"Ding! Player Hamster Pudding has sent you a trade request. Accept?"
After picking up the loot, Jiang Yuan immediately received a trade application from Hamster Pudding.
"Quick, take a look! How are this weapon's stats?"
Handing over the freshly dropped staff to Jiang Yuan, Hamster Pudding said eagerly.
"Yeah!"
Jiang Yuan nodded and promptly posted the weapon's stats in their team chat channel.
[Mythical Weapon: Blazing Lotus Flame Staff] Level Requirement: 105 Cultivation Requirement: Loose Immortal Class Requirement: Summoner/Mage Magic Attack +4500 Intelligence +65 Magic Crit Rate +20% Magic Crit Damage +50% Fire Elemental Enhancement +50 Cast Speed +15% Special Effect: Increases Summoner class skills level 45-90 by 1 Special Effect: On attack, 10% chance to instantly cooldown skills above level 105! Special Skill: [Blazing Lotus Heavenly Fire]: Active skill, summons a 30x30 meter area of Blazing Lotus Heavenly Fire, dealing 200% of the user's base attack as fire damage for 20 seconds, cooldown 180 seconds.
"What a shame, the stats are a bit worse than that super-mythical weapon we got from killing the魔族 Grand Commander Guma back in Anyang Town."
After reading the staff's stats, Hamster Pudding said to Jiang Yuan with a hint of regret.
"Yeah, it's a tier lower, but at least it has 6 stats and 3 special effects, way better than the weapon I'm using now."
Jiang Yuan nodded. Though they didn't get a super-mythical weapon, he was still pretty happy since he'd fulfilled his wish.
"That guy Wen Ding Cang Sheng is dominating the arena with that super-mythical weapon, he's already reached the Supreme One rank!"
Hamster Pudding chuckled, saying.
"Really? If I run into him someday, I'll have to give him a good fight!"
Jiang Yuan perked up at that, saying.
"Give me a break! You're only at King One Star right now, you're several tiers below him!"
Hamster Pudding rolled her eyes at Jiang Yuan, teasing him, but then felt her whole body sway as Jiang Yuan pulled her into his arms and started tickling her relentlessly!
"Mocking me, huh? Still dare to?"
Jiang Yuan's hands kept tickling Hamster Pudding, his face putting on a fake "angry" expression.
"Hahaha! That tickles! Ha! No, I don't dare anymore!"
Hamster Pudding let out broken laughter, her body writhing wildly in Jiang Yuan's arms, stirring up a storm that made Jiang Yuan's lower abdomen heat up.
"Mmm!"
A pair of large hands suddenly climbed up to Hamster Pudding's firm peaks, and Jiang Yuan leaned down, sealing her cherry-like lips.
"Mmh..."
Caught off guard by the "attack," Hamster Pudding's body instantly went limp, two blushes rising on her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around Jiang Yuan's neck, letting him take what he wanted.
By the Moon-Gazing Terrace, a young couple embraced in a passionate kiss, the man's hands roaming over the woman's body, heavy breaths echoing through the forest.
"You jerk! Pervert!"
Just as Jiang Yuan was lost in a haze of passion, a sudden chill wind swept through, snapping them both back to reality. Hamster Pudding quickly pushed Jiang Yuan away, blushing as she spat out.
"Sorry, couldn't help it, heh!"
Jiang Yuan smiled apologetically, then felt a wave of fear—if he hadn't held back and they'd put on a steamy scene here, and some passing player recorded it and posted it online, he'd never be able to show his face again!
"It's too cold here, let's head back!"
Hamster Pudding didn't blame Jiang Yuan too much, instead taking his hand and saying, as they left the Moon-Gazing Terrace together, heading toward the direction of the Cold River City capital, Shangjing.
As they got closer to Shangjing, the number of players passing by began to increase, and Hamster Pudding quickly let go of Jiang Yuan's hand to avoid being seen by members of the Creation Guild or the Cold River City Alliance.
After entering Shangjing, Jiang Yuan and Hamster Pudding's quest interfaces suddenly popped up with a new main quest, issued by the city lord of Shangjing!
"Come on, let's go check it out?"
After receiving the quest prompt, Hamster Pudding tilted her head to look at Jiang Yuan, saying, seeking his opinion.
"Nothing better to do anyway, let's see what's up."
Jiang Yuan nodded, said to Hamster Pudding, and the two headed outside the Shangjing city lord's mansion.
Since the establishment of the four major alliances, this was Jiang Yuan's first time dealing with the city lord of the Cold River City capital.
After meeting this NPC city lord, Jiang Yuan checked his info and learned his name was Qian Tianlei, a third-stage Loose Immortal.
"Greetings, City Lord!"
In the city lord's mansion reception hall, Jiang Yuan and Hamster Pudding sat in the lower seats, standing up to greet Qian Tianlei.
"Two brave warriors, the celestial envoy just sent word that the Ascension Platform in the Heavenly Mountain Jade Pool, which connects to the celestial realm, is unusable for some reason, preventing the celestial envoy from descending. Could you two help investigate?"
As Qian Tianlei finished speaking, a prompt sounded in Jiang Yuan and Hamster Pudding's ears.
"Ding! Do you accept the main quest [Jade Pool Mystery]?"
"City Lord Qian, can people from the celestial realm really descend to this world?"
After accepting the main quest, Jiang Yuan asked Qian Tianlei with some disbelief.
"Every year for a few fixed months, the celestial realm sends envoys to the mortal world, partly to guide those who have achieved cultivation to ascend to the celestial realm, and partly to inspect the several spatial barriers connecting the mortal world to the demon realm, to prevent demon realm invasions. Lately, traces of demon spawn have been found in the mortal world, so the celestial envoy suspects those barriers have been damaged and plans to investigate, but found the Ascension Platform unusable, so they sent me a message."
Shangjing City Lord Qian Tianlei patiently explained to Jiang Yuan.
"City Lord, entrusting such an important task to just the two of us might be too much to handle!"
Jiang Yuan felt the task wasn't easy after hearing this, so he said to Qian Tianlei.
"Hehe, don't worry, Warrior Jiang Yuan. Everyone above level 100 has received the quest from the four alliances. You can team up, which will greatly increase your ability to protect yourselves!"
Qian Tianlei chuckled, saying, which finally put Jiang Yuan at ease.
"I see. Then may I boldly ask what rewards we can get for completing this task?"
"Warrior Jiang Yuan, it's like this: the celestial envoy will judge the task, dividing contributions into four grades: A, B, C, and D. Different grades yield different rewards. But I can reveal that if you achieve an A-grade rating, you can get a quasi-immortal-tier piece of equipment!"
At Qian Tianlei's words, both Jiang Yuan and Hamster Pudding were startled, standing up from their chairs!