"Gentlen, may martial fortune flourish." Jie Huang Chao said lightly, "No need to see off, Giant Deer."
"Wish a safe departure to the Heaven-Soaring General!"
Led by Realm Giant Deer, all the ssengers bowed to respectfully send Jie Huang Chao off, their eyes filled with respect and fervor, wishing they could bow down to the ground.
Sun Chaozong’s body trembled as he tightly grasped Mouse Monk’s arm, so excited that he seed about to kneel: "Monk, did you see that? Did you see it! The tattoo of the Heaven-Soaring General, damn it’s cool! Old Sun wants to get one too!"
Mouse Monk was shaken back and forth by him: "Do you know what the move just now was?"
"Huh? How could I know? Old Sun is just a lousy Second-Turn, and coming in this ti was thanks to your favor." Sun Chaozong patted Mouse Monk’s shoulder: "Damn, this experience will be a tale I boast about for a lifeti, when I’m old I can tell my grandchildren that Old Sun has seen the big world!"
"Then you must rember to tell your grandchildren that the move just now by the Heaven-Soaring General is called Instant Hell Transformation."
Mouse Monk and Sun Chaozong turned their heads and saw it was Realm Giant Deer, imdiately bowing, "World Grand Commander!"
"We’re all military town warriors, so don’t be so formal." Realm Giant Deer said with a smile, "How was it this ti? Quite a haul, right?"
"Hehehe, all thanks to the Grand Commander’s support." Sun Chaozong’s grin almost split his cheeks, "As long as I get to see the Heaven-Soaring General displaying divine techniques, I’d gladly live a long life even if I only advance to Third-Turn."
"Get lost, you rascal." Realm Giant Deer gave Sun Chaozong a little kick on the behind, Sun Chaozong, being perceptive, imdiately excused himself, leaving the space to Realm Giant Deer and Mouse Monk. At that mont, others either left or dove into the lake searching for treasure chests—yes, in this secret realm, treasure chests are all underwater.
"Mouse... I’ll call you Monk like Sun did." Realm Giant Deer said, "What are your thoughts?"
"The power of Foundation Establishnt is unfathomable to gods and ghosts." Mouse Monk said, "In Lake Heart Island Secret Realm, the Second-Turn can barely move."
"It’s good that you understand." Realm Giant Deer nodded gratifiedly. His reason for bringing Mouse Monk in this ti was to show him that the military town wasn’t targeting him. It was quite a headache; not just Second-Turn ssengers, even Third-Turn ssengers were unwilling to tackle Third-Turn Secret Realms—it’s too taxing and dangerous. Only Mouse Monk, with Second-Turn strength, would apply to join teams tackling Third-Turn Secret Realms.
"But have you ever thought, Monk, why is it that Foundation Establishnt ssengers can effortlessly handle Third-Turn Secret Realms, yet rarely do so?"
Mouse Monk replied, "Simply because Foundation Establishnt doesn’t need Third-Turn resources, and for them, it’s not worth the effort."
Realm Giant Deer’s look at Mouse Monk shifted noticeably, "Well said. It seems it’s not just talent in Martial Dao; Monk, your intelligence far exceeds that of ordinary people... it’s a pity you are the confidant of Duke Xuanwen; otherwise, the Jie Family would certainly recruit you as Honored Guest Elder."
He paused before continuing, "Everything in the Third-Turn Secret Realm is aningless to Foundation Establishnt. Even Spiritual Jade is the sa. Once ssengers reach the Fourth-Turn Foundation Establishnt, their Spiritual Power transforms and refines into Spiritual Essence. Spiritual Jade loses all value to Foundation Establishnt; only True Spiritual Jade from the Fourth-Turn Secret Realm can supplent their Spiritual Essence."
Yan Qing blinked, thinking sothing was amiss.
After reaching Foundation Establishnt, Spiritual Power transforms into Spiritual Essence. Although it requires ten thousand Spiritual Jade to supplent one unit of Spiritual Essence, and supplentation isn’t as quick as True Jade, it’s still a way to restore mana—the lavishness of Foundation Establishnt here, totally unneeded for Spiritual Jade?
