77: Pit Zhou An

Ding!

Congratulations! Your luck has exploded, triggering a hidden quest—The Pests of Tianzi Number One (Star Rating Fluctuates).

Tianzi Number One shop has been operating for ten years, and many freeloading pests have emerged. Please clear out these pests as quickly as possible, and you will receive generous rewards.

A quest was actually triggered.

Li Si was incredibly surprised; luck truly was a good thing. But without an NPC to guide the quest, who would issue the rewards? Could it be the game system?

“Boss, are you listening?”

Just then, Liu Youqian's voice rang out.

“I'm listening. From today onwards, you don't need to call me boss anymore, because you're fired.” Li Si's voice was ice-cold.

“What? Did I hear that right?!”

Liu Youqian simply couldn't believe his ears.

“Now, immediately, get out!”

As his words fell, Li Si no longer looked at Liu Youqian, walking into Tianzi Number One and announcing coldly:

“Tianzi Number One will be closed for 24 hours for reorganization. All employees are to gather in the first-floor hall. Get the word out; you only have half an hour. Anyone late will be directly fired.”

Li Si intended to use a thunderous approach to rectify Tianzi Number One.

However, he couldn't do this alone; he needed to invite an NPC skilled in managing large shops. The first person he thought of was Zhou Guang. That old man had been in Luanxing City for so many years; he must know many business prodigies.

“Buzz.”

The space in the Tianzi Number One hall vibrated slightly, and Li Si's figure vanished from where he stood.

“Knock, knock, knock!”

The vermilion gate of Baiyun Abode was knocked upon by Li Si.

“Who is it?!”

Zhou Guang, dressed in his inner clothes, scratched his backside as he came to open the door.

“Lord Zhou, it's me.”

Li Si concisely explained the situation at Tianzi Number One.

“Tianzi Number One!?”

Zhou Guang was utterly shocked, all sleepiness gone from his mind. He said, “I asked Bi Xuan for Tianzi Number One several times, but he never relented. Now he's actually given it to a fledgling like you.”

“Hmph, Bi Xuan, City Lord Bi, you're doing very well, aren't you?”

Zhou Guang's eyes flickered.

Li Si guessed that Zhou Guang probably resented Bi Xuan.

Regarding Zhou Guang asking Bi Xuan for Tianzi Number One, Li Si found it hard to understand. Why would Zhou Guang, a level 99 Legendary Monarch, not focus on refining his foundation and seeking promotion to a deity, but instead idly want Tianzi Number One?

However, these things were irrelevant and had nothing to do with Li Si.

Li Si just wanted to complete the quest quickly and get Tianzi Number One back in business to earn gold coins.

“Lord Zhou, never mind why City Lord Bi didn't give you Tianzi Number One. I want to ask, do you know how to manage a shop? Or do you know any business prodigies?”

“No, I don't!”

Zhou Guang flicked his palm, vanished from where he stood, and then with a “boom,” the gate of Baiyun Abode suddenly closed.

“If he doesn't know, he doesn't know. Why run so fast?”

Li Si muttered softly.

Since Zhou Guang couldn't help, he would find Zhou An. Anyway, it was just an attempt, only wasting some time.

“Great Teleportation Technique!”

Li Si's figure appeared at the entrance of Moonfall Town.

As soon as the spatial fluctuation disappeared, he heard Zhou An's voice: “Young man, if you can go into the Icy Cold Pond and retrieve the ice jade marrow for me, I can give you generous rewards.”

“.... Zhou An, you're something else.”

Li Si was already too tired to complain.

The Zhou brothers were truly something, with their inherited cunning and shamelessness, scamming players whenever they caught one.

After his vision slowly recovered, Zhou An and a player entered Li Si's sight. He quickly walked over, kindly reminding them: “Friend, don't take this old man's quest; you can't handle it.”

“Who are you? Why should I believe you? Oh—I understand now. You don't want me to take the quest; you definitely want to take it yourself.” The player's expression was extremely wary.

Clearly, he had mistaken Li Si for a scoundrel trying to snatch his quest.

“If you don't believe me, then so be it.”

It was a sudden act of kindness, and since the other party wasn't willing to appreciate it, Li Si was too lazy to explain. He looked directly at Zhou An, his voice filled with strong displeasure:

“Old man, I'm not taking your quest.”

“Not taking it? Heh heh, my, Zhou, person's quest, you have to take it whether you want to or not. Otherwise, I will let you experience my methods.” Zhou An's voice was like it came from hell.

Holy crap! This masked guy was genuinely trying to help me. At this moment, the player finally realized it belatedly.

“Bah, you old geezer, you dog liar, go home and eat shit.”

