The little mongrel seemed to notice the gaze of a dying human, stopped urinating, lowered its raised leg, and barked twice at him warily.
In Chen Han's mind, a game prompt appeared again:
[Warning! The Dog Demon is ready for battle and has issued a provocation to you. Please drive it away as soon as possible!]
"..." Chen Hanzhen was bewildered by this game system and looked speechlessly at the little mongrel.
He quickly sorted his thoughts and came up with a guess.
The correct way to activate the game system should have been to transport him successfully to the world of "Swordsmen of Shushan."
So, here's the bad news; something went wrong, and he hadn't been transported.
Isn't this what people usually call a system bug?
But the good news is that after the bug occurred, the game system forcefully started operating and began collecting what it called data packet fragments. He didn't know what those so-called data packet fragments were, but the game system loaded a weird data packet anyway.
There are no dog demons in the real world, so within its new data packet, it pulled this village's little mongrel to act as the dog demon.
Whether the little mongrel is a dog demon or not is unimportant; the most crucial thing is that the game system needs a dog demon to ensure the tasks run smoothly.
Because of this bizarre data packet, the tasks seemed to become somewhat weird as well.
Conveniently, Chen Han also needed a dog demon to complete a task, curious to see what would happen upon completion.
So, he reached an understanding with the game system and picked up a broom from the wall.
To protect the Chen Family and its members, he... Chen Family Patriarch Chen Han, drove out the dog demon, without hesitation.
"Woof woof!" The little mongrel seemed to sense something, barked twice again, and skillfully retreated two steps, tensing its limbs.
Finally, the broom of justice slammed down hard, while the little mongrel sprang up and accurately dodged away.
The broom swung repeatedly, while it dodged again and again, from initial tension to later relaxation, it even had the leisure to stop and stare at him.
Chen Han was panting heavily, even somewhat urgently, as this dying body with just a month left to live reached its limit after swinging a few times.
[Your continuous attacks did not touch the dog demon's fur, causing it to develop a sense of contempt for you, even thinking of you as a toy.]
"..." Chen Han silently ridiculed in his heart.
Du Fu was bullied by village children for being old and weak, while he was bullied by a little mongrel for being dying and weak.
An elderly woman with sparse hair emerged holding incense sticks, inserted three of them into the steps, and watched the standoff between man and dog with a smile.
The game system prompt appeared again:
[The family elder has appeared and is providing support from the sidelines. Please drive away the dog demon promptly!]
"..." Chen Han glanced at the aunt responsible for the incense in the main hall, already over 60.
What family elder!
The game system's new data packet was messing up identities again.
However, since things had reached this point, he knew he needed to learn to reconcile with the game system, as it was his only hope.
So, he resolutely fixed his gaze on the little mongrel, though his health wouldn't permit him to continue driving away the dog demon.
How much he hoped for a righteous person to lend a hand now.
"Senior brother, why are you chasing Xiaohuang? Did a stray dog bother you?"
Junior sister Xiaoyu's pleasant voice rang out, and she entered with a puzzled look at her senior brother holding a broom.
Seeing her, Chen Han quickly thought, isn't this the heroine?
He immediately said, "Junior sister, I saw it biting your favorite orchids."
Junior sister loved plants, and those orchids were her treasures.
"What?" Xiaoyu's voice immediately increased in volume, directly taking the broom from Chen Han's hand and sweeping menacingly toward the little mongrel.
The little mongrel's hair stood on end and bounced away in a panic, turning and running.
Our heroine Xiaoyu hurriedly chased after it and, in no time, landed a solid sweep across the little mongrel's behind.
"Awoo!" The little mongrel yelped in pain, and it sprinted away with all limbs seemingly smoking, heading toward the village.
Auntie watched and laughed, continuing to insert incense sticks on the side columns of the main hall, offering incense to the Demon-Vanquishing Celestial Venerable was their Chen Family's daily task.
Chen Han watched the little mongrel stop only at the village's edge and smiled, thinking it was out of the blue circle range, meaning the task was probably completed, right?
Indeed, a Void Nether game prompt appeared again:
[Congratulations on successfully driving out the dog demon that invaded the family, you've received a special reward: Sect Base Construction Token, the reward has been sent to the warehouse!]
Chen Han immediately opened the warehouse interface in his mind, where a picture of a small house appeared.
This really is a warehouse.
Inside, one spot held a silver token engraved with special runes floating.
Xiaoyu returned angrily, and just as she set down the broom, she received a call. After listening, she eagerly said, "You've arrived? Great, drive the car directly in, there's a parking lot."
After hanging up, she hurriedly told Chen Han, "Senior brother, the group of tourists has arrived; make sure everyone's ready to receive them."
Chen Han watched her leave in haste and sent a message to a Chen Family group: "Prepare to welcome guests."
As patriarch, he naturally didn't need to handle such matters.
What interested him more now was the game's task reward, the Sect Base Construction Token.
Returning to the pavilion under the three old elm trees, he began investigating the warehouse's functions, pondering how to retrieve the Sect Base Construction Token from it.
Almost as soon as he had the thought, he felt a cool sensation in his hand; the Sect Base Construction Token appeared right there.
Whoa, this warehouse is impressive.
Chen Han had another thought, and the Sect Base Construction Token disappeared back into the warehouse, then reappeared in his hand with another thought.
Retrieve at will.
He even picked up a stone to try it, finding it worked just the same.
Isn't this just storage space?
He then looked at the Sect Base Construction Token, wondering how to use such an item.
