Love Bitstream: Chapter 5 - The Man Riding the Azure Horse
Chapter 5: The Man Riding the Azure Horse
Chi Zhen’s game character was still staying inside the main city. Players could not kill each other there, so for the moment, he was safe.
But he was panicking.
Raids, battlefields, and arenas were simple enough. He could just shout for teammates in world chat, form a party, teleport directly to the entrance, and instantly enter the instance. Other players would not be able to kill him there.
The problem was daily quests. Many daily missions required going into wilderness maps.
Completing dailies earned Spirit Points, which could be exchanged for advanced equipment parts and materials.
If he stopped doing them, he would fall far behind everyone else. After all, this was a game where you could only spend money on cosmetics, not on equipment.
[Is Xiao Chi planning to hide in the main city forever?]
[Where’s the dignity of a lifestyle player?!]
Chi Zhen glanced at the barrage. The stream still had over five hundred viewers.
For a tiny streamer like him, this was an unimaginable number. Before he had even started properly playing the game today, viewers had already showered him with gifts. A quick glance told him it was not a small amount.
Chi Zhen knew exactly why. People watched gaming streams for entertainment.
Once the entertainment ended, this wave of viewers would immediately leave.
Actually, thinking about it carefully, Misty Autumn Rain’s words made a lot of sense. Things in the game should be resolved within the game. The in-game kill list system was also just another gameplay mechanic. Seen that way, it was not really such a big deal.
[Thanks to Boss “A Little Sweet” for the Fruit Bomb! Boss is generous!]
A Fruit Bomb cost one hundred yuan. Chi Zhen rarely received gifts this expensive. “A Little Sweet” immediately rose to second place on the gift rankings, and a red system announcement flashed across the stream.
[No way, one Fruit Bomb already got them to second place???]
[Feeling sorry for the streamer. Let me open a Fruit Can for you~]
A Fruit Can cost twenty yuan, too.
Chi Zhen quickly said, “Thank you Boss ‘Chaos Goblin’ for the Fruit Can, thank you. Since everyone has placed such high expectations on me, if I don’t go outside for a stroll, I’d be letting all the bosses’ gifts down!”
[Wouldn’t going out now just be suicide?]
[Streamer, think carefully]
Chi Zhen laughed. “I’ll take care of myself.”
He controlled The Light Boat Has Passed over to the warehouse NPC in the main city and opened his personal storage to inspect it carefully.
[Holy crap! What kind of model warehouse is this?!]
[So many materials, rich guy!]
[Bro, are you preparing for a zombie apocalypse in the world of the game or something? Why hoard this much stuff?]
Storage was divided into personal storage and guild storage. Guild storage was shared and had huge capacity. Personal storage had three pages, thirty slots per page, for a total of ninety slots. Adding the forty-eight inventory slots every character naturally had, ordinary players had more than enough space.
Some cosmetic collectors liked gathering outfits, but cash-shop cosmetics did not occupy storage slots at all. So practically nobody could ever fill more than a hundred inventory spaces completely.
Except extreme lifestyle players like Chi Zhen.
Every single one of Chi Zhen’s storage slots was full.
Cheap materials like rice, brass, herbs, and linen cloth. Finished high-grade potions, food, and equipment. High-tier gemstones for socketing equipment, sorted for different sects.
Every material was neatly categorized according to crafting profession, lined up perfectly. Every stack contained the maximum amount: ninety-nine.
[Lifestyle players are built different. They even grind picking weeds.]
[I hereby declare him a professional reseller]
[Everyone screenshot Xiao Chi’s materials stockpile. This guy’s terrifying. Last time Mount Xumi had a skill adjustment, he hoarded a mountain of crit-rate potions and made a killing.]
“Go ahead and screenshot,” Chi Zhen said generously while displaying his warehouse. “I just like hoarding stuff. It gives me satisfaction.”
After showing off the warehouse, Chi Zhen rapidly stuffed various consumables into his inventory.
Swiftflight Pills, Flashstep Elixirs, Spirit Recovery Powder, Spirit Infusion Drink, grilled meat skewers, steamed fish soup—
Aall survival consumables for escaping danger and restoring HP and mana.
