Chapter 23 : Farming Points
Jiang Mo could tell at a glance that this Hall of Inquiry must be a school. However, a school within a cultivation sect wouldn't be teaching the Four Books and Five Classics or focusing on literary composition, so this place was probably used for lectures on the Dao and transmitting knowledge.
No wonder it was called the Hall of Inquiry.
Thinking of this, Jiang Mo couldn't help but wonder, and taking advantage of the fact that there was still no one in the hall, she asked the system: "System, why did you bring me here? You don't actually expect me to attend classes, do you?" Even if she did come to listen to lectures, what was taught here would be cultivation methods for human cultivators, which wouldn't be applicable to her as a divine beast—she might as well go ask Divine Lord Zhiming.
Just as Jiang Mo finished speaking, the sound of a bell suddenly rang out, deep and far-reaching.
Jiang Mo instinctively turned her head toward the direction of the bell, when she heard the system urging in her ear: "Host, quick, let's go! Don't stay here. People are coming soon, and it won't be good if we're spotted."
Perhaps because the system's voice was too urgent, or perhaps because this place was too unfamiliar, Jiang Mo instinctively followed the system's guidance and began running in the direction it indicated. Halfway through her run, she realized something was amiss—why was she running? She was a White Tiger divine beast, and even if she was currently being supported by Xuanqing Sect, she wasn't here to steal anything.
With this thought, the little white tiger's pace slowed, and she spared a moment to look back. She saw a group of little children coming from an adjacent path, noisily flooding into the Hall of Inquiry and occupying those meditation cushions.
Seeming to understand her confusion, the system explained: "The Hall of Inquiry is where Xuanqing Sect teaches the Dao to new disciples. All five peaks have one. These children have just entered the sect, and many haven't even begun drawing qi into their bodies. In a while, Foundation Establishment or even Golden Core cultivators will come to lecture and help them with their fundamentals... but this has nothing to do with Host. Host, let's hurry."
Jiang Mo was somewhat surprised that the system knew all this, since the light orb followed her around constantly and wasn't connected to any network. She really didn't know where it got its information. But the system wouldn't lie to her, so she obediently left.
As they ran, Jiang Mo asked: "Where are we going now?"
The system transformed into an arrow, flying ahead to guide Jiang Mo's direction. They didn't run very far, just far enough to leave the sight of those little children at the Hall of Inquiry, and after turning a corner, the system stopped: "We're here."
Jiang Mo stopped as well, and looking up, the two large characters for "Dining Hall" immediately caught her eye.
The little white tiger tilted her head, feeling even more confused than when she was taken to the Hall of Inquiry—why on earth would the system bring her to the dining hall? Could it be that after eating her milk candy, it remembered how she had been living on wind and dew lately, and its conscience finally led it to bring her here to improve her diet? But that couldn't be right. Hadn't they agreed to farm points? What did this have to do with eating?
Before she could ask, the system quickly gave her the answer: "Host, this is the only place on Mount Mingxia where food is cooked. In the back kitchen, there are quite a few chickens and ducks and livestock, all waiting to be slaughtered to feed those little disciples... Go on, Host, those are all points for you!"
Jiang Mo was stunned for a moment before finally understanding, her feelings instantly becoming quite complex. After a long while, she finally squeezed out a sentence: "System, you're really quite clever."
The system didn't detect the emotions packed into this single sentence and thought the host was genuinely praising it. It was immediately delighted, its light orb shining even more brightly than usual: "It's nothing, really, just average thinking."
See, it was indeed the most clever system. First it had thought of stomping on bugs, and now it came up with killing chickens and ducks... either way, it was all about killing monsters for points, so what difference did it make what was killed? At least chickens and ducks in cages were much easier to kill, with less chance of being attacked and injured—this was perfect practice for a novice like the host.
⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱
Though the point-farming location chosen by the system was quite difficult to comment on, it had to be said that the system's selection of such a place for Jiang Mo to practice showed considerable thoughtfulness.