But quickly Yan Qing understood: ga characters recover Spiritual Essence just by pressing the key, and in non-combat states, the consumption rate of Spiritual Jade is very fast. However, Foundation Establishnt in this world needs to practically absorb one thousand units of hundred jade!
If absorbing one hundred jade per second, restoring one unit of Spiritual Essence would take 16 minutes. Given the Fourth-Turn Foundation Establishnt averages 100 units of Spiritual Essence, it would take several hours to fully replenish their Spiritual Essence!
With efficiency this low, it’s only natural for them to fully abandon Spiritual Jade for continuation.
Realm Giant Deer continued, "Also, because Third-Turn Secret Realms hold no significance to Foundation Establishnt, spending Spiritual Essence to conquer them is totally counterproductive. The rewards from the Lake Heart Island Secret Realm convert to about three million Spiritual Jade in value; even resources from more abundant Great Secret Realms max out around seven million, yet the Spiritual Essence expended by the Heaven-Soaring General, calculated by Spiritual Jade, far exceeds ten million."
Yan Qing felt it strange; you could calculate that way, but in the ga, it’s really not like this.
It’s quite simple: Fourth-Turn Secret Realms only produce True Spiritual Jade, the Seventh-Turn only produces Immortal Spiritual Jade. The currency among low-level, mid-level, and high-level players is independent; the amount of players at each level dictates the amount of currency produced.
Therefore, although high-level player currency has high denominations, exchanging it downward often results in having value but no market—because low-level players simply can’t provide enough low-level currency to exchange for high-level currency.
Transactions between players of different levels usually involve barter, which is one reason the Treasure Pavilion taxes are so exorbitant. In "ssengers," Spiritual Jade currency is more for mana use, at most anchoring the prices within the sa tier, not asuring other tier values.
Yet it’s different in this world; the number of low-level ssengers far surpasses high-level ones, and having cultivated for so many years, Spiritual Jade inflation has reached a nearly unbelievable degree—they really can fork out tens of millions of Spiritual Jade!
These thoughts flashed through Yan Qing’s mind, as Mouse Monk asked, "Given this, why does the Heaven-Soaring General squander millions striking through Third-Turn Secret Realms?"
"For fortune."
"Fortune?" Mouse Monk and Yan Qing were both puzzled.
"Different divine techniques require different fortunes to nurture." Realm Giant Deer looked at the Golden Chrysanthemum on Mouse Monk’s shoulder, "Yet most Foundation Establishnt can only gather fortune themselves; in such a vast Central Plains, as far as I know only two Foundation Establishnts can delegate mortals to assist, the Heaven-Soaring General being one of them."
"During your tenure bearing [Golden Armor], the more battles you experience, the more fortune you gather for the Grand General."
Yan Qing understood imdiately. No wonder Realm Giant Deer specifically introduced so many Foundation Establishnt secrets; it turns out he was worried that Mouse Monk wouldn’t grasp the importance of this matter.
Mouse Monk: "Does the Grand Commander hope for this monk to conquer the Secret Realm more frequently during this period?"
Realm Giant Deer nodded: "In these seven days, I hope you can lead other Second-Turn ssengers who also bear the [Golden Armor] to continuously conquer ’Stone Sinking Creek.’ With your capabilities and the protection of [Golden Armor], doing it once a day is just leisure; twice a day is no problem, but if you can manage three or even four tis a day, the Jie Family will provide a generous reward."
Although he doesn’t know what this ’fortune’ thing is, there’s no reason to refuse such a good deal. Originally, Yan Qing was the type of player who hated repetitive tasks the most, but in this world, the gaming environnt is too harsh; tackling a Secret Realm has a limit on the number of tis. It’s rare to encounter such a great ’brick-moving’ opportunity, Yan Qing feels his liver finally has a chance to be useful.
"This monk shall comply."
"Then it’s up to the monk."
Realm Giant Deer also breathed a sigh of relief. Although there are many Second-Turn ssengers in Xuanwu Lake Military Town, Mouse Monks who are both elite and not afraid of hardship are very few. ssengers are humans too, and engaging in continuous high-intensity battles is an unbearable strain for them. It requires a captain with great innate perseverance and courage like Mouse Monk to bear most of the pressure, so it’s possible to enter the Secret Realm multiple tis a day.
"If you need anything, just ask. I will provide whatever I can."
