230: Chapter 230 Purple Superior Hardwood

Watching Tang Yao flipping through the pages as if wanting to read, Hu Gualing couldn't help but laugh out loud: "You don't need to read this thing, just tap it with your hand!"

Tang Yao, however, was unwilling to give up and kept flipping through the pages until she had gone through the entire skill book from start to finish. She discovered that apart from the four large characters 'Spirit Shield' on the cover, every page inside was blank. Only then did she helplessly close the skill book, a look of disappointment on her face. "I just wanted to see what these magical skills would look like when written down." Tang Yao said, her curiosity unsatisfied and somewhat disappointed.

Hearing Tang Yao say this, Hu Gualing and Xiao Niao were also intrigued by her line of thought:

'Yeah, we have to remember that the skills in this game can be used in reality. So, they can't just be made up out of thin air, right? There must be a reason for their existence.'

'Then, this skill book should record how this skill is composed, and how it should be learned, mastered, and used. But why... whether it's the Recovery Spell skill book dropped by the Mutated White Wild Boar, or this Spirit Shield skill book Tang Yao is holding, they are all blank inside with no content at all?'

Xiao Niao frowned and thought for a while, feeling that there was something illogical about this.

Hu Gualing, on the other hand, was sharp-witted. After thinking for a few blinks, he felt he had figured it out without much deep thought and said nonchalantly: "Isn't that simple? It's already hard enough for the game Development Team to invent so many skills for you. Who has the time to actually write pages and pages of text inside the skill books? Of course, it's just for show. You learn the skill once you use the book, so don't be so fussy about it."

Hu Gualing's words were rough but made sense. If Fantasy Jianghu was truly what they thought it was—created by a mysterious game Development Team—then, setting aside the mind-boggling holographic technology and various mysteries, the game program itself must be an unimaginably massive engineering project. It was perfectly normal for the Development Team to overlook insignificant details like the content inside the skill books.

Xiao Niao thought so, but deep down, he still felt there was something a little off, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it...

Tang Yao didn't have so many misgivings; if there was no text in the skill book, then so be it. She wouldn't read it.

Thinking of the scene where Hu Gualing tapped away the thin booklet Miao Cuihua gave him at the Village East Entrance of Xiao Huang Village, and the scene where Xiao Niao used the 'Recovery Spell' skill book, she imitated them. Holding the 'Spirit Shield' skill book in one hand, she tapped it, and the 'Spirit Shield' skill book in her hand instantly turned into a white light and merged into her body.

Game notification: You have learned [Spirit Shield], you can view it on the skill page.

[Spirit Shield (Rank 1)]: This is a skill that uses Mental Energy to protect oneself. It can convert a portion of one's own mental value into shield energy, generating a protective barrier around the body to defend against incoming physical attacks, magic attacks, and mental attacks. The defensive capability of the protective barrier is related to the skill Rank and the user's physical strength and Mental Energy.

This was the first time Tang Yao had learned a skill in the game by using a skill book. She felt a large influx of information abruptly appear in her mind, like textbook knowledge she had memorized by rote back in school without ever fully understanding. However, she was certain that she could easily use these mysterious, never-before-encountered bits of knowledge that had just appeared in her mind whenever she wanted. This feeling was truly magical!

Tang Yao closed her eyes and carefully sensed it, feeling that this experience was very novel. Suddenly, she felt a movement in her heart, and she felt a slight tingling sensation in her mind, as if something had been pulled out of her brain, or as if she had been lightly pricked by a needle. When she opened her eyes, she saw a layer of white light shield, so faint it was almost invisible, appear in the air in front of her.

"Is this the Spirit Shield?" Tang Yao curiously reached out to touch the white light shield in front of her. At first, she didn't dare to use too much force, afraid of poking through this seemingly fragile barrier, so she only dared to touch it lightly. However, after touching it, she realized that although the color of this white light shield was so faint it was almost invisible, it still felt hard to the touch, as if she were touching a layer of transparent plastic.

After looking around, Tang Yao discovered that this white light shield indeed protected her body 360 degrees without any blind spots. Although she hadn't tested the defensive strength of the shield yet, the feeling of being wrapped up completely filled her with a sense of security.

'But this shield can protect me inside, but won't it also restrict my movements during combat?' Just as Tang Yao was thinking this, she discovered that the shield would change as her body changed. For example, if she stretched her hand out beyond the original size of the shield, the shield would expand accordingly. When she moved her feet, the shield would move with her, having no impact on her movements at all.

It really was magical!

"Stop playing with your new skill for a moment. Bring me your longsword; I can't seem to get this last item out!"

Just as Tang Yao was feeling amazed and preparing to have Hu Gualing and Xiao Niao help her test the strength of this shield, she heard Hu Gualing's voice coming from under the big tree.

It turned out that Hu Gualing had been impatient to loot the third item, which was the final item dropped by the Millennium Tree Demon boss this time.

Although Hu Gualing already had a rough judgment in his heart, knowing that this last light orb should be an item like a Material, this last light orb was purple. It was the first time he had encountered a purple quality item since entering the game. Even if it was just a Material for crafting equipment, it was quite rare, so he hurriedly came to the stump to loot this last purple light orb.

It was just a pity that this purple light orb didn't burst out directly like the previous two blue light orbs, but existed inside the trunk of the Millennium Tree. Only a faint purple light radiated through the bark of the Millennium Tree Demon. It seemed that what was wrapped inside this purple light orb was the bark or the trunk of the Millennium Tree Demon itself, and it would take some effort to harvest it from the trunk of the Millennium Tree Demon.

Hu Gualing tried using the steel brass knuckles on his fists and then took out the wild boar tusk from his backpack, but found that neither could do anything to this purple light orb. Helpless, he asked Tang Yao to borrow her steel longsword to give it a try.

