After kicking out Wen Bao once again, Wang Lu's face sank.
"What happened? Is there something wrong?" Hai Yunfan's relaxed voice came to his ear.
Wang Lu contemptuously snorted, "Nothing. It's just that the plot is slightly more troublesome than I anticipated... I thought that everyone in this village was some dumb character, but it seems like some key figures' intelligence is quite high."
"Huh?"
"Simply speaking, the quest in the Peach Blossom Village is supposed to be about increasing favorability from specific villagers. But, in the process of completing the quest, one must deal with a confrontational plot; for Wen Bao, he must confront the Village Head's wife... I initially thought that the confrontational plot in the quest would be quite straightforward, but now it seems like a high level character is quite flexible and dynamic in personality. We have to use our brain in order to deal with them."
"Although I don't understand most of what you said, but I think what you're trying to say is that most of the quests here should actually have simple solutions?"
Wang Lu said, "Of course. In easy quests, you can gain favorability from the villagers just by analyzing the pattern. For example, the scholar that we met in the village, the one I told Wang Zhong to observe just now; as long as you can get good grades in class and avoid getting into trouble with your classmates, you can easily pass the quest. There are also the steamed bun shop quest and the like; where as long as you work at the shop and make enough contribution, you will be able to complete the quests. However, it is different with Wen Bao. It is quite difficult to increase favorability from Auntie Liu. Wen Bao's opportunity here is good, he has triggered an A level quest, but I am afraid with his IQ and EQ, he wouldn't be able to complete it."
"... Hearing what you said is making me nervous. But then again, the more difficult the quest is, the greater the rewards will be. This should be the principle here right?"
"Yes, of course. That principle always works. For example, because I have the best result in the Cloud Wave Map, the villagers treated me like I am the Village Head's adoptive father. So if we get a perfect score in this quest, we should get the corresponding reward in the next quest."
Hai Yunfan nodded, "According to the past convention, the places after the Cloud Wave Map, which are the Red Ridge Mountain, Ice Wind Valley, and other places, are all the key trials on the Immortal Path. If it's like what Brother Wang said, that our results here would influence what the advantage we can get in our next trial... then I think I'd like to give it a try to see what my luck is."
"You finally decided to give it a try after watching the play for a quite a while?"
"These last few days, I have been listening to Brother Wang's various strategies to complete the quest in this village. I wouldn't dare to call myself your friend if some of those did not rub off on me.
"So do you want to find the perfect strategy to complete this quest?"
"Hahaha, I'll leave that for geniuses like brother Wang. As for me, as long as I find a suitable place, that would be enough."
With that, Hai Yunfan finally walked out of Wang Lu's room. These past few days, he has been living with Wang Lu in the Village Head's guest house, eating and drinking together with Wang Lu while watching from the side as Wang Lu sent Wang Zhong and Wen Bao out to gain information about their quests. But ultimately, he cannot stay in the room as an observer forever.
Watching Hai Yunfan left the room, Wang Lu hung up a smile on his face.
"Tsk tsk. Little Hai finally left. This is going to be good show."
-
Hai Yunfan's involvement in the Peach Blossom Village quest immediately made an impact on the other participants.
Besides Wang Lu and the errand boy, Wang Zhong, the duo who were on another level, Hai Yunfan was the first person to walk out of the Cloud Wave Map and enter the Peach Blossom Village. His results were even better than the three allied Immortal Cultivator's Families' young masters, surprising a lot of people.
Before Hai Yunfan made his journey to the Spirit Sword Mountain, the Immortal Cultivation sects in the Grand Cloud Empire had made an assessment of him. His intelligence was second rate with a high-tier fourth grade, or perhaps a low-tier third grade spirit root. However, in this Immortal Path, many participant possessed remarkable abilities. Although they might not necessarily possess the legendary Heavenly Spirit Root, but some of them did have the Earthly Spirit Root and other variant of first rate spirit roots. Moreover, Hai Yunfan's performance on the Golden Bridge was not particularly ideal either. However, in the Cloud Wave Map, Hai Yunfan completely reversed the other participants' appraisal of him in one fell swoop, suddenly becoming one of the leading figures in this Immortal Path.
