The Best Knife in the Village

After repeating the experiment several times, he had hacked three cardboard boxes, two foam boxes, and a mineral water bucket to pieces.

Xiao Jie finally stopped his attempts.

"Phew, using an Ultimate Skill is truly exhausting!"

He rubbed his sore, swollen arm and muttered to himself.

Releasing a combat skill was not as simple as it looked; every strike required channeling his entire spirit and energy into the swing, which took a significant toll on his physical stamina.

Especially for someone like him who lacked long-term physical conditioning.

It seemed he would have to find time to exercise in the future.

Tossing the kitchen knife back into the kitchen, Xiao Jie thought to himself that he needed to buy a proper blade; he couldn't keep using this thing to test skills.

He would surely learn more skills in the future, and he needed to prepare the corresponding weapons for them.

He might as well start with a blade.

Considering his limited finances, Xiao Jie didn't intend to buy a high-quality sword; as long as it could be used to test game skills, it would suffice.

Xiao Jie went onto the Taojin Net, searched for a while, and placed an order for a decorative Embroidered Spring Blade.

It only cost 268 and even came with a maintenance kit. Looking at the magnificent blade in the product image, he felt a little excited.

After placing the order, he saw that it wasn't dark yet and decided to head back into the game for a stroll.

He didn't plan on chopping any more firewood today. After six or seven hours of repetitive, mechanical chopping, both his mind and body were completely drained. If Xiao Jie hadn't been a professional gamer in the past, an average person wouldn't have been able to endure it.

Even so, he was sick of chopping trees by now; what kind of game involved doing nothing but hacking away at trees all day?

Xiao Jie prepared to turn in the firewood in his inventory and then head to the village to see if there were any other jobs he could take.

Oh right, he also needed to buy a blade for self-defense. He should have enough money to buy a weapon now. Although there shouldn't be any danger in the village, lacking a weapon always left him feeling insecure.

Back in the game, Xiao Jie first went to find Wang Da Niu to hand over the remaining dry firewood.

Wang Da Niu (Woodcutter): "Little brother, you've chopped quite a lot of dry firewood today. I have enough wood here to last for a while, so if you want to keep working, you'll have to come back in a few days."

Xiao Jie said, "No worries, I can go look for other work. Take care, Brother Wang." As he spoke, Xiao Jie returned the firewood knife, took his payment, and bid him farewell.

This time, he received another 80 wen. His morning had been practically wasted, but he had earned a full 270 wen this afternoon. After deducting the costs for food and repairs, his profit was around 200 wen.

One wen was worth ten yuan, so 200 wen was two thousand yuan. Earning two thousand yuan in a single day—at this rate, making fifty or sixty thousand a month would be easy. It was definitely a high-paying profession.

However, his Enlightenment effect only lasted seven days. He feared that after seven days, it wouldn't be so easy to improve his life skill proficiency.

He checked his savings in his inventory: a full 296 wen. He had never felt so wealthy.

He immediately went to buy ten steamed buns. These were daily consumables; as long as he was active in the game, his satiety would gradually decrease. Even if he didn't work, it would still drop, just more slowly.

So, he would likely need to keep food in his inventory at all times from now on.

Next, he went to the Blacksmith Shop, intending to buy himself a blade.

To his surprise, Wang Kai was nowhere to be seen; instead, the bearded blacksmith had reappeared.

Zhou Tong (Blacksmith): "Young man, you're back. How about it, do you have the money now?"

"I did earn a bit. I'd like to buy a blade; may I take a look?"

"Of course, feel free to choose. All the weapons in the shop are right here."

The product list appeared before Xiao Jie's eyes once more. Although there were many items, Xiao Jie only focused on bladed weapons, so the selection narrowed down significantly.

Firewood Knife: 12 Chop. Price: 100 wen. Product Description: A tool for chopping wood. Although not a proper weapon, it is better than being empty-handed.

Willow Leaf Saber: 14 Chop. Price: 180 wen. Product Description: A single-handed blade shaped like a willow leaf. Its sharpness and chopping power are average. A very common standard-issue blade, often chosen for self-defense by those unskilled in martial arts.

Ghost Head Broadsword: 19 Chop. Price: 300 wen. Product Description: A heavy broadsword decorated with a ghost pattern on the hilt. Suitable for two-handed use. It has immense power, but due to its high weight, it lacks a bit in speed.

