Chapter 26: Childbirth, Seeking Aid

Is this quest skippable? Of course, and many newcomers later on chose to skip it.

In his previous life, Fu Chen initially chose not to do this quest, so he naturally never learned any production skills. At first, it was fine; gear and weapons could be bought directly from the shop, with no need to craft them himself. Production skills were essentially a useless, time-consuming, and money-draining burden. However, as his level increased, standard gear could no longer keep up with his needs. He required items with better quality and attributes, such as 2-star blue gear, 3-star purple gear, and rare gold equipment. These items didn't have finished products readily available; one had to craft them or pay a premium to buy them from others. Combined with various other complications, the higher his level, the more inconvenient it became to lack production skills. In his past life, Fu Chen had no choice but to start learning them halfway through.

Thinking of this, Fu Chen smiled and replied, "Whether you do it or not is up to you, but since we have the time, I suggest doing it."

"Alright, I'll listen to the 'big boss' on everything in Perfect World," Qin Yumo teased playfully.

The two followed the Elder’s advice, purchased a [Mining Shovel] from the merchant in the south of the city, and headed toward the outskirts of Sword Immortal City. On the way, Qin Yumo looked at the pathetic balance in her inventory and couldn't help but complain, "A mining shovel costs 2,000 gold coins! That's more expensive than my entire set of gear."

In short: she felt she'd been ripped off and was heartbroken over the money. Having heard similar comments often lately, Fu Chen began to doubt himself. *No matter how I look at it, Huang should be someone who isn't short on money. Did I misjudge her based on appearances?* He then realized that in this era, it was truly impossible to determine someone's background just by their looks.

Fu Chen thought for a moment and comforted her, "I just checked, this shovel has no durability, meaning it won't break. So, it's not a loss." Sure enough, as soon as Qin Yumo heard it was an unbreakable tool for 2,000 gold, she cheered up immediately.

While chatting, they arrived at the southern outskirts of Sword Immortal City. Two days had passed, yet the area was still swarming with newcomers questing and grinding mobs. The four materials required for the quest had no fixed locations; they had to be found by sight. Fortunately, when they had been there before, they had seen them more than once, though they only had a general idea of the locations.

Just as Qin Yumo was fretting, Fu Chen showed her once again what it meant to be a "big boss." Whenever they passed another newcomer, Fu Chen would stop them and ask, "Hey buddy, have you seen any raw logs, sand and stone, raw iron, or coal dust on your way?"

"Beautiful, have you seen the materials I mentioned? Oh, you have? You want me to add you as a friend first? No problem, added."

"Hey man, mind if I ask a question?"

Throughout the rest of the journey, Fu Chen was a total "social juggernaut," asking everyone he saw, regardless of gender. Those asked, seeing his polite demeanor and the elegant beauty by his side, answered his questions willingly. When they learned Fu Chen was working on the Level 10 quest, their attitudes became even more friendly. With everyone's directions, the two finished the gathering quest in just one hour. Additionally, Fu Chen gained quite a few new friends, leaving Qin Yumo stunned.

"Hongchen, I never expected you to be a social juggernaut. That lady was almost 'spherical' in shape and you still called her a beauty?"

Fu Chen laughed, "Appearance isn't important. Look at her generous personality—she wouldn't have given directions if I hadn't added her."

The two returned to Sword Immortal City and turned in the quest to the Elder. The rewards were four Basic Production Skill books: Basic Blacksmithing, Basic Tailoring, Basic Crafting, and Basic Pharmacy. Like the previous experience books, these were learned at the Elder's bronze mirror. Standing before it, Qin Yumo couldn't make up her mind and asked for Fu Chen's advice: "Which of the four should we learn?"

"Do you not go online?" Fu Chen joked, "Only children make choices; adults want them all."

After learning the four skills, Qin Yumo realized that "production" was different from what she had imagined. In Perfect World, one didn't need to learn how to forge weapons or craft medicine step-by-step. Whether it was weapons, armor, accessories, or medicine, there were fixed procedures. You simply prepared the materials, found the crafting station, placed the materials inside, and the finished product was produced. Simply put, if you wanted to make a pair of chopsticks, you just selected the type, put the required materials into the machine, and the product was finished. Learning the skill was essentially earning a qualification certificate. With this, anyone could collect materials and craft what they needed. Of course, the quality and attributes of the final product were left to luck—all up to fate.

After learning them, all four production skills were at Level 1. Increasing their level depended on the situation—sometimes it required proficiency, other times it required crafting a specific quantity or quality of items. These were matters for another time; at their current level, there was no need to worry.

Having finished their business, they prepared to head back to Four Directions Village to see if there were new quests. Just as they reached the teleporter in Sword Immortal City, Qin Yumo suddenly stopped Fu Chen: "Hongchen, wait a moment!"

Fu Chen turned back, puzzled: "What's wrong?"

Qin Yumo said, "Zero Point and Yu Meiren are being bullied and want me to help. Actually, they want you to go."

Fu Chen frowned, looking confused: "That shouldn't be possible. I haven't met Yu Meiren, but her voice sounds like a sweet girl. Zero Point is a sexy beauty. How could they be bullied while questing together?"

"I'll invite them to the party, want to let them explain?" Qin Yumo asked tentatively. Seeing Fu Chen nod, she messaged Zero Point and invited them.

Yu Meiren sounded aggrieved: "Sister Yumo, when can you get here? We can't even kill mobs anymore."

Zero Point called out to Fu Chen directly: "Big Boss, we're being bullied, can you come help us out?"

"What's going on? How could someone bully two girls?" Fu Chen asked.

Qin Yumo comforted her friends: "I know you're in a hurry, but take a breath and tell Hongchen what happened."

Zero Point began to explain. She and Yu Meiren had been questing in the outskirts of Xia Yin Village. A group of people came by, and one man, seeing they were pretty, started hitting on them. Zero Point refused twice, and when that didn't work, she scolded him.

Yu Meiren added, "It wasn't just a few words; it was a lot, and they weren't very nice."

"Xiao Yu, whose side are you on?" Zero Point snapped, frustrated.

Fu Chen, not wanting to listen to them bicker, asked, "So, what did the guy do?"

Yu Meiren answered, "He's stealing our mobs. He keeps following us, and we can't finish our quest."

"That guy, Tianmu, is shameless. He snipes the mobs every time, wasting all our effort," Zero Point added angrily.

Fu Chen's expression turned serious: "Zero Point, you said the person stealing mobs is named 'Tianmu'? Hang tight, we're on our way."