Chapter 746: Understanding [5]

Chapter 746: Chapter 460: Understanding [5]

The categories of Professional and Sequence had been added.

Hu Qi’s gaze fell directly on the Triangular Rune in the Sequence column.

Just as the thought of modifying it arose,

in an instant, a stream of information flooded his mind.

The gist of it was that he had to complete the advancement ritual of burning thirty sinners before he could make any modifications.

‘It seems the Crimson panel can replace the Magic Potion and Meditation Method, but it can’t bypass the ritual requirement…’

Hu Qi was lost in thought.

In this world, a Professional’s advancement ritual was like an unbreakable iron law.

But on second thought, this actually made him breathe a sigh of relief.

At least it saved him the tedious process of concocting a Magic Potion and practicing a Meditation Method.

More importantly, this mechanism cleverly circumvented a fatal risk.

After all, he couldn’t use a Soul-Searching Technique to confirm if the Professional information Ired had provided was completely true.

If any of the information was wrong, the consequences would surely be extremely severe.

This was especially true of this world’s Professional system, where concocting Magic Potions and practicing Meditation Methods had incredibly strict requirements.

Just then,

a series of footsteps approached from outside the door.

Through the crack in the door, he could see it was a militiaman.

“Lord Ired, are you all right? There was a fire outside just now, but it’s been extinguished. No one was injured or killed…”

Hu Qi’s expression was calm.

The Fireball in his hand dissipated instantly.

This situation,

was within his expectations.

Although most of the village buildings had wooden structures and were flammable, they weren’t as dangerous as the skyscrapers of the information age. Everything here was a one-story house; if one caught fire, you could just jump out a window.

Furthermore,

Hu Qi had been very particular about setting the fires, deliberately choosing a few key locations to ignite. In the end, only a few unimportant houses were destroyed.

With this in mind, Hu Qi spoke.

The voice that came out was unmistakably Ired’s!

“I know.

Tell the people whose houses burned down to get 100 copper nails from Maggie. Tell them I said so. I still have things to do, so don’t disturb me.”

Maggie was one of Ired’s many lovers, and she was in charge of the village’s purse strings.

Hearing this, the militiaman outside felt something was a little strange, but he didn’t overthink it.

After all, Ired’s authority, built over many years, was undeniable.

Besides, the thought of this unexpected compensation made him grin from ear to ear.

“Oh, Lord Ired, you are the very embodiment of mercy! May the Seven Gods bless you…”

If the dead Ired on the floor knew Hu Qi was helping him accumulate good karma, he would probably be so moved he’d climb right back up and give him a medal.

However, Hu Qi, being such a good person, never sought rewards for his good deeds.

Naturally, he didn’t care about any of this.

After the militiaman left,

Hu Qi added some wood to the fireplace, making the flames burn brighter.

Then he began to search Ired’s room.

Soon, he found a cloth pouch.

Inside lay a pile of Silver Lions and a dozen or so Dragon Crowns.

As for small-denomination currency like copper nails, there were none at all.

The coins were all round.

The Dragon Crown was cast from gold and stamped with a roaring, wing-spread Giant Dragon, which was also the totem of the Celestial Dragon Federation.

The Silver Lion was made of silver, and its edge had gear-like notches, which was why in some remote areas, it was also called a “moon tooth.”

According to the information he’d gotten from Ired,

the many nations of this continent had already been unified.

It had been renamed the Celestial Dragon Federation.

The currency had naturally been unified as well.

From highest to lowest value, they were the Dragon Crown, the Silver Lion, and the copper nail.

A loaf of the cheapest black bread (mixed with a large amount of bran) cost about one copper nail.

Due to the limited labor force and the nature of the era,

productivity in this agricultural society was limited, and food reserves were insufficient.

Aside from the nobles, who might add breakfast or a late-night snack,

most other people, especially peasants, had to conserve their food.

Therefore, the people here ate two meals a day.

Their diet was simple, consisting mainly of black bread, beans, and root vegetables; meat was rare.

A person could generally get by on two copper nails a day.

One thousand copper nails could be exchanged for one Silver Lion.

Ten Silver Lions were equal to one Dragon Crown.

Simply put,

if a copper nail is one unit, a Silver Lion is worth one thousand,

and a Dragon Crown is worth ten thousand.

And according to Ired,

there were also large-denomination gold banknotes above the Dragon Crown.

