Chapter 19: Settlement and Rewards

When Zhou Ming regained his consciousness, he found himself standing in the middle of a vast square. The surroundings were empty and deserted, with nothing but a large glowing ball hanging in mid-air above his head. As he gazed into the distance, all he could see was an endless expanse of darkness and depth.

"Still the classic version of the main god, huh?" Zhou Ming couldn't help but joke.

A beam of light descended from the sky, enveloping Zhou Ming.

Countless particles of light merged into Zhou Ming's body, repairing his injuries and rapidly restoring his physical condition to its peak state.

[The first full body repair is free, and subsequent repairs will be charged.]

Zhou Ming was a little surprised as he clenched his fist and felt the powerful strength surging inside his body.

Not only had his external, internal, and hidden injuries fully recovered, even the injuries caused by the death of his Gu were completely healed. At this moment, Zhou Ming's body was so healthy that there wasn't a single flaw to be found.

"Amazing!" Zhou Ming was sincerely impressed and exclaimed with admiration.

Looking around the square, Zhou Ming found that there seemed to be nothing there, with no signs of life.

[The task settlement is complete. Please check it yourself.]

"View task settlement!" Zhou Ming shouted towards the large glowing ball above his head.

[Task 1: Survive for ten days. Task completed. Received basic reward points of 1000.]

[Task 2: Protect Adele Bronses. The task has been completed, and 1000 reward points have been obtained. Task evaluation: excellent, overall evaluation greatly improved.]

[Participate in the mission: Destroy the killer organization Chronos. The task has been completed, with a participation rate of 27%, and 2700 reward points have been obtained. Task evaluation: excellent, overall evaluation greatly improved.]

[Overall task evaluation: five stars.]

[Special reward one: 150% bonus on the total reward points.]

[Special reward two: one five-star lottery qualification, which can be used for either designated or random selection.]

[Special reward three: The next task prompt, this reward will be issued one day before the task starts.]

[The next task world will enter in 15 days.]

Sure enough, the rewards for following senior members on a mission were very high.

Not to mention the combat experience gained from the series of battles, the final reward points alone were higher than the sum of Task 1 and Task 2.

Moreover, participating in the task would inevitably affect the overall evaluation, and a five-star evaluation increased his reward points by 150%, which means that Zhou Ming's final total reward points earned was 7050.

For a newcomer on their first task, this was a considerable income!

In addition, there is also the five-star lottery qualification.

"Hmm?" Zhou Ming scratched his head and asked, "Main God, what is the difference between designated selection and random selection?"

The main god's response appeared in Zhou Ming's consciousness.

[Designated selection selects three rewards based on the current attributes of the reincarnator, and the reincarnator chooses one of them.]

[Random selection selects ten rewards at random, and the reincarnator chooses one of them.]

After a moment's thought, Zhou Ming understood the difference between these two options.

One option is a reward that matches the attributes of the reincarnator and can be used directly, with a narrow selection of three to choose from.

The other option is something that is likely unrelated to the reincarnator's own attributes and cannot be used immediately. However, the selection is wider, with ten to choose from.

Each of these options has its advantages and disadvantages, as the value of different items among the five-star lottery qualifications can vary greatly.

If a top-quality item is drawn from the five-star lottery, it can be sold to other reincarnators, and the reward points obtained from the sale can be used to strengthen oneself.

In this case, the probability of getting something good from the ten options is obviously higher.

However, after some thought, Zhou Ming still chose the option with three to choose from.

First, this was his first task, and he lacked knowledge of both the main god space and the other reincarnators. Choosing an item that suited him better was safer.

Second, he also wanted to see how the main god judged his own attributes.

[You have chosen the designated selection for the lottery qualification, and have been presented with the following three reward options: Fire Dance Whirlwind Sword Technique, Wood Spirit Root, and Heavenly Water Pearl. Please select one of these options as your reward.]

Zhou Ming was slightly startled and immediately understood how the main god judged his own attributes.

