Chapter 28

That's it, I've signed the contract and got a recommendation, so I'm shamelessly asking for clicks, recommendations, and favorites. If possible, let's try to make a push for the rankings... Thanks for everyone's support.

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The Heart Sword mantra is complex and profound, with its opening line being "The sword follows the heart, like flowing water and clouds." The entire mantra expounds the essence of the Heart Sword.

This essence of the Heart Sword, whether or not it was distilled from some ancient martial arts mantra by the developers, seems ethereal and elusive at first glance, but upon closer inspection, it is deeply meaningful. Ji Ran initially read it with a trial mindset, but over time, he found himself gradually immersed in it.

However, as he fully immersed himself in the mantra, the true qi in his body began to flow gradually.

Centered around his heart, the true qi rapidly circulated through his large and small blood vessels, rapidly inhaling and exhaling. His entire body's blood vessels, muscles, and skin vibrated slightly, forming small vortices that slowly absorbed the scattered energy from the surrounding air into his body.

But Ji Ran didn't feel any of this. The absorption was subtle, almost imperceptible, and didn't disturb anyone else.

Of course, this was because the others weren't very strong. If there were a Gold Rank powerhouse nearby, they would have sensed the energy flow.

Ji Ran's cultivation inadvertently led him into a state of self-forgetfulness. In the end, he didn't know whether he was reciting the mantra, sleeping, or half-awake. In any case, when he came to his senses, it was already the next morning.

Having never experienced this before, Ji Ran was naturally amazed. But he remembered his original intention and quickly checked his attribute panel. His experience had increased! And it was a significant amount!

Checking the system notification panel, he found a series of experience increase notifications. Each one wasn't much, but they were continuous. Cultivation indeed granted experience points!

Not only that, but his true qi seemed to have increased significantly. This cultivation method really worked! It not only increased experience but also increased true qi! Haha, his biggest weakness in this world was finally addressed!

From now on, he would cultivate whenever he had free time, hunt monsters when he had the chance, and make magical artifacts whenever he had materials... His leveling speed would surely skyrocket! Why hadn't he thought of this before? He could cultivate too!

He couldn't rely on the game system forever; innovation was the key!

Discovering a new path, the future seemed bright, and Ji Ran's optimistic personality naturally returned. After all, during the twenty-odd years before his穿越, he had relied on this optimistic attitude to get through most of the time.

If he hadn't been so optimistic, his personality would have become extreme and gloomy, and whether he could have even gone to college would be uncertain, and his fate would have been entirely different...

For the whole day, Ji Ran was in high spirits, which the others noticed.

"What's with you today? You seem especially excited. Did you have a good dream last night or something..." Aileen looked at Ji Ran up and down, quite puzzled.

Ji Ran couldn't explain, so he just laughed and said, "We're about to leave the forest, and I've never seen a big city before, so I'm a bit excited."

Indeed, the group was about to leave the Blue Pine Forest.

The Blue Pine Forest wasn't very large, but the return trip took them half a month. In fact, it took them more time to enter the forest, but that was because they spent a lot of time hunting.

On the way out, to avoid trouble, they rarely initiated attacks on monsters, saving a lot of time. In half a month, they were already near the edge of the Blue Pine Forest.

The Blue Pine Forest is located in the northeastern part of the Alpha Continent, not close to the edge. To the north is a towering mountain range, and on the other side of the mountains is a land covered in snow and ice for most of the year. That land is the territory of the orcs.

Due to the barrier of the massive ice peak mountains, the climate in the Blue Pine Forest is relatively mild, making it resource-rich and home to many monsters. However, because it is close to the north and has a long winter, the types and levels of monsters are not particularly high, making it popular among low-level adventurers.

After leaving the Blue Pine Forest, the group first arrived at a small town called Pine Edge for a brief rest.

According to Beck, this town was originally small, with only a few thousand households. But in the past few decades, as the value of the Blue Pine Forest was gradually discovered, various adventure groups began to settle in, causing the town's population to surge to tens of thousands. Of course, the town usually doesn't have that many people, as most adventurers are out in the Blue Pine Forest.

Walking down the street, the others were fine, but Ji Ran was simply overwhelmed by the sights.

