After taking out the two Refined Steel Miao Sabers, Li Wei checked them with Eye of Perception and found that several new details had appeared in their item attributes.
"Weapon: Refined Steel Miao Saber. Forged from hundred-refined iron from the Miao Border. Damage: 7–13, +1 Agility, +1 Strength. Sharpness: 6. Quality: Superior. Item Level: 7. Exchange value: 1,024 points. Dropped by Black Miao Tribesmen in the Sword Immortal World. Drop rate: 2%."
"Item Level? There's even a drop location?" Li Wei narrowed his eyes. Almost instantly, he knew he'd made the right call buying Eye of Perception.
He looked at the weapons on the surrounding stalls. Under Eye of Perception, they also displayed several new attributes—not just Item Level, but detailed information about the story world they dropped in and their drop rates. That was huge.
This meant that, in the future, he could target specific enemies in story worlds to obtain rare items. But that was for later. Li Wei's main goal right now was to earn enough points to buy an inner cultivation manual.
The two sharp Miao Sabers quickly caught the attention of passersby.
"Hey, would you mind letting me take a look at those sabers?" asked a man approaching in a suit of "strange" armor.
The armor he wore resembled ancient studded armor, made from sturdy leather and metal. A glint of crimson flashed in Li Wei's eyes, and the man's information, along with the attributes of his armor, appeared before him.
"ID: 793. Human (Swordsman). Strength: 11. Agility: 15. Spirit: 2. Stamina: 9... Skills: Guide Art (LV3), Intermediate Swordsmanship Mastery. Destructive Power: 53. Overall Rating: D (2)."
"Item: Wolf Spirit Officer's Studded Armor. A fine piece of armor made from beast hide and refined iron. +3 Strength, +2 Agility, +1 Stamina. Defense: 43. Quality: Superior. Item Level: 11. Dropped by a Wolf Spirit Officer in the Blade and Sword World. Drop rate: 15%."
He was an experienced veteran!
His ID alone made that clear. His stats and level made him the strongest person Li Wei had seen so far, and the armor he wore was a superb piece of equipment. Few people on Shadow Street wore armor from a story world.
"Go ahead." Li Wei pointed to the sabers without betraying his thoughts, looking every bit like a seasoned merchant.
The man nodded and reached out to touch a saber. He was evidently using the Yellow Paper to check its attributes; with only two points of Spirit, he couldn't possibly have learned a skill like Eye of Perception.
"Fine blades!" He gripped a saber in both hands and swung it a few times. The blade cleaved through the air with a hiss. He was clearly skilled with a blade. Then, looking satisfied, he said, "I'll take them. Name your price."
Weapons like the Refined Steel Miao Saber were rare across the entire market. Li Wei considered it briefly but didn't give a price outright.
"I need an inner cultivation manual. If you have one, I can trade this weapon and some points for it. Preferably a high-level manual."
Li Wei had just realized that a veteran like this man was bound to have plenty of good items. Perhaps he could trade for something worthwhile.
The man was clearly taken aback. After hesitating for a moment, he moved his hand, and a palm-sized, blue-green handwritten booklet appeared in it. He held it as if it were a treasure, and the gesture immediately caught Li Wei's attention.
"This is an inner cultivation manual I got during a Rank B team mission in Legend of Jin Yong Heroes. It's the Quanzhen Sect's Innate Skill. I'd planned to keep it for myself, but I might sell it if your offer is right."
As if recalling some terrible memory, a trace of fear flashed in his eyes. Clearly, obtaining the manual had not been easy.
Li Wei's eyes lit up as he looked at the manual.
"Innate Skill (Masterwork). C-Rank inner cultivation method. Can be cultivated to the seventh level. Each level gained: +3 Strength, +2 Agility, +2 Stamina, +30 Inner Energy. Difficulty: Hard... 'Reach the pinnacle of martial arts and attain the innate realm.' Created by Wang Chongyang, founding patriarch of the Quanzhen Religion. Tremendous power... Hidden attributes: Item Level 32. Dropped after defeating the Seven Quanzhen Masters in Legend of Jin Yong Heroes. Drop rate: 1%!"
A top-tier item!
This was exactly what he'd been looking for. It was a C-Rank cultivation method, a Masterwork item. With this inner cultivation method and Cloud-Piercing Palm, his stats would make a qualitative leap.
After thinking it over, Li Wei reasoned that since the man already had such superb armor, what he lacked was a good weapon. The Refined Steel Miao Saber wasn't anything extraordinary, but it was still a fine item by market standards. Few pieces of equipment could directly improve one's base stats.
"One Refined Steel Miao Saber plus 4,000 points. That's everything I can offer." Li Wei stared into the man's eyes as he made his offer.
The man frowned. Clearly, the offer wasn't what he'd hoped for.
"Two sabers, plus 8,000 points. Otherwise, forget it." As a veteran, he had plenty of experience judging the value of such items. The price was a little high, but still reasonable.
He clearly didn't have the overpowered skill Eye of Perception. An inner cultivation method with an Item Level of 12, such as Purple Mist Divine Skill, was already worth more than 5,000 points. This Innate Skill had an Item Level of 32—it could definitely fetch over 30,000 points.
Besides, he practiced swordsmanship. Li Wei knew that a cultivation method that purely boosted stats wasn't the first choice for a "swordsman" like him.
But what good did knowing all that do? Li Wei didn't have 8,000 points right now, and besides the Refined Steel Miao Sabers, he had nothing else to trade.
Perhaps he saw how seriously Li Wei was hesitating. The veteran also seemed to realize that his price was a little high. After all, Refined Steel Miao Sabers with bonus attributes were rare, and each could fetch more than 2,000 points.
Still, he wouldn't lower the price. On Shadow Street, strength was the most important thing if you wanted to survive. He'd planned to sell the Innate Skill from the start to get the points he needed to buy the Guide Art (LV4) sword manual.
He'd just seen Guide Art (LV4) at another stall. It was priced at 15,000 points—a price even he couldn't accept. After all, there were only a handful of people on all of Shadow Street who could produce 5,000 points at once, let alone 15,000.
But he'd already learned Guide Art LV3. If he wanted to grow stronger, he had to get his hands on Guide Art LV4.
Fortunately, during the previous story mission, he'd snatched the Innate Skill from more than a dozen veterans. This time, he was counting on it to get a Level Four Guide Art sword manual, so he wouldn't budge on the price.
"Have you made up your mind? If you don't have the points, don't waste my time!" Afraid someone might snatch up that Guide Art LV4, the veteran kept glancing at the stall selling it in the distance.
As it happened, Li Wei noticed his gaze.
Following the man's eyes, Li Wei saw the Skill Book: "Guide Art LV4. D-Rank sword technique. A fragment from a swordsmanship masterwork, containing profound sword techniques..."
Priced at 15,000 points?
Thinking about the man's skills, Li Wei immediately came up with an idea.
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