Chapter 236: Emperor's Jade Dragon |
A multi-purpose skill and a healing skill were exactly what Bai Mu wanted.
He immediately handed these two Skill Cards to Xiao Wei. She was now a rather well-rounded mage companion, capable of acting as a healer, launching ranged attacks, and even serving as a summoner.
Aside from her slightly fragile physique, Xiao Wei was highly versatile in every other aspect.
Next, Bai Mu had Xiao Wei open the five Rare treasure chests. After his last chest-opening experience, he had decided to pass this task on to her. Five flashes of white light flickered, and Bai Mu heard five crisp notification chimes in succession.
"High-Quality Tenderloin", "Beast Fang Knife", "Beast Fang Pendant", "Sealing Box", and "Limited-Use Skill Card (Tree of Life)". The high-quality tenderloin was a block of raw meat weighing about two and a half kilograms. According to the description, taking a bite could restore Health and Stamina, making it a rather unique recovery item. However, since Bai Mu had a stew pot, he figured that cooking it into a dish would provide excellent buff effects, perhaps even permanently increasing attribute points. The Beast Fang Knife and Beast Fang Pendant were equipment. The former was a small skinning knife that inflicted bleeding damage on attacks and came with a Skinning skill. Simply put, it allowed him to loot corpses and randomly obtain items from them. For example, if he used Skinning on a wild boar's corpse, he would likely get boar hide, boar meat, and boar tusks, completely skipping the butchering process. It was extremely fast and convenient.
The effect of the Beast Fang Pendant was much simpler. Wearing it increased Agility by five points and boosted ranged attack damage by ten percent. Since Bai Mu already possessed the Lord's Pendant, and he could not equip two pendants at the same time, he gave this item to Xiao Wei.
Among the five chests, the most valuable items were undoubtedly the last two rewards.
The Sealing Box was a one-meter-tall cylindrical iron container, secured with an interlocking metal lock mechanism.
[Name: Sealing Box]
[Quality: Rare]
[Effect: An iron box that can only be opened from the outside. It seals whatever is placed inside, preventing its power from affecting the outside world.] [Note: A specially crafted Sealing Box capable of containing even a God's Head. However, please note that its material is still refined iron and can be physically destroyed.]
This sealing effect had no level restrictions. It seemed that no matter how high-grade the contained item was, placing it inside was equivalent to banishing it to another dimension. However, it could be physically destroyed. This meant that if the entity trapped inside had enough strength, it could forcefully smash the box open. Alternatively, if a bomb was placed inside, the resulting explosion would blow the box to pieces.
It should be quite useful against supernatural ghosts and monsters. For instance, if a spirit lacking physical attack methods was trapped inside, it would likely never escape as long as the box was not opened from the outside.
As for the limited-use Skill Card, just like Doppelganger Transformation, it could only be used three times.
[Name: Tree of Life]
[Type: Active Skill]
[Quality: Rare]
[Effect: Releases a Light of Healing, fully restoring Health and Stamina for all life forms within the area, and clears all negative effects.] It was an area-of-effect healing skill that instantly maxed out health without any delay or target limits, and it even cleansed negative status effects. The only drawback was that it healed indiscriminately, affecting both friend and foe alike. Still, the immense power of this skill was undeniable, fully justifying its three-use limitation.
The overall quality of the items obtained this time was quite excellent.
After reviewing the rewards from the Rare chests, Bai Mu took out that Perfect treasure chest with a sense of apprehension.
"I shouldn't get my hopes up too much," Bai Mu muttered to himself. He was managing his expectations so he wouldn't be too disappointed if he drew something useless. The exterior of the chest, however, was rather understated yet luxurious. It was an antique box crafted from purple sandalwood, and he handed it over to Xiao Wei. A pale golden light gathered within the opened chest, and a moment later, a jade dragon appeared before Bai Mu's eyes.
[Name: Emperor's Jade Dragon]
[Type: Special Item]
[Quality: Perfect]
[Effect: When you reveal the Emperor's Jade Dragon, all characters in the vicinity who see it and are within your line of sight will be forced to kneel before you. You may execute "Decapitation" on any kneeling character. The success rate of "Decapitation" depends on the gap in attributes and status between you and the target.] [Usage Condition: Gain the acknowledgment of the Emperor's Jade Dragon.]
[Note: We are the chosen Son of Heaven!]
It was a palm-sized, smooth, and lustrous emerald jade seal. A five-clawed golden dragon was carved into it, its head radiating an invisible, commanding majesty without showing anger. Its effect was undoubtedly tyrannical, just like its origins. The ability to force a crowd to kneel was terrifying enough on its own. Furthermore, it came with an execution skill that cost nothing, had no cooldown, and could even target multiple enemies at once.
