Volume 1, Chapter 65: The Guild Token!

Cheng Nannan looked confused, blinking her pretty, large eyes.

"Why is that? Is it because Sister Yaoyao was in the tent? Well, she's not here now. If you want to, Brother Chuan, I can..."

Li Chuan raised his head impatiently.

"What on earth are you trying to do? Do you take me for one of your trash companions from before?"

Startled by Li Chuan's suddenly raised voice, Cheng Nannan stepped back several paces.

"N-No, it's not like that."

Biting her lip, she paused for a few seconds before speaking.

"I... I just want to survive. I know my own abilities are too mediocre."

Li Chuan sat back down on the wooden stump.

"So you want to use your body as an exchange for me to protect you so you can survive?"

"Yes, but not protection. Just... if you agree, and you still have time after collecting enough bloodline factors, please just help me a little."

"Can you? I really want to live. I'm really clean, and I'll do whatever you want me to do. Even if it hurts a bit."

Li Chuan hurriedly raised a hand to stop her.

The more the woman spoke, the more audacious she became; who knew what else she might say if allowed to continue.

"My plant spirit is strong, but that doesn't mean my personal combat strength is equally overwhelming. If you truly want to survive so badly, I can take you with me when we enter the palace—after all, I still have use for your culinary skills. But whether you live through it depends entirely on your own abilities."

With a complex expression, Cheng Nannan wrestled with her thoughts for a long while before finally speaking.

"Alright! I... I understand, Brother Chuan."

"These are functional fast-food items I made. Eating them restores health and mana bars, but they are only effective within ten hours of preparation."

Her gaze was filled with eager anticipation, hoping to demonstrate her own value.

"This rice ball is a functional fast-food item?"

Li Chuan took the rice ball and triggered its attribute panel.

[Sweet and Sour Fish Rice Ball: Green]
[Consume within ten hours to slowly recover health points. No side effects.]
[Evaluation: A good chef is equivalent to an apothecary.]

It actually worked, and without the trace toxicity found in potions.

This meant that sub-occupations above level three had already begun to show preliminary value, didn't it?

"This stuff is good—much more valuable than offering yourself up. Can you make something that restores MP?"

Overjoyed, Cheng Nannan beamed.

"Yes, yes! I have magic wine that restores mana values, and it's almost ready to brew!"

A light flickered in Li Chuan's eyes, and he nodded in appreciation.

During high-intensity combat, his mana bar plummeted rapidly, and relying solely on MP recovery potions simply wasn't enough. Having alternative recovery items would allow him to use them alternately.

"Very well, make more of them."

The woman was brimming with joy and immediately set off on her long legs to continue shaping rice balls.

Li Chuan could finally direct his attention back to the treasure chests.

"97, open!"

The silver treasure chest burst open, and a flash of purple light was particularly striking.

[Ranger's Shoulderguards (Set): Purple]
[Required Level: 25]
[Armor +1000, Strength +20, Evasion Rate +5%.]
[Set Bonus: Not Yet Activated]
[Evaluation: Collecting a complete set of ranger gear is a cowboy's lifelong dream.]

It was the second piece of the Ranger set!

Li Chuan was so pleasantly surprised he almost laughed out loud.

After dropping the first piece, the Ranger's Belt, he had killed three or four more rule statues, but none of them had dropped any other pieces of the Ranger set. To find one in a silver treasure chest instead was a delightful surprise!

He hoped to collect the full set of ranger leather armor before reaching level twenty-five!

He stowed the shoulderguards into his backpack and took out two purple-gold tokens.

Although the last three rule statues he killed hadn't dropped any ranger gear, they had dropped two guild tokens and a level twenty-five purple long saber.

[Golden Wheat Tang Saber: Purple]
[Required Level: 25]
[Armor Piercing +30, Sharpness +25, Strength +45.]
[Additional Skill: Wheat Wave Strike (Each basic attack extracts 1 point of the target's MP).]
[Evaluation: My name is Mai Lang, and I am—a blade master!]

This Tang saber had a striking appearance and vastly superior attributes compared to the sergeant's longsword.

This meant the sergeant's longsword could be put up on the auction house.

Actually, forget it; better hold off for now. Level twenty-five players would certainly be wealthier than current players, so listing it then wouldn't be too late.

As for these guild tokens!

[Guild Token: Purple]
[A prerequisite for creating a guild. Upon use, it establishes a primary guild with a maximum capacity of one hundred members. (Using this will activate the regional guild feature.) (The first guild created in each region will receive a special reward!)]
[Evaluation: No matter how you look at it, humans are social creatures!]

Hiss...

The attribute panel explicitly stated that using a guild token would activate the regional guild feature and grant a special reward to the very first guild created in the region.

This meant that this first guild token would be extremely precious to any players looking to establish a faction.

If that was the case...

Li Chuan didn't harbor much desire to build a faction himself, but he certainly wanted to reap the benefits of a guild.

After turning it over in his mind, Li Chuan hatched a rather devious plan.

He would first put the first guild token on the auction house and specify his exchange requirements.

Then, the exact moment the first guild token was traded away, he would use the remaining guild token in his possession to create the region's first guild. This way, both guild tokens would be utilized to maximize their value.

The method was a bit predatory toward others, but it excelled in self-benefit!

After carefully wording his listing, Li Chuan placed the first guild token on the auction house.

[Guild Token: Purple]
[Starting Bid: 100 Million Gold Coins, Buyout Price: 100 Million Gold Coins.]
[Note: The region's first guild token. Can be exchanged for level 25+ purple-tier or higher equipment and items. Send a private message with attribute panels; highest bidder wins!]

Thinking that people might miss it if they didn't check the auction house, Li Chuan also broadcasted a message in the regional channel.

[Just Picking Flowers Without Causing Trouble: I've put the region's very first guild token up on the auction house, under the functional items tab. Interested parties can check it out.]

[Love and Rights Dragon: Guild token?! What's it used for?]
[Borrowing the East Wind: Good grief, can't you go look if you don't understand?]
[Wealth from All Directions: Is the guild system finally launching? Boss, don't sell it yet, I'm going to gather gold coins right now!]
[Tao Baibai: @Just Picking Flowers Without Causing Trouble, check your private messages!]
...

Li Chuan closed the chat channel.

If he didn't ignore it for now, he had to wait until all players took notice and brought out their hidden treasures before making a decision.

The token could only be dropped by purple monarch-grade monsters. In this Giant Containment Facility, only the bouncing giant was capable of dropping it, and no players were currently equipped to handle that kind of monster. Therefore, he didn't have to worry about competing products appearing anytime soon.

"How many HP recovery rice balls have you made?"

Cheng Nannan looked up. "Four."

"That's enough. Let's go and meet up with Yaoyao."

Cheng Nannan hesitated for a moment, then grit her teeth hard and stepped out to follow behind Li Chuan.

If she backed down now, she would lose this hard-fought opportunity.

No matter what, she had to survive!

...

Outside the magnificent golden palace, beneath a stone wall hundreds of meters high, near a narrow triangular fissure gap.

"Brother Chuan! You're back from the forbidden zone? Was it fun in there?"