After a long silence, Bai Qiu finally said, “My Luck stat is lower by a whole tier than my base attributes were when I was Level 1.”
He paused for a moment before continuing calmly, “In practice, it means that if something isn’t guaranteed, I’ll never get it. And if it is guaranteed, I’ll always have to hit full pity before it drops. If you still want me to open the chests even knowing that, I won’t refuse.”
Silence fell again.
Even the sound of the breeze brushing past felt noisy in the stillness.
After exchanging glances for a while, the three finally decided to let Ning Xingxue open the chests instead.
There was a simple reason — among the four of them, Ning Xingxue had the highest Luck stat, reaching C, which was the highest value Bai Qiu had seen so far.
And indeed, the results didn’t disappoint.
The items she drew were two blueprints, one weapon, and a handful of Sanctum Coins.
Toughness Potion Blueprint (D-Rank)
Required Materials: Purple Thornfruit ×10, Sunflower Petals ×5, Licorice ×5.
Unlocks the ability to craft Toughness Potions.
Riptide Potion Blueprint (D-Rank)
Required Materials: Purplebell Water Lily ×3, Sunflower Petals ×5, Licorice ×5.
Unlocks the ability to craft Riptide Potions.
Azure Thorn Sword (D-Rank)
Description: A sword 1 meter long and 10 cm wide, extremely sharp. Each strike absorbs a portion of the target’s health to restore the wielder’s stamina and mana.
Bai Qiu took the Riptide Potion blueprint without hesitation — after all, all the Purplebell Water Lily were in his possession.
The only thing he lacked were the petals, which he could simply purchase from Huang Qi and Zhao Daqiang.
Since Ning Xingxue class was Saber, the Azure Thorn Sword naturally went to her.
That left one final blueprint, which Zhao Daqiang generously gave to Huang Qi.
With that, their dungeon run was considered a complete success.
Bai Qiu was the first to speak:
“By the way, for this Riptide Potion I’ll need sunflower petals. One of you sell me 1,500 units later.”
Zhao Daqiang’s eyes lit up as he asked, “Brother Bai, how much meat can I trade for 1,500 units?”
Bai Qiu thought for a moment.
One unit of petals was just a single petal, whereas one unit of meat weighed around 5kg.
Both were cheap when sold to [Chef], but fairness mattered — he couldn’t just take advantage of them.
“Ten units of petals for one unit of common meat. If it’s rare-grade meat, multiply that by five,”
Bai Qiu said.
It was a fair deal — after all, 150 units of meat equaled around 750kg.
Zhao Daqiang nodded immediately.
“Then I’ll trade them all! Oh, and are you selling your extra meat? I’ll buy it!”
Bai Qiu looked at him curiously, not sure why he wanted so much meat, but still replied,
“That much meat is useless to me. I was planning to sell it to the [Chef] anyway. If you want it, I’ll sell it 10% cheaper than the standard recovery price — saves me a trip.”
“You know the standard rate, right? One unit of common beast meat for one Sanctum Coin, minimum sale of ten units. With the discount, that’s nine coins.”
Zhao Daqiang looked genuinely moved.
“Thanks, Brother Bai! I’ll take all the common beast meat you have!”
Bai Qiu shook his head and said evenly, “I have 6,700 units of common beast meat. After subtracting the 150 units I’ll trade for petals, that’s 5,895 Sanctum Coins at the discounted price.”
Then he added with a hint of curiosity, “But I’ve got to ask — what do you need that much meat for?”
Zhao Daqiang scratched his head, not hiding anything.
“There are still a lot of people in the Safe Zone running short on food. They either buy from the profiteers in Area 2233 or risk scavenging outside. Honestly, not everyone’s as lucky as us — not everyone can afford to ignore food shortages. I just want to stock up so that when supplies run out, I can share it with the people who need it.”
Huang Qi and Ning Xingxue were also deeply moved — it wasn’t without reason that Zhao Daqiang was so well-liked.
His kindness toward the weak came from genuine sincerity.
Zhao Daqiang chuckled and took out 1,800 Sanctum Coins from his inventory, handing them to Bai Qiu.
“Brother Bai, take these first as a deposit. I’ll try to get the rest together within the next couple of days.”
Then he turned toward Huang Qi, who had been grinning happily — until realization struck.
Huang Qi froze, then cursed playfully, “So that’s why you’ve been so generous today, huh, Brother Qiang? Setting a trap for me to fall into.”
He sighed and added, “Fine, fine. I’ve only got 1,500 Sanctum Coins left. Take them.”
He didn’t seem too upset — after all, the coins weren’t particularly valuable right now.
Most people were spending them on daily necessities, and more could always be earned by hunting monsters.
Ning Xingxue also handed Zhao Daqiang 1,000 Sanctum Coins, bringing the total to 4,300.
Once the trade was done, Bai Qiu transferred all of his ordinary beast meat to Zhao Daqiang, then waved a hand dismissively.
“Since everyone chipped in to cover Brother Zhao’s cost, let’s forget about the remaining difference. Consider it my contribution — I did, after all, get a free blueprint out of this.”
He paused, then said quietly, “Alright. This expedition ends here.”
Taking out the Secret Realm Blueprint, Bai Qiu saw that every progress bar was filled.
He clicked Exit Secret Realm.
The Fertile Grasslands didn’t contain anything particularly rare or powerful, but this secret realm wasn’t meant for individuals — it was designed for groups.
Imagine a single Safe Zone with tens of thousands of survivors.
The daily demand for food alone would be staggering.
If a capable leader wished to step up, the Fertile Grasslands would be a treasure beyond measure — just this one expedition had yielded nearly 40 tons of meat.
That amount could feed an entire Safe Zone for a week.
And this was only an E-rank Secret Realm.
Under the billboard, Ning Xingxue pulled out another blueprint, preparing to start a new exploration — but the next system notification made everyone freeze.
[Warning! Warning! The system is about to undergo an update!]
A piercing alarm rang through their minds.
Even Bai Qiu — who had muted all system notifications — could hear it.
It was already past midnight, and who knew how many people were being jolted awake.
[Please read the following update details carefully!]
[1] Chat Channel Update:
Each person now has only 10 messages per day.
Once used up, 1 message refreshes per hour. Applies globally.
[2] The system will unseal all individuals labeled as “Special Groups,” enabling them to assist humanity through the ongoing crisis.
[3] Trading Post Update:
Starting at 8:00 a.m., the Trading Post will only accept Sanctum Coins as the sole universal currency.
[4] New Monster Types Added:
Six new kinds of Dragonfang creatures will begin appearing worldwide:
Dragonfang Axe Skeleton
Dragonfang Crawlers
Dragonfang Mage Skeleton
Dragonfang Cavalry Skeleton
Dragonfang Archer Skeleton
Dragonfang Priest Skeleton
[5] Random high-level Elite and Lord-class monsters will now spawn across the world.]
[6] The Sanctuary Black Tower’s “Supporter” permissions have been fully unlocked.
They will stand with humanity in overcoming this disaster — trust them.
Bai Qiu frowned.
He knew it wouldn’t stay peaceful for long.
Ever since the mass release of Noble Phantasm wielders, most elite monsters had already been wiped out, and the Dragonfang soldiers were no longer a threat.
At this rate, humans didn’t even need to wait for the next wave of danger — they were already farming Dragonfangs like pests.
Ning Xingxue put away the secret realm card she had taken out, and together with Huang Qi and Zhao Daqiang, began discussing the details of the new version update.
— The end of the Chapter–
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