Calamity Messenger-Chapter 66 - 53: Pearl Tears Alliance

"At most, it can only be strengthened into a Legendary Token?"

"Only?"

Shang Xinlei suddenly realized that when a person is extremely speechless, they become at a loss for words. She even somewhat regretted coming to Mansu Forest Land. If she had gone to relax in her family’s secret realm, she wouldn’t have encountered such a massive opportunity — an opportunity so vast that even the Shang Family might not be able to protect her from it.

"Eldest Miss Jie," she sighed deeply and said to Jie Yuanshao, "Anyway, I won’t say a word about it. If you want to inform the family, I’ve already accepted my fate."

"I can assure you that before Jiang Shi enters the Mansu Forest Land again next year, I won’t disclose this secret," Jie Yuanshao immediately said. "If, by next year, I haven’t achieved a Third Transformation or inherited the family’s Rare Treasure Token, I will submit this intel to the family."

Jie Yuanshao abides by her principles and rules, but she is not foolish. She is just the Eldest Miss of the Jie Family, not the Patriarch, let alone the Supreme Elder. Should this news spread, not only outsiders but even the family elders will covet it greatly. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Her importance to the family and the bigger picture doesn’t mean she will actively harm her interests for the benefit of others.

"Thank you," Shang Xinlei breathed a sigh of relief. "A year is enough time."

Then they turned their gaze to Qian Gongyu. Shang Xinlei smiled: "Xiaoyu, I remember your Qian Family doesn’t have any Rare Tokens or Rare Treasure Tokens, right? Such a precious strengthening opportunity shouldn’t be wasted on ordinary tokens..."

"Name your requirements," Jie Yuanshao was more direct. "As long as the Jie Family can do it, we will satisfy you."

"I won’t sell it!" Qian Gongyu shook her head repeatedly, clutching her iron claw tightly. "I will definitely achieve a Third Transformation in the future. After the Third Transformation, I will eventually obtain a Rare Token, and by then, strengthening it into a Rare Treasure Token would make it a family heirloom of the Qian Family... If you could directly give me a Rare Treasure Token, it’s not unfeasible, but it has to be at least Third Transformation."

The two aristocratic ladies couldn’t help but shake their heads when they heard this demand. Qian Gongyu’s requirement was equivalent to asking them to trade two Rare Treasure Tokens for one Legendary Token. Although a Legendary Token is powerful, two Rare Treasure Tokens could equip the family with two Third-Turn Combat Powers. Comparing the two, it’s unarguably the latter that holds more significance for the family.

However, they weren’t anxious. After all, they had a whole year. They had ample time to calculate and strive for Qian Gongyu’s strengthening materials. The pressing matter was to act quickly, defeat the demons, and unlock these blood weapons...

"Huh?" Shang Xinlei suddenly noticed someone was missing. "Where’s Jiang Shi?"

"She went out while you all were chatting," Qian Gongyu replied.

"That’s not good; the low-level demons will all be killed by her!"

...

...

"Your blood weapon has quenched its thirst with the fresh blood of a hundred Mansu demons and transformed into the ’Iron Blood Long Saber’."

Yan Qing quickly withdrew from the group of monsters, taking a moment to glance at the attributes of his new token:

"Iron Blood Long Saber (Jiang Shi’s Exclusive Blood Weapon)"

"Grade: First-Turn Ordinary"

"Durability: 45/45"

"Equipment Requirements: 7 Qi Blood, 3 Dexterity"

"Effect · Iron Blood Spray: You can activate the saber to enter Iron Blood status, where each cut releases fresh blood that transforms into a blade, dealing splash damage to surrounding enemies, causing 10 cutting damage. Activating this state requires consuming 10 Spiritual Power, with a duration of 10 seconds and a cooldown of 30 seconds."

"Effect · Blood Forging: When the saber is in Iron Blood status, each attack that releases fresh blood will restore the saber’s durability."

"Effect · Sealed: This weapon cannot leave Mansu Forest Land."

