Two Magical Artifacts

Xiao Jie looked at the desiccated corpse and could not help feeling relieved. Good thing they had hired those four militiamen this time; otherwise, the one taking that Ultimate Skill would probably have been one of the two of them.

Wouldn't that have gotten them whipped to death?

Those two thousand coins had been well spent.

"Don't be discouraged, everyone. Old Liu died for Ginkgo Village. His death weighed heavier than Mount Tai. We should inherit his will and live even better lives for the sake of protecting Ginkgo Village.

"Please, take Old Liu's body back and give him a proper burial. I will certainly report his heroic deed to the Village Chief."

Watching the militiamen carry Old Liu's body away, the two eagerly looted the monster's corpse.

The Tree Demon Spawn had indeed dropped two materials.

[Demon Blood Ebony (Material/Rare)

Item Description: Black lumber stained with demon blood. It was incomparably hard and seemed to possess a trace of magical power as well. An excellent material for crafting magical artifacts.]

[Spiritual Tree Core (Material/Rare)

Item Description: The core of the Ginkgo Tree. For some unknown reason, it contained a faint trace of divine power. Even though the tree was dead, that divine power had yet to dissipate. An excellent material for crafting magical artifacts.]

These should be the items the Old Village Chief wanted.

They each took one and headed straight back to the Village Chief's house to report their success.

Once there, Xiao Jie gave an embellished account of the battle. Naturally, he highlighted the two of them, while the militiamen had merely beaten around the edges and helped set the mood.

I Want to Become Immortal listened beside him, his face turning red with embarrassment, while Xiao Jie spoke with extraordinary ease.

This game's freedom was incredibly high, and its NPCs were very intelligent, so talking people into things was important too.

For the same quest, different reports might even affect the rewards.

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

System Notification: You have completed the Serendipitous Encounter quest [Old Village Chief's Request]. Your reputation in Ginkgo Village has increased by 200 points. Current: 200/300, (Friendly).

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

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

"Ah, fine items indeed. Please wait a moment, you two. I'll craft the artifacts right away."

The Old Village Chief took out his tools and worked away at them. Before long, he had finished crafting the two magical artifacts.

"These materials left behind by that demon are truly extraordinary. I made them into a sword and a talisman. You may each take one. They may prove helpful when you are Slaying Demons and Eliminating Evils in the future.

"Please, take a look—"

Two equipment-looting prompts immediately appeared before them, and they were free to choose.

[Ebony Sword (Single Handed Sword/Excellent)

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

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

Item Description: A longsword made from Demon Blood Ebony. Not only was it exceptionally sharp, but it also carried a faint trace of magical power, slightly increasing the potency of spells.

The blade, stained with demon blood, could also gain the power of Spirit Slaying through the nourishment of blood.]

[Divine Wood Talisman (Amulet/Excellent)

Attribute: Spirit +5.

Amulet Effect: Evil Purging Art. Dispel one demon art/ghost curse-type spell effect on a target. Cooldown: 30 minutes.

Item Description: A protective talisman crafted using a Spiritual Tree Core. The divine power remaining within the core could dispel Demonic Energy and protect you from the disturbances of demons, ghosts, and evil gods.]

They were both good items, Xiao Jie thought in admiration.

But he did not choose immediately.

He turned his gaze toward I Want to Become Immortal beside him.

"You triggered this Serendipitous Encounter, so you pick first," he said to I Want to Become Immortal.

They were both good items, but rules were rules. I Want to Become Immortal had triggered the Serendipitous Encounter, and Xiao Jie had merely shared the quest with him. Even if he had helped out, I Want to Become Immortal should choose the reward first.

"Ah, how could I do that?"

"Fuck, if I'm telling you to pick, then pick. Quit talking nonsense."

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

That thing had the Spirit Slaying effect. In other words, with that sword, he could damage ghosts. Wang Kai's story about the Night Ghoul had scared him badly before.

That thing was physically immune. Ordinary players had no way to fight it at all. Now that he had this sword, he at least had a chance to resist.

