Single Player Only Chapter 62-63

Chapter 62: Progress Point Trading System

The sound the Ring of Earth made when it was clipped onto the cow's nose was unusually fitting. It was as if the ring was supposed to be clipped on the cow's nose to begin with. The green cow originally appeared anxious and irritated, but after it was clipped with the nose ring, it immediately turned obedient. It glanced once at Yue Qiang, and there was fury inside it.

There was no mistake. Yue Qiang could clearly feel the cow's current emotions right now.

Holy cow, this is definitely no ordinary cow.

He immediately recalled the story of the Ring of Earth the village elder Chen Zi Han had told him. There was the young Chen Zi Han, a green cow and a shepherd boy in the story.

Chen Zi Han was now an old man, but this watchman was not young either.

Could this one man and one cow be the one who had indirectly founded Yue Village?

After a momentary blank, he finally said, "May I know if you are…"

"Do not ask questions easily, for you have to pay for their answers." The old watchman said smilingly.

Yue Qiang directly took out the remaining 2000 knife coins from his pockets and pushed all of them to the front. Right now his brain was completely filled with questions, and he just could not hold himself back at all, "I still have a lot of knife coins on me right now. May I know what kind of payment do you accept for questions?"

"I don't take knife coins." The old man said.

"You don't?"

"What I accept as payment, most people do not have." The old watchman said smilingly, "But I see that you do have them, and quite a lot too. Let's see. You have… 58 of them in total. It's quite a lot already. If you are just looking to ask questions, there is plenty that you can ask."

58? Yue Qiang felt that this number was a little familiar, and he opened his item window to give it a glance. Then, he realised that it was the number of the Progress Points he owned!

It was the Progress Points he had no idea what to do with.

It was the Progress Point where he had a lot initially, but gained very little from hunting mobs.

It was the Progress Point where he used 50 of them to exchange for a skillbook.

Yue Qiang said, "Do I need to use Progress Points to ask questions?"

"Progress Points? This is a good name. It is very fitting. That's right, you do need to pay Progress Points to ask questions." The old man said, "There is one thing I have to remind you. Progress Points can be used for other things as well, so you should consider carefully before deciding how you should use it."

Once the old watchman finished saying this, a menu bar appeared besides his body. Yue Qiang opened the menu impatiently, and when he read it closely, he was immediately shocked.

The menu bar was incredibly complicated. There were 11 main options in total, and most of these options could be further expanded. After browsing through it briefly, he discovered that it contained nearly all of the information he wished to know.

Progress Point Trading System:

1) Information
2) Freely Distributed Stat Points
3) Stat Attributes
4) Skills
5) Strengthening Type Equipment
6) Unknown Items
7) Books
8) Designs
9) World Trends
?? : ??
?? : ??

Yue Qiang watched the nine main options and the two question-marked options for a very, very long time.

Nearly every option in this list was what he hungered for!

Take the second option, Freely Distributed Stat Points for example. The reason he spent so much time experimenting with all sorts of possibilities was to complete the hidden quests in the game and obtain that measly one or two point of freely distributed stat points.

Even better was the Stat Attributes option, which was a system that he had only ever seen inside this game. Excluding the rest, there was no doubt that his newly acquired 'c.o.c.kroach' stat alone had saved his life.

Skills spoke for themselves. He hadn't met even a single skill trainer up to this point, and every skill he currently had was learned from the real world.

Next was the line 'Strengthening Type Equipment'. It was most likely pointing at the excellent equipment that could vastly strengthen one's physique which he desperately needed right now.

As for books, books were most definitely an important content within this game. The several times where he managed to increase his strength were realised through books, and his potential in the future could only be realised through the collection of books as well.

As for Unknown Objects, Designs, World Trends and the two question-marked options, he wasn't sure what they were at the moment. But judging from how important the first few options were, they could scarcely be of little value!

Everything on the above could be exchanged with Progress Points!

Everything!

If he had enough progress points to exchange everything in these options, then wouldn't he be able to do whatever he wanted in this world?

Yue Qiang clicked open the second option 'Freely Distributed Stat Points' tentatively, and found that one freely distributed stat point would take 15 Progress Points to exchange. Right now he had two freely distributed stat points.

Yue Qiang could never have imagined that something as precious as freely distributed stat points could be exchanged freely at this place.

He then clicked the third option, 'Stat Attribute'.

