Jiang Chen had just left the general store when he received a voice message from Qing Ying:

"Brother Mortal World, should we take on this server-wide quest?"

He could hear the excitement in her voice.

Jiang Chen replied, "Yes, we should."

Qing Ying sent another voice message, "Should we go now?"

"No rush, the quest officially starts in 12 hours."

According to the quest details, the Gate of Sealing would gradually open in 12 hours and fully open in 24 hours.

There was no need to go right away.

However, they did need to get there in advance.

Jiang Chen remembered that the location of the Scarlet Flame Ancient Land wasn't easy to access.

They needed to pass through a level 15 wilderness area—the Death Desert!

Starting from the nearest city, Leaving Fire City, it would take about two hours to reach the Scarlet Flame Ancient Land, assuming everything went smoothly.

Jiang Chen glanced at the time.

It was now 10:25 PM.

"The Gate of Sealing will start to open around 10 AM tomorrow, so we need to leave Leaving Fire City by 7 AM."

Moreover, Jiang Chen had his own mysterious class change quest—The Scarlet Flame Disaster.

He needed to find the deserter "Yi Ding," who was also in the Scarlet Flame Ancient Land.

He needed to allow some extra time.

After some thought, Jiang Chen sent a voice message to Qing Ying and Tao Xiaoyao:

"Let's rest early tonight. We'll meet at the Giant Deer City mansion at 7 AM tomorrow."

"Okay, see you tomorrow!"

"Goodbye, Master…"

After replying, Qing Ying and Tao Xiaoyao logged off from their main city mansions.

Jiang Chen walked through several streets and the Central Plaza, returning to his shop on the first floor of his mansion—the Treasure Pavilion.

Although the shop's announcement read:

[For Sale: Blood Armor (Gold), Cold Frost Staff (Gold). Interested buyers, please leave your bid in the mailbox. Highest bidder wins.]

There weren't many messages, and only a dozen or so bids.

[Ten Cups of Wine: Boss, Blood Armor + Cold Frost Staff, total 40,000 gold. Deal or no deal?]

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This was the highest bid.

The price didn't meet Jiang Chen's expectations. His previous Blood Tide Greatsword (Gold) had sold for 60,000 gold coins.

Now, two items for a total of 40,000 gold seemed too low.

"Not enough people know about the shop. I need to find a way to advertise…"

Jiang Chen half-logged out and went to the official forums.

He had previously posted a thread—[Giant Deer City Mansion Shop, Gold Equipment for Sale!]

But now, the thread had sunk to the bottom.

There were only a few replies, and some even claimed it was fake.

Hardly anyone had seen the post before it got buried.

Jiang Chen wasn't good at promotion and marketing.

Suddenly.

Jiang Chen's expression froze.

He noticed the hottest post on the forum's homepage—[Master Trio, First Kill of Ancient Mystic Realm BOSS, and Another Kill of Gold BOSS King of Firestone!]

He clicked on the post, which contained a video.

Jiang Chen then realized that the stealth assassin following them into the stone forest in the Ashen Land had been recording a video.

However, the video didn't show the actual combat, only their entry and exit from the stone forest and the BOSS falling.

Most of the comments under the video were about Qing Ying.

"No wonder Blade-Raising Slayer of Yama said Qing Ying is the National Server's Number One Knight…"

Jiang Chen suddenly understood.

He couldn't help but chuckle.

No wonder, given that their team consisted of a Knight, a Priest, and a Summoner.

To outsiders, it seemed like only the Knight could be the main force.

Jiang Chen browsed the forums for a while.

Before he knew it, half an hour had passed, and it was already 11 PM.

He still hadn't come up with a good way to advertise.

"Forget it, I'll think about it tomorrow. Gold equipment won't drop in price overnight."

Thinking about having to get up early tomorrow, Jiang Chen took off his gaming helmet.

"Grumble…"

Just as he was about to get up, he felt a wave of fatigue.

He remembered he had only eaten breakfast today, and his stomach was growling with hunger.

He went to the living room and opened the fridge, which was empty.

"I wonder if there's still any takeout available at this hour?"

