Chapter 77 – On the Matters Between Goddesses and Minor Characters

Regarding this Huaming District campaign, Longyao City had indeed made a promise to open the Base City’s storage, allowing Professionals to exchange treasures according to their contribution points.

This was very tempting.

Just imagine how many treasures and precious Extraordinary Items would be stored in a Base City’s reserves.

Advanced alchemical potions.

Rare alchemical materials.

Alchemical tools with unique effects.

And, the alchemical weapons that Professionals dream of.

These treasures must all exist in Longyao City’s storage.

As long as one had enough contribution points, they could exchange for these treasures. Such benefits would likely tempt even the famous major organizations and great Families to join the competition, wouldn’t they?

No matter how powerful an organization or how strong a Family, could they possibly be wealthier than an entire Base City?

Impossible.

Even the family fortunes of those Super Hunter Families that inherited Nightmare Species Bloodlines couldn’t compare to an entire Base City, unless it was some weak Base City established in some remote corner with a population of less than a million, or possibly even less than a hundred thousand.

As one of the Four Coastal Base Cities with a population of 60 million, Longyao City naturally wouldn’t be surpassed by any single organization or Family.

Given this, those Professionals from major organizations and great Families had already rolled up their sleeves and were racing against time to earn contribution points, intending to exchange for precious treasures for their Families and themselves.

But precisely because of this, Su Ming believed he wouldn’t be able to exchange for any good items from the Base City.

Because the Base City’s inventory would definitely be opened first to those Family organizations, and only then to ordinary Professionals.

Trainees like them would have to wait in line even after the Professionals.

This way, after the Family organizations and Professionals had exhausted their contribution points and exchanged for large quantities of treasures, what good items would be left for trainees like them to exchange for?

Moreover, Su Ming didn’t believe the Base City would be willing to bring out those truly valuable and important items to be exchanged by all Professionals.

Even if such a thing really happened, would anyone dare to openly go and exchange for them?

That wouldn’t happen.

As the saying goes, “he who owns the jade is guilty of the crime.” If some reckless fool really went to the Base City higher-ups with large amounts of contribution points to exchange for treasures, it would be almost certain that they would be secretly targeted, or even targeted by those Family organizations, and fall victim to their schemes.

Therefore, in Su Ming’s view, this so-called contribution point exchange system implemented by the Base City was essentially something that could be seen but not eaten.

The real beneficiaries were actually those from major organizations and great Families, not ordinary Professionals and trainees like them.

Of course, if one set their sights not too high and only wanted to exchange for some relatively expensive items, then ordinary Professionals and trainees could still achieve something.

But to Su Ming, who could obtain real treasures from packages, this seemed rather tasteless – not worth eating but too good to throw away.

At least, in Su Ming’s opinion, it wasn’t necessary to specifically take risks to farm contribution points just for those things.If this had been before his transaction with Xu Qianqian, Su Ming might have been tempted to secretly earn some contribution points and gather Phantom Demon materials. But now, with a stable source of crystal chips, he saw no need for such trouble.

Moreover, Su Ming had no desire for special cultivation attention. Being noticed by the Base City and the Academy would disrupt his development plans. Thus, the benefits mentioned by An Zijin held no appeal for him.

Given this, Su Ming naturally opted for the safest approach possible.

However, this was only Su Ming’s personal view.

“Do you all want to take a risk and earn some contribution points?” Su Ming asked for everyone’s opinions.

Two of them shook their heads without hesitation.

“We’re still novices. Even completing regular subjugation missions requires us to gain experience. If we get greedy in a large-scale war like this, wouldn’t we just hold the seniors back?” Jiang Wanyu was surprisingly clear-headed, showing no sign of being tempted.

“We don’t want to risk putting little Zijin in danger just for some contribution points,” Yao Beibei also shook her head.

It wasn’t that they lacked desires, but compared to those things, they cared more about An Zijin’s safety. Taking risks for such gains simply wasn’t worth it.

Besides, Jiang Wanyu was right—they were indeed novices. Trying to fly before they could even run would inevitably lead to breaking their underdeveloped wings. If the team took risks for a few contribution points, not only would An Zijin’s situation not allow it, but the seniors would also have to look after them, potentially leading to mistakes and casualties within the team.

If that happened, the consequences would be severe.

At this moment, Jiang Wanyu, Yao Beibei, and even An Zijin couldn’t help but recall the stories they’d heard yesterday about several teams that had suffered heavy casualties.

Thus, even An Zijin quickly spoke up. “Given our team’s strength, taking big risks is unnecessary. Let’s just choose a safe Defense Line to guard.”

Clearly, An Zijin was also somewhat frightened.

