Calamity Messenger-Chapter 98 - 78: Treasure Hunting Order

Needless to say, Yan Qing immediately put on both Storage Rings.

This might be one of the few advantages reality has over games: games have a limit on the number of ring-type accessories you can wear, but in real life, there’s no such restriction. Yan Qing wished he could wear one on each of his ten fingers and toes. The reason Zhou Ye and his group only wore one Storage Ring was that they were extremely rare; even they each had only one. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

However, the Heart-Protecting Mirror is worth mentioning.

"Heart-Protecting Mirror"

"Grade: Third-Turn Rare"

"Durability: 80/80"

"Equip Conditions: 15 points of Qi Blood, 15 points of Spirit Soul"

"Effect: Sevenfold Mirror Surface: After activating this effect, you will be protected by a seven-layered mirror surface, with a defense of 0, and the HP is linearly related to the number of mirror surfaces. Each additional mirror surface increases the HP by 100, so when all seven mirrors are up, each mirror has 700 HP, and when only one remains, it has 100 HP. Activating this effect requires 70 points of Spiritual Power, and replenishing a mirror costs 10 points per mirror. After all mirrors are shattered, there is a five-second cooldown before it can be reactivated."

"Evaluation: Let me test you: how much damage can the mirrors withstand when all seven mirrors are up?"

Though it has only one effect, the Heart-Protecting Mirror truly deserves the Third-Turn Rare Token tier. Maintaining the seven-layered mirror would mean exchanging only 10 points of Spiritual Power for 700 shield points, enough to withstand conventional Third-Turn attacks; even high single-shot damage isn’t a threat, as the combined seven-layered mirror can withstand up to 2800 damage—the approximate level of a single attack from a Foundation Establishment Messenger.

No wonder every Third-Turn Messenger in the Liang Kingdom has one; it’s truly an essential defensive token for murdering, pillaging, and tomb raiding!

The only problem is that Yan Qing doesn’t have enough Spiritual Power to activate the Heart-Protecting Mirror. Unlike the continuous output of Spiritual Power allowed by the Bingzi Pepper Forest’s grants, the mirror requires an instant output of 70 points, which he probably couldn’t reach even after a second career change.

Nevertheless, he already had a plan in mind and decided to temporarily shelve it.

The next loot came from the secret technique book Jiang Shi found in the treasure chest.

"Secret Technique Book: Left Curve and Right Return"

"Learning Requirements: Advanced Dual-Handed Saber Technique MAX/Advanced Dual-Handed Swordsmanship MAX/Advanced Saber Technique MAX/Advanced Swordsmanship MAX"

"Effect: Allows you to learn Left Curve and Right Return."

"Left Curve and Right Return (Level 1): Consumes 5 HP and extends the range of your next blade or sword attack to 180°. For dual weapons, covers a 360° range. Has a 5-second cooldown, and if triggered again during the cooldown, HP consumption increases by 1 with no cap."

"Evaluation: Left Curve utilizes strength, Right Return leverages momentum, making you unstoppable across the world."

A secret technique!

Yan Qing’s eyes were ablaze; with this secret technique book, his path to Third-Turn was clear.

The reason he grabbed the secret technique book first was that completely mastering a secret technique was a hard requirement for advancing to Third-Turn; overflowing experience wouldn’t allow advancement otherwise. If the difficulty of understanding an Advanced Technique is 1, then understanding a secret technique is at least 5. Even players with high aptitude don’t intentionally learn secret techniques to torture themselves; they usually pick a simpler one to meet the Third-Turn requirement.

Yan Qing knew himself well enough to understand that he probably needed a secret technique book to achieve Third-Turn, since even mastering a basic cultivation technique might be beyond him. Moreover, he had specific standards for secret techniques; for instance, Jiang Shi’s self-comprehended Shadow Splitting Saber clearly wasn’t suitable for him.

"Shadow Splitting Saber (Level 1): Consumes 10% max HP + 80 HP, causing your next blade or sword attack to split into two phantoms, dealing three simultaneous attacks to the target. Has a 120-second cooldown, and if triggered again during this time, HP cost increases by 40 with no cap."

"Evaluation: The visible blade is not scary; what’s scary is the invisible one."

Is the Shadow Splitting Saber powerful? It’s much stronger than Left Curve and Right Return!

But which secret technique is easier to max out? That’s Left Curve and Right Return for sure!

