Fang Ning gradually approached, but before Xiao Hua could speak, Fang Ning preemptively said, "I surrender, no more playing."
"Really surrender? Surrendering means you're at my mercy, oh." Xiao Hua blinked and smiled.
"Hmph, anyway, I can't escape your palm." Fang Ning pouted her lips in dissatisfaction.
"Hehe, then I won't be polite," Xiao Hua walked over with a menacing posture, and Fang Ning simply closed her eyes.
"Now I can't do anything to you, so I'll let you off for now, owing it, we'll settle it later!" Xiao Hua hugged her from behind and laughed.
"Bad guy!" Fang Ning's heart warmed as she softly scolded him. The things he couldn't do now were definitely those kinds of things.
"Alright, what’s going on with this house? You and Piaoling have been discussing it all day, but why is it still like this?" Xiao Hua finally asked the question in his heart.
"Hmm, the NPC said that our house's level isn't high enough. Currently, we can only choose from the system-provided styles for renovation; there aren’t many changes we can make, and there are also restrictions on the number of rooms. Fortunately, four rooms can still be renovated. We need to wait until the house upgrades to make more personalized renovations," Fang Ning explained.
"The house needs to upgrade, what's that about?" Xiao Hua was a bit puzzled; there was no such thing as upgrading houses before.
"It should be a small change made by the system after offline. The method of upgrading is very simple: as long as we clean the house every day and decorate it to keep it clean and beautiful, we will gain experience, and when the experience is enough, it can be upgraded. After the house is upgraded, new furniture can be obtained. According to the NPC, at higher levels, we can even raise pets like cats and dogs in the house, which is quite interesting!" Fang Ning recalled, clearly interested in raising pets.
Xiao Hua nodded, understanding that the system might be trying to give players more things to do to prevent their lives from becoming too monotonous.
"I'm planning to go to Greenlight Forest to buy better mount eggs. Are you coming?" After walking around the house with Fang Ning and finding that not much had changed, Xiao Hua revealed his intention.
"Greenlight Forest is a place where there's nothing else to do except get mount eggs. It's very boring. With our level, we won't get good mounts even if we go there; it's a complete waste of gold and time. Since you’re going there to buy mount eggs anyway, just help us buy them back. Our three class advancement quests haven’t been completed yet. When you come back, we’ll finish them together and then go upgrade together," Fang Ning thought for a moment and declined Xiao Hua's invitation.
Greenlight Forest was a very special place. Xiao Hua knew that Fang Ning was right, so he didn’t force her. Although he wasn't short of a few thousand gold coins, and going there with four people wouldn’t be a problem, doing so would really have no meaning. Unless something special happened, he would basically take the airship to Greenlight Forest, choose suitable mount eggs, and then take the airship back. If he took the express service, it would be done in five hours.
"Okay then, what kind of mount do you want?" Xiao Hua nodded.
"A white unicorn!" Fang Ning said without hesitation.
"Change one!" Xiao Hua rejected without hesitation. Jokingly, the lowest initial speed of a unicorn could increase by 100%, and the highest could reach an astonishing 120%. Its appearance was also very impressive, making it the ideal mount for most players, whether for flirting or attracting attention!
"Then a white snow tiger. Naturally, the higher the initial speed, the better," Fang Ning was just joking. Unicorns were rare in any city, and they weren’t available for purchase with money alone.
"White snow tiger, got it." This time, Xiao Hua carefully noted down her request. A white snow tiger was also a relatively popular mount, though it was much easier to obtain compared to a unicorn. While its appearance could rival a unicorn, its price and market value were worlds apart.
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For the same type of mount, there were high and low initial speeds, indicating superior and inferior qualities. For example, a unicorn's initial speed could range from an increase of 100% to 120%, while a snow tiger's initial speed could range from an increase of 80% to 100%, with a speed increase of 90% considered quite good.
After noting down Fang Ning's request, Xiao Hua asked Piaoling and Fang Ying for their opinions.
"A red Flame Horse!" Piaoling's answer was exactly what Xiao Hua expected—she wanted a red Flame Horse!
Once a mount egg hatches, it binds to the character and cannot be traded, only released. Before deleting her account, Piaoling had released her level-four Flame Horse. Now, looking for a new mount, she naturally wanted another one exactly the same.
"Got it!" Xiao Hua nodded and then listened to Fang Ying's opinion.
