Chapter 6

Just as Qin Lang was thinking of an excuse for Xia Xifeng to end this experience-leeching trip, Xia Xifeng came back.

Acting as if nothing was wrong, he continued showing off his “God’s Favored” skills to Perila.

If Qin Lang weren’t so familiar with Xia Xifeng, he wouldn’t have noticed Xia Xifeng’s tension.

Just like the first time he crafted items, making Qin Lang’s class set didn’t take Xia Xifeng much effort. The system’s 3D printing handled it directly, only draining more Stamina and taking longer to finish the progress bar.

When Xia Xifeng finished crafting the class set, his own quest reward also popped up.

The system rewarded Xia Xifeng with a set of iron farming tools—a hammer, hoe, sickle, and watering can—and let Xia Xifeng choose a “Skill Specialization BUFF.”

Xia Xifeng chose to reduce Stamina consumption when using life skills by 1%.

When Xia Xifeng received the quest reward, something extra appeared in his mind.

Just like after Qin Lang changed class and instinctively knew how to execute skills, Xia Xifeng also “learned” how to craft items.

When selecting “Specialized Crafting,” Xia Xifeng could craft items purely by hand. Hand-crafted items didn’t guarantee a lower limit and could fail. However, upon success, the item would have one extra affix (item-granted skill) compared to items made via the system’s batch crafting.

Xia Xifeng rubbed his head, a little unaccustomed to having knowledge directly implanted into his brain.

“What’s wrong? Still not feeling well? Let’s head back and rest first.” Leo urged with concern.

Perila also snapped out of his excitement and urged Xia Xifeng to rest quickly.

Xia Xifeng looked at the genuine concern in Perila’s expression, feeling very conflicted inside.

Xia Xifeng: 【Could Perila be connected to the Evil God Inson? Is he going to become a madman in the future? That’s way too tragic.】

Qin Lang: 【Perila could also be the Evil God himself. He’s still far from becoming a Demigod. We don’t need to be overly worried right now.】

Qin Lang liked farming BOSSes. After players reached max level, they could access legendary quests related to gods. Inson was a very weak god, and Qin Lang had farmed him many times. Even though he constantly skipped story, Inson’s story synopsis had been crammed into Qin Lang’s brain by the game designers.

Fantasy Realms had numerous gods, all “Concept” gods, divided into two main categories.

The first kind of god’s birth was unrelated to sapient beings and was called “Natural Gods.”

Natural Gods ranged from strong to weak. The strong ones, like the Gods of Light and Darkness that existed since the world’s creation, were almost impossible to weaken; the weak ones, like gods of mountains, rivers, and streams, some didn’t even have their own divine kingdoms.

Their commonality was that they didn’t depend on the faith of sapient beings to exist, and they didn’t have gender distinctions.

The second kind of god’s birth was naturally strongly related to sapient beings. They had no special designation; players habitually called them “Sapient Gods” or “Legendary Material Mobs.”

When a sapient being ignited a Divine Flame, the god they became was this type of god.

The death of gods came in two forms. One was killing the “Personality,” but the concept would still birth a new god.

For example, the changing of the God of Magic.

The other was complete death.

This kind of death mostly only happened to “Sapient Gods.”

The strength of “Sapient Gods” wasn’t necessarily weaker than “Natural Gods,” but gods born from “Concepts” that relied on sapient beings—when they lost all faith and were forgotten by everyone—would completely die.

Relatively speaking, the “Concepts” of “Natural Gods” were very hard to eliminate completely unless the fundamental rules of the world were overturned.

Inson was the weakest type among “Sapient Gods.”

Halflings, like other races, all had a “god” representing their race, also called an “Ancestral Spirit,” worshipped by Halflings as their forefather and protector god.

Every race had good people and bad people, and naturally, gods sheltering evil would be born among the “Ancestral Spirits.” Some ethnic groups would even split because of this.

For example, the Drow Elves, whom players habitually called “Dark Elves.”

