Two Magical Artifacts

Xiao Jie looked at the corpse and couldn't help but feel a wave of relief. It was fortunate that he had hired these four militiamen; otherwise, the one who took that ultimate skill would likely have been one of the two of them.

They would have been drained dry in an instant.

Those two thousand copper coins were well spent.

"Everyone, do not be disheartened. Old Liu died for Ginkgo Village. His death carries the weight of Mount Tai. We should carry on his legacy and live better lives to protect Ginkgo Village."

"Gentlemen, please take Old Liu's body back for a proper burial. I will certainly report his heroic deeds to the Village Chief."

Watching the militiamen carry Old Liu's body away, the two of them couldn't wait to loot the monster's remains.

The Tree Demon Spawn had indeed dropped two materials.

[Demon Blood Ebony (Material/Rare)

Item Description: Black wood stained with demon blood. It is incredibly hard and seems to possess a trace of magic, making it an excellent material for crafting magical artifacts.]

[Spiritual Tree Core (Material/Rare)

Item Description: The core of a Ginkgo Tree. For reasons unknown, it contains a faint trace of divine power. Even though the tree has died, this power has not dissipated, making it an excellent material for crafting magical artifacts.]

These must be the items the Old Village Chief requested.

Each of them took one piece and headed straight to the Village Chief's house to report their success.

Upon arriving at the Village Chief's house, Xiao Jie recounted the battle with some embellishments, naturally highlighting their own roles while relegating the militiamen to the background, merely setting the stage.

I Want to Become Immortal stood to the side, blushing, while Xiao Jie spoke with unnatural ease.

This game had an extremely high degree of freedom, and the NPCs were highly intelligent, so this kind of silver-tongued persuasion was quite important.

For the same quest, the content of the report might even affect the rewards.

After listening to Xiao Jie's account, the Old Village Chief nodded in satisfaction. "Well done, you two. Now that the tree demon is gone, our Ginkgo Village can finally rest easy. The bravery of you two warriors will never be forgotten by Ginkgo Village."

System Prompt: Completed the serendipitous encounter quest [Old Village Chief's Request]. Your reputation in Ginkgo Village has increased by 200 points. You are now at 200/300 (Friendly).

"By the way, did you two find anything on that Tree Demon Spawn?"

"We did indeed find two treasures. Please take a look, Old Village Chief." Xiao Jie said, and he and I Want to Become Immortal traded the two materials to the Old Village Chief.

"Ah, excellent items! Please wait a moment, you two; I shall begin crafting."

The Old Village Chief took out his tools and tinkered for a while, quickly finishing the two magical artifacts.

"The materials left behind by that demon are truly extraordinary. I have crafted them into a sword and a talisman. You may each take one; they may prove useful in your future efforts in slaying demons and eliminating evils."

"Please, take a look—"

Two equipment loot prompts immediately popped up before them, allowing for a free choice.

[Ebony Sword (Single Handed Sword/Excellent)

Attack: 19 Slash, 17 Pierce. Spell Power +1.

Weapon Effect: Ebony Blood Oath. Consumes 10 HP to grant your weapon the "Spirit Slaying" attribute, allowing it to deal damage to ghost-type monsters for 60 seconds.

Item Description: A longsword crafted from Demon Blood Ebony. It is not only exceptionally sharp but also carries a faint trace of magic, which can slightly increase the power of spells. The sword body, stained with demon blood, can gain the power of Spirit Slaying through the nourishment of blood.]

[Divine Wood Talisman (Amulet/Excellent)

Attribute: Spirit +5.

Amulet Effect: Evil Purging Art. Dispels one demonic or ghostly spell effect from a target. Cooldown: 30 minutes.

Item Description: An amulet crafted from the Spiritual Tree Core. The divine power remaining in the core can dispel Demonic Energy, protecting you from the interference of demons, ghosts, and evil spirits.]

Both are good items, Xiao Jie marveled inwardly.

However, he did not make a choice immediately.

He turned his gaze toward I Want to Become Immortal.

"This serendipitous encounter was triggered by you, so you should choose first," he said to I Want to Become Immortal.

Although both were excellent items, rules had to be followed. I Want to Become Immortal had triggered the encounter, and while Xiao Jie had shared in the quest, it was only right to let I Want to Become Immortal pick first.

"Ah, I couldn't possibly."

"Damn it, just pick if I tell you to. Don't talk nonsense."

"Then I won't be polite." I Want to Become Immortal hesitated for a moment before decisively choosing the Ebony Sword.

