Scourge Messenger

Chapter 216 Natural Disaster Organization
I'm so brave!

The moment Yan Qing returned to his room, he immediately slammed the door shut, removed his mask and bandages, and gasped for breath, feeling his heart pounding wildly, the excitement taking a long time to calm down. He dared not answer the pharmacist's final question, fearing that even a single word would break his composure.

That's the pharmacist's wish!
Born into a military town, a third-tier messenger, and possessing all the Heavenly and Earthly Fiends, don't be fooled by her relatively low profile during the Battle of Shudao Mountain. Just look at the others: the three great protectors of the Demonic Path, two members of the Helan family who were faking Foundation Establishment, the Killing Messenger, the Rabbit Heroine who was the successor of the Calamity, and the Pharmacist Yuan. A young girl around twenty years old, yet she managed to survive and even make crucial contributions. Her strength is beyond doubt; she could absolutely crush herself and Shang Xinlei!
Despite possessing both the Bingzi Pepper Forest and the Karmic Power of Heavenly Calamity, and seemingly lacking nothing on paper, Yan Qing currently lacks any real combat experience. Once he reveals his true strength, others will see that he is fundamentally weak. Yan Qing is well aware of this; no matter how strong he is in the game, it's all an illusion. In reality, he remains a recluse.

However, there's nothing wrong with that. Yan Qing has always positioned himself as a "pay-to-win player," using the strongest tokens to blast enemies to smithereens. Ideally, he would challenge opponents of a higher level in every battle, such as fighting a first-level opponent when he is at the third level of the sect, or fighting a mortal after he has reached the Foundation Establishment stage. He won't fight in any low-level matches!
Yaoshi Yuan is undoubtedly the complete opposite of him, specializing in high-level matches. Yan Qing is very confident in this. Unless he can reach the Foundation Establishment stage first, even with the best equipment, it will be difficult for him to make up for the difference in combat power between him and Yaoshi Yuan after the third job advancement. In actual combat, she can easily defeat Yan Qing.

Even now, Yan Qing finds it unbelievable that he dared to slap the table and disrespect the pharmacist, which angered her so much that she overturned the table on the spot and ultimately forced her to swallow her anger.

Luckily, I ran fast; otherwise, I would have been exposed if a real fight had broken out.

At that time, White Fox and Black Wolf will definitely look down on me, and Shang Xinlei will probably feel that she is not qualified to be with her. From then on, I will become the bottom of the thief's food chain... I should be more careful in the future. When messing with someone's mentality, I must do it in a safe place and never give others the opportunity to make a move.

But now, the pharmacist should give up, right?
Yan Qing actually had no opinion on whether or not to save the bunny girl. Saving her was fine, not saving her didn't matter either way; after all, it was just a small account she'd played for less than half a month, and it wasn't that valuable to Yan Qing. If there was a feasible plan to save her, Yan Qing wouldn't mind taking a gamble with her, but unfortunately, the pharmacist's willingness to save her was more like a death wish than a rescue attempt.

If it had been Dongshou Zhenren of the Helan family instead of Suolong Zhenren Yaoshiyue who captured Bunny Girl, perhaps Yaoshiyue would have preferred death to surrender? He would have fought to the death rather than bow down.

The identity and attitude of Master Suolong gave her enough reason to convince herself at the time, but she gradually realized that she could not deceive herself. Retreating was retreating, and giving up was giving up. It was too shameful, so shameful that she did not know how to face herself.

That's why the Pharmacist proposed such an absurd plan. There was clearly a more practical and safer option, 'Foundation Building,' but she seemed to have forgotten about it. Rather than saving the Rabbit Girl, it was more like she wanted to go back to that moment at Mount Shu and make a different choice. This time, she wouldn't give herself any room for regret.

Although her interactions with Yaoshi Yuan consisted only of arguments, Yan Qing was very certain about Yaoshi Yuan's mindset. This was because Yaoshi Yuan was actually a very easy person to understand; she lived for dignity, and she would die for dignity.

Yan Qing really didn't want to deal with her. Three days ago, he had made up his mind to stay away from this woman. He was afraid of her violence and her temperament. If the pharmacist were willing to save others, Yan Qing would definitely just watch her go crazy. But unfortunately, the Lava Prison was full of Bunny Girl... He couldn't watch others die because of his alternate account.

This is probably the dignity of gamers; a tragedy that could have been prevented is allowed to happen. This only happens during the scene where Yan Qing is collecting butter and is defeated in the CG.

He wasn't joking; if the pharmacist insisted on going his own way under unfavorable conditions, he really would ruin the mission.