Tang Yao took out the steel longsword and glanced at Hu Gualing. Although this longsword was crafted by Hu Gualing himself, Tang Yao was worried that he would handle it roughly given his impatient appearance. So, she didn't hand the longsword to Hu Gualing but walked to the stump of the Millennium Tree Demon herself, carrying the sword. She stared at the part of the trunk emitting a faint purple glow, looked at Hu Gualing again, and confirmed: "This one? I'll get it out."

After speaking, Tang Yao raised the longsword and hacked at the trunk of the Millennium Tree Demon.

Although her figure didn't look strong and didn't seem to contain much power, Tang Yao's strength was actually not small. Not to mention Xiao Niao, who was a weakling, even a normal middle-aged man might not be stronger than her. Plus, after the Millennium Tree Demon died, the hardness of its trunk was not as terrifying as when it was alive. Tang Yao swung the longsword and hacked at the trunk, constantly splashing wood chips. When these wood chips flew in front of Tang Yao, they were blocked by the Spirit Shield around her body, and they couldn't affect her tree-cutting work at all. Before long, she had hacked two deep grooves into the trunk of the Millennium Tree Demon, exposing most of the purple light orb to the air, and then she stopped.

Hu Gualing impatiently used both hands to dig the purple light orb out of the trunk of the Millennium Tree Demon.

Holding the purple light orb, Hu Gualing's hands felt light, and he almost stumbled.

Because the weight of this purple light orb was a bit too light for its size, making Hu Gualing, who hadn't mentally prepared himself, feel as if his hands were empty.

'What on earth is this?'

Hu Gualing waited with doubt and anticipation. After the light orb dissipated, what came into view was a whole piece of wood. Hu Gualing couldn't help but be stunned because this piece of wood was dug out from the trunk of the Millennium Tree Demon, so it must undoubtedly be solid wood full of vitality; its weight shouldn't be as light as what he was holding in his hands now. Hu Gualing couldn't figure it out for a moment.

Looking at the surface of the wood again, it was a faint purple-red color, with fine and neat textures. Touching it with his hand, not only did he not feel any roughness, but he also experienced a smooth and delicate tactile sensation. It didn't look like a piece of wood chiseled from this 1,000-year-old tree demon at all, but rather like premium timber that had been exquisitely processed.

'Strange, really strange. It doesn't make sense.' Hu Gualing shook his head, unable to understand. But fortunately, this was in a game, so he stopped thinking about these irrelevant things and turned to check the attributes of this purple-red wood.

[millennium ethereal hardwood (Purple Excellent Quality)]: This is a piece of wood from a tree with a 1,000-year lifespan. Because it has been gestating at the roots of the tree for over 1,000 years, this piece of wood has absorbed the power of nature, becoming incredibly hard while also possessing extremely strong toughness. It is an extremely rare and precious Material.

Trait: Toughness. After 1,000 years of gestation, it has been nourished by the power of nature to be incredibly hard and extremely tough.

Trait: Ethereal. This piece of wood has been baptized by time, washing away its Impurities and becoming incredibly ethereal.

'Ethereal? So, the reason this solid wood is so light in my hand is because it has the Ethereal trait...' After reading the attributes, Hu Gualing was stunned, feeling that this piece of wood seemed to be the certain Material he had been searching for...

Taking advantage of Hu Gualing's stunned state, Tang Yao snatched this piece of wood from his hands because the wood alone gave her a feeling of being very valuable just from its appearance. After touching it a couple of times in her hands, she exclaimed: "This thing seems even better than the mahogany pendant my dad treasures! And this is natural, without any processing. It's really good stuff!"

If an ordinary person were comparing a piece of wood that was clearly a rare treasure with things in their own home, Hu Gualing and Xiao Niao would definitely say this person was showing off. But Tang Yao was different. They knew the situation in Tang Yao's family; the Shuangyuan Group founded by her father, Tang Yuan, was famous throughout the Jiangnan region. Even Hu Gualing and Xiao Niao, who were not from the Jiangnan region, knew about it. Things that could be treasured by her father were naturally not simple. It seemed this 'millennium ethereal hardwood' was really not simple.

However, Hu Gualing and Xiao Niao were not too surprised because this was in a game. No matter how good-looking or artistic the dropped items were, they had no value to them. It was not as practical as adding some attributes.

"I see this hardwood is very precious. It has traits not seen in other Materials and is the only purple excellent quality item we have encountered so far. We must make good use of it." Xiao Niao took the hardwood from Tang Yao and felt it, starting to calculate how to bring out the maximum value of this purple Material. "I think... such a precious thing shouldn't be used as the main Material for crafting equipment. And in the final analysis, this is also a piece of wood. If used to craft weapons, the attack power will definitely not be enough. If used to craft armor, this little bit of Material won't make a big item. So, I think this piece of wood should be used as an accessory!" Xiao Niao analyzed methodically and said with a certain tone at the end.

"Accessory?" Hu Gualing already had a preliminary plan for the use of this wood in his heart, but he still wanted to hear Xiao Niao's brilliant opinion.

Xiao Niao nodded and continued: "Yes, accessory. Adding a bit of such a purple Material when crafting equipment should be able to improve the attributes, or even the grade, of the finished equipment. Using it as an accessory for some equipment, such as sword hilts, knife handles, or as a connection Material between certain armors, can not only maximize the toughness and Ethereal nature of this wood but also allow more equipment to be made with this purple Material."

"Yes, yes, that makes sense." Hu Gualing nodded repeatedly. Although the use of this purple quality hardwood had already been decided in his heart, it did not contradict the usage plan mentioned by Xiao Niao. It seemed that this matter was very promising.

Thinking this way, Hu Gualing took the hardwood back from Xiao Niao and carefully put it into his backpack.