Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?!-Chapter 108: Dungeon Opened (Third Update)

Bai Yunqi was shocked that as a dignified Great Demon, he had fallen to living by the river and sleeping under a cherry tree. Feeling despondent after hearing the news, he said with a sense of hopelessness, "I don’t eat food from the Underworld. I haven’t learned the corresponding cultivation technique to counterbalance it. Doing paper crafting consumes Yang Energy and Yin Virtue, and might even reduce one’s lifespan. I don’t have the blessing to waste like that."

Walt?!

Jiang Yuan immediately retracted the paper he had handed out. The system never mentioned this thing would reduce lifespan!

Realizing this after the fact, he looked at his health bar. Since chopping trees usually consumed both the health and mana bars, he always thought they belonged to physical strength and energy. If he felt tired after doing paper crafting for a long time, he figured it was for the same reason, and that eating a bit of food would replenish it.

Is it consuming my lifespan? Then in the real world when I do paper crafting to level up...

Jiang Yuan then checked his skills again, confirming that no side effects were noted. He thought it might be possible that the system had already taught him the cultivation technique when it unlocked the skills, similar to the Heaven-Burning Scripture and Earth Mirror Book.

"You’d better not learn it, I’ll teach you something else some other day." He sighed inwardly, a bit regretful that he had instantly lost two strong workers. Fortunately, Bai Yunqi was knowledgeable and reminded him; otherwise, it’d be bad to have his disciple lose lifespan.

He was close to maxing out the favorability rating to three diamonds. So obedient and sensible, he would surely grow to be the pillar of the small courtyard!

"Master, please teach me. I’m not afraid of losing lifespan!" Wan Mingchuan, hearing from the Yin Messenger, knew that as long as he could buy a piece of land in the Netherworld, he could live in a meticulously crafted paper house sent over.

His grandfather had never lived in a beautiful big house his whole life, and he wanted to express his filial piety.

Bai Yunqi waved his hand with a smile, "Your cultivation in the Fire Element Technique makes your blood and Qi so fiery and full of Yang Energy. You still want to eat food from the Underworld? Better practice your cultivation technique to restrain your overwhelming energy before considering anything else, or you’ll bite off more than you can chew."

"I think Xiao Bai has a point. Get proficient with the Heaven-Burning Scripture first, then learn something else."

"Okay, I’ll listen to Master!" With his master’s approval, Wan Mingchuan nodded agreeably, then started practicing "punching" by the field.

"Venerable one, where’s my incense?" Bai Yunqi, feeling bored, wanted to munch on incense while resting.

A real man can be flexible—a little hardship is worth stepping back for the incense!

Jiang Yuan casually grabbed a bowl from the storage box. There was no sand in the courtyard, so he scooped up more than half a bowl of fine dry soil and placed it in front of the stunned Bai Yunqi.

"No way, do I not even get a proper incense burner? I’ve followed you without needing temples or houses; I’ve endured living in the river and sleeping under trees, but you offer incense with a broken bowl?" Bai Yunqi was a bit exasperated, his voice breaking.

"Not broken, it’s new." Even if the new one did look a bit shabby. Since Bai Yunqi was his contracted pet, Jiang Yuan felt it was a bit too careless on his part.

But where could he find an incense burner now?

The Wilderness hadn’t descended yet, and the Market at Cyan Fish Mountain hadn’t opened.

"I didn’t expect we’d need an incense burner, nor did I prepare ahead. Just bear with it for now, and I’ll find you the finest incense burner later. I promise you’ll be satisfied." As he drew a big picture of the future, Jiang Yuan lit the offering incense.

The Incense Chart Skills not only taught how to make incense but also how to use it.

Incense flames shouldn’t be blown out. Holding the incense in his right hand and brushing upward with his left, Jiang Yuan extinguished the flame. A faint wisp of blue smoke rose slowly, and he clasped his hands in a deep bow before inserting the incense into the soil.

"Such good incense! Such skill!" Seeing this, Bai Yunqi felt much comforted.

Judging the quality of incense is simplest by watching the direction of the smoke. Good incense smoke rises in a slender line, unscattered and unbroken. After the basic quality is achieved, one then savors the energy it contains. Whether the incense presentation technique is properly matched also determines if the incense is enjoyed well.

Even using the best incense, if you don’t follow the rules and present it improperly, like blowing out the incense flame directly, it’s polluted and can’t be eaten.

