The King of Black Fog

Yang Qinglan's long hair was pinned up behind her head, turning the Emerald Bee Sword into a hairpin that shimmered with a green light, which made her face seem even fairer against the inky blackness of her hair.

"The nest building of the Song Thrush," she replied.

A hint of confusion flickered in Li Changzhou's eyes.

"Are you sure?"

[Name: Song Thrush Style – Nest Building]

[Type: Skill]

[Quality: D]

[Special Effect: When building a nest, it makes the earth more solid.]

[Minimum Use Conditions: Intelligence 5]

[Introduction: The higher the Charm, the more solid the nest.]

[Note: Pay attention, don't accuse us of selling fake goods—"when building a nest"! (Related complaints won't be notified separately)]

Yang Qinglan's game reputation had always been high, and she could easily curry favor with just her eyes.

If she used "Attract And Repel" to rescue Li Changzhou and Li Qianxia from life-and-death situations, she could gain extra reputation (similar to when Li Changzhou first led them to avoid the Iron Arrow Tree).

"By doing this," he said with slight hesitation, "won't your own attack be too weak?"

In the end, Li Changzhou was someone who only believed in himself.

If it were him, he wouldn't have the courage to spend his hard-earned Game Coins on the Nest Building Skill.

Putting herself in his shoes, Yang Qinglan probably wouldn't be willing to just concede either.

Li Changzhou didn't want his friend to sacrifice herself for his convenience; he would rather take on more hardship himself.

"No," Yang Qinglan answered, "I'm close to mastering the secret of 'Thorns,' and soon, I won't need grass seeds to use it."

"Really? Qing Lan, you're amazing!" Li Qianxia exclaimed in admiration, "To conjure a barrage of grass arrows with bare hands—it's much cooler than the dusty, 'Bull Bull Fist' Spiral my brother grasped!"

At this moment, Li Changzhou had no time for family education.

"How did you grasp it?" he asked Yang Qinglan.

"'Call the Wind and Rain' inspired me."

"Let's hear it."

"I've always been trying to find a way to counter the weakness of 'Thorns,' as you can't find grass seeds in every instance, and unlike pantyhose, you can't exploit loopholes to bring them in.

"It was only after mastering 'Call the Wind and Rain' that I realized, with skills similar to spells, the higher the Charm, the greater the natural affinity. Once I had the direction, my beauty naturally led to the understanding.

"It's a hard process to explain, like trying to describe the taste of chocolate to someone from ancient times—no matter how well you explain, they can't truly understand the flavor of chocolate."

She sized up Li Changzhou and then added, "You're not ugly; by getting closer to flames, you should be able to grasp 'Flame Wave.'"

"Is my brother just 'not ugly'? He's super handsome, okay?"

The way his sister picked up on the essential points made him feel reassured. He decided to forget the incident about 'Bull Bull Fist's Spiral' (he was good at settling scores later, with a great memory).

After thinking it over, Li Changzhou eventually reached out to stop Yang Qinglan, who was about to click 'buy.'

He said, "Forget it, Miss Yang."

"Huh?" Yang Qinglan looked at him, puzzled.

"Don't you find the pace of the game too fast to catch your breath? High intensity, heavy casualties, and then there's the element of luck with the terrain, of course, the rewards are high too," he said.

"The game rules only require participation once a month; we join six times because we choose to."

"Uh, what I mean is, the game can't be that simple. Remember the bus, subway, ship, airplane stages? When we thought of fixing the basement, it was just to cope with the opponents during the bus stage."

"I've thought about it too," Yang Qinglan nodded.

She said, "According to Zheng Qing's information, the real game starts when you get an 'origin' and 'abilities.' Now... until when do you plan on holding my wrist?"

Li Changzhou let go of her hand, scratched the corner of his left eye with his right hand, and then let it drop, pointing at her wrist as a way to ease the awkwardness, "It's slender."

Li Qianxia put her hands together and reported reverently, "Grandpa, Grandma, my brother has finally touched the hand of a woman other than me. The Li family won't die out; you can rest easy."

Yang Qinglan glanced at Li Changzhou lightly; Li Changzhou remained expressionless.

"To use a human life stage as an analogy, we're still in the womb right now," she continued as if nothing had happened, "Breaking through the limit is like being born."

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean," Li Changzhou agreed.

"Are we not digging a base anymore?" Li Qianxia was quite looking forward to having a secret base.

