Chapter 19: Countermeasures and Foundation Establishment

Looking at the lifeless body collapsed on the ground, Fu Chen felt speechless. "Careless and reckless," he thought to himself.

In his memories from his previous life, completing this quest had been a simple matter of digging up an herb—an effortless task. Thus, he had assumed this time would be no different, thinking the quest held no real difficulty, merely a bit of tedious work. Only now, facing the brutal reality, did he realize the reason for his failure after careful reflection.

He turned to Qin Yumo, who was also lying dead on the ground, and said, "Huang, choose to revive back in town. We'll discuss it once we return."

Back in Sifang Village, the two of them were still in a weakened state after reviving, their health points at a mere five percent. Fu Chen immediately cast several "Calm Heart Spells" on himself to quickly mend his wounds while pondering a strategy. Qin Yumo did the same to recover. It was the first time she had ever seen Fu Chen unable to handle a task. Brow furrowed in concern, fearing he might be demoralized, she whispered, "Hongchen, are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" Fu Chen replied with a bright smile, adding, "Getting killed by monsters is normal; don't take it to heart." Seeing the smile on his face and hearing him comfort her instead, Qin Yumo finally felt at ease.

Fu Chen summarized the situation: "There are two reasons for our failure. First, our equipment is outdated, and our defense is too poor to withstand the damage. Second, there are too few of us; trying to face two enemies at once meant we were spread too thin, failing the quest and getting killed in the process."

The logic was simple, and Qin Yumo understood it immediately. The core issue was indeed the lack of manpower—one person needed to dig the herb, and the other couldn't tank both monsters, leading to failure on both fronts. With three or more people, the task would be much simpler.

She couldn't help but frown. "Then what should we do? We can't just wait around for others forever, can we?"

"That is the last resort," Fu Chen replied in a low voice. He looked at her seriously and asked, "I want to try again. It just depends on whether you're willing."

"As agreed, everything is under your command," Qin Yumo said nonchalantly, though she felt a secret thrill.

Fu Chen nodded with satisfaction. "Alright, let's go see what new equipment we can get at level 9."

They found the tailor in Sifang Village and checked the available armor. Their current gear, rewarded from previous tasks, provided only 39 points of Five-Elements defense. Against the attacks of two level 11 Gold-type monsters, they stood no chance and were almost instantly killed.

Browsing the tailor's shop, the only available upgrades were level 8 trousers and level 9 bracers. However, the strength requirements were higher than before, especially for the bracers, which required 10 points of strength. Fu Chen adjusted his attributes, pumping his strength to 10 and putting the rest into agility to boost his damage. The tops and shoes were only level 5, but after checking their stats, they were still better than what they currently had.

After a brief discussion, they made their final choices. Fu Chen replaced his gear with the level 5 top and shoes, the level 8 trousers, and the level 9 bracers. Considering he was using a bow and prioritizing agility, he chose light armor.

After changing his equipment, his overall stats were:
[Ban Lian Hongchen, Level 9
Cultivation: 9/4635
Realm: Qi Refining
Reputation: 28
Health: 145
True Qi: 130
Primordial Spirit: 5424
Remaining Points: 0
Talent Points Remaining: 0
Constitution: 5
Spiritual Power: 5
Strength: 10
Agility: 80
Physical Attack: 56-82
Magic Attack: 8
Critical Hit Rate: 5%
Physical Defense: 99
Five-Elements Defense: 155
Accuracy: 800
Evasion: 800]

Qin Yumo did the same, though she chose magic-based armor that excelled in magical defense. Since magic gear required higher spiritual power, investing in it also boosted her magical attack. Her total Five-Elements defense reached 225 points—nearly six times her previous 39. Finally, they each bought a level 8 heavy helmet, adding 15 health points.

The gear cost over 2,200 gold coins, and after selling the loot from their previous kills, their hard-earned savings had shrunk by nearly thirty percent. Qin Yumo couldn't help but complain, "Worked hard all day only to end up back where we started! Money is never enough."

"Huang, have you grown used to being a spendthrift, and now you're struggling with this frugal way of living?" Fu Chen teased. Qin Yumo blushed, feeling guilty, and retorted, "I have not!"

"Let's go. We need to add one more layer of insurance," Fu Chen said, turning to leave. Qin Yumo followed curiously as he found the village apothecary. After checking the shop, Fu Chen said, "Buy 50 bottles of level 5 red potions and 10 bottles of purple potions."

"Aren't those pink? Though they do look quite similar to violet," Qin Yumo said, looking at the items in surprise. Then she asked curiously, "Hongchen, you aren't colorblind, are you?"

"Whatever the color is called, just buy them," Fu Chen said dismissively, adding seriously, "I can tell colors apart, I'm not colorblind. Who can keep track of all those fancy color names?"

Qin Yumo covered her mouth to hide a giggle, thinking to herself, *Hmph, a typical straight man.*

After buying the supplies, Fu Chen looked toward the direction of Ant Gathering Mountain. "Let's go. Everything depends on this attempt."

Knowing the way, they arrived at the location of the Teasel Herb in half an hour. Before acting, Fu Chen gave careful instructions: "Watch me. First, stack three Calm Heart Spells on yourself. When you see the monsters, attack the one further away from you. If you can't tank the damage, drink both the red and the pink potions."

Qin Yumo braced herself and nodded firmly. "I understand."

With a signal to "Move," Fu Chen cast three Calm Heart Spells on himself and immediately knelt to dig the herb. Almost simultaneously, two [Guardian Remnants] emerged from the ground and attacked him. Two lightning-based projectiles hit him, dealing 19 and 23 damage, respectively. However, the continuous healing from his "Calm Heart Spells" began to restore his health over the next 15 seconds. Seeing this, Fu Chen let out a sigh of relief. "I can take it. It's going to work this time!"

On the other side, Qin Yumo had followed suit. As soon as she saw the two [Guardian Remnants] emerge, she cast a [Tornado] at the further monster. The monster, struck by the attack, turned and fired a lightning projectile at her.

But the situation had changed! With her Five-Elements defense now at 225, the attack only drained 4 points of health—negligible, like a mere scratch. Her confidence soared as she swung her magical artifact, unleashing a barrage of skills: Spring Surge, Fire Talisman, Feather Arrow, Poison Gu, and Rockfall.

The [Guardian Remnant]’s health depleted rapidly: 72, 89, 63, 68, 74, 219... Before the second cycle of skills was even finished, the monster’s health hit zero, and it was slain.

Without hesitation, Qin Yumo turned to attack the second monster. Halfway through, Fu Chen, having finished digging the herb, joined the fray. The outcome was without suspense; the second Guardian Remnant was easily dispatched.

They then moved to another Teasel Herb nearby, where Qin Yumo took the lead in digging. With her current magical defense, tanking a monster while digging was child's play. Once the herb was collected, they used [Town Portal] to return to Sifang Village and then back to Xiayin Village.

After delivering the herbs to the old village chief to complete the quest, their realms advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage. As they completed the transition, they immediately received a new notification: "Quest Received: Professional Awakening."