Strength Increased Again

Wangpan Mountain was littered with corpses. Both in quantity and quality, they far surpassed those from the Dragon Gate Escort Agency incident. After all, every NPC who had died in this event was a martial artist; not a single one lacked martial arts skills.

Even the lowest-ranking members of the three gangs provided Ye Weiming with around 20 proficiency points each.

There were also the corpses of five bosses, each of which gave Ye Weiming over 2,000 proficiency points.

They were Yuan Guangbo, chief of the Sea Sand Gang; Mai Jing, leader of the Giant Whale Gang; Guo Sanquan, master of the Divine Fist Sect; and Gao Zecheng and Jiang Tao, two Kunlun Sect disciples.

Yuan Guangbo had contributed "Internal Skill Insights," which naturally went toward the Breathing Technique.

Mai Jing had contributed "Polearm Mastery Insights." There were not many players who used polearms to begin with, and Ye Weiming had even less intention of training in another weapon discipline. He used it directly, triggering cross-discipline insight into Eight-Step Toad Leap and raising his already formidable lightness skill by another level.

Guo Sanquan had provided "Boxing Insights." Since Ye Weiming likewise had no boxing martial art, he could only trigger cross-discipline insight again. This time, however, the result was far from ideal—it had somehow gone into Moon Maiden Swordplay.

Although Ye Weiming had relied on Moon Maiden Swordplay as his primary means of attack until now, once this mission was complete, he would soon receive an intermediate sword technique. At that point, this Moon Maiden Swordplay would definitely be phased out. Piling proficiency onto it now would only be a waste.

With that in mind, he did not rush to use the "Swordsmanship Insights" provided by the final two Kunlun disciples. He planned to wait until he returned to the Divine Constable Bureau and add that precious proficiency to his intermediate sword technique instead.

After more than half a day of fussing about—collecting corpses, burying people, and triggering all kinds of cross-discipline insights—Ye Weiming's attributes became...

Ye Weiming

Level: 14

Vitality: 760/760

Internal Energy: 550/550

Physique: 73

Arm Strength: 73

Agility: 178

Reaction: 73

Aptitude: 25

Comprehension: 29

Breathing Technique (Low-grade) Level: 7

Proficiency: 3608/6400

Vitality +350, Internal Energy +350

Physique +35, Arm Strength +35, Agility +35, Reaction +35

Moon Maiden Swordplay (Low-grade)

Level: 8

Proficiency: 1036/12800

Power +80%, Accuracy +80%

Eight-Step Toad Leap (Beginner)

Level: 5

Proficiency: 886/4000

Agility +100

Tai Shan's Secret (Ultimate Art)

Level: 1

Proficiency: 512/1000

Attack Damage +10%, Hit Rate +10%, Critical Damage +10%.

Can activate an active effect in battle to calculate flaws in the enemy's moves and defeat them in a single strike!

Equipment

Flying Fish Robe: Standard-issue equipment of the Divine Constable Bureau.

Physical Defense +30, Internal Defense +30, Vitality Limit +100.

Woven Palm Hat: Standard-issue equipment of the Divine Constable Bureau.

Physical Defense +10, Internal Defense +10, Internal Energy Limit +50.

Long Official Boots: Standard-issue equipment of the Divine Constable Bureau.

Defense +5, Agility +5.

Green Bamboo Sword: A treasured sword forged using the Poison Scripture Secret Method of the Miao Territory.

Attack Power +150, Agility +5, Poison Damage +5.

To avoid any further complications, Ye Weiming buried every corpse, including Chen Ming's body that he had carried around all this time. He then immediately took a boat back to the Central Plains, transferred to a carriage, returned to Tokyo Bianliang City, and found You Jin to submit the mission.

Only after hearing the mission prompt did he finally breathe a sigh of relief:

Ding! You have uncovered the truth behind the Dragon Gate Escort Agency Massacre Case and successfully apprehended Zang Yue, one of the Skyhawk Sect disciples involved in the case. You have completed the "Dragon Gate Escort Agency" mission exceptionally well. Mission rewards: 7,000 experience, 700 cultivation, 20 gold, and one copy of the "Dragon-Phoenix Dance" swordplay manual.

