Chapter 128: On the Warship (Final)

Then Elder Lu added calmly, “Naturally, this is not without benefit. Ryan has already agreed that as long as you keep this secret, he will offer appropriate help to those among you who wish to enter the Western House. With Li Wei’s assistance, your chances will increase greatly.”

The moment those words fell, the crowd erupted.

“Really? This is real? I swear I won’t say a single word! Not even to my own Clan!”

“Young Master Li saved my life. Even without any reward, I’d keep his secret with my life!”

“Yes! I swear it!”

“I nearly died just now. Young Master Li dragged me back from the gates of death. I’ll do whatever he asks!”

“Guaranteed secrecy!”

Voices overlapped, urgent and sincere, as fear, gratitude, and excitement churned together.

Elder Lu then turned his gaze toward the Western Mansion disciples and examiners. “This applies to you as well. No leaks. Not a word. Do you understand?”

“Yes! We guarantee it!” the examiners and disciples answered without hesitation.

“Tang Wuying,” Elder Lu said, “you’ll oversee this. Have everyone swear an oath. I don’t want word of Li Wei reaching the elders of other districts before the time is right.”

“Yes,” Tang Wuying replied immediately, already moving to organize the process.

Only after everything was settled did Elder Lu turn back to Ryan. “Li Wei, do you have any objections to this arrangement?”

“No,” Ryan answered simply, shaking his head.

At this point, whether his strength was exposed or hidden no longer mattered much to him. Since Elder Lu had his own plans, Ryan was content to follow them.

“You’re remarkably calm,” Elder Lu said, studying him before smiling faintly. “The truth is, I don’t want your strength revealed too soon. If the higher-ups in Western Mansion learn what you can truly do, they’ll recruit you immediately. That would prevent you from helping the candidates of the North District, and my plans would fall apart. Besides, keeping your strength hidden allows me to give a few old fellows from the other districts a… surprise. They’ve been far too arrogant for far too long.”

Ryan paused for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll follow Elder Lu’s arrangements.”

Truthfully, he had his own reasons as well. With a main task tied to the entrance examination, being pulled directly into Western Mansion now would only complicate matters. Elder Lu’s foresight saved him considerable trouble.

After everyone had sworn their oaths, Elder Lu waved his hand and ordered the Void Warship to resume its journey.

What surprised Ryan was that the massive Qingxuan Warship vanished entirely. Whatever method Elder Lu used, the colossal vessel disappeared without a trace, clearing the route ahead. With nothing blocking its path, the Void Warship surged forward once more toward the Western House.

The wind howled as the ship cut through the sky.

Ryan returned to his resting area among the Li Clan.

At this point, the three Li Clan members looked at him as if he were a living legend. Their gazes brimmed with reverence and admiration, the kind reserved for idols rather than relatives. Whatever Ryan said now, they would obey without question. If he told them to charge into fire, they might hesitate for a heartbeat, then leap without complaint.

Meanwhile, Wang Bi’er’s eyes lingered on Ryan openly, her admiration bordering on devotion. Anyone with eyes could see the affection written plainly across her face.

Mu Xianling, on the other hand, seemed entirely different from before. Since returning, she barely spoke. She stayed quietly at Ryan’s side, her movements gentle and subdued. If someone didn’t know her, they would never guess she was an Exalt-level expert. She looked more like a fragile woman who couldn’t even restrain a chicken.

That kind of softness naturally stirred a man’s protective instincts. It left many puzzled, wondering whether she had been frightened senseless by the Reaper Bandits, or whether something else had changed within her.

Ryan, however, had no time to dwell on such things.

Once he settled down, his thoughts turned inward, eager to review the gains from this battle.

And the results were staggering.

He opened his attribute panel.

Player: Ryan

Title: Master Slaughter

Level: 44 (Four-Star Upper Exalt)

Experience: 1,210,000 / 10,000,000

God of War Value: 95

Cultivation Techniques:

Wind Blade

Heaven-Guidance

Blazing Dance of Flames

Frozen Miles

Seven-Star Curse

Nightmare Strike

Fengming Seal

Six Yang Returning Heaven Finger (Earth-rank)

Skills:

Intermediate Fist Art

Intermediate Sword Art

Intermediate Saber Art

Movement Techniques:

Phantom Step (Earth-rank)

Shadow Step of the Unrelated God (Earth-rank)

Ultimate Technique:

Mountain Splitting Land (Level 1)

Auxiliary Professions:

Intermediate Alchemist

Intermediate Forger

Intermediate Puppet Master

Special Trait:

Three Thousand Flames (Ultimate Fire)

Inventory:

Frost Sword

Remnant Sword

God Boots

Black Iron Gloves

Ice Spirit Light Armor

Cloud Fang Sword

Optimus Hammer

Sunflame Crossbow

Lime Vest

All-Attribute Pills ×1455

Intermediate All-Attribute Pills ×100

The moment Ryan finished reading, his mind went blank.

So many techniques. So much equipment. An absurd number of pills.

This battle had been nothing short of a windfall.

Four new techniques in a single fight, including Heaven-rank martial arts gained from slaying a Lord-rank expert. A superior movement technique that surpassed Phantom Step. Six pieces of equipment. Thousands of attribute pills, including higher-grade intermediate ones.