This type of Qi Blood Secret Technique requires HP consumption to activate. With its high output, high consumption, and long cooldown, using Shadow Splitting Saber even once might leave Yan Qing hypoglycemic. In contrast, Left Curve and Right Return, with its low consumption and strong utility, could be practiced casually akin to pelvic exercises without disrupting gaming.

However, since he hasn’t met the learning requirements yet, Yan Qing had to store it in the warehouse for now.

Besides the secret technique book, Jiang Shi also obtained a Return Order, which Yan Qing placed in his Storage Ring. Though he doubted he’d ever need it, it’s something his alternate character might use in anger, but he kept it for now.

Unfortunately, Mansu Forest Land was only cleared up to the tenth level. If teamed with a boss in the game, maximizing the Woodland Messenger’s characteristic of selecting multiple rewards would significantly boost Jiang Shi’s gains in this Secret Realm.

With that, the loot Jiang Shi brought back was accounted for, yet one more reward remained unclaimed.

Yan Qing opened the in-game "Notice Board," chose "Regional Event ’Mansu Forest Land,’" and clicked to claim the reward.

The game prompted: "Each account can only claim the event reward once. Do you wish to claim it?"

It turned out there was an anti-exploitation mechanism in place, along with the Treasure Hunting Token being untradeable and only transferable within the same account. Players couldn’t rapidly accumulate multiple Treasure Hunting Tokens through events.

The Event reward could only be claimed through the event page, which only existed in the game system and not in reality, meaning Liang Kingdom participants never got even basic event rewards despite annual participation.

However, this wasn’t entirely beneficial for Yan Qing; what use was a Treasure Hunting Token if it’s unique only to him?

"Treasure Hunting Token: Use this token to access the Treasure Pavilion for trade activities anywhere, featuring ten merchandise slots with a transaction fee of 30%. Accumulate ten tokens to upgrade to a Treasure Storage Token."

Upon clicking, a trade window popped up in the game. The trade window was empty like a ghost town’s market.

Truly useless.

Alongside these, there were two blood-soaked weapon materials capable of enhancing a token’s rarity. For maximizing gains, one should do what Shang Xinlei and her group do: acquire a precious token and then use the materials, securing a legendary token. Yet, Yan Qing doubted he’d lack legendary tokens in the future, and sometimes tokens with mediocre affixes could be less desirable than those at the rare or precious level. For now, immediately boosting power is paramount.

While a hoarder won’t waste anything, they might die from it.

Yan Qing planned to use these two materials before the next rogue action, still deciding on which tokens to apply them to.

After handling that, he finally had time to eat and shower. With nothing else to do, Yan Qing took the Treasure Hunting Token, pondering if he could use it directly.

He pressed the token firmly, and its inscriptions suddenly shot out a radiant light toward his eyes, causing him to shut them tightly, fearing blindness. As he slowly opened them, he realized the light hadn’t pierced his eyes but had woven a glasses-sized screen an inch before them, small yet clear enough for him to see everything.

"It really is possible to access the Treasure Pavilion from anywhere..." Yan Qing muttered.

The screen projected by the Treasure Hunting Token was naturally the empty trade market. Yan Qing tried moving his head, finding the screen rotated with it, and when he released the token, the screen vanished.

So, can I sell items, then?

Yan Qing pondered this while eyeing his grilled lamb leg, and suddenly a prompt popped up: "Do you want to list ’Grilled Lamb Leg’? Price range is 1-3 Spiritual Jade (or equivalent), with a 30% transaction fee."

Yes.

Then he watched the grilled lamb leg disappear from his hand, appearing in the Treasure Pavilion as a trade item—perhaps the first ever—priced at 1 Spiritual Jade.

Seeing ’Grilled Lamb Leg’ at the top of the Treasure Pavilion, Yan Qing foolishly waited a few seconds, then realized it was silly. If others had the ability to use Treasure Tokens, the Treasure Pavilion would already be a bustling market, not barren.

The desolate state of the Treasure Pavilion only affirmed one truth: he was the sole possessor of the Treasure Hunting Token.

Sighing, he decided to buy back the grilled lamb leg to see if it was still edible. But at that moment, he saw the ’Grilled Lamb Leg’ vanish from the Pavilion, and a Spiritual Jade, a third chipped off, dropped into his palm with a clink.

Huh?