Chapter 225-3: Cloud-Player Mom and Dad, Green Source race inheritance (3) |
Players’ shouts, the sounds of Inherited soul traits being released, and the noises from plant-type monsters counterattacking composed a stirring symphony of battle.
“Watch out, don’t get hit by the Thorns Grass. We need to fight while retreating.”
“Focus fire on the one I marked. Do not split damage. Tank, get up there and eat a round.”
“Can you aim better? You picked the Scatter Arrows Inherited soul at the start, yet you have to be face-to-face to hit. If you love melee that much, just switch to the tank build.”
Sweeping his gaze across and seeing how passionate the newbie players’ fights on the plain were, Jiang Luo could not help sighing. Compared to them, his own hunting process was truly easy.
Choosing the Extraction Inherited soul at the start was definitely the best choice.
It was like turning on a cheat in a game, mowing down everything along the way.
When faced with a challenge, his best buddy stepped up to bear damage. He only needed to deal damage.
In Jiang Luo’s view, this was simply a dream start.
Players were not fools. They might not understand at the start, but they would soon realize Extraction’s power.
Pa.
Just then, a vine shot in from the side and lashed hard against the branches of Jiang Luo’s Inherited soul form, making him stumble.
Looking up, the grass ahead split open and a withered vine extended out.
“Do plants all ambush now?”
Before Jiang Luo could counterattack, Mahua, standing beside him, struck first, grabbing the vine protruding from the soil and wrenching with both hands.
At once, the plant-type monster underground burst out. Jiang Luo decisively cast the Extraction ability on it.
It was a plant-type lifeform shaped like a pumpkin, pure white all over.
Under the Extraction light, dense green bubbles surfaced on its body, and before it even hit the ground it was decomposed into a plant essence mass.
Once again, the battle was resolved in the easiest way.
Jiang Luo took two steps forward and stowed the plant essence mass in his inventory.
He was about to move on with Mahua when a golden barrage slid past.
“Silly son, I think I just saw something glowing in the pumpkin pit. Go take a look.”
“Alright, Dad.” Jiang Luo elongated his tone to show his displeasure, then walked to the pit left by the pumpkin-shaped plant-type monster and looked down. Sure enough, he saw a faint glow.
“There really is something.”
Curious, he switched to his primary form, squatted by the mound, and cleared away the surrounding soil.
The soil was moist and loose, carrying a faint scent of grass and wood.
He slid his right hand into the pit until his entire arm was buried, reaching toward the faintly glowing spot. Groping around, his fingertips suddenly touched something hard.
Jiang Luo’s heart skipped a beat and he quickened his movements.
This might truly be an opportunity.
As his fingers pried the soil, the dirt encasing the hard object was gradually cleared away.
When Jiang Luo drew his arm back, there was a metal plaque in his hand.
The plaque was not large, roughly palm-sized, with some damage along the edges.
He wiped off the clinging dirt, and by the scene’s light he could faintly make out strange symbols and lines engraved upon it, like some ancient script. On the back of the plaque were three inlaid dim spirit patterns. It looked quite old.
“What are you staring at? Are you doing archaeology? Just use Analysis, pig-brain.”
A golden barrage slid past, and Jiang Luo decisively activated Analysis.
[Green Source race Mark]
Item Introduction: A token that opens the Green Source race inheritance. You can go to the inheritance point of the Green Source race to unlock the inheritance.
—
As Jiang Luo wondered where the inheritance point of the Green Source race was, the Challenger Notification sounded in his mind.
[Challenger Notification: Hidden mission ‘Green Source race inheritance’ triggered.]
Hidden Mission Introduction: Carry the Green Source race Mark to the location marked on the map to open a hidden inheritance scene.
“Holy crap, a hidden mission.”
Seeing the notification, Jiang Luo’s eyes widened.
Beside him, Mahua grinned.
“Uncle truly deserves to be a veteran player. He is indeed strong, able to spot an opportunity in the details. We almost missed it.”
