Dustless Mask

It took Wu Shaozhen nearly an hour to finally make it back to Jinling City. He then headed straight for the City Lord's Manor.

As Wu Shaozhen entered Jinling City, a young man opened his friends list and sent someone a message: "Boss, that guy is back in Jinling City."

After Wu Shaozhen arrived at the City Lord's Manor and explained why he had come, the guard did not stop him this time. Instead, he led him into the hall, asked him to wait, and went to report his arrival.

Soon, the city lord of Jinling City walked in. Seeing Wu Shaozhen, he asked, "Adventurer, weren't you going to find the Chief of Black Wind Stronghold? Did you run into a problem you couldn't handle?"

Without another word, Wu Shaozhen took out the Chief of Black Wind Stronghold's head and handed it to the city lord. "No problems. I've already taken care of the Chief of Black Wind Stronghold."

"Ah!" The city lord stared at the head before him, momentarily speechless. Clearly, he had not expected Wu Shaozhen to actually kill the Chief of Black Wind Stronghold.

Only after a long while did the city lord recover and say with feeling, "A hero, and so young! Adventurer, thank you for taking care of such a major headache for me. Here is your reward."

Ding! Quest complete. Reputation +1,000, gold coins +50. Title acquired: [Bandit-Slaying Hero].

"Oh, I even got a title!" Wu Shaozhen was instantly delighted. Titles never became obsolete. He hurried to check it:

[Bandit-Slaying Hero]: Grants health +10% and defense +10% when equipped.

Very nice. Wu Shaozhen immediately equipped it, bringing his health to 6,062, physical defense to 597, and magic defense to 586. He instantly felt much tankier.

After collecting his reward, Wu Shaozhen took out the parchment and handed it to the city lord. "City Lord, the village chief of Liu Family Village asked me to deliver this to you. He wanted me to tell you that the seal has weakened, and he hopes you can send troops to help."

"Liu Family Village?" The city lord did not seem to remember it. He took the parchment from Wu Shaozhen's hand and opened it. Soon, his expression grew extremely grave.

After a long while, the city lord finally said, "Adventurer, thank you for bringing me such important news. I don't have much to offer you, but I no longer have any use for this. You can have it."

Ding! Quest complete. Item acquired: [Dustless Mask].

Wu Shaozhen took the item the city lord handed him, and delight spread across his face as he examined it. It was a mask made from some unknown material, as thin as a cicada's wing and adorned with exquisite designs. It looked far better than the ones sold in shops. Wearing it would absolutely give him the perfect air of distinction. Most importantly, the mask actually had an equip effect, which was incredible.

[Dustless Mask]: Blocks all detection skills and scrolls while equipped. The mask's appearance can be changed at will.

That effect was absolutely amazing. Although Insight could not be used on players, there would surely be skills that could inspect players later on, and there were even more scrolls that could do it. With this, he would no longer have to worry about anyone prying into his information. The mask could even change its appearance-a fantastic ability for concealing his identity.

"This is perfect for killing people and taking their loot." Beaming, Wu Shaozhen put on the [Dustless Mask] and returned the lousy shop-bought mask to his bag. He immediately felt that his entire presence had changed.

After putting on the mask, Wu Shaozhen saw that the city lord still looked troubled and asked, "City Lord, is there anything else I can help you with?"

The city lord shook his head. "I'll handle this matter. You can go for now."

"All right," Wu Shaozhen said, taking his leave.

As he reached the doorway, the city lord suddenly said, "If possible, could you help me clear out the Jungle Tigers in Tiger Roar Forest? They'll pose something of an obstacle to the troops' advance."

"Sure, leave it to me!" Wu Shaozhen assured him, patting his chest.

But even after quite a while, no quest notification appeared. Wu Shaozhen felt a little frustrated. Am I supposed to help for free?

Seeing how readily Wu Shaozhen had agreed, the city lord praised him. "Adventurer, your name is Dustseal, correct? I'll remember you. You are a hero of Jinling City. When clearing out the Jungle Tigers, be careful not to venture too deep. There is a Jungle Tiger King in there that adventurers at your current level cannot handle. If you encounter it, flee immediately."

But Wu Shaozhen's eyes lit up at the city lord's words. There's a boss?

If that was the case, helping out for free was not unacceptable. After all, that was the best place for him to level up at the moment. A powerful boss on top of that would make it even better.

He hurriedly said, "Don't worry, City Lord. I won't do anything reckless." He needed to reassure the city lord first, lest he worry too much to let him go. Although this quest offered no reward, building a good relationship with the city lord of Jinling City could only benefit him. He would have plenty of things to do in Jinling City in the future.

The city lord nodded in satisfaction, his opinion of the adventurer before him improving considerably.

After saying goodbye to the city lord, Wu Shaozhen left the City Lord's Manor and went to the warehouse. He retrieved the [Brutal Charge] Skill Book and listed it at the Auction House. Now was the perfect time to sell it; he had already seen plenty of people looking to buy Skill Books in the public chat.

Under the bidding system, the price of [Brutal Charge] soared, eventually selling for 550,000 and setting another record for the highest single sale at the Auction House.

Wu Shaozhen looked thoroughly satisfied as another 460,000-plus entered his account. He had held on to this skill until now precisely to get a good price, and the Skill Book had not disappointed him. He had thought 300,000 would be about the limit, but it had shot straight up to 550,000. Apparently, demand for skills was even greater than demand for equipment. That made sense, though. Skills never became obsolete, and the more you had, the better. Equipment would eventually become outdated, so skills fetched much higher prices.

Looking at his balance, which had already exceeded three million, Wu Shaozhen felt even more eager to buy a home. He had never dreamed he could earn money this quickly.

"Looks like I need to keep hunting bosses. This still isn't enough to buy a home in SZ," Wu Shaozhen sighed.

Wu Shaozhen went to the Medicine Shop and checked its wares. They were indeed considerably better than those in the Novice Village.

Red Potion (small): Restores 200 health per second for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Price: 5 silver coins.

Red Potion (medium): Restores 300 health per second for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Price: 10 silver coins.

Red Potion (large): Restores 500 health per second for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Price: 50 silver coins.

There were also Blue Potions in small, medium, and large sizes.

The potions in the main city were indeed much more effective than those in the Novice Village, but their prices were much higher too. Even Wu Shaozhen, with his enormous funds, was a little reluctant to buy them.

In the end, Wu Shaozhen spent 10 gold coins on 20 large Red Potions, then another 10 gold coins on 100 medium Red Potions.

He bought so many potions to prepare for the boss he would be facing next. Judging by the city lord's words, the boss in Tiger Roar Forest was definitely no ordinary foe. Extra potions would help keep him alive.

After buying the potions, Wu Shaozhen got rid of all the leftover Red Potions from the Novice Village and tidied up his bag. Only the monsters in the Novice Village seemed to drop potions, probably to help newcomers who could not afford them. Since arriving in the main city, he had not had a single potion drop. He could only buy them himself.

Once he had finished all that, Wu Shaozhen logged off. It was almost mealtime anyway, so he could grab something to eat before heading out.