7: Chapter 7 An Inch Longer, An Inch Stronger

Li Zhengyang was in no rush to head to the mission location.

Next to the East City Agency was a commercial street dedicated to business for martial artists.

Equipment shops, elixir stores, and weapon supply stations were lined up in a row; their storefronts weren't large, but their signs were increasingly intimidating.

He walked into a martial artist supply station called "Old Sun's Blacksmith Shop."

The shop wasn't large, with two rows of weapon racks against the walls; on the left were blades, and on the right were long weapons like spears and staves.

Behind the counter sat a middle-aged man around forty, sanding a dagger without even lifting his head.

"What are you looking for?"

"Weapons."

The fat boss lifted his eyelids and glanced at Li Zhengyang.

Young. He looked just like a student.

The fat boss put down the dagger, pulled a pitch-black short blade from under the counter, and slapped it onto the countertop.

"Iron blade, durable, perfect for beginners, one thousand."

Li Zhengyang didn't even look at the blade. His gaze was already fixed on the top layer of the weapon rack on the right.

A spear. It was silver-white, with a slender shaft, a tapered tip, and the handle wrapped in black anti-slip tape.

Made of alloy, it shimmered under the lights, clearly in a completely different league than the black short blade from before.

The label read: [F-Rank Alloy Spear, total length 2.4 meters, net weight 18 jin, compatible with Second-Rank Martial Master blood-energy infusion, priced at ten thousand.]

One inch longer, one inch stronger.

The mountain-cleaving blade in the mine had its edge rolled after just a few strikes; for dealing with magical beasts in the wild, long weapons were the proper choice.

They offer long piercing range and wide attack coverage, allowing one to concentrate force to pierce a single point when encountering hard-armored magical beasts.

"That spear, take it down so I can have a look."

The boss froze for a moment, looked in the direction his finger was pointing, and laughed.

"Little brother, that one is ten thousand."

"I have eyes, I can see the price tag."

"It's ten thousand." The fat boss emphasized again, the meaning in his tone obvious.

Can you afford it?

Li Zhengyang didn't respond; he took out his phone, opened the payment code, and slapped it onto the counter.

"Scan it."

The fat boss stared at him for two seconds without moving.

"Are you sure? An F-Rank spear, you, a..."

"Pah! You snobbish piece of trash, are you going to scan it or not? If not, I'm going next door."

The fat boss hesitated for a moment, picked up the scanner, and with a beep, the ten thousand arrived.

After receiving the money, his attitude changed immediately; he personally took the spear down, wiped it with a cloth, and then handed it over.

"Great eye! This mountain-piercing spear is a quality item in my shop. It's alloy-forged, and the tip has been double-quenched, giving it sufficient hardness and toughness. When a Second-Rank Martial Master infuses blood-energy into it, piercing the shell of a Second-Rank magical beast is like poking through paper."

Li Zhengyang took the spear, gripped the middle of the shaft with one hand, and weighed it.

Eighteen jin; to him now, it was no different from carrying a bamboo pole.

The balance point of the shaft was in the front third, with the center of gravity forward, making it suitable for thrusting.

The grip felt very good, and the anti-slip tape was wrapped tightly, so it wouldn't slip.

He slung the spear onto his back, tip pointing down, with the butt of the spear protruding over his right shoulder.

"Do you have a strap?"

The fat boss dug out a leather gun strap from under the counter and tossed it to him.

"It's on the house, a discount for regular customers."

"This is my first time here."

"Then let's just call it making a friend."

Li Zhengyang fastened the strap and adjusted the length; the spear sat snugly against his back and didn't get in the way while walking.

"Thanks."

Once outside, he turned into a narrow alley at the end of the commercial street, where there were few people and he wouldn't be noticed.

Li Zhengyang stopped and took out his phone. Time to settle the accounts.

Mission bonus of ten thousand, minus the ten thousand for the spear, equals zero.

Zhao Hu's card had twenty-three thousand, and Shen Wei's card had seven thousand; minus the five thousand for certification, twenty-five thousand remained.

He kept five thousand for living expenses, for food, taxi fares, and so on. The remaining twenty thousand, he would recharge it all!

Input amount: 20000. Confirm.

[Recharge successful!] [Recharge amount: ¥20000] [Blood-energy value gained: +200] [Current blood-energy value: 2448] [Current realm: Second-Rank Martial Master]

This time there wasn't much commotion; there was just an extra surge of blood-energy in his body, with no obvious changes visible.

A layer of protective qi condensed on his body surface, thicker than before.

Li Zhengyang clenched his fist and then released it. Second-Rank Martial Master, blood-energy 2448.

He was still quite far from the Third Rank, but at this stage, his blood-energy reserves far exceeded those of ordinary people of the same rank.

An ordinary Second-Rank Martial Master's blood-energy value was generally between 2000 and 2200; the extra two hundred or so points he had meant, in actual combat, the margin to take two more punches or land three more strikes.

It was enough; time to get to work.

He opened his phone, pulled up the agency app, and found the D-Rank mission he had just accepted.

[Mission ID: D017] [Objective: Exterminate 12 Second-Rank Iron-Spine Lizards] [Location: Outskirts of the North Suburb Wetland Reserve] [Bonus: 60000] [Risk Level: D]

Sixty thousand, 600 points of blood-energy; enough to break through to a Third-Rank Martial Master.

Li Zhengyang hailed a car. While waiting, a figure flickered at the mouth of the alley.

Li Zhengyang glanced over with his peripheral vision and frowned.

Two men, around thirty, wearing windbreakers, with bulging waistlines; they were likely carrying weapons.

They walked in from the alley entrance, their pace neither fast nor slow, their direction very clear. They were coming for him.

