The night deepened. After seeing off Su Shanjun and Han Buyu, Lin Zhao tidied up the severely damaged Zhenyao Crossbow and Bronze Beast. These Mohist mechanical artifacts were almost beyond repair, all broken by the Catfish Fiend. He wondered if Baibao Pavilion would still be willing to fix them. Even if they were repaired, the inscribed materials consumed would be substantial. Moreover, he hadn't earned much gold in the past few days, and his inventory was quite empty. He felt too embarrassed to even visit Baibao Pavilion.
What was to be done?
Xiang Ji rose, sword in hand, to patrol the area near Xueyu Tianchi. This was his specialty and usually his responsibility. Now that Wu Zhi was here, a Sword Immortal at the peak of the eleventh realm, Xiang Ji dared not be complacent. He certainly wouldn't let the eleventh realm Sword Immortal patrol the mountains. Although, with just a word from Lin Zhao, this beautiful Sword Immortal would surely go.
"My Lord."
Wu Zhi sat by the bonfire, watching Lin Zhao's worried expression, and smiled, "What are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking about how to deal with the upcoming situation."
Lin Zhao frowned and said, "The demon race lost an eleventh realm being, they definitely won't let it go. We must be fully prepared. It's a pity our strength is too limited. These puppets I bought from the Mohist shop in Tianji City could have helped a little, but they were all smashed by the Catfish Fiend."
He was practically on the verge of crying poverty.
Wu Zhi's lips curved upward, a hint of a smile playing on her lips. She reached to her waist and took off a delicate brocade pouch, a storage artifact. With a shake, coins, both Qingfu and Feiyu, spilled out. There were even several hundred Jinzi coins. She smiled faintly, "Over the years, I've killed many demons in the Northern Territory and cleared out some corrupt sects when traveling south, so I've accumulated quite a bit of wealth. These are of little use to me now. I hope they can help you, my Lord."
"..."
Lin Zhao's eyes widened, and he sat down on his haunches in front of Wu Zhi. He then began to divide the money, splitting the Jinzi, Feiyu, and Qingfu coins into two equal portions. "You keep half for refining your sword, and the rest is for me. It's not that I'm greedy, but I genuinely need this money right now. When things get better, I'll find a way to repay you."
"Following you, my Lord, why would I need compensation?"
Wu Zhi smiled softly, "My Lord, saying such things makes us strangers."
"Understood."
Lin Zhao nodded and smiled, beginning to count this half of the immense fortune. There were a total of 168 Jinzi coins, 1220 Feiyu coins, and over 3000 Qingfu coins. This peak eleventh realm Sword Immortal, Wu Zhi, had indeed reaped quite a harvest. Even mid-tier sects in the human world would only have about a hundred Jinzi coins. For her to possess so much alone was remarkable.
According to the game's currency exchange rules, treasures like Jinzi, Feiyu, and Qingfu coins, known as "Immortal Currency," were far more valuable than the gold coins of the mortal dynasties. Measured against the coinage of the Great Shang Dynasty, one Qingfu coin could be exchanged for 10 gold coins. Therefore, one Feiyu coin was equivalent to 1000g, and one Jinzi coin was equivalent to 100,000 gold coins. It was truly the case that one Jinzi coin could buy half a street.
The sum Wu Zhi had given him was equivalent to over 18 million gold coins, a staggering amount for the current Lin Zhao.
"Hoo..."
He took a deep breath. First, he exchanged one Jinzi coin. Instantly, the gold coin system in his inventory made a "swish" sound. Beside the gold coin number, a green number popped up, increasing by a full 100,000 gold coins –
"Ding!"
System prompt: You have successfully exchanged 1 Jinzi coin and received 100,000 bound gold coins! Bound gold coins are non-tradable and cannot be dropped. Items purchased with them will be directly limited to bound items, usable only by yourself or faction units within your territory!
...
"..."
Lin Zhao was somewhat dumbfounded. The system was truly cunning, designing a "bound gold coin" system. If it hadn't done this, based on the current exchange rate, the money Wu Zhi had given him would have been equivalent to over 300 million universal currency. This sum would have been enough for Lin Zhao to do many, many things. Unfortunately, it was bound.
But it didn't matter. Bound gold coins could still be used with NPCs as usual.
"Wu Zhi."
Lin Zhao pocketed all the money and said, "You are eleventh realm, Xiang Ji is ninth realm, and I currently have no realm, completely insignificant. Therefore, the defense of Xueyu Tianchi will largely depend on your strength. However, I won't let you fall into danger. So, we still need to further strengthen our forces. Have you collected any magical treasures or precious artifacts over the years, like formations or mountain protection barriers?"
"No..."
Wu Zhi's pretty face flushed slightly. She explained, "My Lord, for the past hundred years, I've been alone, a solitary sword cultivator. Although I've killed many demons and extorted wealth, I usually sold the magical artifacts I obtained and used the money to buy sword refining stones. Over the years, I haven't accumulated much in terms of magical treasures. The only things I have are the ten Demon Soul Swords from the Northern Territory."