But which was more important, spirit root, intelligence, or character? Although no one has a definite answer to that question in the Immortal Cultivation World, more than half of the elders within the Union of Ten Thousand Immortal possessed a third rate spirit root or below.
So Hai Yunfan's third rate spirit root was, although not that good, but not that bad either. Adding to his superior character that he demonstrated by being one of the best performers in the Cloud Wave Map, he would certainly have a bright future like most elders in the Union of the Ten Thousand Immortal. Not to mention Hai Yunfan had been hiding in the room for two straight days, conspiring with Wang Lu, that enigmatic man.
Hai Yunfan's involvement in the quest not only represented himself, but also Wang Lu. By looking at their combined achievements on the previous trials, his movement naturally attracted all the other participants' attention.
Therefore, the other participants in the village trial all stopped what they were doing to see what was going to happen. But Hai Yunfan did not stir any trouble in the village; when he walked out of the room, he just randomly walked around in the village and casually talked with any villagers he came across with.
This tactic was not unusual, as it was also employed by most other competitors because they were not sure what their goal was. By talking to as many of the villagers as they could, they would be able to observe the reaction to determine their next step.
Hai Yunfan's "luck" was clearly inferior to that of Wen Bao; because for that entire night, although there were some villagers who showed a little bit of interest towards him, none of them were important characters. Hai Yunfan was clearly unsatisfied with this.
Although he exhibited humility in front of Wang Lu, it was only a reference for someone superior to him. But Hai Yunfan had actually never unduly belittled himself. Although he had said for several times that finding a suitable position for himself would be enough, he was actually not satisfied with anything below an A level quest.
After the first night, unsurprisingly, Hai Yunfan realized that he would not be as lucky as Wen Bao. The so-called opportunity would not fall from the sky to him, so if he wanted the A level quest, he has to take the initiative. So, the next morning, despite a night without sleep, and under the surprised look of everyone, Hai Yunfan approached the Village Head's front door and knocked with his usual energy.
According to Wang Lu's assertion about the level of the quest in this Peach Blossom Village, the Village Head undoubtedly symbolized the A level or higher quests. After all, just by being involved in the emotional dispute between the Village Head's wife and his mistress, Wen Bao had gotten himself an A level quest. What if he directly involved with the Village Head himself? Hai Yunfan wondered.
Although the Village Head did not seem to have a special preference for Hai Yunfan, it did not matter to him. From early in the morning, Hai Yunfan stayed at the Village Head's residence until the afternoon. Afterwards, he came to the backyard to meet Wang Lu.
"Yo, Little Hai. You stayed in the old man's room for a long time, did you get anything useful?"
After a day of serious look, Hai Yunfan finally let out a smile. "Not bad. I did what you said and got a big breakthrough."
"You were broken through by that old man? Not bad, you're a handsome young boy after all."
"... Although I'm not sure what you're talking about, but I am sure you are mistaken. I just want to confirm one thing with you."
Seeing that Hai Yunfan was serious, Wang Lu put down the chicken leg in his hand and asked, "Be my guest."
"My quest is likely to interfere with Wen Bao... perhaps even more people. You won't mind, won't you?"
"Why don't you tell me in details?"
Hai Yunfan said, "In short, I got involved in the Village Head's family dispute. I spent the whole morning trying to gain his trust. Whatever happens next, I am confident that I'll be involved."
Wang Lu widened his eyes in surprise. "Little Hai, you're amazing. At such a young age, you can mediate emotional entanglements for old people. In the future, you definitely can become the Harem King."
"He's only the Village Head of a small village. It's not that hard to gain his trust. But just to be sure, I just need to confirm what I have to do next with Brother Wang. Here's the thing, Wen Bao's unexpected appearance brought the conflict between Madame He Lu, the Village Head's wife, and Auntie Liu into the open. Currently, my mission is to quell this fight, so that the Village Head can continue to live a peaceful life. However, there are many ways to solve this conflict."
