Chapter 3: The Beginner Tutorial Truly Fits Both the Terms "Beginner" and "Tutorial

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[Mission: Slay the Remnant Soul of Qingyu Taoist]

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The dust on the ground formed words in Gu Shanhai's vision; this was his mission, and after its completion, he would be able to leave this instance world.

Once he finished reading, the dust disappeared again, as if that line of text had never appeared.

Gu Shanhai didn't pay too much attention to this; after only a glance around the cabin, he knew what he wanted.

The Qingyu Taoist naturally referred to that skeleton, but these were not important matters.

"The magic mirror on the door, the green robe on the bones, the books on the table, as well as... that potted plant."

In an instant, Gu Shanhai noted all the valuable items in the nameless cabin; what he actually needed were two things—the book and the potted plant on the table—but he wanted to take everything.

That book was mostly a diary on plant cultivation and insights, along with a cultivation technique; the technique was quite common, its only function being to connect with the plant within the pot.

This Immortal World was already in the End of Dharma era, with the spiritual energy nearly dissipated, and many cultivators had been trapped and perished.

This plant had a feature that was, during carbon-oxygen balance, the energy released could be converted into spiritual energy, although the quantity wasn't high.

As for why Gu Shanhai didn't bring back a cultivation technique when he was reborn, the reason was simple: if he dared to bring back any powerful techniques, his body would dare to explode. Extremely powerful techniques were not something his common human physique could withstand.

The less powerful ones were even less reliable, mostly strongly dependent on the energy environment, with significant limitations. He wasn't a player who could use game currency or skill points to level up.

Techniques such as these had to be cultivated in their native world; otherwise, cultivating a martial arts technique in the Magic World? That would probably result in being eroded by the elements, damaging the meridians and Dantian, turning into an invalid—and the worlds that produced such techniques were not liable to appear at this stage.

As for the weaker techniques... well, Gu Shanhai already had one, right there on the table, and he didn't have to worry about lacking energy to cultivate because the potted plant solved that issue.

So, Gu Shanhai had chosen this tutorial for newbies, having planned everything meticulously, selected from countless tutorials in past lives.

Compared to players, he, as a temporary worker, had his advantages. Although he didn't have corresponding system rewards, anything in the instance that he could take away would belong to him.

If a regular player entered this tutorial, they would likely obtain only three types of items.

The first type was equipment, namely the magic robe on the skeleton, which provided some defensive power.

The second type was consumable items, specifically the magic mirror hanging on the door, which dealt extra damage to ghosts, evil spirits, and similar monsters—yes, for confronting the remnant soul of Qingyu Taoist, though it wasn't necessary, as one could forcibly kill without it.

The third type was skills, but commonly, these were awarded after completion through opening a treasure chest, which introduced a randomness factor.

As for the book and the potted plant, the former was akin to a task setting that players couldn't take with them, while the latter was simply the main boss of this instance, the dwelling place of Qingyu Taoist's remnant soul, considered a task item.

Forget about hidden missions—where would a tutorial get hidden missions? At the least, initial level instances would possibly contain them.

Because Gu Shanhai was not even partially data-based, for him, as long as he could physically take the items, "First Epoch" would recognize it. However, he also lacked the partial data-based appraisal and protection; thus, if something unforeseen happened, "First Epoch" would not be involved.

Advantages and disadvantages existed: he did not have to watch helplessly like full-time players when he saw desirable objects that he couldn't obtain, but likewise, he had to take on the risks himself.

Rising to his feet with a jump, he casually took down the magic mirror from the door and examined it closely.

"Spiritual energy collapse, can only be used once, no wonder it's a one-time-use item, just warming it with mana or spiritual energy could restore it."

Like the green clothes, this magic mirror was a treasure too, but it was too far away to be nurtured by the spiritual energy emanating from the potted plant, so it was always in a state of damage.

The robe was closer to the pot, which is why it was better preserved.

He casually pocketed the mirror, that thing was a treasure after all. It would be too wasteful to use it just once, especially against a mere remnant soul that could be dealt with a drop of blood from the tip of his tongue. If it were a complete ghost soul, he would have to be more cautious.

A remnant soul doesn't even possess spiritual intelligence, let alone basic instincts.

He found some tools in the cottage and cobbled something together. Throughout this process, he was careful not to get close to the potted plant, which harbored a remnant soul.

His plan was simple, snag the robe from the corpse first, so he'd have some defense to avoid any mishaps.

Crack...

He hooked the chair along with the skeleton toward him.

"It's indeed area-based, only appearing once you enter its region," Gu Shanhai casually stripped the green robe off the skeleton and, disregarding any bad luck, put it on right away.

"Yo, it even has a constant spell attached, able to release a shield."

Gu Shanhai quickly noticed the spell that came with the robe, probably something like the Spirit Shield Skill, which would provide additional shield points to a player in "The First Epoch."

"Pity there's no storage ring or the like."

But it made sense— in the End of Dharma, he guessed this person probably only had the strength of the first level of Qi Refinement; how could they afford a storage treasure? Even if they did, the internal space would have collapsed in the End of Dharma.

He activated the robe's built-in shield without hesitation, and a faint light appeared, very thin.

"It's probably only got about 10 points of shield value, lasts for a minute, pretty shabby. But I can't expect too much, there's been too much leakage of spiritual energy."

"Fortunately, it's enough, having this thing is good; no need to be picky."

Gu Shanhai approached the potted plant, and at a distance of just one meter, a black mist abruptly emerged within it, and a ferocious face lunged at him.

Other than the black mist being a bit sparse and the face looking like it could dissipate at any moment, the horror effect was still pretty good.

He bit the tip of his tongue, spewing a mouthful of blood mixed with saliva right at it.

"Aah~"

A mournful wail burst from the face, which seemed to suffer intense pain.

Then it melted away like snow in the sun.

The tutorial level, eh? How difficult could it be? It's just a monster-beating tutorial. No point in making it ridiculously hard to annoy the players; it's about training, not harassing.

Gu Shanhai's situation was still somewhat challenging, regular players had it even easier, because... they had locked health. Even standing idle letting the remnant soul attack wouldn't kill them, and unlike Gu Shanhai who had to consider that remnant souls were ghostly beings that regular physical attacks couldn't handle, regular players didn't need to worry—they could defeat the thing with the clumsiest punch.