Chapter 59: Night Fishing Brings Good Finds

—

“Big bro, where are you? Why is it so dark over there?”

“Brother, let me tell you, Xu Dong got into a fight today!”

“Brother, when are you coming back to see Miaomiao?”

“Brother, why is it pitch black behind you? Are you in the mountains?”

—

At the edge of the Hengduan Mountain Range, some distance from the capital, Xu Shen was nestled inside a hidden stone cave. Leaning against the rock wall, he held his black longsword in one hand and a glowing orb in the other—a luminous object akin to a night pearl that cast a faint light in the pitch-black cave.

He grinned widely as he stared at his phone screen, where the three little ones were chatting with him.

—

“Your big bro is just wandering around here,” Xu Shen said casually. “I heard that night fishing in these parts can bring in some good stuff. Don’t worry!”

“Xu Dong, why did you get into a fight? Were you hurt?”

“What? You fought one-on-one and still lost?”

“Ugh, disgraceful! You’re embarrassing your big brother!”

“Miaomiao, next time I come back, I’ll bring you all something nice~”

—

After chatting with the kids for a while, Xu Shen spoke briefly with Aunt Li before switching to a call with Wang Qingqing.

“You’re out on a mission?” Wang Qingqing asked, her gaze sharp. Xu Shen’s excuse about night fishing might fool the kids, but not her.

“Yeah, I need to earn some exchange points. I still owe quite a bit,” Xu Shen admitted with a hint of pain in his voice.

—

He was reminded of the moment when Xuexue casually slapped twenty spirit crystals onto the table. Curious about how she did it, he had asked Dong Tianming afterward.

It turned out she had used a storage artifact.

Xuexue had been wearing an inconspicuous bracelet—that was her storage item.

Xu Shen had immediately wanted one for himself. After asking around, he discovered that such items were incredibly rare. Xinhuo Guard did offer them for exchange, but they cost 10,000 exchange points!

With no other options, he had borrowed the points from Dong Tianming to get one. Missions often required traveling long distances, and having a storage item for emergency supplies—like the glowing orb he was using now—was invaluable.

—

“Be careful,” Wang Qingqing said softly, not bothering to dissuade him further.

“I’m already at Core Solidification,” she added with a confident smile. “And after spending so much time with my dad at Changbai Mountain, I’m not weak anymore.”

“No matter how strong you are, you’ll never escape my grasp,” Xu Shen teased with a grin.

“Shut up!”

—

“What about your college entrance exams? Aren’t they right after New Year?” Xu Shen asked.

“I’m not worried about the academic part anymore,” Wang Qingqing replied. “Right now, I’m focusing on improving my strength to pass Capital University’s practical exams.”

“Capital University? That’s nothing for someone like you.”

“I just don’t want to risk messing up!”

—

After chatting for a while longer, Wang Qingqing had to leave for something. Before hanging up, Xu Shen grinned mischievously.

“How about a kiss?”

“Get lost!” Wang Qingqing snapped before ending the call.

Laughing to himself, Xu Shen checked his phone for any important messages. Finding none, he slipped it into the storage bracelet on his right wrist.

—

“At this rate,” Xu Shen thought aloud, “I should be able to head back in three or four days.”

He had taken on a solo mission to collect fifty tails from corpse worms, insect-like ghouls found on the outskirts of the Hengduan Mountain Range.

After nearly three days of searching, he had only managed to find seven or eight of them. Each one was close to third-tier strength—highly defensive and incredibly elusive.

And yet this mission was only classified as C-rank, with a reward of just 50 exchange points.

Mission ranks ranged from A (highest) to D (lowest). A-rank missions were extremely difficult; even B-rank missions typically required Flame Mastery cultivators or higher.

Since this was Xu Shen’s first mission, he had opted for caution and chosen a C-rank task. But even so, it was proving to be quite challenging.

—

“A single C-rank mission gives 50 points. I owe Dong Tianming 10,000… no rush to pay him back. But one treasured item costs nearly 800 points…” Xu Shen muttered as he calculated his expenses.

The more he thought about it, the more his head hurt.

“Should I… reveal a little bit?” he wondered aloud.

—

When he had gone to Xinhuo Guard to accept the mission, he learned from the receptionist that exchange points could also be earned by making significant contributions or offering rare items to Xinhuo Guard.

That’s when an idea struck him—his system store.

It was filled with items he couldn’t fully utilize. Apart from those useful for engraving runes, most of them were just sitting there unused.

Why not exchange some of them for points?

But he couldn’t just dump everything at once. Knowing how valuable these items likely were—thanks to the system—he’d attract too much attention if he wasn’t careful.

Wealth should never be flaunted.

—

Before leaving for this mission, Xu Shen had spent 500 engraving points on an item called Dark Gold Sand to enhance Xu Guang’s rune.

The results were astounding.

Xu Guang’s rune—a simple Split Blade Rune resembling a machete—had been transformed. Previously crude and basic, it now featured two interlocking blades in its design after Xu Shen modified it.

During their time at Changbai Mountain, this enhancement had allowed Xu Guang to wield two machetes simultaneously. The Dark Gold Sand had drastically improved both his rune and its effects.

If his machetes were paper before, they were now steel!

Xu Guang had been so moved that he declared his eternal loyalty to Xu Shen on the spot.

—

Seeing such results made Xu Shen hesitant about offering similar items for exchange. What if they were too valuable?

“Maybe if I offer just one occasionally… it should be fine,” he reasoned. “I’ll say I found it while exploring the mountains.”

He nodded to himself. Relying solely on missions would take forever—it was better to rely on his system’s resources.

—

Currently, Xu Shen had 13,000 exchange points, a reward from Xinhuo Guard for his contributions during the Changbai Mountain incident. According to Dong Tianming, this amount would barely cover enough treasured items for his three younger siblings.

That wasn’t good enough for Xu Shen. His family deserved the best.

—

“If I exchange one material and it’s worth at least 10,000 points… plus my current 13,000… that’s 23,000 points,” Xu Shen calculated. “At 800 points per item, that’s about 28 treasured items.”

“That should last for a while,” he thought with satisfaction. “If not, I’ll just find another excuse to exchange more later.”

“The real bottleneck seems to be engraving points,” he realized suddenly.

Without advancing further in cultivation, his Weapon Rune couldn’t handle additional engravings without risking damage to his body. If he reached Core Solidification Peak or higher, that might change.

For now, though, every enhancement required materials—and those materials cost engraving points.

—

Currently, Xu Shen had 2,890 engraving points—a healthy surplus thanks to his recent activities. Killing ghouls and engraving runes for Xiao Yun and Xu Guang had replenished his stock significantly.

Still, it wasn’t enough if he wanted to help others like Wang Qingqing or Yang Dian in the future.

“I’ll need more engraving points eventually,” he mused. “Maybe I should visit Changbai Mountain again—those corpse apes were perfect.”

Unlike the elusive ghouls here in Hengduan Mountain Range, corpse apes didn’t hide. They charged straight at him en masse—a gift-wrapped bundle of points!

—

Suddenly, Xu Shen’s ears twitched as he heard faint footsteps approaching from below and to his left.

He quickly donned his Mask of Shadows and pressed himself against the cave wall, remaining perfectly still.

Peering out cautiously, he spotted five figures emerging from the forest below…