Gu Qing walked over, her slender waist swaying.
It wasn't that she intentionally walked this way.
But because her waist was supple and slender, and her hips were quite full.
So when she walked, her hips would sway gently.
You could say she was naturally graceful.
Gu Qing smiled and said, "Lord, you were gone for so long this time."
"Long? It should have only been about two hours."
"Even one hour feels long to me."
"Then I'll be quicker next time."
Gu Qing chuckled lightly. "I'm just kidding. There's no need to rush, Lord. Just be safe on the road. Look at all this sweat, let me wipe it for you."
As she spoke, she used the back of her hand to wipe Zhao Chi's forehead.
Zhao Chi felt a delicate, moist touch brush past, gone in an instant.
Gu Qing was also sweating.
Fine beads of sweat dotted her forehead.
The long hair at her temples clung to her cheeks.
The sweat on her neck caught the setting sun, reflecting an orange-yellow light.
Her cheeks were rosy, and she was panting softly and incessantly.
It was clear she was a little tired too.
She must have been working hard the whole time.
Zhao Chi said, "You're sweating too. Let me wipe your forehead."
He raised his hand, but before he could reach her, Gu Qing leaned in on her own.
He had intended to wipe the sweat from her forehead, but instead, her soft, smooth cheek pressed against his hand.
Gu Qing's face nuzzled against his hand.
"Hee hee, thank you, Lord."
"...No need to thank me. You're the one working so hard. I should be thanking you."
Gu Qing said, "Of course I have to work hard. How could I possibly slack off when I'm working for my Lord?"
Zhao Chi said gently, "You've worked hard. How much is left?"
Gu Qing pointed behind her. "Just a little bit more. Tang Ruan and the others are still carrying things. We'll go meet them and help lighten their load. You should rest first, Lord. We'll be back soon."
"I'll go with you."
Gu Qing stopped him. "No need. You rest here. Everyone, with me! This is the last half-trip."
The female villagers and Goblins followed Gu Qing and left.
Only the two mutts remained, lying listlessly by the house.
Zhao Chi sat down on a flat piece of stone to rest.
He took out the two Treasure Chests he had acquired.
Both were palm-sized wooden chests; you could even call them small wooden boxes.
They were small and light.
Zhao Chi first opened the initial Wooden Treasure Chest.
The wooden lid opened, and a white light shot out.
It was blinding.
The wooden chest gradually became transparent in the white light.
The light gathered on the ground at his feet.
Soon, a number of items appeared on the ground.
System Notification:
[You have obtained the following items]:
[Basic Life Potion] x5
[Basic Life Pill] x5
[Speed Building Talisman] x5
[Flame Curse Talisman] x1
(Basic Life Potion: Restores 20 Life within 5 seconds. Adds 10% drug resistance.)
(Basic Life Pill: Restores 40 Life over 100 seconds. Adds 10% drug resistance.)
(Speed Building Talisman: Allows a basic, small building to be constructed instantly. Increases the construction progress of high-level, large buildings. Still consumes building materials as normal.)
(Flame Curse Talisman: A basic Fire-element Spiritual Technique. Inflicts a certain amount of fire damage on an enemy.)
In total, he received 16 items of 4 different types.
This was all part of the novice bonus.
Every Lord got it.
「Basic Life Potion」
It was a glass bottle the size of an index finger, filled with a cloudy red liquid.
Drinking it would rapidly restore Life Value.
A person with a normal Constitution of 5 would have a total of 100 Life Value.
Gu Qing, Tang Ruan, and the others had 8 Constitution, so their Life Value was even higher.
20 Life Value was about the equivalent of a gash on the thigh or a fractured arm.
It was considered a light injury.
This Potion could provide a quick recovery.
However, it could only heal injuries, not disabilities.
If an arm or finger was severed, taking medicine wouldn't make it grow back.
No matter the medicine, the body would develop a corresponding resistance after taking it.
Life Potions increase one's resistance to life recovery.
Stamina Potions increased resistance to stamina recovery.
The higher the body's resistance, the less effective the corresponding medicine would be next time.
When resistance reached 100%, no amount of medicine would have any effect.
That's why you couldn't just keep chugging potions while fighting in the middle of an enemy horde.
The body's resistance would decrease over time, by about 5% per hour.
However, Gu Qing's Healing Skills didn't have this kind of resistance limitation.
As long as she had Spiritual Power, they would always remain 100% effective.
「Basic Life Pill」
They were small red pills, about the size of a peanut.
The Pill's effect was double that of the Potion.
But it took effect very slowly.
All told, it only restored 1 Life every 2.5 seconds, which was 10 times slower than the Potion.
Therefore, Potions were better suited for emergencies.
Pills were more suitable for use after a battle, when time was plentiful.
Other than that, the Potion was a liquid, and the Pill was a solid.
