Bai Qingxue's bright eyes flickered. Seeing that Shi Feng actually wanted to give her something as well, she felt a twinge of surprise. She thought this man was actually quite interesting—not as difficult to approach as she had imagined, and a decent person overall.
"You think someone like you can give Qingxue a gift? Do you really think she'd accept it?" Zhao Yueru couldn't help but turn her head again, her crimson lips curving into a seductive arc, mockery gleaming in her eyes as she silently scoffed at Shi Feng's presumptuousness.
What kind of things hadn't Qingxue seen before? She hadn't even batted an eye at luxury cars worth tens of millions, let alone something from a game.
At that moment, Shi Feng pulled a piece of paper from his inventory. It was one of the boss's drops—the blueprint. He handed it to Bai Qingxue rather casually.
When Zhao Yueru saw that Shi Feng was only offering a tattered piece of paper and trying to pass it off as a gift for Qingxue, she immediately couldn't hold back and said coldly, "Are you messing with people?"
"No, not at all," Shi Feng replied earnestly.
"Qingxue gave you a piece of Bronze Equipment, and what do you do in return? You actually try to fool someone with a scrap of paper. Do you really think a scrap of paper can compare to Bronze Equipment? If that's not messing with people, what is?"
Hearing this, Zhao Yueru grew even more furious.
Hei Zi and the others behind Shi Feng broke into a cold sweat. Even if he didn't want to talk to people, he couldn't go around toying with a goddess like this—he was practically asking for death!
The Silent Forest had clearly dropped plenty of equipment. He could have just handed over any one of those pieces and solved the whole problem in an instant. If the goddess got angry, even if she didn't lift a finger herself, every player around them would tear them to shreds.
Things were about to spiral out of control. Hei Zi was just about to offer up the Bronze Staff he had on him when Bai Qingxue cheerfully accepted the scrap of paper Shi Feng had handed over.
In an instant, Hei Zi and the others' jaws dropped open, their mouths forming perfect O's.
The goddess actually took it. What on earth was going on?
"Thank you for the gift. I really like it. Now shall we go somewhere less crowded and have a chat?" Bai Qingxue smiled faintly and expressed her gratitude.
Shi Feng smiled in return and nodded in agreement. Looking at Bai Qingxue's smile, he thought that one turn of her head and one radiant smile held a hundred charms — like brilliant sunlight, warm to the heart, something one would never forget for the rest of one's life.
"Qingxue, you're just going to forgive his rude behavior like that?" Zhao Yueru looked at Bai Qingxue, bewildered.
"All right, Yueru. This is a very nice gift, and I love it." With that, Bai Qingxue turned and led the way for Shi Feng.
Zhao Yueru froze, completely unable to understand. What kind of potion had Shi Feng slipped Bai Qingxue that a mere scrap of paper was enough to win her over?
What exactly was that scrap of paper?
"Qingxue, what exactly did that guy give you?" Zhao Yueru asked in a low voice. Seeing the fire-burning stick at Shi Feng's waist, she knew he couldn't have given anything valuable, yet Qingxue had happily accepted it, which baffled her.
"An Alchemy Formula. Basic Strength Potion. Drinking it grants a player an additional 6 points of Strength for half an hour," Bai Qingxue said calmly.
"What?" Zhao Yueru was startled. "How could he possibly have such a precious formula?"
Alchemy was notoriously difficult to learn, and formulas were even more famous for being hard to obtain. Forget rare formulas—even common ones were scarce; right now, the entire Snake of the Body didn't have many, and a formula that could boost a player's Strength by 6 points for half an hour was unheard of.
If a current Level 2 player gained an extra 6 points of Strength, that translated to 12 extra points of attack. During a Dungeon run, this would make a huge difference. For a guild that regularly cleared Dungeons, this formula's value surpassed dozens of pieces of Bronze Equipment. Once the Basic Strength Potion hit the market, demand would certainly far outstrip supply. Yet this Shi Feng had just given it away.
Did he not understand the formula's importance? Zhao Yueru shook her head, dismissing that thought. Remembering Shi Feng's confident expression earlier, he definitely knew just how significant this formula was for their guild.
Now, Zhao Yueru turned to look at Shi Feng again, her cheeks flushing slightly. Remembering what she had said earlier, she felt so embarrassed. She had actually called such a rare formula a scrap of paper. Thinking of Shi Feng's smile, he must have been laughing at her ignorance. This guy was too hateful.
"You know now. I told you he wasn't simple," Bai Qingxue said with a smile to Zhao Yueru.
After Bai Qingxue, Shi Feng, and the others left, the surrounding players were still stunned, trying to process what had just happened.
What exactly was going on?
A mere rookie receiving the attention of a goddess — was this guy really just a rookie?
"Boss Tian Wang, that rookie left with the goddess." Buyu Xiaye felt deeply unsettled. The way the goddess had treated Shi Feng with such courtesy — even a fool could tell he was anything but ordinary.
"Don't worry about it. I heard from others that this rookie apparently ran the Hell Difficulty Silent Forest. The Ice Goddess probably just wanted to see what Hell Difficulty was like, so she came specifically to invite him." Tian Wang Huihui stubbornly refused to believe he had misjudged the man. Shi Feng had to be a rookie. He had to have gotten lucky — first latching onto some expert's coattails, and now somehow managing to cling to a goddess's as well.
A small stone pool lay roughly two hundred yards southeast of the Silent Forest. The scenery was elegant, with a babbling brook running through it. Bai Qingxue and Shi Feng sat facing each other, while the rest of their respective companions stood on either side. No one came to eavesdrop or disturb them — an ideal spot for a conversation.
"I wonder what Miss Bai wanted to see me about?" Shi Feng asked calmly.
"The Silent Forest," Bai Qingxue said bluntly. "I want the walkthrough for the Silent Forest. Name your price."
"Heh, Miss Bai may be overthinking this. How could I possibly have a walkthrough for the Silent Forest? I only ran the dungeon once." Shi Feng would absolutely not admit to having a walkthrough — that would certainly arouse suspicion. After all, the Divine Realm had been built by the Main God System, and even Closed Beta testers couldn't possibly know the detailed strategies for dungeons. He could fool amateurs like Hei Zi, but deceiving Bai Qingxue was out of the question. If he carelessly let something slip, things would definitely go south.
Bai Qingxue smiled beautifully, her gaze sweeping across the team members behind Shi Feng. She said evenly, "If I'm not mistaken, the equipment your team members are wearing came from the Hell Difficulty Silent Forest. Your squad may have one or two people with decent skill, but those three level-one rookies you recruited on the fly — everyone knows about them. A team like that clearing Hell Difficulty Silent Forest and walking away with a haul of gear? If you don't know something, do you really expect me to believe that?"
"Let's not beat around the bush. I know you're a Closed Beta tester — and not an ordinary one at that. You've clearly done extensive research on the Silent Forest. After all, once the open beta launches, all the data gets heavily modified. A tester who hasn't done thorough research would have no chance of clearing Hell Difficulty Silent Forest. As for why I'm certain you managed it — this Basic Strength recipe is the best proof. Don't worry, I won't reveal your secret." Bai Qingxue's eyes locked onto Shi Feng, studying him as though she could see straight through him.
"Fine, you're right." Shi Feng shrugged, secretly letting out a breath of relief. He hadn't expected Bai Qingxue to fill in the gaps all on her own — that was even better than he could have hoped for.
"Then name your price," Bai Qingxue said, smiling brightly at Shi Feng, as if to say, *You think you can outsmart me? I know everything.*