There were only three in total. He certainly wouldn't consider the firewood knife; that thing was just a tool, and it was too short. It was fine for chopping branches, but useless against people.

"May I try them out?"

After receiving an affirmative answer, Xiao Jie first chose the Willow Leaf Saber.

This thing only had 14 Chop, and its damage wasn't much higher than the firewood knife. Fortunately, it was longer, giving him a much greater attack range. Most importantly, it was the only one he could afford right now.

After equipping the Willow Leaf Saber, Xiao Jie unleashed a combat skill into the air.

One Cut Two Pieces!

Swish! The blade slashed through the air, but it felt light and lacked any real power.

The bearded blacksmith, however, was startled.

"Little brother, you have great skill! That strike was truly beautiful; one can tell you're an expert at a glance."

"Haha, not at all, just playing around. Master, you flatter me. May I try out this Ghost Head Broadsword?"

"Go ahead!"

Xiao Jie equipped the Ghost Head Broadsword, but immediately frowned. The damage of the Ghost Head Broadsword was decent, but it was a bit too heavy. It weighed 12, while his strength was only 8. He could only wield a weapon with a weight of 8 with one hand.

If he used both hands, he could gain a 50% strength bonus, which would allow him to use the blade, but he wouldn't be able to unleash his combat skills that way.

This was a bit of a pain.

Xiao Jie slashed at the air twice; the speed was noticeably slower than the Willow Leaf Saber, but the Willow Leaf Saber's damage was too low.

He felt that neither blade was ideal.

Xiao Jie was somewhat unwilling to give up.

"Master Zhou, don't you have any better blades? The items you're selling here are just too poor."

"Hahahaha, you certainly have high standards, little brother. Fine, if it were anyone else saying this, I wouldn't bother with them, but I can see you're a skilled blade-user, so I'll show you something special."

As he spoke, a new item suddenly refreshed in the merchandise list before him.

[Wild Goose Feather Saber (Limited-Time Item)]

Huh, there are limited-time items for sale? He hurriedly checked the attributes of this blade.

[Wild Goose Feather Saber (Single Handed Blade/Fine)

Attack Power: 21 Slashing, 17 Piercing.

Weapon Effect: Wild Goose Feather Flight. The narrow blade ignores air resistance, Attack Speed +1, and attack speed is unaffected by wind-type spells.

Item Description: A long blade shaped like a wild goose feather. The blade is narrow and forged from refined steel, making the edge exceptionally sharp. It possesses immense lethality while remaining lightweight, and the sharp tip can also be used for thrusting. It is a fine weapon that requires extremely high forging skills.]

What a great item!

Xiao Jie felt a surge of envy as he looked at the blade's attributes. Among a pile of plain white-tier weapons, this green-quality Single Handed Blade stood out like a crane in a flock of chickens.

He looked at the price—3,000 wen.

Damn it! This is a bit of a rip-off, isn't it? It's just a green weapon; why is it so expensive?

No, Xiao Jie realized immediately; it wasn't that the blade was expensive, but that he was too poor.

Looking at the two hundred or so copper coins in his bag, he felt they suddenly weren't worth much.

"What's wrong, little brother? How is the blade?" the bearded blacksmith asked smugly.

"It's a good blade, but unfortunately, I can't afford it."

"Hahaha, then there's nothing I can do. It's your own lack of money; you can't call my blades poor now, can you? But don't worry, I won't sell this blade easily; only a true expert is worthy of this weapon. If you can earn enough money in the future, just come back and buy it. How about taking a Willow Leaf Saber to use for now?"

In the end, Xiao Jie didn't buy the Willow Leaf Saber; he would rather wait until he had saved enough money to buy a good one directly.

He would pass on trashy white-tier items like the Willow Leaf Saber.

After leaving the Blacksmith Shop, Xiao Jie continued to wander around the village. He couldn't work as a woodcutter for the time being, so he needed to find a new job quickly.

He hadn't walked far when Xiao Jie suddenly let out a surprised sound. On the Stockade Wall near the village entrance, Wang Kai was standing on the wall, gazing into the distance.

Why did this guy run up to the wall? Xiao Jie wondered.

Curious, he hesitated for a moment before deciding to go over and take a look.

"Brother Wang, what are you looking at?"

Wang Kai was startled by the sudden shout. He turned around and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was Xiao Jie.

He sighed and said, "It's almost dark, but that kid still hasn't returned. I have a feeling there's going to be trouble."