After walking out of the backyard with little Xia Fenghua, Mu Anqi ran into General Ji. Xia Fenghua, being very tactful, excused herself with "going to check on the food preparation," leaving the two of them some space.
"The scarf looks very nice." As soon as Xia Fenghua left, General Ji softly complimented her. No matter how little Ji Huaichu showed her emotions, Mu Anqi could hear a teasing undertone in the compliment.
"General, if you keep this up, I'll return to the Nirvana Space."
Ji Huaichu didn't speak further. She simply reached out, hooked Mu Anqi's fingers, and pulled her to sit in the main seat, waiting for the dishes to be served.
"What's your plan for the next game?" Although she had previously suggested going to a Black Mirror vortex "vacation" with Mu Anqi, Ji Huaichu later calculated that Mu Anqi had already completed seven games on the Shattered Mirror Continent, and she was only one game away from unlocking the special store in the Nirvana Space.
Since that's the case, it's better to leave the choice in Little Money Tree's hands. Mu Anqi had an extremely harmonious relationship with her, and even with the special store, Ji Huaichu was confident that Mu Anqi wouldn't leave directly. As for the "dimensional travel" matter… Ji Huaichu was also very interested in the world Mu Anqi had lived in before.
The information obtained from others was always different from personal experience.
"Let me go rest and reorganize in the Nirvana Space first, then I'll see. If Wu Sansheng and the others have a team card, I'd still like to play another game on the Shattered Mirror Continent," Mu Anqi said, cautiously observing General Ji's expression. When the little ghost attendant brought over a strawberry cake, she quickly stood up to take it and placed it in front of General Ji. "Of course, if there's no news, shall we go to the Black Mirror vortex together?"
"No need to be nervous, I'm fine with either," Ji Huaichu said softly as she took a bite of the cake, "After all, this is already your seventh game."
Mu Anqi smiled; she thought the same. Although entering the Black Mirror vortex with the General wasn't very dangerous, the rating would be suppressed, and the rewards wouldn't be much. If nothing unexpected happened, it could still be considered a kind of alternative two-person world travel.
However… Mu Anqi was extremely looking forward to the items in the special store. The Nirvana Space only provided the most attractive items for players, such as the "popular items" featured at the front during promotions. Even so, the ordinary items in the special store probably wouldn't be much worse than the popular ones. The reason players rarely bought them was likely not because they wanted to be resurrected or travel to other worlds, but because their points savings weren't enough. Moreover, since it was a special store, it was surely a higher-level existence than the item shops and weapon shops in Nirvana Space. Perhaps… she could purchase extremely powerful items there, even if they were expensive.
Since she was already with the General, Mu Anqi naturally didn't want to remain on the "weaker" side. In the future Black Mirror vortex, she hoped she could truly play a key role, rather than relying entirely on Ji Huaichu to clear the space or cover for her.
Mu Anqi cautiously glanced at General Ji. Regarding the idea of becoming stronger… of course, she had other selfish motives, but those thoughts were not something she could openly express. For example… the idea of biting back exactly how one was bitten—there was no way she could boast about that now.
"General, you're really good to me," Mu Anqi said happily, propping her chin on her hand as she looked at Ji Huaichu, receiving a faint smile in return.
One dish after another was served, and Mu Anqi ate quickly. Once she was full, she bid farewell to the General and returned to the Nirvana Space.
As soon as Mu Anqi teleported away, Ji Huaichu expressionlessly ate the remaining piece of cake in one bite, then stood up. "Nirvana Space…"
An unshakable existence, truly troublesome. Suppressing her murderous intent, Ji Huaichu glanced at little Xia Fenghua in the corner. She had no worries about Mu Anqi socializing or playing games with friends, nor did she fear the monsters or ghosts of the Shattered Mirror Continent. It was only the unimaginable entities of the Nirvana Space that truly unsettled Ji Huaichu, yet left her powerless to resist.
"Has anyone dealt with that newly appeared strange Black Mirror vortex?" Ji Huaichu raised her hand, and the battle armor gathered around her.
"Not yet. That Black Mirror vortex appeared very close to the Feast of Ultimate Bliss. There are candidates from Taiyin and Mingdu, but they haven't decided who would be most suitable to act," Xia Fenghua explained in time. Seeing General Ji's state, she couldn't help but ask, "General? What's…?"
"It's time to break through to Third Tier."
The time flow inside the Black Mirror vortex was different from that of the Shattered Mirror Continent. Although extremely dangerous, it was also a good place for the strong on the Shattered Mirror Continent to surpass their limits.
…
Having eaten her fill, Mu Anqi returned to the Nirvana Space in good spirits. She stretched her muscles slightly, then carefully washed her hands and face before proceeding to skill extraction.
"Please, let me become a real rich lady!" No more useless skills like auras—can't I just truly get 300 million points and become rich overnight?
[Ding! Congratulations on acquiring passive skill: Windfall Fortune! Detected that the player already possesses this skill; Passive· Windfall Fortune skill automatically upgraded.]
