"The people from Mad Dragon haven't left yet?" I looked at the blue sky and asked carelessly.

In the nearby forest where blue starry flowers swayed, a sweet and clear voice came. "Who knows? You can go see...”

"Let's not. PK is not nice.”

"Ha!"

Lin Yixin walked out with a stalk of blue grass in her hand. She laughed softly and said, "I hadn't expected the Dreaming Grass here, such a surprise...”

I glanced at her and said, "Little Cheat...”

"You are the Little Cheat! You cheated 15 gold of living expenses out of me...” Lin Yixin excitedly argued back.

I didn’t bother to argue. In reality, the 15 gold was black-hearted. I used a Steel-grade item to trade for a Dark Steel–grade one, and then took additional fee. Only I could do something like this, especially to a beauty like Lin Yixin.

……

"How many stalks of Dreaming Grass are here? How much do you need to gather?" I asked.

"The more the better. I just gathered 40 stalks...” Lin Yixin wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked somewhere else. She was clearly very happy at training her Herbalism.

"It's over four hours...” I reminded. "As an honorable member of Bloody Mercenaries, I look down on those who have no sense of time...”

Lin Yixin glared at me. "I will pay you 3 gold extra, alright?"

"Okay boss, you are such a good person~"

"You really deserve a beating...”

Lin Yixin pursed her lips and said, "When I was gathering, I found Green Peppers growing in this mountain valley. Didn't you learn Foraging?"

My eyes lit up. "Really?"

"If I’m lying, I’m a dog!"

Therefore, I immediately shot into the woods and saw a snarling wild bear! Damn, I was played for a fool by this girl again...

I exerted myself and killed the wild bear. Sitting on top of the bear corpse, I looked around, and suddenly found a bunch of verdant plants. It’s… there really were Green Peppers?!

Did the official information not say that the Green Peppers were mainly found around Cold Wind Canyon?

Never mind. I’ll first gather them!

In a few minutes, I got a few dozen Green Peppers. When I walked out of the woods, Lin Yixin was extremely far away, holding her sword as she searched for herbs. She was a diligent girl.

The Green Peppers of Greenstone Mountain Valley were not as common as in Cold Wind Canyon, but it was rare to get paid for leveling Foraging. Thus, I was happy to stroll around unrestrained. I had reached Level 32 already, and I didn’t want to increase my strength too quickly. My combat strength was important, and level was just part of it. At present, I valued my money-making ability way more. Ranking up my Cooking and Magic Consumables to Rank 4 would become my greatest asset!

As I roamed the valley, Gui Guzi suddenly sent a message: "Boss Broken Halberd, someone has hired us for a quest. Killing a Level 32 quest monster. The fee is 1 gold. Should we accept?"

I responded, "Are you able to kill that Level 32 quest monster? If so, then accept it. I can’t return right now.”

A few seconds later, Gui Guzi responded, "No problem, Brother B and I will definitely be able to kill it. This quest monster is only slightly more powerful than the ordinary version, and I’m already Level 27!"

"Mn, go, work hard. For the banner of the Bloody Mercenaries!"

I motivated him and was joyfully surprised inside. Gui Guzi was definitely a leveling genius to reach Level 27 so quickly!

With the Bloody Mercenaries having such an expert, would we even have to worry about being famous in the future?

……

In the blink of an eye, another three hours passed. Lin Yixin finally came back, her dress armor fluttering in the wind as she smiled at me. She appeared extremely beautiful. She was just twenty-one years old. In a few years, she would have more dominating presence to her… and then she would become a demoness.

"Done?" I asked.

"Yes, my bag is full. How about you?"

"A few dozen Green Peppers. I'll stir-fry them with potatoes when we return. Do you want to try it?"

"Yes, let's go back to Floating Ice City!"

Lin Yixin took out the return scroll. This was a luxury item only wealthy people could use. It seemed that she was not as poor as she had claimed.

I also took out a scroll and crushed it. With a flash of light, I appeared in Floating Ice City's spawn area. Only Lin Yixin and I were in the enormous teleportation formation. Ahh, everyone was pretty poor. City-return scrolls cost 1 gold. It really was a bit too expensive in the early stages of the game.

