novelraw Chapter 117 - 94: Shopping
Chapter 117 - 94: Shopping
March 24th, yet another ordinary day.
As the sun set in the west, Jiangnan City lit up with a dazzling array of colors. Even while on duty at the Ministry of Personnel, the bright skyline was visible. Like Chang’an, the county town outside the city walls was a place of leisure, while Jiangnan City served more as a residence for the powerful and wealthy. At the end of each day, countless officials would call upon friends to revel in entertainment. Even the Mouse Monk received many invitations to gatherings, be it from the assistant minister of a prestigious family or a noble young master wanting to ’get acquainted.’
Given that a guard at the chancellor’s gate, like the Mouse Monk, enjoyed such treatment, it stood to reason that the respect shown to Shang Xuanwen would be even greater. Yet three days had passed, and Yan Qing hadn’t seen him attend any banquet, nor had anyone come to present gifts or invitations. All the officials who met him were focused on reporting their work, without any attempts at flattery.
Yan Qing was once impressed by the presence of good officials in Liang Kingdom, but Shang Xuanwen shook his head and said, "Flattery may be pandering, but being pragmatic and responsible isn’t pandering? However, for the sake of pandering, they would at least take the time to read the reports submitted by their staff, and that’s what I want."
The night gradually grew darker, and lights lit up in the Capital Hall. Tonight, Shang Xuanwen had the night shift. He would work until 9 p.m., then rest in the room behind the hall. Yan Qing glanced at the sky; his anxiety gradually increased.
Tonight, at midnight, was the time for the thieves’ operation.
Two days ago, at the thieves’ meeting, upon Yan Qing’s proposal of directly stealing the Heaven-Swaying Sword, they finally discussed a plan that balanced both task and gain: if Yan Qing could steal the Heaven-Swaying, they would quietly enter the Imperial Palace and steal from the secret vault; if Yan Qing failed in the theft, they would first snatch the Heaven-Swaying, and if there was still time, they could take a stroll around the Liang Kingdom’s Imperial Palace for a zero-cost shopping spree.
In short: The mission comes first!
The Imperial Palace Secret Vault was certainly tempting, but everyone understood the logic of one solid meal and many small meals. Completing the mission was the top priority, and if there was still strength, they could stroll around the Liang Kingdom’s Imperial Palace Secret Vault for a free shopping spree.
As for Shang Xinlei’s proposed plan to kidnap the Emperor, it was unanimously rejected. Although the potential gains were very high and quite awe-inspiring, whether it was Zhou Kingdom’s ambitious Pharmacist’s Wish or Qi Kingdom’s loyal official Ying Rushi, they were all deeply tempted. But after a day of consideration, they resolutely gave up this choice that would go down in history.
Too many variables, too high risk; they were geniuses, prodigies, but did not dare to risk their lives so easily.
Despite rejecting this plan, their attitude towards Shang Xinlei clearly showed much more respect. Before this, Shang Xinlei was seen in their eyes as just a frivolous noble lady, but after this, they would always remember that in the Thief’s House, there was a daredevil with a much greater guts and gambling nature than they had.
Shang Xinlei had no objection to this plan, and Yan Qing specifically paid attention to her actions over the past two days. Apart from strolling in Jiangnan City, she only went to the Imperial Palace to play with the Princess — though she was more likely there to determine the guards’ patrol routes and the secret vault entrance location.
It seemed Shang Xinlei didn’t want to patricide; she just wanted to venture into the Imperial Palace Secret Vault for a big score? Could it be she felt she owed Qian Gongyu too much, so she wanted the Liang Kingdom to subsidize Qian Gongyu a bit?
If that’s the case, Yan Qing was fully supportive; he was also poor and needed a subsidy!
Yes, although Yan Qing could earn tens of thousands of Spiritual Jade daily by selling secret manuals and Flame Pattern Long Sabers, he was still truly poor.
For some reason, Gai Louxian granted Jiang Shiyi Si access to the Banner Master shopping channel. In the Qi Kingdom’s Military Town system, only a messenger could assume the role of Banner Master, so the minimum requirement to purchase Qi Kingdom messenger supplies was also Banner Master. Although Jiang Shiyi Si’s strength met the criteria, their military service time was far from enough. Unless a noble took responsibility and promoted them, it would take at least a year of military service before they could possibly be promoted to Banner Master.
There’s no need to be promoted to Banner Master now; they can directly purchase messenger supplies. Yan Qing naturally wouldn’t miss such an opportunity, and there are many things just he needed:
"Thunderbolt Saber Technique Secret Manual" for 1000 Spiritual Jade.
"Hidden Sword Manor Tool Kit" 1000 Spiritual Jade each.
"Mountain Bandit Tailor Package" 200 Spiritual Jade each.
"Manager’s Jewelry Cleaning Package" 300 Spiritual Jade each.
"Refined Gold Furnace Liquid" 3000 Spiritual Jade each.
That’s right, Jiang Shiyi Si fought multiple times a day, producing dozens of Thunderbolt Saber Techniques a week, each requiring 1000 Spiritual Jade. However, at least it was obtainable through official channels. Yan Qing bought ten books to stockpile. Although it wouldn’t raise his level, it could improve the release speed of blade-type tokens.
This game is full of such techniques unrelated to upgrading, which can increase combat strength but only slightly.
As for the various tool kits listed afterward, they could be used to restore the durability of low-level weapons, garments, and jewelry tokens and repair damaged tokens.
