The girl"s eyes were filled with admiration. "So amazing! Big brother, Xinran would like to become a capable priest in the future. Will you take me away from the village and show me the outside world?"

I nodded. "Sure, no problem!"

The moment I said that, a melodious ring suddenly entered my ears.

Ding~!

System Notice: You"ve accepted the quest [Promise]! (Quest Rank: SSS+)

Description: Fulfill your promise and help Young Girl Xinran in becoming a priest of the Silver Moon Alliance.

I froze like a statue. What is this? How did a small promise like that turn out to be an SSS+ rank quest, a G.o.d-level quest?! Did something happen to the system? It has to be, dammit, whoever wrote this game must"ve drank an entire gallon of Erguotou before working!

My disbelief aside, the rewards of an SSS+ rank quest could only be amazing. Yeah, I should leave this for now. In-game NPCs grew up very quickly, and Xinran would probably reach adulthood in less than half a month"s time. After that, she could register herself in Floating Ice City"s Priest Academy and begin her new life in a magic academy.

I wonder what kind of role will I play when the time comes?

I couldn"t help but smile when I thought up to this point. I said to Xinran, "If someone bullies you after you receive your blessing at the cathedral and enter the Priest Academy, you must tell me, okay? I"ll teach them a lesson, no matter who they are!"

Xinran giggled and smiled like an angel. "Okay, big brother! It"s a promise!"

"Mn!"

I spent some time with Xinran. She talked about all the interesting events happening around her village, such as a hunter who was bitten by a boar during hunting, a tone-deaf wandering minstrel and so on. All these tales were but a plot device meant to keep the cogs spinning.

Although it was incredibly relaxing to talk to a pure and innocent girl like Xinran, I was a professional gamer, not a loli trainer. So, I bade her goodbye and went to Wild Pheasant Ridge.

I took out countless pheasants and obtained lots of Chicken Meat. After a trip to Floating Ice City"s storehouse, I traveled to the faraway Wildfire Plains and spent a long time searching for another natural valley. I succeeded, and just like the last time, there was a lot of Glutinous Rice in them. I put them all inside my Army Pouch before I finally traveled back to Floating Ice City.

"Thirteen, come here and help me buy some Salt, will you?"

It didn"t take long for Du "Amazing Expert" Thirteen to show up and buy an entire bag"s worth of Salt as requested.

I began cooking and magically synthesizing Glutinous Rice b.a.l.l.s out of thin air. Du Thirteen was very impressed. "Lu Chen, these rice b.a.l.l.s are so much more expensive than the pancakes and fruits that are sold on the streets…"

I rolled my eyes at him. "But of course! This actually takes skill to make, you know!"

"..." Instead of replying, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d disdainfully s.h.i.+fted his gaze towards the ladies setting up shop in Floating Ice City Square.

"Tsk tsk, would you look at that priest! So juicy!" Du Thirteen suddenly said while salivating.

I followed his gaze and felt my heart skip a beat. That"s… that"s Murong Mingyue!

Murong Mingyue was one of the core members of the Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls guild and the second strongest elder under He Yi, "The Moon". I didn"t expect to see her here.

Under the moonlight, Murong Mingyue wore what looked like a Common-grade gray mage robe. However, it wasn"t nearly enough to overshadow Murong Mingyue"s beauty at all. Her lovable eyes could bewitch a person in a single glance, and she had an innocent look to her that accentuated her beauty. However, those weren"t even her greatest a.s.sets. Her greatest a.s.set was the pair of mountains hanging in front of her and looking like they would burst through her mage robe at any moment. It was more than enough excitement to suffocate anyone!

Meanwhile, Du Thirteen"s saliva flowed like a river. In fact, he literally looked like he was about to suffocate from excitement. There were only three times Du Thirteen had looked like this: the first time was when he saw the natural and peerless He Yi; the second time was when he saw the exceptional and elegant Lin Yixin, and the third time was, well, now, when he saw the impressively-endowed Murong Mingyue.

I shot him a glare before whispering under my breath, "Control yourself, dammit! f.u.c.k, I don"t want her to recognize me!"

"Oops…"

Du Thirteen finally wiped away the saliva on his mouth before asking, "Lu Chen, I want to chase her!"

I shot him down firmly. "Don"t even think about it!"

"But why?"

"Because… f.u.c.k, how would I know? You just can"t. Also, weren"t you planning to chase He Yi earlier? Why did you suddenly change your mind?"

