A Disheveled Master and a Troublesome Quest

After bidding farewell to Bloodthirsty Rose, Lin Shenyue turned and entered the apothecary.

The apothecary owner, an elderly woman, smiled faintly upon seeing Lin Shenyue. “Yue’er, what brings you here?”

Lin Shenyue returned her smile. “Auntie, I’ve come to learn the art of alchemy from you.”

The elderly woman paused, a slight frown creasing her brow as she pondered. “Are you certain you wish to learn alchemy from me? While I’ve been crafting potions for decades, I’m merely a beginner, after all. Teaching you the basics poses no issue, but delving deeper might prove more challenging than you anticipate.”

Lin Shenyue was taken aback. She hadn’t expected an NPC to speak to her in such a manner. According to the forums, when discussing life skills, a simple request to the apothecary owner typically led to her teaching players alchemy. Yet, her own experience felt strangely peculiar.

After a moment of thought, Lin Shenyue respectfully inquired, “Then, Auntie, who should I seek out to learn from?”

The elderly woman offered a small smile. “That, you’ll have to discover for yourself. I can only tell you this much. Of course, if you still wish to learn my alchemy, I won’t refuse you. However, in our profession, once you apprentice yourself to one master, you cannot take another.”

Lin Shenyue was momentarily stunned. She truly hadn’t known such a rule existed, which meant choosing a master for a life skill required careful consideration. After a pause, she respectfully said, “Thank you, Auntie. Could you perhaps tell me some of his characteristics?”

With a hint of nostalgia, the old woman replied, “He was a disheveled old man. I was merely an unregistered disciple under him back then. Unfortunately, my talent was insufficient, and I only managed to learn the bare minimum.”

Lin Shenyue felt a touch of helplessness. “In that case, Auntie, I’ll go search for him first. If I can’t find him, it means I lack the fated connection with your teacher, and I’ll have no choice but to learn from you.”

The old woman chuckled. “Go on, then.”

Stepping out of the apothecary, Lin Shenyue instantly felt a wave of bewilderment. As someone utterly lacking a sense of direction, she was now tasked with finding a single person amidst a vast crowd. The pressure weighed heavily on her. ‘I’ll just search randomly,’ Lin Shenyue thought silently. ‘Perhaps I’ll get lucky.’

After aimlessly turning a few corners, Lin Shenyue tragically realized she was lost once again. ‘What now?’ she mused, a frown creasing her brow. Then, shrugging off her concern, she thought, ‘Never mind, I have plenty of time to get lost anyway.’

As Lin Shenyue ventured deeper, a sudden “bang” echoed, making the nearby house tremble. The door then burst open, and an old man grumbled as he emerged. “Damn it, another failure.” His eyes lit up when he saw Lin Shenyue. “Little girl, go gather some Silverbloom for me, and I’ll give you something good.”

Lin Shenyue’s heart stirred as she gazed at the man before her. ‘Could it be? Did I actually stumble upon him? Is my luck truly this good?’ She nodded. “Of course, old grandpa. It’s just that I’m afraid I might not be able to find the herb.”

The old man furrowed his brow. “Silverbloom grows in the forest north of the village. While it’s not absolutely everywhere, it’s quite abundant.”

Lin Shenyue admitted, a touch embarrassed, “I’m not very good with directions.”

The old man looked at Lin Shenyue, a sudden realization dawning on him. “No wonder you managed to get here…” He chuckled, observing Lin Shenyue’s flushed face. “Then I’ll lend you this treasure for a while.” He tossed a small device to Lin Shenyue. “This is a herb locator I made myself. Just input the herb you’re looking for, and it can mark its location within a 50-square-kilometer radius.”

Lin Shenyue stared, dumbfounded, at the tiny indicator in her hand. Such a small object possessed such immense functionality. The importance of a device that could pinpoint herb locations was immeasurable; it meant alchemists would never have to worry about finding the necessary ingredients.

After handing Lin Shenyue the indicator, the old man turned and re-entered his house.

Lin Shenyue examined the indicator in her hand: [Herb Locator (Violet Gold-tier): A specialized tool for finding herbs, crafted by Master Grove. Temporarily lent to the player for one day. After one day, it will be automatically reclaimed by the system, or it can be voluntarily returned within one day.]

