Immortal Dao Fruits, Cards to Help Me

Chapter 27 What did the mouse do wrong?
Chen Xiuxian had breakfast with Lao Niu in the morning, and this meal left Lao Niu completely stunned!
The breakfast stall owner was even more dumbfounded: This big-bellied man with long horns was one thing, but how could Young Master Chen eat so much?!
Good heavens, he prepared two large basins of scallion pancakes and a big pot of chili tofu soup that morning, which Chen Xiuxian and his companion almost devoured.

Chen Xiuxian didn't want to either.
Unexpectedly, after breaking through the mortal realm and fully opening the small circulation of true qi to achieve the refining of essence into qi, his appetite has really increased!
Chen Xiuxian felt that after stuffing four or five freshly baked scallion pancakes into his stomach and then drinking two bowls of chili tofu soup, it was almost as if he hadn't eaten anything except for the oil on his mouth.

Good heavens, no wonder they say scholars are poor and warriors are rich.

I ate a week's worth of breakfast for an average person in one meal. That's outrageous!
After having breakfast, Chen Xiuxian told Lao Niu that he had gained some insights into cultivation and that he wouldn't be going on a mission today, but would be free to do as he pleased.

In the rented courtyard, he carefully tested the changes in his strength as he entered the Foundation Establishment Realm (levels 11-20), felt the perfection of the Small Circulation of True Qi, and began the process of Foundation Establishment.

After completing the Small Heavenly Circuit, one begins the Foundation Building process—a process of identifying and addressing any shortcomings within oneself.

Once the "leakage" and "deficiency" are repaired one by one, and the foundation building is completed in 100 days, then it is time to consider opening the Great Circulation.

Once the Great Circulation is opened, one can gather the "Great Medicine"/"Primordial Ancestral Qi," and at that time, one can transform magical power.

……

After lunch, Lao Niu came back from outside and said he wanted to introduce someone to Chen Xiuxian, so the two of them went out.

Previously, Chen Xiuxian had accepted a task from Ma Benzai, a master craftsman from Zhourao, a strange person in Wadang Fort. The main task was to collect Yin Shen wood, and it would be even better if he could kill more Yin Sha goblins along the way.

—It is said that he was almost kidnapped and eaten by a group of evil goblins!

The person I'm meeting this time is Ma Yuan from Jing, a friend of Ma Benzai from Zhourao.

If we were to describe the people of Zhourao as dwarfs in Western fantasy, they would look like children, with round heads and round ears.

That Jingren is like a dwarf in a Western fantasy story, short and stocky.

Take this Ma Yuan, for example. He's only about 1.15 meters tall, but he's incredibly thick. His arms are almost as thick as Chen Xiuxian's legs. He has a short, bushy beard that radiates outwards, making him look like a short Zhang Fei or a stunned Li Kui!
This man, Ma Yuan, was not from Wadangbao, but a master blacksmith from Fushun, a large city forty miles to the north.

He holds a very high position over there; it is said that the thunder cannons on the city walls were cast under his leadership.

The people of Jing are very talented in mining and blacksmithing.

The reason for coming to Wadangbao is to see a mine here.

Upon investigation, it was discovered that the mine did exist, but its location was unfavorable. It was outside the radiation range of Wadang Fortress, located in the mountains, and occupied by a group of ratmen.

Debuff stacked up!

The Rat-Hu tribe, also known as the Rat People, are described as having rat-like heads and eyes, with pointed noses resembling those of a rat, round ears, short stature, hunchbacks, and long, trailing rat tails.

Unlike other races such as the Quanrong, werewolves, boarmen, and centaurs, the ratmen are not considered a powerful race, but they have small groups gathered in many places.

Countries like the Liao Kingdom and the Jin Kingdom also have rat people as scouts or digging tunnels.

Some players on the forum even said that among the thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions outside Yumen Pass, there is a kingdom called the Sishawen Rat Kingdom!

Although the rat people are not a particularly powerful alien race, they have a natural love for digging and underground mineral veins, which makes them somewhat hostile to the Jing people.

So after discovering that a group of ratmen occupied the mine, the master craftsman Ma Yuan from Jing wanted to ask Wadang Fort to wipe out the ratmen.

Putting aside how difficult it is to exterminate the rat-men in the mountain mines, we simply don't have enough manpower available right now.

And so, after a few rounds of searching, they found Chen Xiuxian and Lao Niu, these two "renowned heroes"!
When Chen Xiuxian saw this short, stocky man with a hairy beard, his eyes lit up!

Don't get me wrong, he had seen some information about Ma Yuan on the game forum before.

Speaking of which, this Master Ma Yuan was quite a figure on the eastern front of the Liaodong battlefield.

Many of the player's supply missions are related to him.

As for the mineral veins and the ratmen, Chen Xiuxian quickly remembered what kind of mission it was.

This task is definitely worth doing...

In particular, it would be a good opportunity to get to know this Brother Ma Yuan.

Of course, bargaining is essential.

As a renowned advocate for justice, if you ask for too little compensation, wouldn't that be breaking the rules of the industry?
Finally, besides the usual money and the half-body chainmail for Lao Niu, Chen Xiuxian also got a "Thunderfire Bomb Blueprint" from Jingren Ma Yuan!
This thing is somewhat like a hand grenade, only a bit cruder.

