Chapter 311: Chapter 250: Until the End of the Road

Unless it’s the legendary ’game power can feedback into reality’ alien black technology online game, there’s always only one kind of player standing at the top of the food chain in regular online games: Gold player.

In games similar to legendary online games, they might be called big R; in SLG mobile games, they might be called the alliance master; even in time-charge online games that don’t sell stats or items, they still reign supreme throughout the ages, paving their path with money, all beings are chess pieces, enjoying the fullest game experience with minimal effort, discarding all the tedious aspects in the game.

No matter how difficult the dungeon, they can hire super elite players to help them clear it, the better way is to call for a substitute; the worse way, insists on playing by themselves, while everyone else cleans up after them.

Yan Qing’s goal is to become a Gold player, and he wants to sponsor Thief’s House!

Before this, Yan Qing was just a small fry in the Thief’s House, so poor he could only eat pig trotter rice from Ping City Military Camp, naturally having no qualifications to say such things, but as they say, "No one supports my ambition, so I shall cheat my way to the peak", after the trip to Shu Dao Mountain, the resources in Yan Qing’s hands have completely overflowed, and just a little leak could satisfy Pharmacist’s Wish’s hunger.

At this moment, Yan Qing has two choices: either use these resources to boost small accounts or use them to develop teammates, and he soon made his decision — I want it all.

Pharmacist’s Wish doesn’t require any more investment; she can slowly level up to 39 on her own; although Shang Xinlei is somewhat useless, when carefully calculated, she only needs Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends and a few Secret Technique Introduction Manuals, and it happens Yan Qing now has extra.

As long as Yan Qing gets another Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends within these twenty days, he can foster a Foundation Establishment small account and also bring Pharmacist’s Wish and Shang Xinlei to Third Transformation Full Level. By the time Thief’s House goes on missions, there will be maid Shang Xinlei and MT Pharmacist’s Wish to handle things, while he finds a place to have afternoon tea, watching flowers bloom and fall, clouds roll and unroll, and this is the temperament of a Gold player daddy.

If Shang Xinlei and Pharmacist’s Wish come crying that they need Yellow Dog Emperor to step in, the corner of Yan Qing’s mouth would curl into a wicked smile, yelling ’small account’, then the furious Foundation Establishment small account descends from the sky, fiercely crossing levels to slay enemies, all rebellious ministers must die.

Just thinking about it feels great.

Perhaps some would ask if you want to stay in this broken Thief’s House so badly? Can’t you leave and not do theft missions? Alas, really can’t.

Earlier it was not felt, but after choosing the team skill [Immortal Travel], Yan Qing increasingly realized how defying the [Return] feature of Thief’s House is, with no cooldown time, no casting time, any time, any place (except for Secret Realm), as long as it’s activated first it’s undefeatable.

It’s sheer bad luck that Pharmacist’s Wish didn’t escape at Shu Dao Mountain; even Yan Qing didn’t expect the local Foundation Establishment to be so rude, controlling the field without a word.

If there’s no Thief’s House, Yan Qing must operate in the main world; even living in the main city doesn’t provide much sense of security, [Immortal Travel] with a thirty-second activation time is long enough for Foundation Establishment Zhenren to sauté him in two dishes. On the contrary, as long as Yan Qing is the Gold player of Thief’s House for a day, the most he would do is sunbathe outside when symptoms flare, and even if things go wrong there’s a high chance of instantly returning to Thief’s House, this sense of security is second only to playing games with Wind Spirit Moon Shadow.

The importance of Thief’s House is undeniable, the issue now is whether Pharmacist’s Wish and Shang Xinlei accept his financial injection. However, Yan Qing isn’t interested in persuading them, damn it, borrowing money is hard and I acknowledge that, giving money is even harder, I’m here to be a Gold player, not a bootlicker!

Seeing their continued hesitation, Yan Qing expressed that if you don’t want it, then just throw it away like garbage, giving you money is just like giving money to White Fox, once White Fox is online I’ll ask if she accepts angel investment.