Bai Yunqi observed that the most common mistake people made was offering incense to Daoist deities but using Buddhist gestures, which was fundamentally wrong. No matter how precious the incense was, its effectiveness was greatly reduced.

Finding a skilled Venerable Family member to serve was acceptable, even if conditions were tough at present.

Having been nourished by the incense, Bai Yunqi leaned against the cherry tree, took a deep breath, and let out his thick snake tail, relaxing it on the ground with pleasure.

"Brother Long, move your tail," Wan Mingchuan was practicing body techniques. Glancing over, he saw the snake tail was about to sweep over the strawberries his master had planted and hurried forward to shield them, "My master worked hard to plant these fields. If you spoil them, you better replant them!"

Bai Yunqi, enjoying a moment of comfort, was disturbed. His scarlet eyes narrowed into slits, and he said coldly, "A few lousy crops, what’s the big deal? Mind your tone, or you’ll regret it for sure."

As he spoke, he intentionally swept his tail towards the field.

Seeing this, Wan Mingchuan grabbed a stick, driving him away and retorted with a cold snort, "I, Wan Mingchuan, have grown this big without knowing how to write the word regret! Spoiling my master’s field is not allowed!"

Taking another deep breath of incense, Bai Yunqi lazily sized him up, amused, "Growing up in Riverfront Village, you probably can’t read, right? Yet you sound so high and mighty saying ’I don’t know how to write the word regret’; you probably can’t write anything else either."

Being hit at his sore point, Wan Mingchuan’s face instantly turned red to the roots of his neck.

"Come, come. I’m in a good mood; fetch the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and I’ll teach you how to write."

Everything was ready at hand, as Jiang Yuan needed them for detailing eyes when making paper crafts, so he specially bought a pile to keep in the house.

Wan Mingchuan fetched them and handed them to Bai Yunqi, who picked up the brush, writing "regret" in dragon and phoenix strokes on the paper before handing it over, "Learn these, and I’ll teach you something else."

Wan Mingchuan, holding the brush, hesitated for a moment, then respectfully put it away, picking up a stick to practice writing stroke by stroke on the ground.

"What are you doing?"

"Brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones all cost Master money. I can’t earn money, and it feels wasteful to use right away without knowing anything. I’ll practice on the ground until I’m good enough to write on paper."

Saving even that little money? What a stingy master raising a stingy disciple!

Bai Yunqi figured that with the Venerable Family’s abilities, they shouldn’t be living so poorly. Why does it feel like everything that happened since he woke up, and the people he’s met, are all... strange?

After he finished the incense, the Wilderness officially descended.

Jiang Yuan still left Wan Mingchuan to watch over the house. He called out to his contract pet, who was full from eating and drinking with his health bar now full, "Come on, let’s go explore the Wilderness."

The Bait Workshop was built successfully, and to create fish bait and feed for fowl and livestock that increase the success rate and luck in fishing, a certain kind of insect from trees in the Wilderness—Cang Yu Worm—is needed as the raw material.

The worn axe was too low-level to chop down trees in the Wilderness, but it could be used to knock and shake the worms free from the trees.

Though only one Cang Yu Worm is needed for each unit of bait or feed, as the essential raw material, the demand is huge. Finally having a capable contract pet, he can’t let it sit around doing nothing.

"Explore what?" Bai Yunqi looked wary.

Jiang Yuan coaxed and delighted, "Of course, we’re going to gather ingredients and herbs needed for incense making. You need offerings three times a day, and you’re always thinking of having me build Xiang Mountain. We need to find materials to make incense, right? Gather more, and I’ll work hard to make more. When we’re in surplus, we can build Xiang Mountain!"

"Well... I guess so." Contract pets generally don’t defy normal requests from their owners.

Bai Yunqi was displeased but couldn’t refuse. He had to set some terms, "If I gather more and there’s enough incense, you have to build Xiang Mountain for me."

Jiang Yuan agreed without hesitation. But before they could step out of the courtyard, suddenly the ground trembled and roared, sending countless birds flying, while haunting beastly roars echoed from the mountain behind the thatched house.

[Plot Quest: Riverfront Village Dungeon Unlocked. After entering the dungeon, you have three opportunities to ask questions. Correct answers will earn defense, attack, and damage reduction buffs. Players, please complete the dungeon quickly to earn numerous rewards. Note: Upon entering the dungeon, the system will no longer provide any prompts or analysis. Players, please be aware of securing personal safety.]