Immortal Dao Fruits, Cards to Help Me

Chapter 65 The Strange Dungeon, The Unexpected City God
"Ding~ You failed to complete the breakthrough mission [Kill the Great Ground Otter (Blue)], and the breakthrough failed. Please try again."

The last leader-level burrowing giant otter was quite fierce; it took Chen Xiuxian and his five-person team about ten minutes to kill it.

Because the underground cave was really not a good place to perform, everyone ended up in a bit of a mess.

Fortunately, everyone's strength is there, so there's not much risk.

Unfortunately, after defeating this boss, the [General's Tomb of Buyeo Kingdom (Blue)] dungeon was not triggered.

If triggered, the rock wall behind the boss's cave will collapse, revealing an entrance, thus activating the dungeon within the dungeon.

However, it failed to start this time.

So Chen Xiuxian said goodbye to his four temporary teammates, left the team, and exited the dungeon.

It's estimated that the four of them will kill the last giant groundhog, since the next one won't be easy.

Those dungeon keys are quite valuable, so try to get all the rewards.

Unlike the Calabash Brothers instance, both instances of the Breakthrough Mission can be exited manually.

The Calabash Brothers instance can only be exited by completing the mission or dying.

After Chen Xiuxian chose to exit, he returned to the "virtual lobby," where he saw two sections: "Instance" and "Forum."

The Calabash Brothers dungeon is still on cooldown; it looks like it will be another twenty days or so.

Another instance, "Savage Valley (Blue)," is currently on cooldown and it looks like it will be ready in about four or five days.

In other words, I will be able to attempt to break through to the next realm again in four or five days.

Generally speaking, players will not exploit this kind of bug in the breakthrough dungeon more than three times, because doing it too many times will have negative effects.

Initially, the percentage of experience points gained is reduced, and later it may even drop to only 10% of the normal amount.

If you try to exploit bugs to farm materials and equipment in this situation, you might face penalties if you fail.

A certain attribute may be reduced for a certain period of time, or even permanently reduced.

Some players have even experienced losing levels.

Moreover, this thing seems to follow a pattern, but the specific situation seems to be different for each player.

Generally speaking, it's completely safe up to three times; after that, it depends on luck.
Chen Xiuxian planned to stall him at least three times to grind up his experience points.

And try to see if you can trigger "This is a game within a game"!
The entrance to the [General's Tomb of Fuyu Kingdom (Blue)] in the game has not yet been found. Players occasionally obtain very few dungeon keys, and the four temporary teammates mentioned that they are quite expensive in the auction house.

It's rare to randomly get Savage Valley in the Breakthrough Dungeon, so I have to try and see if I can get a dungeon run without spending any money!

……

Chen Xiuxian felt that his biggest gain from this breakthrough instance was not actually the items in the instance itself.

Instead, they are "teammates"!
Chen Xiuxian subtly inquired about the situation and, combining the forum content with some information he already knew, determined that these four people were likely players in the game.

Rather than some kind of inner demons or phantoms.

For some unknown reason, after transmigrating to this world, I was able to reconnect with the original game through the system's cheat code.

I actually managed to get a random dungeon!

This is truly unexpected!

During the four or five hours of the dungeon run, Chen Xiuxian mostly slacked off, focusing his energy on listening to his teammates' conversations and subtly gathering information.

This is why he plans to exploit the bug multiple times; it's a rare opportunity to have such a chance.

If you actually complete the Breakthrough Mission, then the Breakthrough Dungeon option will naturally disappear.

Then the opportunity to interact face-to-face with players from another world will be gone.

Chen Xiuxian chatted best with Gadak, the lowest-level player, mainly because he was a newbie and easier to fool.
Chen Xiuxian's high charm seems to have some effect among players; at least his face is quite effective.

Both Gadak and Old White Dove praised Chen Xiuxian's face for being sculpted so well.

Old White Dove also said he wanted Chen Xiuxian to give him the character creation parameters. If this second Old White Dove also fails, he could use them when creating the third Old White Dove! So he could be a handsome man too!
Chen Xiuxian inquired about the situation of the dungeon "Calabash Brothers" from them.

Because what he found on the forum was completely different from his own experience!

Besides both having Calabash Brothers and Snake Demon, even their main storylines seem to be quite different!

After making these inquiries, Chen Xiuxian became even more certain. His Calabash Brother was indeed acting strangely.

The Calabash Brothers dungeon is indeed a beginner-friendly single-player dungeon, but it's a very normal process of helping the Calabash Brothers to be born and then fighting the demons.

There's something wrong with this instance!
A thought flashed through his mind: Maybe to maintain stability, we shouldn't do that book anymore?
But I immediately rejected it!
No, a true man should have a clear conscience before Heaven and Earth. How can I abandon a promise I made halfway through?