Thus, no more objections, Pharmacist’s Wish and Shang Xinlei temporarily set aside psychological burdens, must squeeze out Yan Qing’s inventory, not letting any Spiritual Jade be taken advantage of by outsiders like White Fox.

After enjoying their lamb hotpot and tidying the table, they immediately went into the training stage, anyway, messengers don’t fear appendicitis.

After a simple assessment, Pharmacist’s Wish started regretting.

"You two... have you never been responsible for facing demons directly?"

Yan Qing and Shang Xinlei shook heads; Yan Qing need not be mentioned, purely a stats freak brought up by consuming manuals, with stats but no skills; Shang Xinlei is slightly better, but she follows the Flying Circle School which is, rather than a melee weapon, utilizes a medium-range spell casting style using flying circles, flying circles and magic staffs actually have no difference, plus she is one of Shang Family’s four thousand treasures, close-range frontline work naturally doesn’t concern her.

"The good news is, you have no bad habits, highly malleable," Pharmacist’s Wish said, "The bad news is you have no habits at all, equivalent to a blank sheet, in Zhou Kingdom you’d have to train alongside ten-year-olds!"

"That’s not necessary, right?" Shang Xinlei couldn’t help saying, "I’m also a regular in the Secret Realm, trained in the Secret Realm for years, never had an accident."

"That’s because you always train in your own Secret Realm, with strategy guidance, teammates escorting you, this is no different than performing on stage, where’s the slightest danger?" Pharmacist’s Wish said bluntly, "If you believe you’ll never encounter unexpected enemies in your life, then maintaining this state is fine too. True danger tests your response when facing the unexpected!"

"That’s why we need your guidance, Black Wolf." Yan Qing also stood up, since he’s a Gold player, he must have a backbone: "Twenty days should be enough time for you to train us to be like you, right?"

Pharmacist’s Wish laughed.

Turns out, people really laugh when they are utterly speechless.

"You think I’m going to hypnotize or brainwash you, just stuffing knowledge into your mind?" She revealed an almost cruel smile on her face, "Since there’s only half an hour every day, I’ll do my best."

Today’s training is not to close your eyes.

In simple terms, it’s the skill ’to remain unchanged in countenance when Taishan collapses before you, and not blink when deer leap nearby, then you can handle dangers and wait for enemies’. Pharmacist’s Wish pulled out two feather dusters and instructed them to unlock defense barriers and extend hands.

The training method is simple: a feather duster sweeps across their faces. Their lower bodies can’t move; only their heads can dodge. But if the dodging is too excessive, they’ll have to get their hands hit; and if they fail to dodge an attack, well... then they’ll get a harsh slap on the face.

This training focuses on concentration and observation, as well as overcoming the physiological reaction of keeping one’s eyes wide open even if they’re hit. This technique doesn’t improve levels, but without specific training, even if you feed them secret manuals up to the third transformation, this flaw will still appear in combat.

Soon, red marks appeared on Yan Qing and Shang Xinlei’s palms and cheeks. Although for Third-Turn Messengers it wasn’t unbearable pain, the stinging shame was very real.

Pharmacist’s Wish didn’t have double standards. After training them for a quarter of an hour, he gave them a chance to challenge him. Yan Qing and Shang Xinlei, this dog couple, came up with brilliant moves quickly, yet failed to hit Pharmacist’s Wish even once. His eyes were like rulers, always maintaining a thumb’s width from the feather duster, making the dog couple sincerely convinced, willing to get slapped spinning like a top by Pharmacist’s Wish afterward.

After half an hour, the training was over, and Yan Qing and Shang Xinlei looked like freshly graduated students who underwent the harsh realities of society. Now at least they wouldn’t close their eyes when hit on the face, though they still needed practice on judging distances.

