Reputation quests

Everyone coveted the Martial Soul Slot Card, but judging by contributions, Ten-Year Veteran deserved it most.

Qian Xixi: "Check the shop. They sell Martial Soul Slot Cards for a hundred thousand Fate Coins. The exchange rate is 1:1, so that's a hundred thousand yuan."

Primordial One: "A hundred thousand yuan! That's highway robbery!"

Invincible Tyrannosaurus Warrior: "It really is expensive. I couldn't bear to spend that. Let me see what else there is. Holy shit! Martial Soul Awakening Card (reawakens your martial soul, highly random), ten thousand Fate Coins!"

I Am an Angel: "Everything else is expensive too. Has the game company gone mad from poverty?"

Ten-Year Veteran: "I actually think it's reasonable. This is technology beyond our era, after all. Of course they need to recoup their investment."

Qian Xixi: "How about this? I'll buy this Martial Soul Slot Card for ninety thousand Fate Coins. You can split those ninety thousand equally. Veteran, you contributed a lot, so I'll give you another thousand on top. What do you think?"

Naturally, everyone was satisfied with this arrangement. They even jointly nominated Qian Xixi as the "sect's chief steward," and Qian Xixi accepted without demur.

Qian Xixi topped up his account right then, adding two hundred thousand in one go. In real life, he was a rich second-generation heir; two hundred thousand really was just pocket money to him.

Tang Yi also received two hundred thousand Fortune Points, along with ten thousand Fortune Points for diverting the plot, for a total of two hundred and ten thousand.

"System, come out. What can I do with Fortune Points now?"

[Based on the host's current circumstances, the host is advised to spend Fortune Points to activate the anti-scrying function.]

"Anti-scrying? To guard against God King Tang? How much does it cost?"

[One hundred thousand Fortune Points per year.]

"One hundred thousand Fortune Points for two years? Are you robbing me?"

[Honest prices for young and old alike.]

"Fine! A hundred thousand it is. Better than having that pervert God King Tang watching me."

Once the system activated the concealment, God King Tang's observation of the Douluo Continent failed completely. His brow furrowed, but he could not make any overt moves. The God King of Destruction was watching him.

Back with the players, Qian Xixi used the Martial Soul Slot Card as soon as he received it, then used a Martial Soul Awakening Card to awaken his second martial soul.

His luck was quite good. He awakened a black-quality Black Dragon Shield martial soul, with the soul skill Black Dragon Barrier.

His original martial soul was a purple-quality Iron-Horned Bull. With one beast martial soul and one tool martial soul, he could now summon both martial souls for battle. Of course, his soul power consumption would also double.

Qian Xixi was fairly satisfied too. He knew that one of Shrek Academy's elders in the story had the Black Dragon Shield as his martial soul.

Seeing Qian Xixi holding the Black Dragon Shield after summoning his martial soul to possess his body, everyone else looked envious.

Earning others' envy was also one of the pleasures of gaming.

Ten-Year Veteran: "Didn't the system say there were reputation quests? Let's look for them."

Primordial One: "Right, and why aren't there any main quests? Is it because our levels aren't high enough?"

The highest-level player was only level 19. It really did look as though they were level-gated and unable to unlock the main quests.

I Am an Angel: "Maybe! These reputation quests are probably meant to help us level up."

Soon, the players found Tang Yi's avatar, the sect elder who issued reputation quests.

"Thank you for your contributions toward rebuilding the sect. Here are your rewards."

Each player received 1,000 gold soul coins, 10 bottles of healing potion, and 10 bottles of soul power recovery potion.

Wang Zhongwang: "So there are red and Mana Potions too. Does the game shop sell them? Holy shit, they're so expensive again. Low-tier red and Mana Potions actually cost one yuan a bottle, and intermediate ones are ten yuan a bottle. I can't even afford to drink potions."

Invincible Tyrannosaurus Warrior: "Have you ever played a game? Who buys potions from the game shop? You buy them from NPCs or make them yourself."

"Ahem, quiet. You may now accept reputation quests. They differ for each person, and there are currently three categories."

"First, punish villains and eliminate evil. Strike against evil soul masters and nobles who commit wicked deeds. Danger rating: ★★★★★"

"Second, practice charity. Go to the city's slums and distribute food. A high probability of encountering robbery. Danger rating: ★★★"

"Third, help the weak. Awaken martial souls for six-year-old children free of charge. Danger rating: ★★"

"Reputation quests can be completed in parties, with up to seven members per party. Is that clear to everyone?"

Ten-Year Veteran: "The first category is obviously a quest to deal with evil soul masters. We're not strong enough yet. If the corpse run is too long, we won't make it in time."

Agile Dog in the Mountains: "Oh, right. What's the death penalty? Do we lose levels?"

When someone asked, the system appeared with an explanation.

[Death penalty: base respawn time of 1 minute. Repeated deaths double the respawn time, up to a maximum of 10 minutes, except in special instances. Respawn points will be unlocked progressively through player exploration.]

Qian Xixi: "It's just a longer respawn time, so that's not much of a problem. Reputation Elder, what are the rewards for reputation quests?"

"Completing reputation quests earns you reputation, gold soul coins, experience, and special materials."

"Higher reputation grants you sect discounts. You can also exchange reputation for treasures here. Gold soul coins may also be exchanged for reputation, limited to once per week."

As he spoke, the reputation shop opened before the players. It contained all sorts of soul tools, even a class-six fixed soul cannon.

I Am an Angel: "What's that? Am I seeing things? A C4 Timed Bomb? That doesn't even belong to the same system, does it? And this C4 is so much cheaper than other soul tools with equivalent power."

Primordial One: "Read the description. This thing has friendly fire. In other words, it's meant for taking the enemy down with you."

A player who rarely spoke, with the ID The Spirit Hall Lives Forever, noticed a detail. "The reward was 1,000 gold soul coins, and the C4 costs 1,000 gold soul coins too. That has to be deliberate, right?"

Qian Xixi: "It really does. If we form a seven-person party and each carry a block of C4, no evil soul master below Soul Sage could withstand it, right?"

Ten-Year Spearman: "Are we taking quests as parties or individually?"

I Am an Angel: "I suggest forming parties and taking the first category. More rewards, faster leveling."

No one else objected. Ten-Year Veteran led one party, all regular gamers who liked tackling tough challenges and were frequent participants in new-content progression.

Qian Xixi led another party. Most of his members were clinging to the rich guy's coattails.

I Am an Angel's party was basically all girls, with only one boy, who was one of the girls' younger brothers.

Once the parties were formed, the three groups accepted different quests. Ten-Year Veteran's progression party took a quest from the first category.

"Quest objective: a five-ring evil soul master is hiding in the city. Eliminate it. Quest rewards: 70,000 reputation, 70,000 gold soul coins, healing potion recipe."

Qian Xixi's rich-guy party took a quest from the third category, while I Am an Angel's goddess party took one from the second.

Watching from the backend, Tang Yi shook his head. "A bunch of women running into the slums to hand out food. That's quite surreal. Nine times out of ten, they'll have to blow themselves up with C4 to get back."