Scourge Messenger

Chapter 381 Three Calamities
After thinking about it, Yan Qing still felt that the Perfect Dao Foundation was more suitable for them.

Unless they are willing to give up the Thieves' House, everyone will definitely have to reach the sixth job advancement within a year, otherwise they will not be able to complete the Thieves' House's mission.

Upon entering the secret realm, Master Suolong visibly relaxed considerably.

She glanced at the bunny girl: "Feeling better now? It's amazing you dared to build your foundation outside. Even I, with my flawless foundation, feel uncomfortable staying outside. Don't you, a newly promoted foundation cultivator, feel uncomfortable being blown around like this?"

Yan Qing was startled, then remembered something and opened the Dao Foundation page. Sure enough, he found that the words 'Biefeng Chui' after the Dao Foundation status had disappeared, and the "↓" symbol had changed to "↑", indicating that the Dao Foundation status was being restored.

He recalled that when the Bunny Girl was at the end of her Foundation Establishment stage, she was first exposed to the Yin Fire by the Seven Great Suns, and then her soul was blown away by the Bifeng Wind. If it weren't for the protection of her Dao Foundation, she would have been annihilated and her blood and qi would have been burned.

"What are the Bifeng Disaster and Yin Fire Disaster? I encountered these two disasters during my Foundation Establishment stage, and I was just being blown by a small Bifeng." The bunny girl asked respectfully.

"You know about Bifeng and Yinhuo, but you don't know what they are? Many Foundation Establishment cultivators only know about these two calamities and give them random names. If it weren't for the Great Profound Dao Lineage, my Medicine Master family might not even know them." Master Suolong asked tentatively, somewhat puzzled, "Could it be that you have inherited an ancient Dao lineage?"

"Yes, old lady, why don't you hurry up and offer yourself up? Maybe when I become an immortal, I can take you as my maid."

"Auntie is old and can't count on you anymore. I'll be content as long as you two don't cause me any trouble and let me die peacefully in my old age." Master Suolong sighed and said, "There are three calamities in Foundation Establishment: wind calamity, thunder calamity, and fire calamity. You will most likely encounter one or two of them during Foundation Establishment. Many people who gather all the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends to forcibly establish their foundation often fall at this step, either their bodies burn out or their souls disintegrate."

"Even if we successfully establish our foundation, it won't be all good. There will always be three calamities sweeping across the world. Depending on the location, we will be burned by Yin Fire, eroded by Bi Wind, and bombarded by Heavenly Thunder. Even the main city protected by gods and Buddhas cannot protect us."

This was the first time the Pharmacist had heard such a secret, and his expression changed: "Why is that? Those who have reached the third stage of cultivation are free from disaster and pain, but those who have reached the foundation stage are plagued by calamities?"

"If the Third Transformation is like a rural landlord, then Foundation Establishment is like a high-ranking official in the imperial court. A rural landlord without real power can often live a peaceful life, while a high-ranking official in the imperial court, because he holds great power, is attacked by factions and lives a life of constant danger." Master Suolong said, "No matter how strong the Third Transformation is, he can only use his own power. No matter how weak the Foundation Establishment is, he can use the authority of the Great Dao. Supernatural powers are things that we steal from heaven and earth. How can heaven and earth not treat us harshly? The Three Calamities obstruct the Dao and bring disasters every day. They are the wind and frost swords on the road to Foundation Establishment."

"The more damaged one's foundation, the harder it is to withstand calamities. The four states of the foundation are: without leakage, clear and transparent, gathering and flowing, and dispersing. Without leakage is the most complete, while dispersing is the most deficient. Newly established foundations are often in the gathering and flowing state. That's why I advised you, little devil, to quickly gather your fortune and repair your foundation to the point of being clear and transparent. Your foundation will gradually recover."

Master Suolong paused for a moment: "However, since you are a first-grade Dao Foundation cultivator, you can gather fortune anywhere, so we can skip this step and just hide in the secret realm."

Yan Qing was genuinely unaware of the Three Calamities damaging one's Dao foundation, and the forum had never mentioned it. It was probably just a setting to enhance the Xianxia atmosphere, much like how the main characters in Baldur's Gate 3 were all parasitized by parasites; they were said to die, but... that was about it.

However, in reality, it would truly become a calamity hanging over the heads of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The negative effect of a small-scale wind is -0.03% of the Dao Foundation status per hour, which is 0.72% per day. In other words, if the Foundation Establishment Messenger does nothing outside, his Dao Foundation will collapse and his soul will be destroyed within half a year.

Six months is enough for gamers to get bored and switch to another game, but for real people, it's like death chasing after them.

"Can the secret realm isolate us from the three calamities?" the bunny girl asked.

