Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi looked at each other. They had to admit that the two Special Items from Pockmarked Ye's Treasure Chest were beyond their expectations.
Bai Xiaowen opened the [Matsuura Shinkuro's Reply]. After reading it, he said, "It's true. Pockmarked Ye … is not a fake Japanese, but a real Japanese! He's a samurai from the Matsuura family of Japanese pirates. His real name is Pockmarked Ye … "
"He's a real Japanese? Why would he … pretend to be a fake Japanese? "Li Shuyi was a little confused.
Bai Xiaowen shook his head and said, "I can't figure that out. However, it's good news for me that Pockmarked Ye is a real Japanese. "
Bai Xiaowen took out the King of Black Zombie's "tainted heart" and mixed it with Pockmarked Ye's blood. As expected, the tainted heart reacted. The black mist on it was sucked out and mixed with the blood.
Soon, the filthy heart was washed clean. Pockmarked Ye's blood also turned pitch-black and slowly evaporated.
Bai Xiaowen mixed the cleansed heart with Absolon's Blood Essence Stone.
The damaged Blood Essence Stone emitted a red light and "swallowed" the heart. Then, the light flashed again, and the item name changed again.
[Absolon's Blood Essence Stone (Slightly Damaged)]
"I didn't expect that the Blood Essence Stone of the White Ghost, the King of Black Zombie's heart, Chen Dong's and Pockmarked Ye's blood, four Commander-tier Special Items couldn't repair the Blood Essence Stone." Bai Xiaowen shook his head and smiled. "On one hand, the Lord's item is really high-end. On the other hand, we used too many tricks to kill Absolom. "
If they had killed Absolon directly, they would have obtained a complete Blood Essence Stone.
Li Shuyi smiled and comforted him. "It's okay. I'm looking forward to this Blood Essence Stone more and more."
Bai Xiaowen put away the Blood Essence Stone and the other Matsuura Family Warrior Token that Ye Mazi had dropped. He then stood up and said, "Let's go. We'll find Hu Zongxian first. Now that he has completed a C-rank Hero Mission, his Reputation should be upgraded to Revered."
Hu Zongxian had left in a huff, mainly because he was embarrassed. If one were to say that he was angry, he wasn't very angry. At this moment, he was resting in the flagship's main cabin.
Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi's request for an audience was quickly granted, and they were led in by the personal guards.
A scholar's face changed very quickly. When Hu Zongxian saw Bai Xiaowen and Zhang Ruochen, his originally gloomy face immediately brightened up. He smiled and said, "You two are really my lucky generals. This time, we were able to succeed in one strike and eliminate the Three Bandits. You two deserve the most credit."
Notification from the Spiritual Realm's rules:
"Level C Hero Side Mission: Battle of the Golden Gate has been completed. Mission Completion Evaluation: 81% (Good)."
[You have received a reward: 4000 merit points.]
"Your reputation with the anti-Mao Ming army has increased. Current reputation level: Reverence."
"Main Mission: Choice has been completed. In the next five days, 19 hours, 22 minutes, and 41 seconds, you and your teammates can leave the Jiajing dimension at any time. The rewards you have received, including but not limited to Spiritual Points, equipment, and items, will not disappear. "
"Your team has received 750 experience points. You can be promoted to a Level 2 Elite Team. Do you want to be promoted? "
Bai Xiaowen chose "Yes". Previously, after completing the Level A Elite Mission "Medicine Hunt," he had received a small amount of experience points. However, it was only 300 points. From this, it seemed that the Hero Side Mission was the fastest way for a team to grow.
"Your Elite Team has been promoted to Level 2."
"When team members fight side by side, your critical strike rate has increased by 7%."
"Team active skill: Traction radius has increased to 120 meters. Cooldown has decreased to 7 hours and 30 minutes."
The upgrade of the Elite Team to a Level 2 Team was not very big. The critical strike rate had increased by 2%, and the distance of the Traction skill had been slightly strengthened. However, such an increase was already good enough. This was an additional bonus, and it was better than nothing.
Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi had now accumulated 10,952 merit points against the Japanese army.
Ever since Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi met Hu Zongxian and gave him a boat full of stolen goods as a greeting gift, they had been accumulating merit points in the fight against the Japanese army. They had been doing medicine hunting missions, killing ghosts and black zombies, and killing Japanese pirates. They had all earned merit points.
Together with the 4,000 merit points from the Hero Side Mission, their total merit points had finally exceeded 10,000.
It had to be said that Hu Zongxian, who had accepted Bai Xiaowen's "bribe," was very generous. He had not been stingy with the rewards he had given out over the past few days.
At the same time, Bai Xiaowen also received a notification that Hu Zongxian and Xu Wei's favorability towards him had increased. They were now friends.