Obviously, the Fire Dance Whirlwind Sword technique corresponds to the Sword Qi Gu, the Heavenly water Pearl corresponds to the Water Armor Gu and the Water Jade Gu, and the Wood Spirit Root corresponds to the Leaf Blade Gu, Grass Shoe Gu, and Grass Root Gu.

Although Zhou Ming only has the Grass Root Gu and the barely alive Sword Qi Gu left on him now, the other dead Gu insects are still being factored in by the main god.

"I wonder how long this calculation method will continue? If I bring in a completely different set of Gu insects next time, will they still be factored in when it comes to mission rewards?"

Zhou Ming didn't get an answer, and of course, the main god wouldn't answer his question.

He didn't bother thinking about it anymore and focused on examining the specific descriptions of the three rewards.

The Fire Dance Whirlwind Sword technique has a total of thirteen levels and is incredibly powerful when mastered. There is also an ultimate sword move: Same Longevity as Heaven and Earth, which is a suicidal sword move in the Fire Dance Whirlwind Sword technique and has the power to destroy the heavens and the earth, which is very powerful.

However, it takes a lot of time to master the Fire Dance Whirlwind Sword technique. As a reincarnator, he has to perform missions every once in a while, and he simply doesn't have the time to slowly cultivate his skills.

He could also directly strengthen it level by level with the main god, but the cost of reward points would not be a small amount.

"Unless you're a swordsman who specializes in swordsmanship, there's not much point in choosing this option."

Zhou Ming shook his head and looked at the wood spirit root next to him.

The Wood Spirit Root can make ordinary people eligible for Taoist practice and has a bonus in wood-based cultivation.

Obviously, this thing is often seen in some cultivation novels. Its appearance is a green line, and it is unclear whether it is an organ or a tool transplanted into the human body.

However, Zhou Ming's thoughts were not about that. He wondered if integrating the wood spirit root into his body would improve his aptitude.

The issue of aptitude had plagued him for too long, so when he saw this reward, this idea was the first thing that came to mind.

Although he knew that this idea was unrealistic because the two were not part of the same cultivation system, Zhou Ming still had a faint hope for the wood spirit root.

As for the third item, the Heavenly Water Pearl was a low-level magic weapon that formed a water shield when activated, providing protection against a certain degree of damage. The condition for use was cultivation, having true yuan power, and even those in the Qi refining stage could activate it.

Zhou Ming smiled.

It seemed that he didn't have to worry about how to choose.

As his finger lightly touched the wood spirit root, the other two options disappeared immediately, and the wood spirit root fell into his hand.

At the same time, the voice of the main god rang out.

[Obtained the wood spirit root, can choose to use it on your own, or the Main God can strengthen it and integrate it into the reincarnator's body. The strengthening requires 200 reward points.]

"F**k!" Zhou Ming despised the main god. If he was going to use the wood spirit root, he had to learn how to use it, and these two hundred points were clearly not enough.

After paying 200 reward points, a white beam of light enveloped Zhou Ming. The light flashed, and the wood spirit root in his hand disappeared without a trace.

Apart from that, Zhou Ming did not feel any changes.

"That's it?" Zhou Ming widened his eyes.

Before he could continue to examine it, the voice of the main god continued to sound.

[The reincarnator has the item "Grassroot Gu," which is not in the main god exchange sequence. Submitting it to the main god will earn you 200 reward points.]

[The reincarnator has the item "Sword Qi Gu," which is not in the main god exchange sequence. Submitting it to the main god will earn you 800 reward points.]

"Hmm?" These two consecutive prompts from the main god immediately drew Zhou Ming's attention completely away from everything else.

"Doesn't the main god have a Gu exchange?" Zhou Ming was greatly puzzled and quickly opened the exchange list, entered "Gu", and searched.

In an instant, countless exchange contents appeared before Zhou Ming's eyes.

The number was so large that Zhou Ming couldn't even see to the end at a glance.