This thing had the Spirit Slaying effect, meaning that with this sword, he could deal damage to ghosts. He had been terrified by the stories of Night Ghouls that Wang Kai had told earlier.

That thing was physically immune, and ordinary players had no way to fight it if they encountered one. Now, with this sword, he at least had a chance to fight back.

This choice did not surprise Xiao Jie; no matter the game, weapons were usually the priority.

However, the Divine Wood Talisman was also good, coming with a built-in dispel spell and a +5 Spirit attribute. Since he used a blade, it wasn't a bad choice either.

Although he didn't receive a monetary reward, this magical artifact was enough to leave Xiao Jie in a state of contentment.

The two left the Village Chief's house, both feeling quite happy with the gains from this serendipitous encounter.

"If you run into something like this again, don't hesitate to come to me," Xiao Jie said. He had figured it out: this I Want to Become Immortal had pretty good luck. He might stumble upon more Serendipitous Encounters in the future, so it was best to secure his services early.

"Definitely, definitely," I Want to Become Immortal hurriedly agreed. He was also quite relieved to have such an expert helping him with the quest; otherwise, if he had rashly gone to chop down the tree, he would likely be dead by now.

After saying that, he bid farewell and went off to attend to his own business.

Right, he still had five attribute points left to allocate, Xiao Jie thought.

He checked his current attributes:

Constitution: 9.

Stamina: 8.

Strength: 8.

Agility: 12.

Advanced Attributes—

Spirit: 12+5.

Intellect: 10.

Perception: 9.

Faith: 7.

It wasn't yet certain if this game had items for resetting stats, so allocating points was a matter that required great caution.

It would be a disaster if he added them to the wrong place.

As for his own build path, Xiao Jie had already given it some thought.

In the early stages, he definitely had to prioritize basic attributes. Without spells, he had to rely entirely on physical output, so naturally, he needed to stack those basic stats.

Strictly speaking, all four of these attributes were very important for players.

Constitution was directly related to the length of the Health Bar and the player's survivability, so it was essential to increase it.

Strength affected physical damage and couldn't be too low.

Stamina affected stamina points and carrying capacity, which also couldn't be neglected; if stamina ran out, he wouldn't be able to run away or jump far.

Then there was Agility. Speed was just too important; with high Agility, he could at least run if he couldn't win, whereas with low Agility, he wouldn't even be able to escape.

Of course, future point allocation would definitely need to be specialized.

Based on Xiao Jie's understanding of the game, he felt it could roughly be divided into two training styles: Strength-based and Agility-based.

The Strength-based style involved heavy armor and heavy swords, relying on high defense and destructive power to go head-to-head with monsters, using heavy armor to tank damage and heavy weapons to cut down enemies from the front.

The advantage of playing this way was a high margin for error; taking a hit or two didn't matter, and it didn't require as much technical skill.

The downside, however, was a lack of flexibility, and it had very high equipment requirements; without good armor, it would likely be quite miserable.

Furthermore, to wear heavy armor, Stamina also needed to be high. This meant Constitution, Stamina, and Strength all had to be leveled, which would likely make attribute points very scarce.

The Agility-based style was the dodge-tank route, aiming to avoid being hit by monsters as much as possible; as long as he wasn't touched, he wouldn't die.

Therefore, the Agility-based style didn't require heavy armor, so Stamina could be lower. In the later stages, the demand for attribute points was lower, making it easier to transition.

If he were to switch to a magic-based class later, he would need to invest in advanced attributes, at which point attribute points would become extremely scarce.

The Agility-based style only required points in Constitution and Agility, saving quite a few attribute points.

Therefore, Xiao Jie currently intended to follow the Agility-based route, though the other three attributes couldn't be too low either.

Strength needed to be at least 20 to easily wield most swords and blades.

Stamina also needed to be at least 20 to have enough stamina to unleash combat skills and engage in battle.

Since he would have to invest in them eventually, Xiao Jie decided to patch up his shortcomings first.

He added 1 point to Constitution and 2 points each to Stamina and Strength, bringing all three attributes to 10, reaching the level of an average adult.

Constitution: 10.

Stamina: 10.

Strength: 10.

Agility: 12.

Checking the time, he saw it was almost dark, so Xiao Jie logged out of the game.

He stretched his body and could clearly feel that he seemed to have become a bit stronger.

He took off his clothes and looked in the mirror; his previously slightly pale and thin frame now looked much more balanced, and he could even see the faint lines of muscle.

Not bad. Once he leveled up a few more times and brought all four basic attributes to 20, his physical fitness would definitely crush that of an ordinary person, at least reaching the level of an athlete.