Game of the World Tree
chapter-332

Having felt the sense of accomplishment and recognition are a wonderful thing.

After playing Elven Kingdom for quite some time, Ji Gang unknowingly felt as though this place had become his second home.

He particularly liked being around those silly and mischievous players who goofed around together, as well as the lively and kind-hearted NPCs…

His love for this virtual world extends so deeply that even the smallest detail, like every blade of grasses in the Elven Forest, carries a cherished significance to him.

Standing still for a moment, whilst watching the bustling scene of Florence and observing all the happy expressions within each of the elven NPCs and their sincere smiles when facing him, made him feel a myriad of inexplicable emotions…

Bathed in the gentle warmth of the morning sunlight, Ji Gang’s mood further eased into a pleasant, relaxed state.

How nice it would be if time could stop at this very moment…

Ji Gang thought, as his eyes narrowed in contentment.

Yet, as his eyes caught sight of the time displayed on the system in his peripheral vision, his smiling expression abruptly froze.

Ji Gang slapped his thigh, cursing under his breath:

“Gosh darn it, why is time passing so fast? It’s already noon before I know it. I better finish my current tasks quickly and eat lunch back home, or else Mom will scold me again.”

Lately, due to his excessive gaming habits, his mother and some of the adults in his family have began voicing their disapproval.

They let him indulge at other times, but one cardinal rule of his family was that mealtime should be entirely respected, or else his mom would start nagging about banning him from using the virtual pod once again.

Thinking of this, Transformer Ji Gang quickened his pace and headed towards the Cathedral in Florence…

This cathedral was renovated and expanded by players on the foundations of the old cathedral, and they incorporated some of the architectural styles from Earth into its new design.

It’s located in the busiest area of Florence, and from time to time, natives and players can be seen coming in and out of the church. The former usually go to the church to pray and worship, while the latter mostly just enter to find the statue of the goddess to either try their luck on the lottery or gain access to the exchange store interface.

And just like in many online games, the vicinity wherein there’s most traffic oftentimes also became a hotspot for which a large number of players set up stalls and began selling things there.

As a result, the large square in front of Florence cathedral eventually became the second most popular gathering spot, only following closely behind the central square of the Chosen City.

Moreover, since Florence is home to many NPCs that can issue tasks, players often stay around this Holy City and its surroundings for efficiency when completing their tasks, which in turn sometimes makes it even busier than the central square of the Chosen City during the day.

Generally speaking, the individuals who congregate here are typically players urgently seeking contribution points as well as those who have acquired equipment they don’t have much use from the lottery, or players urgently seeking specific quest key items.

Ji Gang merely glanced at them and quickly entered the cathedral.

Earlier, he received a task from the resident Silver-ranked Priest to collect some herbs, and after toiling around the surrounding forest for hours, gathering the required items, now he just needed to deliver them to the cathedral.

Different from the hustle and bustle outside, the cathedral’s interior was particularly quiet, allegedly because the priests stationed here had specifically set up soundproofing magical arrays in place.

Feeling the unique tranquility and solemnity of the cathedral, Ji Gang’s mood couldn’t help but be affected and calmed down.

The main hall of the cathedral hummed with activity as figures dotted the space, both NPCs and players alike, as each partook in silent reverence.

Their eyes were locked onto the sacred and majestic statue of the goddess in the center as they fervently prayed amongst themselves…

Of course, the players were merely doing it superficially just for show, but in actuality, they were either browsing the exchange store or playing the lottery.

Hmm…just by looking at that person’s silly smile, I could already guess that they probably won a good item from the lottery prize pool.

Ji Gang mused with a wry smile.

As for those individuals with sorrowful expressions…that’s another story.

Transformer Ji Gang didn’t linger much and followed the route from his memory where the ‘missionary school’ was located.

Although the players called it the missionary school, it was actually just a side hall attached to the cathedral, wherein senior priests often preach to believers and trains novice priests.

As soon as he arrived, Ji Gang immediately saw an elderly elf dressed in a silver priest robe.

He stood on an elevated platform, clutching a thick book titled “Nature’s Codex,” while passionately delivering a lecture to a group of young elves clad in novice priest attire gathered below.

