83: Chapter 83 Opening Treasure Chests

Zhang Mu arrived at the inn in Bala City.

Upon arrival, he immediately rushed to the first floor to ask the receptionist behind the counter, but unfortunately, no one had come looking for him.

Scratching his head, he decided to go out for a stroll.

The streets of Bala City were as bustling with people as usual.

However, the proportion of Adventurers wearing light armor or dressed as magicians was much smaller.

Most were ordinary citizens in linen clothes.

Weaving through the crowd, he went to the tavern, and the message he had left on the bulletin board by the door was still there.

He wandered through other streets until the sunset turned the white clouds blood-red, but he still couldn't find those three elves.

Then he would go to the labyrinth to settle accounts first.

Head bowed in thought, Zhang Mu walked toward the city gate.

Just as he reached a spot not far from the city gate, he suddenly heard a familiar shout.

"Mr. Zhang Mu!"

Looking up, he saw Alice waving and bouncing towards him from the dark gateway, while Saldari and Frederica walked quickly side by side.

Grabbing Zhang Mu's arm and shaking it, Alice was extremely excited: "Where did you go, Mr. Zhang Mu? We've been looking for you for days!"

"Her Highness was so worried, she thought you had run into some big trouble."

Zhang Mu couldn't stand being shaken anymore: "Stop, stop, stop! I've been waiting for you at the inn all these days."

"I even left a secret message for you at the tavern."

Frederica, who had approached them, couldn't help but want to scold him: "We couldn't find you anywhere, how could we possibly be in the mood to go to the tavern?"

"Uh..."

Only then did he realize that there was a serious information gap between them.

For Zhang Mu, personal safety was never something he took to heart, but it was different for Frederica and the others who didn't know he had the resurrection function.

Thinking about how they had been searching for him non-stop for days, he smiled apologetically: "Sorry, my fault."

Immediately, he waved his hand: "Let's not worry about this for now. The treasure chests haven't been opened yet; let's go open the treasure chests before discussing anything else."

Mentioning the treasure chests, the three elves also became interested.

After all, these were silver treasure chests. Having only ever encountered wooden, iron, and copper chests, they were very curious about what was inside.

The group didn't return to the inn, but instead went straight to the tavern and opened a private room.

As they entered the main door, Frederica keenly caught sight of the secret message Zhang Mu had left on the bulletin board by the door.

Her expression became somewhat complex.

Entering the private room, they sat around a round table. After the bartender finished serving the drinks, Zhang Mu reached into his storage bag, but in reality, he summoned his inventory and took out the four silver treasure chests one by one, placing them in the center of the round table.

The silver treasure chests were not very big, roughly the size of four palms.

Under the curious gazes of the three elves, Zhang Mu lifted the lid of the first chest, and a magic necklace lay at the bottom.

Judging by the diamond-shaped, milky-white crystal embedded in the exquisite pendant, it was a light-attribute magic accessory.

"I can use that!" Alice stood up, her eyes gleaming as she stared at the necklace in Zhang Mu's hand.

"Then it's yours."

He tossed it to her casually and then took out a book from underneath.

On the book cover were two magical characters — Severing.

It was a Knight Techniques manual. Since Saldari was the only warrior present, Zhang Mu threw it to him.

Catching it with his hand, he saw what it was and beamed with a smile: "Mr. Zhang Mu, thank you very much."

"Why thank me? These four treasure chests were something Frederica and I snatched together."

Zhang Mu felt a bit uninterested. First, he couldn't use these things, and second, what kind of silver treasure chest was this? It only contained two treasures inside.

He opened the second one.

This time it was even more absurd; there was only a bottle of orange-yellow potion inside.

Taking it out and holding it up to examine, Zhang Mu muttered to himself in confusion: "What kind of potion is this? The potions my teacher taught me didn't have this color."

"Blessing Potion," Frederica seemed to recognize it. "It can increase magic power level by two tiers for a short time, but it only works on those below High-level Magician."

That meant it was useless. Zhang Mu rolled his eyes and handed the potion to Alice.

He opened the third treasure chest.

This time, there were only two books inside.

Taking out the first one, Zhang Mu saw the cover — Magic Shield.

"I can use this thing."

Alice was a priest, and the defensive magic she needed to learn was Holy Light Shield. She couldn't learn Magic Shield, so Zhang Mu accepted it without hesitation.

