After leaving the classroom, Yun Che headed toward the southeastern part of Falling Moon Academy. There was a secluded little pavilion built over a small lake there, and that great opportunity lay within the lake.
Yun Che did not know exactly what the opportunity was. It had not been claimed by a player, but by a male student at Falling Moon Academy. He had eventually become a powerful NPC, then colluded with cultists and become one of the culprits behind the academy's destruction.
Judging by the timing, that NPC probably hasn't obtained it yet. I should still have a chance to snatch it first.
Soon, Yun Che found the little pavilion over the lake. A boy and a girl were arguing there. Their quarrel grew increasingly heated, until the girl accidentally pushed the boy into the water.
Yun Che's pupils contracted, and he hurried over. If his guess was right, this boy had probably discovered something unusual beneath the lake today. He was the lucky NPC who had obtained the opportunity here.
No. He absolutely could not let the boy succeed.
This opportunity had to be his. How could he let an NPC take it?
"Don't panic, young man! Your teacher is here."
Without a second thought, Yun Che ran over and jumped straight into the lake, rescuing the boy, who clearly could not swim and was flailing in panic.
"Are you all right?"
"Th-thank you, sir. I'm fine." As Ye Feng spoke, he shot a fierce glare at the girl standing nearby, who was clearly at a loss.
Situ Xue came to her senses. Seeing that Ye Feng was unharmed, she breathed a sigh of relief, then returned to her haughty demeanor.
"Hmph. A grown man who can't even swim. I'm embarrassed for you."
"You..." Ye Feng was momentarily speechless. He stood up and said, "If you want to break off our engagement, fine. I agree. I hope you don't regret it."
With that, he thanked Yun Che once more, then strode out of the pavilion with a dark expression.
Situ Xue was pretty, but she clearly lacked Ye Feng's manners. Seeing Yun Che dressed in the white scholarly robes of an academic instructor, a flicker of disdain crossed her eyes. She turned her head and swept past him like a proud peacock.
Yun Che did not mind. Casually, he used Divine Hand on each of them.
Ding! Successful grab. Congratulations, you have obtained a medium-grade martial root. Ding! Successful grab. Congratulations, you have obtained 10 experience points.
Realization dawned on Yun Che. So she had a medium-grade martial root. No wonder she was so arrogant.
If he remembered correctly, Qin Keyi and his sister-in-law both had high-grade martial roots.
Even so, neither of them was as arrogant as this girl! They also worked exceptionally hard at their cultivation.
Shaking his head slightly, Yun Che looked around. Once he was sure no one was nearby, he jumped back into the water and dived toward the bottom.
The little lake's water was clear and transparent, its bottom covered in silt and aquatic plants. Yun Che took a deep breath, endured the discomfort, and began searching carefully underwater.
Before long, something suddenly glinted in the silt. It seemed to be the edge of an object. Delighted, Yun Che hurriedly pulled it free.
It was a jade pendant that gave off a faint glow. Intricate patterns were engraved across its surface, lending it a mysterious air.
The next instant, a phantom image of an old man emerged from the pendant, though only the upper half of his body was visible.
"Fortunate child, now that you have obtained my jade pendant, would you be willing to do this old man a favor?"
Ding! Congratulations, player Yun Che. You have triggered a unique class-change quest. Accept?
Yun Che was overjoyed. He had never expected a class-change quest, much less a unique one. He had hit the jackpot.
As far as he knew, the odds of obtaining a class-change quest in Divine Martial were extremely low. Quests for unique classes were rarer still.
Yun Che carefully examined the old man's phantom image and realized it was not a remnant soul, but a programmed recording left behind solely to await an answer from a destined individual.
If he agreed, the image would probably reveal the quest requirements. If he refused, it might disappear, and he would most likely never be able to trigger the quest again.
However, according to the few beta testers who had obtained unique classes, their class-change quests were extraordinarily difficult. The slightest mistake meant certain death.
After a little thought, Yun Che decided to take the risk in the face of such a tremendous opportunity. With Divine Hand, he could still hope to become an unrivaled powerhouse by lying low, avoiding reckless risks, and steadily building his strength.
But he did not have that much time to develop in peace, because the first major story event would begin in a month.
The Falling Moon Fief under King Qin's rule would come under siege from a massive force led by the four great bandit groups: Red Skull, Corrupt Heart, Throat-Cutter, and Axe Blade. As part of King Qin's fief, Falling Moon Academy would naturally be caught in the attack, and the entire academy would inevitably join the battle against the bandits.
At the time, even the strongest players had only reached the Acquired Realm. Though they had barely managed to defend this starter village under King Qin's leadership, he had suffered severe injuries. His own personal guards betrayed him, cut off his head, and hung it above the city gate.
Without King Qin's protection, the fief known as Falling Moon became a target for the evil cultivators lurking in the shadows. Residents continually went missing, and the common people lived in misery.
The eldest daughter of the Qin family, Qin Keyi, had also begun her descent into evil during this period. She became bloodthirsty, murderous, cold, and merciless, eventually turning into someone everyone feared and despised, someone they wished they could tear apart and devour.
As for the second daughter, Qin Yelan, a passing powerhouse rescued her when the city fell, and she eventually became a leader of the righteous path.
What Yun Che found hardest to accept was that Qin Yelan had actually ended up with the sinister, deceitful Yun Jin. Not only had she joined him in opposing her own elder sister, but she had also borne him a son and a daughter.
Sadly, Qin Yelan's eventual fate had been utterly tragic. For the sake of a precious medicinal treasure, Yun Jin drugged her unconscious and offered her to the leader of the great Red Skull bandit group. In the end, she was tortured to death and brutally carved up and eaten.
Every player who learned of this storyline was outraged. The complaints hotline was practically overwhelmed.
If this were only a game, Yun Che might have simply gotten angry and then moved on.
But now he was living in it. He absolutely did not want to witness corpses strewn across the land and rivers of blood, much less lose this starter village.
The virtual game Divine Martial was brutally unforgiving. Once a starter village was lost, the players' death rate practically shot straight upward.
In traditional games, starter villages usually had protective mechanisms. In Divine Martial, however, their survival depended entirely on the players.
It was not a matter of leaving the starter village to begin a new adventure. Once the village was destroyed, survival would become far more difficult for the players.
Besides bandits and evil cultivators, there were also elusive demons. Even Yun Che, a beta tester, had yet to truly see what a demon looked like.
Rumor had it that once a demon set its sights on someone, surviving was several times harder than defending a city.
That was why he had to rewrite Falling Moon's fate, King Qin's fate, and the fate of the Qin sisters.
As long as King Qin lived, Falling Moon would remain impregnable, and Yun Che could live in peace.
Right, I wonder if I can use Divine Hand on this old man?
Before you continue