Chapter 77: Inventory Check
Was it worth giving up a Legendary Token for Jiang Ten, this alternate character?
The profession trait of the Wandering Messenger, "Mansu’s Blessing", allowed players to choose rewards twice during the treasure chest reward phase.
Yan Qing immediately selected the Secret Technique Book on the far left. At that moment, he could still choose a second reward.
Among them, the most valuable was naturally the light orb reward in the center: a pair of gloves of the Legendary Token grade. Even though he had not seen the effects clearly, Yan Qing believed that a Legendary Token would not disappoint him.
But the moment a Foundation-tier powerhouse arrived, he chose the odd item on the far right instead: the Return Token.
"Return Token"
"Usage Condition: Player must not be in a restricted state"
"Number of Uses: 2/3"
"Effect: Activates immediately upon use, with a casting time of ten seconds. During the casting, the player is invincible and unaffected by any external factors. At the same time, the player cannot influence the outside world either. During the casting, the player may choose a return location. If no choice is made, the player will return to the nearest landmark."
"Evaluation: Nothing else gives you a greater sense of security than this."
The Return Token could only be used three times, and one had already been used for Jiang Ten. If he had chosen the Legendary Token instead, would that have been the right choice?
Actually, the moment Yan Qing began wondering whether it was worth it, he had already vaguely felt it wasn’t. Just like flipping a coin to make a decision—your heart usually already leans one way.
Because Jiang Ten’s profession was just that bad.
Without the Woodland, Jiang Ten’s Second Job Change profession was no different from a blank slate. Some might think, wouldn’t it be fine if Jiang Ten just rushed to a Third Job Change and acquired a new profession?
But don’t forget, the new profession acquired at the Third Job Change was heavily influenced by the player’s past experiences, especially the profession they previously played.
If Jiang Ten continued to fight and live near the Woodland, her Third Job Change might roll into a Legendary version of the Woodland Messenger; but if she gave up fighting in the Woodland and instead trained in Dual Blades, then at most she would get a Rare version of the Dual-Blade Messenger.
If one couldn’t stick to a profession path till the end and instead switched mid-sequence, it meant erasing all past significant records. Just like how even if a university student served as the student council president, it wouldn’t help when applying for a programming job.
A player’s Third Job Change profession greatly impacted their Foundation strength. The Third Job Change was influenced by the Second, and the Second was often an evolution of the First… For those chasing maximum strength, every stage was critical. That’s why high-difficulty instance players were mockingly called "Keymen" in the game forums, while such high-difficulty instances were referred to as "Keyman’s Prison."
So, Jiang Ten’s professional potential was even lower than Ye Si’s. If Ye Si could reach Foundation, he might at least reach the level of an average player. But for Jiang Ten, she would likely end up with sewer-tier combat power. Therefore, to Yan Qing, her value wasn’t greater than a Legendary Token.
But if everything was about maximizing profit, then from the very start, he shouldn’t have lost his temper. Jiang Ten should have compromised with Lu Wangji and traded a bit of pride for greater benefits.
Yet the alternate character’s belongings were his belongings, and their dignity was also his dignity.
If it had truly been beyond his capabilities, so be it—Yan Qing could have just noted it down in his little book for future revenge. But since he could defend his dignity as a player right now, why should he let his alternate character take a hit?
There was a kind of "must-lose battle" in single-player games. Most players lost and just progressed with the plot. But a small group would rack their brains trying to win such battles, sparing no time or effort. Yan Qing was among this small group. His reason for winning wasn’t something lofty like challenge—he just didn’t want to lose.
He simply didn’t want to lose!
So what if it was the Court, or a noble family, or a Foundation-tier powerhouse, or even a must-lose battle? He would overturn it all for you to see!
But if he compromised… if he had chosen the Legendary Token instead of the Return Token…
Yan Qing had that kind of twisted personality—he played with hot-blooded passion, not caring about gain or loss. Yet once the fight ended and rationality returned, he’d start agonizing over whether he could have made a better choice. This kind of syndrome wasn’t too bad in single-player games since he could always reload and try a different path to verify if he was right. But this was an online game—he would never know if he made the wrong choice.
In the end, he was just an ordinary player.
The struggle came fast and went fast, because Yan Qing had more important matters now: checking the spoils!
First, the tokens from Zhou Ye and Chen Linchuan—a total of seven items, including the "Imperial Fire Bracelet", "Golden Ring Blade", "Evil-Banishing Greatsword", "Steel Belt", as well as two "Heartguard Mirror" and two "Storage Ring".
"Imperial Fire Bracelet"
"Grade: Third-Stage Ordinary"
"Durability: 24/40"
"Equipment Requirement: 20 Spirit, Fire Path Basics MAX"
"Effect - Flame Infusion: Infuse your weapon with flame, dealing an additional 30 points of fire damage. The flame can ignite flammable objects and linger in the air for one second. Activating Flame Infusion consumes 30 Spirit Energy and consumes 1 Spirit Energy per second to maintain the effect."