[Enough already! Taking ten or twenty stacks is fine, why are you taking ninety-nine of each???]
[Don’t force me to look down on you]
[You think you’re going on a picnic or something?]
[If you’re scared of dying, at least don’t make it this obvious, thanks.]
“I’m not afraid of dying,” Chi Zhen said. “I just don’t like the feeling of being killed.”
[Peak modern nonsense literature.]
[6]
Ignoring the rapidly scrolling barrage, Chi Zhen filled every inventory slot with life-saving medicine before finally feeling secure enough to leave the warehouse NPC.
In Quest for the Azure Heavens, players lost almost nothing when killed. No money dropped, no items dropped. You simply respawned at a resurrection point and had to run back across the map, while your equipment lost a little durability.
So Chi Zhen also stopped by an NPC to repair all his gear durability first, setting every piece back to 100% before finally setting out to accept his daily quests.
[Almost fell asleep watching that]
[He’s this scared and still leaving the main city?]
[Sacrificing himself for the entertainment of the Chaos Goblin… I’m crying]
[Believe it or not, Xiao Chi’s mechanics are actually pretty decent]
Chi Zhen accepted the main city dailies from the NPC.
Every day in Quest for the Azure Heavens, new main-city daily quests refreshed. Players could accept them from the NPC Shi Gui, the owner of Yue Lai Inn, in any of the three main cities. There were five random tasks total.
Daily quests were usually simple—mostly errands, item deliveries, or killing weak monsters.
Chi Zhen completed two of the tasks without ever leaving the city. The remaining three required going outside to different locations.
The first task: Pick osmanthus flowers on Mount Zhaoyao.
[The place where it all began.]
The barrage commented.
Silently, Chi Zhen summoned his mount, the Azure Horse. The Light Boat Has Passed leapt gracefully onto the saddle and immediately galloped toward the destination.
The Azure Horse was sold by a system NPC for ten thousand spirit stones. Movement speed: 100.
Blue-gray all over. Low-key. Plain. Unadorned.
[Seriously? Even the Bright Yellow Horse from the cash shop costs only thirty-six yuan and has speed 120. It’s prettier too. Isn’t that way better than your Azure Horse?]
[Cheap-ass Xiao Chi would never spend real money on mounts.]
“In Wendao, mounts are useless in combat and raids anyway. They’re only for running around during dailies,” Chi Zhen explained while riding. “The difference between speed 120 and 100 isn’t that big. It’s only a tiny bit faster. Totally useless.”
[I hope when some girl asks you to go sightseeing with her, you’ll still remember what you said today.]
[Men riding azure horses don’t qualify for online dating.]
“If you guys don’t ride azure horses, have you managed to get into online relationships?” Chi Zhen asked sincerely.
[Enough.]
[The mockery level is maxed out.]
[I’m logging in right now to hunt you down at Mount Zhaoyao.]
They soon arrived at Mount Zhaoyao. Chi Zhen leapt off his horse at lightning speed, picked the flowers just as quickly, then mounted up again and rushed toward the next quest location.
Along the way, he passed quite a few players, yet not a single one attacked him.
The calm before the storm.
The second quest was to kill five rampaging demons by Yize Waterside.
Yize was a vast, flat marshland. Waist-high reeds grew along the shore, leaving nowhere to hide. The moment Chi Zhen arrived at Yize, he felt something was off.
Scattered around the waterside were several players doing quests. Nothing looked unusual.
Completely normal.
Although quests were randomized and there were hundreds of small quests in the pool, there were also thousands upon thousands of players. It was inevitable that some people would roll the same quest.
Chi Zhen dismounted, put away his mount, and cautiously surveyed the surroundings.
Everything seemed peaceful.
After killing two demons, Light Boat Has Passed casually straightened up and slowly turned his head, his gaze sweeping across every direction.
The scenery at Yize remained as beautiful as ever. A gentle breeze rippled through the lush reeds.
Not far away, three demons huddled together, gleefully dancing around a campfire while waving fishbone clubs. A grilled fish roasted over the flames.
They were still outside aggro range, so the demons hadn’t noticed Chi Zhen yet.
Three simple-minded demons, convinced they were about to enjoy a delicious grilled fish. One of them was even sprinkling seasoning onto it.
