Chapter 045: Annihilating All Life

Since Li Xiuling left, time had flown by in the blink of an eye—three more months had passed. In the past few days, Song Ye had noticed people gradually returning from the south. After all, the war had ended three months ago; it was only natural for some to come back.

Just yesterday, a villager from Autumn Rain Village had returned. Song Ye still remembered his name—Da Dong. A year ago, Da Dong had left with his parents, but now he returned alone. When Song Ye asked about his parents, Da Dong burst into tears. Only after a long bout of weeping, once his emotions had settled, did he finally reveal that his parents had died of illness on the road as they fled the village a year ago.

Song Ye had long anticipated that in these chaotic times, many would perish along the road to escape. Da Dong found the site of his ancestral home, only to discover it had become a ruin; the traces of life once lived there had all but vanished. He squatted on the ground and wept bitterly once more. All this, Song Ye thought, was the calamity wrought by the Bone Demon Lord—one stroke of his Whisper of the Wind God had destroyed half the village.

When Da Dong had finished crying, he asked Song Ye for a bowl of tea. Song Ye did not take his money. After drinking the tea, Da Dong left the village on his own, clearly finding nothing left here worth his attachment. Song Ye was not surprised; many people came back just to take one last look before moving on.

Naturally, in these days Song Ye’s tea stall had prospered. Many returning from the south would stop for a bowl of tea before continuing on their way. And today, the novice village’s random daily quest had also kept pace with the times:

[Sell Tea]: Sell a total of thirty bowls of tea within the day.

This task was simple. Given the state of business these days, it wasn’t even noon before Song Ye had sold thirty bowls and completed the quest. Times had truly changed—during the war, he’d sometimes go a whole day without selling a single bowl of tea, relying only on that girl Zhang Zixuan’s occasional trips down the mountain to make a sale.

“Ding! [Sell Tea] quest complete, experience +10,000!”

As Song Ye’s level increased, the experience rewarded by random quests grew as well, though the two daily novice tasks still gave only 200 experience each. Since he couldn’t leave the village and the main novice quest remained unfinished, those daily rewards stayed the same. Only the random quest rewards scaled with his level; the higher his level, the greater the experience given.

Thus, apart from the occasional luck of scoring a “kill,” Song Ye now relied chiefly on daily random quests to level up. With those ten thousand experience points, a golden light flashed around him—he had finally leveled up again!

“Ding! Congratulations, player has reached level 70!”

Song Ye allocated all six new stat points to his Vitality value. His player attributes panel updated:

[Level]: 70.
[Vitality]: 724
[Spirit]: 50.

With level 70 reached, the game interface unlocked a new module—[Guardian]—and granted him one free draw for a Guardian. The Guardian draw ticket was a rare item, making this complimentary chance quite valuable. But luck was the only factor here, so he simply went for it.

Song Ye immediately used the free Guardian draw. A golden glow flashed on the Guardian draw interface.

“Ding! Congratulations, host has drawn Gold-tier Guardian [Yu Muqiu]!”

[Guardian]: Yu Muqiu.
[Tier]: Gold.
[Background]: First Sect Master of the Holy Heaven Sect.
[Realm]: First level of the Void-Breaking Stage.
[Skill]: Extinguish All Life.

The Guardian interface now displayed the image of Yu Muqiu: she wore a long blue dress with a low neckline and high slit, her voluptuous figure on full display, and wielded a purple longsword. Had there not been a background introduction, Song Ye might have mistaken her for a modern-day cosplayer trying to attract men’s attention.

Tens of thousands of years ago, Yu Muqiu was a figure of immense power—not only was her cultivation peerless, she was also a sword cultivator and the founding ancestor of the Holy Heaven Sect. Had she lived to the present day, the sect would never have suffered the massacre at the hands of Qin Xuanxi. But alas, she perished in the Third Immortal-Demon War.

Such a legendary figure would, of course, be a top-tier Gold Guardian in the system.

Her Guardian information showed her cultivation as “First level of the Void-Breaking Stage,” but this was not her true peak. As the founding ancestor of the Holy Heaven Sect, by the time of the Third Immortal-Demon War, her real cultivation had already reached the consummate stage of the Emperor Soul realm. The “Fifth level of the Profound Realm” listed here was merely her current Guardian power when watching over Song Ye, not her lifetime peak. This Guardian power could continue to grow.

Her Guardian skill, [Extinguish All Life], was one of her signature sword techniques. As a sword cultivator, her primary focus was always the sword.

It could be said that Song Ye’s luck was outstanding to draw a Gold Guardian on his first try. Although Yu Muqiu could not be directly summoned to fight by his side, he could use her Guardian skill, [Extinguish All Life]. The true usefulness of a Guardian lay in their skills, and the damage of a Guardian skill depended solely on the Guardian’s cultivation, not Song Ye’s stats.

To increase the damage of Guardian skills, one could only raise the Guardian’s cultivation by feeding them Guardian Essence Pills. After unlocking the Guardian module, killing monsters and completing quests would occasionally reward him with a certain number of these pills.

Now, with Yu Muqiu as his Guardian, Song Ye could unleash [Extinguish All Life] at the power of the first level of the Void-Breaking Stage. However, each Guardian skill could only be used once per day, so Song Ye would not use it lightly except in critical moments. Moreover, as [Extinguish All Life] was a unique technique lost for thousands of years and exclusive to Yu Muqiu, if he were to use it openly, it would cause a sensation in the cultivation world. Out of caution, he would only use it discreetly.

At the moment, business at the tea stall was thriving; all four tables were full, and many travelers had to stand by the stall to drink their tea. In a hundred li around, his was the only tea stall left. With more people returning from the south each day, weary and parched after their long journeys, they all stopped here for a drink before moving on.

Song Ye had just poured a cup of tea for one customer when another voice sounded behind him: “Boss, a bowl of tea, please!”

Song Ye paused, for he recognized the voice—it belonged to an old acquaintance!