"It only suppresses the Three Calamities to a minimum. As long as it's in a state of convergence, it can resist the Three Calamities of the secret realm. Compared to this, haven't you felt your spiritual energy gradually replenishing?"

Yan Qingcai noticed that the Bunny Girl's spiritual energy was indeed slowly increasing; she had already gained 3 spiritual energy points while speaking. After the Messenger reached the fourth stage of Foundation Establishment, her soul underwent a qualitative change... Simply put, the blue bar unit changed from spiritual power to spiritual energy. It takes 100,000 spiritual power to exchange for 1 spiritual energy point. The Bunny Girl now has a spiritual energy limit of 106, which translates to 10.6 million spiritual power points.

It's unknown whether the amount of spirit jade remaining from the Three Kingdoms period in a year is ten million and six hundred thousand. So although it's possible to convert it, the conversion is unlikely. This is why Foundation Establishment messengers are aloof and don't pay much attention to the country. Even if you squeeze oil from the bones of mortals, it might not be enough for a Foundation Establishment to launch a major breakthrough.

Even the wealthy Yan Qing couldn't fill the Bunny Girl's blue bar.

The fact that the Fourth-Rank Secret Realm can restore spiritual energy is something Yan Qing didn't know. Has the official actually become human?

In fact, the original "Messenger" did not have the Spirit Essence recovery mechanism. However, after the fourth job advancement, the use of [Divine Power + Token] consumed too much Spirit Essence, and the poor experience for top players led to the game's premature demise after only three months of operation. Therefore, the developers either reduced the consumption, increased the Spirit Essence cap, or increased the Spirit Essence recovery speed. In the end, they chose the fourth option: Spirit Essence could only be slowly recovered when building the basics.

They really won't let players get even the slightest advantage.

“Foundation cultivators often cultivate in seclusion in secret realms, detached from worldly affairs, firstly to avoid disasters, and secondly to cultivate their spiritual energy.” Master Suolong glanced at the Rabbit Girl: “New Foundation cultivators spend years studying supernatural abilities in secret realms before they can truly master them. I’ve never seen anyone like you who rushes into actual combat on the very first day of Foundation Cultivation before.”

No wonder you Foundation Establishment cultivators are all so adept at using divine abilities; it turns out you've been practicing at home all this time. Yan Qing felt increasingly that game characters had no advantage over the local natives after Foundation Establishment, because time was meaningless for game characters. A character with 100 hours of experience and a character with 10000 hours of experience would only get the same effect using the same skill, but the divine abilities used by a character who had achieved Foundation Establishment in one year and one who had achieved it in a hundred years could be worlds apart.

It seems we still need to stick to the "gear crushing" strategy. Don't try any tricks with the locals. Just use all your strength and bricks to crush them. If you can beat them, then fight. If you can't, then switch accounts!

"Thank you." The bunny girl looked at Master Suolong and said sincerely, "What you said is very helpful to us."

Master Suolong glanced at her in surprise: "Foundation Establishment cultivators must not show their emotions. You all have a lot to learn."

Yan Qing knew that Master Suolong would definitely have some guesses, after all, the Bunny Girl Warrior possessed many secrets, yet lacked some basic knowledge, like a lucky person who had accidentally obtained a legacy. Master Suolong's words were also a subtle reminder that he shouldn't have stated his needs so directly; if it were someone else, they might have started plotting something.

But Yan Qing understood even better that, with his shrewd mind, he would never engage in any scheming or deception with these worldly-wise Foundation Establishment cultivators. Therefore, he didn't bother to think too much about it; he would repay kindness with kindness and kill those he didn't, seeking only a clear conscience and the satisfaction of settling scores.

"let's start."

The bunny girl looked into the depths of the cave, a stalactite cave where dew dripped along the stalactite peaks. Several holes in the ceiling above the cave allowed sunlight to stream in, illuminating the cave and providing a basic view.

A swarm of bats, each as large as an arm, were flying around the pillar of light, eagerly absorbing the sunlight. Their eyes were bloodshot, their wings were bulging with veins, their claws gleamed black, and they exhaled a foot-long plume of hot air with each breath.

The names "Rampaging Bats" were displayed above their heads.

As soon as Bunny Girl took a step forward, she was stopped by Master Lock Dragon.

"Lure them here." "Is such a small number necessary?"

"That's all?" Master Suolong laughed, raised his sleeve and shot out a chain that struck a bat.

In an instant, countless red lights appeared in the cave.

Those are bat eyes!
A quick glance revealed that there were hundreds of them!
The bunny girl immediately drew her 'Horizontal Autumn Sword'. She happened to have 10 points of spiritual energy, which allowed her to activate the Horizontal Autumn Sword's power, 'Horizontal Autumn Sword Qi', unleashing a long-range sword qi. Combined with [Red Candle Tears], she instantly created a wall of red candle tears!
The piercing screams echoed continuously in the cave, and the screams intensified after the bats crashed into the wall of fire. Although they did not cause any harm, they still made Suolong Zhenren and Yaoshi Yuan's faces turn quite ugly, clearly indicating that it was also torture for them.