"This is just the most basic combat training," Pharmacist’s Wish said, feeling much refreshed after giving them a good thrashing, "Poison, blindness, disability, smoke, gang fights... Every scenario needs to be trained until you have the ability to respond to any unexpected situation adequately. Twenty days is barely enough to train the most crucial aspects."

Shang Xinlei activated the Green Grass Bracelet to heal the red marks on her body. Hearing this, her face turned slightly pale; the tear-streaked eyes seemed to get wet again: "But, but I mainly practice the Flying Circle School, which is mostly mid-range combat. Is it necessary to train in everything?"

"Red Snake, how can you think that way?" Yan Qing said seriously, "This is life-or-death skill, it’s never too much to train it. If you accidentally die on the next mission, the Foundation Establishment Pill and Legendary Token meant for you would have to go to White Fox or any new teammates coming after."

Damn, it seems like accepting the gift made this bandage bastard a lot more arrogant, but despite her anger, Shang Xinlei felt a tiny bit touched, snorting softly, "So eager to train with me?"

"Of course, if you don’t come, Black Wolf will just hit me the whole time."

Even knowing this training is beneficial for survival, no one is born wanting to endure hardships. He’s not a high school senior; if he doesn’t drag Shang Xinlei into the water with him, Yan Qing doubts he can last more than a few days before giving up, just like the two-year gym membership he hardly used before crossing over.

At least with Shang Xinlei around, he could watch her drop little pearls to ease his mood.

Even if she couldn’t hear Yan Qing’s thoughts, just seeing his mischievous expression, Shang Xinlei knew he was up to no good. She glared at him and took off the Green Grass Bracelet, handing it to him, "Alright, I only slipped up twice, but you slipped up five times. I’ll come over every day to watch you make a fool of yourself, and then Black Wolf and I will hit you together."

Yan Qing wouldn’t back down: "What if I progress faster? I won’t bully you, no need for Black Wolf, I’d hit you myself."

"Alright, the first to make no mistakes gets the right to hit. Do you dare to bet?"

"Bet it is!"

Watching these two betting like children, the Forbidden Army Instructor from the Thief’s House, Pharmacist’s Wish, was quite gratified: "Since you have so much confidence, we’ll have a test before meals tomorrow. The one with the most mistakes will be punished."

"Punish them by not letting them eat?"

"No, punish them by tying them to a chair, and they have to keep their mouth open no matter what others feed them," Pharmacist’s Wish calmly said, "Whether it’s leftovers, sucked bones, spit-on food - or perhaps normal food. Anyway, the punished can’t see it."

A drop of cold sweat rolled down the foreheads of Yan Qing and Shang Xinlei.

Isn’t this a bit excessive? Do the weak have to be humiliated so cruelly by the strong? The Zhou people’s taste is really awful.

However...

Yan Qing looked at Shang Xinlei and Pharmacist’s Wish, his lips curling slightly upward, and he couldn’t help but laugh. The two of them looked at Yan Qing with questioning eyes. Why are you laughing when looking at us? You’re the one getting hit on the head, not the small head, even if it’s the small head that’s too perverse.

"I used to worry you two wouldn’t get along, but now it seems I was overthinking," Yan Qing said, "Maybe it sounds condescending, but you two are teammates I recognize."

He extended his fist, speaking seriously, "I hope you can accompany me, following the Thief’s House all the way, Foundation Establishment, Ascension, until reaching the end."

Shang Xinlei and Pharmacist’s Wish exchanged a glance, their eyes subtly nuanced. After a moment, Yan Qing started to feel unsure of himself. He thought his words were quite inspiring, so why no response? Did you guys gut fish so much your hearts turned cold?

Suddenly, there was a soft chuckle, and they both laughed simultaneously, extending their fists to bump against his.

"Such big talk, you sound like you’re already the Thief Leader." Shang Xinlei snorted lightly.

"You better not fall behind." Pharmacist’s Wish said blandly, "I don’t have time to wait for you to catch up."