"

"Yeah."

Chen Ming nodded. Dong Qianqiu looked completely bewildered. She glanced at the Sea God Divinity in his hand and hesitated, but still asked, "Aren't you going to use it yourselves? This is the Sea God Divinity! A divinity! Countless people on Douluo Continent dream of getting one, and you're just... giving it to me?"

Dong Qianqiu was overwhelmed. This was a divinity, after all—something countless people dreamed of obtaining. And they were just... giving it to her?

Meeting Little Shark's confused gaze, Chen Ming shrugged.

"It doesn't matter. It's not like I can't become a god without it."

Chen Ming didn't care. With his cheat at his disposal, he had no worries about finding a way to become a god. Dong Qianqiu looked at Di Qiu'er, who was even more blunt.

"I don't want it. I'm the Golden Dragon King, so I'm guaranteed to reach God King level. If I'm inheriting anything, it should be the Dragon God Divinity, right?"

Di Qiu'er crossed her arms, utterly unimpressed by the mere Sea God Divinity. Dong Qianqiu nearly choked. She covered her flat chest, feeling utterly defeated.

So I'm the only one who isn't sure she can become a god? I guess being weak really does limit your imagination...

"It's fine, Qianqiu. Now that you're with us, we'll make sure you become a god too. How could the vast Divine Realm get by without a Protector General? Right?"

Chen Ming patted Dong Qianqiu's shoulder to comfort her, but she still felt utterly dejected. So she was the only useless one?

"Once I inherit the Dragon God Divinity, I'll appoint you as the World-Protecting Great White Shark."

Di Qiu'er patted Dong Qianqiu's shoulder too, trying to encourage her. Somehow, that encouragement seemed worse than none at all.

"I'm looking forward to that day..."

Dong Qianqiu quickly composed herself. At least she'd chosen the right people to follow. The pressure was immense, but this was certainly a road to the heavens.

"All right, let's go. We'll continue to the Woodland Mansion and farm some Totems of Undying."

Chen Ming waved for them to set off. At his words, Dong Qianqiu obediently moved behind him and hugged him.

"Uh... Let's walk for a bit first. There's no rush. You can take a moment to recover."

Hearing that, Dong Qianqiu's cheeks flushed. She quickly climbed off him.

The three of them entered the Spruce Forest and followed the map toward the Woodland Mansion.

"There's a medicinal herb here. Let's pick it."

Chen Ming spotted a century-old Wood Spirit Flower and gathered it with his bare hands.

"There's one here too—a century-old Ice Spirit Fruit. What a great find!"

Dong Qianqiu spotted the fruit on a tree. She immediately pulled out a block to stand on and pick it, while Di Qiu'er looked around, found some Sweet Berries, and started eating them.

Di Qiu'er was as consistently lucky as ever. The three of them strolled along, stopping to admire the scenery as they went.

A river came into view, blocking their way. Chen Ming demonstrated how to walk on water.

"This is a way to practice controlling your Soul Power. Come on, let's try it together."

Chen Ming took Dong Qianqiu and Di Qiu'er by the hand and practiced with them, though it was a lot like trying to carry two sloths.

Both of them clung to him. After trying a few times and getting nowhere, Di Qiu'er lost patience and spread her dragon wings to fly. Chen Ming held Dong Qianqiu and patiently guided her step by step.

"First, focus your Soul Power on the soles of your feet. That's it. Now get used to it. Feel how your Soul Power keeps the water from touching you and holds you up."

Dong Qianqiu was quick to learn, especially with the Skill Mod's help. The three of them spent their days flying for a while, then playing for a while. When night fell, they dug a hole, buried themselves inside, and slept and cultivated.

During the day, they traveled onward. Dong Qianqiu found it all very fulfilling. It was wonderful to play while cultivating and still raise her Soul Power Level.

After seven in-game days of traveling over hill and dale, Chen Ming, Di Qiu'er, and Dong Qianqiu stopped before the enormous Woodland Mansion.

"Whoa! That house is huge! It's not quite as grand as our palace, but it's still enormous!"

Dong Qianqiu marveled at the size of the building. Chen Ming raised a hand and summoned the Mini-map, then set a teleport point.

"Let's set our respawn point first, then fight our way in."

"Wait."

Just as Chen Ming and Di Qiu'er were getting ready to charge in, Dong Qianqiu suddenly spoke. They turned toward her, silently asking what was wrong.

Dong Qianqiu awkwardly fiddled with her little fingers. She glanced at the Woodland Mansion, then looked Chen Ming in the eye and asked earnestly, "Isn't it wrong to break into someone's house?"

Chen Ming and Di Qiu'er exchanged strange looks. Wait, was she serious?

"Qianqiu, how are you so adorable? Don't worry. Those guys aren't sentient, and they make a living slaughtering and robbing villagers. They deserve to sit at my table. Besides, this is a game world, so don't worry about it."

Chen Ming rubbed his forehead helplessly. The newbie was so adorably clueless that she was actually worried about trespassing.

"Oh, I see. Then it's fine. But this is my first time robbing anyone. Do we have to kill them?"

Dong Qianqiu asked curiously. Chen Ming shook his head slightly and explained, "They're not people. They're game creatures, and they respawn after they die. It's fine to kill them."

"Oh, I understand. Then I have no problem with it."

Dong Qianqiu was fine with it now. She'd only thought it was wrong because of the laws of the Federation and the fact that killing people was illegal.

But after Chen Ming explained, she realized this was her own world. There were no Federation laws here, and the Federation couldn't reach this place. She didn't have to worry about being arrested or anything like that.