Chapter 121: Inspecting the Spoils

Yao Shi Wan Neng had a very peculiar temperament—he would definitely pursue matters to the bottom if he set his mind on them. After happily refusing to exchange precious imperial tributes for messages, he found everything about Kai Xin even more mysterious and intriguing! Claiming it was less than six hours away, he stayed near Kai Xin, picking up conversations casually and probing subtly.

At first, Kai Xin could reply a few words, but later he simply ignored him, letting him talk to himself—after all, it seemed such a person wasn’t bothered by it.

The Qian Kun Bag contained four horse tokens, along with over three thousand taels of silver and two thousand taels of gold (the amount varied depending on the realm difference), the latter obtained from the bandit leader at the Mysterious Realm level.

Besides gold and silver, the bandit leader also contributed an excellent martial art, the “Five Tigers Reincarnation Hammer Technique,” as well as a mid-tier famous weapon, the “Arhat Axe.”

Requirements to practice the “Five Tigers Reincarnation Hammer Technique”:
Master-level “Reincarnation Hammer Technique” required 50 in strength, 50 in bone structure, 47 in comprehension, 48 in agility, and the “Mysterious Realm” level for internal energy.

Arhat Axe: (Mid-tier famous weapon) Increases attack by 440 points, reduces agility by 2 points, increases block success rate by 50%, and boosts weapon defense by 200 points.

Naturally, Kai Xin couldn’t learn these. Not only had he not mastered the lower-level martial art “Reincarnation Hammer Technique,” but he also fell short in all four innate attributes and lacked the required internal energy level. Like the “Seven Stars Sword Art” and “Dragon Walking Step,” they were out of reach for now and could only remain untouched for the time being.

……
Player: Kai Xin.
Strength: 40, Bone Structure: 37, Comprehension: 40, Agility: 41.

……
The bandit leader at the Mysterious Realm level left behind many items. Aside from these two that couldn’t be used yet, there was also a high-tier horse token—his jujube-red steed named Chi Hu. It was stronger and faster than ordinary steeds, a typical horse capable of traveling a thousand miles a day. Even in the later era’swulin, where such items were extremely rare, it would be a luxury worth thousands of gold coins.

Kai Xin without hesitation removed his original horse token and replaced it with the jujube-red one, hanging it around his waist. Then, instinctively, he showed a wary look and glanced at the disheveled man across from him.

The man’s gaze was also fixed on the horse token in Kai Xin’s hand. Recognizing its rarity, his eyes lit up, and his fingers twitched involuntarily—clearly very interested… Yet when he sensed Kai Xin’s glance, he quickly wiped his mouth and sat upright, staring at the sky.

Perhaps realizing his earlier behavior was suspicious, his face turned red as he grumbled lightly, “Just a high-tier horse token. Hmph, it’s not even worthy of my discerning eyes.”

“……”

Helplessly, Happy let out a sigh. Having a skilled opponent at his side who relied solely on tricks was truly worrying. Of course, though the other party was accustomed to such tactics, Happy’s hard-earned experience in the martial world was no trivial asset. Glancing at other items, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed: “That silver giant bow must be a top-tier masterpiece. It’s a shame it didn’t appear—tsk…” Still, the gains this time were already significant! The leader of the Mysterious Realm bandits contributed not only an excellent secret manual, a mid-tier masterpiece, a high-grade horse token, but also several lower-tier martial arts manuals and 2,000 taels of gold. Moreover, this battle’s evaluation reached an S grade for the first time! By defeating over twenty bandits of the same realm while taking on the leader of the Mysterious Realm bandits, the system finally rated this battle at the highest level—“Determined to Die.” This top-tier battle evaluation not only increased Happy’s comprehension and movement skills by three points each but also raised his mastery of the superior martial art “Flower Hero’s Song” from the eighth level to the late ninth level, just one step short of reaching the tenth level. Although it seemed like only one level had been advanced… Superior martial arts differed from lower-tier ones in terms of progression. Lower-tier martial arts could be advanced in just half a day, but superior martial arts required increasingly more time, growing almost exponentially. It took Lei Zhan nearly five days to advance from the eighth to the late ninth level, highlighting the difficulty of mastering superior martial arts. However! Though mastering superior martial arts was tough, each level advancement brought an internal energy boost that far surpassed that of lower-tier martial arts, even exceeding that of flying knives, hidden weapons, mental techniques, and protective methods. An ordinary superior martial art could increase internal energy by at least 25 points… By now, practicing “Flower Hero’s Song” had boosted his internal energy by no less than 20 points, raising his level. His current internal energy had reached 126 points. (First level: 40 points; Second level: 80 points; Third level: 160 points; Fourth level: 240 points.) Happy was only 34 points away from reaching the third level of the Mysterious Realm. “34 points of internal energy.” Happy raised his eyebrows. Although his level was rising quickly, his sect’s mission required him to master a hundred master-level martial arts before he could learn “Stars in Motion.” The more time he wasted on superior martial arts, the further away the day he could master “Stars in Motion” would be… So.

Although superior martial arts greatly enhance internal energy and are not as useless in later stages as inferior ones, they are relatively time-consuming, so Happy didn’t plan to learn too many.
“Hey, instead of sitting around doing nothing, why not go around and find something to do? There must be places to practice kung fu at Songshan Shaolin, right?”
Yao Shi Wanneng, who couldn’t stay still, suggested again.
Happy simply ignored him…
Practice kung fu? Where there’s practice, there are people in the martial world. He didn’t want anyone to notice a small red dot within a mile radius—that meant opportunity and treasure to others, but endless trouble for him!
Once word spread at Songshan Shaolin, not only would the Thirteen Rod Monks be attracted, but also thousands of Shaolin disciples. Happy had no intention of killing everyone around him.
Half a minute passed…
Yao Shi Wanneng changed locations several times, staring at Happy, who had been sitting cross-legged for what seemed like a long time, completely baffled:
“No way…”
He spoke up again:
“Are you planning to sit like this all day and night? Until the Emperor’s birthday?” His gaze was full of resentment.
“…”
Opening his eyes, Happy glanced at him and couldn’t help but sigh:
“Don’t worry, I’m not that bored.”
“If you don’t talk soon, I’ll think you’ve turned to stone from sitting,” Yao Shi Wanneng said irritably, rolling his eyes. It was the first time he’d met such a silent young person.
“By night, the beasts at Songshan Shaolin will become very active. You’ll have plenty to do then, so it’s best to rest now and conserve your energy so you don’t run out later.”
His serious expression convinced Yao Shi Wanneng. Glancing at the almost completely dark forest, he took a deep breath and spoke in a much softer voice:
“Beasts running around? Are you serious?”
“Mm.”
“Then… there won’t be rats, right? I’m terrified of rats.” Yao Shi Wanneng shrank back, his nervous expression making Happy feel conflicted—he almost wanted to run away and disappear. Having such an extreme case around him was truly amusing.