Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 457 - 95. Has Brother Li ever deceived you?

Chapter 457: 95. Has Brother Li ever deceived you?

When they returned to Newbie Village, it was already packed with people.

There were only 25 beta testers on Baizhu Star, and they were all gathered here, filling up the entire hall of the ruins. Caramel Snail and the others couldn’t squeeze in and had to ask the outer players what was going on.

As an experienced player, Yutianxiao went around asking and came back with one bad news and one good news:

"The bad news is: the guide, the Weaving Maiden, is nowhere to be found, making the task hard to complete."

Everyone clicked their tongues. Caramel Snail, on the other hand, felt relieved. He didn’t know why, but seeing the NPC named Yawen always made him uncomfortable.

"The good news is," Yutianxiao said excitedly, "Li Aozi is back, bringing new skills and knowledge!"

"Yay!"

Caramel Snail jumped up and cheered:

"My 265 points of favorability finally have a use! Brother Aozi, here I come!"

"It’s been a while since we saw Li Aozi. Just thinking about that handsome guy enlightening us makes me salivate. Is this really a free game?" Cumin Powder was equally excited.

Among Li Aozi’s fans, there were not just players. Even before the public beta stage, a large number of fans were already attracted. This was natural enough, given the three basic human interests: violence, erotica, and food. These three are often the most direct, pure, and without any viewing threshold.

"Let’s go see Li Aozi!"

Cumin Powder dragged Caramel Snail, pushing through the crowd with hope-filled eyes, looking at the tall and fit figure:

"Ah, Mr. Li Aozi, the one I dream about day and night, the one I deeply love—"

Then, Cumin Powder’s eyes reflected a headless body.

Cumin Powder: "...?"

"Hey! Boss!" Caramel Snail rubbed his hands and asked excitedly, "Long time no see, why are you headless?"

"My head was hurting before, so I chopped it off, and it doesn’t hurt at all now."

Seeing Little Piggy—players—approaching, Li Aozi immediately put on a friendly and kind expression.

The quality of these players selected was quite good; they were Li Aozi’s prime piglets. In just a few days, their levels were approaching level twenty. Some people level up faster than Li Aozi, this reborner, which showed he had overestimated the gap between himself and top professional players.

However, the players’ flaws were also apparent; their current strength and equipment were too poor, and they struggled even with ordinary creatures in the forest.

Azure Star was a typical technological civilization, lagging in materials science by at least two thousand years, making them ill-equipped to deal with the creatures here.

Fortunately, Li Aozi had a solution to their urgent needs.

Li Aozi opened the shop and listed a batch of new Arcane Energies.

[Severing Life], [Death Link], [Sequence 77: Calamity]—everything Li Aozi owned was put up for rent, without reservation. As long as the favorability was enough, they could rent it from Li Aozi.

[Mutant] players were in luck; if they maxed out Li Aozi’s favorability, they could get a complete ’Blood Demon Style’ combo right away.

Not all players had Power Pods, and the number of Arcane Energies they could hold was at most four, but they had quantity on their side.

Players rented Arcane Energies from Li Aozi to kill monsters and gain experience. This process itself helped in building Newbie Village.

If NPCs could give out loans, Li Aozi would have provided players with experience and skills and let them pay back slowly.

"I’ll stay here for a day, and after that, I’ll return once a month."

Li Aozi stroked his nonexistent chin, observing the players. They seemed to struggle in their battles.

So he opened the Homeland System, fixed his Biological Pool, and upgraded it to level two.

Currently, Li Aozi only had the knowledge of "Genetic Editing Engineering"; after learning some basic genetic modification surgeries, he could provide genetic adjustments to players.

The [Biochemist] secondary profession has one significant advantage; it can offer a technology tree ranging from fertilizers to Biochemical Vanguards on almost any planet, benefiting both civilian and military sectors.

Compared to the cold mechanical strongholds of [Mechanics], the gene centers of [Biochemists] could help players from Azure Star adapt better to the magical civilization and even undergo bloodline transformations for Spellcasters.

Li Aozi looked at Yutianxiao in the crowd. He remembered this experienced player as a well-known PVE Mage. Currently, limited by the environment of Azure Star, he could only choose the [Mechanic] occupation.

Caramel Snail arrived at Li Aozi’s side. Since Li Aozi hadn’t provided any useful occupation skills, only some skills on knowledge like the "Law of Energy Conservation," "Genetic Editing Engineering," and "Arcane Refinement Theory," which were inclined toward the [Sovereign] and [Fine Artistry] systems.

But as a [Martial Artist], Caramel Snail had his ideas. He preferred specializing in output weapon combat. He now truly understood the value of [Inscription Saint Swordmaster]; none of the other Arcane Energies suited him better.

Glancing at his favorability with Li Aozi, Caramel Snail thought for a moment and said:

"Li Aozi, I want to truly possess [Inscription Saint Swordmaster]."

