Chapter 98 - 94 Buy, Buy, Buy

Chapter 98: Chapter 94 Buy, Buy, BuyWang Kai, seeing how generously the group was spending, was also very excited. As for why, Xiao Jie knew without guessing: as the middleman, he must be taking a cut. A quote sheet quickly appeared in everyone’s WeChat. Wang Kai didn’t forget to explain, "These are all items that are relatively easy to buy on the current market and that you can afford. I didn’t include the really good stuff like the ’Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Talisman’ because you wouldn’t be able to use them anyway. If there’s anything special you need, just let me know. As long as you have enough money, it can be arranged." Xiao Jie scrolled through the WeChat introduction and saw that there were indeed many items available for purchase, including talismans, elixirs, arrows, and even gunpowder jars. Surprisingly, there were also catapults, but they required at least entry-level Mechanical Techniques to operate, so he decided to pass on that. The items were good and comprehensive, but the prices were really not cheap. It wasn’t until he saw the quote sheet that he realized just how poor he was. Even the lowest-level talisman cost 1,000 coins; the better ones two to three thousand. His five hundred thousand, which translated to fifty thousand coins, might seem like a lot, but in reality, it was only enough for a few dozen talismans. Suddenly, Xiao Jie noticed something. "There are no Skill Books? Like Internal Cultivation Methods, Saber Skill, Qinggong, and such?" Xiao Jie had been quite envious of Ximen Wuhen’s Qinggong moves that he had seen before. Wang Kai said, "That little money of yours wouldn’t be enough." What do you mean, that little money? It was five hundred thousand! Wang Kai laughed heartily, "Do you still think five hundred thousand is a lot? It’s just fifty silver taels. I can earn hundreds of thousands a month with my level 1 account, and it’s even easier to make money with my main account. Five hundred thousand really isn’t much. Things like the secret martial arts manuals are always in demand, and there are no cheap ones. If you go to a martial arts school, you might learn a nice entry-level Internal Strength along with a matching Saber Skill. But if you want to buy the books, you don’t have much choice. If you really want to buy, it’s not impossible; you could scrape together enough to buy some rubbish Internal Strength like ’Hard Qi Gong’ or ’Qi Nourishing Technique’..." After Wang Kai’s explanation, it turned out there were mainly two ways to learn skills in this game. One was to learn from NPCs, just like how Xiao Jie had learned ’Continuous Arrow’ from Yang Baichuan. Each NPC taught different skills, requiring different conditions, some even needing completed missions, with relatively low prices. For example, martial arts schools in various towns could teach some low-level Internal Forces and low-level Martial Arts. It was just a matter of ten or so taels, or tens of taels. Basic Combat Skills like ’Helical Slash’ could be learned for just a few taels. The other method was from the Skill Books dropped by monsters, which were considerably more expensive. After all, Skill Books could be traded, learned at one’s liberty, and if not liked, could be sold to recuperate money. You could learn them at any time, which made them very flexible, essentially making them a hard currency. Therefore, the same skill in book form would be two to three times more expensive than being taught face-to-face. "If you go to a martial arts school, fifty silver taels can get you a pretty good entry-level Internal Strength along with a set of Saber Skills. So, I don’t recommend you buy Skill Books; it’s too much of a loss. Of course, if you’re a rich tycoon, then it doesn’t matter," Wang Kai said. This... Xiao Jie decisively gave up. Low-level Internal Strength wouldn’t be very powerful in the short term; after all, it needed complementary Saber Skills and Qinggong to convert Inner Strength into combat power. Pure Internal Strength was merely like having a permanent BUFF. For instance, Hard Qi Gong could increase one’s Defense, Qi Nourishing Technique could improve the Energy recovery rate, and that was about it. Eating Roasted Meat or wearing an extra piece of Armor could achieve the same effect. Although he longed for Internal Strength, Xiao Jie had to put that aside for the time being. (It doesn’t matter, I’ll learn when I reach level 10 and leave Ginkgo Valley.) Xiao Jie thought to himself. Although Combat Skills were somewhat cheaper and affordable, Xiao Jie didn’t really need any at the moment, so he let that be as well. However, Dongfang Sheng expressed his wish to order a book of spear-based Combat Skills with AOE effects, and Wang Kai readily agreed. Soon, Xiao Jie had selected the items he wanted to purchase. gunpowder jars = 10,000 coins. kerosene pots = 6,000 coins. One Invisibility Talisman = 3,000 coins. One Godspeed Talisman = 2,000 coins. One Iron Wall Talisman = 2,000 coins. One Vajra Talisman = 2,000 coins. One Earth Binding Talisman = 1,000 coins. Armor-Piercing Arrows = 2,500 coins. bottles of golden sore medicine (large amount—restores 150 Life Value) = 3,000 coins. Marching Pills (Restores 300 Energy) = 3,000 Wen. The price of Big Red is six times that of Little Red, but it only restores three times the Blood Volume, which doesn’t seem cost-effective overall. However, in critical moments, the opportunity to consume medicine won’t be abundant, and the effect of chugging a bottle of Big Red is completely different from that of a