Wang Lu nodded with approval. "You're getting the gist of it, Little Hai."
"Thank you. I just thought of a few solutions. The easiest one is to persuade Madame He Lu to put down her past grudges with Auntie Liu. After all, no matter what the Village Head has done in the past, they have lived together for many years. Auntie Liu was just a small interlude in their life."
Wang Lu smiled. "But if you really do that tactic, I will only give you sixty out of a hundred points at most."
Hai Yunfan said, "Because Aunty Liu is still in the Village Head's heart, he doesn't like it when Madame He Lu complains about her. Moreover, Auntie Liu also doesn't want to be neglected."
Wang Lu said, "But this is just his selfish desire and could not be justified."
Hai Yunfan said, "Therefore, a more elaborate method is to use the carrot and stick method against Auntie Liu to force her to withdraw on her own initiative. After all, she was the one who started this mess in the first place. As long as she is willing to quit, Village Head will be able to live peacefully again. But not only this method is difficult, it is also in conflict with Wen Bao's quest... If Aunty Liu really quits, her long-cherished dream would be out of reach, and Wen Bao would likely suffer as an innocent bystander."
Wang Lu said, "That's right. The A level quests are likely designed so that those involved need to compete to complete the quests; or they are likely to be designed so that the competitors need to cooperate to complete the quests; or a bit of both. Fortunately, your obstacle is Wen Bao, so there's nothing to be worried about, hahaha!"
"... Wait a minute. Isn't Wen Bao worth anything in Brother Wang's eyes?"
Wang Lu spread out his arms. "This has nothing to do with me. I'm just thinking about the problem from your point of view. I don't think he's worth anything in your eyes, so I tried to give you a considerate advice... Moreover, It's much harder to solve Wen Bao's problem; at worst, he's just going to fill the emotional hole in Auntie Liu's heart. Back to topic, what will you choose?"
Hai Yunfan said, "From the previous two solutions, I don't want to choose either of them. I have another solution, and I want Brother Wang's opinion on it."
"A third solution?"
"Yes. To frame Madame He Lu so that the Village Head can justifiably divorce her and revive his old flame with Auntie Liu. In this way, Wen Bao can successfully complete his quest and the Village Head can get his long-cherished desire as well, which will give me high favorability from him. What's more, the whole operation shouldn't be too difficult..."
Wang Lu cocked his head. "But?"
"But this isn't the act of a decent person, isn't it? In sects with strict rules, this plan would be considered a crime. So I need to confirm whether the designer of this trial would accept this sort of solution or not. Brother Wang, in your opinion, would this person approve of my plan or not?"
Wang Lu pondered for a while. "If I were the designer, I would give you more than ninety points."
"And then?"
"And then it has nothing to do with me. I've designed the levels and gave you a mark, what else could I do?"
Hai Yunfan said with a smile, "Thank you for reminding me, Brother Wang. My plan was poorly thought... No matter how the designer designed this trial, the final result will be decided by the Spirit Sword Sect, which is an upright sect, so I shouldn't use such a crooked method... Speaking of which, if you were me, what would you do?"
"Me? Hmmm. Are you interested in the perfect solution?"
Hai Yunfain said, "I've decided on my solution and I won't change it. But I'm also curious about what you would do."
Hai Yunfan was sincere with his words, his proud upbringing as a royalty made it impossible for him to pick up other people's the ideas as his own, even if it came from Wang Lu, whom he deeply respected. But on the other hand, he was indeed curious about other ideas, just so that he could keep an open mind.
Wang Lu did not try to hide anything. "It's easy. Convince Madame He Lu and Auntie Liu to be bi-sexual, and then let the Village Head enjoy the happy life of a man who has two wives."
"..."
"Hey, why are you looking at me like you are suffering from hemorrhoid attack? Is there a problem with my solution? Everyone will have one less enemy and have one fxck buddy, years of grudges will disappear just like that, and they will live the last few years of their life in a bliss. It's the perfect solution to settle all the conflicts!"