[Passive· Windfall Fortune]: Dungeon settlement points +150%
Really?! It's finally time for it to upgrade!
Mu Anqi was ecstatic. Could it be that metaphysics really works? Next time she extracts a skill, she must burn incense and pray! The settlement points increased from 100% to 150%, meaning that if she later earns an S-rank, she would get 2,500 points.
"The increase… isn't very high, but this is still pretty good. Next time I get this skill, it should be a 200% boost." Mu Anqi wasn't too greedy; the long-term value of a passive skill upgrade was tremendous. After all, a player without this passive skill would have to work themselves to exhaustion for an A-rank, only earning 500 points.
After extracting the skill, everything became dull and uninteresting. Mu Anqi began to miss the feeling of getting two consecutive draws in the last game. Sigh, if only one day she could manage a ten-draw—well, never mind, she couldn't save that many.
She had used two substitute paper dolls and needed to replenish them to maintain an inventory of five. The Special Incendiary Bottle wasn't very useful, though it might be that the Apothecary's freezing potion had a counter effect. However, the Arc Hand Grenade was extremely effective; its significance wasn't in damage, but in the paralysis effect and instant disruption it caused. Three Molotovs would be enough to buy, and for Arc Hand Grenades, she'd store… five for now. As for Rough crafted grenades and the hand grenade, Mu Anqi still had plenty, so no need to replenish them for the time being.
Then… came the bullet cards. This game didn't use the anti-monster or anti-ghost bullets, so those didn't need replenishing for now. As for the regular bullets, their effect was too low. After asking in the weapon shop, Mu Anqi learned with the shopkeeper's smile that upgrading ordinary bullets into advanced bullets required spending points to unlock a "patent"!
"These are your items, so why charge a patent fee?"
"The purchase of special bullets has restrictions," the shopkeeper said with a slight smile. "If you pay an extra fee, I can show you five types of special bullets: 'Armor-Piercing,' 'Explosive,' 'Freezing,' 'Flame,' and 'Electrified.'"
Mu Anqi: "…"
Gritting her teeth, she paid the non-discounted 200 points. The shopkeeper then took out another set of purple bullet cards. On the back of each card were various designs: the armor-piercing card showed a cracked shield, the explosive card a burst of fire, the freezing card an ice crystal, the flame card—obviously fire—and the electrified card a lightning bolt, simple and clear.
"Each card contains five special bullets. These five types of bullets are sold as a set. The original price is 125 points, discounted to 120 points, and you can also enjoy the VIP discount on top of that!"
"Buying the set only saves five points? That's just one point cheaper than buying individually!" Mu Anqi was speechless. Isn't this a bit too stingy? Fortunately, this discount was different from a half-price discount—her passive skill could still take effect, or else it would have been a huge loss.
"But if you buy the full set, we'll give you a Repair Stone," the shopkeeper said with a smile, producing an inconspicuous gray little stone. "These bullets cause significant weapon wear. Continuous use may directly damage the weapon. The Repair Stone can repair the wear in time, eliminating potential danger."
Hearing this nonsense, and having already spent 200 points to unlock it, how could Mu Anqi not buy it? She purchased two full sets at once, gaining ten bullets of each type, planning to test them in the next game before deciding on future purchases.
Including the unlocking fee and the initial skill extraction, Mu Anqi had now spent 848 points. Such an astonishing rate of point consumption… and this was still the result of her not visiting the training ground or needing to eat in the Nirvana Space.
"Sigh, I didn't clear this by myself at all—this whole setup is all thanks to money power." After checking her items, Mu Anqi looked at the half-price discount section. She rarely used the candy cane now. Aside from launching candy as supplies, its "offensive" power was really weak. Maybe a player with great strength could use a candy cane like a golden staff, but Mu Anqi's body hadn't evolved. Her skills and passives didn't improve her physical traits, and although the herbal bath helped with training, she still couldn't smash an enemy's head with a candy cane.
Daggers were good, but still close-range tools. Mu Anqi had no stealth or mobility skills, so using a dagger had limitations; most of the time, she used it for melee counterattacks.
A special assault rifle? A large, high-attack weapon? Before making a decision, Mu Anqi planned to try her luck in the half-price section, especially since she also wanted to get some armor. The point expenditure was certainly not low.
[Portable Assault Rifle]: Specially produced in Nirvana Space. Has three bullet card slots; bullets can be selected with the mind. No recoil, highly stable, and can be reduced in size. Price: 2,000 points
[Demon Sword · Ghost Slash]: A demon-slaying sword infused with countless yin energies and grudges, using blood energy as its edge to cut through all. Sharp, self-repairing, and has growth potential. Original price: 2,500 points (half-price discount: 1,250 points)
Both of these weapons made Mu Anqi's heart race, and she found it hard to choose. If the half-price section didn't have this sword, she would have definitely chosen the assault rifle—just seeing the "three slots" was enough to excite her. But this sword was half-price!
If she got both… would she really have enough points left to buy armor?