Caramel Snail’s request did not surprise Li Aozi, as it was the result of his deliberate arrangements.

[Inscription Saint Swordmaster] was very attractive to [Martial Artists] but did not provide attribute bonuses. Generally, occupations focusing on physical development were either [Destroyer]-type [Martial Artists] or the [Sovereign]-type [Conqueror] pathway.

The [Conqueror] pathway specialized solely in Arcane Energy development. With repeated refining and cultivation, each one became a stat monster capable of destroying stars with a punch. But this wasn’t suitable for Caramel Snail—Li Aozi knew that once the Higgs Field activated, no matter what Arcane Energy you had, its effectiveness would be halved, strongly suppressing the [Conqueror] pathway.

Given Caramel Snail’s combat style, which emphasized combat skills, the brute-force approach of the [Conqueror] didn’t suit him.

However, [Destroyer]’s ultimate pathway—[Act of Innocence]—could perfectly avoid these disadvantages by offering strong Arcane Energy bonuses and main attribute advantages.

The only problem was that the [Act of Innocence] pathway could easily turn into the [Twilight Sword Saint] as one advanced.

Caramel Snail had such excellent talent, and he must be guided and cultivated properly. In the future, Li Aozi would lead him to obtain two cores of Arcane Energy that truly matched the [Act of Innocence].

Sequence 51: [Fiend Lord]

Sequence 82: [Bloodline]

[Bloodline] was easy; Li Aozi could create it himself. The problem was with the prior [Fiend Lord], which would be difficult to get and might involve taking Niuniu down to the Lower Starry Abyss.

Still, even though Li Aozi had long planned this, he had to follow the rules.

"You want to truly possess this Arcane Energy?" Li Aozi pretended to ponder for a moment before saying, "I must admit, your abilities are not bad, but Arcane Energy is a very dangerous power. I chose to let you practice martial arts to avoid the risks of Arcane Energy while guiding you on the right path."

Caramel Snail hurriedly said:

"I am ready. I really like this Arcane Energy."

"That is just your side of the story. Arcane Energy is very dangerous. However..."

Li Aozi changed his tone and looked at everyone:

"Since you are all here, let me tell you something."

"As you can see, we unfortunate souls from Azure Star now carry the burden of saving the planet. But the immediate priority is to survive first, establish a basic foundation, and continually engage with cosmic civilizations. For this, I have set up our new home—Newbie Village—as our base."

The players immediately started to complain:

"What a tacky name..."

"Forgive him, Li Aozi didn’t go to college."

"It doesn’t sound as good as Nympheford and Facility 3826."

"Hey! I’ve already reached the sky, why am I still in a Newbie Village!"

Li Aozi ignored the protests from these unappreciative players and continued:

"Currently, our territory is pretty basic. It’s not as desolate as Ba Mountains and Chu River, but it’s still quite poor."

The players continued to complain:

"You mean we don’t even have dorms."

"This place is so poor that even the poverty alleviation office would shake their heads."

"Forgive him, Li Aozi didn’t go to college."

Li Aozi still ignored the players and continued:

"But it’s okay, our home needs our collective efforts to build it. Now, we have a serious task ahead: near our home, there’s an underground Goblin Lair. As a ferocious species, Goblins could threaten our home at any time, and they need to be eliminated promptly."

The players discussed:

"To be fair, shouldn’t Goblins be newbie monsters?"

"But we are indeed in Newbie Village!"

"Qiqiao Network is out of ideas, huh? They really need a job."

"Forgive him, Li Aozi didn’t go to college."

Li Aozi, with a good temper, used gravity to press the player who had complained about his education level into the ground, then kindly said:

"If you can prove your strength, I’ll offer you the chance to gain Arcane Energy permanently. But you’ll need to show heroic performance."

——————————

[You have triggered the side quest—"Preventative Measures"]

[Type]: Exploration/Extermination

[Time Limit]: 7 natural days

[Mission Difficulty]: B

[Introduction]:

"Stop slacking, your home needs you!"

A group of Goblins has appeared near your home, and they come with ill intentions—well, to be fair, you are the newcomers. But never mind, these ferocious creatures are highly aggressive. The lord commands you to take preemptive measures and eliminate them.

[Settlement Conditions]:

A. "Goblin Slayer"—Find and clear out the Goblin Lair;

Reward: Liaoz favorability +50

Unlock new Arcane Awakening Elixir

Open underground space.

B. "Unexpected Wealth"—There seems to be a secret deep inside the lair. Gather information and uncover the truth.

Reward: Unlock the next stage of the mission.

————————

"These rewards don’t seem very generous..."

Garidon rubbed his chin:

"Are we being tricked into doing slave labor?"

"What are you saying," Li Aozi chuckled, "This is contributing to our home. Has your Brother Aozi ever lied to you?"