Chapter 125: Second on the Equipment Rankings

Still feeling unsatisfied, Zhang Shan closed the auction page for the Invincible Slash skill book and browsed the auction house to see if there were any items he needed. Equipment wasn’t a priority for now; he planned to consider that once he reached level thirty. Instead, he searched for suitable hunter skill books.

He had three skill points unused but no fitting skills to learn. Zhang Shan scanned through every hunter skill book available but found nothing to his liking—mostly mediocre damage skills. For example, there was a Flame Attack that increased damage by ten percent at level one, which seemed decent at first glance. Yet its cooldown was a full minute, during which Zhang Shan could land several critical hits. What good would that be? Moreover, maxing out the skill required ten skill points, which felt wasteful.

Since these damage skills offered little benefit, he decided not to squander his skill points on them and instead saved them for later. After all, suitable skill books would eventually appear, and the New World offered many universal skills—those available to all classes. Some of these were quite valuable, like the jump skill, a lifesaving technique. Surely, more universal skills would emerge in time. For now, it was best to hold onto his skill points.

After scanning reasonably priced engineering materials, Zhang Shan left the auction house and teleported to his warehouse to store the Purple Gold Necklace. He didn’t need it yet; it was only equippable at level thirty.

Glancing at the time, he realized it was a bit early for dinner and decided to try crafting a firework. As an apprentice engineer, his proficiency was still zero—he had to take the first step. Retrieving firework materials from the warehouse, Zhang Shan teleported to the guild headquarters, determined to use up all the materials. If he could craft even one successful product, improving proficiency would become much easier afterward.

Upon arriving at the guild workshop, he spent some guild contribution points to activate the workbench and placed a batch of firework materials on it. After about ten seconds of operation, a small spark burst out—undeniably a failure. He tried again. Failure is the mother of success; once one grows accustomed to it, success will appear unexpectedly.

Having crafted ordinary bullets before, Zhang Shan remained calm. He had collected over a hundred batches of firework materials and refused to believe he would fail a hundred times in a row.

He mechanically placed materials onto the workbench again and again. Though each failure cost him over ten gold coins, it was an unavoidable investment. To advance in life professions, continuous input was necessary. Thinking of the future possibility to craft attribute-enhanced bullets, he could afford the expense.

While crafting fireworks in the guild workshop, Zhang Shan also tracked Feng Yun Qingqing’s progress in claiming her reward from the Eastern Capital’s Marshal’s Mansion via the guild channel. The bandit suppression certificate was undoubtedly a valuable quest item. However, unlike others, Zhang Shan did not expect Feng Yun Qingqing to receive a legendary artifact. He believed the chance was nearly nonexistent. As Master Lu had explained before, every legendary artifact represented the fortune of a race—extremely rare. Only when the human race thrived would more artifacts emerge.

This meant that in the early stages of the game, obtaining legendary artifacts was unlikely. Only in the late game, once player levels rose, would more artifacts appear. To acquire a legendary artifact now, one had to do as Zhang Shan had done with the hand cannon: first obtain a damaged artifact, then find the corresponding NPC to repair it.

This seemed simple but was actually quite challenging. Obtaining a damaged artifact was difficult enough. Then came the task of finding the right NPC and gathering special materials—especially divine substances. Only when all conditions were met could one obtain a legendary artifact.

For Zhang Shan, the rest was manageable. He already had a damaged ring and two divine materials. But he had no clue which NPC to consult for repairs—there was no hint on the item, leaving him completely at a loss. He planned to wait until level thirty to see if mounts appeared. If so, traveling around the city to find NPCs would be much faster. Searching now would be a complete waste of time; it might take ten days or more just to find the triggering NPC.

Meanwhile, Feng Yun Qingqing’s bandit suppression certificate was straightforward: just go to the Eastern Capital’s Marshal’s Mansion to claim the reward. Such a simple procedure wouldn’t grant a legendary artifact—that would be unreasonable. Still, the reward should not be too shabby either. The Marshal’s Mansion was a prestigious place; they wouldn’t just hand out random gear and send her on her way.

“Qingqing, have you got your reward yet? I’m still waiting on your big red envelope,” someone teased.

“Don’t bother me! The Eastern Capital is huge, and no teleportation is allowed. It takes at least twenty minutes to get to the Marshal’s Mansion,” she replied.

“Why don’t you come back here? I’ll go get it for you, and we split the reward fifty-fifty.”

“Go to hell.”

The ban on teleportation in both the Eastern and Western Capitals was well-known after Zhang Shan’s visit. Players only went there if forced by quests; otherwise, nobody wanted to suffer such inconvenience. The teleportation fee was ten thousand gold coins, which wealthy players could afford, but without the ability to teleport, wandering such a vast city was a nightmare. So, unless necessary, no one ventured to the Eastern Capital. The setting was just too punishing.

Feng Yun Qingqing said it took twenty minutes on foot, so others didn’t wait in town but instead ventured out to hunt monsters elsewhere.

Zhang Shan continued crafting fireworks. After countless failures, he finally succeeded in making a firework for the first time. Laughing in relief, he collected the firework from the workbench. Each crafting attempt yielded one firework. Though useless for now, he planned to set them off later.

Checking his life profession proficiency, he noted his apprentice engineering skill had improved slightly. Using up all the remaining firework materials, Zhang Shan crafted two more fireworks, totaling three. His proficiency rose by three points. With materials exhausted, he decided to stop and prepare for dinner.

He glanced at the time again. Despite his long crafting session, Feng Yun Qingqing still hadn’t received her reward.

“Qingqing, have you gotten your reward yet?” he asked.

“Almost there. Wait till my artifact appears, haha,” she replied.

Zhang Shan was speechless. What a bold spirit. He decided to wait a bit longer before logging off.

Not long after, Feng Yun Qingqing shared the equipment’s attributes in the guild channel and complained, “Dizzy. I thought I’d get a legendary artifact, but they only gave me a spiritual-grade weapon. Sigh.”

“Whoa, sister, please stop bragging. You’re not satisfied with a spiritual-grade item? You’re already second on the equipment leaderboard.”

“No legendary artifact, bad review, hehe.”

“Spiritual-grade items are already very strong, just like legendary artifacts—they bind to the player, don’t drop, and level up with the player. They can be used for a long time.”

“Qingqing really hit the jackpot—got a spiritual-grade weapon from just one dungeon scroll.”

“Jealous.”