Inson was supposed to be the “Ancestral Spirit” sheltering the evil among the Halfling race, the god who would split the Halflings.

But strangely, though Inson ascended to godhood, no one among the Halfling race followed him. Only mad Halflings could be forced to believe in him. Thus, his power was very weak.

Normally, first the “Concept” appeared, then the “Concept” gave birth to the god. Inson broke this rule.

Even the rules of godhood were broken, so the event of “Inson’s Ascension” naturally became the beginning of the apocalypse.

In Fantasy Realms, “Doomsday” didn’t mean all sapient beings were about to perish, but rather that the rules were collapsing and the world was falling into disorder.

Inson’s snippet appeared in the newbie dungeon and he was also a “Legendary Material Mob” that max-level players frequently visited for restocking. Players understood him extremely well.

All the information that could be dug up in the game, players had already excavated.

Although the game didn’t describe Inson’s experiences as a Halfling, players had long known why Inson ascended to godhood.

Inson received the support of an Outer God and became the vanguard to overturn the rules of Dream World.

When Inson ascended to godhood, he was already a Demigod qualified to ignite his Divine Flame, at the pinnacle of martial power among non-god sapient beings.

If Perila was Inson, then they still had plenty of time and didn’t need to be nervous right now.

After listening to Qin Lang’s comfort, Xia Xifeng’s wildly beating heart finally calmed somewhat.

He joked: 【Never thought you’d know this much lore.】

Qin Lang replied: 【Inson’s materials are in high demand.】

Xia Xifeng was speechless.

Hearing Qin Lang say that, his reverence for the Mad God Inson was almost gone.

But players at level 200+ being able to solo the Mad God Inson had nothing to do with Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang, who were only just over level ten.

The newbie dungeon only contained a snippet of Inson, and players merely witnessed this snippet, unqualified to fight Inson. Maxed-out veteran players camped the respawn timer to slay gods and farm materials, while newbie players might not even beat a skeleton.

Right now, they were weak newbies who couldn’t even beat a skeleton.

After calming down, Xia Xifeng said excitedly: 【Qin Lang, Qin Lang, if we can max our levels before Doomsday, could we change the game’s history?】

Qin Lang: 【Possibly.】

Xia Xifeng was excited the whole way back.

Only after returning to the guest room at Leo’s house and washing his face with cold water did he calm down.

Xia Xifeng said seriously to Qin Lang: “Qin Lang, I’ve thought about it again. We should still skirt around major historical events. It’s too dangerous.”

Qin Lang knew how obsessed Xia Xifeng was with game lore.

People obsessed with lore always had many regrets about the story. Like all transmigrators who enter films, novels, anime, or a beloved period of history, Xia Xifeng must have thought countless times about changing the plot and remedying those regrets.

Now that he’d transmigrated, knowing the plot inside and out, and with a system cheat, how could that bleeding heart of his possibly give up on saving people?

Xia Xifeng said: “We absolutely must find a way home safely. I will definitely bring you home safely!”

Who’s bringing who?

Qin Lang instantly understood the reason for Xia Xifeng’s abnormal behavior.

Qin Lang asked: “You think you dragged me into this transmigration?”

Xia Xifeng uncomfortably averted his gaze. The words that had been swirling in his chest for so long finally came out: “I’m sorry…”

Qin Lang: “No need to apologize. I’m very grateful to you.”

Xia Xifeng said, surprised: “What?”

A hint of a smile touched Qin Lang’s usually indifferent eyes: “Reality was too boring. Here is very interesting.”

Xia Xifeng: “What?”

Qin Lang said: “You won’t participate in the major historical events? I will. Very interesting.”

Xia Xifeng’s eyes widened so much they nearly popped out.

What was Qin Lang saying?!

He was starting to doubt whether he truly understood Qin Lang. Why did Qin Lang feel a bit unfamiliar…

Mm… Ah… Wait…

Maybe not so unfamiliar after all.

Xia Xifeng wiped his face and asked with concern: “Qin Lang, have you seen a psychologist? Are you really okay?”