The mission completion rating had gone up again?

But what did apprehending Zang Yue mean?

Ye Weiming immediately carried forward the fine Chinese tradition of asking without shame. He then learned the answer from You Jin. "Due to the special nature of game players, capturing one alive is practically an impossible task. To facilitate law enforcement by the Divine Constable Bureau, as long as you personally kill a player involved in a case during a mission, they will automatically revive in the Divine Constable Bureau's prison. Depending on the severity of the case, they will receive a sentence ranging from over one hour to under twenty-four hours of imprisonment, or even exile and penal servitude."

"At the same time, if Divine Constable Bureau players are maliciously attacked by other players while carrying out missions, killing the malicious attacker will also cause them to revive in the Divine Constable Bureau's prison, where they will receive one to three hours of imprisonment for obstructing official duties."

That rule was awesome!

Still excited, Ye Weiming had just wanted to check out how impressive the intermediate sword technique called "Dragon-Phoenix Dance" was when You Jin suddenly asked, "Weiming, is the weapon you have equipped now the Green Bamboo Sword from the Miao Territory?"

Weiming?

Were they really that close?

Though he inwardly complained about You Jin's overfamiliar behavior, Ye Weiming still put on the appearance of a model student and obediently answered, "Commander You is absolutely correct. The Dragon Spring Sword issued by the Divine Constable Bureau was destroyed during my battle with Xie Xun. Fortunately, I obtained this Green Bamboo Sword, so I was not left weaponless. Is there something wrong with this sword?"

"Of course there is!"

You Jin continued in his utterly unpleasant voice, "First, this sword does not possess the Internal Energy-enhancing property shared by almost all weapons of blue quality or above. It offers no boost to Internal Energy. Of course, its sharpness is enough to make up for that shortcoming. The real problem with this sword lies elsewhere—its poison attribute!"

Was there something wrong with its poison attribute? Could it harm its wielder?

Ye Weiming wore a baffled expression, but You Jin continued, "There are certain taboos regarding the use of poisoned weapons in the martial world. If you belong to a sect skilled in poison, like the Tang Clan, or to an unorthodox faction such as the demonic cults, that is one thing. But if you are a disciple of a righteous sect, or from a neutral faction like the Divine Constable Bureau, using a poisoned weapon will deduct Chivalry Points. And the more you use it, the more Chivalry Points will be deducted."

Ye Weiming was startled. "There's such a rule?"

Chivalry Points were a rather special attribute in Eternal Chivalry and had an enormous impact on players. If a disciple of a righteous sect, like Yin Bukui, let their Chivalry Points fall too low, they would be expelled from their sect outright. Even in a neutral faction like the Divine Constable Bureau, where there was no pressure from one's sect, it would still directly affect NPCs' attitudes toward you.

Upon learning that the Green Bamboo Sword had such a negative effect, Ye Weiming could not help but take it seriously.

He hurriedly asked, "Is the deduction severe?"

You Jin gave Ye Weiming a meaningful look and calmly replied, "If you use it to kill monsters and level up, and your targets are ordinary mobs that endanger the martial world, then with your current strength, you can probably keep your Chivalry Points from either increasing or decreasing."

In fact, players accumulated a certain amount of Chivalry Points whether they completed missions or killed monsters. However, monster killing accumulated them rather slowly. With Ye Weiming's current strength, spending an entire day grinding at a leveling spot would basically earn him only two or three Chivalry Points.

According to You Jin, however, using the Green Bamboo Sword for one day would deduct two or three Chivalry Points!

Frowning slightly, Ye Weiming suddenly had a bold idea. Perhaps it could resolve this troublesome issue.

"Thank you for the reminder, Commander You. I'll be careful."

After sincerely thanking You Jin, Ye Weiming finally took out the intermediate sword technique he had just received. Once he looked at its attributes, the tiny bit of goodwill he had just developed toward this stone-faced man was immediately washed away without a trace.

"Commander You, can I exchange this sword technique for another one?"

Thanks to reader Dirt-Eating Youth for the generous 100 Qidian Coin reward!

Also looking for recommendation votes and favorites...