Chapter 14: Chapter 13: System Mall
Qing Yu lay on the ground, the fatigue from his injury making him feel drowsy and ready to sleep.
"Host has killed for the first time in reality, achieving the 'First Blood,' rewarded with one Basic Lottery draw."
"A slaughter that could hardly be called perfect, the host has slain over forty people, not for so-called justice, but for personal needs, treating human lives as trifles. A perfect fit for villain characteristics, reward of 200 Villain Points."
The cold mechanical prompt woke Qing Yu just as he was about to fall asleep. He struggled to get up, using his sword to prevent himself from collapsing.
"Next, it's time to reap the rewards."
Practicing swordsmanship by slaughtering bandits is one thing. Qing Yu could be said to have no experience fighting enemies, having relied on certain tricks to obtain his previous legacy. These underhanded methods, which were not presentable, could be used momentarily but not relied on for a lifetime. It was said that noble scions trained with living targets; such cruel practice could deepen their understanding of techniques.
Although Qing Yu had gained Yin Zhiping's Martial Arts Enlightenment, enlightenment was one thing, and bodily habits were another.
For now, practicing swordsmanship on people was considered an evil path, but the effectiveness was outstanding. Moreover, the people Qing Yu killed were all wicked mountain bandits; his heart, which was originally not soft, felt no ripples when killing such men. The only side effect was likely that the originally upright and neutral 'Quanzhen Swordsmanship' was trained with a murderous aura, not aligning with the righteous path.
The other reward, Qing Yu chuckled, was, of course, money.
"I hope the money these bandits looted is enough for a hundred gold coins needed to open the mall. Given my current injuries, I don't have the strength to wipe out another bandit den."
His exterior wounds weren't serious; martial artists have much stronger bodies than normal people. Knife wounds that would require careful healing in his previous life were trivial to the current Qing Yu.
The internal injury was a bit troublesome. The main issue stemmed from forcibly practicing the 'Exorcism Swordsmanship' mental method.
The foundation of 'Exorcism Swordsmanship' comes from the 'Kuihua Treasure,' which explicitly states at the beginning: "To train this Divine Skill, one must castrate oneself with a knife. Without castration, heat will arise. Starting from the body, igniting the flesh, traveling upwards erratically. Even if the heat subsides, the injury does not."
Lin Pingzhi had once been unwilling to accept this and attempted to practice the 'Exorcism Swordsmanship' without castration, almost resulting in deviation leading to paralysis or death.
Qing Yu's injuries came from what was mentioned about "Even if the heat subsides, the injury does not." Fortunately, he only ran it for a moment and timely redirected the energy with the orthodox Taoist mental method 'Quanzhen Heart Method,' a prompt remedy that would recover with a bit more rest.
Humming a tune, Qing Yu first went to check the spoils outside the village master's gate, which included a thousand taels of Patterned silver.
'Hmm, very good, these silver taels alone should be equivalent to a hundred gold coins.'
Nodding his head, Qing Yu said, "System, submit the task."
"Verifying, host has obtained one thousand silver taels, estimated value equivalent to a hundred gold coins. Task: 'First Pot of Gold,' completed, system mall unlocked."
"The system mall is now open. The host can purchase consumable items from the system's collection, and use Villain Points to have the system help complete any flawed or incomplete martial arts.
Additionally, the system mall will randomly refresh ten limited-time items each month. If the host is not satisfied with the random items, they can spend Villain Points to refresh, with the first refresh of the month costing 100 Villain Points, the second 200, and so on incrementally.
Host can exchange money for Villain Points at a rate of 1 gold coin for 1 Villain Point.
1 gold coin = 10 silver taels = 1000 copper coins = 10000 Wen copper coins. (Exchange rates use the Tang dynasty's decimal system, simple and clear.)"
"Is this a villain system or a pay-to-win system?" Qing Yu couldn't help but curl his lip.
"Money can make a ghost push a millstone; money and power have always been the primary culprits of corruption. As a legacy holder of a villain, the host certainly can't be without these two elements." Very well, very powerful, Qing Yu was somewhat at a loss for words.
And moreover, one gold tael worth one Villain Point, from wiping out Wohu Village entirely I got 200 Villain Points, but the money I plundered was only worth 100 Villain Points, which could only be exchanged for a Basic Lottery. To get a Basic Lottery with a thousand silver taels is pretty challenging if you're looking to get strong by splurging on gold coins.
"Open the system store and let's see what's available for purchase," Qing Yu commanded.
The store opened, and Qing Yu immediately noticed the first item flashing with intense golden light. According to the base color classification of copper, silver, gold, this must be a four-star or five-star item.
Item: Dragon Essence
Star Level: Five Stars
Effect: Upon ingestion, gain the power of a dragon; consuming seven will transform you into a dragon, irreversible.
Price: One hundred thousand points
"It's so expensive; you need only ten thousand Villain Points for a high-level lottery that could draw a Five-star item. One hundred thousand points… That would be enough for a super lottery."
"The super lottery can only be obtained through system tasks. Therefore, Villain Points can only be used up to Five Stars. Among Five-star items, Dragon Essence is also very high-end. If you were to lottery, there's no guarantee even with ten high-level lotteries," the system explained.
"Forget it, can't afford it anyway," Qing Yu muttered while browsing other random items.
And then…
The broken Dragon-slaying Saber, Dongfang Bubai's embroidery needle, Monkey Wine, the beef from the beef soup…
What crap, do they have to be so trashy? Qing Yu thought about how these trashy items were part of the system's offerings and felt disinclined to gamble on the lottery ever again.
"By the way, system, you said I could use Villain Points to complete Martial Arts. Can I complete the Exorcism Swordsmanship and do away with the requirement that needs one to be a eunuch?"
"You can. Five hundred Villain Points."
"How many do I have right now?"
"Two hundred fifty points." Two fifty, what an awkward number. Unfortunately, robbing thugs isn't valuable anymore. After robbing so many people in Yang City, I didn't even get a single Villain Point.
"Exchange all these silver pieces for Villain Points." Qing Yu gestured grandly, exchanging all the silver; a thousand taels, too much to carry away anyway.
After the exchange, having 350 Villain Points, Qing Yu contemplated, "Still not enough. Right, I haven't searched the bandit's den." Previously, when I stormed into the village and dispatched the Second Master, I was too busy tending to my wounds to prepare for the Grand Master and didn't get the chance to loot.
Half an hour later, Qing Yu, dragging his exhausted body, rummaged through the village from top to bottom. Along with the mountain bandits' pocket change, there were only slightly over five hundred fifty silver taels in total.
Qing Yu didn't believe it and searched again. Finally, in the Grand Master's room, he found a thick ledger.
Flipping through the ledger, "So, this bandit leader's name is Sun Man. He had quite a bit of money, where did it all go… Tsk, turns out this guy is a collateral relative of the Sun Family; all the leftover money went to the Sun Family."
"Big loss, what a waste of effort…" It's frustrating to think that after such an arduous push, the loot shrank by more than half, you can imagine how Qing Yu felt. At least, the purpose of opening the system store and training in swordsmanship was achieved. With that thought, Qing Yu felt slightly consoled.
"Such a hard life..." Qing Yu sighed and left, knowing he probably couldn't use his hands for the next couple of days.
Before leaving, he set Wohu Village on fire to prevent anyone from detecting his tracks from any clues, Qing Yu was always deeply wary of Mr. Mo.
"Wo Hu Mountain doesn't have that many trees; it shouldn't catch fire, right..." mumbled someone guiltily.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone