Grades
"Huuuu!" Taking a deep breath, Ying prepared to head back to the city, when he noticed something.
"…"
Jiang Chu and Xian Shan had not moved. The two were still rooted in their previous spots while throwing strange looks at Ying.
'Huh? Have they never seen a pillaging before? Well, it's not like I give a damn anyways, they can think whatever the hell they want to.' Ying shrugged at their gazes.
While this was true, he also noticed that the wound on Jiang Chu's thigh, as well as the more serious cuts and bruises he once had had completely healed.
Even that ruthless gash on his thigh was all but gone now.
'Ooh? Does the girl know some medicine? Where did she get the equipment, though, I don't remember seeing her with any strange devices… Bah, that's unimportant; I just need to get to the city and cash in my spoils! But I guess I can't leave just like that now can I?'
"…!!"
"Sigh. Oi, you two, is there something ELSE I can help you with?" Ying spoke, purposefully stretching the word 'else'. He really didn't like doing things for free.
'It's like they say; If you are good at something, DON'T do it for free.'
At the sudden sound of his voice, the duo was startled.
Xian Shan was the one who spoke, but as a result of her mental state, she could not help but fumble her words.
"Oh, um, err…ahh… W-we were just wondering about the name of the one who saved our lives. What shall we call you…? Sir?"
Wordlessly staring at the beautiful, flat-chested maiden, Ying took a second to process his next words.
"Sir? The one who saved your lives? I'm not much older than you two. Also, you can forget about all this, I'm no hero. But if you must give it a name, you can just call me Ying." Ying said, waving his hand.
"Ying? Just Ying?" Xian Shan asked with a puzzled look on her face.
'What about his Surname?' She thought as she gazed expectantly at the stranger, but when no response came, Xian Shan's eyes widened. She instinctively covered her mouth, having realized her mistake.
"I-i'm sorr—"
She was just about to apologize and beg for forgiveness,when she was suddenly interrupted by a loud *thud!*
It was Jiang Chu, and he seemed to be… kowtowing?
"Senior Ying, I am Jiang Chu. A humble outer disciple of the Flowing Sword sect! I sincerely apologize for hnot havingtold you this earlier, but seeing as you were busy, I refrained from doing so....Thank you for saving us Senior. We are forever in your debt."
"Jiang Chu…" Xian Shan mumbled, evidently impressed.
This was exactly the sort of radical honesty and expressiveness that had made her fall for him in the first place. But, the same thing couldn't be said about the black-haired loan shark in the distance…
'Busy? Senior? Forever in your debt? Those are some really big words you are throwing around there kid… but since you insist on being so generous, I shall wholeheartedly take advantage of you. Remember, it is only because you insisted.'
So not only is he a rotten pervert, but also a swindler and a llow-keynarcissist? How despicable!
Ding!
[You have unlocked the
[Jiang Chu has been added to your Relationships!]
[Xian Shan has been added to your Relationships!]
[Your Relationship with Xian Shan has reached 'Acquaintance'!]
[Your Relationship with Jiang Chu has reached 'Brotherhood'!]
In an instant, Ying was flooded with a number of system messages.
'Acquaintance… Brotherhood? Hoho! I guess it really is true; guys do trust a lot easier than girls!' Ying thought as he finished reading through the messages, then dismissed them promptly.
Soon afterwards, an idea pooped up in his head and a smile drew itself on his face. Ying crossed his arms and spoke with an overtone of falsified confidence.
"Well, Jiang Chu, from your words, I can tell what you are thinking. But do you really consider yourself worthy to be my 'Brother'?"
"Yes!" Jiang Chu nodded his head furiously. At this, Ying's smile could only grow wider, almost reaching the edges of his eyes. He continued speaking.
"I see… Well then, you must understand that brothers are capable of doing anything, and I mean ANYTHING for one another. This is a very sacred title which you are about to bear, do you understand that?"
"Of course! If there is anything Brother Ying needs help with that I can do, I will not hesitate!" Jiang Chu bellowed with ferocious determination.
'Good. Very good. Splendid In fact, Kukukuku! Looks like Lady Luck is finally on my side. I apologize in advance… Brother, but I'll be troubling you today.' Ying's smile did the impossible,and somehow widened even further.