"Effect - Apprentice: If the user’s Fire Path basics do not meet the requirements, this bracelet can still be used, but the weapon must be actively ignited to trigger the Flame Infusion effect. User’s Fire Path comprehension speed +10%."
"Evaluation: It’s said that new apprentices of Flame Mountain all start as cooks. This bracelet is their only kitchen utensil. Only when they can cook delicious dishes with bare hands can they truly begin to learn the Great Way of Flame."
/
"Golden Ring Blade"
"Grade: Second-Stage Rare"
"Durability: 61/100"
"Equipment Requirement: 30 Vital Energy and Blood, 10 Spirit"
"Base Attack Power: 30~50"
"Effect - Martial Drill: When you attack using the Golden Ring Blade, your Vital Energy and Blood is permanently increased. Current increase amount: 0."
"Effect - Bloodbath: Your Vital Energy and Blood will rapidly increase during combat, starting 15 seconds after triggering, and reaching the peak at 600 seconds. You can increase up to (30 + 5 × Martial Drill increase amount) Vital Energy and Blood."
"Evaluation: Every blade wielder believes they are its last master. You will prove them wrong."
Wow, Yan Qing's eyes lit up.
The Imperial Fire Bracelet was only the most basic Fire Path Token, yet even so, it could significantly boost a Messenger’s combat strength. Though 30 fire damage might not seem like much, its resulting effects of 'burning', 'ignition', and 'fear' were not to be underestimated. It might not be that effective in PVP, but it was quite handy in instances, especially since it allowed use even without Fire Path basics—making it Yan Qing’s only Fire Path entry-level resource at the moment.
The Golden Ring Blade was also an excellent Token. A Second-Stage Rare was comparable to a Third-Stage Ordinary. If Zhou Ye had been using the Golden Ring Blade since Second-Stage, the amount of Vital Energy and Blood he gained through Martial Drill must have been considerable. Combined with the second ability, Bloodbath, which could increase his Vital Energy and Blood by an additional 30 plus five times the Martial Drill increase amount, Zhou Ye could easily increase by nearly a hundred Vital Energy and Blood during combat.
If Zhou Ye carried a bunch of Healing Pills and fought while consuming them, he might have been able to tank a Third-Stage instance BOSS.
Unfortunately, Jiang Ten’s output with the Bingzi Pepper Forest was too high—Zhou Ye didn’t even have time to demonstrate his high Vital Energy and Blood before being struck fatally in a single blow.
What was even better was that even a First-Stage Messenger could wield the Golden Ring Blade, making it perfect for nurturing an alternate character.
"Evil-Banishing Greatsword"
"Grade: Third-Stage Rare"
"Durability: 91/150"
"Equipment Requirement: 30 Vital Energy and Blood, 10 Spirit"
"Base Attack Power: 50~60"
"Effect - Charge: You may consume Spirit Energy per second to enhance your next slash. Each second of charging increases attack by 100 points, up to a maximum of five seconds. Consumes 10 Spirit Energy per second."
"Effect - Evil-Banishment: When a single attack deals more than 300 damage to an enemy, it triggers the soul of the beast within the Evil-Banishing Greatsword, turning the damage into Crushing Damage (doubles the damage and ignores enemy defense)."
"Effect - Toughness: This weapon is so wild that it’s extremely durable, and hard to damage even when attacked."
"Evaluation: Maybe this weapon would be more useful without the Charge effect."
/
"Steel Belt"
"Grade: Third-Stage Ordinary"
"Durability: 45/50"
"Equipment Requirement: 15 Vital Energy and Blood"
"Effect - Burden: Your Agility -15 points, but for each day worn, your Vital Energy and Blood and Agility permanently increase, while the negative effect gradually lessens. After 180 days of wearing, the penalty is reduced to Agility -5 points."
"Effect - Steadiness: This belt is so heavy that it’s hard for outside forces to shake you. Grants immunity to most kinetic impacts."
"Evaluation: There was once a person who collected the full set of Steel Belt, Steel Armguards, and Steel Legguards. After years of relentless training, he removed them all during a critical battle—and shocked the world."
There wasn’t much to say about the Evil-Banishing Greatsword—a common Third-Stage Rare weapon. This type of greatsword was mostly useful against demons and beasts, and practically useless against humanoid enemies. Yan Qing had no interest and wouldn’t use such a cumbersome weapon.
The Steel Belt, however, was pretty good. Yan Qing liked Tokens that let you grow stronger without needing to fight. But he didn’t want to suffer too much either—he planned to wear it for a day or two and see. If it was too much trouble, he’d just pass it down to Ye Si or Jiang Ten as a benefit.
From these two sets of equipment, it was evident that noble families were consciously using Tokens to enhance their attributes rather than blindly stacking combat strength.
Still, for two clan elders from noble families, having only this many Tokens seemed rather stingy.
Yan Qing guessed they probably had a better set of gear when entering instances. After all, someone always had to run the instance, but they wouldn’t stay inside forever. The truly important Tokens were likely communal and not allowed for private use.