Du Thirteen replied in a helpless tone, "Well, I saw the newspaper and found out that she"s the Asia Region Vice President of GGS. She may even become the president in the near future. Long story short she"s way out of my league, and I"m not foolish enough to pursue the impossible…"

Suddenly, Du Thirteen watched me closely and asked, "Lu Chen, seriously, what is the relations.h.i.+p between you and Beauty Lin?"

"Uhh, we don"t have one?"

"Uuuu…" Du Thirteen groaned sorrowfully. "How is it that you know Beauty Lin, He Yi, and Murong Mingyue…"

He then grabbed me by the neck and started shaking my hand back and forth like a fan. "Talk, dammit! Beauty Lin fell in love with you, didn"t she?"

"Like h.e.l.l she did!"

I pushed his hands away before saying, "Lin Yixin and I are just business partners, that"s all. Our relations.h.i.+p isn"t nearly as impure or complicated as you make it out to be. Just the same, He Yi is the leader, and I"m just the subordinate. As for Big Sis Mingyue, we were just close friends in game…"

Suddenly, a sweet and melodious voice hit me from behind—

"So… our relations.h.i.+p is impure and complicated, huh?"

I turned around and felt my soul leaving my body. I had no idea when, but Wind Fantasy also known as Lin Yixin was standing right behind us. Her white cloak turned back to normal and fluttered slightly behind her. However, it made her long, black hair stand out even more than it already was, and her soft, pale cheeks looked as soft as a bubble. Her purple eyes were especially striking, so beautiful they were that it was difficult to look her in the eyes.

Lin Yixin"s equipment was very impressive. She was wearing a uniquely-designed and elegant silver armor that perfectly accentuated her shapely body. The circular shapes that covered her stunning chest caused one"s blood to boil. Below her battle skirt was a pair of snow-white legs covered in dense, metallic runes, and to top it all off she wore a pair of coffee-colored barbarian war boots. There was only way to describe the way she looked right now—a living G.o.ddess!

"Gulp!"

"Gulp!"

I gulped. Du Thirteen gulped. The two of us then shot each other a disdainful look.

Lin Yixin smiled. "Hmph hmph, Lu Chen, you"re really… forget it, I"m going back to my quest. Later!"

Lin Yixin walked past me and headed towards the city gate. She raised her hand and gave a tiny wave without looking back.

Du Thirteen and I stayed frozen for a while before we finally regained ourselves and got back to cooking. What could we do, Lin Yixin was just that stunning. Even now, three minutes after Lin Yixin had disappeared, countless players were still staring at the city gate with their mouths opened. There were plenty of perverts who wanted to chase her, but Wind Fantasy was about as famous as the sun in Floating Ice City. Who would dare provoke a powerful woman like her?

Some time later, the system rang in my ears—

Ding~!

System Notice: Congratulations, your Cooking skill has leveled!

Phew! My Cooking skill finally reached Rank 3. I can now collect Rank 3 ingredients and cook Rank 3 Consumables! Considering how much Rank 2 Consumables were worth, higher-rank food could only be even more expensive. Too bad no one had reached Level 30 yet so Rank 2 Consumables were good enough for now. But once players crossed that threshold, Rank 3 Consumables would be mandatory to engage in any high-level fights like bosses and PK.

Suddenly, my heart started beating rapidly. It was because two familiar people were coming our way!

Two players were buying potions at the potion shop next to our stall. The IDs above their heads were incredibly eye-catching to me—

Hot Sun LV-26 Warrior

Murong Mingyue LV-25 Priest

They were none other than Xu Yang and Murong Mingyue!

I didn"t even dare to breathe loudly for fear of catching their attention. The duo"s conversation entered my ears while they were walking past me—

Xu Yang sighed. "It"s been almost a week since Boss created her account, but she hasn"t even logged in once..."

Murong Mingyue replied, "That"s because Lu Chen is no longer with us…"

Xu Yang asked, "Did you ask her when she"ll be logging back in? It feels like the entire guild is missing its soul without her."

Murong Mingyue sighed. "Let"s be patient, okay? I"ve been consoling Eve almost everyday, but even I don"t know how long it"ll take her to… snap out of her grief…"

The duo eventually vanished into a distant forest.

Du Thirteen patted me on the shoulder before saying quietly, "Be strong, brother!"

I smiled at him and replied, "I"m fine. Now, let"s get back to selling rice b.a.l.l.s, shall we?"

"Alright!"