It was madness.

Grinning, Ryan began opening each technique and piece of equipment in turn, carefully reading their descriptions. In his mind, he was already sorting what to keep and what to sell back to the system store in exchange for even more God of War value.

This time, he hadn’t just survived.

He had truly struck it rich.

Ryan settled down and began reviewing his gains from the martial arts first.

He opened the newly acquired technique.

Frozen Miles: Heaven-rank martial art. After activation, the user controls frost elements to instantly freeze an area within a 100-meter radius. All enemies within the area suffer a 30% reduction to movement speed and attack speed, and take continuous frost damage for 5 seconds (frost damage equals 120% of the user’s strength per second). Additionally, there is a 5% chance to trigger a freeze effect, immobilizing the target for 3 seconds.

…

When Ryan finished reading the description, his eyes widened.

This was outrageous.

Not only was it powerful, but it was also are a large-scale battlefield control technique. One move, and an entire area would slow to a crawl. On top of that, it dealt continuous damage and even carried a chance to freeze enemies completely.

Control and damage combined into one skill.

Perfect.

Ryan was extremely satisfied.

Because this Heaven-rank martial art impressed him so deeply, the remaining techniques felt far less exciting by comparison. After all, Earth-rank martial arts simply couldn’t compete.

Seven-Star Mantra, Nightmare Strike, Fengming Seal, and Six Yang Returning Heaven Finger were glanced over quickly before Ryan began making decisions.

The two Heaven-rank techniques were untouchable. They stayed.

Heaven’s Guidance was practical and powerful, so it stayed as well.

Wind Blade, though familiar, had become outdated. With Six Yang Returning Heaven Finger now available as a superior long-range technique, Wind Blade was no longer necessary.

After sorting everything out, Ryan kept the following techniques: Blazing Dance of Flames, Frozen Miles, Heaven’s Guidance, Six Yang Returning Heaven Finger, and Nightmare Strike.

Nightmare Strike, a high-grade Earth-rank technique with formidable burst power, was retained to compensate for close-range combat.

The remaining techniques were sold

Phantom Step was also retired. It had served him well, but Shadow Step of the Unrelated God was simply on another level.

After selling what he doesn’t need anymore for the future path, Ryan gained a total of 150 God of War points.

His overall combat system had been refined again, and even his weakest techniques were Sky rank.

Next, Ryan turned to his equipment.

Among the newly acquired items, the Cloud Fang Sword overlapped heavily with the Remnant Sword in both function and power. Keeping both was pointless, so Cloud Fang Sword was sold.

The Optimus Hammer and Sunflame Crossbow followed shortly after. Ryan had no intention of becoming a hammer-wielding brute or an archer. He didn’t even bother checking their attributes before dumping them into the system store.

These three pieces of equipment earned him another 300 God of War points.

Combined with the earlier gains, Ryan had earned 450 points from sales alone.

Adding his original 95 points, his total God of War value skyrocketed to 545.

Ryan had never been this rich before.

But that wasn’t all.

He still had over 1,400 basic All-Attribute Pills and 100 Intermediate All-Attribute Pills.

Intermediate All-Attribute Pill: Permanently increases all attributes by 10.

Each intermediate pill sold for 10 God of War points.

If he sold all of them, that alone would be worth 1,000 points.

Ryan didn’t hesitate. He kept the intermediate pills. Selling them at half value would be a waste, and they might prove invaluable later.

As for the basic pills, he decided to consume 500 himself, reserve another 500, and sell the remaining 455.

That brought in an additional 455 God of War points.

After everything was calculated, Ryan’s God of War value finally crossed the four-digit threshold.

1,000 points.

For the first time.

This battle had transformed him from scraping by into someone who finally had real resources.

Ryan was ecstatic.

However, when he opened the system store again and saw the prices of high-rank items, reality came crashing down like cold water poured over his head.

Four-digit prices were common.

Five-digit prices weren’t rare.

One thousand points suddenly felt pitiful.

Even selling all the intermediate pills to reach two thousand would barely scratch the surface.

The system store was brutal.

Still, Ryan wasn’t discouraged. Being poor now didn’t mean being poor forever. Strength would bring wealth. He just needed time.

Now came the real question.

What should he buy?

He browsed through the store slowly.

Martial arts? Not urgent.

Equipment? Recently upgraded.

Elixirs? No immediate need.

Then, in the special items section, something caught his eye.

Portal Ring: Special item. Grants the wearer teleportation ability. Maximum distance: 100 meters. Usable once per day.

Price: 900 God of War points.

Ryan stared at it.

Expensive.

Painfully expensive.

His brows furrowed, and his expression darkened. Yet no matter how he looked at it, his heart burned with desire.

This ring was a perfect survival tool.

Instant escape. Sudden ambush. Position reversal.

A hundred meters of instantaneous movement could decide life and death in high-rank battles.

Disappear when things go wrong. Appear behind the enemy when they least expect it.

Insanely powerful.

Ryan wanted it badly.

In the end, temptation won.

He bought it.

And just like that, his newly acquired fortune evaporated, from a thousand points down to a mere hundred.

Ryan stared at the remaining balance and sighed.

Rich for one moment. Poor the next.

Such was life.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep