CHAPTER 17: CHAPTER 14: TREASURE CHEST

"This system is really inconvenient."

Lin Qi looked at the system panel in the lower left corner of his vision and couldn’t help but frown.

Although he successfully set Qin Mu as the test opponent for the game, there were no control settings other than the test time. Trying to filter out geniuses was indeed a bit challenging.

Moreover, the time settings were incredibly rigid, with only three options in total.

seconds option.

seconds option.

seconds option.

"After all, we still need to select geniuses, so they can’t be too bad." Lin Qi thought for a moment and directly chose the second option.

The second-tier geniuses are neither too high nor too low, making the newcomers selected this way valuable for harvesting. After all, he wanted to improve his skills quickly, and it entirely depended on the players’ talent. The higher the players’ talent, the faster he could improve.

System: Test opponent settings complete. The test will open in half an hour. Please select the number of slots for successful testers to be introduced.

"Then let’s go with seven." Lin Qi didn’t hesitate, planning to bring in more players.

Currently, he didn’t lack food and water to support players, and he needed a lot of manpower to explore the underground Martial Arts Hall.

Previously, he was cautious because he was worried that the players he brought in might not be useful. Now, with a round of filtering, at least some strange people wouldn’t be brought in.

"Master Hall."

Just as Lin Qi confirmed the number of players to introduce, Twilight of the Gods, covered in dirt, came rushing over excitedly, almost bumping into Lin Qi.

"Master Hall! I have a big discovery!"

"What’s the big discovery?"

"I dug up a Treasure Chest underground!"

"A Treasure Chest?"

Lin Qi was a bit dumbfounded. This wasn’t an MMO game, how could there actually be a Treasure Chest dug up?

"Yes! Let me show you."

Twilight of the Gods looked at the somewhat confused Lin Qi, further confirming his impression that this NPC was a bit silly.

A virtual game, what’s so unbelievable about digging up a Treasure Chest?

In no time, Twilight of the Gods brought Lin Qi to the underground warehouse, where a large chest was placed.

"It really is a Treasure Chest!" Lin Qi was amazed at the sight of the large chest.

This large chest was the size of a suitcase, entirely made of unknown metal, with the words of the High Martial World written on one side.

College Entrance Exam Materials!

In some way, this was indeed a Treasure Chest, probably something many students hundreds of years ago would have liked.

Lin Qi promptly opened this unlocked Treasure Chest and saw a pile of college entrance exam papers inside, with shockingly bad scores.

This made Lin Qi somewhat understand why someone put these things in a metal box and even buried them underground.

"Master Hall, are these things useful?" Twilight of the Gods looked at Lin Qi with anticipation.

A Treasure Chest like this in an MMO game would be a good thing containing various treasures, but although the chest in front was different, even with just a pile of paper inside.

Since the chest could be buried underground, it likely should trigger some special event or result in a high-level reward.

After all, the NPC here had been having them dig underground. If it had nothing to do with the chest in front, nobody would believe it.

"Uh..."

Lin Qi looked at Twilight of the Gods’ expectant gaze and didn’t know what to say.

To say they were useful, they might be useful to high school students in 2214, but using these alarming things to demand a reward from him was somewhat excessive.

"Useless?" Twilight of the Gods looked at Lin Qi’s disdainful expression, puzzled, "That shouldn’t be. That place was so dangerous, I died four times before finally bringing this chest back carefully. How could it be useless?"

"Died four times before carrying the chest back?"

Lin Qi couldn’t help but feel more sympathetic towards Twilight of the Gods, but sympathy was one thing, business was another. He couldn’t easily ruin such a good relationship.

"Yes!"

Just when Lin Qi was about to comfort Twilight of the Gods, he suddenly discovered that besides the pile of papers, there were two books in the chest.

Rock-Breaking Fist: Worth having, one punch can break your teacher’s defense!

Leopard Shadow Step: Teach you how to triple jump in college entrance exams!