Jiang Chen sighed, taking out his phone to open the takeout app.

"Knock, knock…"

There was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?"

Jiang Chen was puzzled. Who would come knocking so late?

"Guess who?"

A mature, elegant voice came from outside.

Hearing the voice, Jiang Chen knew who it was. He walked over and opened the door, "Sister Rui'er… Do you need something?"

Standing at the door was Xia Rui'er.

She was wearing a white tank top and shorts, with flip-flops on her feet. Her hair was still damp, as if she had just taken a shower.

"I was hanging out the laundry and saw your living room light on, so I came to check."

Xia Rui'er looked at Jiang Chen, a slight smile on her lips, "What, can't I come over if I don't need something?"

Jiang Chen pursed his lips, "I didn't say that."

"You don't look so good."

Xia Rui'er suddenly frowned, noticing Jiang Chen's slightly pale face, and…

"Why do you look like you've been wronged? Did something happen?" Xia Rui'er asked.

"I… I'm hungry."

Jiang Chen's pale face, combined with his helpless expression, did make him look like he had been wronged.

Huh?

"Pfft!"

Xia Rui'er was first stunned, then covered her mouth and laughed.

"Stop laughing."

Jiang Chen felt even more helpless.

"I thought it was something serious… I'm hungry too. Come to my place, I'll cook some noodles for you."

Xia Rui'er smiled, her eyes curving into crescent moons.

She turned and walked towards her place.

"Um… Sister Rui'er, are you serious about cooking noodles?"

Jiang Chen followed behind, speaking in a low voice.

Xia Rui'er paused, turned around, and gave a seductive smile, "What, do you want serious noodles or not-so-serious noodles? Sister can do both."

As she spoke, she moved closer to him.

A faint fragrance wafted over.

Oh no…

Why did I have to make that joke!

Of all people, why did I have to tease her?

Jiang Chen's mind wavered, and he took half a step back.

He deeply regretted his earlier joke.

"Hmph, annoying little brother!"

Seeing Jiang Chen's slight panic, Xia Rui'er stopped pressing him, turned around, and went back to her place to cook noodles.

…

Later.

In the living room, the two of them were eating noodles.

"Eat slowly, it's hot…"

Xia Rui'er watched Jiang Chen eating noodles with a smile on her face.

Jiang Chen quickly swallowed a mouthful of noodles and asked, "By the way, Sister Rui'er, what level are you now?"

Xia Rui'er: "Level 8. The quest guide you wrote is really good."

"Then you should reach level 10 by tomorrow morning. When you do, come directly to Giant Deer City and learn the life class Tailor."

Jiang Chen said while eating noodles, "I'll store two costume blueprints in the shop. After you learn the secondary class, go to the shop on the first floor of the Giant Deer City mansion."

"Shop?"

Xia Rui'er was a bit surprised.

"Yes, I rented a shop in the Giant Deer City mansion. I'll put your name as the shop manager, so you can use the shop."

Jiang Chen nodded and asked, "By the way, Sister Rui'er, what's your ID?"

"It's just Rui'er."

…

After finishing the noodles, Jiang Chen felt much better.

They talked for a while about the Tailor class…

"Since we have to get up at 7 AM, I'll go to sleep now, Sister Rui'er."

Finally, Jiang Chen got up to leave and returned to his place.

He set an alarm for 7 AM, lay down on his bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

…

The next morning.

The alarm hadn't gone off yet, but there was a knock at the door.

Jiang Chen rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked at the time.

6:50 AM.

He got up and opened the door.

"Breakfast!"

Xia Rui'er stood outside, holding soy milk, fried dough sticks, and steamed dumplings.

"Thanks, Sister Rui'er."

Jiang Chen didn't hesitate and took the breakfast.

At 7:15 AM.

After washing up and eating breakfast, Jiang Chen put on his gaming helmet and logged in.

As soon as he logged in, he saw a crowd gathered in front of the main city mansion.

And across from the crowd were Qing Ying and Tao Xiaoyao.

Especially Qing Ying, who looked quite troubled facing all those people.