"Evaluation: The Blood Demon Sect spent centuries seeking to forge a weapon that can infinitely evolve by drinking the blood of mighty opponents. This saber is the result of their first ten years of creations."

It indeed perfectly suited Yan Qing’s needs; facing the wave-like onslaught of monsters, a weapon capable of large-scale attacks could undoubtedly greatly improve monster-killing efficiency. He decisively activated the ’Iron Blood State,’ charging into the group of monsters for a wanton slaughter.

Shang Xinlei and the others dared not act rashly like this, as even these low-level monsters possessed around First-Turn combat power. A slight carelessness could still result in injuries, necessitating reliance on the Daffodil Mermaid and Blade Warrior to draw the monsters’ fire. But Yan Qing was different, and the reason was simple — the advantage of the third person perspective was too great, and the control advantage even more unparalleled.

The first-person perspective has blind spots, while the third person can see in six directions, akin to having an extra white eye; real combatants need to mobilize their whole muscle group to dodge, whereas controlling a character only requires pressing a roll key; not to mention that Yan Qing wasn’t worried about ’Jiang Shi’ getting injured or even dying...

This was why Yan Qing dared to act so boldly; he truly wasn’t afraid of competing with these people and didn’t even think he would necessarily lose. Even though he hadn’t played "Messenger" before, he’d seen numerous videos of similar ’Level 1 Useless Person Ban-Block Defense Unhurt Blade Warrior (Level 30 Boss)’ situations. Though Yan Qing hadn’t tried it, he didn’t think he couldn’t do it — this was the confidence of a noble action game Brahma.

When the leading crest monster fell, Yan Qing finally received a long-awaited message:

"You have comprehended ’Advanced Steps,’ currently at Level 1."

"Your Qi Blood increased by 0.5"

"Your Spiritual Soul increased by 0.5"

"Your Dexterity increased by 1"

"You have leveled up to Level 11!"

Was this the charm of the Woodland Messenger +50 comprehension attribute? Know that ’Ye Si’ took until he reached Level 16 to comprehend advanced blade techniques, spending no less than seven days in real-time, yet ’Jiang Shi’ was only on her second day of play!

"At least leave some for us," Shang Xinlei complained. "I’ve only killed 16."

"Impossible, I’m not content with just acquiring one strengthening material. With two days left, I need to defeat at least two thousand enemies to extract two strengthening materials."

Hearing this, everyone was momentarily stunned. Jie Yuan Shao asked incredulously, "Can these Blood Weapons be farmed indefinitely?" For a moment, she didn’t know how to describe it, subconsciously mimicking Yan Qing’s choice of words.

"As long as you can kill enough monsters."

Yan Qing actually had more important information he hadn’t shared, not because he was stingy, but because he thought it was too far-fetched for them.

"Bloody Iron Armory"

"You can acquire any form of Blood Weapon from this armory and unlock more effects by slaying enemies in Mansu Forest Land."

"Kill count 100: Blood Weapon transforms into a Token."

"Kill count 300: Blood Weapon can be taken out of Mansu Forest Land."

"Kill count 1000: Blood Weapon can be used as enhancement material to upgrade any Token to a higher level (maximum upgrade to Legendary)."

"Kill count 5000: Blood Weapon can be used as enhancement material to upgrade any Token to a Legendary level, and players can choose any three from nine optional attributes."

"Kill count 10000: Blood Weapon can be used as enhancement material to upgrade any Token to a Legendary level, and players can choose any three from eighteen optional attributes. For every additional 10000 kills, three more optional attributes are added."

The most stable gain for players participating in Mansu Forest Land is likely this enhancement material. It’s evident that getting a Legendary Token in ’Messenger’ is not difficult, but players often hoard these enhancement materials until the final stages of the version, hoping to draw the perfect attributes.

Yan Qing naturally did not harbor such hoarding fantasies; he estimated that he wouldn’t possibly reach 5000 kills, so he could only farm as many enhancement materials as possible while practicing other Advanced Techniques.

After the second wave ended, they had another 30 minutes to scavenge. This time, Yan Qing changed strategy, letting them go further to scavenge rare resources, while he cleaned up the surrounding trees and stones.