This particular elderly elf bore the name of Samuel Galewind, a figure revered as the highest-ranking clerical priest in Florence. Among the playerbase, he was also recognized as one of the rare blue-class NPCs out there.

This time, the task Ji Gang received earlier was issued by him.

As for those novice priests listening to Old Samuel’s lecture, they were chosen by the elderly priest from the elves who had returned, many of whom were either rescued by the players from Maple Leaf City or those who were trapped in the cocoons from the underground lair some time ago.

Over time, they melded seamlessly with the rhythm of life within the Elven Forest and adopted its local customs and lifestyle.

Their every action exuded unwavering devotion to the goddess, as they harbored deep gratitude towards her for instructing the players to rescue them.

With the addition of these rescued individuals, the total number of elven natives living in Florence had long surpassed a thousand, with nearly half of them becoming devout believers and gaining the ability to issue tasks to the players.

Naturally, as the population grew, the workload of the current priests’ relatively small staffs became increasingly more cumbersome, making it logical to expand their ranks.

Unfortunately, the devs of Elven Kingdom have never opened the priest job class to players as an option. Otherwise, the limited number of priests could probably balloon into a legion in no time.

Transformer Ji Gang locked eyes with the elderly priest, and in return, old Samuel’s gaze also met his.

With a warm smile, Samuel set aside the holy book in his hand and gestured to the novice priests to begin their homework, before walking towards Ji Gang.

As a devout believer who has received the authority to issue tasks from the Divine Matriarch, resolving the concurrent tasks of the Chosen Ones takes precedence and must be done promptly before anything else…

This was a consensus among every elves who similarly also gained such authority.

Seeing this, Transformer Ji Gang quickly approached and presented the herbs he had gathered with both hands to the elderly priest.

“Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Transformer Ji Gang.”

Samuel’s eyes flashed with a hint of smile after receiving the herbs,

He then gave Ji Gang a slight nod and traced a scepter-like symbol upon his chest.

“May nature be with you!”

With a chime-like notification sound from the system, Ji Gang promptly received 300 contribution points and 1000 EXP points, as his experience bar, which had been on the verge of completion, finally filled up.

With this, a gleam of joy flashed across Ji Gang’s face.

At long last, I could finally advanced into Peak Iron-rank!

However, despite being jubilant, he also realized a small detail he had almost overlooked.

Their interaction just now… specifically the symbol the old priest drew upon his chest didn’t seem to be the usual tree-shaped symbol he was familiar with.

…Was it a system bug?

This left Ji Gang somewhat puzzled.

As if he was able to sense his confusion, Old Samuel smiled knowingly.

“This is the new religious symbol the goddess has ordained for us to use,” the elderly priest explained.

“You see, the goddess recently bestowed an oracle upon us, decreeing that the old tree-shaped emblem would be retired. Instead, we are to embrace the symbol of the Scepter of Life as her new chosen symbol of faith and this momentous change shall soon be proclaimed throughout the Elven Forest in the upcoming days.”

So that’s it…was this change a prelude to a new storyline?

Ji Gang pondered.

Having completed his task and after bidding farewell to the old priest, Transformer Ji Gang left the cathedral.

Then afterwards, with bated anticipation, he immediately chose to advance his level, finally becoming the first one to reach Peak Iron-rank among the third beta-players!

Feeling the more powerful energy coursing through his body, and seeing a large increase in his overall combat stats in his status screen, Ji Gang’s mood was elevated to its highest level.

Now that my wish is finally granted, I can log off and eat back home with a peace of mind!

However, just as he was about to head to Florence’s temporary “morgue” to log off and eat back home in reality, Ji Gang suddenly heard a commotion coming from the city square.

What’s going on now?

Ji Gang showed a look of confusion.

With his curiosity getting the better of him, he grabbed a passing player who looked visibly excited and asked politely,

“What’s happening? Has someone triggered a new quest again?”

Being suddenly grabbed out of the blue like that startled the passing player, but upon noticing that it was actually Transformer Ji Gang, the player immediately laughed instead.

“Oh, so it turns out to be you Boss Ji Gang, the Guildmaster of Autobots!”

“Well Boss, you should check the official website! A new announcement has been made! It’s says a new round of beta application is about to begin!”

— 332 —

【 BOSS CHECK THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE 】

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