Jiang Mo, who had grown up in a city in her previous life, had lived an extremely convenient life. Food could be delivered, shopping was done by courier, and even if she had a sudden urge to cook, the ingredients were already cleaned and prepared by people at the supermarket or market. As for slaughtering chickens or fish, she had barely even seen it done a few times, let alone done it herself.
In short, in her twenty-some years of life, Jiang Mo had never seen blood shed by her own hands!
For someone like her, even with enhanced combat power from the game system, recklessly sending her out to fight monsters in the wild would be like sending a lamb to slaughter. And the game system had no resurrection function—if Jiang Mo had a real accident, she would truly be injured, crippled, or dead.
Fortunately, Jiang Mo was self-aware, so despite her complex feelings, she ultimately accepted the system's good intentions.
The two of them took advantage of the empty dining hall to sneak into the back kitchen. After navigating around piles of carrots and cabbages, they found those chickens and ducks caged up... except these chickens and ducks looked a bit different from the ones Jiang Mo was familiar with.
Jiang Mo looked at the colorful roosters in the cage and asked the system: "System, is this... a pheasant?"
Although the system wasn't connected to the internet, it at least had a database and quickly found the information: "Host, this is a Splendid Chicken, a first-grade spirit beast. Although it's so weak even a mortal could kill it, its meat is delicious and contains a small amount of spiritual energy. It's the most suitable food for little disciples before and after they begin drawing qi into their bodies... Host, wipe your mouth corner, your drool is about to drip."
The little white tiger indeed raised her paw to wipe the corner of her mouth. She wiped nothing away, but when she looked up, her eyes were still shining brightly: "System, there are so many Splendid Chickens here, and not that many little disciples outside. It would be wasteful to kill them all, so why don't we take a couple with us?"
After all, Xuanqing Sect was supporting her, providing her long-term meals, so she didn't feel the least bit guilty about eating two chickens.
The system was still just a baby, and its values were formed by learning from its host. Since the host didn't think there was a problem, naturally it didn't think there was one either. Besides, when they first transmigrated here, it had promised the host it would help her roast meat until it was fragrant, but there had never been an opportunity. Now that they had Splendid Chickens, it would definitely help the host turn them into the most delicious roast chicken!
Tiger and system happily reached a consensus, and the golden tiger eyes grew even brighter. Then Jiang Mo wasted no more time, and while the dining hall was still empty, she stretched out her predatory paw toward the Splendid Chickens in the cage...
The Splendid Chickens were indeed very weak. Even the little weakling tiger could take them out with one swipe of her paw. The only thing she needed to overcome was the bloodiness that came with killing. But after all, it was just killing chickens, and soon her ears were filled with a steady stream of system notifications—
"Ding, congratulations to Host for successfully killing a Splendid Chicken, rewarding experience +200, points +1."
"Ding, congratulations to Host for successfully killing a Splendid Chicken, rewarding experience +200, points +1."
"Ding, congratulations to Host for successfully killing a Splendid Chicken, rewarding experience +200, points +1."
...
The same notification appeared almost like a screen scroll. Although Jiang Mo thought the experience and points were pitifully small, having something was better than nothing. And these Splendid Chickens were indeed easy to kill, which was precisely why they weren't worth much.
Soon the cages of Splendid Chickens were all cleaned out by Jiang Mo, but turning her gaze, she saw that there were plenty of other poultry in the back kitchen. At this point, she didn't bother asking the system what they all were; the system notifications would tell her anyway. And since these ingredients were placed in the back kitchen, they were probably around the same level as the Splendid Chickens, making them effortless to kill and offering little expectation.
However, the little white tiger, bored from mindlessly farming points, didn't notice that the system, quiet for a long time, had somehow approached a cage door—sure, the host was happily farming points without any pressure, but she had been relying on pills to level up all along, and continuing like this would do her future no good.
The system flipped through the "Manual for Cultivating Life Winners" left by its predecessors in its database, and finally steeled itself to open that tightly shut cage door. After all, it was just a Red-Crowned Goose inside, looking only slightly bigger than the Splendid Chickens. Given the host's combat power, she should have no problem handling it. It would be good for her to exercise a bit.
A moment later, as Jiang Mo was diligently farming points, a dark shadow suddenly loomed over her...