"My... fee?" I reached out with a hand and said, "Seven hours. In total, 20 gold.”

Lin Yixin smiled. "Wait a bit. I don’t have the money right now. I’ll have it once I’m done selling potions.”

"Oh?"

I stilled. Lin Yixin went to the warehouse and took out some materials. Then she called someone. Soon, a beautiful female archer appeared, dressed in soft leather armor and holding a green longbow. She walked over with a smile and said, "Heh, Xinxin, you found the Dreaming Grass so quickly?"

This girl seemed slightly familiar. The words above her head—

Clear Perfume LV-30 Bronze Archer

……

Holy, this was Clear Perfume who ranked tenth on the Heavenly Ranking. So Lin Yixin had such a powerful friend!

"Handsome, you don’t recognize me?" Clear Perfume smiled at me.

"You are?"

"Hmph, never mind!" She angrily made a transaction with Lin Yixin.

I suddenly remembered. "You’re... Beauty Lin's dormmate, the one called Qingqing?"

Clear Perfume giggled. "You finally have some impression of me. Yes, I am Xinxin's dormmate, Sun Qingqing, nice to meet you~"

I nodded. "Lu Chen, Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand.”

"I know~"

Soon, Clear Perfume started to make potions—

Ding~!

System Notice: Player “Clear Perfume” has made Health Potion II. Alchemy Proficiency +3!

Ding~!

System Notice: Player “Clear Perfume” has made Health Potion II. Alchemy Proficiency +3!

"Ding~!"

System Notice: Player “Clear Perfume” has made Health Potion II. Alchemy Proficiency +3!

……

Lin Yixin held a red bottle in her hand and smiled at me. "See this, Rank 2 Potion. Each one can instantly recover 400 HP!"

"Good stuff!" I exclaimed.

Lin Yixin smiled and asked, "You want to buy? 20 silver for one!"

"I’ll take twenty!"

"Oh boss, you are so generous...”

Ridiculously enough, I had still not yet gotten my fee yet I was paying 4 gold. However, Rank 2 Health Potions like these were very rare right now, much stronger than the potions that system NPCs sold. A few could save my life.

After making 150 potions, Lin Yixin excitedly went to the plaza and shouted, "Rank 2 Health Potions, instantly restore 400 HP. Friends, come buy, 15 silver for one!"

I was furious behind her. "Damn, what are you doing? Why did you sell them to me for 20 silver but sell for 15 to others?"

Lin Yixin smiled back brightly at me. "Who told you to be so naive...”

The market for potions was enormous and all of them sold in less than five minutes. Lin Yixin turned and gave me 20 gold with a smile. She also said, "We should continue to work together in the future. When Mad Dragon fights a boss, we will go watch them. How about it?"

I nodded. "I’ll be happy to do so!"

"But you can not charge me any more fees...” Lin Yixin was still pained about her gold.

I nodded again. "No problem.”

"Alright, then I'm going offline.”

Lin Yixin logged off inside a inn in Floating Ice City. Players had to be in inns when they went offline in the city. Otherwise, they had to go outside the city and set up a tent.

……

After leaving Floating Ice City, I intended to capture a pet to play with so I started to study the intricacies of the pet system.

As I was studying, Du Thirteen's call request came with a beep.

My heart jumped. Thus far, Thirteen always used messages to contact me. Why was he asking for a voice chat this time?

I accepted. Du Thirteen's deep voice came into my year. "Lu Chen, Little Gui and I finished helping people with that quest, but then I saw something. Should we interfere?"

"What did you see?" I asked.

"I saw Murong Mingyue, and Xu Yang...”

"Oh, those two... what about them?"

Thirteen said gravely, "Xu Yang and Murong Mingyue seem to be besieged. The enemy has seven people, and they won’t last. I’m asking if the Bloody Mercenaries should help them."

"Help them! Add me to the party!"

At this moment, my blood boiled. While I had left Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls, I would not allow anyone to bully their members!

On the big map, two orange dots appeared nearby. That was the position of Gui Guzi and Du Thirteen. They were not far, about five minutes of travel away, right in Frost Forest!

After locking onto the direction, I started to sprint at full speed. Sister Mingyue, hold on, don’t die too prematurely...