“Jin, please remember that if the hood comes off, the spell of anonymity will dissipate. Especially when you are fighting in that dungeon, don’t forget it could be broadcast onto the public.” Peppers reminded Jin before he went into the random battle arena dungeon instance, but he messaged back that he took note about these effects.
Jin had fun teasing Qiu Yue for the moment, but he was also considering whether he should outright tell Qiu Yue about him owning this shop. It was because she was the only one in university that knew him inside out. The other few people, who knew him that way were only his deceased grandfather Ming or his old high school friends. However, Qiu Yue had more recent contact with him than his high school friends so bluffing them would have been easier.
On the other hand, it would be harder for Qiu Yue to be beguiled as compared to hiding the fact from her. She knew exactly what the strength and weakness of Jin were. If he told Qiu Yue that he was the one who build this particular shop, she would have laughed her head off for cracking such a joke or be very angry at Jin for lying to her.
Hence, if he wanted Qiu Yue to really know that he himself was the shop owner, he either had to tell the truth soon or make the System wipe her memory about today. However, Jin had wished to have someone at his side. Someone he could be able to discuss his issues with, aside from his bellators or Yun. He was thinking, that it would help, having a third party with a less biased opinion influencing his decisions and allowed him to view his issues from another perspective.
That was why Jin was somewhat desperate to put Zhen Qing into contact with the System even though he tried doing it step by step. After all if he were to simply tell her about the System she would probably think him as crazy.
By allowing her to be exposed to the wonders of the System gradually, Jin would have someone to talk to about the System. Although he first needed to be sure, that after all the time apart he could still trust Zhen Qing enough to believe him and to keep this secret of his to herself.
At the same time, Qiu Yue was potentially the perfect candidate for Jin to expose the System to. She loved dungeons to the point that Jin thought she was insane but her love and her obsession were also the few reasons which influenced Jin into wanting to be a dungeon supplier. In the past he had hoped to be able to make dungeons, which would lead people to love them with the same degree as Qiu Yue.
If Jin managed to get Qiu Yue on board with this dungeon supplier dream, it would be a huge boon to him emotionally, else Jin would continue to strive the way he had been doing all this while. Perhaps, Jin could find someone similar in the future…or perhaps, he just could not let go of his past.
Regardless, earning Qiu Yue’s trust again and gaining her back as his friend would still be a major hurdle to overcome. Especially with Jin’s time being somewhat limited when he had many issues at hand to deal with. However, Jin planned to do what he could at the moment and just hope for the best.
“I guess I will just keep the hood on as long as possible. Yun, please tell Mr Patsu and Bear Cub one not to broadcast our fight. It would be kind of troublesome if I got exposed.” Jin told Yun telepathically without getting a reply back. At that moment he became preoccupied by Qiu Yue’s fascination of the dungeon port, the miniature panda storage and how advanced this store was to use an app to keep track of the cultivators’ progress.
“Looks like there are even more functions! A forum? Reward box? Wow!” Qiu Yue was also attracted to the pandas on the screen but she frowned when she could not see any red pandas in it. “Jin, let’s make a petition to the boss of this place and ask him or her to place some red pandas in the Pandamonium app. I am sure they will become an instant hit!” Qiu Yue proudly suggested her Red Pandas, but Jin just continued to smile at how elated she was.
“Alright, alright. Come, let’s get going, I’d like to see whether the Red Panda Mistress is worthy of being called Shifu.” Jin joked a bit after imagining the scene of a fat lazy panda bowing to a little red panda.
“Please, I will knock the monsters down senseless, so that they will have no other choice but to grovel at my feet!” Qiu Yue replied cheerfully.
“So much confidence as usual, even though you tend to…nevermind… Let’s get going!” Jin was reminded what a battle freak she was, but there was one small problem. Usually, she was also the first one who got defeated in dungeons. It happened so many times that she garnered another weird nickname from the dungeon suppliers that she visited.
Good Loser Lady Battle Freak.
No matter how many dungeons she tried, her win lose percentage ratio was skewed more towards the latter. The only redeeming factor was that she did not let her failures stop her from having fun and always wished to try again. It actually made the dungeon suppliers like her since they were basically earning money from her but they also adored her for her courage and spirit.
Her frequent failure was all due to the Red Panda Style not exactly being meant for fighting. Notice how the Red Panda Style that Qiu Yue had was just called ‘Red Panda’ Style? Unlike other cultivation Styles which usually consisted of an animal with a prefix? It was because there was no proper cultivation for the Red Panda Style.
Its cultivation was meant as a base for other cultivations especially when a person needed help with his or her cultivation of chi points. That was why it was said that the Red Panda Style was just meant for cuteness when you portrayed your cultivation and nothing else. It was also not the most ideal cultivation base to aim for, unless the cultivation that the cultivators were aiming for were of the Ursidae (The scientific family names for bears) cultivations such as the Black Bear, Polar Bear or Raccoon.
The same situation also applied for certain cultivators in Jin’s shop. For example the Bombardier Beetle Style that Bin Yong had been using. But unlike Qiu Yue’s red panda, Bombardier beetles in nature had specific traits such as their chemical cannon hidden in its abdomen to ward off predators. Such a special trait of that insect helped enhance the cultivation style of the Bombardier beetle. At the same time, Bin Yong had also been experimenting on how to enhance the Bombardier beetle cultivation and found that the sword and shield was a good weapon choice for him. The use of the right weapons complimented the affinity towards the Bombardier beetle cultivation. It would not be too surprising if in the near future, he would manage to add a prefix to the cultivation and he himself could become a grandmaster in the Bombardier beetle cultivation.
Yet, Qiu Yue did not advance above the Red Panda cultivation as she solely believed that there was a certain cultivation style that the Red Pandas could soar through. A cultivation style that had yet to be explored despite many grandmasters and researchers having tried to create one, but failing. Granted, since there was no true grandmaster in the cultivation of the Red Panda style, Qiu Yue’s claim that people had yet to find a proper red panda cultivation method was valid, similar to Bin Yong’s bombardier beetle cultivation.
This reasoning was why she took the losses she incurred as just another step to improve the Red Panda Style, even though the hole to her wallet was enormous. Alas, her current workload did not allow Qiu Yue to have a favourable training schedule as she would like. Hence, being able to fight in this dungeon would be a boon to her.
Both Jin and Qiu Yue got teleported into the random battle arena dungeon instance and they landed to a scene where Qiu Yue was floating slightly. She then realised that her surroundings were full of blue and puffy clouds. A few steps sidewards and Qiu Yue already noticed the edge of the arena. “We are on a floating stone platform?” Qiu Yue asked as she took out her weapons and peeked over the edge of the platform to see more clouds.
“Seems like it!” Jin said while taking out Bam in Katana Form as he smirked at Qiu Yue’s main weapon.
“Oh! Looks like you are one step closer to becoming a Red Panda Cultivator!” Qiu Yue brandished her own katana out from her scabbard.
“Are you sure you can fight in that attire?” Jin asked with a bit of concern, when he realised that she was still in her office skirt which Qiu Yue also just became aware of.
“Ahh! It’s okay! Maybe the s.e.x appeal might lower the guard of the monster!” Qiu Yue sticked her tongue out as she tied her scabbard onto her waist and took out an accessory chopstick to neaten her hair into a bun quickly.
“I do not think that will work against me, you know.” Two cat like ladies climbed up from the edge of the platform while a large looking eagle flew away from the platform.
“Gah, Meomi and Nyanmi.” Jin scratched his neck a bit before he unsheathed his katana too.