Li Zhengyang didn't move.

"Brother." The one in front spoke; he had a buzz cut, and an old scar stretched from his eyebrow to his cheekbone. He was smiling, but the smile didn't look quite right. "Just came from Old Sun's, right? Nice spear."

The one behind didn't speak; he moved around to Li Zhengyang's right side, blocking the exit at the other end of the alley. Blocking both ends. A classic ambush tactic.

"Camping outside a supply station?" Li Zhengyang thumped the spear onto the ground and looked at the two men.

The scarred man didn't deny it and spread his hands: "Just trying to make a living, brother, don't mind it. Leave the spear, take out your wallet and phone, and we can part on good terms."

"Sure thing, brother, I'll hand over the spear and money right away."

The scarred man froze for a moment. Usually, people who were ambushed would either panic or act cowardly; he had never seen anyone so obedient. That just saved him some effort.

"Kid, you've got a bright future." The scarred man smiled even more brightly. "I'll leave you some meal money in a bit."

The scarred man walked two steps closer and reached out to take the spear.

"Wait." Li Zhengyang pulled back slightly. "I just bought this spear; I haven't even used it yet."

"Less chatter." The one behind urged in a muffled voice.

"Okay, okay, okay, here, here, here." Li Zhengyang nodded repeatedly, a smile plastered on his face, and took a bank card out of his pocket, handing it over. "Brother, there's over twenty thousand on this card, the password is six 8s. Take it and spend it, but can you leave the spear for me? I make my living this way; I can't work without a spear."

The scarred man was clearly losing patience. "One more word, and I won't even leave you meal money."

He reached out to take the bank card. The moment his hand touched the card, a silver flash appeared in his vision. It wasn't the reflection of the card. It was the spear.

Li Zhengyang thrust the spear forward with his right hand, while simultaneously letting go of the bank card with his left. In those few tenths of a second where his hands crossed, the spearhead had already pierced into the scarred man's chest.

Alloy spearhead, double-quenched, sufficient hardness and toughness. Human ribs were much softer than a magical beast's shell.

The spear tip went in through his chest and came out through his back, the blood it brought out splashing a line onto the wall.

The scarred man looked down at the spear in his chest, his mouth open, a bloody bubble gurgling in his throat. He wanted to say something, but couldn't.

Li Zhengyang withdrew the spear, his movements clean and crisp, without any hesitation. The scarred man fell backward, his head hitting the brick wall, sliding down to sit on the ground, his eyes still open.

The whole thing took a second and a half.

The one behind reacted quickly; he had already pulled out the dagger at his waist and turned to run. Run? The alley was only so long, and both ends were dead ends. You were the one blocking me just now; now, I'm the one blocking you.

Li Zhengyang leveled his spear and took a long stride, the spear tip chasing after the man's back. The mountain-piercing spear was 2.4 meters long; there was nowhere to hide.

The spear tip pierced the left side of his lower back; the man let out a miserable scream, dropped his dagger, and grabbed the wall with both hands, trying to support himself.

Li Zhengyang was in no rush to deliver the second strike. "Take out your wallet."

The man reached out tremblingly, fished a wallet out of his inner pocket, and threw it backward. "Take out your phone, too." The phone was thrown over.

"Anything else?" "Nothing left, really nothing left, big brother, spare my life..."

Li Zhengyang used the spear tip to lift the wallet off the ground and opened it with one hand. Inside were a few hundred-yuan bills, an ID card, and two bank cards.

"That's enough." Li Zhengyang put the wallet and phone into his pocket and nodded. "I promised you, I won't kill you."

The man let out a sigh of relief. He screamed again when the spear was pulled out of his lower back, and blood flowed down his pant leg, but at least his life was preserved.

When the mountain-piercing spear was thrust in again, it pierced the back of his neck. The man couldn't even scream; his limbs twitched twice, and he collapsed on the ground, unmoving.

Li Zhengyang pulled out the spear and wiped the blood on the dead man's clothes. "I did promise not to kill you." He looked at the corpse on the ground. "But this spear of mine didn't make that promise."

The alley went quiet. Two corpses, one after the other, blood splashed all over the ground.

Li Zhengyang searched the scarred man's body and found another wallet, which contained several hundred in cash and a card. He wasn't carrying a phone; he probably left it in the car, and Li Zhengyang couldn't be bothered to look for it.

After finishing up, he wiped the blood off the spear and slung it back onto his back. As he walked out of the alley, the taxi app pinged: The driver has arrived.

A sedan was parked at the mouth of the alley. Li Zhengyang opened the back door and sat in, placing the spear diagonally beside his legs.

The driver glanced at him through the rearview mirror: "Brother, what is this..."

"A prop, I use it for cosplay."

"Oh, you young people really know how to have fun these days."

"Yeah, go to the outskirts of the North Suburb Wetland Reserve."

"That place is remote, going alone?"

"Alone."

"I heard magical beasts appear over there; be careful."

"Don't worry, the magical beasts are afraid of me."

The driver smiled, didn't take it seriously, and started the car, driving toward the northern suburbs.

Li Zhengyang leaned back in the rear seat, took out his phone, and first checked the balances of the three bank cards he had just looted.

The first, eight thousand two. The second, eleven thousand. The third, twelve thousand. Including the cash, it totaled around thirty thousand.

It wasn't much, but free money is never too little.

Once the mission was done and he got the sixty thousand bonus, plus this sum, recharging it into the system would be another nine hundred plus points of blood-energy.

Li Zhengyang smiled silently in the back seat.

Before long, the car stopped on a dirt road. Ahead was a boundless wetland. "This is it, we've arrived."