Qin Lang said: “I have. It doesn’t affect my life; it’s not considered an illness. I just need to find a career or hobby I can immerse myself in. Didn’t I tell you this?”

“You did.” Xia Xifeng plopped down onto the soft, large bed. “Crap, if you’ve already said ‘interesting,’ how can I possibly stop you?”

Qin Lang sat down beside Xia Xifeng, quietly listening to Xia Xifeng complain.

Qin Lang’s IQ was excessively high, making him overly precocious. He lacked interest in most worldly affairs. But his mind was perfectly normal, his emotional intelligence wasn’t lacking, he had no mental illness—he was a very normal person.

Qin Lang had chosen a field of study that interested him, planning to bury himself in research in a field he found fascinating.

But having transmigrated, Qin Lang had no plans to do any research anymore.

His IQ might be high, but compared to delving into studies, he preferred excitement.

This world was very exciting.

Changing this world’s future was also far more fulfilling than doing research.

Xia Xifeng said with a bitter face: “I absolutely have to keep an eye on you. No way I’m letting you go seek death!”

He rubbed his face, unable to suppress the corners of his mouth from curving up: “Tomorrow, let’s keep exploiting Leo and Perila to carry us through leveling! Woohoo, letting an Evil God’s larva carry us through leveling—thrilling! So fun!”

Qin Lang nodded, the smile in his eyes so obvious even someone other than Xia Xifeng could tell he was in a good mood.

“Qin Lang! Let’s sort out the storyline around Green Sand City! Discuss where to set up our base of operations!”

“Tomorrow. The Halflings are throwing a welcome party for us. Not going to have fun?”

“Going, going! Hurry and change. Wow! Auntie’s craftsmanship is amazing, fits perfectly!”

Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang changed into their festive clothes and walked out the door.

The Halflings had stopped their labors and hung beautiful decorations everywhere in the valley.

Leo stood atop vines summoned by Perila, hanging pumpkin lanterns on the large windmill.

“Aiya, not that side! Perila, left, left… right!”

“Shut up! You can’t tell left from right!”

Leo was still very noisy, and Perila was still very irritable.

Xia Xifeng slung his arm over Qin Lang’s shoulder and said: “Leo says Perila’s personality is similar to yours, but it’s clearly nothing alike.”

Qin Lang dragged Xia Xifeng, who wanted to add fuel to the fire, away to help Roxie set the tables.

Xia Xifeng wasn’t like Leo either. Leo was much more steady than Xia Xifeng—at least he wouldn’t go provoke Perila even after knowing Perila might be an Evil God.

Qin Lang sighed inwardly. The fear Xia Xifeng had displayed earlier was completely fake.

This guy was a fool with a big heart. Even if Qin Lang himself hadn’t said he wanted to get involved in the major events, Xia Xifeng would absolutely never be able to resist either.

“Light them up! Light them up!”

Lanterns and bonfires were lit together. All kinds of delicious food and delicacies piled high on the tables.

Halflings dressed in brightly colored clothing danced cheerful dances around the bonfire.

Qin Lang, now a Bard, took out his Pocket Harp and casually strummed the strings.

Leo and Xia Xifeng pounded away on hand drums—thump thump thump.

Roxie pulled Perila’s hand, making Perila join her in a circle dance.

Perila stiffly cooperated with the little sister he doted on, hopping messily around the bonfire.

A Halfling started singing, and soon the singing became a grand chorus, the dancing growing even more passionate.

The tune from Qin Lang’s harp also formed into a proper melody.

Xia Xifeng beat his hand drum as he circled Qin Lang, trying to disrupt his playing.

Qin Lang stuck out a foot and tripped Xia Xifeng, who wasn’t watching his step.

Xia Xifeng: “Ow!”

Leo: “Hahahahaha!”

Perila, finally let go by Roxie, dodged over to rest for a moment and couldn’t help but laugh out loud either.

The joyful songs and laughter of Sunflower Valley continued unceasing through the night, lasting until dawn.