Chapter Seventy: The Broken Ring

Time slipped away as he focused on grinding monsters, experience creeping up slowly, and his sin value gradually diminishing. By a little after nine in the evening, Zhang Shan finally cleared his sin value to zero.

Ah, the relief of being free from a red name! As long as no one provokes him, he swore never again to attack people at random—the pain of cleansing sin was just too much.

He glanced at his experience bar—just under four million points. If he returned to hunt wild wolves, he estimated he could reach level twenty-five in less than five hours.

At that point, he could upgrade his gear again. The Wraith Commander had dropped a level twenty-five ring for him earlier. Once equipped, his attack power would jump by at least a hundred points.

Alas, aside from unsealing artifacts, new equipment barely improved his stats. He would need to find another way. If he didn’t stumble upon another passive skill like Bestowal of Power, he’d have no means to further boost his attack. At this rate, others would soon catch up to him.

One must always be wary, he thought, and plan ahead.

“My friend, I’ve finally cleared my red name. I’m heading back to Anyang City—care to join me?” he asked Heart Follows My Will. Though just another grinder, Heart Follows My Will was a wealthy one. If possible, Zhang Shan would love to bring him over to his side.

“I’ll see how things go. I’m not heading back for now. Hopefully, the men from the Heaven and Earth Guild have learned their lesson and won’t stir up trouble again.”

“You’re too optimistic. There’s no way they’ll stop—they’re shameless by nature.”

“I know the kind of people they are. Still, this was a heavy blow for them. Things should quiet down for a while.”

“Alright, I’ll head back first.”

Grinders rarely liked to change their territory—Zhang Shan understood that well. He himself would stay put unless forced to move.

Now that his red name was cleansed, there was nothing more to do in Yingtian City. He had no intention of seeking further trouble with the Heaven and Earth Guild.

He triggered the teleportation and returned to the city.

Back in Anyang, though he'd only been away for less than a day, it felt as if a long time had passed.

Perhaps it was simply that so much had happened.

The first order of business was the auction house—the last boss had dropped three pieces of purple gear. He’d toss them up for sale.

Purple gear prices had plummeted; ordinary pieces fetched only a few hundred gold coins, less than what Zhang Shan earned in two days of grinding low-level monsters.

But every little bit helped—it was better than selling to a shopkeeper.

He’d also take the chance to see if he could pick up any bargains at the auction house.

In fact, every time he returned to the city, Zhang Shan checked the auction house for opportunities.

But his goals differed from others. Most searched for cheap equipment or skill books.

Not Zhang Shan—he was after Divinity Materials.

At present, no one but him knew what Divinity Materials were for—not even the members of the Stormcloud Guild. They only knew that Zhang Shan had acquired a strange tube-like item and, after taking it to the Eastern Capital for a quest, had obtained an artifact.

But as for what else was needed, they had no clue. Since no one had asked, Zhang Shan certainly wouldn’t reveal anything. The longer this secret remained hidden, the more Divinity Materials he could quietly amass at the auction house.

While top players rarely sold materials, casual players often did. The descriptions for Divinity Materials were so vague that no one could tell if they were valuable.

Just like the one Zhang Shan had already used—described simply as “a metallic substance imbued with an aura of mystery.”

With such a bland description, who could possibly know its use or value? Many might even assume it was some blacksmithing upgrade material.

In any case, there was a chance to score Divinity Materials at a bargain.

Moreover, their drop rate seemed higher than that of artifact quest items. Zhang Shan had already used one, and still had another stored away from a solo priest boss fight.

He filtered out common materials, leaving only the rare and oddly named ones—a list of barely two pages, some dozens of items.

One by one, he examined them, scrutinizing names and descriptions.

But he found nothing—not even anything with a hint of “mystery” or “spirit.” Perhaps too few had dropped, or too many clever people were keeping them.

Still, Zhang Shan wasn’t discouraged. Finding nothing was to be expected; if he found Divinity Materials every time, it would be too easy.

Having struck out, he idly browsed other auction items.

When he glanced at the miscellaneous section, one item caught his eye.

What? Someone actually put this up for auction?

Damaged Ring: A severely damaged ring emitting a faint mysterious aura. Its origin and purpose are unknown.

No wonder someone would auction it off—the description was unlike the strange tube he’d found before.

There was no prompt to seek an NPC appraisal. Even so, Zhang Shan suspected this ring was another artifact quest item.

But if he bought it, he had no idea where to find someone to repair it. Unlike the tube, which had a direct hint to find Master Lu.

Still, even without knowing who could fix it, he had to buy it—such things were rare opportunities.

Once he owned it, he’d find a way, even if it meant searching every corner of both the Eastern and Western Capitals for NPCs connected to accessories.

Surely, he’d find one that would trigger a quest.

The seller was shrewd, though: starting bid one hundred gold, buyout price one million. Did they want to sell or just fish for a higher price?

Regardless, Zhang Shan intended to buy it outright—no point risking the seller changing their mind and canceling the auction. He couldn’t stand to lose a potential artifact.

Time to raise the cash.

He had just over half a million gold coins on hand—three hundred thousand from selling a cloak to Stormcloud Under Heaven, and two orange items at a hundred thousand each.

He was still short by over four hundred thousand.

He contacted Heart Follows My Will—his friend still owed him a bounty, so perhaps he could lend some as an advance.

“Brother Heart, do you have any gold on hand? I need a fifty thousand advance to bid on something at the auction.”

“Wait a moment, I’ll return to the city and exchange some. I’ll transfer it within a minute.”

Soon, Heart Follows My Will replied, “I’ve sent you five hundred thousand gold by mail. The rest I’ll exchange tomorrow—too much at once and the rate goes up too fast.”

“Got it. I’m off to the auction now.”

Checking his mail, Zhang Shan found the five hundred thousand gold, withdrew it, and immediately bought the Damaged Ring at the buyout price—no chance for the seller to back out.

Auction house rules meant buyers and sellers remained anonymous.

So Zhang Shan had no fear of being identified as the buyer, even if the seller publicized the sale.

People would simply assume some lucky fool had bought an item for a million gold by mistake.

No one would suspect it was for an artifact.

Now he had the quest item and a Divinity Material—possibly not enough, since the tube had been intact, but the ring was described as severely damaged. It might need more materials, or perhaps something else entirely. For now, he’d just stash it away.

Next time he grew tired of grinding, he’d take the ring to both capitals and search for any NPC who might trigger a quest.

As for the ten thousand gold teleportation fee per trip? Compared to an artifact, such a trivial expense was nothing.

A surprise windfall—delightful! Time to get back to grinding.