Yan Qing was helpless and could only silently lower the volume of the game console.

Hundreds of frenzied bats rushed over, which was visually terrifying, but the layers of fire walls drawn by the bunny girl left them no opening. From the ground to the ceiling, the entire execution ground was covered with candle tears, and they could only be prisoners, their last drop of blood being burned away by the flames!

As the first wave of monsters in the difficult dungeon, they are indeed quite strong. However, the cave environment and the large number of enemies with low health make it perfect for [Candle Tears Red] to shine.

If a bat occasionally slips in, the Bunny Girl doesn't need to lift a finger; the Pharmacist will immediately step forward to capture and kill it, while the Dragon-Locking Master holds the chains behind him, ready to intervene if there is any danger.

Although Master Suolong didn't say anything openly about Yaoshi Yuan, this junior who valued his country, he secretly held him in high regard.

Once the cave returned to calm, pools of melted flesh and blood appeared on the ground, still burning even after Bunny Girl withdrew her powers. This was probably a hidden characteristic, and perhaps it could be used in some way.

Several new messages popped up on the screen:

"The milestone of 'Path of Flame' has begun."

Based on your level, you can currently obtain the following milestone information

「炎道之路：每以炎道妙法击杀100只40级以上的敌人，增加0.01%炎道技艺领悟概率，最多增加1%，目前击杀数为287/10000。」

"You have mastered the 'Basic Fire Control' skill, and your current level is 6."

Killing 10,000 will increase the chance of learning something by 1%?

Yan Qing developed a condition where he would get excited whenever he saw the 'probability of comprehension'. As a 'Martial Arts Messenger', he knew all too well how absurd the probability of comprehension was. Don't underestimate the 1% probability; it's an unconditionally increased extra probability.

The probability of comprehension seems similar to aptitude, but they are actually completely different. Aptitude affects the experience point gain multiplier. Although there is no data-driven experience bar, as long as there is enough hidden experience points, one can comprehension the corresponding skill. This is the case for all the pharmacists, who relied on extensive training and combat to solidify their foundation step by step and reach the peak.

The comprehension probability means that even if you don't have enough hidden experience points, you can still comprehension it!

The early basic and advanced techniques give the impression that 'reaching the maximum level of a low-level technique may lead to mastering an advanced one,' but this is a completely different story at the master and grandmaster levels. Even players with high comprehension will need to…

It takes several nights of idling to figure it out.

But Yan Qing isn't a game character. If he wants to master a skill, he either needs to accumulate comprehension and experience, or he needs to rely on the probability of mastery and take a chance. Obviously, the latter is more suitable for a lazy kid like him.

Incidentally, while the 20% comprehension probability of "Martial Peak" seems far more valuable than the 1% of "Path of Flame," "Martial Peak" only affects the Master level of weapon-based martial arts, while "Path of Flame" affects all levels of the noble fire-based martial arts, including Grandmaster, Great Grandmaster, and Supreme levels. Especially for Great Grandmaster and Supreme levels, the game almost never produces introductory or mastery manuals; to even begin, one must rely on comprehension or accumulated enlightenment.

Yan Qing put away this information and looked at the spoils dropped by the swarm of ravenous bats.

Seventy-six True Spirit Jade, in terms of conversion... there's no need to convert them. You can earn money and spend it in the secret realm. No Foundation Establishment cultivator will exchange True Spirit Jade for Spirit Jade.

'Bat's Eyeball Devouring', 'Bat's Fangs', and 'Bat's Heart Blood' are all raw materials, and Yan Qing doesn't know how to use them other than eating them.

'Bat rice balls' and 'roasted bat wings' are foods that provide amplification, but Yan Qing doesn't plan to eat them.

In addition, there is a piece of jewelry that looks like a batarang pendant:

"Night Pendant"

"Rank: Fourth-tier Common"

Equipment Requirements: 100 Divine Soul

"Equipment effect: +10 Divine Soul"

"Effect - Nightfall: When you are in a low-visibility environment, your movement speed is increased by 10%. When your protective barrier breaks, the Night Pendant will also break, granting you a 5-second blurry invisibility effect (which can avoid most non-area-of-effect damage) and a 50% movement speed bonus."

"Comment: The dead cannot be brought back to life, so one should not simply face death. Seize this last chance and live on, however ugly you may be."

How come your ordinary gift has such an inspiring review...?

Yan Qing's heart stirred. After receiving the item from the public warehouse and holding it in his hand, he clearly felt that his soul had grown much stronger.

He can use it!
(End of this chapter)