Leaving the Fallen Fortress, Jiang Han summoned the Azure Scale Beast and returned to Lake Tranquility.
At this moment, Feechi, in the courtyard of the mayor's residence, with his muscular upper body exposed, wielding a large axe and sweating profusely, saw Jiang Han approaching and curiously asked, "Brother, are you looking for me?"
Unlike adventurers who must kill monsters to level up, the indigenous people can gain experience through training, which is a unique advantage.
"Hmm."
Jiang Han nodded, taking out the Thunder Roar Great Axe from his bag. "I have this axe. Would you like to buy it?"
"Great axe!"
Feechi was greatly surprised, receiving it from Jiang Han, swinging it a few times, and excitedly exclaimed, "This axe greatly enhances my strength!"
"As long as it's an improvement, do you want to buy it?" Jiang Han reiterated.
"Yes!"
Feechi nodded, then looked embarrassed. "But I don't have much money..."
"Do you have other precious items?" Jiang Han didn't insist on demanding money.
He wouldn't be asking for a free ride, right?
I've always been the one taking advantage of others; would there be a day when someone takes advantage of me?
"Items?" Feechi seemed to be checking his belongings. "Let me see if there's anything that can match the Thunder Roar Great Axe..."
Seeing this, Jiang Han didn't rush, giving him time to search through his bag.
After a dozen seconds, Feechi took out a strange pearl with internal flowing white light, smiling wryly. "This is my last resort. I was waiting for the right time to use it for enhancing my skills."
A last resort?
Curious, Jiang Han took the pearl and used the Insight Eye to examine it—
[Time Pearl] (S-tier)
Introduction: It contains the insight of the god of time, understanding the omnipresent flow of time, which will be greatly beneficial to you.
Effects: Permanently reduces the cooldown time of skills, the reduction level varies with the grade, at least 30%, at most 60%.
...
"Hiss!"
Jiang Han couldn't help but inhale sharply. Without a word, he stored it away and solemnly said, "We're brothers. Why be polite? Take the Thunder Roar Great Axe as my gift. You understand that if we fail to defend the city in two days, keeping the Time Pearl won't be of much significance. It might even become a spoil of war for the Light Camp."
"…Alright!"
After a moment of hesitation, Feechi nodded and said, "But you need to swear to the God of Oaths... not that I'm being petty, it's just the rules, you know."
Fair trade!
This was a restriction of the rules, and even the indigenous people couldn't avoid it.
"Can we owe it for now?" Jiang Han proposed.
Not because he wanted to be stubborn, but the Time Pearl's value was too important. Using it to strengthen War Stomp could give him a better chance of winning the city defense battle in two days.
At this point, he had to seize every detail!
Just like back then, if he hadn't requested a summoning scroll from Professor Xie Li, he would have died in the battle of Ice Snow Town.
"In the future, I'll give you an S-tier item of similar value. I promise!" Jiang Han solemnly declared, "Consider the Thunder Roar Great Axe as my gift to you. Actually, you understand that if we fail to defend the city in two days, keeping the Time Pearl won't be of much significance. It might even become a spoil of war for the Light Camp."
"…Fine!"
After a moment of hesitation, Feechi nodded and said, "But you need to swear to the God of Oaths... not that I'm being petty, it's just the rules, you know."
"No problem."
Jiang Han nodded and immediately raised his hand to swear, "I swear that, after receiving the Time Pearl from Feechi, I will definitely return an equivalent item within one year, otherwise, I'll be struck by divine punishment!"
"Ding!~"
System prompt: The God of Oaths has responded to your oath. If you violate it, you will be obliterated by the God of Oaths!
"Ding!~"
System prompt: You have received the quest [Equivalent Exchange] (Difficulty: A)!
[Equivalent Exchange] (Difficulty: A)
Introduction: Since you've gained benefits first, when returning them later, you shouldn't feel at a loss.
Requirements: Gift the Thunder Roar Great Axe to Berserker Feechi, and in the future, return an item equivalent to the Time Pearl.
Time limit: 60 days
Quest penalty: Obliteration
"Thank you."
Jiang Han breathed a sigh of relief.
Clearly, although he mentioned one year in the oath, the system didn't give him that long and reduced the time limit to two months.
"I hope you don't blame me for being stingy." Feechi sounded helpless.
"Thank you is enough. Why would I blame you?" Jiang Han shook his head and smiled bitterly. "The Time Pearl is a family heirloom of yours, valuable. If I forcibly demanded it, it would be my fault. It's just... I don't want this journey to end so soon."