"Grand Commander, exactly what is fortune?"
Realm Giant Deer laughed: "Fortune is profoundly mysterious. As a Third-Turn myself, even with ancestral teachings it’s just observing flowers in the mist; I only know the world records Foundation Establishnt’s every action. Appropriate actions will increase fortune, and inappropriate ones will diminish it. When fortune reaches a certain level, one will receive heaven’s favor, or even be able to avoid calamities. Beyond this, I’m clueless."
Yan Qing scratched his head. In the ga, many chanisms match the description, such as milestones and bad reputation systems, but what does this ’avoiding calamities’ an? The closest match in his mory is big data recomndations, like videos only showing black silk, white silk maid and nurse types. Does [ssenger] have a similar chanism?
Moreover, it can entrust mortals with tasks... Yan Qing rubbed his chin, unable to figure it out, and curiously asked another question: "Grand Commander, you just ntioned there are only two Foundation Establishnt in Central Plains who can delegate tasks to mortals, besides Heaven-Soaring General, who is the other Foundation Establishnt?"
Realm Giant Deer hesitated for a mont before saying: "The other one is rely ancestral speculation, without solid evidence. It’s just that Foundation Establishnt ssengers always reside in Secret Realms, rarely involving in mortal matters beyond fortune, thus conversely, if a Foundation Establishnt resides in the mortal world for long, it’s mostly for fortune."
Yan Qing blinked and imdiately a na surfaced in his mind.
...
...
Qi Kingdom, Nocturnal Heaven City, Imperial Palace.
"Marquis of Lecheng County arrives~"
As Ying Rushi stepped into the great hall, she surprisingly felt it was a bit crowded.
The hall was filled with ministers. As Ying Rushi glanced around, all were key figures and pillars of the Qi Kingdom, responsible for pleasure and currying favor. Not a single sycophant was in sight. She couldn’t help but feel excited—could it be that Your Majesty finally woke up, eager to embrace good ministers and distance from the malign ones?
"Rushi." Ying Le lazily leaned against the throne, waved cheerfully when Ying Rushi entered, and patted his snow-white thigh beneath the hem of his skirt: "Co over, co sit with ."
Ying Rushi was shocked and hurriedly declined: "How could I be so disrespectful?"
But Ying Le insisted, so Ying Rushi had no choice but to step onto the Suru Throne and stand beside her. Sitting on his lap was a million tis a no. Ying Le was a bit disappointed but did not push further. Instead, pointing below, he asked: "Rushi, look at them, who are they all?"
Ying Rushi carefully inspected the imperial court’s high officials, bowed and said: "They are the Qi Kingdom’s wise ministers and capable officials, transmitting Your Majesty’s decrees and majesty across mountains and rivers."
"Really?" Ying Le smiled: "I cannot see into their hearts; I dare not be sure if they are loyal and virtuous."
"Your Majesty’s majesty prevails the world, none from afar would dare defy, none abroad would dare resist, how could there be traitors in court?"
"I only know that those not of my kin must have differing minds; a dam of a thousand miles collapses by an ant hole."
Ying Rushi froze, once again examining the ministers in court, with an incredible thought rising in her mind, coldness slithered like a snake along her spine. Despite sunlight streaming in from all directions, in her eyes the palace was eerily dark.
"Grand Tutor Yuan."
"I am here." Grand Tutor Yuan Shizhou stepped forward to reply. Although he was over forty, his appearance did not dwindle in handsoness, with an elegant deanor, he was the epito of a civil servant.
"History records the arrival of two unified dynasties in Central Plains; the divine-commanding Great Zhou a thousand years ago and the splendid military Great Profound millennium prior. The era of Great Zhou is shrouded in myths, hard to discern truth from fiction, but Great Profound is close at hand; genealogy of your noble lineage can trace back to Great Profound tis."
"Great Profound underwent two periods of turmoil, fortunately revived by Guangwu Zhao Lie, who continued for over two thousand years of spring and autumn. If not for disintegration, it might have remained the Central Plains orthodox till now."
Ying Le lazily leaned against the throne, squinted at the ministers below:
"Grand Tutor Yuan, I’ve heard you’re well-versed in history and deeply studied classics. Tell , how did Guangwu Zhao Lie manage the revival?"
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