Chapter 171 - 39 White Ape Sword Saint

Chapter 171: Chapter 39 White Ape Sword SaintAfter completing the task and receiving his reward, Xiao Jie didn’t rush to leave. It was rare to meet such a worldly expert, and he knew he had to thoroughly woo him. Generally speaking, when an NPC’s favorability is brushed up to 100, you can get a gift from them. Granny Li could even give a decent lightweight secret book, so if the favorability of this worldly expert could be brushed to 100, wouldn’t he possibly give an unrivaled martial arts technique? Of course, Xiao Jie also understood that the higher the status of such an expert, the harder it probably was to increase favorability, but where there’s a will, there’s a way—people always need to have dreams. Moreover, Xiao Jie now had a huge advantage, as other players simply couldn’t communicate with this White Ape at all. It could be said that it was his exclusive wooing target, a truly favorable condition. Immediately he said joyfully, "Thank you, Senior Yuan, for making this possible. With this formula, I will definitely be able to brew the finest wine. Oh, by the way, Senior Yuan, if there’s anything else you need, just give me an order and I will do my best to help you." "No need. I’m free and happy living in these mountains. Whatever I need, I can easily find on my own, no need to trouble yourself." Seeing that the White Ape’s attitude had cooled, Xiao Jie thought to himself that this expert was indeed not easy to deal with. Fortunately, he was well prepared. "Ah, right, Senior Yuan, I also brought some other things here, I don’t know if you might be interested." As he spoke, Xiao Jie laid out the contents of his bag on the ground one by one. The nature of animals couldn’t be understood with human thinking. Based on Xiao Jie’s experience over these past days, animals were often more innocent and childish, similar to human children. Despite the White Ape’s seemingly mature tone, the way he brewed tea, dressed, and showed his pleasure wasn’t much different from a child’s. Xiao Jie had specifically bet on this, deliberately spreading his items all over the ground. Initially, the White Ape seemed indifferent, but as it looked on, its eyes became fixed. "Eh, what is this?" The White Ape picked up a "Strange People Travelogue" and flipped through it, puzzled. "This is a book," Xiao Jie explained. "It’s used to record knowledge." "Strange People Travelogue," "Hundred Herbs Scripture," "Nine States Records," and "Mountain and Sea Atlas" were all found by Xiao Jie in the Tian Family Mansion. "Book? I’ve heard humans talk about this thing. So this is what it looks like. I’ve heard that reading books can make you smarter. I’ll have to have a look. I’ve been mixing with these gibbons all day long and am almost becoming as silly as them. It’s rare to find something entertaining and relieving. Let me study it in detail." While speaking, it picked up a book and pretended to read with great pretense. But Xiao Jie’s eyelid twitched, big brother, it seems like you’ve got it upside down. However, he decisively refrained from pointing it out—being too honest is not always good. The White Ape read a few pages but couldn’t get the gist of it and then opened "Mountain and Sea Atlas." This time it seemed to understand a bit better—there were illustrations. "Not bad, not bad. Being a monkey, I really should read more books. I like this stuff. I’ll take it. What do you want? I can trade fruit with you." "Senior Yuan, please don’t be polite. These are all tokens of respect from me. I’m very happy if you like them. How could I ask for anything in return?" The best return would be an increase in favorability. "Oh my, how can I accept this?" The White Ape said, but still carefully stacked the books and tucked them into his chest. [System Notification: The favorability of the Nameless White Ape towards you has increased by 3 points, and it’s now at 48.] Xiao Jie thought to himself there’s a chance, and continued— "There’s also this, Senior Yuan, look, this is what humans use for eating, bowls, and plates. I think they’d be perfect for holding your fruit." "I recognize this, I’ve seen someone use it before! Good, good, I’ll take this one too." [System Notification: Nameless White Ape’s favorability towards you has increased by 1 point.] Just one point... It seems that only unusual and rare items will gain higher favorability from the White Ape. Luckily, I bought quite a few things. "There’s also this, look at this thing, it’s really fun." This time, what he took out was a windmill and a rattle drum, both bought from a toy stall. As expected, the White Ape was