"So that's how it is. I really couldn't tell. Looks like this sword really is precious. Big Brother, maybe your talent could even break through its rank." Liu Wenxuan was delighted after hearing Chen Luo's introduction to the Unsheathed Sword in his hand.
As expected of his big brother—even their attributes were quite similar.
"Um, A'Luo, take my advice: whatever you do, don't become a berserker in the future." Yun Xia looked at Chen Luo with some concern.
"What are you thinking? This sword only gives me courage. It's just an initial attribute; it can't compare to his S-rank Talent." Chen Luo rolled his eyes at Yun Xia.
"That's good, then." Yun Xia breathed a sigh of relief.
If that was the case, she would not have to worry about Chen Luo being led astray by Liu Wenxuan.
Chen Luo raised his sword and stood before Blondie. Blondie, as if sensing the danger to his life, could not help shrinking back.
This was Chen Luo's first time raising a sword to kill someone... no, a demon, but it definitely would not be the last.
Besides, I'm not a good person either.
Titles were titles; reality was reality.
Chen the Great Philanthropist...
Sigh...
A sharp streak of azure sword light flashed past. Chen Luo's Unsheathed Sword was stained with blood for the first time, but the drop of blood, faintly emitting black mist, was quickly absorbed by the sword.
When he looked back at Blondie, the crimson light in his eyes was slowly fading as well.
Ding! You defeated "Inner Demon: Juvenile Form" and obtained 100 Primogems. Your defeated enemy dropped materials. Please collect them promptly. Inner Demon Lure (four-star material): The most basic and fundamental ability of an inner demon. It purifies without a fixed direction and possesses extremely high plasticity. It is what psychic creatures crave most, but its compatibility with humans is not high. When used by humans, it is equivalent to a two-star material.
At the same time, a warm current flowed through Chen Luo's body, the same type of warmth he felt after completing commissions.
"Um... A'Luo, can you give me this?" When Chen Luo picked up the pure white core, Herrscher of Knowledge's voice sounded in his mind.
Herrscher of Knowledge Beast, Super Evolution!
Yun Xia and Liu Wenxuan left. Before leaving, they used something like a storage item to put away little Blondie's body, and promised Chen Luo that they would handle the matter perfectly.
Of course, they would also secretly give Blondie's parents some compensation. Blondie himself was not a good person, but his parents were innocent.
Both Yun Xia and Liu Wenxuan left something behind before they departed.
Yun Xia left behind a book containing basic information about the Dark World, along with several introductory cultivation manuals.
Liu Wenxuan left behind far more things. First was a storage ring containing ten cubic meters of space. Although it was useless to Chen Luo, he figured Herrscher of Knowledge should be able to use it.
Second was a bow named the Elf Bow. It could draw upon the user's attributes to automatically create corresponding arrows. According to Liu Wenxuan, the Elf Bow was extremely compatible with the wind attribute. It was a three-star weapon bordering on four-star, meant to supplement Chen Luo's ranged combat power.
Then came all kinds of special arrows, making Chen Luo nearly think the other guy intended to train him into Hawkeye.
There were also all sorts of firearms...
Brother, do you think your big brother... pfft, do you think I know how to use firearms? I'm just an ordinary person.
But Chen Luo actually did know how, and he was even proficient.
Thanks to Herrscher of Knowledge's previous help, Chen Luo had basically reached the point where he could become proficient at anything he saw.
Naturally, Liu Wenxuan had also thrown in a guide to using firearms.
So the question was—
"Why do you want this Inner Demon Lure? If you tell me there's no benefit after absorbing it, you're not getting dinner tonight." Chen Luo got irritated just looking at Herrscher of Knowledge casually sitting there and eating spicy strips.
Did she know how much an Inner Demon Lure was worth? Its buyback price alone was 600 Primogems, meaning its original price was 1,200 Primogems!
Although the Talent Panel said this thing was worth, at most, 300 Primogems to humans, if he sold it, that would almost be enough for a ten-pull.
He already had 685 Primogems. Adding another 600 meant he could scrape together enough for a ten-pull in a few days.
And a ten-pull guaranteed a purple four-star item.
"But then again, does Herrscher of Knowledge count as a psychic creature?" Chen Luo remembered the Inner Demon Lure's description.
