Chapter 84: The Antique Appraisal Shop

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Immediately seeking level 10 weapon design blueprints: weapons synthesized from two materials at level 10. The best-designed weapon will be featured in the next chapter. I have opened a dedicated thread in the review section to collect all kinds of blueprints.

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The attendant, spitting rapidly, swiftly introduced various types of Captain’s Office mission tokens to Zhan Xiaobai:

Bandit Elimination Ebony Token: Level 1 bandit elimination token. Usable by characters above level 10. A one-time consumable mission item, obtainable from county offices across the Great Han Empire. 1. Eliminate bandits of any type, quota: 0/10 bandits. 2. Upon completion, submit the token to any county office or higher official agency in the Great Han Empire to receive a small amount of coins and reputation rewards.

Bandit Elimination Sandalwood Token: Level 2 bandit elimination token. Usable by characters above level 20. 1. Eliminate a small bandit camp of 50 bandits, any type. Quota: 0/1 camp. 2. After completion, submit the token to any county office or higher official agency in the Great Han Empire to receive a larger amount of coins and reputation rewards.

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Bandit Elimination Iron-Blood Token: Level 9 bandit elimination token. 1. Eliminate a large bandit camp of 10,000 bandits, any type. Quota: 0/1 camp. 2. Upon completion, receive a massive amount of coins and reputation rewards. 3. Granted the official rank of Bandit Suppression Captain.

Besides the bandit elimination tokens, there are also pacification tokens, bandit suppression tokens, Qiang protection tokens, Di protection tokens, Xiongnu protection tokens, and many other high-difficulty mission tokens. Here, the term “protect” does not mean to guard but rather to lead an army to “show care” to those rebellious tribes, ensuring that those who defy the Great Han court’s authority deeply feel the court’s might. Each mission token can only be completed once per person; repeating them is invalid.

However, to acquire these mission tokens, one must pay a small fee in token materials. The lowest-level Ebony Token costs 1 tael of silver, the Level 2 Sandalwood Token requires 10 taels of silver... the highest ones cost no less than ten thousand taels of silver.

Zhan Xiaobai glanced over and felt his heart race; he didn't dare to look any further. Even if he had money, apart from the lowest-grade Ebony Token, he lacked the strength to undertake any of the other missions.

The attendant smiled brightly, “Young master, look at these tokens—the rewards are very generous, you might even become a court official. Why not take one along?”

Zhan Xiaobai quickly shook his head, “No, no, I’ll wait until I’m stronger before taking on any missions.”

The Captain NPC kept staring at him. Seeing he refused to purchase a mission token, his face darkened and he snorted in dissatisfaction. “Hmph, you took 1 string of copper coins from me for nothing. Don’t expect to get any missions from me in the future.”

Zhan Xiaobai stood at a distance and didn’t hear the Captain’s low grumble. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered that Wutong hadn’t yet done a bandit elimination mission to earn reputation. He decided to bring back a token for him, saving Wutong the trouble and expense of coming to Wuwei again.

He took out 1 string of copper coins, handed it to the attendant, and took the lowest-level Ebony Bandit Elimination Token from the tray.

The Captain’s previously sullen face creased with laughter as he said loudly, “That’s more like it! Even if you don’t need it, you can give it away! Come to me for missions more often; I’m always available.”

“Captain, sirs, we take our leave!” Zhan Xiaobai smiled and bowed, then left the Captain’s office. He felt a bit frustrated—he had just received a reward of a thousand copper coins and had given it away, essentially working for nothing and losing money on travel expenses. The only consolation was gaining 6 reputation points.

He looked up at the sky; darkness was already falling. Nighttime beasts were fierce, and he couldn’t return to the small village at night. It seemed he would have to spend the night in Wuwei City. Never having experienced a system megacity, he thought it might be nice to stroll around and see what the city was like.

Zhan Xiaobai walked along the main streets of Wuwei City, looking around.

At dusk, red lanterns lit up the bustling commercial districts, casting no shadows of darkness. Many NPCs emerged from their homes to stroll the streets. Various taverns, teahouses, shops, and stores were still open for business.

Most of the city’s NPC citizens were dressed noticeably better than the villagers of Xiaobai Village, wearing fabrics such as cloth and silk. In Xiaobai Village, farmers and craftsmen mostly wore hemp clothes. The only piece of fine fabric in the village was held by Li Asan, who was too thrifty to make clothes out of it... Oh, no tailors existed; otherwise, Li Asan would have long since shown off wearing it to the other villagers.

After walking a while down the street, Zhan Xiaobai’s eyes brightened. Among the bustling shops, a two-story antique appraisal store caught his attention. He wondered if they could appraise his blueprint.

He approached the shop. Inside was an elderly NPC carefully polishing an antique vase, flanked by two burly men wearing belts with gleaming blades—the shop’s guards. The elderly man was presumably the antique appraiser. The shop contained numerous antiques and even some blueprints for sale.

Zhan Xiaobai didn’t have time to browse the antiques or blueprints. He directly asked the elder, “Excuse me, master, can you appraise blueprints here?”

The elder looked up briefly, set down the vase, and said slowly, “Oh? What kind of blueprint? Let me see.”

Zhan Xiaobai hurriedly handed over the unidentified blueprint he had obtained from the small wooden box, hoping the elder could appraise it.

The elder glanced at it and casually put it down. “It’s just a low-level level 10 synthesized weapon design blueprint. Nothing difficult. Of course, I can appraise it.”

“A level 10 synthesized weapon design blueprint?” Zhan Xiaobai was both surprised and a little disappointed. If it had been a blueprint for upgrading to a medium-sized village, that would have been great. Soon, the small village could be upgraded to a medium one. Such a pity. “Please, master, help me appraise this blueprint.”

“Appraisal fee: 666 copper coins.”

“Ah! That much?” Zhan Xiaobai was startled but obediently took out 666 copper coins to pay the NPC appraiser. After this expenditure, he had only about 300 copper coins left. The money was disappearing like water.

“Wait here for a stick of incense; it will take me a while to finish the appraisal.” The old appraiser pocketed the money and then began the process. He fetched some potions from a cabinet behind him, applied them to the blueprint along with some mysterious substances.

Zhan Xiaobai watched for a while but couldn’t understand the process. He decided to look around at the antiques and the blueprints for sale in the shop.

What he saw nearly made him swallow hard.

There were all kinds of architectural blueprints, village upgrade blueprints, equipment design blueprints from level 10 to 50, and weapon design blueprints from level 10 to 50—so many blueprints that they dazzled his eyes.

Feeling uneasy, Zhan Xiaobai glanced back at the two burly guards standing at the door and silently assessed their strength compared to his own. Two terrifying guards wielding level ??? gleaming swords versus a level 20 scholar named Xiaobai... The chances of a successful robbery were less than one in ten thousand. Better not risk his life. He just wanted his level 10 synthesized weapon blueprint and hoped to craft a good weapon.