In "The Messenger," restoring the durability of tokens was a very tricky matter, even giving rise to a large industry related to it. There was no official NPC who would simply ’ding’ and repair all your tokens. Although these tool kits could be stacked, they would, no matter what, take up a single slot. The first thing many players would do after a battle would be to open their personal warehouse to check the tokens’ durability.
The toolkits also come in various qualities, like the ones mentioned above. Except for the "Hidden Sword Manor Tool Kit," which can perfectly restore durability, the other two will reduce the maximum durability limit by 1 point, and this advantage is reflected in the price.
Thus, players jokingly refer to acquiring favorite tokens as ’marriage,’ because obtaining a token is just the beginning, and they still have to spend countless efforts to maintain the token in their lives.
Unexpectedly, the durability function, although cumbersome, receives mixed reviews among players. Those who dislike it naturally find the durability too troublesome, while those who enjoy it think the hardcore durability is just right. Some players even willingly spent more than ten times the resources to restore the maximum durability of their tokens.
For instance, "Refined Gold Furnace Liquid" is a repair item that players are least likely to use, because although it can repair destroyed items, it comes at the cost of reducing the token level by 20 levels + durability decreasing by 50%, which is equivalent to dropping a Third-Turn Token and below directly to First-Turn.
The cost is really too outrageous, but it’s a deliberate game design. If players don’t want to bear such a heavy price, they have to properly maintain their tokens.
Yan Qing naturally bought toolkits for Bingzi Pepper Forest; when Jiang Shi used it for hacking, a few points of durability were lost. Even though it was far from being damaged, Yan Qing still felt uncomfortable as if a pretty girl was crawling on his body.
When he took out the "Hidden Sword Manor Tool Kit" and followed the instructions to maintain Bingzi Pepper Forest, after spending nearly half an hour, Yan Qing suddenly understood why players would treat tokens as if they were lovers — it has gone through so much with you, worked for you, and got hurt for you. You also spend time and effort to repair and care for it, and the time you spend on each other is the same. How could you possibly not care about it?
The "Hidden Sword Manor Tool Kit" is still available for limited purchase, and Yan Qing directly bought all 5 packs, still feeling he had not stockpiled enough.
Although toolkits are expensive, they were not enough to empty Yan Qing’s small treasury. What turned him into a pauper was buying the "Advanced Steps Secret Manual" — worth 200,000 Spiritual Jade.
200,000!
The "Advanced Flying Circle Secret Manual" on the same list only needed 130,000 Spiritual Jade, and the "Advanced Shield Combat Secret Manual" only needed 150,000 Spiritual Jade. Yan Qing asked why the advanced steps were so expensive, and Gai Louxian answered very market efficiently: "Because everyone wants it."
Yan Qing could only buy it; he doesn’t think his comprehension can reach the pass line for advanced cultivation techniques. He originally wanted to buy the advanced dual blade secret manual, but Gai Louxian told him a harsh truth: dual blades are too rare, and they won’t be circulated.
Evidently, before reaching the military merit tier, the nobles had already digested these secret manuals first. If Yan Qing wants to learn advanced dual blades, he must either tackle the secret realm himself or self-study. But the secret realms producing advanced secret manuals are mostly Third-Turn, and even if Yan Qing is willing, the Qi Kingdom is not willing to let strangers like Jiang Shiyi Si go to such critical military towns.
As for acquiring advanced secret manuals at the Treasure Pavilion... although feasible, all Yan Qing could offer were Jiang Shi’s spoils. Once listed, related people from Mansu Forest Land will immediately associate Jiang Shi with the Trading Board Immortal, and some may even link the Trading Board Immortal with the Yellow Dog.
Yes, I’m talking about you, Shang Xinlei!
If it weren’t for the issue of Shang Xinlei, Yan Qing would have sold the spoils long ago, but now he can only wait a while to fence the goods.
He doesn’t care about others guessing his identity, but as a fellow thief, he hopes Shang Xinlei and her group don’t get too familiar with his cards.
Although he could learn other advanced cultivation techniques soon to change his profession, Yan Qing is not a game character; he can’t choose one of three professions and can only default to selecting a random profession. Learning other techniques means the profession Yan Qing randomly gets will be hard to predict. If he ends up as a Flying Circle Messenger or Shield War Messenger, then how is he different from a whiteboard?
After pondering, he can only see if he can find any good items in this mission and then exchange them for advanced secret manuals at the Treasure Pavilion.
When Jiang Shi took out 200,000 Spiritual Jade for validation, Gai Louxian was shocked. Even if combined into hundred jade pieces, 200,000 Spiritual Jade is 2,000 hundred jade pieces, and a large box is needed to fill them.
Yan Qing prepared answers for possible questioning and even prepared for the psychological expectation of Gai Louxian becoming greedy and then breaking out, yet Gai Louxian didn’t ask anything, only said the secret manual would take a few days to deliver.
After dinner, Yan Qing practiced dual blades while idling.
The day before yesterday, through Treasure Pavilion, he exchanged two Basic Saber Technique Secret Manuals for one Basic Dual Blade Secret Manual, directly reaching full level, but knowing is one thing; it still requires a lot of training to turn it into combat instinct.
The time spent practicing blades passed quickly, and when Yan Qing stopped, sweat was flowing all around his feet, yet he didn’t feel tired at all. Instead, he felt more energized, as if his entire body had been activated.
He quickly showered and came out, noticing the lights in the Ministerial Hall were already out, indicating Shang Xuanwen had already gone to the back room to rest; there were about two hours left before committing the theft.
It’s about time to prepare for the sword heist.