Little Red, so it’s worth buying even if it’s more expensive. Of course, Xiao Jie also bought many Little Reds in the village, using them for regular blood replenishment and saving the Big Reds for emergencies. After calculating, he had spent a total of 34,500 Wen, kept 15,500 Wen in cash for daily expenses, and together with the over 3,000 Wen currently in his backpack, he had a total of 19,000 Wen. The other three also picked things they wanted to buy, with gunpowder jars and kerosene pots being the most purchased, as they were the best method for newcomers lacking area damage who didn’t want to risk melee combat, to simply stand on the village wall and throw items. Certainly, shooting arrows was also an option, but it was too inefficient, so these kinds of AOE items were a bit more effective. While discussing what to buy, the group arrived at the village wall and began surveying the predetermined battlefield. The walls of Ginkgo Village were over three meters high, built of logs, and quite capable of holding off zombies, Walking Corpses, and Corpse-eating Dogs. The village gate, with a Durability of 1,000 points, was relatively weak compared to the walls. If the enemy were to attack the village, they would certainly do so through the main gate. Having played games for so many years, including those such as Total War, Mount & Blade, and a Strike of Thunder, as well as being a fan of war movies, Xiao Jie could be considered an expert in the theoretical aspects of siege warfare during the era of cold weapons. Having observed the terrain, a battle plan began to take shape in Xiao Jie’s mind. He then began to calculate according to the thoughts in his mind. "The enemy shouldn’t have any ranged units. Before the main gate is breached, we can output safely from the wall. This time is precious, and we should clear as many Little Monsters as possible to lessen the pressure of direct combat. Once the gate is breached, monsters will swarm into the village. Tie Qianli is likely to lead the Militia to block the entrance, which should buy us some more time. At this moment, we must focus all our gunpowder jars and kerosene pots on the gate’s entrance to continue inflicting damage on the enemy. If the gate can’t be held, the Militia will have to retreat along the streets step by step, resisting at each point. At this time, we need to quickly retreat from both sides of the wall towards the open square behind the village. Otherwise, it’s very possible for us to be trapped on the wall by monsters. The village square will likely be where we team up against the Boss. It’s spacious and very suitable for a Boss fight. Let the NPCs hold off the Ghost General up front while we look for opportunities to output from behind. Tie Qianli, Yang Baichuan, and Zhou Tong are all Elite NPCs. Although they’re definitely no match for the Ghost General, they can still hold out for a while. With our help, the odds are in our favor. If all goes well, we will defeat the Ghost General here and reap the richest spoils of war. Of course, this is on the premise that most of the Little Monsters are cleared by then. Otherwise, if there are still many Little Monsters left, we’ll be the ones getting mobbed. If we can’t hold the square, we’ll have to continue retreating, all the way back to the ancestral hall. This should be the last stand in the village’s defense. I surmise Master Huang definitely has some kind of ace up his sleeve to use at that time, so this will be our last chance to defeat the Ghost General. If the ancestral hall is breached, meaning the village falls, then we would have no choice but to run away. All right, everyone, are there any questions?" "What about the man in the black robe?" Ye Luo suddenly asked. "According to Wang Kai, every siege battle will have a Boss-level Boss. It’s still unclear whether the Ghost General or the man in the black robe is the Boss. If I had to bet, I would wager on the Ghost General. As soon as the Boss dies, it means we’ve won, and dealing with the man in the black robe will then be easy. Of course, it’s also possible that the man in the black robe is the real Boss. In that case, when the Ghost General attacks the village, we could gather archers on the wall to try and snipe him from a distance! Yang Baichuan is a powerful archer himself, and there are several Militia archers in the village. Together with us players, the focused damage is considerable. Even if that mysterious figure in the black robe has 1,000 Blood Volume, we should be able to deal at least a hundred damage in one round, and ten rounds should take care of him. These are, of course, more ideal scenarios. No one knows what will actually happen when the time comes; it’s possible that the man in the black robe won’t even show up. For now, we can only make limited inferences from limited information. When the battle really starts, all sorts of unexpected things will happen, and we’ll just have to adapt on the fly." I Want to Be Immortal also spoke excitedly, "That’s right, just wait and see how awesome I am when the time comes." He was extremely confident in his own Full Moon Shooting. "How should the spoils be distributed?" Dongfang Sheng asked at this point, raising a question. As soon as he spoke, everyone immediately fell silent. This was the key issue, even more important than defeating the Boss, for everyone was risking their lives for the benefits. Without a good share, no one would be willing to fight. Whether the distribution of spoils can satisfy everyone directly determines whether the team can work together wholeheartedly.