33: New NPC, looking for mercenary group

"baixiao sheng?"

Old Potato chewed over the name.

It was a bit unfamiliar.

This world was different from Jiang Feng's previous life. Because technology had developed so rapidly, there wasn't much room left for the development of traditional Wuxia, and many excellent Wuxia works had never been born.

For instance, baixiao sheng—a character and concept that had been overused to death in his previous life—was still quite novel in this world.

"This thing is interesting!"

By now, Old Potato had connected to his livestream, bringing his viewers along to read the update announcement.

"It's actually a compilation of map information, but Jiang Feng really knows how to make games. He designed a baixiao sheng character that fits the world-building perfectly, as if someone is actually out there gathering information and then selling it to us. This level of immersion..."

Old Potato clicked his tongue in admiration.

[Old Potato, stop wasting f*cking time and get in the game already!]

[Just skim the announcement and go experience it in the game!]

[Damn it, I'm on a business trip, so I can only watch you experience it, streamer.]

"Alright, alright, I'm logging on now..."

Old Potato responded while contacting his three other teammates.

As it turned out, those three were still sleeping and hadn't woken up yet.

Left with no choice, Old Potato had to log on by himself first, but he wasn't in a hurry to explore the mountains.

"Brothers, let's check out this baixiao sheng feature first to get a feel for the mountain range's situation."

Old Potato quickly opened the baixiao sheng interface.

The first thing that appeared was the map of the Efeng Mountain Range. It looked massive but was covered in a lot of fog; some areas were marked as "Unknown," while others were marked as "Please find baixiao sheng to purchase."

"Good grief, it still costs money. This sense of immersion is truly off the charts."

Old Potato gradually figured it out.

The information they could see was likely the intelligence baixiao sheng had made public—stuff that basically everyone knew.

As for the depths of the mountain range—the distribution areas of certain Spirit Medicines, the Realms of Yao Beasts, potential locations of Secret Realms, and private intel regarding certain NPCs—all of that was paid content. One had to find the NPC and then buy it.

Where was the baixiao sheng NPC? What was the price?

Old Potato knew none of this.

As a newcomer who had just stepped into the Cultivation World, Old Potato still had much to learn.

This didn't leave him feeling confused; instead, he grew more excited:

"Brothers, the world-building of this Xuanhuan World is massive, and there are so many game elements. As long as Jiang Feng keeps updating, the game will definitely get more and more fun! Buying in for a hundred bucks now is a steal!"

Having gained a massive surge in traffic thanks to Xuanhuan World, Old Potato reciprocated by hyping up the game to his viewers from time to time.

"Let's look at the intel on important NPCs in the mountains. Interesting, the first one is a Herbalist."

[Ge Xuanqing]

[Mortal, Herbalist]

[The most famous Herbalist in Qinghe Town. He can identify most Common-grade herbs and even some Rank Nine herbs. He is active in almost every area of the mountain range year-round, only returning to Qinghe Town for short periods to process the herbs.]

[It is said that although Ge Xuanqing has no Spiritual Root and cannot Cultivate, his skill in herb gathering was recognized by a Branch Sect Elder of Duan Kong Cave, allowing him to travel through the mountains without hindrance.]

"Brothers, it looks like if we want to gather herbs, we should probably find this NPC to trigger a quest."

Old Potato was a high-end player who focused on social dynamics and world-building; he took notes on the spot.

Then he provided a commentary for everyone:

"Pay attention to this description. Although there aren't many words, the information density is high."

"First is the value of herbs. They should be ranked; 'Common-grade' is likely the lowest, and 'Rank Nine' would be higher. As for whether there are even higher ranks later, we don't know yet."

"Next is sales. There should be merchants in Qinghe Town who buy herbs, but we didn't see any when we were capturing people earlier. They're likely traveling merchants who only appear at certain times."

"This last point is very important. Ge Xuanqing has no Spiritual Root, but because of his Herbalist skills, he has the protection of a Duan Kong Cave Elder. Looking at it this way, Mortals can actually be played in this world. Any viewers with ideas can try a Mortal start."

While analyzing, Old Potato clicked on the next profile:

[Zhen Xingshan]

[Mortal, Leader of the Qinghe Mercenary Group]

[The Qinghe Mercenary Group was spontaneously formed by the residents of Qinghe Town, but it also includes heroes from other villages and towns. Zhen Xingshan is the most courageous and adept at planning among them.]

[In his early years, Zhen Xingshan practiced martial arts at the Qinghe Martial Hall and attempted to Cultivate. However, after years of Cultivation, he found it difficult to gather Qi into his Dantian. He ultimately chose to join the mercenary group and became its leader several years later.]

[The Qinghe Mercenary Group is responsible for protecting Herbalists, Miners, and merchant caravans in the mountains. Their tasks are not heavy. Occasionally, they perform missions to clear out Yao Beasts, but Zhen Xingshan often spends money in advance to hire genuine Qi Refining Cultivators to oversee the operation and avoid casualties.]

[Recently, the Qinghe Mercenary Group seems to have taken on a major mission and is in urgent need of manpower. They are currently recruiting heroes from outside.]

"Brothers, it's a mercenary group!"

Old Potato's eyes lit up. "This leader is also a Mortal. If we go in as Qi Refining Cultivators, wouldn't we just become the new leaders?"

Old Potato calculated for a bit; the more he thought about it, the more he felt this path was viable. Not only could they get a mercenary group for free, but it looked like they could trigger a mercenary quest as well.

Old Potato just skimmed through the remaining NPC descriptions, not paying them much mind.

The only thing worth mentioning was the intel on the Duan Kong Cave Branch Sect, but that only had a name and a location. Detailed information also needed to be purchased from baixiao sheng.

However, Old Potato had no idea where baixiao sheng was.

[Is it possible that having the ability to find baixiao sheng is the prerequisite for him selling you intel?]

Seeing this comment, Old Potato's eyes brightened. "Eh, brother, don't say that... actually, do say that! I feel like it really is like that."

How could information regarding the Cultivation World be sold to just anyone? Naturally, one had to demonstrate their ability before it was possible to obtain it.

Old Potato temporarily set aside his thoughts on researching the intel and waited for Midnight Gao Sou, Xiao Daidai, and the Mage to log on.

He said directly, "You've all seen the new update content, right? The Efeng Mountain Range has a lot more NPCs, and some clearly carry quests. I suggest we go find this mercenary group first and see what quests we can trigger."

The other three looked at each other and nodded.

Xiao Daidai asked, "But how are we going to find the mercenary group? This baixiao sheng intel didn't give a location either."

Old Potato smiled. "That's why I said to find the mercenary group first. Because they have many people and are a large target, many people in the mountains should have seen them. Plus, if we ask the townspeople, we should be able to find out where they went. This is much more convenient than finding other solitary NPCs."

The Mage also nodded. "Old Potato's thinking is indeed correct. The mercenary group is the easiest to find. Once we find them, we can have them lead us to other NPCs."

From a strategic perspective, the first step should indeed be finding the mercenary group.

And finding them didn't take too long.

The four of them grabbed a few people to ask around and soon found the mercenary group's temporary camp, where they met the leader, Zhen Xingshan.

They didn't arrogantly reveal their Cultivation levels, intending to just walk over and communicate normally.

However, they saw Zhen Xingshan emerge from the main tent. He sized them up carefully and suddenly flew into a rage, glaring at them fiercely. "Everyone, come out! The four brutes who destroyed the town are here!"