I may be a bit of a jerk, but I can't break my promise. Mochou Wuyou is still waiting for me; I can't be a beast!
We still need to download it. As for any problems, we'll investigate them gradually.

……

Chen Xiuxian didn't get many experience points in this Savage Valley instance.

Although there are many monsters, they are defeated quite quickly, and a five-person team will receive a 1.5x bonus to total experience points.

But this experience needs to be shared among five people!
As for other gains, the bear-head hat? And some Tier 2 ingredients and medicinal herbs.

The leech Gadak had trypophobia and refused to touch it no matter what, but Chen Xiuxian couldn't let it go, so he collected two bags of them.

I'll ask the pharmacies in Shenyang tomorrow if they'll take it.

However, the [Netherworld Sacrifice Book (Blue)] that I got from Ice Ghost Dao can still be used once. I can try giving it to Gambler Ma Si'er to boost his level and abilities. He's falling behind in leveling up.

And that "spirit stone"!
Once that thing was traded into my hands, it actually caused the system to upgrade again and again.

I wonder what's going on this time?
……

After a short nap, it will be dawn.

Now that the celebration is over, the official residence needs to be vacated within the next couple of days.

Chen Xiuxian and Lao Niu were both old friends, and since it was freezing cold, they didn't plan to bother going back to Wadang Fort. They would spend the New Year in Shencheng, the largest city in Liaodong, before going back.

In the morning, Chen Xiuxian, holding Mimi in his arms, took Lao Niu and Dou Zhongde to have breakfast.

As a result, we ended up being surrounded by onlookers!
Firstly, people take one look and think, "Wow, this young man is really handsome!"
Secondly, people will see him and think, "Wow, this young man can really eat!"
Goodness, in the time it takes to eat a meal, a whole group of people were watching while eating.

Chen Xiuxian: Are you trying to make me your dinner companion?!

As expected of Shenyang, people in this big city don't have as much pressure to survive, and they're all very relaxed.

After eating, the three people and the cat went to find an inn.

I did some research beforehand and found the Yue Lai Inn. And believe it or not, it really is a chain!

It's said they're all owned by the same company.

That's so advanced!

After booking three rooms, Chen Xiuxian and his group went back to retrieve their luggage.

There wasn't much stuff; I carried it all over in one trip.

Old Niu saw some special smoked meat pancakes being sold by the roadside and bought a few. They were thin pancakes spread with sauce and rolled with shredded smoked meat. They tasted great!
After settling in, Chen Xiuxian asked the innkeeper's waiter for directions.

"Brother, on my way here I saw that the north of the city seemed quite lively, with people coming and going. Is there anything interesting happening?"

Chen Xiuxian unintentionally used his spiritual eye technique to see a patch of blue clouds covering the vast sky above Shencheng.

Meanwhile, a thin yellow light flickered in the north of the city.

There were also quite a few people walking in that direction.

The waiter flicked the white handkerchief off his shoulder and said, "Sir, the City God Temple in the north of the city is almost finished. Many people are burning incense and praying there now, and there are also many vendors setting up stalls there, so it's quite lively."

Chen Xiuxian was taken aback. There was a City God Temple in Shencheng?
That doesn't make sense, why haven't I seen similar information on the forum?

Moreover, building a City God Temple isn't something that can be done on a whim.

You need a supreme deity to act as the city god.

The City God is the lord of a city in the Illusionary Realm. He leads his subordinates, both civil and military, to manage the underworld affairs of the entire city, making him crucial to the city's overall stability.

If you trace the history of Shencheng back to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, it can be found there. However, due to its frequent loss of control, it fell into a state of "wildness." It was only in the last hundred years or so that it was reclaimed by the human race, so no city god has been born there yet.

Even the local earth gods are extremely rare.

As for official appointment by the imperial court, that would be even more difficult.

First, there must be a famous minister who has passed away, a minister with an excellent reputation during his lifetime, who is popular with the people, and who can inherit the fate of the country.

Then, the imperial court needs to expend national fortune to bless the appointment before it can be successfully conferred, allowing the person to manage the underworld affairs of a city.

The problem is that with the current state of Da Shun, it's impossible for them to have the resources to appoint a city god.

In fact, after Emperor Yongshun of the Three Prosperous and Great Shun Dynasty ascended the throne, he only conferred titles upon one mountain god and bestowed the title of Zhenwu Palace. Apart from that, he basically did not confer any titles upon any other deities.

It's likely that the Great Shun Dynasty hasn't appointed a City God for over three hundred years.

Chen Xiuxian quickly asked, "May I ask who the City God is?"

(End of this chapter)