"Congratulations, Zhuqing. Black-grade quests are rare."
"Complete this quest properly, and you'll definitely get this thirty-thousand-year Nether Civet Wind-Chasing Left Leg Bone!"
Li Haiyun offered his congratulations with a warm smile.
"Mm, thank you!"
Hearing his congratulations made Zhu Zhuqing feel good. She thanked him.
"Congratulations, Zhuqing!" Ning Rongrong chimed in from the side.
At that moment.
[Favorability +6!] [Current favorability Zhu Zhuqing has toward you: 95!]
Seeing Zhu Zhuqing's favorability toward her rise by another six points, Ning Rongrong's smile grew even brighter.
I only need five more favorability points to complete the Red-Level Quest!
Ning Rongrong was overjoyed.
Then Ning Rongrong looked around at everyone and called out, "My best friend Zhuqing is about to do a quest. Don't think her actions are strange, and don't laugh at her! Otherwise, you'll be making an enemy of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect!"
By the end, the aura around Ning Rongrong had turned cold and dangerous as she warned the people around them.
Li Haiyun added at just the right moment, "There's nothing shameful about doing a quest. Everyone has to do one someday, so there's nothing to laugh at. I advise you all to show some respect!"
The passersby nodded repeatedly, and quite a few said they wouldn't dare cause trouble.
Only then was Ning Rongrong satisfied.
Beside her, Zhu Zhuqing felt a surge of gratitude.
To be honest, Zhu Zhuqing had always been quiet and taciturn. Having to shout those words ten times in front of everyone had made her feel apprehensive and deeply uncomfortable.
But with Ning Rongrong and Boss Li Haiyun keeping everyone in check, Zhu Zhuqing felt much more at ease and safer.
"Thank you," she said to Ning Rongrong and Boss Li Haiyun.
"No need to thank me." Li Haiyun nodded and replied warmly.
"Come on, Zhuqing, no need to thank us!" Ning Rongrong urged with a smile. "Hurry up and finish the quest!"
Li Haiyun and everyone else turned their eyes to Zhu Zhuqing, eager to watch her complete the quest.
Li Haiyun, the boss, was especially curious. If Zhu Zhuqing completes this quest and triggers a hundredfold critical reward, I'll get a three-million-year Soul Beast Spirit Bone. That'd be amazing!
He let himself indulge in a little anticipation.
Chapter 18: Identical Spirit Bones
Of course, the ideal was beautiful, but reality was harsh.
Triggering a hundredfold reward and getting a Spirit Bone from a Soul Beast with three million years of cultivation was practically impossible.
As long as he triggered a reward of threefold or higher, Li Haiyun would get a Spirit Bone with at least ninety thousand years of cultivation!
That would be enough to satisfy him!
If its cultivation exceeded ninety thousand years, Li Haiyun would fuse with it himself without hesitation.
If it was equal to or below ninety thousand years, he would negotiate with Zhu Zhuqing and then trade it to her, forging a bond of goodwill.
As Li Haiyun was thinking this over, Zhu Zhuqing had already begun the quest.
She walked to an open space in the center, raised her delicate chin slightly, and let determination gleam in her beautiful eyes.
"My fate is mine to decide, not Heaven's!"
"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. Don't look down on a poor young woman!"
"My fate is mine to decide, not Heaven's!"
"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. Don't look down on a poor young woman!"
"..."
Zhu Zhuqing's voice rang with resolve.
Those words voiced her innermost thoughts, declaring her determination to resist the Zhu Family and her unjust fate.
Ning Rongrong had never heard those two lines before. They shook her, though she didn't feel them as deeply as Zhu Zhuqing did.
The passersby around them were likewise shaken. One by one, their expressions grew solemn.
At first, they'd assumed Zhu Zhuqing would have to shout something bizarre like, "I'm a little bastard."
Instead, she'd said these two lines.
My fate is mine to decide, not Heaven's!
Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. Don't look down on a poor young woman!
Some of the grown men listening were so fired up that they clenched their fists tight.
Those words weren't just for Zhu Zhuqing.
They were even more encouraging to grown men like them.
The two lines were like spiritual sustenance, filling everyone to the brim!
They were also like a shot of adrenaline, making the men feel invigorated and eager to strive, to grow stronger.
