Jiang Xueyao sat sulking in the corner, her little mouth pursed.
—It had been a long time since she’d felt this depressed.
In that situation just now, clearly only if she had gone all out would there have been any chance of protecting everyone.
He was only at the second level of Qi Refining. How did he dare risk his life like that?
Also.
My Qiongjia Sword—what did you use it for?
It’s dirty now, do you know that?
And another thing.
Why are you always the one rushing to make the first move?
Suddenly sensing an apologetic gaze cast her way, she looked up and saw him.
Hmph!
Jiang Xueyao bit her lip, turned her head away, and had absolutely no desire to look at this person again.
Xu Yuan couldn’t do anything about it either.
An opportunity in battle vanishes in an instant. I had to seize that moment and act.
—Sis, you were too slow.
Xu Yuan looked around.
Those ordinary people were looking at him with reverent gazes.
—Don’t look at me like that. I’m not even at Foundation Establishment yet. I’m still far from debuting as a top-tier celebrity.
Zhao Afei had taken out his pill furnace and was currently refining pills.
Yang Xiaobing sat cross-legged, speeding up her absorption of the Spirit-Replenishing Pill’s medicinal power.
Jiang Xueyao—only gave him her back.
Forget it. Don’t mind her.
The current situation was actually a little strange.
For a mid-stage Qi Refining giant ape to appear in a monthly exam—wasn’t that a bit beyond the syllabus?
Xu Yuan thought for a moment, then grabbed the walkie-talkie.
“Shh… shh…”
“At Xinzhou Road subway station, a mid-stage Qi Refining giant ape demon beast came to attack us. We have killed it.”
“What’s the situation outside right now? We’re low on ammunition. Requesting support.”
“Over.”
He put down the walkie-talkie and waited quietly.
By reporting it like this, first, he was asking whether the exam was supposed to be this difficult, or whether there had been a mistake with the question;
Second, he wanted to replenish some ammunition;
Third, he wanted to inquire about how the situation was developing, to see if he could obtain any useful intel.
—Officer Liu was actually an examiner.
Bringing these three matters up with him couldn’t be more appropriate.
While waiting, Xu Yuan checked his gains again.
He had killed the giant ape.
It had dropped 11 gold coins.
At present, his total number of gold coins had already reached 44!
Should he roll for some equipment to use?
Of course!
After this battle, Xu Yuan had deeply realized the benefits of equipment.
Cultivators placed importance on wealth, companions, techniques, and land.
Without money, there was no equipment. When competing with others, even your sword could be cut apart by someone else!
Regardless of whether Officer Liu would replenish their ammunition or provide any support—
He had to get some things to use himself!
“Shop.”
He silently recited in his mind.
Illusory light and shadow immediately surfaced before his eyes, gradually becoming clear and forming the “Qi Refiner’s Combat Preparation Room.”
At this moment, the shelves still retained the appearance from the previous refresh.
—He had bought the Xufeng Sword.
Only a pendant that granted Movement Speed +1 remained.
“Pay 1 gold coin to refresh the shelves.”
Xu Yuan silently said in his mind.
On the shelf.
That pendant instantly disappeared.
Replacing it were three brand-new items.
A pair of “Common”-grade leather boots;
An “Excellent”-grade long spear;
A “Broken” drum.
Xu Yuan did not even look at them and paid another gold coin to refresh the shelves again.
The situation was different now.
Since he had money, he needed to speed things up and arm himself with high-grade equipment.
It would be best if, before the nightmare-level match arrived, he could use equipment to raise his strength by another level.
As the gold coin payment succeeded—
The shelves refreshed again.
“Broken,” “Broken,” “Common.”
All three items were trash.
It seemed he had to raise the level of the Combat Preparation Room early and strive for the items refreshed in the future to all be high-tier goods.
He paid gold coins again.
Refresh!
“Excellent,” “Common,” “Broken.”
That “Excellent”-grade item was a large shield as tall as a person.
How was he supposed to take that out?
This match was a monthly exam. Who knew how many “spectators” were watching from outside?
His family was poor, and he had not brought any storage-type treasures.
If he grabbed a large shield out of thin air, wouldn’t he be immediately captured and sliced up for research?
He could only reluctantly give it up.
Xu Yuan silently sighed and put in another gold coin.
—The shelves refreshed again!
“Fine,” “Excellent,” “Broken.”
A “Fine”-grade piece of equipment had appeared!
In order to roll an item of this grade, he had already spent 4 gold coins!
Xu Yuan subconsciously drew in a breath and focused his eyes on it.
“Serpentine Bindings.”
“Gloves, Fine grade.”
“Effect: After wearing them, spiritual energy recovery speed slightly increases, and spiritual energy consumption when using talismans is reduced by 15%.”
“Price: 10 gold coins.”
This…
It was indeed a good item.
Xu Yuan pondered briefly, then paid 10 gold coins.
—He had 30 gold coins left.
“Purchase successful.”
“This item has been placed in your arms.”
—Although the bonus wasn’t high, it was actually still useful.
Yang Xiaobing cultivated both talismans and spirit plants. She could attack and defend, and played an enormous role in the team.
If not for her, this place might already have collapsed.
Give it to her.