However, as Zhou Ming's gaze swept down the list, his expression became increasingly serious.

There were Gu exchanges in the main god's list, of course.

But the sources of Gu were diverse and varied, including mundane poisonous insects, martial arts world exotic insects, cultivation world strange Gu, and even legendary primordial divine Gu.

Different Gu from different sources had different refining systems and, naturally, had different driving methods.

The Gu in Zhou Ming's main world of the Gu world were completely different from all the Gu on the main god's exchange list, not belonging to the same system, and therefore not related to each other.

Just as the main god said, "Not in the main god's exchange sequence."

In other words, Zhou Ming's main world (the Gu world) was an undeveloped blue ocean for the main god!

And a blue ocean meant an immensely huge space for profits.

Zhou Ming's heart suddenly surged with a strong sense of excitement.

He forcefully suppressed this excitement and chose to submit the Grassroot Gu to the main god.

After submitting it, Zhou Ming immediately received 200 reward points.

He then submitted the Sword Qi Gu and received another 800 reward points.

Then, Zhou Ming immediately searched for "Grass Root Gu" from the exchange list in the main god system.

A few minutes later, he found this exchange option.

[Grass Root Gu: a rank 1 wood path healing Gu insect, with average healing effects. Rating: one star. Exchange requires 100 reward points. Exchange prerequisite: possessing an empty aperture.]

100 points!

Zhou Ming's eyes widened suddenly, and his body trembled slightly.

Without hesitation, he submitted the Sword Qi Gu, which was about to die, to the main god, and received another 800 reward points.

Then he quickly found the exchange option that had just appeared in the exchange list.

[Sword Qi Gu: a rank 2 sword path attacking Gu insect with excellent attacking power. Rating: two stars. Exchange requires 400 reward points. Exchange prerequisite: possessing an empty aperture.]

Zhou Ming stared at the exchange information, and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

A Gu insect that was not on the main god's exchange list was being purchased by the main god at twice the price.

He brought a new Gu insect from the Gu world to the main god, and the reward points he received allowed him to exchange it for two identical Gu insects. He could then sell them in the Gu world and continue to buy new Gu insects for the main god.

With every round trip, he earned several times the profit. He was getting rich!

"Calm down, be calm."

Zhou Ming restrained his impulse to immediately exchange the Gu insects and resell them in the Gu world. He walked back and forth excitedly for a while before calming down.

Never make decisions when your emotions are high. This has always been one of Zhou Ming's guiding principles.

Excitement leads to impulsiveness, and judgments made in impulsiveness are likely to be wrong.

Feeling his heartbeat gradually returning to normal, Zhou Ming's thoughts became clearer. He did not reject the idea of reselling Gu insects between the two worlds, but he needed to make it more perfect.

After some thought, Zhou Ming asked, "Can I return to the main world now, main god? Can I come back here after I go back?"

[Reincarnators can return to the main world at any time. Before the next mission begins, they can also return to the main god space at any time. The first return to the main god space is free, but every subsequent return requires payment of 1000 reward points.]

The main god's answer extinguished the last bit of heat in Zhou Ming's heart, and his thinking became completely clear.

"As expected, it's not easy to take advantage of the main god's loopholes."

Each round trip to the main god's space required a payment of 1000 reward points. Taking into account his own safety and time costs, this meant that the profit from reselling Gu insects in a single transaction below 1500 reward points was a loss.

Moreover, there were several other issues that needed to be addressed to resell Gu insects.

Even if they were both first-grade Gu insects, the value of different Gu insects was quite different. Was the exchange price in the main god system also different?

Furthermore, the double purchase price was only the result of Zhou Ming's two submissions - the sample size was too small, and it was impossible to generalize it as a rule.

Who knows if other Gu insects are also purchased at twice the price? Will the main god allow him to score points indefinitely without any response?

The main god cannot answer these questions. Zhou Ming can only verify them himself, and he holds a pessimistic attitude towards the results.