Everyone felt brimming with energy, determined to reject giving up, laziness, and self-destruction!
Seeing the passersby with steely eyes, fists clenched, and bodies trembling slightly as if they'd been injected with stimulants, Li Haiyun smiled.
I didn't expect those two lines to be so powerful!
According to one passerby who was there, after hearing those two lines, he'd felt as if his mind had been enlightened and his whole body filled with energy.
Then he'd gone home, kicked the old ox out of the way, and plowed ten mu of land by himself!
Time flew by.
Before long, Zhu Zhuqing had finished shouting the two lines.
She was so stirred up that her emotions took a long time to settle.
Bang!
The Black-Grade Mission Card floated from Zhu Zhuqing's hand and hung in midair. With a bang, it burst into a cloud of black mist.
When the mist vanished, what appeared in its place was a Spirit Bone radiating a terrifying aura. It floated in midair, proclaiming its extraordinary nature to everyone!
"The Nether Spirit Cat Wind-Chasing Left Leg Bone!"
Zhu Zhuqing's beautiful eyes widened. She was deeply shaken, feeling a fierce attraction to the bone.
Almost instinctively, she reached out and snatched the rare Spirit Bone from the air!
"Wow, a thirty-thousand-year Spirit Bone!" Ning Rongrong cried. Her beautiful eyes sparkled with excitement.
Ning Rongrong was genuinely happy that her good friend Zhu Zhuqing had obtained such a rare treasure. She felt as if she'd gotten it herself.
"This...! This really is a thirty-thousand-year Spirit Bone!"
"That aura's terrifying. I can't believe there really is a Spirit Bone!"
"This Mission Card is amazing. It can even give out a thirty-thousand-year Spirit Bone. I want to buy one so badly!"
"..."
The passersby around them erupted in astonished cries, all staring wide-eyed.
Greed gleamed in the eyes of quite a few of them.
If they could get their hands on this thirty-thousand-year Nether Spirit Cat Left Leg Bone, they could raise their cultivation to the next level!
And the little girl looked very young, not even an adult yet. Maybe they could take her out...!!
"Hmph! I advise you to behave yourselves and keep your hands off her. Otherwise, you'll die!" Li Haiyun warned with a cold snort when he saw greed rising in the eyes of several people.
At his words, Zhu Zhuqing grew wary. She kept her distance from the people around her and clutched the Spirit Bone tightly to her chest.
Beside her, Ning Rongrong grew angry and snapped, "I advise you to be decent. Zhuqing is my good friend! Anyone who dares lay a hand on her will be making an enemy of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect!"
"Whoever so much as touches a hair on Zhuqing's head, I'll have my father and my Titled Douluo grandfather hunt you down!"
"Even if you flee to the ends of the earth, you won't survive!"
After Li Haiyun and Ning Rongrong's warnings, the passersby who had given in to greed came to their senses. They recognized reality and didn't dare entertain any more schemes.
They didn't want to offend a great sect like the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, much less Li Haiyun, whose origins were shrouded in mystery!
A Spirit Bone was no good if you weren't alive to fuse with it!
"Boss Li, thank you!"
"Rongrong, my dear friend, thank you!"
Zhu Zhuqing thanked them sincerely.
At the same time.
[Favorability +3!] [Current favorability Zhu Zhuqing has toward you: 98!]
Ning Rongrong was one step closer to reaching a hundred favorability points.
Li Haiyun nodded with a warm smile and said, "No need to thank me. You were lucky, and you deserved it. Please, accept it without worry!"
"Mm, all right!"
Zhu Zhuqing nodded slightly, her manner much friendlier now.
This time, Zhu Zhuqing completed a Black Grade Quest.
Li Haiyun himself triggered a "two-point-fivefold" reward and obtained a Nether Spirit Cat Wind-Chasing Right Leg Bone with sixty thousand years of cultivation!
That's right: the Nether Spirit Cat Wind-Chasing Right Leg Bone.
The right one!
Li Haiyun checked several times to make sure he hadn't misread it.
This Nether Spirit Cat Wind-Chasing Right Leg Bone, with its sixty thousand years of cultivation, wasn't much use to Li Haiyun.
Why not make someone else happy?
Give someone a rose, and its fragrance lingers on your hand!
Of course, give it away for free? No chance!
Only a simp would give things to the woman he adored for free.