"We're digging," Li Changzhou said. "But it doesn't need to be too big or too fancy; just a place for training and to keep some emergency supplies is fine."

As he spoke, he suddenly began to laugh.

"We're going to transition from farming to the axe gang."

"Axe gang?" Li Qianxia didn't understand.

"Robbers, getting supplies purely through plundering."

"...When the time comes, I'll turn into an owl; I don't want to lose face."

She sounded as if she was being kind, but in reality, she just couldn't wait to turn into an owl.

Yang Qinglan was persuaded by Li Changzhou to exchange for a D-level skill.

[Name: Toucan Style · Temperature Regulation]

[Type: Skill]

[Quality: D]

[Special Effect: Adjust the temperature within a three-meter radius based on the surrounding air temperature.]

[Minimum Use Conditions: Intelligence 3, Charm 6, Perception 6]

[Introduction: Consumes one point of Constitution every hour]

[Note: Stop looking, those who are ugly should consciously choose physical skills; the strength of dung beetles suits you better.]

A skill that could cope with many harsh environments.

"Too family-oriented," Li Qianxia was almost at a loss for words, "Am I, am I too selfish?"

"Not selfish, just a bit willful," Li Changzhou said.

"Not willful, just spoiled," Yang Qinglan said.

"Brother, you must marry Qinglan. Once she enters our family, watch how I'll deal with her."

Li Changzhou and Yang Qinglan: "..."

There was nothing to say between them on various levels.

After exchanging skills, the three of them boarded the bus.

No matter how long you stayed in the instance, in the outside world, at most only a bus journey from the start station to the end station would have passed.

They had considered using the different pace of time to train and think, but there was no food.

Apart from the competing players, there were no living creatures here.

If it were an instance like a jungle, there wouldn't be plants or other life forms participating that could survive just on soil, sunlight, and water.

The Iron Thorns on the Sea Island where Li Changzhou first competed were probably carnivorous. Simply drawing nutrients from the soil would weaken them.

Of course, they could also take advantage of the time before hunger struck—if the players had any physical strength left after a life-and-death battle.

Whether others had it or not, this time Li Changzhou certainly didn't. His arm was about to fall off!

Sitting on the bus, they didn't immediately fall asleep.

A bus ride along the edge of a cliff was such a magical experience, how could they easily pass it up?

Li Qianxia clung to the window, exclaiming at the scenery outside.

The Nu River, like a ferocious python, devoured the mountains as if they were cake.

Yellow River breaks through Kunlun's gate with roars that reach the dragon gate—The turbulent momentum is powerful enough to bring to mind this line of poetry.

Li Changzhou looked out the window impassively, wondering when he could split open the earth and mountains like the raging Nu River, treating the world as his food.

"...Thank you."

The voice of Yang Qinglan softened even the deafening sound of the huge waves.

"What?" he asked.

Yang Qinglan sat in front of him, leaning against the back of her seat, without turning around.

Li Changzhou gazed at her tied-up black hair, her delicate and fair neck, and her beautiful profile.

"Thank you for saving me."

Li Changzhou paused for a moment, then said with a smile, "You shed tears to save me; what's my blood in comparison? Even if an arm was lost, it would be fine."

Yang Qinglan passed her right hand backward as if she was passing a test paper back in class.

Huh?

Li Changzhou reached out and held that small hand.

The touch was a bit like holding a hummingbird, so small and so warm that he couldn't help but be gentle.

(Grandpa, Grandma, Qian Xia was wrong. What happened before was just holding a girl's wrist through her clothes. This is my first time actually holding a girl's hand. Don't worry, the Li family line won't end with me!)

Yang Qinglan briskly opened his hand.

"What are you doing? Stockings," she said icily.

"... I forgot."

"Hmph."

Li Changzhou returned the flammable black material to her. She was stingier than a peacock, but this minor issue could be overlooked for the sake of beauty.

"Brother! Look! Aren't I impressive?" Li Qianxia leaped up and transformed into a spirited white Snowy Owl, diving over the river.

Just as she seemed about to be hit by a wave and swallowed, the Snowy Owl let out a Wolf Howl and burst through the water like lightning, soaring into the sky.

"Qian Xia, come back! Can you hear me?" Li Changzhou shouted out the window.

Yang Qinglan held the stockings in her right hand, gently caressing them. The man's hand was even hotter and more forceful than described in books.