To say the town was beautiful would be a stretch; it was full of low houses and muddy roads. But it was all new to him! Ji Ran had been in the modern world for a long time, and even his rural hometown didn't have this kind of scene... Moreover, the style was completely different.

It was like a medieval town from a Western fantasy game, with a strong foreign flavor. The adventurers walking in groups added another layer of color to the town. Most were humans, but occasionally, he saw elves and dwarves. When he entered a tavern, he was even more surprised to see an orc!

Didn't orcs and humans have a poor relationship? How could there be orc adventurers in human territory?

"Don't be surprised. The poor relationship between orcs and humans is at the national level. Orc and human adventurers teaming up is quite common; everyone just does their own thing. At most, they return to their respective countries if a war breaks out... Orc countries sometimes go to war with human countries, but it's usually individual conflicts. If a full-scale war breaks out... these few adventurers wouldn't matter much."

Lai Si took on the task of explaining to Ji Ran, of course, also because Ji Ran had been staring for too long... Orcs generally have bad tempers, and there's no need to start a fight here for no reason.

"Hey, Old Mac, come... one, two, three, four... six mugs of ale, and bread, salad, roast meat, sausages... enough for six people!" Beck sat down and started calling out to the tavern owner.

This kind of tavern usually doubles as a restaurant, so it's not surprising that Beck ordered these things. After ordering, Beck smiled at Ji Ran, "Ji Ran, I'm not saying your cooking isn't good! It's just that I haven't had bread in a long time, and I miss it. In fact, your cooking is much better than the roast meat and such in this restaurant!"

"I can't let that pass!" Suddenly, a plate was slammed onto the table, and the roast meat bounced up. Ji Ran turned to see a burly dwarf staring angrily at Beck.

"Hey, Old Mac, is this how you treat your customers? Look, my clothes are splattered with oil! This is my ancestral fine leather armor..." Beck immediately protested. Of course, Ji Ran knew his real intention was to change the subject...

"That leather armor of yours is already so dirty, my oil might make it look better! Forget it, don't talk nonsense. You actually said my food isn't good? Old Mac can't stand that!"

The dwarf seemed to have a bad temper and threw another plate of sausages onto the table, which also bounced up high.

Aileen had already frowned and moved away, hiding behind Lai Si. The others didn't dodge but looked helpless.

"Old Mac, no one said that! Your food is still good, or do you think we would come to your tavern right after returning from an adventure?" Lai Si glared at the dwarf.

In fact, Lai Si and the others were quite familiar with this old dwarf. There were several taverns in the town, but they always came straight to this one. It was just that Beck's quiet comment was overheard by Mac.

Dwarves have tempers that can rival orcs. Once they are provoked, they can be relentless. This Old Mac was no different, glaring at Beck, "I heard him! Old Mac's 'Giant Barrel' is famous in Pine Edge for its delicious and affordable food, and he dares to say it's not good!"

"Wait, Old Mac, bring the rest of the food first, let us eat, and then we can talk, okay?" Ban spoke up. Honestly, the smell of the roast meat and sausages was really good, and even Ji Ran was drooling.

"Hmph! If you say Old Mac's food isn't good, why are you eating it here? You're wasting my culinary skills..." The old dwarf grumbled but quickly brought the food.

Everyone started eating, and Ji Ran was no exception. To be honest, the roast meat and sausages were quite good, better than what he had eaten in his previous world. Of course, his own cooking was even better, but the style was different, and this kind of food suited Ji Ran's taste. As for the salad, it was just mixed vegetables, and he lost interest after a few bites.

The dwarf Old Mac left to work for a while but soon returned, still looking angry, and looked at Beck.

"You've eaten, now can you tell me why you said my food isn't good?"

Everyone was speechless at the old dwarf's stubbornness. Dwarves have this kind of bad temper; if you don't give them an explanation, they can drive you crazy.

"I... didn't say your food isn't good... just that our teammate's cooking is a bit better..." Beck took a big sip of ale and replied to the dwarf.

"Oh? Is that so? I know your teammates, and they can barely cook enough to fill their bellies in the wild. To say their food is good, hmpf... Hey, who's this unfamiliar kid?" Old Mac finally noticed that there was an extra person in Lai Si's group...

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