Lin Er recalled what had just happened. The result of Flora’s test on the Adventurers’ Guild’s magic stone seemed to be something like a First-Tier Forest Ranger. The power system she displayed was completely different from cultivation.

And judging from the system’s prompt just now, this world seemed to be severely lacking in spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy he had used to form Qi Refining Level 1, who knew where the system had scraped it together from. Otherwise it would not have enraged those four elemental spirits.

From that perspective, cultivators might truly count as heretics in this world.

Lin Er vaguely realized how serious this was. It seemed that he would have to be extremely low-key from now on and not let the locals discover that he was an outsider.

He reined in his thoughts and felt the changes in his body.

He had been exhausted from traveling for so long, but now his body felt completely renewed and full of energy.

At the same time, Lin Er discovered that there was an additional strand of spiritual energy in his dantian, nourishing his body.

It seemed that as long as that spiritual energy did not run out, his whole body would have endless strength.

Compared to when he had first arrived in this world, he was probably more than ten times stronger.

If he ran into that black bear again, Lin Er suspected he could kill it with a single punch.

Spiritual energy really was a good thing.

Lin Er soon discovered another serious problem. This strand of spiritual energy was almost impossible to replenish. Every bit he used was gone for good.

‘Looks like I need to find a way to complete the main quest as soon as possible and get that cultivation method.’

Otherwise, spiritual energy would only go out and never come in and sooner or later it would be completely exhausted.

If his guess was correct, then as long as he upgraded his black iron badge to a bronze badge, that should count as completing the quest.

Thinking of this, Lin Er walked out of the alley and returned to the Adventurers’ Guild along the same route.

He found it a little strange. The streets had been lively just now, but now there was not a single person in sight.

When he entered the hall, there were no adventurers inside either.

Lin Er went to the front desk and saw Ellie, the receptionist who had helped him earlier, hiding behind it, cowering in fear.

He asked curiously, “May I ask what just happened? Don’t tell me someone came to rob the place?”

Hearing that, Ellie lifted her head slightly and hurriedly whispered,

“Hide, quickly. Didn’t you see the thunderstorm? The Storm Calamity came to attack!”

Lin Er looked at the sky outside again. It was cloudless for thousands of miles. He did not see any monster, not even a single bird.

A thought surfaced in his mind.

‘Could it be that the commotion the system created scared everyone?’

To be fair, Lin Er had been right at the center of that thunderstorm. It really had been terrifying.

Lin Er said, “I came here from the street. There was nothing at all. The Storm Calamity should be gone.”

Ellie looked outside suspiciously. After confirming there was no danger, she finally stood up while hugging a stack of documents.

She stared at Lin Er with a horrified expression, about to say something.

But when she got a clear look at Lin Er’s appearance, she froze and the documents in her arms scattered all over the floor with a rustle.

Ellie’s eyes went wide. Right now, only four words remained in her mind—transcendent and otherworldly.

She clearly remembered having seen this person before, yet now she could not recall him no matter what.

Ellie held her breath. Because of her job, she had seen many adventurers, including plenty of handsome young men.

But today’s one was completely different. She could not describe it with words.

Lin Er’s expression turned strange. Hadn’t they just met earlier? Why was she acting like she had seen a ghost?

Lin Er asked, “Are you alright? Is there something on my face?”

Ellie came back to herself and quickly shook her head, flusteredly picking up the documents from the floor.

Seeing that, Lin Er took out his black iron badge and said, “I want to upgrade my badge. How do I do that?”

Ellie stiffened and sat up straight, looking as shy as a girl experiencing her first love.

She forced herself back into a capable expression and said, “Respected Adventurer Sir, if you want to upgrade to a bronze badge, you need to complete five missions.”

‘Respected Adventurer Sir?’

Lin Er’s expression grew even stranger. When he came to register earlier, she had not been this respectful.

‘Had she been frightened out of her wits?’

Lin Er did not have time to think too much and could only focus on her answer.

Five missions to upgrade a badge was a bit much.

Lin Er frowned and asked, “Isn’t there a faster way? My elf friend Flora got a silver badge the moment she registered, didn’t she?”

Only then did Ellie recognize Lin Er and her expression became even more unbelievable.