"A flying unicorn! White!" Fang Ying's request wasn't high, she just wanted a unicorn, one that could fly!
Xiao Hua was speechless and could only say helplessly, "Change one, there are no flying unicorns in the game!"
"You’re lying, there was a flying unicorn in the promotional video!" Fang Ying wasn’t easily fooled and immediately called out his lie.
"That was the promotional video, it hasn’t been released yet." Xiao Hua felt that the promotional video was really misleading!
"Then a non-flying one is fine, a unicorn is okay." Fang Ying was reasonable and changed her request.
"How about a relative of a unicorn?" Xiao Hua decided to make the decision for Fang Ying, fearing she would ask for a phoenix or a vermilion bird after learning she couldn’t get a unicorn egg. If he remembered correctly, a phoenix and a vermilion bird appeared in the promotional video as well.
"Relative of a unicorn? What kind of mount is that?" Fang Ying was curious.
"A hornless beast, a long-tailed white horse!"
...
After some effort, Xiao Hua successfully convinced Fang Ying to settle for a Jade Lion.
A Jade Lion could be considered a relatively precious mount, with a low drop rate. Xiao Hua wasn’t sure if he could find one, but if he couldn’t get one in Greenlight Forest, there probably wouldn’t be any other place in the game where he could. So he agreed, willing to stay there for a couple of days if necessary.
"Your sister is really hard to please." Finally settling Fang Ying's mount request, Xiao Hua complained to Fang Ning.
"I don’t want to either. How can I understand why she is so introverted when I’m so cheerful and lively." Fang Ning said helplessly. She understood Fang Ying well and had a good idea of Fang Ying's response when Xiao Hua asked about the mount.
"Did you do something when you were young that gave her a psychological shadow, like taking away her lollipop or quietly putting away her clothes while she was bathing, making her unable to find clothes to wear?" Xiao Hua used his imagination.
"I’m not that bored! I treat her like a treasure! Who dares to touch her, I’ll beat them up so badly their parents wouldn’t recognize them!" Xiao Hua was just joking, but Fang Ning’s reaction was unexpectedly strong!
"...” Hearing Fang Ning’s words, Xiao Hua felt he found the reason for Fang Ying’s introversion!
...
Saying goodbye to Fang Ning, Xiao Hua boarded an ordinary airship bound for Greenlight Forest. Before leaving, to ensure finding a Jade Lion for Fang Ying, Xiao Hua specifically told Fang Ning that he might not return quickly and could stay in Greenlight Forest for a few more days. Fang Ning nodded, indicating her understanding.
In no hurry to rush over, Xiao Hua took an ordinary airship.
An airship was a magical-tech product powered by magic energy stones combined with alchemy technology, shaped like a silkworm cocoon. The upper part of the ship was for passengers, while the lower part contained various metal instruments, controlled by NPCs in the front cabin, which players generally couldn’t enter.
Characters sitting on the airship could look out through the windows, but since the airship flew very high, one could only see a blurry patch of color on the ground. More people read books during the flight to practice reading skills or chat with acquaintances. In short, they found ways to pass the time.
Xiao Hua wasn’t taking the airship for the first time and was well-prepared. Although his reading skill was already at the grandmaster level, fighting and PK were prohibited on the airship, so he brought a book along to pass the time.
Six hours, fast but not too fast, soon, through the window, Xiao Hua saw a vast expanse of green. It was his first time visiting Greenlight Forest, but he had heard much about it!
Greenlight Forest was a vast forest inhabited by various monsters. All monsters had a chance to drop mount eggs, and the drop rate of mount eggs here was significantly higher than in other cities, with a greater chance of dropping superior mount eggs.
Actually, mount eggs could also be obtained near ordinary cities, but the drop rate was too low, and only specific monsters could drop them, with relatively average quality. Unless someone had particularly good luck, most players preferred buying mounts from egg vendors, as spending two thousand gold coins for a round trip to Greenlight Forest wasn’t worth it unless they got a superior mount. Ordinary mounts cost a few thousand gold coins, and a better one cost ten thousand gold coins or a few tens of thousands. Most players could get a fairly satisfactory mount.
Since most people already had mounts, there weren’t many people on the airship Xiao Hua took, about seven or eight individuals. It was unknown how many of them were mount vendors.
The airship flew for a while above the emerald forest under a blue sky and finally stopped advancing, slowly descending somewhere above the forest. Xiao Hua put away his book, knowing that they had arrived at Greenlight Forest!
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