"The legendary number one expert of the Tale of Immortal, Lin Jichen. I've always wanted to see just how powerful you are, and now I finally get the chance."
"Defeating the Sect Leader of the Ten Thousand Poison Sect, who is at the early-Golden Elixir stage, with just Foundation Establishment Realm strength—if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd never have believed it."
Chu Hongling's voice was clear and melodious, like pearls falling onto a jade plate, utterly enchanting. Her red lips parted and closed, exuding a captivating allure.
"Hello, I'm Chu Hongling. We met at the Ten Thousand Poison Sect. Do you remember?"
Lin Jichen didn't act like a novice.
"I remember. Is there something you need?"
In his past life, he owed Chu Hongling a favor, but he hadn't seen her since.
Later, he heard from someone that Chu Hongling had fallen into demonic cultivation.
But there was never any accurate information, and no one had seen her since, so he didn't know if it was true.
Looking at her now, with her serene and wise aura, she didn't seem like someone who had fallen into demonic cultivation at all.
Chu Hongling smiled slightly, her charm irresistible.
"I'm here to apologize."
"Apologize? For what?"
Lin Jichen was puzzled. This seemed to be the first time he was meeting her in this life.
Chu Hongling explained, "Earlier, when you were fighting the Blood Fiend Guild at the entrance of the Corpse King Valley Secret Realm, you used a Buddhist Sect Spirit Skill. I reported it to the abbot and the master, and they decided to send someone to bring you back for questioning."
Lin Jichen was shocked, his face a picture of confusion.
Had the Buddhist Sect really set their sights on him?
Even though the Buddhist Sect Spirit Skill manual did warn that non-disciples learning it could attract the sect's retribution, Lin Jichen had thought it was just a scare tactic. He hadn't expected the consequences to come so quickly.
He was starting to panic a little.
"Hey, Master, are you there? Your disciple is about to be kidnapped by the Buddhist Sect!"
"Since you reported it, can't you just explain to your sect and have them retract their decision?" Ren Lan suggested.
Chu Hongling apologized, "This was a unanimous decision by my master and the abbot. There's nothing I can do."
"Then why are you telling me? If you hadn't said anything, I wouldn't have known," Lin Jichen asked, puzzled.
"Because it was thanks to your presence that I was able to deal with that elder, earn battle merits and cultivation, and even acquire a piece of Mysterious Grade equipment. If you hadn't kept Li Chang'an occupied, we wouldn't have gained anything and might have even died. In our Buddhist Sect, we call this karmic destiny. You have done me a favor, and I can't ignore it and pretend I don't know."
After speaking, Chu Hongling raised her jade-like hand and made a Buddhist gesture, making her appear even more uniquely beautiful.
Many male players nearby wished they could shave their heads and join the Buddhist Sect right then and there, hoping Chu Hongling would guide them!
Lin Jichen understood.
He nodded and said, "I see. Thank you for your honesty. I'll be careful."
Chu Hongling seemed relieved. "That's good. I'll take my leave then."
She turned to leave but after a few steps, she looked back with a smile and asked, "Lin, may I add you as a friend?"
Lin Jichen instinctively wanted to agree, but he noticed two pairs of eyes watching him from the side.
His back suddenly felt a bit cold.
"Let's skip the friend request. I'm a bit shy."
Lin Jichen coughed twice and politely declined Chu Hongling's friend request.
Chu Hongling didn't seem too surprised by the rejection. She simply explained, "I wanted to add you as a friend so that if my sect ever decides to act against you, I can warn you in advance. That's all."
"Uh... I see. In that case, let's add each other."
Lin Jichen had misunderstood her good intentions. Coupled with the fact that he owed her a favor from his past life, he couldn't refuse anymore, so he took the initiative to add her as a friend.
But to Ren Lan and Jiang Luoyu, this was a clear sign of his lack of resolve!
As expected, young men had no resistance against such women. Hmph!
After Chu Hongling accepted the friend request, she gracefully left.
At this moment, a game announcement sounded.
[We regret to announce that the storyline opportunities for players in Yongning Province, Huafeng Province, and Yuehua Province have all ended in failure. Due to the high difficulty of this storyline, a consolation prize has been set up. All participating players from these three provinces will receive +50 reputation points and +10 battle merit points.]
Upon hearing this announcement, the players from Mu Xian Province were incredulous.
"No way? Are the players from the other three provinces that weak? They couldn't complete such a simple storyline?"
"Ha, I thought the other three provinces were so strong. Looks like Mu Xian Province is the number one region in the Tale of Immortal!"
"Agreed! Mu Xian Province's Qi Refining monsters can solo Elemental Infant experts!"
"A few days ago, my buddy was bragging about how strong Huafeng Province was, with so many experts. What a joke!"
The players from Mu Xian Province were gloating.
They all believed that the storyline was too easy. In reality, someone was silently bearing the burden for them, leading them to victory without their knowledge.
Shortly after this announcement, another one sounded.
[The Battle Merit Shop is now open! Players, please check it out!]
All players immediately shifted their attention to the Battle Merit Shop.
They could see it anytime by opening their personal panel, just like the auction house.
Lin Jichen also opened the Battle Merit Shop, where his battle merit balance was displayed.
The Battle Merit Shop had existed in his past life, but it didn't have many good items. It was just a means for the four great royal families to encourage players to participate in the righteous-demonic war.
The Battle Merit Shop was divided into five categories.
Reputation, Equipment, Elixirs, Skills, and Lottery.
Lin Jichen first clicked on Reputation, and it was clear at a glance.
[Reputation]: Each battle merit point can be exchanged for 10 universal reputation points.
The exchange rate between reputation and battle merit was 1:10.
This excited many players.
The players from Mu Xian Province were the happiest because the system had rewarded each of them with 100 battle merit points.
Adding the few to dozens of points they had earned themselves at the Ten Thousand Poison Sect, they averaged over 100 battle merit points each, which translated to over 1,000 reputation points.
These reputation points could be used to open shops!
Although they could only buy small shops like Lin Jichen's Shenbao Pharmacy, it still gave global capitalists an opportunity!
Small shops were better than nothing.
Suddenly, groups were buying up the reputation usage rights from Mu Xian Province players.
Lin Jichen could foresee that soon, small shops in all the major provinces would be bought up.
Once the main cities were sold out, they could still buy in medium and small cities.
He didn't react at all to this. After all, capitalists would eventually enter the game's real estate market, whether he liked it or not.
Moreover, there were so many shops in the Tale of Immortal; he couldn't possibly buy them all himself.
Besides, he wasn't interested in small shops.
A few players with a lot of reputation might be able to buy large shops, but they were rare and insignificant.
His battle merit was the highest.
Over 12,000 battle merit points, unmatched by anyone.
If he exchanged them all, it would be over 100,000 reputation points.
Enough to buy at least twenty golden large shops!
Lin Jichen wasn't that impulsive for now. He decided to check out the other categories first.
He moved to the Equipment category.