419: Chapter 419 Seeing Through

It was, after all, true.

One receives compensation proportional to the effort exerted.

They hadn't put in much effort, yet he had already given them dharma instruments in advance and shared the gold and silver; this compensation was already quite generous.

He didn't really care about giving more, but Xu Xin and Zhou Changzhu would definitely feel very uncomfortable.

He had been inconsiderate on this point.

It wasn't that he didn't care about the matter, but rather he had subconsciously overlooked the value of the dharma instruments.

He had so many excellent dharma instruments in his possession that he could casually give away several at a time.

Over time, he had developed a sense of not taking dharma instruments seriously, which inevitably led to lapses in judgment when doing things.

Sometimes, giving too much is truly not a good thing.

Of course, it wasn't a big deal.

People from Lu Province, after all, would push and pull over red envelopes during the New Year or when visiting relatives; dharma instruments were no different.

If Xu Xin and the others wouldn't take them, so be it.

After some pleasantries, Xu Xin and Zhou Changzhu rose to leave.

Han Jingyang didn't insist on them staying, only urging, "You two go back and adjust your state. I'll need to trouble you again in a few days."

After the two martial brothers Xu Xin and Zhou Changzhu left, he excitedly hugged Shi Xiaoya and kissed her, saying, "We really profited this time."

Shi Xiaoya blinked, "How much did we profit?"

"We made a killing."

Indeed, they had made a killing.

Xipo Village alone had provided over a hundred dharma instruments.

Added to the over a hundred seized from the Japanese invaders, there were over three hundred in total.

And there were quite a few high-quality ones.

After full identification, over a hundred of them carried skills.

There were over sixty fifth-grade items with skills, sixteen fourth-grade items with skills, and three third-grade items with skills.

This single wave alone boosted his comprehensive strength by another level.

Even more than one level.

Because there were really quite a few high-quality items, and they were of all kinds: combat-oriented, combat-support, defensive, healing, as well as daily-life items and various others.

There were also some that didn't have skills but were of high grade and had decent attributes.

After taking stock, he had only one feeling: 'Murder and arson lead to golden belts'—this saying was truly accurate.

Reflecting carefully on his journey, his rapid increase in strength was truly due to the repeated high-intensity battles, rather than treasure hunting.

Although treasure hunting yielded quite a bit, it paled in comparison to the spoils seized after battles.

The stronger the enemy, the better the items they possessed, and the higher the rewards after the battle ended.

Of course, the risks were also high; most people wouldn't dare to play so recklessly.

But he didn't care.

With many items and many skills, he was just that willful; he just wasn't afraid of fighting.

Now, he wished for even more enemies.

To him, they were all like treasure-delivery boys anyway.

Experts?

There were indeed experts, even very high-level ones.

But he wasn't afraid.

If he threw dozens or hundreds of skills at them, no matter how high-level the expert was, they wouldn't be able to hold out.

He sorted the harvested items into categories, putting away what needed to be stored and placing what needed to be on the shelves, then upgraded the gear for Liu Jing and Shi Xiaoya.

After several intense battles, their skills were mostly exhausted.

Especially Liu Jing's.

Liu Jing was truly ruthless in a fight, and her consumption was truly high.

However, Han Jingyang didn't feel the pinch at all and directly arranged two sets of fifth-grade dharma instruments.

Armor and weapons; the functions hadn't changed much, but they were stronger.

Of course, Yang Jinyuan couldn't be neglected either.

But there was a difference in closeness, so he only arranged one piece of fifth-grade defensive gear for Yang Jinyuan: a double-defense amulet, also made of Hetian jade.

It was already quite valuable on its own, with good material and carving, and it was from the Ming Dynasty; even if it weren't a dharma instrument, it would be worth hundreds of thousands.

As a dharma instrument, its value... adding a zero or even two zeros wouldn't be a problem.

One had to know that this amulet didn't just add attributes, but also skills, and it had no usage threshold; even a vegetative person could activate it just by wearing it around their neck.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call such a good item a priceless treasure.

After hearing Han Jingyang's explanation, Yang Jinyuan was moved to tears of joy.

She hugged Han Jingyang and gave him a passionate kiss.

Although it was just a fleeting touch, it fully displayed the excitement in her heart.

However, this made Liu Jing, who was on the side, look a bit unpleasant.

Shi Xiaoya, on the other hand, was smiling the whole time, showing no reaction.

This was normal; Liu Jing had been here first, yet she had been repeatedly preempted by newcomers—could she not be angry?

But anger was one thing; she couldn't bring herself to take the initiative; that wasn't her personality, she would only sulk.

Han Jingyang himself was, of course, enjoying it.

He was becoming more and more calm; anyway, that was how things were.

Mutual consent was what mattered.

If you like someone, pursue them.

Whether you catch them or not is a matter of ability; whether you pursue them or not is a matter of personality and attitude.

Secret love?

That was purely the behavior of a coward.

A person sees a big, red apple on a tree and drools all over the ground, but doesn't dare to reach out and pick it, instead comforting themselves by saying they can't bear to hurt the other party, fearing they won't even be able to see it anymore.

Then, when someone else picks it and eats it in big bites, even though they are hurting like crazy inside, they can only comfort themselves by saying it's fine that the other person ate the apple...

He used to be a bit of a simp, but if he liked someone, he would actively pursue them; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to win over Sun Xiaoqian, who was the school beauty at the time.

Although the ending wasn't good, the process was quite nice.

Regardless of whether that apple was delicious or not, he was the one who picked it and took the first bite.

Up to now, he saw these matters between men and women much more clearly.

Just four words—mutual consent.

Other additional conditions were all nonsense.

Of course, he also knew that if he hadn't had these miraculous encounters, women like Shi Xiaoya and Yang Jinyuan would most likely not have looked at him, let alone throw themselves into his arms and offer passionate kisses in front of other women.

But it was precisely because he understood this point that his mind was even clearer.

Three words—seen through it.

He had seen through himself and others, and even more so, he had seen through those matters.

Embracing multiple women not only required a strong waist but also a strong heart.

If your mental fortitude is not up to par, even if two or more women throw themselves at you, you won't be able to handle it.

Truth be told.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Han Jingyang received a call from Monk Kongyun.

The great monk invited him to sit at Xingguo Zen Temple.

This was to fulfill his promise: to let him choose three dharma instruments at Xingguo Zen Temple as a reward.

Of course, he wouldn't be polite.

He had even started looking up information early on, taking stock of Xingguo Zen Temple's background, preparing to pick the three most valuable ones.

He had saved Xingguo Zen Temple, saved Monk Kongyun and Old Monk Delin, and saved Quancheng and even many, many residents of Quancheng; he could afford to accept any heavy gift.

Therefore, after tidying up a bit, he took Liu Jing and Yang Jinyuan straight to Xingguo Zen Temple.

Shi Xiaoya stayed behind to look after the house.

This was also because Liu Jing and Yang Jinyuan had directly participated in the defense of Xingguo Zen Temple.

While going up the mountain, the bloodstains and the corpses of the Japanese invaders along the way had all disappeared, and the ground was clean as if nothing had happened.

Upon reaching the mountainside, from afar, he saw Monk Delin leading Monk Kongyun and several young monks, all wearing grand dharma robes, gathered at the mountain gate to welcome them.

He could even see a long red carpet laid from the mountainside all the way to Xingguo Zen Temple.

Han Jingyang couldn't help but praise, "These monks know how to conduct themselves; they've really given me enough face. However, I won't go easy on them, hahaha! Let's go and see what kind of good gifts the great monk has prepared for us!"