Chapter 55: Entrance Examination and Equipment (III)
“To make sure that you have the qualifications to compete, the Alliance will be taking responsibility for supervising our group coming from Hao Yue branch hall. During this process, no matter what kind of danger you will encounter, the supervisor will not intervene directly: he will only let things run their course, even if you are about to be wiped out. That is unless you take the initiative to ask for his help. However, in that case, you’ll lose your qualifications to participate this time.”
“Our Hao Yue City is located in the southeast of the Alliance, only roughly 200 kilometers (400 Li) far from the territory of the demon race. A route has already been planned for you to infiltrate it. You have to bear in mind that, sometimes, one has to retreat instead of persevering. If you encounter a crisis you really cannot contend against, in that case, it is preferable to lose your qualifications to enter the competition by asking for the help of the supervisor. Your lives are the highest priority. We have already handed the map to the senior supervisor, so you will set off tomorrow. You are the representatives of our Hao Yue Hall, as well as Hao Yue City. Here, we will congratulate you beforehand and hope you will be able to get great result during this great competition.”
As they were speaking, Li Ao Xiao, Lin Yin Jia, and the three Hall Masters stood up, lifting up the teacups in their hands.
The group of five including Long Hao Chen saluted the five leaders and everyone drank their cups of tea together.
Lin Yin Jia said in a low voice: “Ever since six thousand year ago, when the demon race appeared and we entered the dark age, we, humanity, kept struggling to prevent ourselves from being driven to extinction. We needed more than 2,000 years for our territory to achieve its current stability. The demon race is our arch-enemy: each enemy killed is a contribution to the safety of humanity. Although our Hao Yue City isn’t really a big city, participating in the Demon Hunt Selection Competition is a major event that occurs only once every five years. This is your chance to easily obtain great achievements at the earliest possible time. And we prepared a few gifts to help you to get great result. As long as you can pass the qualification test and enter the competition, this present will not be wasted on you. Come with me.”
Hao Yue City’s office hall 1 contained a total of four floors. Led by Lin Yin Jia and Li Ao Xiao, the group arrived in a room at the top floor guarded by ten warriors.
There was not a single furniture inside of this room, only a few wide wooden tables with numerous equipment arranged on them.
Looking at the equipment, the breathing of the two brothers, Chen Si and Chen Chen, became hurried. Li Xin and Lin Jia Lu were quite normal: their families were rich, so they were not short on equipment at all. Long Hao Chen appeared pleasantly surprised, but he stayed calm.
Previously, Long Xing Yu told Long Hao Chen that, to any powerhouse of the Six Great Temples, equipment was only a part of their strength. Regardless of the equipment, only through relying on one’s own efforts to acquire it could one really treasure it. The Radiant Shield could be considered as the first equipment that was really treasured by Long Hao Chen, but it was clearly the first time such a set of equipment was gathered before his eyes.
On the table was a lot of equipment: there was not only a set per person, but a great deal of choice.
Lin Yin Jia said with a smile: “This equipment is not high ranked, but it is still a lot better than those the public can get on the market. Considering your current level of cultivation, the overwhelming majority of equipment we selected for you is amplification equipment, so that your fighting capability can be increased. Pick the ones you want by yourselves. However, you may only take a single piece of equipment for each body part.”
Lin Jia Lu shook her head, saying: “I have my own equipment, no need for me to choose.” As the daughter of the consulate, in addition to the fact that her family owned a magical equipment shop, she naturally did not need more equipment.
Li Xin shook her head as well, at the same time as Lin Jia Lu, stating that she did not need it.
Lin Yin Jia and Li Ao Xiao had guessed long ago that this would happen; this equipment was originally bought for the sake of the preparations of Long Hao Chen and the two Chen brothers.
The Chen brothers were quite impatient, and with the signs of Chen Chunhua, the Hall Master of the Warrior Temple, they both hurried to step forward and choose.
Li Xin bumped Long Hao Chen, hinting that he should make haste to go choose to prevent the others from choosing all the good equipment.
To judge the quality of an equipment, there are three major aspects to look at. First, the quality of the material: the better the material, the stronger the equipment created with it will be. The second aspect is the quality of the fabrication, as blacksmiths of different skills craft items of, more or less, different quality. The third aspect is, of course, the magic aspect. The value of a piece of magical equipment is at least five times that of an ordinary one. If the infused supplementary magic is powerful enough, the difference may be even more considerable.
Equipment was divided into different tiers from bottom to top: ordinary equipment, alloy equipment, magical equipment, spiritual equipment, glorious equipment, legendary equipment, epic equipment, immortal equipment, and mystical tier equipment.
For these few youth to participate in this Demon Hunt, Hao Yue City took out this very carefully selected equipment. They were all magical equipment and, although they had the most common magical amplification properties, any one of them would amount to a hundred of gold coins on the market. A tier above magical equipment, there was the spiritual equipment that that contained at least a single skill. This tier of equipment amounted to at least 1,000 gold coins.
As a defensive warrior, Chen Si picked, without the slightest hesitation, a heavy armor that covered his whole body together with a thick tower shield. On the armor and the shield were magical patterns that strengthened it, making them, presently, the equipment with the greatest defensive power. The weapon was, however, a lot simpler: it was a long blade with an effect that increases speed.
Chen Chen’s choice placed emphasis on a different aspect of the warrior’s talents, he chose a fire attribute light armor together with a pair of fire attribute long blades. With them, if his spiritual energy was stimulated, his body could emit a blazing aura, enabling him to use fire attribute attacks with a power further amplified because of his offensive specialization of berserker.
Long Hao Chen also chose a light armor made of fine iron and heavy iron alloy, resulting in an extremely thin plate that mainly covered his upper body, elbows, and knees joints. It was a silver-colored armor that did not look overly flashy, but emitted a holy aura around it.
The light attribute magic equipment was harder to find compared to the magical equipment of other attributes; thus, he did not have a helmet. While he was clad lightly and conveniently, he still had a certain defensive power..
Soon after, he chose two heavy swords. Between them, one was a light attribute heavy sword while the second one he chose had a fire attribute.
The appearance of these two swords was not different from the standard appearance of the heavy swords used by knights: on the blades were carved distinct magical patterns, and a core crystal of a fourth step magical beast was inlaid in the center of the blades. These heavy swords weighed between 20 kilograms and 25 kilograms. To Long Hao Chen, who had a 200th level external spiritual energy, this weight was negligible.
Lin Yin Jia showed a curious reaction, “Long Hao Chen, aren’t you a Guardian Knight? Why did you choose to take two heavy swords?”
Long Hao Chen answered, a bit embarrassed: ”I already have a shield, so I wanted to take one more sword. Is it okay?”
Li Yin Jia humbly smiled, “Of course it is okay.”
Li Ao Xiao spoke: “After going back, you will have to familiarize yourself with your new equipment. You will set off tomorrow in the early morning. If you want to accomplish your task and become qualified to enter the competition, you will have to directly leave for the Alliance. Our Hao Yue City will also have a specialist who will arrive at the Alliance in advance to arrange all matters regarding your participation in the competition.”
“Yes.”
After returning to the residence, Li Xin repeatedly warned Long Hao Chen to rest well after returning. Long Hao Chen bought 2.5 kilograms (5 jin) of dried fish on the road for his good companion, the two headed lizard Hao Yue, before impatiently trying on the new equipment he had just obtained.
1. place where the consulate wields his power, I’m assuming, because office hall is 执政大厅, and consulate is 执政官