She pursed her red lips, "My Lord, if you are truly short of money... should I sell the ten Demon Soul Swords? Over the years, many at the Upper Five Realms have approached me, wanting to buy these highly destructive Demon Soul Swords. One person offered 500 Jinzi coins per sword, but I didn't sell. I always felt that perhaps I might not reach the thirteenth realm in this life, but I must kill more demons, to avenge you, and Luo Yang, Hua Ping, Mu Sha, and the others..."
"Never consider selling the Demon Soul Swords."
Lin Zhao shook his head and smiled, "The Demon Soul Swords are a part of your cultivation foundation; they are immutable. I mean you should continue to temper them well and use them in conjunction with your life-bound flying sword. Your future achievements will be very high."
"Mm."
Wu Zhi nodded gently, her beautiful eyes filled with a smile as she looked at the young Sword Immortal before her. He was still him, unchanged in the slightest.
"Also."
Lin Zhao thought for a moment, "Do you know anyone in the north? Or perhaps someone you've interacted with in the martial world, someone you have a bit of acquaintance with?"
"Ah?"
Wu Zhi's delicate mouth parted slightly, and she said weakly, "My Lord, in the Northern Territory, I only fight people, I don't interact with them..."
Lin Zhao pressed his forehead, "That... even if you've seen each other counts. One by one, try to persuade them to come to Xueyu Tianchi. We must find a way to build a team, otherwise, we will never be able to contend with the demon race."
"En!"
Wu Zhi nodded, "This is no problem. I'll start recruiting people tomorrow. Those I've beaten will surely not refuse."
Lin Zhao grinned and secretly gave her a thumbs-up.
After giving Wu Zhi a few more instructions, Lin Zhao stood up. It was time to return to Tianji City.
"Whoosh!"
With a flash of silver light, Lin Zhao disappeared from his spot. Wu Zhi pursed her red lips, looking at the place where Lin Zhao had vanished, her heart filled with sweetness. My Lord is truly amazing; this ability to shrink miles into a step is beyond even my eleventh realm's reach~~~
...
Tianji City.
Lin Zhao stepped out of the teleportation array and headed straight for Baibao Pavilion. Upon entering, he didn't see Xu Qingyi, but there were two other women guiding customers, and a middle-aged shopkeeper. A woman approached him and smiled, "Guest, what would you like?"
"Is Miss Xu not here?" Lin Zhao asked.
"Oh~~~"
The woman immediately showed a knowing smile. "So it's Young Master Baiyi. Please wait here a moment, I'll go and call the eldest miss."
"Alright, thank you!"
A few seconds later, Xu Qingyi walked out from the back of the shop, a smile on her face. "Young Master, you're here?"
"Yes, I need to trouble you all again..."
Lin Zhao took out the damaged items one by one. Seeing the smashed Zhenyao Crossbows and Bronze Beasts, Xu Qingyi couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and despair. How could these be repaired? One Zhenyao Crossbow was reduced to a pile of broken wood, only the bowstring vaguely indicating what it once was. Another Bronze Beast had been flattened with a single palm, completely turning into scrap metal. How could it be repaired?
"Can they be fixed?"
Lin Zhao scratched his head. "I'm sorry, the battle this time was a bit too fierce, so..."
Xu Qingyi's delicate eyebrows furrowed. "Young Master, who did you use them against to sustain such severe battle damage?"
Lin Zhao gritted his teeth, "The Catfish Fiend, an eleventh realm great demon. He broke all these things."
"???"
Shock was written all over Xu Qingyi's pretty face. Although she had faith in the young Sword Immortal's character, this story seemed too unbelievable. To have a confrontation with an eleventh realm great demon and still return alive and well?
"You don't believe me?"
Lin Zhao felt a little awkward. "Let me prove it to you."
With that, he directly pulled out the Catfish Fiend's spine, nearly three meters long, from his inventory and placed it on the table. Golden patterns were visible on the spine; this was the manifestation of the Great Dao of an Upper Five Realms great demon, a thing called "patterned bone" among demons. Its presence indicated great strength.
"This is the Catfish Fiend's bone."
Lin Zhao looked a little embarrassed. "The head is gone, I drank it as soup..."
Xu Qingyi couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "Really? Was it tasty?"
"It was delicious."
Lin Zhao thought for a moment and reluctantly cut off a piece of fish meat, about two pounds, from his inventory. He held it with both hands and offered it. "This is a piece of meat from an Upper Five Realms Catfish spirit, for Miss Xu to make soup. I've truly troubled your shop a lot these days; I feel rather bad about it."
"Thank you."
Xu Qingyi happily accepted it and handed the catfish meat to a guiding maid. She smiled, "Keep it well, I'll make soup tonight."
"Yes, Eldest Miss!"
Afterward, Xu Qingyi looked at Lin Zhao's pile of junk and said, "Please wait here for a moment. I'll go find someone to repair them."
"Mm."
Several burly men carried the severely damaged Zhenyao Crossbows and Bronze Beasts to the back hall. Xu Qingyi followed them, as did the middle-aged shopkeeper.
...
"How can these be repaired?"
In the back hall, the middle-aged shopkeeper frowned. "The materials needed for repair are enough to craft a completely new set."
"Don't repair them."
Xu Qingyi's delicate eyebrows furrowed. "Just replace them all with new ones."
"Ah!?"
The shopkeeper was greatly surprised. "My Eldest Miss, this... what kind of business is this?"