Normally, the Liaodong army was equipped with these.

But these things are expensive to make. The materials alone cost one and a half taels of silver each, and with the labor costs, it's more than two taels of silver! Given the situation in Liaodong, where soldiers are exploited, paid without working, and arms are resold, which officer would actually equip his men with these things?!

Toss it out and make a sound, and it costs more than two taels of silver?!
What a luxury!
Usually, elite soldiers would pay out of their own pockets to get two, which they could use to fight desperately in critical moments.

But then again, the lower-ranking soldiers couldn't even get their full pay, so very few could afford this extra money.

Besides, why should I bring my own thunder and fire bombs to fight for you?
This Liaodong, this land, isn't mine?
I earn a little over one tael of silver a month, but I only get about 40% of it.

How much money do I need to risk my life for?
Just give me a quick fix~
Yasuto originally thought his thunderfire bomb would have a good market, but after looking at it... well, oh well~
Chun Chun didn't do any market research!

But Chen Xiuxian likes this stuff!

It's just two taels of silver! It's totally worth it to use this to clear out a wave of monsters at a crucial moment!
Not to mention that since they got the recipe, they could just make it themselves!
To show his sincerity, Brother Jingren even gave me four to try out. This thing is for use in underground mines, damn it... don't bury me alive!

"Ding~ You have accepted the commission from Master Blacksmith Ma Yuan of Jingren to clear out the Hematite Mine in Hunheishan. You have obtained the quest card [Clear Out the Ratman Mine (Green)]."

[Clear the Ratman Mine (Green)]

Task Card

Master blacksmith Ma Yuan from Jingren requests your help to eliminate the rat-men in the Hematite Mine Cave of Hunheishan Mountain in order to facilitate the subsequent mining of hematite.

Reward: 350 experience points, random treasure.

Evaluation: Jingren has a lot of good stuff, not to mention he's a master blacksmith!

……

The rich hematite mine that Jingren Ma Yuan had his eye on was located more than 30 miles to the southeast at Hunheishan.

The mountain is sparsely covered with vegetation and has many exposed gray-black and reddish-black rocks. On one side, the peaks are steep and sharp, while on the other side, ravines crisscross the landscape, making it a truly dangerous place.

The terrain here is too rugged, there are no roads at all, and it would be difficult for a normal army to advance, so relying on the soldiers of Wadang Fort is simply hopeless.

In the end, we can only rely on small teams of three to five righteous men like Chen Xiuxian.

Regarding this task, Chen Xiuxian browsed some posts on the forum during the evening.

"The Rat Extermination Chronicles of Black Mountain" tells the story of a team of players who undertake this mission to wipe out this group of ratmen. It is full of twists and turns... and two members even died.

It details the ranks, numbers, and composition of the ratmen, including the mine terrain, traps, and dangerous spots.

"Advanced Blacksmithing: The Black Mountain Hematite Vein" is one of the advanced blacksmithing quests. It also explains the role of hematite, as well as some information and quest triggers for the only 16 master blacksmiths in Liaodong.

"The Beauty I Missed: Qin Hongyao" tells a story of a sequel to this quest.

This player is clearly a gaming adventurous type, determined to enjoy the good life in the game. He's written quite a few posts about "beauties"!

This mission, however, offered the opportunity to unlock another "hero saves the damsel in distress" quest. As a result, the prodigal son missed the only quest, and someone else got the chance.

Upon learning this later, he beat his chest and stomped his feet in the post, lamenting his fate.

"I was tricked by that old bastard Ma Yuan from Jingren..." — This is about doing Ma Yuan's task, but it backfired. The task was barely completed, and in the end, the effort was far greater than the reward.

"Warning! Hunting Rats in the Mine - You're Asking for Trouble" - An ordinary player was hunting ratmen in a mine and got completely screwed over by them. And below, a large group of comments praising how despicable and treacherous the ratmen are.

Yes, they are all very valuable for reference!

On the way to Hunheishan, Lao Niu shared his views on the rat people with Chen Xiuxian.

He did come into contact with rat people when he was in Jianzhou.

Old Ox: "How should I put it about the rat people? It's not that I'm judging them by their appearance, but they really are rat-headed and rat-like!"

Chen Xiuxian: Isn't that obvious? Otherwise, would you call yourself a Rat Man?
Old Niu continued, "Ordinary people can't even get close to them. They're incredibly slovenly... Besides living in filthy places, they're always petty thieves, their hands are always dirty!"

“Back then, whenever we lost something, we suspected the rat people had stolen it. So even among the Jianzhou boar people, the rat people lived in seclusion.”

"However, the ratmen are very adaptable. I've heard that they are scattered as far west as the Western Regions, as far east as the countries of the East Sea, as far south as Nanyue, and as far north as the North Sea..."

After Lao Niu told Chen Xiuxian about his personal experience of having his things stolen by the rat people, Chen Xiuxian finally understood why those players on the forum joked: What did the rats do wrong? The rats really stole!

(End of this chapter)