Chapter Fifty: Playing Games?

Chapter Fifty: Playing Games?

Shi Bai burst into hearty laughter, not expecting her to actually agree. “Alright, from now on, you’re my maid. Come on, call me master so I can hear it.”

Murong Yan gritted her teeth and forced herself to say, “There are so many people here right now, I’d be embarrassed.”

Shi Bai smiled, not truly pressing her, and promptly began to rub his palms together.

Murong Yan watched him, finding his actions rather disgusting, but she had no choice but to endure it. After all, his “Sweat Mud Pellet” could save lives.

The others looked on enviously—each of them had been poisoned by Soft Bone Powder, and sitting on this damp, cold ground, their legs were nearly numb.

Very soon, Shi Bai rolled out a sweat mud ball about the size of a fingernail, split it into seven portions, and handed them to the seven men from the Duanshan Sect.

Though the seven frowned, they swallowed the pellets, and gradually, their strength returned.

Murong Yan grew anxious. “Hey, how come everyone else gets one but me? Where’s mine?”

Shi Bai smiled faintly. “Of course I haven't forgotten you!” With that, he suddenly produced one the size of a fist.

“You were poisoned most deeply, so I saved the biggest one just for you.”

Murong Yan nearly fainted from shock. “Are you serious? That thing’s huge—are you trying to choke me to death?”

Shi Bai chuckled. “You’re my maid. I can’t treat you like an outsider—you have to be well fed.”

“You—!”

Smiling, Shi Bai brought the giant sweat mud pellet before her eyes. “Just teasing you. All you need to do is smell it.”

Murong Yan looked at Shi Bai skeptically, but took a gentle sniff. Sure enough, her strength quickly returned to her body.

“Amazing!” Murong Yan jumped up to test her restored energy.

Shi Bai offered a cool smile. “Alright, I’ve helped where I should, and saved who needed saving. Now, tell me something.”

Murong Yan asked, “What is it?”

Shi Bai took out the brown bead from his pocket. “This bead—what does it do?”

Murong Yan paused, glancing at Senior Brother Zhang.

Senior Brother Zhang shook his head.

Murong Yan replied, “We don’t know either. There’s only a legend: ‘When the Earth Dragon appears, the divine weapon emerges.’ That’s all.”

Shi Bai knew they weren’t telling the truth, but he didn’t mind much. After all, with his system, how could he not solve such a trivial matter?

“Alright, that’s settled. You can handle these people as you see fit.” Shi Bai called out to his second uncle, “Uncle, let’s go. My task here is done.”

His second uncle nodded quickly, and Old Fu followed after Shi Bai.

Shi Bai glanced at Murong Yan. “Why are you just standing there? Come on, maid, follow me.”

Murong Yan was startled, then quickly said, “I can’t. I have matters to attend to. I need to return to my sect first.”

Shi Bai looked at her and waved his hand. “Fine then.”

Murong Yan was surprised by how readily he agreed. “Aren’t you afraid… I’ll run away?”

Shi Bai burst out laughing, waving dismissively. “I was just teasing you! You’re so ugly—if I really made you my maid, how could I stand it?” With that, the three of them stepped into the cage lift and departed.

Murong Yan stomped her foot in frustration. “Pervert!”

Yet, a strange sense of loss welled up in her heart.

Everything afterward was simple. The Duanshan Sect didn’t trouble the members of the Black Blade Sect; though the two sects were enemies, they weren’t wanton killers.

With Zhao Tianming dead, the Duanshan Sect had vented their deepest grudge. There was no need to be ruthless.

The two groups left the mine in succession.

Shi Bai, hosted by his second uncle, stayed one more night. The next day, he rode back with Ye Rulong.

In the car, Ye Rulong kept lamenting that it was a shame he hadn’t seen the monster with his own eyes.

Shi Bai told him it was nothing but an oversized centipede, nothing to regret.

Then, unexpectedly, he took out the bead. “Mr. Ye, do you have any idea what this is?”

Ye Rulong’s eyes lit up. The bead was clear and translucent, emanating an indescribable glow. He exclaimed, “I don’t know, but it’s clearly no ordinary thing.”

Shi Bai sighed inwardly—stating the obvious.

“Then do you know what the ‘Nine Major Sects’ are?”

“That I do,” Ye Rulong replied. “Among the many martial arts sects in the world, the nine with the highest martial prowess and greatest strength are known as the ‘Nine Major Sects.’ There are also the Middle Nine and Lower Nine Sects, but those change constantly and no longer have fixed rankings. So what matters most in the martial world is the Nine Major Sects.”

“Which ones are those? Are they really that powerful?”

“Well, each sect has a different focus. For instance, Shaolin is devoted to Buddhism, Wudang to the pursuit of the Dao. Some are after wealth, like the Black Blade Sect.”

Shi Bai nodded. “I didn’t expect Shaolin and Wudang to actually exist.”

Ye Rulong said, “The Shaolin and Wudang I’m talking about aren’t tourist spots in the mundane world—they’re home to reclusive experts. But honestly, even the Nine Major Sects aren’t what they once were. This is the age of decline—their martial arts manuals are mostly lost.”

Shi Bai pondered for a moment. “So, who are the other Major Sects?”

Ye Rulong replied, “They are Duanshan Sect, Beggar Sect, Mount Hua Sect, Tianshan Sect, the Hermits of Qinling, and South Sea Sect.”

Shi Bai raised an eyebrow. “Interesting, just like a martial arts novel.”

Ye Rulong laughed. “Martial arts novels are based on reality, after all!”

Shi Bai considered this but said nothing. After all, this world was not the same as the one he came from.

At that moment, he summoned the system. The origin of the bead was so mysterious—he couldn’t believe it was useless.

He asked, “System, do you know what this bead is?”

“It’s the Earth Dragon Pearl. On its own, it’s not much use, but if you can collect the other four, you can summon something miraculous.”

Shi Bai was intrigued. “What kind of thing?”

“That can’t be revealed yet. Wait until you have all five pearls.”

Shi Bai thought aloud, “If this is the Earth Dragon Pearl, then the other four must be the Metal, Wood, Water, and Fire Dragon Pearls, right?”

“Exactly. These are the Five Element Dragon Pearls. The other four belong to the Metal, Wood, Water, and Fire Dragons. Whether you can find them or defeat them depends on your fate.”

Shi Bai reflected for a moment. “We’ll see—I’m in no rush for these.”

What he wanted most now was to rack up failure points and exchange them for the Immortalization Technique.

Because once he mastered that, he would step into another realm.

Currently, he had just over seventy thousand failure points—still far from the million required. So his main goal now was to complete the next mission: lose ten million.

His second uncle had already deposited the ten-million commission into his account. Now, Shi Bai had nothing else to worry about—his only concern was how to lose that money.

At this thought, he immediately remembered “The Adventures of Zhang Gouzi.”

“Why not make it into a game?”