Chapter 55: Suanni Armor
After sending Shen Shuyi away, Xiao Wen began fiddling with his remaining random draw opportunity.
The lottery system itself had not changed much since the update. The only difference was the reward pool.
Previously, the equipment range was from Profound-rank to Heaven-rank, but now there were no rank restrictions at all.
Did that mean equipment of any grade could be drawn?
No!
It meant players would draw large amounts of trash equipment and spend far more ingots!
That had been the true purpose of the update from the very beginning!
Xiao Wen had long been mentally prepared for this.
So at this moment, there was only one word.
Draw!
The lottery began. The illusory wheel spun, the pointer rotating as it swept across the various sections.
Ding! Congratulations, player Half-Journey Through the Mortal World, you have drawn the Bronze-grade equipment Iron Sword. Confirm?
No!
Redraw!
Ding! Congratulations, player Half-Journey Through the Mortal World, you have drawn the Bronze-grade equipment Flowing Sun Helm...
Redraw!
Ding! Congratulations, player Half-Journey Through the Mortal World, you have drawn the Silver-grade equipment Viper Boots...
...
Notification after notification rang in his ears.
But every piece of equipment was Bronze-grade or Silver-grade.
Even Gold-grade items were pitifully rare.
As for the higher Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow ranks, he had not seen a single one.
Ha!
I knew it would be this damned scammy.
Fortunately, I was already prepared to hemorrhage money.
It's just spending money, right?
I've never lacked money!
Xiao Wen muttered to himself and continued drawing.
After spending nearly ten million ingots, the wheel finally flashed with silver light.
Ding! Congratulations, player Half-Journey Through the Mortal World, you have drawn the Earth-rank equipment Suanni Armor!
[Suanni Armor]
Type: Armor
Rank: Earth-rank
Usage Requirement: Fourth-rank General or above (Note: Armor forged from the hide of an ancient exotic beast. A strategist's body cannot withstand it.)
Attributes: ??? (Determined by the user's level)
Description: According to legend, this armor was forged by a master craftsman using the hide of an exotic beast as its primary material. Its defensive power is extremely high.
Suanni Armor?
Not bad at all.
Xiao Wen narrowed his eyes and immediately chose to confirm the reward. The armor promptly appeared inside his inventory space.
He ordered the soldiers below to summon Ma Chao and bestowed the Suanni Armor upon him.
When Ma Chao received the armor, astonishment appeared on his face.
After the brief shock came pure delight.
He already possessed a weapon and a mount.
And both were divine-grade treasures.
Now he had an armor set as well?
Ma Chao feared no battle!
“This general thanks my lord for the reward!”
The excitement and gratitude in Ma Chao's heart were beyond words as he deeply bowed toward Xiao Wen.
Xiao Wen quickly reached out and helped him up.
“General, there is no need for such courtesy. With this armor, when you charge into battle in the future, I can be more at ease.”
“You and I are not merely lord and subordinate. We are brothers!”
Xiao Wen looked at Ma Chao and spoke with utmost sincerity.
Those heartfelt words left Ma Chao deeply moved.
Well...
If a general's loyalty were not capped at one hundred, it probably would have exceeded one hundred by now.
“This general thanks my lord!” Ma Chao said again.
Xiao Wen nodded, helped him to his feet, and then instructed him to go reorganize the troops.
About an hour later, a soldier hurried in from outside and spoke softly.
“My lord, while cleaning up the battlefield in Flowing Sand Valley, this subordinate discovered some items.”
“I thought they might be useful to my lord, so I brought them here.”
Hearing this, Xiao Wen was startled. He summoned the soldier closer and soon noticed a stack of envelopes in the soldier's hands.
Envelopes?
Ding! Congratulations, player Half-Journey Through the Mortal World, you have obtained Envelopes ×15.
A notification sounded.
Xiao Wen immediately opened the envelopes and pulled out the letters inside.
Ding! Congratulations, player Half-Journey Through the Mortal World, you have obtained Yellow Turban confidential correspondence and activated the hidden quest: Choice of Good and Evil.
Quest: Choice of Good and Evil
Reward: Unknown
Description: The struggle between the Eastern Han court and the Yellow Turban rebels. Who is good? Who is evil? No one knows. The power to choose lies in your hands.
Note: Players may choose to return these letters to a Yellow Turban general and gain the goodwill of the Yellow Turbans. Alternatively, they may hand the letters over to the imperial court and gain the court's goodwill.
Friendly Reminder: The player has angered Zhang Baiqi and killed Bian Xi. The hostility of the Yellow Turban generals is already high. Choosing the Yellow Turban faction may result in failure.
Tsk!
Isn't this obviously pushing me toward the imperial court?
Come to think of it, Bian Xi was only a minor leader within the Yellow Turban Army.
Why did he end up becoming the chief of a mountain stronghold?
Or was my speculation from my previous life correct?
Did these people build up a righteous public image on the surface while secretly developing numerous strongholds behind the scenes?
These letters are quite useful.
I can take them and hand them over to Shen Que.
That Crouching Tiger should be very interested in them.
Xiao Wen narrowed his eyes as he silently considered the matter.
He stored the letters in his inventory and looked at the soldier before him.
After offering a few words of praise, his tone suddenly changed.
“You handled this matter well. Next time, don't do it again. The more you overstep your authority, the worse it will be for you.”
The soldier trembled and immediately revealed a frightened expression. He dropped to the ground and repeatedly begged for forgiveness.
Xiao Wen said nothing.
He merely glanced coldly at the soldier before withdrawing his gaze.
“Leave. There's nothing more for you to do.”
The soldier nodded without speaking and quickly departed.
After the soldier left, Xiao Wen sat within the Lord's Manor, his brows slightly furrowed and his expression somewhat unpleasant.
It wasn't because of anything else.
It was simply because after the great upheaval and the game's update, all NPCs had begun becoming more human, possessing genuine emotions instead of remaining rigid program templates.
The change was subtle, but it could still be felt.
The soldier from earlier was a perfect example.
Under normal procedures, anything he found should have been handed to his superior first, then passed upward through the chain of command until it ultimately reached Ma Chao or Lu Cheng before being delivered to Xiao Wen.
Instead, he brought it directly himself.
It was hard to believe there was no desire for personal credit involved.
A soldier should focus on being a soldier.
Follow orders and obey commands.
That alone was enough.
For an army that valued discipline, soldiers developing additional ambitions and schemes was hardly a good thing.
In his previous life, there had been many cases where humanized soldiers developed resentment and dissatisfaction, eventually turning on their own lords and killing them.
Now that he had witnessed this soldier's behavior, it was only natural for Xiao Wen to harbor such concerns.
After all, he had no intention of becoming one of those unfortunate victims from his previous life.
Forget it.
I'll deal with the soldier issue after I return from this trip.
First, I'll return to Luoyang, deliver the intelligence, and secure an official position under Shen Que.
The upgrade from county town to main city should also be placed on the agenda!
you can read more here on Patreon: patreon.com/Alastor0_0
ns216.73.216.58da2
and then Add to home screen.