grinning from ear to ear. "Good, good, good, I’ve seen these things before but never had the chance to play with them. Let me study them carefully." That added another 3 points. Xiao Jie continued to hand out gifts one by one, and the White Ape’s preferences were quite unusual. Some things inexplicably hit its fancy, like Giant Crab Meat. I originally thought monkeys would most likely be indifferent to such things, but that unexpectedly raised the favorability by 3 points as well. However, not everything would increase the favorability; occasionally, good intentions could backfire, like when I gave him a piece of quality firewood thinking monkeys would find such stick-like items interesting. To my surprise, the White Ape became furious and I actually lost two points. Fortunately, most gifts still managed to increase favorability, and at worst they were simply uninteresting. In no time at all, Xiao Jie had given away most of the things in his bag, pushing the favorability up to 64. After checking, it seemed there wasn’t much left to give. The rest were equipment, which, of course, I couldn’t give away since I was using them. However, there was one spare piece that could be worth a try. Bows and arrows were definitely out of the question. Those were for Hunters, and the monkey might get furious upon seeing them. But the saber might be worth a try. He had three sabers in total: the Yanling Saber, the Blood-drinking Blade, and a broadsword. Based on his experience, each item only increased favorability the first time it was given; the second time would have no effect. Therefore, to increase favorability significantly, you had to give away good stuff. Xiao Jie bit the bullet and gave away the Yanling Saber. The White Ape took the Yanling Saber, looking somewhat surprised and a bit sentimental. "Eh, this is a nice saber. Are you giving it to me?" "That’s right. I see that Senior Yuan is an expert, so if you like the saber, I’d like to give it to Senior Yuan." "Heh, it’s rare to come across such goodwill from you. In fact, I really do want a saber to play around with." Holding the Yanling Saber, it suddenly performed a flashy flourish with the blade. And then it began to practice right there on the open ground. Its form was like the wind, movements swift as a shadow, and saber skill divine. At first, Xiao Jie could still see the White Ape’s shape and movements, but in an instant, all he could see was an erratic white shadow flickering in front of him, as well as the shimmering, cold light of the saber cutting through the air. A gust of wind blew, bringing some leaves with it. As soon as they entered the vicinity of the White Ape, they were instantly split into halves. Wow, such impressive saber skills! This White Ape is actually a saber expert? This combat prowess, even the once Xia Yi the Unrivaled probably couldn’t match it. The agility must be at least above 100! The Saber Skill has to be at least at Master Level, maybe even Grandmaster Level. Whoosh! The White Ape finally finished demonstrating its saber skill and returned to Xiao Jie’s side. Looking around, not a single leaf on the ground remained intact. "Not bad, not bad at all. I quite like this gift," it said. [System Prompt: Nameless White Ape’s favorability toward you has increased by 10 points. Having watched the White Ape Sword Saint perform its saber technique, your saber skill experience has increased by 500 points.] White Ape Sword Saint? Is that its true identity? Then I must max out this favorability. Indeed, sending the saber wasn’t in vain, gaining 10 points of favorability and 500 points of saber skill experience. Xiao Jie comforted himself in his mind, the Yanling Saber that had followed him for so long was, after all, in need of replacement. The Blood-drinking Blade was still with him. He’d get a better match once he sold the Monkey Wine and had some money. Xiao Jie checked the favorability which had now reached 74. But he couldn’t find anything else to gift. "Senior Yuan, is there anything else you desire? Just say the word, and I’ll make sure you get it," he offered. The White Ape pondered for a moment, "You’ve given me so many gifts; you are indeed a good person. There is indeed something I want, a pity you can’t give it to me." "What is it?" Xiao Jie asked eagerly. "Hmph, better left unsaid." With that, it no longer paid attention to Xiao Jie. It seems like the favorability isn’t high enough, Xiao Jie thought, his curiosity piquing even more. He could sense that whatever the White Ape most desired, if he could secure it, the reward would surely be the best. Someday, he must max it out. When Xiao Jie returned to