There were plenty of useful stat attributes such as Tactics, Intelligence, Agility, Accuracy and so on. He even saw the stat attribute he currently owned, 'c.o.c.kroach'. Most of these stats were expensive items that could only be exchanged with at least 100 Progress Points, and rare stats were even more expensive. For example, his 'c.o.c.kroach' would've cost 200 Progress Points to exchange! In this case, it would seem that he had profited big time by exchanging a skillbook with the stat for only 50 Progress Points.

Next was the Skill option. The categories in the Skill option were many and varied, and he nearly couldn't finished reading them all in such a short time. Yue Qiang kept scrolling through the list with his mouse, and yet it took him a long while before he finally finished going through all of them. The amount of skills in this list was far bigger that he imagined.

Some skills were very cheap, and some were very expensive.

With his remaining 58 Skill Points, it was possible for him to purchase some pretty good skills.

A lot of the skills required Mana to use, and the ratio of the rest were more evenly distributed. Among them, there were Stamina, Rage, Inner Energy and even Life Energy. Yue Qiang had even discovered some extremely exotic Gauge names such as 'Corpse Aura', 'Magnetism', and 'Machine Points'. These were gauges that were almost never seen in other games, and the skills they commanded were just as weird.

Since there were just too many skills, Yue Qiang was currently in a completely confused state. After calming himself down for a little, he ultimately decided to exchange the skills he could use with his current Gauges.

Since Yue Qiang's close combat ability was pretty strong right now, and he had a female companion who seemed to be a hybrid of the strongest and weakest abilities, he was inclined to pick a supportive skill. Of course, there was no need to rush through the trade right now. He had all the time in the world to consider things slowly.

Just as Yue Qiang was about to click the next option, 'Strengthening Type Equipment', the old watchman spoke.

"It will probably take a very long time if you wish to finish reading all of the options seriously. What I would suggest you is to do whatever that's important right now and confirm the situation that you'd be facing in the future. Then you can come to me again and exchange what you need with the Progress Points. I believe this is the more logical choice."

Hearing his words, Yue Qiang slowly recovered from the initial shock when he first saw the menu bar.

It was as he said. Although he did not know how he acquired so many initial Progress Points, judging from the single digits he got from killing that tiger, it must be ridiculously difficult to obtain them. Therefore, he absolutely must not waste them carelessly.

In that case, planning what he should exchange in accordance to what would happen in the future in the main quest became very important.

As for his current main quest…

Yue Qiang took out the long and thick broken tiger tail and pa.s.sed it to the old watchman, "I have a public notice, and it says here that I can exchange 1000 knife coins and an equipment for killing the tiger?"

The old watchman accepted the broken tail and casually fed it to the green cow, and it actually ate it raw. The b.l.o.o.d.y scene surprised Yue Qiang to no end.

"It's not a problem if you give me the tiger tail, but I will not be the one who give you the knife coins and equipment." The old watchman said.

"Why's that?"

"Because I'm not the one who put up that notice."

Just as he was about to ask where he could find the person who put up this public notice, the old watchman stretched a hand and pointed.

Yue Qiang turned his view, and saw that a whole group of soldiers had arrived behind him. These soldiers were all clad in armor and of unknown nationality. They were exactly the group of people who were looking everywhere for a beautiful girl just now. The leader of the soldiers came forward – first saluting the old watchman with polite respect – before saying to Yue Qiang, "Young sir Yue, our Lord Ai has requested a meeting with you. He says that there is something important that he needs to discuss with you."

Although the leader of the soldier was speaking to him, his eyes never strayed away from Yin behind his back.

It would appear that these armor clad soldiers had planned from the beginning to search for Yin, so it would be rather impossible to avoid them. Yue Qiang made a rough estimation and thought that he might be able to escape with Yin if he kept Run LVL 2 on. After all, these people could not possibly be faster than the tiger.

He glanced back at the old watchman again. The old man had returned to his rocking seat and continued to bake himself under the sun. He teased the green cow from time to time and appeared to be incredibly carefree and content.

It should be safe…

The soldier had said that it was 'Lord Ai' who invited them. There weren't many people with the surname Ai to begin with, and he only knew one such person in this game, and that's Ai Qian from the Zhao State army camp.

