Freshly cleaned and dressed in new purple robes, Xu Yuan called out with a grin "System! My reward."
[Ding!]
[No Award Available]
His jaw dropped "What—?! Why?! You—?"
He was in confusion and disbelief at the same time, he definitely remembered the quest, right there, no doubt.
For a while he kept driving himself in strongly thinking, muttering but got no answer in response. After waiting some time,
"Haih~ seems like I was out of line. It was my fault for not looking carefully."
[Ding!]
[Host Finally Realised The Feeling of Being Ignored]
-----------
"Eh?!" Xu Yuan jaw almost touched the ground, dumbfounded
[Ding!]
***[Congratulation, Host on Completing Quest]***
[Reward: A Pendant]
[This pendant helps the user hide their presence from experts]
"Concealing presence… I don't know if it can hide me from beasts, but I'll take it." he thought to himself as a pedant from thin air created in the palm of his hand. He wore it on his neck and waited for some dramatic surge of power.
"I don't feel anything different…" But after a long wait he decided to move on the way.
"Hm~ Forget it! First, I need to get out of this place."
The thought of flying crossed his mind. He also had that flying leaf artifact, but his Qi was too weak for that artifact. He could collapse mid-air and end up becoming an offering for beasts.
Also he doesn't have any maps, so he was unaware of the right direction.
"Ah! I remembered a hint given by the system." he said, walking toward the base of the mountain cliff and pulling out the leaf artifact. Just as he was about to step on it,
[Ding!]
-------
[New Mission: Escape Beast Mountain Range]
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Xu Yuan's jaw dropped. "FUCK! THAT'S DEFINITELY ZERO EFFORT!"
His eyes twitched sharply, "Hmph! whatever." With saying that he jumped onto the leaf.
And soon the leaf began to rise, but with agonizingly slow.
A bird flapped near him, paused mid-flight, and gave him a puzzled look as if wondering how a snail had learned to fly before continuing on its way.
After what felt like an eternity, he finally reached the top of the mountain and stepped down. All his Qi is gone just from climbing because this flying artifact is actually suitable for a 6th or 7th Layer cultivator.
Putting back his flying leaf he started walking forward.
After only two-three li of distance, he spotted a man in vibrant red robes meditating on a 'star-shaped' flat rock. Xu Yuan's eyes sparkled.
"My map! uh… No, A savior! Finally another human!" Xu Yuan grinned. "Haa!"
So he dragged his exhausted body back on the leaf. Slowly, slowly he floated closer, trying to act dignified. "I can tell by his aura... his cultivation is definitely not low." Xu Yuan muttered to himself,
He landed softly a short distance away. "Now, how should I ask him for help?" he thought to mind and cleared his throat, then called out. "Dao—"
But suddenly, in a blur wave of air the man stood far from him with a pointed sword towards him, his gaze filled with cold killing intent.
"WHO ARE YOU?"
Xu Yuan felt a chill running down his spine and strange coldness in the atmosphere, he forced a smile. "B-Brother! Calm down, calm down! No need to be so afraid…"
"Hehe… I'm just here to... ask a little help if you could…!"
The young man narrowed his eyes. "What help?"
"You see, I'm… I'm lost" Xu Yuan stammered "I can't find my way out of this forest. If you could just…"
But the Young man said nothing, simply staring, his sword unwavering.
"Shit... shit! shit! He's going to kill me! I can feel it! His killing Intent" Xu Yuan panicked internally.
He tried a new tactic, he brought his hand over his head, waving slightly dizzily. "Actually, brother, I'm… heavily injured from fighting a beast. I don't have much energy left, so…"
But, he saw the Young man still stood like a rock not even flinched in his reaction. "Crap, it's not working! Why would he help me? Cultivators are not helpful types. I need to offer him something. I don't even have much money and Talking about money, he will just kill me and take it anyway…"
Desperate, he fumbled in his storage belt and pulled out shiny gold like two paper talismans. "If you help me, I will give you these for your generosity."
The atmosphere filled with silence "...."
The man's gaze dropped to the talismans, his grip loosening. Slowly, the sword lowered. "Fine~" he muttered, then his eyes softened. "Forgive my rudeness, brother, I am Ye Hua."
Xu Yuan let out a quiet breath of relief "Thank you, Brother Ye, I am Xu Yuan, a disciple of Qing Shan Academy"
"Brother Xu, I can guide you out, but…" Ye Hua hesitated, his eyes lingering on the talismans.
"Don't worry, Brother Ye, I know it's difficult to believe a stranger like me." Xu Yuan said cheerfully. "But it's not that difficult, and my cultivation is also not very high to harm you… I will keep my words."
'Honestly, these talismans must have very high value, Grand Elder gave me these bunch of life saving treasures… But right now these two slips of paper are nothing compared to getting out of this place alive.' Yuan thought inwardly.
Ye Hua pulled out a large, artifact shaped like a boat, flying just above the ground "This will be faster than flying swords."
Xu Yuan nodded with a polite smile but was annoyed inwardly. The thought of flying on a sword by himself with 1st layer cultivation was pure foolishness. He will just end up becoming a flying feast for the beast.
Then, they both sat on the artifact making their way out.