"Congratulations. You're the first person to get an artifact-grade item from one of this shop's jars."
Lin Xiao put on a professional... fake smile.
He harbored some resentment toward the system, too.
Are you deliberately trying to mess with my head?
Dungeon City had so much artifact equipment-powerful pieces, average pieces, passable pieces. There had to be hundreds, if not thousands.
He wasn't asking for some mighty piece of gear like the Skeleton's Bone Ring, which increased counterattack damage by forty percent.
But why did it have to be Second Brother's Inflatable Buddy?
Besides, this world doesn't even have female livestreamers...
"Gasp..."
"He really got an artifact?"
As those words fell, Ghost Leopard Douluo, who had been listening intently nearby, sucked in a breath of cold air.
That word was simply too jarring.
An artifact!
In the soul master world of the Douluo Continent, it was a word that existed only in legends.
Many soul masters didn't even know that artifacts existed on the Douluo Continent.
Yet Demon Bear had actually gotten one?
Unbelievable.
Truly unbelievable.
"Heavens!"
"I'm not dreaming, am I?"
Demon Bear Douluo was utterly stunned.
One moment, he had been lamenting the Little Shop's greed, and the next, a windfall of good fortune had dropped from the sky?
Life really was full of soaring highs and plunging lows.
"Boss, I was wrong. I deeply repent for my earlier disrespect."
"Can you forgive me?"
He sincerely felt that he had completely misjudged Lin Xiao.
How could someone willing to put artifacts in jars possibly be a greedy swindler out to cheat him of his money?
In all his life, he, Demon Bear Douluo, had never met anyone more generous than Boss Lin!
No.
He doubted he would meet anyone like that in his next life, either.
In fact, he had made up his mind: opening jars himself wasn't enough.
He ought to teach his children and grandchildren to open jars, too.
Hmm... provided he had children and grandchildren.
"It's all right."
Lin Xiao assured him it was fine.
Ever since the first day he received this damned jar-opening system, Lin Xiao had been somewhat mentally prepared for all the things that might happen.
Fortunately...
He was invincible inside the Little Shop.
That gave Lin Xiao a sense of security.
By then, Demon Bear Douluo had picked up the pink wooden club. Looking puzzled, he asked, "Please tell me what this artifact does, Boss..."
What it does?
Lin Xiao couldn't help clearing his throat. "Ahem. This artifact is called Second Brother's Inflatable Buddy. When you attack, it has a certain chance of stunning and poisoning the enemy..."
Second Brother's Inflatable Buddy. What a... distinctive name.
Yet in the brief moment Demon Bear Douluo spent in a daze, Lin Xiao had already finished his explanation. "That's it?"
"That's it."
Isn't this artifact a fake...? Demon Bear Douluo was dumbfounded.
As far as he knew, artifacts possessed enough power to destroy heaven and earth.
He had never heard of one that merely stunned and poisoned people.
More importantly, those effects only had a chance of activating.
I hate probabilities...
Demon Bear Douluo thought bitterly.
"Actually, it's hard to say just how powerful this artifact is."
Seeing Demon Bear Douluo's disappointed face and Ghost Leopard Douluo's hesitation, Lin Xiao knew he couldn't remain silent.
"Is there something else to it?"
Ghost Leopard Douluo's gaze sharpened slightly.
Demon Bear Douluo also turned toward Lin Xiao, ready to hear how he would try to explain his way out of this.
"You're both soul masters, so you should know that when an opponent has a higher soul power level and greater strength, a soul master's control skills lose duration and effectiveness.
"But Second Brother's Inflatable Buddy doesn't work that way. In other words, if you trigger its stun effect while using it, the stun won't weaken even if your opponent is far stronger than you."
"Besides, is a two-percent stun chance really that low?
"It's not. Fifty attacks guarantee one stun that ignores level differences. What more could you want? This already gives you the ability to challenge opponents above your level. As long as you attack fast enough, what's the difference between a two-percent chance and a hundred-percent chance?"
"A hundred-percent stun chance, a stun that ignores level differences, and a bonus poison effect on top of that-isn't that powerful?"
Lin Xiao wasn't making this up. That was how it worked in the game.
These customers had already walked through his door. He couldn't just watch them leave, could he?
The wool had to come from the sheep. If Lin Xiao wanted to open jars, he had to get them to open jars first.
"When you put it that way, that's true..."
Ghost Leopard Douluo looked at the pink wooden club in Demon Bear Douluo's hand, his eyes burning with desire.
For an agility-type Titled Douluo like him, launching fifty attacks in an instant couldn't have been easier.
And once an opponent was stunned, wouldn't they be his to toy with however he pleased?
"You're right, Boss. I was too narrow-minded just now."
"If it's really as the shopkeeper says, those hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins weren't wasted at all. In fact, I made an absolute killing."
Demon Bear Douluo sighed inwardly.
He had been too impulsive just now.
Even though speed wasn't Demon Bear Douluo's specialty, attacking fifty times in an instant wasn't particularly difficult. Moreover, he still had plenty of room for improvement.
With that thought, Demon Bear Douluo looked down at his right hand.
He was already pondering how to improve his hand speed...
"So, would you like to keep opening jars?"
Keep opening them?
Faced with Lin Xiao's question, Demon Bear Douluo hesitated.
He still wanted to test the artifact's power before deciding.
Ghost Leopard Douluo frowned and stepped back behind Demon Bear Douluo.
Although he coveted Demon Bear Douluo's artifact...
He could also see that this was far too dependent on chance.
"I do have a suggestion. Since you've already opened two, why not keep going? Open seven more jars, and you'll get a jar with double rewards. This could be a chance to defy heaven and change your fate. If you're lucky, the benefits could be enormous."
Seeing their indecision, Lin Xiao played his trump card. "Oh, right. You know Snake Lance Douluo, don't you? When he opened jars earlier, all he got were worthless things like rusty katanas. But in his final double-reward jar, he got two Amplifiers."
"Gasp."
"So that's where She Long's two Amplifiers came from."
At those words, both Demon Bear Douluo and Ghost Leopard Douluo drew in sharp breaths.
So She Long had endured this torment, too.
"A million Gold Soul Coins is certainly a lot, but for people of your standing, it shouldn't be that difficult to obtain, should it? Work hard for a year or two, then open a few jars and enjoy the benefits for the rest of your lives. Isn't that worth it?"
"Think about it. Money sitting there is really just a pile of precious metal. Only when you actually spend it and benefit from it does it fulfill its true purpose. Do you still not understand what it means to create happiness with money?"
After finishing his speech, Lin Xiao quietly watched the two of them.
He had said everything that needed saying and offered all the persuasion he could.
Surely that would dispel their concerns about opening jars.
Being able to buy greater strength might come at too steep a price for many people, or even many soul masters. But Ghost Leopard and Demon Bear were both elders of the Spirit Hall, important figures in the soul master world. Money wasn't much of a problem for them.
If luck isn't enough, make up the difference with money... Demon Bear Douluo gritted his teeth. "Boss, say no more."
"I'll open them!"
"I'll open them, all right?!"
Thank you to all the readers.
And an even bigger thank-you to the readers who also voted.
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