"Sir, I have a secret to report. Please dismiss your subordinates," Bai Xiaowen said.
Since their favorability had reached the "Friend" level, Hu Zongxian naturally did not take any precautions. He waved his hand and asked the two guards to wait outside the cabin and closed the cabin door.
"What secret does Zhenren Bai have?" Hu Zongxian asked curiously.
"Sir, congratulations on your victory at the Golden Gate. Do you have any plans to deal with the Japanese pirates in Dongying? "Bai Xiaowen asked.
Hu Zongxian smiled and said, "I can only train my soldiers and wait for the day when the Japanese invade. That way, I will not disappoint the Emperor."
Bai Xiaowen said, "Sir, you can be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't guard against a thief for a thousand days. Why don't you send an army to Dongying and destroy the source of the Japanese pirates? "
Hu Zongxian's expression changed slightly. He shook his head and said, "No."
"Why not?"
Hu Zongxian just shook his head. After thinking for a while, he said, "The reason is very complicated. You are thinking too much. First of all, our dynasty's Emperor Taizu had decreed that Dongying was a country that did not invade. As an official, I can guard the country and defend against the Japanese pirates. However, if I attack Dongying, it will be disrespectful and I will be impeached. "
After pausing for a while, Hu Zongxian said, "Also, we don't know the enemy's situation. Our army has just started a war and we need to reorganize the prisoners. We can't be impatient. The art of war says that only by knowing yourself and your enemy can you win a hundred battles … "
Bai Xiaowen didn't have the time to listen to Hu Zongxian talk about the art of war. He caught a gap in Hu Zongxian's words and said, "Sir, there is something you don't know. I have already found clues about the real Japanese who stabbed General Yu. That real Japanese is called Matsuura Xinjiulang. He is related to the bandit leader Pockmarked Yap … "
Bai Xiaowen showed him Matsuura Xinjiulang's Letter of Reply.
Hu Zongxian read the letter and said with a frown, "The situation of the Japanese pirates is so complicated. There are real Japanese hidden among the fake Japanese. However, no matter if they are fake or real Japanese, they are all Japanese pirates. I will wipe them all out. "
Bai Xiaowen said, "According to the letter, Matsuura Xinjiulang is one of the leaders of the Matsuura family. The Matsuura clan's territory was located on the three islands of Yiqi, Pinghu, and Tsushima. These three islands were the source of the Wokou pirates. Back then, when Wang Zhi proclaimed himself the king of Wokou, he had occupied these islands. Sir, since we don't know the enemy's situation, I would like to lead a group of people to the three islands of Japan to investigate. "
Hu Zongxian shook his head, "No, I can't. I am only responsible for guarding the territory. It is taboo to send troops to other countries. Even if we send a scout ship, I don't know what kind of accusations the Imperial Censorate will put on us! Daoist Master Bai, there is no need to be in a hurry. I will submit a memorial to His Majesty and ask him to issue an imperial edict to attack the Japanese. It will only take half a month. "
How could Bai Xiaowen not see that Hu Zongxian was trying to shirk responsibility? However, Hu Zongxian's attitude was firm. He didn't try to persuade him and turned to leave.
Li Shuyi whispered, "This Hu Zongxian is too timid. Compared to Prince Nicholas of the previous world, he is much worse. It's uncomfortable to have his hands and feet tied."
"One is a minister, the other is a prince. Of course it's different." Bai Xiaowen smiled, "This Hu Zongxian, although he has the ambition to protect the country and its people, and to leave his name in history, he is also very selfish. Take the matter of Wang Zhi's execution as an example. A group of imperial censors who didn't know the inside story, or who knew the inside story but had ulterior motives, wanted to kill Wang Zhi. At first, Hu Zongxian argued with reason, wanting to save Wang Zhi's life to appease the southeast Japanese pirates. But later, some people said that he was protecting the pirates because he was bribed by Wang Zhi. In order to protect himself, Hu Zongxian was forced to agree to Wang Zhi's death. "
After a pause, Bai Xiaowen continued, "Hu Zongxian killed Xu Hai out of selfishness and self-preservation. He didn't trust Xu Hai and was afraid that he would betray him after surrendering, so he simply killed him. As for the other small groups of pirates, Hu Zongxian had already decided to eliminate them by force. "
Li Shuyi was still a little indignant about Hu Zongxian's bad record of going back on his word. "Isn't he afraid of retribution for doing this?"
Bai Xiaowen shrugged, "Probably … Hu Zongxian's historical ending is indeed bleak. I don't know if it's because of retribution."
Bai Xiaowen briefly explained to Li Shuyi. Hu Zongxian had always been on good terms with Zhao Yunlong, the adopted son of the treacherous minister, Yan Song. After Yan Song fell, Hu Zongxian was also implicated and demoted to a commoner.