However, this usage condition was baffling. It did not require any specific attribute thresholds; instead, it demanded the acknowledgment of an inanimate item.
Bai Mu studied it carefully before finally understanding what this condition meant. When he was neatly dressed and sat in silent contemplation, the luster of the jade dragon brightened. Conversely, when he slouched, the glow would dim.
He likely needed to act in a manner befitting a Son of Heaven to increase a hidden value. Only when this hidden metric reached its maximum could he utilize the jade dragon.
To be specific, his clothes had to be immaculate, and he had to project an aura of authority. A Son of Heaven remains unfazed in the face of peril. If he fled during a battle, the jade dragon's radiance would likely fade. If he displayed fear in dangerous situations and lacked the aura of a ruler looking down upon the world, he would never earn its acknowledgment. In other words, he could only use this artifact when it deemed him worthy of being the chosen one. Furthermore, if he did something undignified after using it, it would probably go dark again—like failing an execution, running away after forcing his enemies to their knees, or leaving people kneeling for a long time while he just stood around absentmindedly.
"I suppose this counts as good luck," Bai Mu remarked, storing the jade dragon in his inventory. At least he hadn't drawn an item that required forty or fifty points in all three main attributes to use. It seemed there would definitely be opportunities to put this to use.
With the chests opened, he patted Xiao Wei's head and let her go off to the side to watch some TV on her own.
Afterward, he browsed the store and used up his Roulette Draw.
His 9,900 Points were more than enough to clear out the store. Through his two draws, he obtained a new pair of pants and five packets of Healing Salve. [Name: Silk Pants]
[Type: Lower Body Armor]
[Quality: Rare]
[Defense: Medium]
[Equipment Effect: Stamina limit +20%.]
[Equipment Requirement: None]
[Note: Snug fit, soft, and breathable.]
The Healing Salve was a relatively common single-use recovery item. One packet could instantly restore thirty percent of his health bar, and then continuously regenerate another thirty percent over ten seconds. Following that, Bai Mu went on a shopping spree in the store. Since he was flush with Points, he simply bought everything that caught his eye this time.
Relying on his Shopaholic refresh, he purchased an active Skill Card for 1,500 Points and a leg guard armor piece for 1,400 Points. This Skill Card was meant for his own use. It was called Secret Sword Art, an active skill that required practice and kills to accumulate experience for upgrades. It had a maximum of ten levels. When actively unleashed, it could fire out a blade aura, damaging enemies in a straight line. The range was not far, only about five meters, but upgrading it would expand the damage radius and provide various buffs.
As for the leg guards, they were meant for Xiao Wei. Because she had become even more fragile, she naturally needed better protective gear. It was an iron leg guard with high defense capabilities. In addition to its impressive defensive stats, it also had a special effect that reduced the damage of the first attack taken by fifty percent.
After sorting through everything, the rewards from the Script were just about fully processed.
After that, Bai Mu went to upgrade his journalist profession. His Media Journalist rank rose to level 5.
He had thoroughly explored the Corrupted Forest Blood Hunt script. Merely by selling news, he earned another 960 Points. His Money Sense passive granted him twenty percent extra Points from news sales, and he simultaneously gained 2,400 profession experience points.
Upon reaching level five, he learned the Paid Column skill. The Corrupted Forest Blood Hunt he had just cleared now appeared in his column.
He discovered that he actually had channel subscribers. The current count stood at twenty-three. Although he could not see their specific names, he could read a few comments. "This new reporter has a great nose for news. Highly recommended."
"Quite interesting. Looking forward to the next scoop."
He wasn't sure if these were just bot comments arranged by the Paradise. All the news and photos from the Scripts he had previously cleared remained on his channel, and starting with Corrupted Forest Blood Hunt, he began charging for access.
[Estimated Current Income: 230 Points, to be settled in 30 days.]
The Paid Column settled its payouts every thirty days, functioning somewhat like a monthly salary. As he cleared more Scripts, this monthly income would only grow. If he managed to clear ten more Scripts, it would be equivalent to earning a passive income of 2,300 Points every month without lifting a finger.
However, that was still a distant dream. In any case, no matter how small a mosquito is, it's still meat. Every little bit helped; it was like gathering sand to build a tower.
Bai Mu stretched lazily; he had finally finished tallying up all his gains from the Script.
He still had quite a few Points left, so he planned to visit the Trading Market later. He felt it was about time to fully clear out the [Lost Backyard Garden]. It would be great if he could get his hands on some more powerful Garden Plants.
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