"Are college entrance exams in this world all this crazy?" Lin Qi looked at the two exam books, suddenly feeling he had underestimated the high school students of this world.

Lin Qi quickly flipped through the two books, both detailing how to learn the Rock-Breaking Fist and Leopard Shadow Step, these two Apprentice Level Martial Arts, unlike the Fitness Breathing Technique which was only a half.

"Where did you find this chest?" Lin Qi couldn’t help but turn to the concerned-looking Twilight of the Gods.

This metal chest was just the size of a small suitcase, and as a high school student with such accomplishments, since he could bury these things, he must have buried more than one. After all, the grade written on those papers was only first year of high school.

"Is it useful?" Twilight of the Gods felt a hint of hope when he heard Lin Qi’s question.

"Kind of useful." Lin Qi nodded slightly, "I can give you five hundred points for this Treasure Chest."

The Apprentice Level Martial Arts currently cost at least twenty thousand Bits on the market, but learning them is another matter.

"I knew it was useful!" Twilight of the Gods was excited and breathing heavily at the reward of five hundred points, "I found it in a large crack more than forty meters underground. In that crack, several unicorn-like creatures about four or five meters tall were active. I happened to see several boxes stacked next to those creatures with my spotlight, so I took the opportunity to bring one back when they weren’t there."

"A large crack more than 40 meters underground?" Lin Qi was astonished at Twilight of the Gods.

This guy could really dig; over forty meters underground, it seemed he was genuinely attempting to test how deep the underground could be.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but be amazed at Twilight of the Gods’ luck. Encountering Single-Horned Gold-devouring Rats, he only died four times before bringing the chest back.

The Single-Horned Gold-devouring Rat is one of the common monsters found in the wild. They love collecting hard metals to make nest. For an Apprentice, encountering one Single-Horned Gold-devouring Rat barely ensures survival. If several are encountered, certain death is ensured.

"A single Treasure Chest equals five hundred points. If I could manage twenty of them, wouldn’t I be able to get the middle volume of the Shocking God Breathing Technique directly?"

"Dying once costs 648, and bringing one box costs four 648s. Now I still need 19 more boxes, amounting to 76 648s."

Twilight of the Gods was calculating his savings, considering whether he could bring the other boxes back, but soon he sighed.

He was just an ordinary student. His normal game playing occasionally earned him some money, but the previous four 648s spent almost everything he had, including all his allowance for the month. Now he had to live off his savings.

Considering that he would die again, trying to bring up another two or three boxes would mean living on bread and cabbage for the next few months.

"Forget those boxes." Lin Qi saw Twilight of the Gods still pondering and tried to dissuade him, "Single-Horned Gold-devouring Rats are not only smart but very alert too. You’re lucky to have brought back one box. Next time, the Single-Horned Gold-devouring Rats won’t be as easy to deal with. If you lead them to the Martial Arts Hall, I’ll have to expel you."

Although those college entrance exam boxes were nice, considering the risk of encountering the Single-Horned Gold-devouring Rats, a warning was necessary. After all, the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall currently didn’t even have a single Apprentice Martial Artist, and facing Single-Horned Gold-devouring Rats would mean certain death.

Upon hearing the word expel, Twilight of the Gods became compliant immediately.

Being expelled from the Martial Arts Hall meant no longer being a disciple. It equated to account deletion since they couldn’t leave the Martial Arts Hall - leaving meant death.

"Time for more work again."

After admonishing Twilight of the Gods, Lin Qi returned to the rest area with the Treasure Chest to organize the Rock-Breaking Fist and Leopard Shadow Step and make several copies.

This would allow players to redeem them, enriching the career gameplay of the game, so points could be exchanged for more items, rather than severely lacking purchasing power.

As Lin Qi organized the copies of the two Martial Arts techniques, the forum of the High Martial Descent gaming platform exploded.

System: Game test assessment is now open. All pre-purchase players can now participate in the assessment. Each death in the assessment requires a revival fee of 198.