Daniel said they would meet again in the future, and Jiang Han didn't want to die early before that reunion.
To this day, this game has already sucked him in deeper and deeper.
"Yeah."
At these words, Feechi sighed and said, "Even though this world is full of injustice, many people carry heavy burdens and suffer for their lives. But if faced with death, even if one feels relief, there will still be regrets, especially for those who still have loved ones."
"…"
Jiang Han wanted to speak but stopped, gazing at Feechi.
"Brother, what's wrong? Is there something on my face?" Feechi touched his face, feeling confused.
"Nothing, I just don't know if you really exist." Jiang Han explained.
Feechi was puzzled. "Am I still fake?"
"Absolutely not. You're very real."
...
Parting with Feechi, Jiang Han went back to the Goblin Forest to level up.
On the way, he used the Time Pearl directly.
"Ding!~"
System prompt: Do you want to use the S-tier item [Time Pearl]?
"Yes!"
Jiang Han was full of anticipation.
"Ding!~"
System prompt: Please specify the skill for the Time Pearl's effect!
"War Stomp!"
Jiang Han didn't hesitate, choosing his only SS-tier mainline skill. Generally, only active skills had cooldown times. War Stomp, being an all-around skill with a one-minute cooldown, wasn't long, but he wouldn't mind if it was shorter.
"Crack!"
The next moment, the Time Pearl shattered, and a cool white energy rushed into Jiang Han's chest, then permeated his entire body.
"Ding!~"
System prompt: You used the S-tier item [Time Pearl], successfully reducing the cooldown time of the SS-tier skill [War Stomp] by 50%!
50%!
Jiang Han was overjoyed.
Although the Time Pearl's effect was 30% to 60%, considering probability, 60% was almost impossible. In comparison, 50
% was already considered extremely lucky.
Opening the skill panel to check, Jiang Han found that the cooldown time of War Stomp, this divine skill, had been reduced to 30 seconds!
A large-area group attack skill, with control, critical hits, buffs for allies, debuffs for enemies, and a cooldown time of only 30 seconds— who wouldn't believe it!
Afterwards, he arrived at the Goblin Forest and continued to grind monsters.
"It's the Dark Swordsman. His head has been heavily rewarded by the Light Camp. Brothers, let's kill him!"
"Don't rush, everyone maintain order. Gather around me!"
Until he logged off at night, Jiang Han's level had reached 64, 53%, leveling up at an astonishing speed.
...
The next day, one day away from the exclusive mainline quest.
Exactly at ten o'clock!
"Swoosh!"
In a flash of white light, Jiang Han reappeared in the special space of the World Martial Arts.
Compared to the previous rounds, the fourth round had very few participants, with only a few hundred people, forming a sharp contrast in quantity.
It could be said that those who could reach this point in the Eastern Region were all top-level players.
"Ding!~"
System prompt: The fourth round of the World Martial Arts officially begins!
"Ding!~"
System prompt: The fourth round of the World Martial Arts is the Top Ten Qualifying Tournament. All accumulated defeats from before are cleared, each person has four chances of failure, randomly assigned opponents, until the top ten are decided!
...
"Swoosh swoosh swoosh..."
Waves of white light.
This time, Jiang Han was directly teleported into the arena at the beginning, facing a sneaky rogue whose in-game ID was King of Thieves.
"One Jiang Han?" King of Thieves waved his dagger, smiled provocatively, "I heard you can easily expose a rogue's stealth. Come, let me see if you can find me!"
Saying that, he decisively entered stealth, retreating backward.
Compared to the previous rounds, the arena this time was larger, providing more space to maneuver. Confident that Jiang Han, no matter how awesome, couldn't find him if the distance wasn't close enough, he intended to drag the time until the system declared it a draw.
He had already started recording, eagerly anticipating the scene of Jiang Han searching the entire arena for him.
"Boom!"
Jiang Han stomped, unleashing War Stomp, generating a powerful wave that swept the entire arena. In the violent tremors of the arena, King of Thieves at the corner was forcefully thrown into the air before disappearing into white light before landing.
-115475!
A six-figure damage appeared, an instant kill!
Jiang Han was speechless: "Why bother finding you? I could have just stomped you to death!"
...
Suddenly, countless gazes converged under the arena.
For a moment, many participants were petrified, and the atmosphere became extremely tense, with the sound of a pin dropping audible.
Can it be done like this?
Can you be so straightforward?