Chapter 21: Unlocking the Second Level of the Mall

After a period of physical training, Xiaojiu was finally ready to begin learning the techniques and inner methods of qinggong.

In her heart, she silently recited the words written in the manual: “The wonder of qinggong lies in the harmony of heart and breath, the unity of body and form.”

She arrived at a hillside, took a deep breath, and followed the guidance in the manual, channeling her energy to the tips of her toes. With a gentle tap against a tree trunk, her body leapt upward like a bird in flight. She continuously darted and jumped between tree trunks, practicing the techniques of breath control and agile movement, fully enjoying the sense of freedom and exhilaration brought by qinggong.

Beside her, a chicken was also leaping and darting between the tree trunks alongside Xiaojiu.

After this period of relentless training, Cuihua could no longer be called a chicken—it was more like a bird that happened to resemble one. Now, it could soar through the air like a real bird, leaving all the flapping ground-bound chickens below green with envy.

The speed at which Xiaojiu picked up qinggong completely stunned Yan Jue.

He hadn’t expected her to be so naturally gifted. While others were still struggling with the basics, Xiaojiu had already mastered everything. She was, frankly, a monster.

What shocked Yan Jue even more was that the wild chicken named Cuihua was now flying higher and farther by the day. It was simply astonishing.

Could it be that the pets raised by gifted people were also inherently talented?

Yan Jue figured that if he ever got into a fight with Xiaojiu, he would definitely lose. From what he had observed these past few days, this little girl’s strength and speed were downright terrifying.

He suspected that even those old fogeys from the Hall of Longevity might not be a match for her.

During their training in the mountains, the children in the village had all grown visibly stronger.

Especially Zhao Hu—he had the highest talent among the kids and learned the fastest. Right now, he could knock down two of his dads (figuratively, of course). Word had it that a few days ago, Zhao Hu made his father so mad that the man chased him for half a day and still couldn’t catch him. Now, even Zhao Hu’s father had joined Yan Fuzi’s martial training.

Nowadays, regardless of gender or age, all the villagers—eager not to let their children fall behind—would join Yan Fuzi to train whenever they had free time.

The adults and children in the village had quietly started competing among themselves—who trained better, who was stronger.

People went into the mountains every day, competing over who could bring back more game. At this point, animals in the surrounding ten-mile radius were deliberately avoiding Peach Blossom Village.

It was said that the silver earned from selling all the recent game in town was already enough for many villagers to start building new homes.

Recently, Shopkeeper Xu in town couldn’t stop grinning every day. Not only did he successfully secure the grand birthday banquet order for the Wang family matriarch, but Yongfu Restaurant had now become the most popular restaurant in town.

Meanwhile, Liu Dazhu and Zhao Dalang were selling animal-shaped cloth bags and candy in town like hotcakes.

Madam Liu had turned the cloth bag sewing into a full-blown village industry. The village aunties were now at home every day experimenting with new patterns, evolving from simply copying templates to creating original designs.

The village school had also been completed according to Xiaojiu’s instructions. Elder Xu even personally wrote the calligraphy for the signboard, naming it Taoyuan Academy. From then on, the children of Peach Blossom Village lived fulfilling lives—studying in the mornings, practicing martial arts in the afternoons.

When Wang Zhengyi said that Old Xu was more impressive than any of the teachers at the town school and seemed to know everything, he quickly became Old Xu’s number one fan, wishing he could follow him around 24/7.

Life in the village was slowly developing into exactly what Xiaojiu had envisioned. The villagers were living better and better, and even the children could now attend school.

Taoyuan Village was no longer the poorest village in the area. In fact, people from nearby villages were sending matchmakers to inquire about the village’s eligible bachelors and young women. Word had it that even Liu Dazhu had several matchmakers lining up to introduce him to potential wives.

“Congratulations, Host, for learning lightness skill (qīnggōng)! Reward: 100 points + 1 lottery draw.”
“Congratulations, Host, for helping the villagers become prosperous! Reward: 200 points + 1 lottery draw.”
“Congratulations, Host, for helping build a school in the village! Reward: 300 points + 1 lottery draw.”

That familiar voice, which hadn’t appeared in quite a while, suddenly sounded again—bringing with it a cascade of surprises.

“So many rewards?” Xiaojiu asked happily.

“Yes, Host. These are well-earned through your recent efforts. We hope you continue working hard to become a competent village chief,” the system encouraged.

Xiaojiu immediately started her lottery draws.

The first draw yielded a packet of chili seeds.

The second draw rewarded her with a storage pouch.

The third draw gave her a Strength Pill.

A storage pouch?

Xiaojiu picked it up right away to examine it.

She’d read cultivation novels before—storage pouches could hold tons of stuff.

She asked the system, “How do I use this? Do I have to drip blood on it to bind it?”

“Correct.” the system replied.

Xiaojiu immediately bit her finger and dripped a bit of blood onto the pouch. After a moment, she felt a mental link with the pouch form in her mind.

She discovered that no matter how large the item was, she only needed to place it directly into the pouch, and the pouch would not change in appearance. To retrieve an item, she simply had to think of it, and it would appear in her hand just as she imagined.

This prize was exactly what she needed—Xiaojiu was beyond satisfied.

She stored the chili seeds and the Strength Pill inside the pouch.

“Congratulations, Host, you’ve reached 1000 points. Second tier of the system store is now unlocked.”

Xiaojiu immediately opened the store panel. Now available for exchange:

Lighter – 2 points

Slingshot – 3 points

Flashlight – 5 points

Binoculars – 10 points

Stun baton – 15 points

……

“Wow, this feels like a general store! System, how many points to unlock the third tier of the store?” Xiaojiu asked.

“5000 points to unlock tier three. Please continue working hard, Host.”

“What’s in the third tier?”

“You’ll find out once it’s unlocked,” the system replied mechanically.

Seeing she couldn’t coax any more info out of it, Xiaojiu gave up and continued exploring the second-tier items.

But she had barely looked through a few when a ruckus broke out outside the courtyard.

“Village chief! Village chief! Something bad happened—A’dou and Zhao Hu were taken by men in black on the mountain!” Da Ya and Xing’er came rushing into the yard in a panic.

Behind them were two girls who clearly weren’t from their village.

“What happened?” Xiaojiu asked at once.