Chapter 8: Five-Star Main Quest (First Update)

PS: Although I'm still ranked thirteenth, I'm giving it my all! Today, five chapters! I'm doing my part, brothers, you must do yours as well!

================================

In order to complete the task her sister Meng Linglong assigned to her, Meng Chuchu purposely transferred to Xin Lang’s class yesterday. She waited the whole afternoon for him, but Xin Lang never showed up. Determined to get closer and uncover his secrets, Meng Chuchu even moved into the apartment next door. Before stepping out just now, Meng Chuchu had carefully dressed herself up, hoping to catch Xin Lang’s attention. Yet, cruel reality left her ignored—Xin Lang didn’t spare her a glance.

No, even the glance he did give her was only from the corner of his eye; he never really looked at her.

Meng Chuchu touched her cheek and checked her clothes. “Could it be I forgot to wash the sleep from my eyes?” She breathed onto her palm and said, a little frustrated, “I brushed my teeth too, and even used mint leaves. My breath is perfectly fresh!”

Dejected, Meng Chuchu closed the door and went back inside to change again.

Last night, Fatty Gu used the new “Six-Flavor Imperial Dew” that Xin Lang concocted and made a grand impression at the Spring Blossom House. He even managed to sell all ten bottles of the elixir Xin Lang had made, including the half-bottle he’d planned to keep for himself. Fatty Gu hurried back to the academy to share the good news with Xin Lang, only to witness the scene that had just unfolded outside the dormitory.

“Meng Chuchu? Why did she move next door to the boss? And it looks like she’s pursuing him, but he doesn’t seem interested at all...” With his mind full of wild conjectures, Fatty Gu pushed open Xin Lang’s door.

After his morning exercise, Xin Lang was washing up. Fatty Gu entered and tentatively asked, “Boss, did you see the girl from next door just now?”

“Yeah,” Xin Lang replied casually as he finished washing his face.

“So, what do you think? She’s the knockout beauty I told you about yesterday! I wasn’t exaggerating, was I? She’s absolutely stunning, right?” Fatty Gu said.

“She’s just a little girl who hasn’t grown into her looks yet—still a long way from being a beauty,” Xin Lang commented evenly.

“What!” Fatty Gu exclaimed. “Could it be, boss, that you have unique tastes and prefer mature women?”

Not wanting to get tangled in this topic, Xin Lang changed the subject. “Have you tried the Six-Flavor Imperial Dew? How was it?”

At the mention of the elixir, Fatty Gu’s spirits soared. He grinned lewdly, “Boss, this stuff is miraculous! How should I put it...”

Fatty Gu was just about to recount his escapades at the Spring Blossom House when Xin Lang cut him off. “Just tell me simply—how much did you sell the Six-Flavor Imperial Dew for?”

Mentioning the money made Fatty Gu even more excited. “Boss, take a guess!”

“Five silver coins a bottle?” From Fatty Gu’s expression, Xin Lang could tell the potion had fetched a good price.

Fatty Gu smiled mysteriously. “Guess higher, boss—much higher!”

“Ten silver coins a bottle?” Xin Lang tried again.

“Nope, guess even higher!” Fatty Gu urged.

“What!” This time, Xin Lang was no longer calm. “Don’t tell me you sold each bottle for twenty silver coins?”

Fatty Gu assumed an air of profundity. “Not twenty, not thirty—but fifty silver coins a bottle!”

“What?” Xin Lang’s heart skipped a beat. “Fifty silver coins each?”

He’d predicted the Six-Flavor Imperial Dew would sell well, but never imagined it could fetch fifty silver coins a bottle. Xin Lang couldn’t help but admire Fatty Gu’s business acumen.

Fatty Gu pulled out five gold coins. Ten bottles at fifty silver coins each made five hundred silver coins, which exchanged for five gold coins. Fatty Gu kept two and handed the remaining three to Xin Lang. “One gold coin covers the cost of ingredients and your labor, boss. The remaining four gold coins are our profit, split evenly—two each!”

Xin Lang had just accepted the coins and was about to praise Fatty Gu’s business skills when suddenly, the interface of his level-up device popped up with a new mission. Before he could read the task, his attention was snatched by the five gleaming golden stars at the bottom.

“A five-star mission!” Xin Lang exclaimed.

Those five dazzling golden stars startled him. “How did a five-star task just appear out of nowhere?”

Xin Lang read the mission carefully: “Five-star main quest: Within one month, earn 10,000 gold coins! Reward for completion: 50 experience points! Failure penalty: Loss of access to the level-up device!”

Below the mission were five shining golden stars.

Previously, Xin Lang had been delighted to see the five golden stars. Now, however, his joy vanished.

“To earn ten thousand gold coins in a month? That’s a million silver coins! And if I fail, I’ll lose the right to use the level-up device! If I can’t complete the mission, I’ll never be able to use it again.”

The level-up device was Xin Lang’s hope. Without it, the future for him and Hongxiu would be bleak.

“No, I must complete this five-star main quest!” Xin Lang resolved.

Through recent missions, Xin Lang had discovered that the device’s tasks fell into three categories: daily, side, and main quests. The daily missions were nothing special—fixed content, and completing them earned experience points. Side quests could be done or not, with no real penalty for skipping them. But main quests were compulsory, and failure brought real consequences. However, their rewards were generous. If Xin Lang could complete this five-star main quest, he could level up five times in a row. Fifty points, added to the month’s daily rewards, could elevate him to a dark energy stage martial artist.

Fatty Gu, seeing Xin Lang’s serious expression after accepting the coins, hastened to say, “Boss, I may enjoy my pleasures, but I would never take advantage of you, nor pocket any of your share!”

Xin Lang rubbed the two gold coins in his hand and asked, “How many of the regulars at Spring Blossom House do you think would buy our Six-Flavor Imperial Dew?”

Fatty Gu looked up, rolled his eyes, and calculated for a moment. “At least a hundred or so, I’d say.”

“Only about a hundred?” Xin Lang was disappointed. At fifty silver coins per bottle, even after costs and splitting profits, he’d need to sell fifty thousand bottles to earn ten thousand gold coins. With only a hundred or so buyers, even if they bought one daily for thirty days, that was only three thousand bottles—not enough to reach his goal.

Xin Lang asked again, “How many venues like the Spring Blossom House are there in Nine Suns City?”

“The prosperous ones? Maybe three or four,” Fatty Gu replied.

“Three or four?” Xin Lang did some quick calculations and shook his head. “It seems relying solely on the Six-Flavor Imperial Dew won’t be enough to earn ten thousand gold coins in a month. And it’s impossible to brew that many bottles in such a short time.”