Chapter 28: Auction
Legendary Token!
It was a true Legendary Token!
The kind of Legendary Token that one could only catch wind of through hearsay in storybooks and obscure historical rumors had now appeared before their eyes!
Medicine Master Wen, Ying Ru Shi, and even Shang Xinlei all subconsciously wanted to stand up—if not for the Thieves’ House forcing their buttocks to remain glued to the chairs, they would have certainly caused a scene by now.
It wasn’t that they wanted to claim it for themselves, but rather they just wanted to get closer to admire this Legendary weapon!
For them, who had grown up listening to all kinds of historical tales and could recite Tokens like household names, not to mention touching a Legendary Token—just seeing it, just smelling it, was enough to fill them with joy and add years to their lives!
“So powerful a power…” Medicine Master Wen’s voice was trembling. “As expected of the Founding Emperor of Zhou’s personal sword… it really is a Legendary Token…”
“So this is what a Legend looks like?” Ying Ru Shi murmured. “Even though it’s just a First-Stage Token, it’s far stronger than any Third-Stage Token I’ve ever seen.”
“Black Wolf, now you know you were wrong!” Shang Xinlei suddenly said. “Yellow Dog clearly said earlier that the reward would be a Legendary Token, and you didn’t believe him!”
It sounded as though Shang Xinlei was standing up for Yan Qing, but Medicine Master Wen and Ying Ru Shi instantly realized—right, Yan Qing was very certain earlier that the reward would be a Legendary Token. How did he know that?
But in fact, Yan Qing was more surprised than they were.
“You all know the Thieves’ House so well, yet you didn’t know it can transform stolen items into Legendary Tokens?” Yan Qing asked. “Has no one ever completed a mission before?”
Medicine Master Wen and the others exchanged puzzled looks.
“I only knew that the Thieves’ House allows travel across the world.”
“Same here. Everyone speculated that mastering the Thieves’ House equates to being able to descend anywhere in the world, even outside the Central Plains…”
“I’ve never heard of the Thieves’ House actually succeeding in stealing anything…”
Yan Qing was also shocked. According to them, the Thieves’ House had appeared many times—so much so that many people knew all sorts of details about it. Yet in all those attempts, no one had ever completed a mission?
But upon second thought, he realized that might just be the truth.
After all, judging by how they were practically drooling over the Legendary Token, if even one past mission had succeeded, the fact that “the Thieves’ House can transform items into Legendary Tokens” wouldn’t have remained a secret.
Messengers wouldn’t view the Thieves’ House as merely a “Functional Secret Realm for teleportation to any location”—instead, they would call it a “Resource Secret Realm for stable Legendary Token production.”
As for why Yan Qing knew that Bingzi Pepper Forest would transform into a Legendary Token…
Isn’t it obvious? He was the one who designed this instance!
That was also why he set the instance’s level range between 10 to 39—after reaching Level 40 and Foundation Establishment, players could easily obtain Legendary Tokens, so an instance that produced them wouldn’t be as appealing.
But for low-level players between Level 10 to 39, it was extremely difficult to obtain Legendary Tokens through conventional means—except through Yan Qing’s newly designed instance!
And to increase its appeal, Yan Qing had recommended that the power entries for these low-level Legendary Tokens be drawn from the T0 tier pool, instead of the T2 or T1 pools.
The Legendary tier pool had three levels: from low to high, they were T2, T1, and T0.
The vast majority of Legendary Tokens had one T2, one T1, and one T0 power entry.
Graduation-tier Legendary Tokens had two T1s and one T0.
As for one T1 and two T0s, that kind of Legendary Token didn’t exist—it would be too difficult to balance.
But the Legendary Tokens produced by the Thieves’ House were only First to Third Stage Tokens. No matter how powerful they were, they would become obsolete after players reached the Fourth Stage.
Given that, why not give the Thieves’ House Tokens three T0 entries?
After all, the First to Third Stages were just transitional phases for players.
Even the most powerful Legendary Token with three T0 entries would just be a toy in the end.
To Yan Qing’s relief, he discovered that his suggestion had been accepted.
Each individual effect of Bingzi Pepper Forest could stand alone as the primary entry of an ordinary Legendary Token.
“Enfeoff” greatly enhanced allies’ combat strength.
“Pillar of the Nation” greatly enhanced one’s own combat strength.
And “Heaven’s Veil” was outrageous—even within the T0 entry pool, it was top-tier: increasing attack power, attack range, and granting an unshakable super-armor state.
Although it only lasted for one battle, it was enough to completely reverse the tide of war.
And the troubling scene he had envisioned also appeared.
Black Wolf, White Fox, and Red Snake could hardly conceal the greed on their faces.
Everyone stared longingly at Bingzi Pepper Forest.
Yan Qing had no doubt that if any of them managed to touch it, they would immediately run back to their room, “log off,” return to reality, and never return to the Thieves’ House.
Commonly known as looting and logging out.
As the saying goes: Once the Brotherhood’s Sword is drawn, there is no longer any Brotherhood.
This was exactly why Yan Qing had suggested making the mission rewards so outrageous—only by being outrageous enough could it incite player infighting.
The core gameplay of this instance was to make players scheme, backstab, and turn red-eyed with envy.
On the surface, it was PVE, but in reality, it was PVP.