Although this interesting trader had always been protected by many soldiers, and they were supposed to be on opposite sides of two factions, in reality there was no grudge between the two of them. Plus, after going through so many things, he had plenty of questions that he wished to ask the trader right now, and this was without mentioning that he was a person with the attribute 'Memory Unlock Rate'.

"In that case, we will accompany you to meet him." Yue Qiang said.

He brought Yin with him and left together with the armor clad soldiers.

At the same time he answered them, a new system message appeared:

The first stage of the quest 'Search and Investigate' is complete!

Quest Background: You have talked with various people in Green Cow Market and acquired sufficient information. Moreover, you have reconnected with the trader Ai Qian as well.

Quest Objective: Proceed with the investigation of the great change behind the School of Mo's Great Camp.

Quest Reward: Requirement has not been met yet.

The second stage of the quest 'Search and Investigate' has been activated!

Chapter 63: What Is The Corpse's Surname?

While following the armor clad soldiers, Yue Qiang and Yin discussed their current situation through whisper.

"So you received a new notification about the main quest?"

"Yeah, it notified be that the first stage of 'Search and Investigate' is complete. We've acc.u.mulated enough information and we've activated the second stage of the quest." Yue Qiang said.

"What else did it say?"

"It says that I've reconnected with the trader Ai Qian. Er, this Ai Qian is the one I told you before, the one who also has a Memory Unlock Rate." Yue Qiang answered.

Yin pondered for a moment before asking, "The 'Request For Help' quest you completed earlier when you came to School of Mo's Great Camp was issued by Ai Qian, correct?"

"No, Ai Qian seems incapable of issuing quests. However, it was thanks to him that I managed to escape from Yue Village."

"Then before you came out, did you know that the School of Mo's Great Camp is actually a big cave, and that it was abandoned for such a long time that it became a tiger's den?"

"No."

Yin pondered for yet another moment before she told him her a.n.a.lysis, "In that case, we probably overlooked something when we're at School of Mo's Great Camp. After all, the place was t.i.tled a 'Great Camp'. Even if it had been abandoned, it should not be this small. If I am not mistaken, then the caves and pa.s.sages we saw might very well just be the outer layer of the School of Mo's Great Camp."

"That is only the outer layer?"

Yin said, "I checked when I walked out of the cave. The top of the cave entrance was engraved with the words, 'School of Mo's Great Camp'. So here's a problem: Why would a mere artificially renovated cave with at most a single pa.s.sage inside be called a 'Great Camp' and not a 'Cave'? The only explanation to this is that the cave is nothing more than the School of Mo's Great Camp outer fortification."

Yue Qiang did have such a question in his mind when he first entered the cave. Now that Yin had officially brought it up, her explanation that it was just an outer fortification did make more sense.

"This can also explain why the main quest kept revolving around the School of Mo's Great Camp. You should know that in the ancient times, the School of Mo is not just a school of learning."

"Oh?" Yue Qiang was immediately grew somewhat interested in the topic. His understanding of the School of Mo was not deep, and a portion of his limited knowledge came from reading in-game backgrounds. He only knew that the School of Mo was very accomplished in terms of wooden devices and constructions, and not much of anything else.

"To begin with, the School of Mo is not a school, but a very tight organisation." Yin explained things simply for Yue Qiang, "Other than the six major States and smaller States during the warring period, the School of Mo can also be seen as an independent and very powerful organisation. You can absolutely view them as China's earliest organised crime syndicate!"

"Organised crime syndicate?" Yue Qiang was now completely surprised by the revelation.

"Unlike other schools, the School of Mo is an organisation with tight management and rules that are criminal in quality. According to historical accounts, the founder of the School of Mo, Mozi is first an extremely powerful martial artist, then a philosopher and scientist. It has clear organisational structure and tight discipline, and each generation's leader has incredibly high prestige. A School of Mo's disciple is hardworking, disciplined, unwavering and patient. They are strong, but their core ideologies of 'impartial care' and 'rejecting aggression' kept them from being an aggressive organization."

"With the School of Mo's strength during the Warring States Period, it would not be difficult for them to construct a town-sized fortification inside the mountain. While it is named 'School of Mo's Great Camp', what's strange is that there are no corresponding structures to be seen in the place. Not only that, there were no tenements, drinkwares or construction works, and most importantly, no one to be seen anywhere at all. This is obviously highly irregular, so the only possibility left is this." Yin said, "The cave is not a part of the great camp. It is merely an outpost, or a defensive structure. The real School of Mo's Great Camp should be hidden behind an entrance inside the cave that we had not discovered previously."