If there were four players, common resources like trees and stones wouldn’t be scarce. You could casually chop some while walking. However, in this team, only Yan Qing could stash resources into his personal warehouse; the others had to carry the resources manually. Therefore, resources like wood and stone, which were in high demand and easy to collect, had to be handled by Yan Qing.

Shang Xinlei and the others felt a bit guilty because going further obviously meant more chances of encountering hidden events, but now was not the time to decline, as the more difficult third wave was approaching, and they had to seize every minute.

Chopping trees and stones was straightforward; Yan Qing nearly cleared all the trees and stones within two hundred meters, collected three piles of rare resources, and as the 30 minutes drew near, the three of them returned, each with a large sack. This time, each of them triggered a hidden event.

Qian Gongyu encountered a garden where little people flew around like butterflies. The little people warmly invited her to drink honey. After drinking, her head became dizzy, and after the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, she woke up to find the little people gone and her Qi Blood increased by about one-fourth.

Shang Xinlei found a small wooden hut containing a map that showed the distribution of resource points around, thus bringing back the most rare resources.

Jie Yuan Shao didn’t have as complex an encounter as the other two; she simply picked up a ring from the ground, which turned out to be a Second-Turn Token, something she could use.

Seeing them excitedly discussing their experiences, Yan Qing’s lips curved slightly. He felt an indescribable happiness, probably because he thought the design of Mansu Forest Land was excellent, and now seeing his teammates also having fun made him happy as well.

Seeing the things he liked being liked by others naturally brought happiness. However, he needed to maintain the cold persona of ’Jiang Shi,’ so he had to resist the urge to share, discussing the next construction plan with them instead.

Soon, the resources they brought back vanished like bubbles, and many new structures appeared in the castle courtyard—

"’Teleportation Gate’ has been constructed."

"Teleportation Gate: Players receive four Tokens, which can be activated in Mansu Forest Land to immediately return to the Shelter via the Teleportation Gate. The Tokens cannot be taken out of Mansu Forest Land."

"’Heroic Spirit Hall’ has been constructed."

"Heroic Spirit Hall: The number of random statue constructions per round increases to three."

"’Funeral Mermaid Statue’ constructed."

"’Six Pola Warrior Statue’ constructed."

"’Eagle Shooter Statue’ constructed."

The strategic significance of the Teleportation Gate is immense, allowing everyone to return to the Shelter at the last moment without wasting ten minutes or more for the return trip. The Heroic Spirit Hall is similarly significant; statues are undoubtedly the most powerful force of the Shelter, and the main goal now is to build as many statues as possible to fortify the area.

As dense fog descended, the third wave of monsters attacked. Once they saw the two monsters at the edge of the fog, everyone’s expressions changed.

"White Bats and Highly Poisonous Vipers, both are Third Transformation Level Demon Kings," Jie Yuan Shao said with a grim face. "It’s a good thing we retreated yesterday... the third monster wave actually brings two Demon Kings at once!"

"Can we win?" Qian Gongyu asked worriedly.

"We will win."

’Jiang Shi’ simply replied before charging into battle, and the others quickly followed—this time, they were determined to steal victory from ’Jiang Shi,’ not letting him kill all the minions again!

As the snake and bat swarms approached the castle, suddenly a giant water sphere shot out, temporarily trapping dozens of monsters like a water prison, followed by an ice sphere that hit the water sphere, instantly freezing all the monsters within, killing dozens of minions on the spot!

Huh?

Yan Qing remembered these statues not being so powerful, and they typically fought individually. How did they perform such precise cooperation?

However, when he turned to look at the statues, he found the Daffodil Mermaid and Funeral Mermaid glowing with a purple light, seemingly connecting them as one. Their status bars showed they were in a special status—

"Pearl Tears Alliance: When the number of Pearl Tears Messengers is ≥2, the range of all Token effects of Pearl Tears Messengers is increased by 50%, and they will prioritize coordinating attacks with each other. (Daffodil Mermaid, Funeral Mermaid)"