Yan Qing truly felt that this design was genius.
If only he didn’t have to participate in the instance himself.
“I learned some things about the Thieves’ House from other secret realms.” Yan Qing brushed them off casually.
“Yellow Dog,” Medicine Master Wen suddenly said, “in this mission, your contribution was undoubtedly the greatest.”
Yan Qing sighed inwardly upon hearing this.
For someone like Black Wolf, arguing was the norm—if she was suddenly thanking you, it could only mean trouble.
“But if you plan to fight me for Bingzi Pepper Forest, I won’t hold back.” Medicine Master Wen swept her gaze across the group. “Same goes for the rest of you.”
Ying Ru Shi smiled and said nothing, silently gripping the hilt of her Brave General Sword.
Shang Xinlei looked as though she had been frightened by Medicine Master Wen, trembling all over, but even while shaking, she pulled out her flying ring weapon—looking both cowardly and ruthless.
“Put your weapons away,” Yan Qing said calmly. “You won’t need them.”
As if in response to Yan Qing’s words, the light screen of the Thieves’ House displayed new text:
“Bingzi Pepper Forest Theft Case”
“Mission Difficulty: Very Easy”
“Mission Completion Rating: Worthy Effort (Ratings from low to high: Trivial, Inadequate, Worthy Effort, Exceptional, Monumental Achievement)”
“Mission Completion Reward: 30 Thieves Points”
“Thieves Points can accumulate and are only spendable within the Thieves’ House. They are non-transferable, and once you lose access to the Thieves’ House, your points will be reset.”
At the same time, a number appeared in front of everyone, showing “30,” indicating their current Thieves Points total.
Then the light screen changed again—but this time, it was different for everyone. Yan Qing could only see his own:
“Yellow Dog’s Mission Settlement List”
“Uncovering the underground prison at Anguo Temple: 5 points”
“Saving the innocent: 5 points”
“Burning Anguo Temple: 10 points”
“Milestone Completion Progress: Suspects 1/10, Demolition Team 1/1”
“You have earned an additional 20 Thieves Points”
Yan Qing’s Thieves Points immediately surged to 50.
He glanced at the others—Red Snake had 30 points, showing she had earned no bonus, unsurprising since she hadn’t done much besides stir up trouble during the mission.
White Fox had 33 points, likely due to providing the snakeskin rope.
Black Wolf had 40 points, clearly for directly killing four warrior monks—the only combat in the mission.
Everyone looked at their own and each other's Thieves Points, then at the Bingzi Pepper Forest on the stone table in the center, vaguely sensing something.
Click.
The glowing “disc” in the Thieves’ House ceiling suddenly opened, dropping three items: a ring, a manual, and a pill.
“Based on the thieves’ mission performance, the Thieves’ House has selected three items from the treasury as bonus rewards.”
“Storage Ring”
“Grade: First-Stage, Common”
“Effect: Grants you a quick-access slot, allowing you to retrieve items from the Storage Ring at any time.”
“Evaluation: Better than nothing.”
/
“Random Advanced Skill Entry Manual”
“Usage Requirement: Must have mastered at least one basic skill”
“Effect: Instantly comprehend an advanced version of a basic skill”
“Evaluation: The master can bring you to the door; whether you learn is up to you. Without a master, you’ll never figure it out in your lifetime.”
/
“Comprehension Pill”
“Quantity: One”
“Effect: Increases Comprehension by 30 points for seven days.”
“Evaluation: You’ll regret it after taking it.”
These three items each had their uses.
Though the Storage Ring was the lowest in grade, even in the game, storage tokens that provided quick-access slots were rare items.
And unlike players with system storage, people in this world didn’t have such convenient means—thus, a Storage Ring capable of holding essential items was invaluable.
The Advanced Skill Entry Manual referred not to common techniques like Thunderclap Blade Technique, but to truly valuable advanced techniques like “Advanced Blade Technique” or “Advanced Footwork.”
Many high-level Tokens would require advanced skills to use, so missing such a manual would be a major loss.
The Comprehension Pill was the most straightforward—30 points of Comprehension meant a 30% experience bonus, lasting for seven days.
If someone was dedicated enough to grind, this pill’s value could even surpass the other two items.
But no matter how good these three were, they couldn’t compare to the Legendary Token—Bingzi Pepper Forest!
“All the rewards for this mission are as follows: Bingzi Pepper Forest, Storage Ring, Random Advanced Skill Entry Manual, Comprehension Pill”
“Now begins the auction phase. You may use Thieves Points to bid on items. Minimum bid is 5 points, with at least 5-point increments. Thieves who win an item will have priority in the next round of bidding.”
“The first item is Bingzi Pepper Forest. Thieves, please place your bids.”
Ying Ru Shi’s eyes flashed after reading the rules and she immediately shouted, “Black Wolf—”
But before Black Wolf could speak, Yan Qing took the lead and said:
“I bid 36 points!”
“Yellow Dog bids 36 points for Bingzi Pepper Forest”
“No one present has more than 41 Thieves Points. Bingzi Pepper Forest goes to Yellow Dog.”
As the other three glared with eyes almost spewing fire, Bingzi Pepper Forest floated slowly toward Yan Qing and was caught in his outstretched hand!
Bingzi Pepper Forest—acquired!