Magic Farm 131

Chapter 131: The Last Day of Safety, the Encounter Event

When Qi Yu found himself back atop the high platform once more, he thought to himself that, once he got out of here, he would definitely go to the Magician’s Association shop and leave a scathing review for this book, Earth Guardian. As for the author, this so-called Ryan, he deserved an even harsher critique.

He had been keeping count—he’d already been killed by the Earth Guardian twenty times.

The ways he died varied, the length of time he managed to hold out each round was different, but one thing was certain: forget about lasting half an hour, his longest attempt hadn’t even made it to ten minutes.

This Magister Ryan had designed nothing short of a course for getting beaten up.

First of all, he was empty-handed, without a weapon. Magic didn’t work here, nor could he access his backpack. If only he had his Giantwood Heart Staff, he wouldn’t be so helpless.

Secondly, the high platform was nothing but a wide, barren expanse—there wasn’t even the slightest bit of cover. He had no room at all to maneuver against this brute.

And the final, most crucial point: the Earth Guardian’s attributes were simply too “perfect.”

Normally, with such a massive, heavy body, it should be at a disadvantage in terms of speed.

But this Earth Guardian didn’t play by the rules.

It could charge at full speed, and even if Qi Yu managed to dodge, it would twist its body around in an instant, adjust its direction, and launch itself at him with a flying punch.

And it had an especially nasty area attack: after a high-speed charge, it would leap up and crash down at blinding speed, its attack radius covering five meters in every direction from its center.

Qi Yu: .

As he was being pummeled by the Earth Guardian to the point of questioning his very existence, he also began to wonder if this Magister Ryan had gone mad from practicing magic, and had created this thing just to torment others.

Of course, “dying” here didn’t mean true death—it was more like being “eliminated” from the round.

But the pain was very real.

After roughly figuring out the brute’s speed and attack patterns, Qi Yu began to try fighting back.

That was when he unlocked the Earth Guardian’s second form.

[Burning Earth Guardian: After sustaining a certain amount of damage, the enraged Earth Guardian begins to burn away its own reason. In this state, all attributes are increased by 100%. After half an hour, its life ends automatically.]

Qi Yu: ……

Eventually, he lost track of how many times he’d died; all he knew was that, finally, after another blackout, the familiar white light didn’t return.

When he opened his eyes, what he saw under the shining sunflowers was the tranquil, beautiful expanse of his territory.

Was the course over?

He glanced at the survival panel—three full hours had passed.

Which meant that, for the past three hours, he’d been beaten and killed over and over again in the mental space.

Qi Yu let out a long, heavy breath.

His body still retained a faint, lingering ache—a phantom pain—but the steady flow of vitality was soothing him, steadily erasing the discomfort.

[Player’s diligent study has yielded results: Attack attribute +2.]

[Player’s diligent study has yielded results: Spirit attribute +3.]

[Player’s diligent study has yielded results: Agility attribute +1.]

Three notifications popped up in succession.

Qi Yu perked up almost instantly.

This so-called body-forging technique had just given him six attribute points all at once.

Getting beaten up had such benefits?

No, what was this “getting beaten up”? This was the Earth Guardian’s trial and tempering!

He suddenly felt that his body didn’t hurt at all, and, looking at the book, he was itching to go back in—to take another… lesson or two.

But he couldn’t enter the mental space again.

[This course is now complete. For the sake of students’ physical and mental health, the minimum interval between lessons is three days.]

Qi Yu: So you do know how torturous your course is, huh?

He opened the Magician’s Association shop and found the item Earth Guardian.

While he was in the mental space, he’d sworn that, once he got out, he’d leave a scathing review.

But now, with six fresh attribute points in hand, he found himself hesitating.

Although the process was hellish, in terms of pure “body-forging” efficiency, it was nothing short of astonishing.

He thought for a moment and decided to write down his reflections on the course.

Unfortunately, €€€€

[You have not yet completed all lessons. Please finish the entire course before leaving a review.]

Fine.

Qi Yu’s gaze swept over the long list of reviews below:

[Highly recommended! The most effective body-forging technique I’ve ever used!]

[Five stars—no other technique has ever left such a deep impression on me.]

[Absolutely love it, and I’m now very interested in the author. Does anyone know anything about Magister Ryan? I’d love to discuss my learning experience face-to-face.]

[Great review! I hope more magicians get to see such an effective and unique body-forging technique!]

Qi Yu: .

He had read the reviews before buying the book. With the Association’s own notes and these glowing testimonials, he’d barely hesitated before making his choice.

Now, having personally experienced the course, reading these reviews again gave him a strange, subtle feeling.

Why did it seem like these people had written their comments on purpose, as if… as if they wanted to trick more people into buying it?

What did they stand to gain?

He shared his thoughts with Dan Xingyu.

[God Without Form: It’s simple. Maybe you haven’t heard the saying: “Because I’ve been drenched by the rain, I want to tear up other people’s umbrellas too.”]

Qi Yu still didn’t quite understand.

[God Without Form: To put it plainly, I got beaten up, fell into a pit, and now I feel unbalanced. So I want to drag more people into the pit to suffer with me.]