"I don't know whether I count or not, but I can sense that this thing is extremely compatible with me." Little Senti shook her head.
"Sigh, I'm basically spending everything I own to upgrade you. You'd better make it worthwhile. Can you advance to SS rank?" Chen Luo looked at Herrscher of Knowledge expectantly.
"Good grief, do you think we're playing a game? Besides, even if we were, you'd need to pull several more Herrschers of Knowledge to stack your way up to SS rank." Herrscher of Knowledge rolled her eyes at Chen Luo.
"Although I'm not sure exactly what that Inner Demon Lure is, my intuition tells me it's very useful to me. After eating it, I can feel my body changing, but I really can't tell exactly how. Still, I know my abilities seem to have become stronger, and my Herrscher Core isn't purely a Herrscher of Knowledge Core anymore." Herrscher of Knowledge thought for a moment before speaking.
"Ah, so the Authority of the Herrscher of Knowledge is no longer pure. Is that good or bad?"
"Of course it's good. Put simply, if it used to be just a stick, now it has several more branches and has become a skill tree. And once the Herrscher of Knowledge's Authority is no longer pure, it'll be very useful when I return to the Honkai World. You can't kill a god with power granted by a god, but if you use power granted by a god that has mutated afterward, then maybe you can kill a god." Herrscher of Knowledge seemed to remember something and sneered.
"You mean... the Honkai Consciousness?"
You're a Herrscher of Knowledge directly created by the Honkai Consciousness. Why do you think about killing the Honkai Consciousness every day?
If the Honkai Consciousness knew you would think like this, it would never have created you even if it were beaten to death.
"Who knows?" Herrscher of Knowledge shrugged.
"Oh, right. Don't you have that Talent Panel? Just use it to see whether some special power or something was added to my body. The prices on your Talent Panel are pretty reasonable anyway," Herrscher of Knowledge reminded him.
"I'm looking at it."
Herrscher of Knowledge
Herrscher of Knowledge Core: Modified (Evolving) (Item): 5,400 Primogems (12,000 Primogems)
"..."
Damn it, this Herrscher of Knowledge Core got even more expensive!
Though the discount had changed from half off to 45% off.
But it was still more expensive—400 Primogems more, just like that.
"What's with that expression...?" Seeing Chen Luo's disgusted expression, Herrscher of Knowledge's heart skipped a beat.
Could it be there wasn't any change? That couldn't be right. I can feel it. At the very least, that thing tasted pretty good.
"How should I put it? Your Herrscher Core did indeed change. It's evolving now, but it also got more expensive, so I can afford it even less." Chen Luo looked miserable.
"Sigh, I thought something serious had happened. You scared me to death." Herrscher of Knowledge shot Chen Luo a fierce glare.
Inside, Herrscher of Knowledge finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, she knew Chen Luo's situation quite well. During this early stage, when he was desperately short on Primogems, if he had paid such a huge price for her and she had not improved at all, she would have felt terribly sorry for him.
Senti was under a lot of pressure, but Senti did not say it.
When Chen Luo saw Herrscher of Knowledge's mood on the Family interface change from anxious, uneasy, and guilty... to happy, he also relaxed.
Right after giving the Inner Demon Lure to Herrscher of Knowledge, it seemed as though some threshold had been crossed, and a mood tag appeared behind Herrscher of Knowledge's portrait.
Chen Luo actually felt that this trade had been very profitable. Though he had lost 1,000 Primogems, 1,000 Primogems seemed like a lot to him now, but they were not urgently needed.
After all, Chen Luo currently had no Primogem expenses other than pulling gacha.
Besides, the benefits Herrscher of Knowledge brought him were far greater than 1,000 Primogems.
Not even counting the 600 Primogems attached to the commissions Herrscher of Knowledge issued, Chen Luo had already gained plenty from her.
Swordsmanship Mastery, Melee Weaponry Novice, Spear Proficiency, Close Combat Novice, Fist Technique Proficiency, Tai Xu Sword Qi (Proficient)...
And Furniture Mastery, whose range had expanded enormously after Herrscher of Knowledge helped modify his consciousness...
Were those not worth 1,000 Primogems?
