The Qingsha General's Nest instance gave Zhou Yuan an idea.
The village elder's request and the fate of Cui Niang's ex-husband proved that game monsters and instances weren't a new phenomenon that appeared with Zhou Yuan's transmigration. Instead, they were phenomena integrated into history itself.
This immediately made him think of structures like cities, fortified manors, temples, and monasteries.
In a normal world, cities would most likely be built in places with convenient transportation or strategic terrain. Temples and monasteries would favor famous mountains, great rivers, and scenic locations.
But in a world with game monsters and instances, the location of buildings required an additional layer of consideration.
"If I were a native of this world, after discovering an instance, I would have two choices: keep it secret or guard it.
However, secrecy is unreliable. If left unattended, someone else would eventually stumble into it by accident.
Guarding it is time-consuming and laborious, but as long as you have a certain level of strength, no one would dare to forcibly enter private places like a manor's ancestral hall, a bunker, or a library."
As Zhou Yuan considered the game instances from a historical perspective, he reached a conclusion that was both good and bad.
The good news was that he no longer had to search for instances all over the world like a headless chicken.
Instances that were easy to discover over the long course of history had likely already found their respective owners or guardians.
The bad news was that the factions who had inherited these instances would most likely treat them as their most important treasures.
They would not only try every means to hide them but also protect them with all their might.
"The Great Wei Kingdom, and the dynasties before it... these constantly changing empires inherited the legacies of their predecessors. Their accumulation of game instances must be substantial."
Zhou Yuan realized he had another reason for enlisting in the army.
Originally, he only wanted to acquire the resources of the military camp. Now, he had another reason: to infiltrate the imperial court and investigate game instances.
For him, game instances weren't just a source of experience points. They were a means to rapidly strengthen himself and perhaps even a chance to attain the legendary immortality.
Since arriving in this world, he had severely lacked a sense of security and social standing. Given a choice, he would not allow himself to remain down and out.
"I really wonder how the people of this world utilize game instances, and what kind of strange society has developed because of them."
Zhou Yuan had once asked a village elder about things like the 'imperial examinations,' but the old man said he'd never heard of anyone becoming an official through studying and passing tests.
Great Wei used a 'recommendation system,' similar to the 'filial and incorrupt' system from the Han dynasty on Blue Star.
Here, nobles and generals were indeed born, not made. Without a powerful family, one had no chance of becoming an official.
Now, the phenomenon of game instances suggested another possibility: that the great, influential clans who passed down instances as their inheritance were simply too difficult to eradicate.
As long as a change in dynasty couldn't uproot them, forcing them to exit the stage of history would be incredibly difficult.
After wringing out his wet clothes, picking up his earthenware pot, and wrapping the six pearls in his sash, Zhou Yuan got up and returned home.
Zhao Dahuang, who was on duty, saw a dark figure push open the courtyard gate and quickly stuck his head out to call.
"Shi Tou, up for another round of practice?"
"Not tonight. I'm exhausted. I'm going to catch up on sleep."
"That's great. I can rest easy if you're sleeping. When morning comes, I'll get you a chicken egg to fill your belly."
"Sounds good. Just eating flatbread doesn't keep you full."
Zhou Yuan knew Zhao Dahuang was thinking about the meat they had shared. Feeling like he had taken advantage of a junior, the man was now trying to repay him with something practical.
He didn't refuse Zhao Dahuang's kind offer. After casually agreeing, he collapsed onto his bed.
Perhaps because he now had a clear path forward, he slept soundly and deeply.
In his dream, he grinded his way from level one instances to level one hundred instances, not only becoming the strongest human but also breaking through the boundary between mortal and immortal.
But just as he was soaring through the starry cosmos, a sapphire-blue planet suddenly appeared, unleashing a powerful gravitational force that pulled him from the sky.
"No, that's just not playing fair..."
Zhou Yuan did a carp jump, successfully throwing himself off the wooden bed and onto the floor.
Sunlight streamed through the window into the damp room. On a wooden stump used as a stool sat a large, coarse pottery bowl, with a single small chicken egg resting inside.
"Big Huang Uncle is a man of his word. He said he'd get me a chicken egg, and here it is."
Zhou Yuan got up, washed his face, and chewed on a willow twig to clean his mouth. Then, he sat on the wooden stump, peeling the egg while checking his attribute panel.
His three attributes—Essence, Qi, and Spirit—hadn't changed, all remaining at a very harmonious 1.
His health had changed again. After eating the meat last night, his HP bar had recovered to 97%. But after being ravaged by the freezing environment in the instance, it had dropped back down to 92%.
Yep, eating the chicken for nothing was the same as not eating it at all. Which meant the Village Head's missing chicken had nothing to do with him.
Besides that, the biggest change on his attribute panel was a new skill.
[You have comprehended 'Rest', mastering a life skill.]
[Rest, Lv1 (1/10)]
[Effect: Recovers fatigue, nourishes the spirit, and alleviates negative statuses. The foundation of stillness, the beginning of motion.]
The brilliant skill description made Zhou Yuan understand just how powerful his new skill was.
"No wonder I woke up feeling comfortable and refreshed, without the slightest symptom of a cold. My sleeping has turned into a skill."
Sleeping and eating were the two life abilities Zhou Yuan valued the most.
These two abilities were his most promising candidates for developing into recovery skills. Fortunately, both had excellent effects, giving him some capital for trial and error.
Now, sore muscles and a lowered HP bar could no longer stop him from training his skills.
"I can rely on the Food Supplement and Rest skills to recover my condition. Ergou has nothing. When he's at low health, how is he supposed to recover his HP?"
Looking at his attribute panel, Zhou Yuan suddenly thought of Ergou.
That kid must have gone to the Qingsha General's Nest on his wedding night. Otherwise, his HP wouldn't have suddenly plummeted to 89%.
"Thinking back, when he came looking for me, his legs were weak and his face was pale. He probably caught a bad cold. He wasn't some 'seven-times-a-night' stud at all."
Zhou Yuan had heard him talking in his courtyard last night, so he wasn't worried about him dying from illness.
He was more curious about how ordinary people recovered their HP, and whether excessive loss would lower their maximum HP.
He couldn't sit still at these thoughts. A brave, self-experimenting warrior like Ergou needed an observer to collect data.
"Shi Tou, heading out for a run?"
"Yeah. You two better hurry up and follow, or you'll have Big Huang Uncle to answer to."
"Hey, Shi Tou, can we talk about this? You woke up late today, so let's not run, okay? These past few days, the village idlers have been laughing at us, calling us cowards. They say we don't practice strength or spear-fighting, only how to run away."
"Then what are you waiting for? Grab your sticks. When we're chasing them down and giving them a beating, they'll understand the benefits of running fast."
"Heh, coming right up! We were just waiting for you to say that. Without you taking the lead, we didn't dare to make a move."
Proofreader: Peter Pan