After cursing Zhou An, the player gave Li Si a grateful look and then strode away.

“Heh heh—”

Li Si couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Seeing Zhou An's gloomy old face, he felt incredibly comfortable.

“Kid, you still have two days. You just wait, in two days I'll let you know what cruelty is.” Zhou An's face was grim as he glared at Li Si.

“Old man, it's not that I don't want to help you. It's just too cold underwater in the Icy Cold Pond. I only lasted two minutes before my health couldn't hold up.”

Slap first, then offer a sweet date. Li Si employed a little negotiation tactic.

“Two minutes? You stayed in the Icy Cold Pond for two minutes?” At this moment, the gloom on Zhou An's face disappeared, replaced by doubt.

“Is there a problem? If it weren't for insufficient health, I could have stayed longer.” Li Si subtly guided Zhou An.

“You're that powerful, kid?”

Zhou An was a bit disbelieving. He knew better than anyone the freezing damage of the Icy Cold Pond. It was precisely because of this that he frantically issued quests, giving them to any player he caught, just to find someone resistant to the cold.

Zhou An never expected that Li Si would be the one resistant to the cold. After all, Li Si was the first player he had encountered!

“If you don't believe me, use your magic to detect my aura.” Li Si didn't care about being detected, because it was unavoidable; magic was on other people. Just like facing Beatrice, he had no chance to resist.

“Good!”

Zhou An mobilized his magic and probed towards Li Si.

He didn't know until he probed, and when he did, he was shocked.

Zhou An's expression suddenly turned to shock: the aura of the Da Huang Mountain, the swordsmanship of the Apex Sword Dao, the fluctuations of the vast stars, the bloodline of the Life Elf Royal Family, and finally, a terrifying power hidden within that made even him, a Monarch, tremble with fear.

Gradually, Zhou An's expression was no longer shocked, but solemn.

Just what was the origin of this masked brat!?

“Cough cough.... Of course, I believe you can stay in the Icy Cold Pond for two minutes.” Zhou An said with an awkward smile.

“So it's not that I'm unwilling to help you, but that my health is too low to help you.” Li Si guided again.

“You want me to increase your health?” Being a shrewd person, Zhou An understood Li Si's intention.

“Precisely.”

“No problem.”

Zhou An agreed decisively. As long as he could retrieve the ice jade marrow, he was willing to pay any price.

Ding!

Congratulations! You have obtained the item—Life Fruit (Epic).

Congratulations! You have obtained the item—Life Charge Potion (Epic).

Life Fruit (Epic): After use, permanently increases base health by 10,000 points.

Life Charge Potion (Epic): After use, restores 30% of maximum health. Charge time is 10 minutes, can stack up to 10 charges.

....Awesome!!

Li Si was ecstatic. What goes around comes around. He finally managed to trick Zhou An. Two epic items—this was an absolute windfall!

Ding!

Congratulations! You have used the item—Life Fruit (Epic).

Boom!

A rich life force surged forth.

Li Si's health soared to 59,117, just 883 points shy of breaking the 60,000 mark.

“Who else?”

At this moment, he felt that his health should be the highest among players. Even the tankiest knight players probably weren't as high as him.

“Is this enough now?”

Zhou An was full of anticipation.

“It should be enough. I'll go try.”

Li Si activated the Great Teleportation Technique, and his figure vanished from where he stood.

This scene shocked Zhou An once again. He could even use the Great Teleportation Technique, which had been lost for tens of thousands of years. Just who was this kid?

Space flickered, and Li Si's figure appeared inside Beatrice's wooden house.

Seeing his figure, Beatrice was not surprised. She knew he couldn't refuse her reward. Sure enough, he came back shortly after leaving.

“Have you thought it over?”

“Thought what over?”

Li Si showed a puzzled expression.

“Have you thought about procreating with me?”

“Not yet.”

Li Si immediately shook his head and said, “I'm here to borrow some of your clan members.”

Then, he explained the situation at Tianzi Number One.

“No problem. Take my token and pick them yourself.”

Beatrice agreed very straightforwardly. Li Si hadn't expected this at all; Beatrice was actually so straightforward and didn't try to use this matter to coerce him.

“Thanks.”

Then came the process of selecting clan members.

Li Si discovered a current situation: there were no males among the Life Elves. All three hundred thousand Life Elves were, without exception, female, and all were super beauties, super beauties with super strength.

The lowest among them had the strength of an 80-level Epic Monarch.

Another point worth noting was the age of these Life Elves; every single one was over ten thousand years old.

Li Si was full of doubts:

In these ten thousand years, have no new clan members been born among the Life Elves? But then again, how could they give birth without males?

......