Xiao Jie was not surprised by the choice. No matter what game it was, weapons were usually the priority.

Still, the Divine Wood Talisman was not bad either. It came with a dispel spell and added 5 Spirit. Besides, he used a blade himself, so it suited him just fine.

Although he had not received any monetary reward, this magical artifact was enough to leave Xiao Jie filled with Contentment.

After leaving the Village Chief's house, both of them were quite pleased with the gains from this Serendipitous Encounter.

"Come find me whenever something like this happens again," Xiao Jie said. He could tell that I Want to Become Immortal had pretty good luck. He might run into more Serendipitous Encounters in the future, so Xiao Jie needed to secure his spot early.

"Definitely, definitely." I Want to Become Immortal hurriedly agreed. He was also glad to have an expert helping him accept the quest. Otherwise, if he had rashly gone to chop down that tree, he would probably be dead by now.

After saying goodbye, he went off to handle his own business.

Right, I still have five attribute points unassigned. Xiao Jie remembered.

He checked his current attributes.

Constitution: 9.

Endurance: 8.

Strength: 8.

Agility: 12.

Advanced Attributes—

Spirit: 12+5.

Spirituality: 10.

Perception: 9.

Faith: 7.

It was still uncertain whether this game had any items for resetting attributes, so allocating points required extreme caution.

It would be terrible if he assigned them incorrectly.

However, Xiao Jie had long considered his build.

In the early stages, he definitely needed to prioritize basic attributes. Without spells, he had to rely entirely on physical damage, so naturally he needed to stack his basic attributes first.

Strictly speaking, all four attributes were important to players.

Constitution directly affected the length of the Health Bar and the player's survivability, so it naturally had to be increased.

Strength affected physical damage, so it could not be too low either.

Endurance affected stamina and carrying capacity, so it was equally indispensable. Without stamina, he would not be able to run away or jump very far.

Then there was Agility. Speed was far too important. With high Agility, he could run if he could not win. With low Agility, he would not even be able to escape.

Of course, future point allocation would need to have a focus.

Based on Xiao Jie's understanding of the game, he felt there were probably two main build paths: Strength and Agility.

A Strength build meant heavy armor and heavy swords, relying on powerful defense and destructive force to clash head-on with monsters. Heavy armor would absorb the monsters' attacks, while heavy weapons would cut down enemies from the front.

The advantage of this style was its high margin for error. Taking one or two hits would not matter much, and it did not demand as much skill.

The downside was that it lacked flexibility and had high equipment requirements. Without good armor, it would probably feel awful.

And to wear heavy armor, Endurance would need to be raised as well. That meant Constitution, Endurance, and Strength all needed points, so attribute points would probably be very scarce.

An Agility build, on the other hand, would follow the dodge route. He would avoid getting hit by monsters as much as possible. As long as they could not touch him, he would not die.

Therefore, an Agility build did not need overly heavy armor, allowing him to invest fewer points in Endurance. It would require fewer attribute points later on and be easier to transition from.

If he switched to a magic build later, he would need to invest in advanced attributes. At that point, attribute points would become extremely scarce.

An Agility build only needed Constitution and Agility, saving quite a few attribute points.

Therefore, Xiao Jie currently planned to follow an Agility build, though the other three attributes could not be too low either.

Strength needed to reach at least 20 so he could easily wield most swords and blades.

Endurance also needed to reach 20 so he would have enough stamina to use combat skills and fight.

Since he would need to raise them eventually anyway, Xiao Jie decided to make up for his shortcomings first.

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

Constitution: 10.

Endurance: 10.

Strength: 10.

Agility: 12.

Seeing that it was almost dark, Xiao Jie logged out of the game.

He moved his body around and could clearly feel that it seemed to have grown a little stronger.

After taking off his clothes and looking in the mirror, his formerly somewhat pale and thin body now looked far more balanced. He could even see the faint lines of muscle.

Not bad. Once he gained a few more levels and raised all four basic attributes to 20, his physical condition would absolutely surpass that of ordinary people. At the very least, he would reach the level of an athlete.