Honestly, if could see the expression he had on right now, he'd be running away from himself as fast as inhumanely possible!
He was quite lucky that Jiang Chu was still kissing dirt, and Xian Shan was too busy wordlessly dotting on him to pay the former any heed.
"Good, but first things first… This entire thing,stays between the three of us, no one outside this circle must find out what happened here, got it?" Ying asked while pointing at Zhao Ming.
He was pretty confident that the two wouldn't betray him, this was a Cultivation world after all, and loyalty to one's benefactors was almost like a tradition… right?
Still, he had to at least get SOME kind of closure.
"Done!" Jiang Chu yelled enthusiastically, while Xian Shan nodded her head.
"Hehe, well then, there might be something I could use your help for after all…"
*****
Along a busy, ancient Chinese-styled street, multiple figures could be observed treading upon the paved roads amidst the bustling atmosphere of everyday life in the big city.
On both sides of the not-so-surreptitiously large street, buildings and stalls were erected; their purposes were all but obvious.
"Chicken soup! Get your delicious chicken soup here! Only 15 bronze talés!"
"Fresh bread, hot off the oven for just 3 bronze talés! Get it now while it's still hot!"
"I've got the cheapest hhigh-qualityantiques right here! Find yourself something to… Oh, kind Sir, may I interest you in some of my wares?"
As far as the eye could see, traders and hawkers advertised their products and interacted with customers to exchange them for the currency of the world known as Talés.
It was essentially a more primitive form of a ssupermarket,one that had long since grown out of trend in Ying's world.
Players and NPCs alike could be seen,interacting, as the players sought quests to obtain some valuable rewards ,and the NPCs sought help in their daily activities.
But amongst them, a particular jet bblack-hairedyouth stood out... Well, not really.
Behind the youth was a bbrown-hairedindividual of similar age, and from the looks of it, the youth was quite pleased with himself. He wore a broad… Almost maniacal, sa mile on his handsome face.
'KukukukuHehehehe! I did it! I really did it! I'm rich!' The young man's eyes practically shone as he gazed rapaciously at the three animal skin pouches he held in his hands.
With a giddy feeling in his heart, he shook the brown pouches and was comforted by the jingling noise of metal coins clashing against one other.
Jingle! Jingle!
'AAHH~~ so this is what affluence feels like. Oh, the ecstasy~~ I love it.' Ying relished the crude noise, and a truly euphoric expression spread across his face as he did.
Seeing Ying's expression, the bbrown-hairedyouth—Jiang Chu—could more or less determine the former's mental state.
"…You seem to be enjoying yourself. That's good." Jiang Chu spoke, nodding his head in personal satisfaction.
After the entire incident with Zhao Ming, Jiang Chu, Xian Shan and Ying returned to the city,after Xian Shan so generously offered to pay the fee on their behalf.
Later on, Xian Shan excused herself, saying she had business to tend to, so Jiang Chu was left to journey the vast city alongside his… Benefactor.
Of course, Ying took full advantage of his new 'Brother', making the latter escort him to all the most profitable merchants in the city, where he sold off all his monster corpses, looted jewelleries, the great sword, and even one of the twin short swords (He simply couldn't help himself) for very high rates.
Aside from what he had sstolencough…err, acquired, from Zhao Ming and co, Ying had amassed a total of exactly 27,000 silver and 550 gold talés.
From what he learned, 100 silvers equated to a single gold talés here, which would mean that he had about 820 gold talés, and that's excluding his loot!
Although Ying was reasonably sure that it wasn't that much, it was still considered a really good sum by ordinary standards.
Of course, 'Rich' might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but couldn't a guy have some ignorant fun every once in a while?
Besides, aside from that, Ying had managed to glean information about a few other things. For instance, the various 'Grades' in this world.
There seemed to be exactly eight grades of weapons which ranged from the lowest Mortal or Common grade to Earth grade, Spirit grade, Great grade, Peak, Supreme, Heavenly and Celestial.
There was also the rumoured 'Divine' grade, but according to Jiang Chu, that grade had only ever been mentioned in fairy tales and other fabled works.