Xiaofeng City, it was already five o’clock. Without lingering, he once again headed to the auction house to purchase ingredients needed for brewing Monkey Wine. Fortunately, the wild fruits required for brewing were available for sale and were not expensive, costing just a few coins each. Each pottery jar cost fifty cents, with Spirit Saliva Grass being the only relatively expensive ingredient at 150 coins. After making some calculations, the total materials for making Monkey Wine added up to 280 coins. Selling at 1000 coins per jar, he could make a profit of 720 coins for each. Even after subtracting the transaction tax, he’d make a profit of 620 coins. This was more profitable than the Secret Dog Food. Xiao Jie immediately bought up the goods. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a high quantity of wild fruits in the auction house, and Xiao Jie bought them all, totaling enough for only twelve jars. He posted ten jars for sale immediately, just waiting to collect the money the next day. The other two jars he kept in his bag, as they might come in handy. As he walked through the market, he saw the Mad Taoist again. To his surprise, the Mad Taoist was lying on the ground, wailing as if heartbroken. "Brother, what’s the deal with him?" he asked a nearby player who was setting up a stall. "Someone stole his money." "Stolen money? Was it done by a player?" "Who else but a player?" The man replied with schadenfreude, "Damn it, he ripped me off 10 silver coins before, and now, well, he got what was coming to him, and all his money got stolen. Serves him right." Xiao Jie exclaimed, "You can steal in this game?" "Yeah, must’ve been a Flying Thief. Their professional core skill is stealing, capable of thieving from humanoid monsters—don’t worry, it can only steal from monsters and NPCs, not players." Xiao Jie was surprised, not knowing there was such a profession that allowed stealing money. Wouldn’t the players of this profession be raking it in? But there must be restrictions, he mused. Looking at the Taoist sobbing pitifully, an audacious thought suddenly crossed Xiao Jie’s mind. "Daoist, stop your crying," he said. "All my money’s gone, how can I not cry?" The Taoist replied. "I have something that can ease your sorrow." Right-click, Gift—Monkey Wine. "Drink some wine to ease your worries," Xiao Jie said, offering the bottle. The Mad Taoist paused, staring at the Monkey Wine that appeared in his hand and then guzzling it down in one breath, draining the jar. He sighed, "Good wine, but it can’t compare to the Immortal Brew from the Immortal Palaces. If there’s a chance someday, I’ll treat you to a taste. That is truly fine wine. Yours is just average." This bastard really deserved to be robbed, even in his sorry state he was still bragging. "You’re welcome; it’s merely a good deed for the day. Let’s forget the Immortal Wine, shall we?" Xiao Jie responded. "Hold on, I’m not one to freeload. I have no Immortal Wine to offer now, so I’ll gift you a manual of Immortal Techniques instead," the Taoist said. [System Prompt: The Mad Taoist has gifted you the item [Immortal Technique Secret].] Xiao Jie hurriedly opened his bag to check the item. [Immortal Technique Secret (Trash) Item Introduction: A blank bamboo slip, a scroll carelessly scribbled with rudimentary script, worthless.] Disappointed but not surprised, Xiao Jie realized he had been fooled again. Luckily, his investment wasn’t large. He began to understand the role of this Mad Taoist. Reminiscent of an NPC he had come across in World of Warcraft, the ’Supreme Treasure Merchant’ in Shattas City sold various impressively named junk items. Claims of inconceivable extraordinary stones, genuine Treasure Hunting Talismans, the teeth of the Swift Shark... Names grander than the next and at steep prices, but utterly useless. Purely for fun, many players had been duped before, especially the genuine Treasure Hunting Talisman, which some players, well-aware of its uselessness, kept just for peace of mind. Xiao Jie himself had been among those hopeful players, but as it turned out, it was pointless; whether your looting was dishonest stayed the same. This Mad Taoist must be of similar nature. Thankfully, the ingredients for one jar of wine cost only 280 coins. Compared to those scammed of 10 silver coins, he didn’t lose much. Xiao Jie looked at the Immortal Technique Secret in his bag and hesitated to throw it away. After a moment of deliberation, he ultimately couldn’t bring himself to discard it. Such odd and curious things might prove useful at some point. If nothing else, it could serve as another gift for the White Ape.