At the same time, he had already successfully learned it using his panel.

Unsurprisingly, the parentheses after the skill showed the words "Insufficient casting conditions."

This thing required the total magic power of a High-level Magician to sustain.

Not caring, he took out the second book.

Puppet Art.

Zhang Mu narrowed his eyes slightly. Was it the kind of "Puppet Art" that controlled others, or...

He silently recited "learn" in his heart.

Information related to the magic surged into his mind like a flood.

After fully grasping it, he couldn't help but feel excited.

He hadn't guessed wrong; it was the technique for creating mechanical puppets. It was exactly what he needed. Now he had a way to solve the issue of disciples and masters in the "Cultivation Sect."

After asking the three elves, they said they couldn't use Puppet Art. Putting it away, Zhang Mu opened the last treasure chest.

Inside lay three magic books and a magic ring.

Zhang Mu neatly arranged the three books on the table.

The first one — Sharpness. After flipping through it roughly, it was a primary blessing magic used for enchanting weapons.

The second one — Sea of Fire. It was a high-level fire-attribute area-of-effect magic, with an unknown specific rank.

The third one — Meditation Method: Enhanced, which increased the effectiveness of the Meditation Method.

After flipping through the three books in turn, Frederica took the first one. She was the only one who could use blessing-type magic, so everyone had no objections.

The second one was given to Zhang Mu. Although he couldn't use it for the time being, in the Saul Continent, magic books were rare and hard to come by, especially high-level magic.

Perhaps if he hadn't obtained this book in the labyrinth this time, he would never have obtained it in the future.

As for the third one...

The expressions of the three elves became very strange.

Alice frowned: "How could a silver treasure chest contain a trash magic book?"

"I've heard that even gold treasure chests have a tiny probability of being empty," Saldari was also quite puzzled, "but I've never heard of one containing a useless magic book."

Trash magic book?

Zhang Mu's expression was even stranger than theirs. Could something kept together with a high-level magic book be trash?

"If you don't want it, then give it to me."

Stuffing the two books into his storage bag, the three elves and he examined the only remaining ring.

Set in the ring's base was a gem emitting an ice-blue glow. As for its specific level, none of them had Appraisal, so they couldn't know.

But judging from the fact that the gem still emitted clear magic fluctuations without anyone infusing it with magic power, it wouldn't be low.

This color goes very well with Senior Sister.

Zhang Mu's eyes brightened: "If you don't need this ring, don't take it to trade for magic accessories. I can trade for it with an equivalent amount of potions."

"Is it for Ms. Avril?" On Frederica's face was that same faint smile as usual, "No need for compensation potions. If it wasn't for your persistence, we wouldn't have had the chance to obtain these four treasure chests."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony." Zhang Mu happily put the ring away, completely unaware of the suddenly somewhat strange atmosphere in the private room.

Saldari and Alice, who were extremely familiar with their Highness, secretly moved their chairs a bit away from Frederica.

Completely oblivious, Zhang Mu was very happy. He secretly learned Meditation Method: Enhanced, and feeling the operation of his Meditation Method suddenly speed up, excitement surged in his heart.

Only by becoming stronger faster could he rush to the royal capital sooner.

"Cheers!" Zhang Mu raised his glass, inviting the three elves to clink glasses.

After a bout of drinking, Alice supported the dead-drunk Frederica, while Zhang Mu and Saldari followed behind, returning to the inn together.

"Then I'll go rest first, see you tomorrow." Zhang Mu waved his hand and turned to go upstairs.

Returning to his room, he didn't go to bed to rest or return to reality.

Instead, he leaned against the door, listening as Saldari, who lived on the same floor, returned to his room, and Alice took Frederica to the room opposite his, then returned to her own room.

The footsteps in the hallway ceased.

Zhang Mu took out the staff from his storage bag, pushed the door open, and walked downstairs. The debt was his alone; there was no need to involve them.

Just as he reached the middle of the stairs, his footsteps halted.

In the first-floor lobby, Frederica's back was sitting upright on the sofa.

Is she waiting for me here?

Feeling suspicious and uncertain, Zhang Mu remained calm and quietly retreated to the second floor.

But just as he lifted his right foot, a calm voice came.

"Zhang Mu."