They had clearly just met. Back then he had seemed ordinary, maybe a little handsome.

‘How had he become like a completely different person in the blink of an eye?’

Ellie was full of confusion. She only felt he was extremely mysterious.

After she recovered, Ellie answered, “Respected Adventurer Sir, your elf friend was graded by strength. You need any profession to reach First Tier. Then you can directly upgrade to a bronze badge.”

So that was how it worked, like a competitive game.

First you did placement matches to determine your starting rank, then you slowly climbed upward.

But he was a Qi Refining Level 1 cultivator now. His system of power was completely different from this world. Obviously, that method would not work.

And he had to hide his identity as a cultivator. It would be best not to expose that his source of power was different.

So Lin Er asked, “Then how do I reach First Tier?”

Ellie replied, “That depends on your element affinity. Simply put…”

After listening to Ellie’s explanation, Lin Er finally understood.

This world had four elements: earth, water, wind and fire. Practitioners could cultivate according to their element affinity, strengthening their bodies and mana, seeking a compatible extraordinary profession.

Besides cultivation, they could also kill monsters that carried elements. The elements favored the strong. The more a practitioner killed, the more elements would follow them.

Once a practitioner accumulated enough and successfully changed professions, they would become a First-Tier professional, with extraordinary strength.

If that was the case, then his element affinity had already been very low and now he had enraged the four major elements. He had basically already said goodbye to this cultivation path.

Fortunately, he could still cultivate immortality.

Lin Er said, “Then recommend me a few solo missions.”

Hearing that, Ellie hurriedly rummaged through a pile of bounties, very attentive and quickly pulled out three sheets.

“Respected Adventurer Sir, based on your badge level, you can only accept these solo missions right now.”

Lin Er glanced at them. They were gathering, delivering a letter and escorting goods, all utterly ordinary.

These kinds of missions did not even need adventurers. Even the most ordinary farmer could do them and the pay was extremely low.

[This is your first time accepting missions in the sect. You currently have three menial tasks you can do:]

[Side Quest 1: Gather 10 stalks of Blood-Staunching Herb. Reward: 1 bottle of Spring-Returning Dew.]

[Side Quest 2: Deliver a letter for a rogue cultivator. Reward: 1 low-grade spirit stone.]

[Side Quest 3: Escort Clearheart Bamboo. Reward: 1 Clearheart Bamboo Sword.]

‘It could work like this?’

Lin Er was dumbfounded.

He immediately said, “I’ll take them all.”

Ellie froze and said, “These missions must be completed within three days at most. If you want to take them all, you need to pay 1 Workshop Coin as a deposit. If you don’t complete them, the deposit won’t be returned.”

Lin Er did not hesitate and directly took out one Workshop Coin as the deposit.

He also tried asking Ellie to show him other bounties, but the system did not produce any new prompts.

Maybe there was some kind of restriction. He could only finish the tasks in front of him first and then see.

Even if he could not complete all three, as long as he finished one, he would not lose out.

Lin Er took the bounties and the envelope. Just as he was about to leave, Ellie reminded him, “Adventurer Sir, the village you need to go to for the bamboo escort is very close to the village you’re delivering the letter to. You leave tomorrow morning, so you can do them together. As for gathering mountain orchid flowers, there are more along the edge of Misty Fog Forest. You need to be careful of danger.”

Lin Er nodded, looked at the name on Ellie’s chest badge and said, “Miss Ellie, thank you for the reminder.”

* * *

Lin Er walked over to the Adventurers’ Guild’s public map area. He took out the map the system had given him. The descriptions were basically identical and it was even more detailed.

The task locations marked on his own map were indeed just as Ellie had said.

Coincidentally, the primeval forest he had come from happened to border the Misty Fog Forest, though it was deeper inside.

Luckily, he had not wandered into Misty Fog Forest. It was even more dangerous inside.

Lin Er glanced at the sky again. It was almost noon. Since the escort mission would not depart until tomorrow, he still had half a day left.

‘How about I go take a look at Misty Fog Forest first? I’ve already walked through once anyway.’

Lin Er acted as soon as he thought it. He put away the map and walked outside.

But he ran straight into Flora.

“Who are you?”