Although the Thieves' House still holds immense strategic value for him, it's not an irreplaceable cost; at worst, Yan Qing can move to Jiangnan City. Aside from the Nesser game console, any cost is acceptable.

Is it worth giving up the Thieves' House for the sake of the Pharmacist's wish?
After calming down, Yan Qing realized that his words might have been too harsh, but he couldn't take them back once he had spoken them in the heat of the moment. If Yao Shiyuan was still so stubborn, he could only... he could only hint to Bai Hu and Shang Xinlei to try to persuade her again.

However, since the next mission inevitably involves combat, Yan Qing had to make a decision. He picked up the Nesser game console, logged into the Rat Monk's account, and checked today's earnings in the Treasure Pavilion.

These days he has been selling off his spoils little by little, including the tokens of the two members of the Helan family. However, he mainly sells tokens such as the Seven Star Sword and the Flame Pattern Longsword, with only a few stolen goods mixed in. Even if others notice something, they won't be sure. Even if they guess something... Yan Qing is not afraid.

That's how people are. They're afraid to cross boundaries at first, but they get bolder over time. Many things are like not doing winter or summer homework; you only realize the consequences after trying them.

His spirit jade has now surpassed one million, but his daily expenses are also high, and he anticipates he'll have to spend a lot of money soon. He's been trying to buy secret technique research books for three consecutive days, raising the price from three advanced sword technique manuals to five. At the lowest price of 150,000 spirit jade per manual, that's 750,000 spirit jade, but still no one is willing to accept that price.

Either there's a shortage everywhere, and none of the secret techniques research books exist in the Three Kingdoms of the Central Plains; or the price is too low, and they're unwilling to buy. Yan Qing's orders aren't cleared out every day either; occasionally, he'll try to buy some rare items to test the market reaction.

However, it's also possible that others think it's difficult to sell five advanced sword techniques. Yan Qing plans to list his items for 800,000 spirit jades tomorrow to see if he can buy a secret technique research book.

He must max out his second secret technique and advance to the third job advancement before the next mission, otherwise he won't feel safe standing in front of the Pharmacist—although even after advancing to the third job advancement, he might not feel safe.

Besides these odds and ends, Yan Qing still had the most important spoils to deal with.

Heavenly Gang - Jade Talisman for Manipulating Creation!

Tiangang - Whip the Mountain and Move the Stone Seal!
Earthly Fiend - Skull Continuation!
Earthly Fiend - Borrowing Wind Leaves!
According to the list of Dao Foundation combinations, the Jade Talisman of Creation and the Skull of Continuation can be combined to form the Dao Foundation of Boundless Longevity, but it is only a mid-level Dao Foundation. How could it possibly meet Yan Qing's standards? His is a high-end one, and all configurations must be maxed out.

So, can he absorb the Jade Talisman of Creation first? No, he can't.

As mentioned before, the greater the difference between Qi and Blood and Spirit, the greater the weakening of Dexterity, which translates to a reduction of Dexterity by one-third in terms of data.

But this applies to game characters.

The pharmacist had previously warned the bunny girl that it would be best to gather all the Heavenly and Earthly Fiends to absorb together, otherwise her combat power would drop drastically, or even her life would be in danger.

Excessive Qi and Blood are like a child driving a large vehicle—unable to control the direction; excessive Spirit is like Stephen Hawking in a wheelchair—the body becomes a heavy shackle. Normally, gradual upgrades don't significantly affect the gap between Qi and Blood and Spirit, but absorbing the Heavenly and Earthly Fiends and experiencing a sudden surge in attributes is too much for most messengers to handle. It's like taking a powerful tonic; sudden death is not out of the question.

Yan Qing has gradually realized that the descriptions of negative effects in the game are not the same as reality. For example, when a game character is poisoned, they only slowly lose health, but when a normal person is poisoned, they suffer excruciating pain.

He undoubtedly belongs to the majority, so he should honestly wait until he has collected all the Heavenly and Earthly Stars before making any moves. He can consider selling the Whip Mountain Moving Stone Seal, the Skull Continuation, and the Wind Borrowing Leaf, or exchanging them for other Heavenly and Earthly Stars.

However, Yan Qing is still not quite sure about his ideal Dao foundation.

He wasn't a hardcore gamer like those in "The Messenger," who had a clear leveling strategy from the moment he transmigrated. Although he was determined to pursue a perfect Dao Foundation, there were three corresponding perfect Dao Foundations for the Creation Jade Talisman, and he was tempted by each one, unable to make a decision. It was like a male protagonist in a romance anime being pursued by three female protagonists at the same time—he would hesitate and be unable to make a decision… except that romance anime could become harem anime, but the Messenger could only have one Dao Foundation. Yan Qing planned to determine his Dao Foundation based on his class after the third advancement, as the strength of the Dao Foundation, besides its inherent strength, was also closely related to the third-advancement class.