After all, the three girls were still newcomers who had only recently enrolled. Expecting them to disregard the safety of their seniors and themselves to take reckless risks was simply asking too much. Their first Phantom Demon subjugation had only happened a few days ago—trying to confront a Phantom Demon army head-on in a war now wouldn’t be bravery, but foolishness.

Perhaps in the future, when these talented juniors could stand on their own, they would dare to take risks, face challenges, and fearlessly confront the threats of Phantom Demons. But that time was certainly not now.

This applied not only to An Zijin but also to Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei, who had their own reasons for wanting to protect her.

As for Lei Hao…

“I’m just an ordinary student. Guarding a dangerous Defense Line wouldn’t be earning contribution points—it’d be wasting my life,” Lei Hao stated bluntly.

Su Ming wasn’t surprised.

After all, they had been teammates and dormmates for a full year. Whether it was Lei Hao or Ye Bai, Su Ming understood them well.Both of them were actually quite content with their current situation—neither was the type to grow restless or ambitious. They had a clear understanding of themselves and, despite appearing unreliable at first glance, were remarkably clear-headed individuals.

That’s why they wouldn’t covet things beyond their capabilities, nor would they lack self-awareness.

This was also the reason Su Ming had always gotten along well with them.

“To use your words, being an extra is the safest option. Playing the hero just gives you countless opportunities for a heroic sacrifice,” Lei Hao grinned and said, “Besides, I haven’t confessed to my goddess yet. I’m not willing to die so easily.”

Lei Hao’s last remark was unanimously ignored by everyone.

Not only Su Ming, but even An Zijin, Jiang Wanyu, and Yao Beibei already knew exactly who Lei Hao’s so-called “goddess” was.

And it was undoubtedly a delusion.

Jiang Wanyu didn’t hesitate to burst his bubble.

“Extras don’t get chances to catch their goddess’s attention, nor do they get to end up with her, Senior Lei Hao.”

Su Ming nodded repeatedly in agreement with Jiang Wanyu’s words.

However, Lei Hao suddenly became fired up.

“I used to think that way too, but ever since I saw that goddess was willing to interact with Su Ming here, my life has been filled with hope again!” Lei Hao clenched his small fist and exclaimed, “If even Su Ming—a guy determined to be an extra—can catch Senior Xu’s attention and even have a goddess like Junior An throwing herself at him, why can’t I…!?”

That was exactly what Lei Hao thought.

But Su Ming, who was being used as an inspiration, wasn’t the least bit happy about it.

He really wanted to say that Xu Qianqian, that vampire, wasn’t interested in him—just his blood.

But then, recalling the “hero saves the beauty” incident from the night before last, Su Ming felt a bit numb.

This… couldn’t simply be explained as “lusting after his body,” could it?

Meanwhile, Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei were also very displeased with Lei Hao’s remarks.

“What do you mean, ‘throwing herself at him’? How could our Zijin possibly throw herself at anyone?”

“I think there’s something wrong with your phrasing, Senior Lei Hao.”

The two fierce and long-winded juniors retorted.

In contrast, An Zijin was shyly fidgeting.

“Throwing myself at him… Don’t make it sound so bad… Hehe… (#^.^#)”

An Zijin covered her face with her hands.

Su Ming: “…”

Jiang Wanyu: “…”

Yao Beibei: “…”

Lei Hao said expressionlessly, “See? That’s what I meant.”

Well, this…

Su Ming and the others were left speechless.

In the end, it was Su Ming—under the death glares from Jiang Wanyu and Yao Beibei—who steered the conversation back on track.

“Since everyone feels the same way, let’s wait for Ye Bai to return from his stakeout, and then we can discuss which Defense Line mission would be safest to take.”

Hearing this, though everyone narrowed their eyes slightly, they nodded in agreement with the plan.

……

Su Ming and the others ended up waiting for a full two hours or so.

Only after two hours did Ye Bai return, looking as if he had lost something important—exhausted and hollow—and brought back the fruits of his stakeout: the Defense Line layout of Huaming District.

The reason they had to go on a stakeout today was precisely for this.Only by obtaining the defense line layout and understanding the positions and specific conditions of each line could one make a judgment and choose which defense line to station at.

The layout was extensive, depicting the entire Huaming District in extreme detail, along with the locations of each defense line.

These defense lines were arranged around a single point, layered one after another.

Clearly, that point was the opening location of the Spirit Demon Abyss Entrance.

The innermost circle of defense lines closest to this point constituted the frontline of this battle.

That was not a place where individuals of the student Rank could hold their ground.

Those capable of defending there were either high-star Professionals with outstanding strength or outright Upper-Rank Professionals.

The defense lines where students needed to station were generally further back.

After some discussion, Su Ming and the others ultimately chose a relatively safe defense line.

But they didn’t know that once they reported it and completed the records, this information immediately fell into the hands of those with ulterior motives.

A hidden scheme had thus begun.

(End of Chapter)