The city lord's treasury, choosing resources!

The treasury.

There were no guards stationed here, only an old man reclining in a chair for a nap. It was exceptionally peaceful.

"Qian Hai greets the young master."

Seeing Lin An arrive, the old man hurried to his feet and approached him respectfully.

"You are..." Lin An paused, having no recollection of this old man.

"It's only natural that you don't remember me, young master. I was the steward of the city lord's manor when the old city lord was still alive."

The old man explained with a smile, "The current steward, Qian Yang, is my son."

The old city lord was Lin An's grandfather, but he had died over ten years ago.

"So you're Elder Qian." Lin An returned the greeting, his tone respectful. "I've come to the treasury mainly to choose some techniques and collect some resources. This is the token Father gave me."

Qian Hai did not inspect the token. With a kindly smile, he said, "The city lord has already informed me. Please come inside, young master."

With that, Qian Hai turned and opened the treasury doors, leading Lin An inside.

"Young master, the treasury has three floors. Each holds treasures such as pills, natural treasures, weapons, and techniques."

Qian Hai explained as they walked, "The first floor mainly holds black iron- and bronze-quality treasures, the second holds silver-quality treasures, and the third holds gold-quality treasures and above."

Listening to Qian Hai's introduction, Lin An swept his gaze over the dazzling array of treasures in the treasury and could not help marveling inwardly. As expected of the city lord's treasury. Its reserves really are substantial. This was only the first floor, yet there were already many treasures he had never even heard of in his previous life.

Qian Hai stopped and turned to ask, "What types of techniques do you need, young master?"

"I'd like offensive, defensive, and movement techniques," Lin An said.

"Young master, you're currently at the black iron realm, so Bronze Tier techniques are the highest you should practice in these three categories. If their quality is too high, setting aside the difficulty of learning them, you'll also struggle to put them to use," Qian Hai said.

"That's what I was thinking too."

Lin An nodded. The Lin Clan Cultivation Technique was only a cultivation technique, so there was no issue of being unable to use it because his realm was too low.

But the three types of techniques he had just mentioned were different.

Even if he could master them using attribute points, without sufficient strength, a single move would drain him dry.

"Please follow me, young master. The technique section is over here. There should be something to your liking."

Qian Hai led Lin An to a section filled with bookshelves, upon which sat manuals for various techniques.

The lowest were Black Iron Tier, and the highest were Bronze Tier.

Offensive techniques fell into two categories: weapon techniques and unarmed techniques.

Lin An intended to learn a saber technique. Rather than the flashy moves of other weapons, he preferred cutting someone down with a single slash.

"If you wish to learn a saber technique, young master, you could take a look at this one." As Qian Hai spoke, he picked up a manual and handed it to Lin An.

The Wind-Breaking Saber Technique was Bronze Tier, also known as the Three Wind-Breaking Forms, and consisted of three moves.

They were Gale Slash, Whirling Wind Slash, and Wind-Breaking Slash.

Gale Slash excelled in speed, allowing multiple strikes against a target in a short time.

Whirling Wind Slash unleashed dense saber light centered on the user, making it an area-of-effect move.

Wind-Breaking Slash was effectively an ultimate move.

It gathered power along the saber's edge to inflict tremendous damage on a target.

Moreover, if this technique was cultivated to perfection, it could harness the wind to increase its destructive power.

"What's special about this technique?" Lin An asked. Since Qian Hai had recommended it, there had to be a reason.

"Young master, the city lord learned this saber technique back in his day as well. Its three moves also make it very well-rounded. It ranks among the best Bronze Tier techniques and is very suitable as a transitional choice," Qian Hai said.

Lin An nodded. Since his bargain-bin father had given it his seal of approval, there was no need to look at other saber techniques.

After choosing his saber technique, Lin An began selecting movement and defensive techniques.

In the end, following Qian Hai's recommendations, Lin An chose Flowing Cloud Steps and the Black Armor Technique.

"Flowing Cloud Steps offers powerful bursts of speed and excels at evasion and high-speed movement. Once cultivated to perfection, it can harness the wind to increase your speed, complementing the Wind-Breaking Saber Technique."

"The Black Armor Technique strengthens the body. Once cultivated to perfection, it forms a thin membrane over the skin that blades cannot penetrate."

Qian Hai smiled and said, "Even after you break through to the bronze realm, young master, these three techniques will remain useful for a while."

"Thank you, Elder Qian."

Without Qian Hai's recommendations, Lin An really would not have known how to choose from so many techniques before him.

"You're too kind, young master. Since you're going to practice a saber technique, you'll need a saber as well. Why not choose one?" Qian Hai said.

"That was exactly my intention."

Lin An nodded. The saber his bargain-bin father had previously given him to use was gold quality.

Although he could wield it, it was not suitable for him at his current stage.

After arriving at the weapons section, Lin An soon selected a Bronze Tier straight saber on Qian Hai's recommendation.

It was about eighty centimeters long, with a straight blade and an edge as sharp as frost. When infused with spiritual power, it also had an armor-piercing effect.

After choosing his weapon, Lin An followed Qian Hai to the pill section.

There were many kinds of pills: healing pills, antidotes, physique-strengthening pills, pills for brief bursts of power, cultivation pills...

After browsing, Lin An took a hundred Lesser Spirit Pills, one Tiger Strength Pill, and some other commonly used pills.

The Tiger Strength Pill was a special pill that could grant the strength of one tiger upon consumption, equivalent to three thousand jin.

"The Tiger Strength Pill's medicinal potency is fierce. You can only take one at Black Iron Tier. You'll have to reach Bronze Tier before taking a second and third, young master," Qian Hai said.

Lin An nodded. These Tiger Strength Pills were clearly precious. Even the city lord's treasury only had three in total.

"Young master, everything you selected has been placed in this storage ring. From now on, you only need to infuse it with spiritual power to store and retrieve things yourself."

Qian Hai then took out a black storage ring and handed it to Lin An.

Lin An's eyes lit up. He had heard of storage rings in his previous life and only knew that they were extremely rare. Fewer than ten people in all of Shenglin City owned one.

He had never expected to have one of his own already.

Lin An accepted the storage ring. As his spiritual power flowed into it, he soon sensed a space measuring a full ten cubic meters.

That was already a sizable space, enough to hold plenty of things.

"Sorry for the trouble, Elder Qian."

Lin An cupped his hands.

"You're too kind, young master. If you need anything in the future, just come to the treasury," Qian Hai said with a smile.

Lin An nodded and chatted with him a little longer before leaving the treasury.

Upon returning to his courtyard, Lin An eagerly took out the things he had selected from the treasury.

"I'll take the Tiger Strength Pill later. First, I'll learn the three techniques."

Lin An picked up the Wind-Breaking Saber Technique. The moment he opened it, the game system's voice rang out.

[Would the player like to spend 3 attribute points to learn the Wind-Breaking Saber Technique?]

Compared with the Platinum Rank Lin Clan Cultivation Technique, this Bronze Tier technique cost very few attribute points.

"Yes."

[The player has successfully learned the Wind-Breaking Saber Technique. Current proficiency: beginner.]

[Technique]: Bronze Tier · Wind-Breaking Saber Technique (beginner, 0/5000 proficiency)

Looking at the proficiency required to advance from beginner to proficient, Lin An smiled. A mere five attribute points.

"Max it out!"

As soon as Lin An finished speaking, the system's voice rang out again.