The buff is permanent, and you start the game with a fountain of water.

What could Huan Cheng say? He could only accept this preliminary task for now.

"Here, take this. It can help you complete the mission. Consider it an advance payment of part of the mission reward." Qingxi took out a palm-sized token from her sleeve and handed it to Huan Cheng.

[Mount Contract Token]: An exclusive token that seals demonic beasts, exotic beasts, and flying mounts. It can be used to summon and recall mounts outside of combat. If dropped or lost, the mount will be permanently lost. Current mount quantity: 1/1.

"Mounts?" Huan Cheng was slightly taken aback. "Non-knight classes can have mounts?"

"Of course!" Qingxi nodded. "However, there is a difference between ordinary mounts and mounts for knights."

"Ordinary mounts cannot participate in combat, but knight mounts can participate in combat and can even provide some pretty good attribute bonuses."

"What's the use if you can't fight?"

Qing Ao looked at Huan Cheng as if he were an idiot: "Run away! Your mount is fast, it's much faster than you trying to run on two legs."

"Furthermore, some high-level mounts also have the ability to fly. Without the help of mounts or other external forces, physical damage-based classes shouldn't even dream of flying before level 70!"

Huan Cheng's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he waved his mount token. "Lord City Lord, what kind of mount is sealed inside? Can it fly?"

"A magnificent steed, a B-grade mount, capable of traversing mountains and rivers with ease."

Huan Cheng's face fell immediately upon hearing this: "It can't fly? Can't we change it to something that can fly? Dragons or phoenixes, what? Riding a dragon or a phoenix is ​​so majestic!"

Qingxi was stunned by Huan Cheng's shamelessness, staring at him in shock: "Riding dragons and phoenixes? Why don't you just ride me away!"

"No, no, Lord City Lord, you flatter me."

Qingxi rolled her eyes: "After the ancient war, the dragon race suffered heavy losses and has yet to recover. The number of legitimate dragon knights currently active can be counted on one hand. Aside from knight-type professions, I've never heard of anyone riding a dragon!"

After a pause, Qingxi's expression darkened slightly, and she sighed, "Back when your master was chasing the Abyss Demon Army, the old Dragon Emperor's youngest son, a six-winged Nether Dragon known as the Sky Storm, briefly served as his mount to assist in the pursuit of the remnants of the Abyss."

Huan Cheng fell silent upon hearing this. The great battle ten thousand years ago, though only mentioned in fragments each time, still deeply shocked him.

"Never mind, let's not talk about this. This trip is time-sensitive and the mission is heavy. You should get ready to go!" Qingxi sighed, her expression somewhat desolate.

"Understood, I will set off as soon as possible." Huan Cheng nodded, said no more, and turned to leave the city lord's hall.

He took out the dimensional stone, intending to return to the Gentle Little Shop, but heard a system notification: "Ding, there is a spatial restriction here, teleportation items cannot be used temporarily."

Huan Cheng was taken aback, turned around and glanced at the main hall of the city lord's mansion, then nodded thoughtfully.

After retrieving the dimensional stone, he walked all the way back to the Gentle Little Shop.

"The big boss is back? Do you have any good stuff? The new auction is about to start, but we're still missing some heavyweight finale items!" Banzhan greeted him with a gentle smile, her gaze lingering on Huan Cheng as if searching for high-end equipment.

"for you!"

Huan Cheng handed over all the items, including the Earth Dragon Blood, Earth Dragon Hide, and the Swamp Dragon Prisoner Skill Book, to Banzhan Wenrou, and then said, "Help me see if there are any suitable weapons in the shop."

"Weapons?" Wenrou, who had been happily examining the goods, suddenly changed her expression: "What's wrong? Where are your original weapons?"

"Don't overthink it, it's nothing serious. We're just preparing a spare weapon." After briefly recounting the battle, Huan Cheng said, "It's best to have an extra weapon in case a similar situation occurs again."

Wenrou breathed a sigh of relief and took out a long sword from the warehouse, handing it over: "Level 20 silver weapon, the best weapon in our shop."

Huan Cheng didn't mind and casually put it into his spatial ring.

"Should we prepare a set of armor?" Seeing Huan Cheng put away his equipment, Banzhan Wenrou added, "There are also a few pieces of silver-grade armor; why don't you take them too?"

"Need not."

Huan Cheng shook his head. He had decided to continue using the Qingyang Battle Armor, and the Golden Earth Dragon Armor would be his backup.

Half a cup of gentle warmth shifted its attention back to the items Huan Cheng had brought back: "You don't need the skill books, so you can auction them off. Dragon hide and dragon blood are good things; I can have someone make them into armor and potions."

"Why don't you wait a bit, and leave once it's finished?"

Upon hearing this suggestion, Huan Cheng instinctively felt a bit disgusted. After hesitating for a moment, he shook his head and said, "Forget it, there's too much time. Let's just auction it off as soon as it's finished."

"By the way, are there any players now capable of handling this kind of high-level material?"

Half a cup of gentle warmth curled up slightly, revealing an expression that said, "Players certainly won't do, but NPCs will."

"We recently recruited several expert-level NPCs, who are currently our guild's chief life skills masters. They can not only handle high-level materials, but also mentor apprentices."

"We have to thank you. They were all reluctant to hire anyone at first, but they all agreed once they found out that you were their employer."

Huan Cheng had become somewhat numb to these special treatments, while Banzhan Wenrou was still not quite used to them and was still excitedly recounting the various privileges and courtesy she had recently received.

Huan Cheng smiled and quietly watched her, listening to her talk about the trivial and interesting things in business, nodding in agreement from time to time.

More than an hour passed before Wenrou suddenly chuckled, stood up, and pushed Huan Cheng towards the door, saying, "You're such a busy person, it's really kind of you to sit and listen to me ramble on for so long. I won't take up any more of your time, go do what you need to do!"

Huan Cheng didn't move, looking at her with pity.

This woman always appears to be a shrewd and capable career woman, but the more you get to know her, the more you'll discover that she actually craves love and has a people-pleasing personality.

Perhaps it was the break with the Liu family that caused her to feel a strong sense of crisis. When she was in contact with Huan Cheng, Banzhan Wenrou was very humble and would always unconsciously be ingratiating.

Perhaps Wenrou herself didn't even notice this, but as the person involved, Huan Cheng felt it very clearly.

That radiant, confident, energetic, and vibrant half-cup of gentleness is dying.

"Gentle, I hope you'll be happier."

Half a cup of gentle warmth froze, her smile stiffened on her face, her expression a mixture of astonishment, panic, and nervousness.

"You don't need to try to please me. You can do whatever you want. I hope we can be friends."

These words were like a switch being flipped; tears welled up in Wenrou's eyes, and then fell like beads from a broken string.

After a moment's hesitation, Huan Cheng opened his arms and gave her a light hug, but quickly released her: "You are the goddess of the business world in the divine realm, a unique and gentle presence, an existence that the world looks up to. You don't need to, and shouldn't, do this!"

After saying that, Huan Cheng gave her an encouraging look and turned to leave.

As soon as Huan Cheng walked out the door, Banzhan Wenrou seemed to have lost her spine and suddenly collapsed to the ground.

She struggled to wipe away the tears on her face, stared in the direction where Huan Cheng's figure disappeared, and then burst out laughing.

Just like the warm sun breaking through the clouds after the rain, it is dazzling and colorful.