Chapter 117 - Quasi Hero: Nie Xiaoqian
Chapter 117: Quasi Hero: Nie Xiaoqian
Clouds were gathering in the sky.
After many sunny days in a row, a storm seemed to be coming on this day.
However, even the bad weather couldn’t quench the enthusiasm of the people of the Temple of Providence, who were waiting for and watching the ritual out of the Temple of Providence.
After the battle against the Forest Monsters, the human settlement received plenty of offerings and Souls of Civilization.
However, those Ordinary Souls of Civilization and offerings weren’t used yet, because the ritual could cost a lot of the settlement’s power of providence!
While the consumed power of providence could gradually restore, the defense ability of the settlement core would inevitably drop when too many rituals were held.
Besides, after the Twin Dragon Mount settlement was upgraded to Rank-3, and it was found that sufficient power of providence could accelerate the resource formation on its territory, Ji Ye decided to hold the rituals separately in case too much power of providence was consumed at once!
Therefore, only three offerings were placed in the Temple of Providence at this moment.
The first one was a Mental Power Crystal, which was a Refined offering dropped by the Extraordinary Rank-2 Quasi-Commander Mirage Monster.
The second one was the Extraordinary Rank-4 Perfect Mirage Dragon Tooth that Ji Ye just fused!
The third one was the Extraordinary Rank-5 Superior Black Mountain Armor that Valiant General Black Mountain dropped on the Battlefield of Providence.
Last time, Ji Ye did not dare to use it because the level of the Souls of Civilization was too low. This time, the Soul of Civilization that belonged to the Forest Monster King was also Extraordinary Rank-5, so he was very confident.
“The ritual is about to start!”
“I wonder who will be directed here this time.”
“Both Wu Song and Lu Zhishen are here, so Yang Zhi and Lin Chong may come next. They’re all good friends!”
“I, for one, prefer Hua Rong and Yan Qing!”
“I love Yan Qing too! But I don’t think it’s so easy to welcome them here. He’s a Heavenly Spirit anyway.”
“Even Wu Song and Lu Zhishen, two Perfect heroes, have been welcomed here. Yan Qing ranks the last of the 36 Heavenly Spirits. That can’t be a problem!”
Over these days, many more players from Earth had come to the Twin Dragon Mount.
As the Ten-Species Competition quest went on, it was inevitable that many human settlements failed.
So, there were newcomers in the Temple of Providence almost on a daily basis.
“Hehe. Wu Song and Lu Zhishen rank after the tenth place. They’re not among the top ten. Who’s to say that they’re Perfect heroes?”
“Also, nobody knows if Wu Song and Lu Zhishen were directed here because of luck. It’s possible that a good-for-nothing Earthly Fiend would be welcomed here today.”
However, the elites and the ordinary people were half and half among the second batch.
As the Twin Dragon Mount developed, the elites and those who were willing to work hard distinguished themselves and received more resources, and the mediocre newcomers got less and less resources and even got marginalized. Naturally, some of them were angry with the “Chosen Ones”.
“Shoot! Which son of the b*tch is being a pain in the a*s? You’re in for a beating!”
However, Ji Ye didn’t need to discipline them anymore. None of the first batches of newcomers had to either.
Mister Bug, who had been learning from Ninth Uncle and reached Extraordinary, was more than happy to show the tattoo on his arm and teach those guys a lesson!
“Who exactly is Master going to pick up today? I’m very curious.”
In fact, the old players were quite curious about today’s ritual too.
That was because both the Souls of Civilization and the offerings to be sacrificed were obtained by Ji Ye alone.
Therefore, they didn’t really know the level and quality of the offerings!
Hum!
Two dragons emerged on the Temple of Providence. After the settlement advanced to Rank-3, they were approximately three-foot-long.
After they showed up, they began to spew the power of providence at the Souls of Civilization and offerings.
However, maybe because the arrival of a hero would be too grand, the dragons of providence didn’t activate the offerings all at once.
Instead, the offerings were activated individually. The golden light was focused on the Refined “Mental Ability Crystal” first.
The transparent crystal floated in midair after it was illuminated by the golden light, and the illusion of a Mirage Monster appeared inside the crystal.
Then, an invisible mental wave spread out, but it was limited within the temple by the human beings’ power of providence.
Whoosh!
On the other hand, the Soul of Civilization from the Extraordinary Rank-2 Quasi-Commander underwent some changes too under the blast of the mental wave.
In the middle of the glow, it turned into a hazy figure who walked to the floating Mental Power Crystal step by step.
While its face couldn’t be seen clearly, the person who had chosen to arrive should be a female judging from her body shape!