"Furthermore, I'm guessing that this future quest may very well be for us to go back and discover the true School of Mo's Great Camp." The duo spoke while walking.

Hearing this, Yue Qiang actually grew interested in the School of Mo's martial arts. It would be pretty great if he could learn some martial skill for free in the great camp.

They followed the armored soldiers to a luxurious building, and after walking through the door, they unsurprisingly saw Ai Qian.

From the first moment Yue Qiang saw him, he felt that the trader seemed to become more… on edge than before. The expression on his face could be described with the simple word, 'excited'. Like a pervert who met a beauty, or a miser who robbed a treasure, his entire being was in an incredibly excited state.

Ai Qian carelessly tossed a bag of knife coins on the table beside Yue Qiang. There was also a set of standard issue military equipment on the table.

"This is your reward for killing the tiger." He rubbed his hands and said excitedly, "Now, are you interested in doing an even bigger venture with me?"

Yue Qiang listened with considerable interest to his words. The fellow himself could not issue a quest, so what Ai Qian was saying right now was probably a quest background of sorts.

"You killed the two evil tigers inside the cave of the School of Mo's Great Camp and left directly, didn't you?"

"That's right."

"In reality, those tigers are simply guarding the treasures deeper within the great camp."

Treasures deeper within the great camp? It would seem that Yin's guess was pretty much spot on. He asked Ai Qian, "How did you know this?"

Ai Qian produced a beast skin secretively and showed it to them. There was an exquisitely drawn drawing on the beast skin, and the drawn drawing was the full body portrait of an incredibly beautiful female corpse. She lay flat inside a coffin with shut eyes, and there were all kinds of treasures that filled her surroundings!

There were gold, silver, ornaments, wine-jars, precious stones and so much more. Every treasure known to man of the most valuable kind were there, laid around her corpse in many circles.

"Do you know what this means?" Ai Qian said a with a tinge of insanity, "This is an entire capital city's worth of wealth! No, it should be an entire small state's worth of wealth!"

"I don't care about anything any longer. I have no intentions of completing the so-called mission or reclaim my lost memories. Everything in the past is too painful, but the present and the future is infinitely beautiful. I only want wealth and women! I want an incalculable wealth that is equivalent to that of an entire country!"

"The woman drawn inside this picture is the School of Mo's previous generation's Juzi*. She is now dead, and the great camp she stayed in during her previous life became her final resting place. It is only until recently that I received reliable information that the great camp she died in is exactly the one where you killed the tigers! With her death, this great camp now has turned entirely into a tomb!"

*The position of a Mohist leader

"So what do you think, young sir Yue, tiger hunting brave. Are you interested to take me there and grab all these riches for ourselves?"

The trader Ai Qian spoke loudly to no one in particular, his excitement completely out of control. Yin listened quietly as she stood at the side, but when Ai Qian brought up the terms 'mission', 'memory' and 'painful', she frowned slightly and appeared to be thinking about something.

Meanwhile, Yue Qiang was looking curiously at the drawing drawn on the beast skin. At first, he didn't really care about the quest too much. After all, no matter how much wealth there was in this world, to him, they were nothing compared to Progress Points. He was simply curious about Ai Qian's behavior and the origin of the beast skin drawing.

But suddenly, his eyes narrowed.

He began to look closely at the beautiful female corpse of the drawing.

The artist of this drawing was very skillful. The female corpse's lines were soft, vivid and realistic. Even in the real world, the woman had tall, firm b.r.e.a.s.t.s and a slim waist that was a match of the figure of a fitness coach. If she wasn't sleeping inside a coffin, she could've been mistaken as being asleep.

But Yue Qiang's eyes only narrowed further. He even crept closer to the point where his eyes were about to stick against the monitor, just to get a better look at the female corpse.

Yue Qiang suddenly clicked the backs.p.a.ce b.u.t.ton and typed quickly, "I accept this quest."

"That's not like you. Why have you accepted the quest so decisively this time?"

Yue Qiang did not answer him immediately.

The reason he accepted the quest was not for the treasures inside the coffin. It wasn't even for the main quest.

After keeping silent for a moment, he typed out a question, "This previous generation juzi of the School of Mo… What's her surname?"

"Who cares about a dead person's surname? Although, if I remember correctly, her surname is… Luqiu?"