The Emperor of Jiajing thought that Hu Zongxian had contributed to pacifying the pirates, so he didn't want to continue to pursue the matter. However, later on, Hu Zongxian's secret letter was found in Zhao Yunlong's house, as well as a privately drafted imperial edict. Now, no matter how great his contribution was, he couldn't save him. Hu Zongxian was thrown into the imperial prison. He committed suicide after leaving the sentence, "The treasured sword is buried in the prison of injustice, and the loyal soul is surrounded by the white clouds."
Did Hu Zongxian privately draft an imperial edict, or was he framed? Bai Xiaowen felt that it was more likely that he was framed.
However, it was meaningless to talk about this. Although Hu Zongxian had contributed greatly to pacifying the pirates, he had colluded with the treacherous minister, Yan Song, and had a bad record of betraying the emperor. Therefore, he didn't have a good reputation. Although he was actually a national hero, he wasn't as famous as Yu Dayou or Qi Jiguang.
"Then what should we do now? Hu Zongxian refused to send troops, so we can't go out to sea. Even if we have clues about the 'Sword Search' mission, we still can't do it, "Li Shuyi said.
Bai Xiaowen nodded and said, "From what Hu Zongxian said just now, the anti-Bao Ming army won't be making any big moves in the near future. We won't be able to find any good missions in the five days we have left. At most, we can find some small missions to run errands."
"Then what should we do? Xiaowen, you must have a way, right? "
Bai Xiaowen smiled, "I have an idea … Look, what is this?"
A talisman suddenly appeared in Bai Xiaowen's hand.
[Illusion Talisman (Hu Zongxian): Stores the image of Hu Zongxian, the Governor of Zhejiang, in the Jiajing dimension. When used again, it can create a realistic illusion of Hu Zongxian. The illusion can be controlled by the user (Bai Xiaowen). It can perform simple actions such as walking, sitting, and lying down. It has no attack power. Lasts for 22 minutes. Disappears after use.]
"Isn't … isn't this the talisman dropped by the White Ghost? Are you going to … "Li Shuyi's face was red. He was a little excited.
"Yes, Hu Zongxian is so stupid. I'll trick him … But before that, let's go find the quartermaster and exchange all our merit points."
Bai Xiaowen smiled and put away the Illusion Talisman.
The quartermaster of the anti-Bao Ming army was an old acquaintance, Xu Wei.
Xu Wei was drinking wine and reading ancient books in an empty cabin. Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi knocked on the door and entered.
"You two …"
Bai Xiaowen opened the exchange list for the quartermaster. Xu Wei froze on the spot. He was like a vending machine.
After browsing through the list, Bai Xiaowen smiled.
The anti-Bao Ming army was indeed a unified force. There were a lot of items available for exchange. There were also several good specialties.
[Killing Talisman: A + item. When used by the Awakened, the explosive strike rate will be increased by 35%. Lasts for 120 seconds. This strengthening talisman does not stack with other explosive strike rate buffs. 2,500 merit points per talisman.]
This was a good item. The additional 35% explosive strike rate was amazing. It greatly increased the damage output. The 120 seconds duration was also very good. However, the restriction of not stacking with other explosive strike rate buffs made it unsuitable for Li Shuyi.
Li Shuyi had the 20% explosive strike rate of the "Wind and Thunder Combo" and the 7% explosive strike rate buff of the team skill "Brutality" LV2. The additional explosive strike rate buff was as high as 27%. Even if he used the Killing Talisman, it would not add another 35% explosive strike rate to the 27%. It would only cover the original explosive strike rate. The final explosive strike rate would still be 35%.
[Marching Strategy: S item. Increases the movement speed of all allies within a one-kilometer radius by 40%. Reduces stamina consumption by half. Lasts for 60 minutes. 6,000 merit points per talisman.]
Note: This is the insight of Xu Wei, one of the three great talents of the Ming Dynasty, after reading "Wu", one of the "Six Chapters".
[Enlistment Order: S item. Use it on a neutral creature in a non-combat state to enlist it. Use it again to summon the creature to fight for you. Lasts for 120 minutes. The level of the target creature cannot be higher than your level. The strength of the target creature will determine the success rate of the enlistment order. 5,500 merit points per talisman.]
After the "Enlistment Order", there was a special notice. Neutral creatures with prominent status (influence) were immune to the enlistment order.
This was also very easy to understand. He was already doing very well, so how could he accept your offer for no reason at all?
These were all good items. In addition, in the equipment column, there was a blue equipment unique to the Ming Dynasty, [Bracers]. Although it did not add any attributes, it increased the chance of parrying by 15%. For a tank-type Awakened, it was not inferior to a gold equipment.
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