Besides, the discount on Herrscher of Knowledge's items had risen to 45% off. That was practically a disguised reduction of a huge number of Primogems.
Aside from Tai Xu Sword Qi, Chen Luo also wanted Melee Grandmaster, Cold Weapon Grandmaster, and the like...
When would the discount drop to 90% off...
Mona, the Starving Ghost
"Sigh..." Chen Luo let out a deep sigh.
"A'Luo, why are you sighing?" Venti, who arrived at the tavern punctually every day, could not help asking with concern.
If the owner disappeared, how would he get his free daily alcohol?
"Why can't you be more useful? Why can't you issue a few more commissions?" Chen Luo said resentfully as he flipped through the book in his hands.
"No way, you're blaming me for that too?" Venti looked at Chen Luo in astonishment, as if unable to understand how he could say something like that.
Was that even something a person would say?
"You've been sitting here for half an hour and only contributed ten Primogems. Don't you feel ashamed?"
Ever since Venti entered the bar half an hour ago and contributed Primogems while looking forward to apple cider, he had not provided any more Primogems.
"Venti, I'm telling you, if you don't start providing Primogems, I'll cancel your free daily apple cider." Since the past three days had allowed Chen Luo and Venti to become familiar with each other, Chen Luo dared to joke with him now.
"No! If I can't drink free apple cider every day, I'll fall into despair..." Venti let out a miserable wail.
Money truly was not very useful to Venti, but without money, he could not drink.
And Venti was always broke.
Ding! You have a new commission!
"Fine, I accept." Chen Luo nodded after thinking for half a second.
"That's good. Wait, did you use me to farm commissions again? Chen Luo, be a decent person." Venti looked at Chen Luo with anguish.
When they first met, he had thought Chen Luo was a polite young man who was warmhearted and eager to help others. He really must have been blind.
No, that was not quite right either...
"A'Luo, what's gotten into you today? You weren't this desperate for Primogems before." Venti gave Chen Luo a strange look.
"If you've run into some trouble, you can tell me," Venti said with concern.
"How should I put it... Well... thank you. I finally have enough Primogems." After receiving those ten Primogems just now, Chen Luo had finally reached his goal.
Chen Luo had finally saved up 705 Primogems.
After going through all sorts of things, he had finally achieved this goal.
Why 705?
The final realm of Tai Xu Sword Qi—Spirit Essence—originally cost 1,500 Primogems. With the 45% discount, it cost 675 Primogems.
But because of the bar, Chen Luo needed to keep thirty Primogems in reserve for emergencies. Therefore, he needed 705 Primogems before he had enough left over to purchase Tai Xu Sword God!
Starting today, I, Chen Luo, have an ultimate move too!
Although he had not completed Heart Essence, so his sword heart was not fully formed, and Intent Essence, Soul Essence, and Form Essence were not complete either, meaning that even if he bought Tai Xu Sword God, its power would be pitifully weak, it was still Tai Xu Sword God!
"..."
Chen Luo stared at the Talent Panel's description, which said Tai Xu Sword God's power might be reduced by at least tenfold, and fell into deep thought.
Maybe I should hold off on buying it.
Once I save enough Primogems to complete the whole set, then I can buy Tai Xu Sword God.
Chen Luo's physical abilities were already quite ordinary compared to those Valkyries. Although he had a Vision as an energy source and could barely use Tai Xu Sword God, just thinking about its power made it seem pathetic.
"Ding-a-ling!"
"Welcome—... Where is the person?" Chen Heng heard the bell and instinctively looked up, delivering the standard greeting, only to find that he could not see anyone.
"Um, A'Luo, maybe if you stand up from your chair, you'll be able to see the new customer." Venti lowered his head and looked at the customer who had crawled in.
Because the bar counter where Chen Luo sat was rather high, and Chen Luo himself was seated, there was nearly a half-meter blind spot when he looked toward the entrance.
But even Theresa was not half a meter short, so Chen Luo had never paid it any mind.
He just had not expected that this time, the customer had crawled in.
Chen Luo stood up, walked out from behind the bar, and saw a girl wearing a bodysuit and a huge hat.
"This is... Mona?" Chen Luo was somewhat surprised as he looked at the familiar outfit.
Before you continue