Chapter 22: Skill Card—Peach Blossom Spring

The children around Al were so frightened that their faces turned pale.

Donne, who had been on guard against them, reacted instantly with a flick of his finger.

But before he could even shoot out his water arrow, he saw the little girl suddenly vanish from where she stood, only to reappear ten meters away. She was bouncing around, making faces and sticking out her tongue at the skinny man, giggling and teasing, “Nyeh nyeh nyeh, you can’t stab me! Big meanie, you can’t stab me!”

The skinny man was so enraged that he spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed on the spot.

The whole thing happened so fast, no one could react in time.

The children froze for a moment, then their eyes lit up as they rushed over to surround Zhu Zhu. “Wow, Zhu Zhu, you’re amazing!”

Donne was just as astonished, staring at Zhu Zhu’s flushed little face for a long while. “Did this little one awaken an ability?”

“But that shouldn’t be possible. Her hair color isn’t pure.”

He stared at Zhu Zhu’s shoulder-length hair, which was mostly black with streaks of cherry pink, confusion flickering in his deep blue eyes.

In this era of explosive superpowers, the biggest distinguishing feature of ability users was their “hair color.”

Yes, hair color.

For example, a metal-type ability user would have pure golden hair, a fire-type would have red hair, and while there were many non-elemental ability users, they all shared the same trait: a single, pure hair color.

A little girl like Zhu Zhu, with black hair streaked with pink, was clearly just an ordinary person.

But then how did she just disappear and reappear like that? That kind of power should be spatial teleportation, which is supposed to correspond to pure white hair.

It didn’t match Zhu Zhu’s hair color at all. So what was going on?

The other kids were just as curious, their eyes sparkling as they all started chattering at once, asking if she’d awakened a power.

Zhu Zhu grinned, showing off two rows of neat little teeth. “Hehe, you guys are so silly! Of course it’s because I drew a skill card! It’s called ‘Peach Blossom Spring.’ I can use it to teleport by spending life force!”

“Wow, that sounds amazing!”

Her friends all looked at her with envy, their faces suddenly serious as they clenched their little fists, declaring that they would work hard to draw cards too, and get awesome skill cards just like Zhu Zhu.

Donne was completely baffled. He stammered, “Wh-what’s a skill card? You can get powers from drawing cards?”

Yun Qimu strolled back, wiping her little golden axe, and patted him on the shoulder with a good-natured smile. “Skill cards are a specialty of our Earth Village. Monsters drop treasure chests, and when you open them, you get a random reward. It could be food, weapons, or skill cards.”

Donne’s pupils contracted in shock. “You mean, the treasure chest that dropped from the wild chicken just now? So if an ordinary person draws a skill card, they could get a powerful ability too?”

“Mm, that’s the theory. But it depends on your compatibility with the skill card. The higher your compatibility, the more power you can draw out of it. Plus, skill cards come in different levels—the higher the level, the stronger the card.”

Donne was getting excited, his eyes shining. “Then… how do you know your compatibility with a skill card?”

“And if I draw two, or even more than two skill cards, does that mean I can have multiple abilities at once?”

Yun Qimu gave him an approving look. Not bad, this kid’s pretty sharp.

“You’re right. If you’re lucky and draw more cards, you can use more abilities. But as the village chief, I have to warn you: don’t bite off more than you can chew. Using skill cards consumes your life force. Once your life force runs out, so does your life.

“And the higher the card’s level, the more powerful it is, and the more life force it takes. If you want to become a one-man army, you’d better make sure you have enough life force. So, think about how to increase your life force, kid.”

Donne was so excited he didn’t even notice Yun Qimu’s lecturing tone. Right now, he was like a grade-schooler with a million questions, his mouth running a mile a minute.

“So how do you increase your life force, Chief?”

Yun Qimu saw the eagerness in his eyes and stroked her chin thoughtfully. “I don’t know how to increase your total life force capacity, but I do know how to restore it.”

“What is it?”

Old Tang, who’d been eavesdropping nearby, couldn’t help but blurt out the question, shooting his son a smug look as if to say, ‘Why should you be the only one allowed to ask questions? There’s no such rule in Earth Village!’

As a new resident of Earth Village, Old Tang was already feeling quite at home.

Donne looked aggrieved, turning away from his shameless father.

Yun Qimu ignored their little drama and answered cheerfully, “Red potion.”

Donne: ???

Old Tang: “What’s red potion?”

He’d roamed the stars for a hundred years and never heard of such a thing!

“It’s a potion that restores life force. Life force represents your physical condition—if you have even a sliver left, you can still be saved. It’s like your whole life has been turned into a stat bar, and red potion restores those points, healing and recovering your body in every way.”

“Where can you buy red potion?” Old Tang asked eagerly, glancing at the two log cabins in the village—neither looked like a shop.

Yun Qimu was pleased with his attitude and warmed up to this new resident. “Just wait a bit. I’ll open a pharmacy soon.”

Potions—turning cheap ingredients into expensive medicine, with huge profit margins.

In her previous life’s VR game, being an alchemist was the best way to rake in money. So opening a pharmacy here was the perfect way to fleece—er, serve—the villagers!

Decision made: the first shop in Earth Village would be a pharmacy.

With red potions, the villagers’ lives would be protected, their motivation to fight monsters would go up, and the game would absorb more energy to level up faster. A win-win-win!

Donne: …Open a pharmacy? Is it really that easy?

Where are you going to find such a rare alchemist?

Old Tang’s eyes gleamed with cunning. “If there’s a pharmacy, does that mean you’ll have Light Potions and Holy Potions too?”

Yun Qimu shot him a sly smile. The sheep had come to the door—her partner, the main AI, was doing a great job helping fleece them.

She said with a grin, “Of course! We’ve got whatever potion you need—as long as you have enough spirit coins.”

Inside, Yun Qimu was cheering: Yes! Time to happily fleece the sheep! Pharmacy, here we come!"