Wangqing Mountain

"Do you know what kind of wild beast it is?"

Delight surged through Fang Zelin, but he quickly reined it in a moment later and immediately pressed for more details.

He was hardly strong at present. If he ran into some formidable beast, he could be in danger.

He had only just found a method of immortal cultivation, and felt it would be better to play things safe.

"We don't know yet, but there's no need to worry. Three senior brothers from the martial arts school will be going along. With their strength, they could take down even a tiger."

Senior Brother Pang looked thoroughly confident.

The three senior brothers specialized in leg techniques, swordsmanship, and external conditioning respectively.

There would be no need to worry even against a tiger.

Hearing Senior Brother Pang say this, Fang Zelin remembered that he had just gained a deeper understanding of the Wind-Riding Sword Art, and his confidence grew as well.

That was true. With the strength of the senior brothers at the martial arts school, there was no need to worry about losing even if they encountered a fierce tiger.

With that thought, Fang Zelin immediately relaxed.

After asking exactly when they would leave tomorrow, Fang Zelin rose and left.

After leaving the martial arts school, Fang Zelin soon spotted a notice posted in the marketplace.

The notice said that a fierce beast on Wangqing Mountain had been attacking people. It warned the common people not to visit Wangqing Mountain in the coming days; the ban would be lifted once the beast had been subdued.

It also called for skilled martial artists to go to Wangqing Mountain and hunt the beast, offering thirty taels of silver to whoever slew the monster.

Fang Zelin looked over the notice and was just about to leave when he saw a crowd packed in front of it.

"Ha, I knew it! Farming, chopping trees, and all that earns us so little every day. How's that supposed to pay for martial arts training? This game is weird, too. I've chopped trees for so long without getting a single experience point. There isn't even a stats panel."

In front of the notice, Great Han, a burly man with an axe over his shoulder, read it and broke into a grin.

Hearing this, the others began airing their grievances as well. "Exactly! A game being too realistic isn't a good thing either. Ever since I entered the game, I've been doing this rough labor every day. It's wearing me to death."

"Being tired isn't even the main issue. We earn so little! At this rate, who knows when we'll save enough to learn martial arts? Five taels of silver for tuition is way too expensive."

"This thing doesn't even give notifications. There's nothing to tell you what skills you've learned or how proficient you are. What a rip-off!"

Compared with a month ago, there were actually far fewer players now.

After entering, many players had never found anything fun to do, so their enthusiasm had naturally dwindled considerably.

Over the course of a month, quite a few players had left one after another.

Only some players still persisted, feeling that the game was so realistic it was bound to become popular.

Great Han, standing nearby with an axe in hand, swung it.

"Whatever else you say, I've spent this whole month chopping trees, and I really do feel a lot stronger. Tomorrow, I'm heading up the mountain with my axe to look for this beast. Once I chop it down and collect those thirty taels of silver, I can go to the martial arts school!"

At this, Great Han grew immensely excited.

He felt that his month of chopping trees had not been wasted.

Though there was no stats panel or anything like that, the feeling of his body growing stronger after a month of chopping trees was very real.

Hearing this, the others beside him looked at him with immense envy.

A gleam also flickered in some people's eyes. Whatever else happened, they would head up the mountain tomorrow too.

What if they got lucky and found and killed that beast themselves?

At this thought, some of them made up their minds on the spot.

Seeing them like this, Fang Zelin did not know whether to laugh or cry.

From the way they talked, they clearly thought the authorities were handing out another quest!

But couldn't they think it through? More than thirty people had died in the mountains. That beast was more than merely ferocious.

Wouldn't rushing in so recklessly just be feeding kills?

On second thought, though, Fang Zelin could understand their thinking to some extent.

As far as they were concerned, this was only a game anyway.

And very likely, they thought this was a quest issued by the game developers.

Never mind how dangerous the notice made it sound; it was a quest for them. Without making it sound dangerous, there would be no justification for such a large bounty.

Fang Zelin suspected that this was a real world, but ultimately, that was still only his suspicion.

Besides, Fang Zelin himself was a transmigrator, and the unusual circumstances of his entry into this world were what had led him to that suspicion.

It was hardly surprising that the others had not yet considered this possibility.

Nor could Fang Zelin go around telling everyone about his suspicion right now.

After glancing at these players, Fang Zelin turned and left.

A short while later, Fang Zelin returned to the inn. After locking the doors and windows, he returned to the real world.

The City God's temple.

"Many common people have died on Wangqing Mountain lately. Could some evil creature be at work?"

The City God looked at the underworld officials below him and asked with a frown.

The City God governed a territory, and naturally bore the important duty of eliminating monsters.

"At present, we have only heard of a fierce beast attacking people. Whether it is an evil creature remains unknown."

Hearing this, the martial judge standing to one side immediately cupped his fist and replied.

The City God frowned slightly at these words. "In that case, send underworld officials to investigate Wangqing Mountain tomorrow."

"Yes! Your subordinate obeys!"

Fang Zelin got up from bed and set the helmet aside, about to try the Qi Refining method he had obtained.

But the next moment, the phone beside him began to vibrate.

Seeing this, Fang Zelin could only reach for his phone first and check it.

He saw that the message was from Jiuchuan.

"Guess what? I finally saved up one tael of silver!"

Jiuchuan sounded rather excited. For him, finally managing to save up one tael of silver was tremendous news.

Who could have known that silver in Seeking the Dao would be so hard to earn!

Fang Zelin: "Impressive. You earned one tael of silver in a month, so you can earn twelve taels in a year. That's more than some of the common people make!"

Jiuchuan: "Uh..."

That was true, but why did it feel so strange?

Then he thought about how he would have to save for several months to practice martial arts at a martial arts school, and the thought left him feeling miserable.

"You don't have to work so hard saving silver. Come to Anzi County sometime, and I'll give you a few taels!"

Before this, Fang Zelin would not have had the confidence to say that.

But tomorrow he could go hunting in the mountains, and he would get a share of a few taels of silver.

Even if that was not enough money to enter the martial arts school, he could try teaching Jiuchuan himself.

At worst, he would just have to spend money buying medicinal decoctions from the martial arts school.

After all, the martial arts school did sell those decoctions separately.

Fang Zelin had not yet told Jiuchuan that the Martial Dao from Seeking the Dao could also be practiced in the real world.

He did not quite dare to speak casually about this.

If Jiuchuan failed to keep his mouth shut and went around telling everyone, who knew what would happen? The two of them might well be taken away for tea together.

And he had only just come into contact with a method of immortal cultivation. He had barely begun cultivating, so he needed to be even more careful.

"Keep bragging!"

Reading the message, Jiuchuan immediately curled his lip.

What a joke. He had working legs, and it had taken him so much effort to save up just one tael of silver.

With Fang Zelin's impaired legs, nobody would believe him if he claimed to have earned a lot of silver.