At this distance, a few steps would be enough to reach them.
Suddenly, Light Boat Has Passed moved.
He lunged forward, sliding straight into combat range.
Just as the livestream viewers were about to curse him for wasting a crucial escape skill at such a critical moment, a flash of light suddenly appeared where he had been standing.
A Boundless Dao Sect cultivator descended from the sky, whisk in hand, and slammed down an ultimate skill that blasted a massive crater into the waterside.
At the same time, several nearby players who had appeared to be questing suddenly charged forward. Hidden weapons, crossbow bolts, projectiles, poison—every ranged attack they had was unleashed at the spot where Light Boat Has Passed had just been standing.
If he’d still been there, his brains would probably have been blown out.
Seeing their ambush fail, the attackers instantly changed direction and rushed toward him.
More players arrived after teleporting directly to the exact coordinates.
In an instant, enemies surrounded him from every side.
Light Boat Has Passed had nowhere to run. Drawing a teleportation array required five full seconds of chanting. Five seconds were more than enough for the surrounding players to interrupt him and kill him several times over.
The viewers hadn’t even finished mourning when they saw Light Boat Has Passed immediately pull out a branch blooming with tiny yellow flowers—the Spirit Cultivator weapon, Sandang Wood Branch—and unleash the ultimate skill, Falling Shadows with the Wind.
Falling Shadows with the Wind was the max-level ultimate skill of the Spirit Cultivator. It consumed one-third of the user’s mana and was terrifyingly powerful. Every enemy within range would take varying amounts of damage depending on distance and be blasted away.
The three low-level demons’ health bars instantly emptied, and they collapsed to the ground.
At the same time, the recoil from the ultimate skill sent Light Boat Has Passed flying backward as well.
As he flew past the campfire, he casually reached out, snatched the grilled fish off the rack, and stuffed it into his inventory. Then, with a splash, he fell into Yize’s waters.
The current was rapid, and Light Boat Has Passed quickly vanished from sight.
The pursuing players gathered at the shore, somewhat dumbfounded. Had he fallen into the water by accident, or was this an intentionally planned escape route?
If it was deliberate… Then that was way too impressive.
[Nearby] Drunken Breeze of Fleeting Life: He definitely drifted downstream. Move!
Drunken Breeze of Fleeting Life was from The Way of Heaven guild. The moment he spoke, several guild members immediately sprinted downstream along the current.
[Nearby] I’ll Protect Your Remaining Years: Not necessarily. He might do the opposite and head upstream instead, hiding underwater until you all leave.
I’ll Protect Your Remaining Years belonged to Dominating the Firmament, and he clearly disagreed with Drunken Breeze’s analysis. Several Dominating the Firmament players immediately headed upstream.
In truth, both arguments made sense.
If he stayed underwater and let the current carry him downstream, he’d travel faster and farther. But if he swam upstream against the current, although slower, he could exploit reverse psychology and bet that nobody would expect him to go the opposite direction.
But either way, Light Boat Has Passed couldn’t stay underwater forever. The game paid extreme attention to detail and realism. Players couldn’t breathe underwater and would eventually suffocate. Since he had to hold his breath underwater, he naturally couldn’t chant a teleportation array either.
The two groups spread out along the shore, staring intently at the water’s surface, waiting to strike the moment Light Boat Has Passed resurfaced.
But they waited and waited, and he never came up.
The two guilds stood there by the waterside, staring at one another.
At that moment, only the livestream viewers knew what had happened.
The Spirit Cultivator was famous for its graceful movement techniques and unpredictable fighting style. Many of its skills came with dodge, knockback, or aerial movement effects, making Spirit Cultivators impossible to predict in combat.
Chi Zhen’s evasive maneuvers had already left viewers stunned. Just as everyone—like the players from The Way of Heaven—assumed he would drift downstream to accelerate his escape, Chi Zhen did something nobody expected.
Light Boat Has Passed floated quietly underwater, raised the Sandang Wood Branch in his hand—and took a bite out of it. Then he calmly began drawing a teleportation array.
[Holy shit, aren’t skills unusable underwater?!]
[Did Spirit Cultivators just get hacked-level cheats?!]
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