“It’s a heroine! W-What a surprise!”
“Although I can’t see her face, I already feel that she must be as gorgeous as an angel!”
“That’s right. I too feel that this heroine must be very pretty. She’s very charming even though her body is still hazy.”
Seeing the stranger, even the old players who were accustomed to the ritual seemed captivated.
“There are three female generals in the Liangshan Marsh, namely Hu Sanniang, Sun Erniang, and Gu Dasao. They’re all good-looking in the original novel… Has Master welcomed one of them here?”
Elder Meng, on the other hand, stroked his beard in surprise.
“Well, it doesn’t seem very right. Theoretically speaking, while a Commander-level hero doesn’t necessarily come with poetic announcements, their arrival should be grander than this… She can’t be a female general from the Liangshan Marsh!”
What was triggered by the power of providence was the Quasi-Commander Soul of Civilization, so the person welcomed wasn’t really a hero.
For the same reason, there weren’t too many hints about her. It was impossible to identify her until she officially arrived at the Twin Dragon Mount.
But of course, for her to arrive for real, she had to pass the offering’s test first.
Hum!
The Quasi-Commander Mirage Monster was appearing and disappearing in the Mental Power Crystal. The Mirage Monsters were best at creating illusions and launching mental attacks. Though nothing seemed to be happening, it must’ve focused all its power on the arriving hazy woman.
If the female figure couldn’t resist, the arrival would fail.
It could be seen that the heroine walked more and more slowly under such blasts, and her hazy body was shaking.
But she managed to walk to the Mental Power Crystal and pointed her finger at it.
Crack!
The Mirage Monster inside the Mental Power Crystal instantly collapsed.
Then, the whole crystal exploded and turned into a streak of light under the effect of the power of providence, before it melted into the “quasi heroine”!
At the same time, the heroine finally revealed her face.
“Well… It’s her!”
After seeing clearly the person who arrived at the Temple of Providence, Ji Ye lost his cool.
“Young Master!”
The voice that was more pleasant than music and reminded him of the scenery by the lake came from the person who just arrived.
She had delight and excitement on her smiling face. Her black hair that reached her waist dangled on her white dress that felt like moonlight. She looked like a deity, a ghost, and a human being!
“She’s gorgeous! Which female general in Water Margins is she?”
“Wait, she isn’t dressed like one of the characters from Water Margins. Also, why does she look familiar?”
“That’s right. I feel that I’ve seen her from somewhere before!”
After seeing her, all the new players whispered and discussed with each other.
“Huh? Are my eyes deceiving me? This is Nie Xiaoqian, right? She looks exactly like she was in the movies!”
At this moment, Mister Bug’s eyes bulged as he cried out.
“Awoo!”
Outside of the temple, the husky, which had put on quite some weight and reached Ordinary Rank-8 although it had the same spotted furs, barked in excitement too.
It scurried into the Temple of Providence right toward Nie Xiaoqian!
“Husky, you’re here too? I thought I would never see you again!”
Nie Xiaoqian was delighted to see the husky. She petted it with her hands that were still warm.
“Why is it Nie Xiaoqian? Also, the way she treats the husky… Did she retain the memory from the Battlefield of Providence?”
Ji Ye was somewhat baffled.
Although he had Nie Xiaoqian’s keepsake, and she could theoretically arrive, the possibility of her arrival was very low.
After all, she wasn’t associated with the Twin Dragon Mount, and it was unlikely that she would choose to arrive here. She couldn’t have the memory from the Battlefield of Providence either!
“Hmm, unless…”
Ji Ye suddenly thought of a possibility.
Nie Xiaoqian was herself on the level of Extraordinary, so she might have already arrived before…
But after that, Nie Xiaoqian’s settlement might have failed the Ten-Species Competition and was destroyed like Ren Hamlet.
She was killed in the process and punished just like Ninth Uncle was. Her memory of her identity was gone.
However, because Ji Ye had Nie Xiaoqian’s keepsake that she gave him on the Battlefield of Providence, Nie Xiaoqian received new memories after she arrived—those from the Battlefield of Providence!
Therefore, to some extent, the Nie Xiaoqian here was identical to the Nie Xiaoqian who promised to serve him in the next life to return his favor of saving her life.
She seemed to have really fulfilled her promise.
It was because Nie Xiaoqian was transformed from a Soul of Civilization. She was no longer a ghost but a living person. She had been given a second life!
“Is this the benefit of being handsome?”
An idea popped up in Ji Ye’s head as he watched Nie Xiaoqian walk to him shyly and gracefully.