Capítulo 30: The Thousand Year Tree City

The capital wasn't as imposing as one would believe. The Li Zhang Kingdom having been attacked a few years ago , the capital had been destroyed and had never gone back to it's previous magnifience. However one thing remained the same through all these years, the Thousand Year Tree. It was a truly gigantic tree, standing taller than any mountains Jian had ever seen, it's strange long branches reaching normally impossible lengths.

Nearly the entire Capital was encased in darkness due to the shadow the tree produced. That was the reason as to why most of the nobles lived in the capital, as summers were particularly unbearable in the kingdom, and the capital was perfect to avoid the searing heat.

Now while it wasn't that imposing, it was still bigger than the city Jian used to live in before he built his own house. And the market was the first place that amazed Jian. Most countries weren't exactly keen in letting strangers in, however due to the Queen's origins, the merchants from the lands of Attila in the east were welcomed there. It must be the reason as to why the town was brimming with life.

It was the first time Jian got to see people from that land. They were known to have olive or brown skin and nearly all had blonde hair for some reason. It was quite a spectacle, as Jian wasn't used to both the skin and hair colours. What really made them stick out however was their attires. Contrarily to the inhabitants of the continents who wore robes, if they were cultivators or nobles, or light leather outfits for everyone else, the people from Attila were all wearing stylish outfits made out of feathers and silk.

He spotted one woman wearing some huge coat with feathers covering the hood and he was suddenly reminded of an old passion he had, creating outfits. You see, Jian was once forced to fix the outfits of a group of bandits who had bought the services of one of his masters who at the time had lost his only tailor. He had to learn on the spot and discovered one of his talents and passion.

He never really tried again after he was bought by another master, but it was still there in the back of his mind.

' Maybe I should make some outfits again in the future, it was fun.' Jian thought as he and Li Kuo left the group of soldiers who bode them farewell, right after the captain had given a scroll of instant teleportation. Li Kuo was still looking at the extremely rare scroll in shock while Jian heard the system speak to him.

[ An amateur of fashion ? ]

' Pretty much. Funny coming from someone wearing some basic robe.' Jian thought bitterly. He really didn't like the robe the disciples were forced to wear. It was incredibly ugly and restricted movements a bit, that and it didn't protect at all. At least he had the bits of equipments he got for free from that weird inner disciple, Zhi Li.

Jian was brought out of his musings when Li Kuo put a hand on his shoulders and smiled while pointing at a huge building. Jian looked up and saw the name of the establishment written just over the door.

' Merchant Guild ? What's that ?' Jian asked the system.

[ Apparently it's a place where merchants strike deals with others, it's also the place were auctions are being held. Also I heard that the merchant guild actually belonged to a powerful family, but it was said by a drunkard, so I wouldn't exactly trust the information. ]

They both entered the building, but were instantly approached by two guards. Jian's eyes shined when he saw their armours.

' Reinforced cephalite armours, Strong yet flexible ' Jian thought as he recalled the armours the guards who used to chase after him when he was younger had.

Those two guards were indeed wearing such armours, which said a lot about the assets of the merchant guild. Those armours were extremely popular and also extremely expensive. Not only were the cephalite stones very hard to find since they only appeared in some underwater caves, but they were also hard to be made efficient. Only an experienced blacksmith could make those types of armours and they all had the same designs since they were only useful as heavy armours. The helmets were intimidating, with two horns pointing upward, two vertical slits for the eyes and some sort of air filter covering the mouth.

The rest of the armour was just plates placed on other plates for maximum protection, though cephalite was quite flexible and allowed a lot of movements. However the armour looked quite....Cold. Nobles usually described soldiers wearing those armours as quite uncomfortable to be around, the armour giving the feeling that they were being guarded by monsters instead of humans, especially with the curved spikes that were coming out of the forearm protections. That was due to the ressemblance between those armours and the Broken Crusaders, lifeless armours able to move due to the resentment of the soldiers who once wore them, who were found in the most dangerous places around the continent.

While Jian continued to think of all he knew about those armours due to how he was passionate about those things, Li Kuo had already talked to the two guards who were now leading him upstairs.

'Ah.....I was lost in thoughts once again. He quickly found himself a chair and relaxed before opening the lottery menu.

He picked the precise lottery and selected the equipment category. Rubbing his hands discreetly so as to not look like a madman, he used the lottery and hoped for the best.

He waited for a few seconds with his eyes closed, and only opened them when he heard the little 'ding' sond.

'Please, please, please !'

[ Name: Cloak of the Unbound

Rank: Law Realm, fourth Law (Equivalent to Tier 2 )

Unique Ability: Non-Existent

Bonus:

-Allows the wearer to mask their presence slightly whenever they cover their whole body with it

- Slightly Enhance the speed of the wearer

- Can intimidate people. Depends on the people's personnality and mental strengh.

Description: A long tattered black coak. Due to it's appearence one might come to think it is the cloak of the Reaper itself. It was once worn by a fallen Angel named Gatsuga Sheram. ]

'Wow....Now that's something. It's not really overpowered, but those bonuses could really help me. I would be taken more seriously with that thing...I guess I should take a look at it before putting it on though...' Jian then thought of expanding the small image of the cloak. The image became bigger and he took a good look at the cloak. It looked quite.....Somber. He would definitely look like a villain while wearing this. The cloak was really tattered and even the hood had ripped off bits at the end.

Then again it was quite a good equipment. He had already used the system to observe his other equipments, namely the boots, gauntlets and ring he had gotten for free after Zhi Li helped him, not that he knew. They all offered protection, but cloak didn't.

In other terms it was good for it's bonus but he was still as defenseless as before. The next lottery pull might change that though. He had thought of picking the fighting style category, however he saw a strange category that greatly piqued his interest.

' Modifications, huh ?'

[ This category is quite special. It will grant a modification of something that belongs to you, be it your equipments, abilities, martial spirits...Or even your own body. It all depends on what you've equipped and contrarily to other categories luck plays an even bigger part with this one, as even the worst you could get with other categories won't really be a problem to you. However the worst modifications can actually be disadvantages for you as you won't be able to decline them. You cannot decline the modifications you get. ]

Jian braced himself for it, and decided to still continue. The wheel rotated.

A second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

....

Ding !

Jian opened his eyes and gasped as he felt his body change instantly.

[ Name: The Blight's Eyes.

Type: Body

Rank: ??????

Unique Ability: Grants the user the ability to curse anyone he looks at.

Description: The Blight's Eyes is a modification that can be activated by thinking of which curse the user want to inflict on a target. The curse will then automatically be launched. The curse cannot hit a wrong target, however success is not garanteed. Curses are unlocked the more the User kills. The first curse is unlocked after the user gets their first kill. ]

Jian gained a somber look as he looked over the description of the modification.

' System....Do you want to turn me into a monster ? You know more than anyone else just how power hungry I am.....'

[ Indeed, I know that. I can feel your desires and know them more than even you do. Your alignment doesn't matter to me, evil or good....You can be both even if you want. I just want you to grow. Strong, weak, good, evil. I do not care. My purpose is to be a tool for you to grow, the rest is on your hands. ]

Jian chuckled as he looked at his hands, the hands that had never been tainted by blood.....

"That will change soon, very soon..."