Lin Shenyue was slightly startled. Up until this point, she had only known about Silver-tier equipment, and anything beyond that was vague. Now, an item far surpassing the Silver-tier had appeared, and it was merely a functional tool.

Lin Shenyue casually placed the item into her bag, a sense of dilemma settling over her. If she went alone, merely finding the forest would likely prove a formidable task. Helpless, she resorted to seeking assistance from Bloodthirsty Rose in her friends list.

[Are you free right now?]

Bloodthirsty Rose was in the midst of explaining basic dungeon strategies to her guild members. Upon seeing Lin Shenyue’s private message, she immediately replied, [I’m a bit busy at the moment. What’s up?]

Lin Shenyue responded with a hint of embarrassment, [Um, I’m lost again. Could you find someone to take me somewhere? Preferably someone with a bit of combat ability.]

A corner of Bloodthirsty Rose’s mouth twitched. ‘It’s been less than ten minutes since we parted, and this girl is lost again.’ Still, she considered it for a moment before replying, [What are your coordinates? I’ll send someone else from the guild to find you.]

Lin Shenyue glanced at the coordinates next to her map and replied, [133, 357.]

Bloodthirsty Rose turned to a woman beside her. “Violet, go to 133, 357 and help someone out. It’s that girl I just mentioned, the one who sold us the equipment.”

The woman named Violet had been listening drowsily, but she sprang to her feet upon hearing Bloodthirsty Rose’s words. “Yes, Big Sister!” With that, she rushed out in a flurry.

Bloodthirsty Rose shook her head helplessly, then resumed discussing the dungeon matters.

As Lin Shenyue waited, growing bored, she saw a woman running towards her. The woman wasn’t conventionally beautiful; instead, she possessed a valiant, almost masculine aura. Upon seeing Lin Shenyue, stars seemed to sparkle in her eyes. “So cute!”

Lin Shenyue’s hairs instantly stood on end. Before she could react, the woman scooped her into a hug and began nuzzling her.

Lin Shenyue struggled to free herself from the woman’s embrace. While she acknowledged the allure of being held by such a woman, nearly being suffocated was less than ideal.

The woman, looking abashed, gently set Lin Shenyue down. “I’m so sorry, I was rude.”

Lin Shenyue gasped for two large breaths, her small face flushed—not from being suffocated, but from the blissful sensation of being embraced against someone’s chest. The woman, of course, was unaware of Lin Shenyue’s true thoughts and remained quite apologetic.

Lin Shenyue turned her head away, hesitant to look at the woman. “Are you the person Big Sister Bloodthirsty Rose called?”

The woman chuckled. “Yes, I am Violet, and I am a warrior.”

Lin Shenyue was slightly taken aback. Given the game’s minimum pain threshold of 20%, very few female players chose the warrior class. After all, it was the frontline profession, the most prone to taking hits, and even with pain reduced to 20%, it could still be quite painful. Lin Shenyue quickly cut off her wandering thoughts, then shivered violently as she saw the small stars reappearing in the woman’s eyes. She hastily said, “Please, take me to the forest north of the village.”

Violet looked somewhat puzzled but didn’t press for details. “Alright, follow me.”

After Violet invited Lin Shenyue to join her party, she was slightly astonished to see Lin Shenyue’s level, which was a remarkable 7. Even their guild’s elites had only just reached level 6 after eight hours of experience on the first day. Lin Shenyue being level 7 suggested that she and her group were likely responsible for today’s first dungeon clear. Violet, however, kept her suspicions to herself. Instead, she sent a message to Bloodthirsty Rose, then led Lin Shenyue towards the forest.

Violet successfully guided Lin Shenyue to the herbs, and they began their return journey. Although Violet wasn’t sure how Lin Shenyue knew the exact location of the herbs, she refrained from asking, respecting it as the other’s secret.

After bringing Lin Shenyue back to the designated spot, Violet departed to report back.

Once Violet had left, Lin Shenyue knocked on the old man’s door. He opened it, and upon seeing Lin Shenyue, he impatiently asked, “Did you bring them back?”

Lin Shenyue nodded, handing the Silverbloom to the old man. He snatched them away and scurried back into his house.

Lin Shenyue watched the old man disappear inside, feeling a bit speechless. Noticing he hadn’t closed the door, she followed him in.