“Mahua, stop flattering. I am puzzled why a hidden mission would have a notification. I saw many research-party big shots on the forum say that in this game there are no trigger-type missions except for tasks to contain territory nodes.”
“That I do not know. Maybe it is a special perk of our newbie scene.” Mahua scratched his head.
With doubts, Jiang Luo brought up the map function.
He found a golden marker had appeared on the map. After tapping it with his consciousness, it showed a straight line distance of 12.4 kilometers from his current position.
“Let’s go.”
Stowing the metal plaque in his inventory, Jiang Luo decided to go open the hidden chest right away.
Just as Jiang Luo and Mahua set off, a piece of information surfaced in Qi Sheng’s mind.
It showed that one of the pieces of intelligence obtained from the Lord of Welfare had been activated, evidently because a player had triggered a hidden mission.
This was content he had most recently added.
If players met the conditions described in the Lord of Welfare’s intelligence, the mission would be automatically activated, issuing the Lord of Welfare’s intelligence as a hidden mission.
But he could not guarantee whether the hidden mission would yield a reward.
Although Guide could filter and verify intelligence through its Analysis ability, it was too troublesome to retrieve information that had not been encountered, as it was scattered across many regions.
Guide’s ability had not yet recovered, and he did not want to expend too much sacrificial power on unknown intelligence.
Treat it as letting players draw a blind box.
Whether they hit the jackpot would depend entirely on the players’ luck.
—
Four hours later.
Advancing while hunting along the way, Jiang Luo and Mahua finally arrived at the map marker.
The cursor pointed to a boulder lying across the ground.
“At last, we made it. Not easy.”
At this moment, Jiang Luo and Mahua looked bedraggled.
In a scene composed of plant-type monsters, there were poisonous plants everywhere and hidden traps.
Without a teammate of the Owl-Headed Fiend to boost perception, they could be startled at any moment.
If not a vine suddenly flying in, then the ground would suddenly split open to swallow them. For timid players, exploring an unknown scene was definitely a form of torture, a constant state of fright.
Fortunately, after a four-hour trek, they finally reached the hidden chest location.
Exhaustion was instantly replaced by anticipation.
Standing before the boulder, Jiang Luo took out the metal plaque from his personal inventory.
At once, flowing light blossomed across the plaque’s surface, and the emitted light shone straight onto a corner of the boulder.
Jiang Luo immediately crouched down and went to the area illuminated by the light.
Complex patterns surfaced upon it. Bringing the plaque closer, the glow became even more dazzling.
He tried pressing the metal plaque against the pattern.
At the moment of contact, a deep humming sounded inside the boulder, as if some ancient power had been awakened.
Jiang Luo’s palm holding the plaque also felt a weak and continuous vibration.
Then the flowing light on the plaque’s surface suddenly surged and turned into a blinding beam that shot into the pattern on the boulder.
Crack. Crack.
The boulder’s surface fractured, fine cracks spreading rapidly like a spiderweb.
A soft green radiance seeped from the fissures.
Sensing the boulder was about to collapse, Jiang Luo and Mahua decisively retreated.
Boom.
The boulder suddenly let out a muffled rumble as surface stones fell away in dense chunks, revealing ancient runes hidden beneath.
Every line upon it activated at this moment, circulating with a faint glow.
The runes connected to each other, forming a vast pattern like an ancient array.
As the plaque’s light continued pouring in, the runes gradually brightened, from dim to brilliant, as if stars were being lit one by one.
Before long, the light released by the plaque weakened and finally dissipated.
Staring at the mysterious pattern, Jiang Luo and Mahua were dumbfounded.
“What is the next step?” Jiang Luo stroked the raised spirit lines on the pattern, curious.
Just then, a golden barrage slid past.
“Next step? Ask Guide for the next step. What do you think you are, doing archaeology here? And you are studying it now, stupid son.”
A wave of family affection, coupled with the bloodline suppression, tightened its grip on his throat. Jiang Luo felt terribly aggrieved.
But his old man was not wrong.
When in doubt, ask Guide.