However, sums of that magnitude were completely out of reach for ordinary people.

The largest denomination ordinary people, and even peasants, ever handled was the Silver Lion.

A quick calculation revealed Ired’s assets totaled five to six hundred thousand copper nails.

But Hu Qi’s gaze only swept over them briefly.

He didn’t linger.

Instead, his eyes fell upon a small metal box among the coins.

He reached out and opened it.

Inside lay a thumb-sized, grayish-silver object, though grayish-silver wasn’t quite the right description.

Upon closer inspection, one would notice black threads on its surface, trembling slightly as if they were alive.

And from Hu Qi’s current perspective as a Professional,

this piece of metal emanated a dense Spirituality.

This thing was called Secret Spirit Silver.

It contained Spirituality.

It was like the Spirit Stones from a Xianxia world.

It was one of the indispensable materials for setting up rituals and creating various mystical items.

Moreover, some Secret Spirit Silver of extremely high purity could, to a certain extent, replenish a Professional’s expended Spirituality.

Although its effect couldn’t compare to some Magic Potions,

it was still quite good.

Of course, unless absolutely necessary, no one would choose to do so.

This was because Secret Spirit Silver contained impurities that could enter the body along with the Spirituality, potentially causing harm to a Professional.

The exception was Secret Spirit Silver of extremely high-purity.

This piece Ired had left behind was full of impurities; it was a remnant from when he had set up the ritual for his advancement to Sequence Nine Arsonist.

Although it couldn’t be absorbed,

it could be used to trade with other Professionals, refine items, or draw ritual arrays.

After another search of the room yielded nothing else,

Hu Qi opened the door, preparing to leave.

Ired’s knowledge was limited.

He needed more occult knowledge to broaden his understanding.

But before that,

he still had some matters to attend to.

For example, some issues related to the original owner of this body.

The original owner of this body had no other relatives.

Only an older brother and his shrewish, acid-tongued wife.

The two of them had taken the original owner in for the sole purpose of getting his land.

The original owner usually slept in a drafty sheep pen, ate scraps that even dogs would reject, and every cent he earned from his labor was extorted from him.

Sometimes, he would even suffer brutal beatings from the couple.

They didn’t see the original owner as a human being at all.

As for familial affection?

It was non-existent. It was a testament to the original owner’s resilience that he hadn’t starved to death.

Hu Qi had inherited this body, and with it, these memories.

He raised his head and looked in a certain direction.

His figure moved forward and disappeared into the darkness.

「A short while later.」

In an area of the village that had been spared from the fire,

another blaze lit up the night sky.

By the time the villagers arrived, the house was already engulfed in flames.

Faint screams could be heard from within.

When the fire died down,

only three charred corpses remained.

And Hu Qi, having done all this,

had already left Gray Leaf Village and was now on the road to Oak Town.

The actions of this so-called older brother and his family…

…were no different from those of the old society’s landlords or ruthless factory owners.

In their eyes, people were merely livestock to be exploited, with not a shred of humanity to be found!

‘Things like that shouldn’t be allowed to live in this world.’

However, the reason he did it…

…wasn’t entirely for the original owner of the body.

It was simply for the sake of four words.

For peace of mind.

He did it simply because he wanted to.

…

A thick stench of blood filled a gloomy sewer.

Moss covered the damp surrounding walls, and murky sewage gurgled between the cracks in the stone.

Wisps of dark red blood floated on the surface of the foul water.

At the far end,

the light of a torch flickered.

Getting closer, one could see bodies strewn haphazardly on the ground.

Among them were the corpses of four or five people in black robes; some had their chests pierced, others their throats torn out.

Farther away, several headless corpses in ordinary clothes lay upon a bizarre hexagram pattern.

It had been drawn with their blood, which was not yet dry and glistened darkly in the torchlight.

And to one side,

the last remaining person in a black robe was currently being held up by the neck, lifted by a slender arm.

The arm’s owner was a girl of about fifteen or sixteen.

The girl’s slender figure stood amidst the pile of corpses, the lace hem of her dress stained with blood, like a datura flower blooming on rotting soil.

“You… you monster… The great Tide God will not let you go…”

The black-robed man met the girl’s gaze, staring into her pair of unnatural, vertical pupils.

Yet his face twisted into a look of bizarre fanaticism.