In the next moment, he was surprised to find a string of notes appearing in his mind:
[This is a Sect Base Construction Token. Upon use, it can transform a player's own sect base.
Transformation effect: Ancient +2! Aesthetics +2! (Transformation effect can be reclaimed, restoring the Sect Base Construction Token)
Current usable target: Chen Clan Ancient Building Complex!
Construction conditions: 1, 10,000 wealth (32,000/10,000). 2, 10 reputation points (0/10).
Construction reward: Special Spiritual Acupoint]
Chen Han carefully read the notes about the Sect Base Construction Token twice, meaning this thing can be used to transform the Chen Clan Ancient Building Complex? Turning it into a real sect base?
The key lies in the transformation effect: Ancient +2, Aesthetics +2, which feels like a game scene skin—aesthetic but without substantial attribute effects.
However, upon careful thought, if the Chen Clan Ancient Building Complex is developed for tourism, these two attributes will surely play a role; it's just not clear how they will manifest.
What attracted him the most was the construction reward: the Special Spiritual Acupoint.
Though he didn't know what this Spiritual Acupoint was, in the mystical Xianxia World, anything called a Spiritual Acupoint is definitely extraordinary.
He couldn't wait to use the Sect Base Construction Token to transform the Chen Clan Ancient Building Complex.
[Current usage requirements for Sect Base Construction Token not met.]
Chen Han received the notification, and his brow furrowed.
He almost overlooked the two construction conditions: 10,000 wealth and 10 reputation points.
The requirement for 10,000 wealth didn't surprise him. After all, in the Shushan World, cultivation emphasizes wealth as a priority, as resources are crucial for cultivation.
The 32,000 is the money in his card, so this condition is met.
On the other hand, the requirement for 10 reputation points made him thoughtful, as in the Shushan World, the Emei Sect slays demons and eliminates evil everywhere, gaining a lot of reputation.
Reputation, in modern terms, refers to the acquired prestige and reverence, forming social capital based on others' recognition, respect, and evaluation.
Therefore, if the Shushan World is treated like a society, the Emei Sect stands as a leader of righteousness due to their significant social capital.
But still, how exactly do you gain reputation?
Chen Han didn't have a clue for the moment, and overthinking wore him out, so he closed his eyes to rest for a while before getting up to return to the Chen Clan Ancient Building Complex.
As soon as he arrived outside the main hall, he heard a little girl's crying from inside.
Peeking inside, he saw more than ten people, presumably tourists attracted by his junior sister Tiao Yin's promotions.
At the moment, his junior sister was anxiously offering an apple together with a young mother to the crying little girl: "Little sister, don't cry, big sister is giving you an apple."
However, the little girl continued crying. Clearly, his junior sister was not adept at soothing children.
The other tourists seemed to be together but didn't know how to start comforting the child. Taking kids out to play is often most frustrating when they cry and fuss.
"Let me try," Chen Han said as he walked in and stood beside his junior sister Xiaoyu, taking the apple from her hand.
Xiaoyu looked at him in confusion.
Since she was really not good at comforting children, she could only let her senior brother give it a try.
Chen Han squatted in front of the little girl and, smiling, said, "Little sister, do you see this apple? Your brother can make it disappear."
Almost as soon as he spoke, his hand quickly flipped and turned, making the apple vanish from his hand, appearing in his mind's warehouse.
In that instant, the girl's crying stopped, and she stared at his empty hand with her mouth wide open.
Xiaoyu was also incredulous when she looked at her senior brother.
What had happened?
At such a close distance, she hadn't seen how her senior brother accomplished it.
All tourists were drawn to him, each one showing an expression of amazement.
"What just happened?"
"He made the apple disappear just like that."
After the initial shock, the little girl started rummaging Chen Han's hand: "Brother, where's the apple? Where did you make it disappear to?"
While one hand was grabbed by the little girl, Chen Han extended his other hand, flipped and turned it again, and retrieved the apple from the warehouse, appearing in his hand.
If he weren't trying to hide it, he could have skipped the flipping and turning motions altogether.
"Wow, the apple appeared again," the little girl exclaimed.
"Little sister, here's the apple for you," Chen Han said, handing the apple to the now-comforted little girl.
Among the tourists, a middle-aged man who seemed to be the leader exclaimed: "Young man, your magic is truly remarkable. I couldn't see how you made the apple disappear."
Chen Han smiled and replied, "Sir, this isn't magic, but rather the Ancient Techniques inherited from our Chen Family, a legacy of performance arts from our nation."
Ultimately, he improvised as naturally as possible.
Online, people suggested performing magic openly to display one's skills, so this could count as that?
As he spoke, Chen Han's hand flipped and turned, making a stone appear, the one he had placed in the warehouse during previous experimentation.
The middle-aged man and the tourists looked at the stone with faces full of shock, simultaneously realizing this kind of Ancient Technique could still be seen in Tiao Yin, such as swallowing metal balls, chairs dancing, empty bowls summoning snakes, and sky-bound ropes.
Though similar to magic, many of these techniques possess an enigmatic charm beyond typical illusions.
Unexpectedly, their visit led them to encounter a master of such ancient techniques, seemingly quite skilled, too — his quick substitution left his hand empty before their eyes could catch up.
[Congratulations, you have gained 1 reputation point through public demonstration!]
[Congratulations, you have gained 1 reputation point through public demonstration!]
[…]
"???" Chen Han's face instantly lit up with surprise.