Strengthening the team’s overall strength would benefit this monthly exam!
As for himself—
He could just keep farming gold coins.
He would strive for the next good thing he rolled to be something he could use!
Xu Yuan walked up to Yang Xiaobing, crouched down, and asked:
“How are you?”
“I still need to rest for a while. Sorry, I’ve become a burden to you all,” Yang Xiaobing said.
“Don’t say that. If not for you using a hard, thick mushroom to prop up the ceiling, we probably would’ve been finished long ago,” Xu Yuan said sincerely.
Yang Xiaobing lowered her head, a little embarrassed. “You really think that?”
“I only ever tell the truth,” Xu Yuan said solemnly.
He took out the pair of Serpentine Bindings from his arms and stuffed them into Yang Xiaobing’s hands.
“What is this?” Yang Xiaobing asked curiously.
“A birthday gift. Remember to treat me to a feast when the time comes. I won’t buy anything else separately,” Xu Yuan said.
“Are you stupid? My birthday was last month.”
“This is for celebrating your birthday next year. I’m giving it to you in advance now—I’m starting to realize you don’t know what’s good for you. If you don’t want it, give it back!” Xu Yuan reached out to snatch the gloves.
“Who said I don’t want them!” Yang Xiaobing hurriedly hid the gloves behind her back and quickly put them on.
The smile on her face suddenly froze.
“What’s wrong?” Xu Yuan asked.
“Nothing.” Yang Xiaobing lowered her head, her voice as thin as a mosquito’s buzz.
Xu Yuan was baffled and was just about to speak when Zhao Afei called out to him. He hurriedly stood up and ran over to ask about the situation.
Only then.
Yang Xiaobing brought her hands back from behind her and placed them on her legs, examining them carefully.
This pair of gloves was off-white, as light and thin as gauze. It was divided into upper and lower layers, each sewn with many runes, adorned with shards of spirit stones, and inlaid into a miniature Spirit-Gathering Formation.
Not only was it very useful, it was also beautiful.
As soon as she put them on, she felt the spiritual energy within her body become a little more active, circulating slightly faster as well.
Gloves that could help recover spiritual energy could almost be considered treasures.
He had actually prepared something like this…
Yang Xiaobing lowered her eyes and simply stared at her hands like that, quietly sensing the recovery of the spiritual energy within her body.
At this moment, Xu Yuan had already walked over to the pill furnace and asked:
“What’s wrong?”
“—My strength is too weak. Will they look down on me?” Zhao Afei asked quietly.
“They won’t,” Xu Yuan comforted him.
“Really?” Zhao Afei looked at him.
“With their strength, they probably can’t even be bothered to look at you,” Xu Yuan said sincerely.
“I even brought my family’s inherited pill furnace because I heard this monthly exam was very important… Unfortunately, I still can’t display any decent strength,” Zhao Afei sighed.
Xu Yuan looked toward the pill furnace.
This pill furnace was about four meters, nearly five meters tall. Its entire body was pale yellow, and on the surface, flowing spirit patterns etched the Four Symbols divine beasts: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise.
There were also eight legs supporting the bottom, leaving it about half a meter off the ground, secretly corresponding to the eight trigrams positions of “Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, and Dui.” Each leg was of a different color and material, and should have been refined from different innate spiritual materials.
There was also a row of nine small holes on the pill furnace, allowing the inside and outside to connect.
Twenty-eight layers of fire-refining formations sometimes surfaced in the void around the pill furnace, and sometimes vanished from sight.
“This is inherited from your family?”
Xu Yuan asked.
—Standing in place and quietly sensing it, he could hear the sounds of wind and fire from the pill furnace.
“Yeah, it’s a treasure my ancestors obtained. If not for how important this exam is, my father never would have given it to me,” Zhao Afei said.
Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes and stared at the pill furnace.
Lines of faintly glowing small characters immediately flashed into view:
“Four Symbols Eight Trigrams Furnace.”
“??-grade pill furnace.”
“Divine Might: Spirit Suppression.”
“Description: The power of the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—as well as attacks from all kinds of weapons cannot damage the body of this pill furnace.”
“Divine Might: Self-Protection.”
“Description: Attacks have a certain probability of being reflected outward, protecting the body of the pill furnace from damage.”
“Divine Might: ???”
“????????”
—Holy shit, this was a true treasure!
No wonder Zhao Afei’s family was able to prosper.
Wait—
Damn.
He seemed to have discovered an incredible tactic!
A sudden idea struck Xu Yuan, and he blurted out:
“Afei.”
“What?”
“I have a secret combination technique that must be executed by two people at the same time before it can unleash its power.”
“You want to teach me?” Zhao Afei asked anxiously.
Secret techniques, combination techniques—
These things were usually family inheritances, or passed down from a university master’s lineage, and would not be easily taught to outsiders.
Yet now Xu Yuan actually wanted to impart a technique?
“Will you learn it? As long as you learn it, the two of us combined will definitely take off on the spot—when the time comes, we’ll be the core of the squad!” Xu Yuan said seriously.
“I’ll learn!” Zhao Afei immediately said.
Xu Yuan leaned close to Zhao Afei’s ear and muttered in a low voice.
As Zhao Afei listened, his eyes widened, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.