But I need to discuss it with Shang Xinlei tomorrow...

That snotty-nosed girl has probably reached the third level of cultivation by now. If I were to buy her a book on secret techniques, this amount of money wouldn't seem enough...

Yan Qing initially thought her purse was already bulging, but upon closer inspection, she realized that money was needed everywhere, and the task ahead was arduous and long-term.

But Yan Qing might have a way to solve all of the above problems.

He looked at the glittering dark gold items in the warehouse; even ordinary tokens appeared noble and luxurious under such special effects.

Guild Establishment Order!
Yan Qing had been considering whether to sell it for resources, but firstly, he was unsure whether people in this world would recognize its value. He had previously tried to subtly inquire with Shang Xinlei, who said she had never heard of any gangs.
Secondly, this thing is indeed rare, and he may not be able to get a second one in the future.

After much thought, Yan Qing decided to just use the two team skills. Even if they were to reach Foundation Establishment or Ascension in the future, they would still be useful. However, the resources obtained from selling them could only be used for the present.

More importantly, as a player, he would find it hard to resist the experience of building a guild—especially one of the few immortal guilds that The Messenger has managed for many years.

Holding the guild-building token in his hand, it no longer emitted a dark golden glow; it felt like just a rather hard wooden plaque. Yan Qing exhaled and pressed it down forcefully.

Please select the type of organization you wish to create.

"Team: Initially limited to 5 members, but can be expanded to a maximum of 20 members."

Guild: Initial membership is limited to 50 people, and can be expanded to a maximum of 300 people.

"Gang: Initial members are limited to 100, and can be expanded to a maximum of 5000."

Yan Qing was not surprised by this. He had seen posts on the forum before discussing the advantages and disadvantages of team, guild, and gang skills. Simply put, team skills have a high lower limit, fast cooldown, and are easy to upgrade; gang skills have a high upper limit, slow cooldown, and are difficult to upgrade; and guild skills can be obtained from both sides.

The reason for this difference is that the main content of the team game is the dungeon, and the team skills are naturally designed to serve this purpose, and are all practical tactical skills; but the guild exists for large-scale PVP wars, and the guild skills are all strategic skills that can directly change the course of the war.

The original post's assessment was that team skills are like MOBA game skills, while guild skills are like RTS game skills, making them incomparable.

Yan Qing clearly had no intention of building a large force; instead, he chose to form a team.

Please name your team.

Naming it... Yan Qing scratched his head. If he were playing with friends, they could brainstorm together, but his team would most likely only consist of himself and his alternate account. How should he name it?
Moreover, unlike his alternate account, this team will accompany him on his path to immortality, barring any unforeseen circumstances. If the name is too bad, Yan Qing will feel sorry for his future self.

Thieves' Den? What if I fail a mission and have to leave Thieves' Den? Or maybe it's not even a "what if" situation.

Swords and roses? But this isn't a fantasy game...

Bitterness Sect? Garan Temple? Funeral Love Family? Gensokyo? Akatsuki? Many names flashed through Yan Qing's mind, but none of them satisfied him. He turned to look at the character login screen on the game console, and suddenly a brilliant idea struck him.

"Are you sure you want to name your team 'Calamity'? Please note that the team name cannot be changed."

Please select your team introduction. Below is an introduction template:
①Welcome everyone to join the Natural Disaster Organization/Team/Guild/Clan for communication!

②All who come are friends, and every direction is a journey!
③ The natural disaster organization has no interest in ordinary people. If there are aliens, time travelers, or superpowered individuals, then feel free to come find me, Yan Qing!

... "

To avoid people using abstract language and swearing, even the description has to be fixed? Official, you idiot... Yan Qing randomly selected a description that suited his taste and then clicked OK.

"Immortal Team: Cataclysm has been successfully established."

"Do you want to publicly announce the creation of your new team? If you do, you will receive an additional team skill point. If you do not announce it, your team will be protected by privacy."

Yan Qing naturally chose to go public; not taking the reward would be a loss! Besides, what difference would it make if it were public? Did anyone else in the world even look at the leaderboard?

"The Natural Disaster Organization".

A thunderous sound shook Yan Qing's eardrums, like a supreme deity proclaiming judgment:
"In my hands, Yan Qing, I will rule the world!"

(End of this chapter)