The Pills were a bit easier to carry.
「Speed Building Talisman」
It could make Basic Buildings get constructed rapidly.
This could save a great deal of construction time.
But for a large building, it might only complete the foundation.
Multiple Speed Building Talismans could be used to construct a large building.
However, you still had to provide the building materials yourself.
「Flame Curse Talisman」
Flame Curse was a type of Spiritual Technique, just like Gu Qing's Treatment.
It required Spiritual Power to cast.
But this Flame Curse was in the form of a talisman, so it could be used directly without any Spiritual Power.
After use, it could directly attack an enemy.
It was simple to use.
'These are all great items.'
'As expected of items from the starter Treasure Chest, the variety is comprehensive.'
'There's something for in-combat recovery, post-combat recovery, rapid construction, and even offense and self-defense.'
Zhao Chi stored everything in his System Space.
Then he picked up the second Treasure Chest.
'Open!'
Another burst of white light shone out.
System Notification:
[You have obtained the following item]:
[Body Driving Skill Book] x1
'A Skill Book!'
'And it's for the Body Driving Technique?'
[Name] Body Driving Technique
[Type] Dark Spiritual Art
[Effect] Basic Spirit Technique. Consumes 10 Spiritual Power to enter a target's body and control it at will. Duration: 10 minutes.
Zhao Chi had learned about this before.
It was a Dark Element skill, generally used to control targets without souls.
For example, Skeletons, Golems, puppet men, Zombies, Ghouls, and so on.
Sometimes, a Lord's commands were too complex for these races to understand.
So this skill allowed one to enter a target's body and control it directly.
Of course, one could also control the target's body to fight during the possession.
The Talents and Skills of both parties could be used.
'But what use is this to me?'
'Am I supposed to enter Gu Qing's body and control her in battle?'
'But that's very dangerous.'
Because Gu Qing was a Human and had a soul.
Both parties had to have absolute trust in each other, or it would lead to their souls tearing.
'Absolute trust...'
Zhao Chi was a little puzzled. Gu Qing's Loyalty was only 6, and before that, it had been just 5.
It was the same with Tang Ruan; her Loyalty wasn't high right now either.
But they seemed to trust Zhao Chi far more than those numbers suggested.
Zhao Chi could easily feel that sense of intimacy that came from the bottom of their hearts.
This wasn't an effect that could be achieved with a Loyalty of 4 or 5.
'Could it be because I'm the creator of the Peach Blossom Human Race?'
After thinking it over, that seemed to be the only reason.
'If that's really the case, then maybe I could try using this skill to enter Gu Qing's and Tang Ruan's bodies to control them?'
'My current Attributes are very average, but by 'driving' them in battle, I could make up for this weakness.'
'That way, by combining my own combat awareness and experience with the physical qualities of the Peach Blossom Human Race, I should be able to face any enemy for a short period.'
He selected 'Learn!'
[Current conditions not met. Minimum learning requirement: "Junior Lord"]
'So there's a restriction.'
Zhao Chi was currently an Intern Lord. After a few days, once the school's test was over, he would be promoted to Junior Lord.
'I'll just have to wait a few days, then.'
'I wonder what it will be like to 'drive' them then?'
Filled with anticipation, Zhao Chi placed the Skill Book into his System Space.
Gu Qing and the others still hadn't returned.
Zhao Chi turned his attention back to the system.
Although he had basically slacked off during the previous battle and hadn't gained any experience, he still needed to look at the battle information.
He opened the results screen.
[Congratulations, Victory!]
[Battle Results are as follows]:
[Combatants] 43 total: 12 on our side, 29 Goblins and 2 mutts on the enemy side
[Defeated by Our Side] Goblin x29, Mutt x2
[Combat Difficulty] Simple
[Combat Performance] Perfect
[Battle Result] Complete Victory
[Experience Bonus] 150%
[Team Contribution] 100%
[Team Experience] 3675
[Individual Contribution] 1%
[Personal Experience] 37
[Spoils of War] Goblin Captives x21, Mutt Captives x2, Goblin Corpses x8, Wild Deer Corpse x0.72
[Spoils of War] Rough Wooden Spear x28, Rough Iron Spear x1
[Spoils of War] Wood x20, Stone x20, Iron Ingot x20, Thatch x20, Fur x20, Cloth x20
'I got experience?'
Zhao Chi was a little surprised.
'I clearly didn't participate in the fight this time, so how did I still get 1% of the experience?'
'Could it be because I issued the attack order at the very beginning?'
'And then at the end, I helped Tang Ruan and the others tie up the Goblins, so that also counted as a small contribution?'
Still, 37 experience was too little to level up.
The other 3,638 experience points were all obtained by Gu Qing and the others.
They all leveled up.
'I'll help them allocate their Enhancement Points in a bit.'