[I Love Survival Games: …]

[God Without Form: If I can’t enjoy it alone, then let’s all enjoy it together! Or, in this case, suffer together!]

Qi Yu understood, but he couldn’t quite relate to that kind of hobby.

He messaged Dan Xingyu, sharing not just his confusion about this, but also something about the book.

[I Love Survival Games: This body-forging technique is tough to endure, but it gives you attribute points. Do you want to buy a copy?]

These kinds of books and techniques were for individual use only. Once Qi Yu had started learning, he couldn’t gift it to someone else—he’d have to buy another copy.

[God Without Form: You have a way to buy it? Then I want one.]

[God Without Form: Getting beaten in the mental space is still better than getting beaten in real life later.]

[God Without Form: How do I buy it? How much is it?]

[I Love Survival Games: A hundred thousand gold coins.]

[God Without Form: All right, let me scrape it together. I’ll send it to you in a bit.]

Qi Yu thought for a moment, then decided to share the information about this body-forging technique with the 01 Survival Squad as well.

[I Love Survival Games: Downside is you have to get beaten up repeatedly. Upside is, it really works. I took one lesson and gained six attribute points in total.]

Although it was most suitable for magicians, attributes like attack, agility, and spirit were important for any player.

[Need a Bit of Money to Save Me: What an amazing technique! I want it! But a hundred thousand gold coins is so expensive—I don’t have the money!]

[Need a Bit of Money to Save Me: When will the wandering merchant come again? I can’t wait to sell, sell, sell!]

[Don’t Dare Open My Eyes: Is it gold coins only? What about beast crystal stones? Or emerald coins? Our ways of getting gold coins are still too limited.]

Since gold coins were required, most people in the group guessed that this was probably a channel discovered by one of the game’s top players.

In the entire 01 District, there was probably no one besides the top players who could come up with a hundred thousand gold coins.

[I Love Survival Games: Beast crystal stones are fine too. Outside, a level-1 beast crystal stone is worth about two gold coins.]

In the end, it was Old Brother Tumu, the merchant, who was the wealthiest—he traded fifty thousand beast crystal stones plus a transaction fee to Qi Yu.

Qi Yu sold the beast crystal stones in the Association shop, exchanged them for a hundred thousand gold coins, and bought another copy to trade to him.

[Old Brother Tumu: Fifty thousand beast crystal stones is no small sum. Let me try out this “getting beaten up” and see if an ordinary person can endure it. If it’s doable, you all can buy it too.]

[Need a Bit of Money to Save Me: Brother Tumu, you’re a righteous man! Waiting for your review!]

.

By now, it was already getting late. Even though Qi Yu had gained a few attribute points, after dying dozens or even hundreds of times in the mental space, both his body and mind were truly exhausted.

He didn’t want to move at all—he just wanted to lean against the Tree of Life, laze around for a while, and then drift off to sleep.

The weather on Safety Day was pleasant, and the Tree of Life was constantly nourishing his body with energy.

Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea?

As soon as the thought occurred, Qi Yu’s eyelids grew heavy.

He saw no reason to resist the drowsiness, and let his consciousness sink into darkness.

He slept through the entire night.

The abrupt transition from night to day woke him instantly.

The forest was heavy with dew, and a fine mist clung to his eyelashes. Dazed, he stared up at the Tree of Life overhead, his mind a beat behind as he thought: Today, I’m supposed to go find God Without Form to hang out.

I should take a bath first, change into something clean and fresh.

And then prepare a gift for God Without Form.

Just as he stood up, the survival panel popped up with a server-wide announcement.

[The last day of Safety Day has arrived. Today’s benefits: The probability of treasure chests appearing in explored areas is increased by 50%, and the drop rate of items from killing mutant creatures is also increased by 50%. In addition, a special Encounter Exploration Event is now open. Players exploring areas have a chance to obtain “Encounter” fragments. Collect enough fragments to enter a lottery for a chance to unlock treasure maps and other rewards!]

[At midnight tonight, the monthly leaderboard will be settled. After midnight, Safety Day will end.]

[Players, please prepare yourselves for the next round of challenges.]

A string of announcements snapped Qi Yu fully awake.

His first reaction: He couldn’t go hang out with God Without Form today.

With higher odds for treasure chests and item drops, plus the Encounter Event—who could resist that?

[I Love Survival Games: I saw the game announcement. Sorry, I don’t have time to hang out today.]

[God Without Form: I got the announcement too. No time to play together today—stockpiling supplies comes first.]

The two messages appeared almost simultaneously.

Qi Yu couldn’t help but laugh. He felt he had a perfectly good reason—even if God Without Form got angry, he would have said the same.

In the survival game, nothing was more important than gathering supplies.

But if God Without Form felt the same way and wouldn’t be upset, that was even better.

[Your friend “God Without Form” has sent you a gift.]

[You received “Desert Silver Acacia Sap” x5.]

Qi Yu took it out and found five bottles of drink in clear glass jars.

The drink was a pale yellow, looking a bit like honey, though not as thick.

[God Without Form: The sweet tree sap I told you about yesterday. It’s really good.]

[God Without Form: From now on, if you want tree sap or leaves, at least eat things like this. Don’t let those bitter, astringent things ruin your taste buds again, understand?]