Chapter 165: The Wandering Swordsman

"Ha, it's Ye Chen, he's here."

As Ye Chen stepped onto the giant boulder, Li Yuetong, who had been constantly looking around, spotted him immediately and waved enthusiastically, jumping up and down.

"Little Ye is quite fast. In a moment, let him take a look at the Swordsman Soul I caught. My luck is really amazing—a Bronze Soul that can be sold for quite a lot of money," Zui Xiangsi said, brandishing a Soul Card to the group of women. The card was the size of a playing card, bronze-colored, and possessed a distinct metallic texture.

The back of the card was carved all over with mysterious magical patterns, while the front bore the image of a swordsman dressed in light armor, holding a wide short sword that looked extremely sharp.

"Hmph hmph, Sister Xiangsi is showing off again. Everyone only gets one chance to seal, and yet you succeeded on your very first try. I'm so jealous of you," the loli Lin Ziyi protested with a pout of her red lips and a dissatisfied cry.

While they were talking, Ye Chen jumped down from the boulder and reached their side. Seeing Zui Xiangsi showing off a bronze-colored Soul Card, his eyes instantly lit up. Soul Cards formed different colors depending on the grade of the sealed soul, and a bronze Soul Card clearly meant it contained a Bronze Soul.

"Heh, Second Sister, you're really efficient. You've actually managed to seal a Bronze Soul already. How are the stats? Lend me the card to take a look," Ye Chen said as he came up to Zui Xiangsi and took the bronze Soul Card from her smugly smiling hands.

[Wandering Swordsman] (Bronze Soul Card)
Level: 35
Attack: 3-Star
Defense: 2-Star
Health: 2.5-Star
Excellence: 1-Star

"How is it, Little Ye? Pretty badass, right? It's a Bronze Soul," Zui Xiangsi said, her mouth splitting into a wide, happy grin as her face radiated smugness.

Jian Qingcheng knocked down a red-named Swordsman Soul with a single strike, turned back, and said with a hint of jealousy, "This Wandering Swordsman has Xiangsi over the moon. Just now, all thirteen sisters took turns trying, and Xiangsi went last yet managed to seal it successfully. She treasures it like a baby; she won't even let me borrow it to try."

"Ha, why doesn't Ye Chen use that card? After all, you're the one who pointed out this great spot, and we'd all love to see what a Bronze Soul looks like."

"Little Ye, don't you dare?! I'm only lending it to you to look at. If you dare use it, don't blame me for flipping out. I haven't even had the heart to use it myself yet." Zui Xiangsi glared fiercely with her almond-shaped eyes and reached out to snatch the Soul Card back. Once a soul was released from the card, it would bind to its master, making it impossible to take back.

Ye Chen stuffed the card back into Jian Qingcheng's hand and smiled. "It's a good thing you didn't use it, Sister Xiangsi, or this card really would have been wasted. Right now, we can use it to fool some fool in the city and sell it for a high price."

Fool some fools? Could it be that the Wandering Swordsman had bad stats?

The women were all momentarily stunned, and Zui Xiangsi asked anxiously, "What do you mean, Little Ye? Is this Bronze Soul total trash? This is a Bronze Soul, you know! We compared it with the Fine-grade souls we caught along the way, and those soul stats are way worse than the Wandering Swordsman's."

Ye Chen shook his head. "It's a Bronze Soul, true, and its Attack, Defense, and Health fit the identity of a Bronze Soul. But you overlooked a very important attribute: Excellence. This attribute is extremely crucial."

"Excellence? Ye Chen, do you know what this attribute means?" Jian Qingcheng's eyes lit up. Attack and Defense were self-explanatory, but they really had no idea what Excellence affected, since the official authorities hadn't provided any explanations, leaving players to figure it out on their own.

"Mhm. According to the information I got from Longteng and Yehua Liujin, the main effect of the Excellence attribute lies in possession. One star means that using this Wandering Swordsman for soul possession will only grant a 3% attribute bonus from it. Each additional star increases it by 1%, while the standard Excellence for a Bronze Soul should be 3-star. In other words, Second Sister, your soul has the worst possible Excellence, and after possession, it falls far short of a standard Bronze Soul." Ye Chen used Longteng and Yehua Liujin as shields—Big Sister and the others wouldn't go verify it anyway, and it wasn't strange for such major factions to acquire intelligence ordinary players couldn't get.

"Oh, oh. So the Bronze Soul that Sister Xiangsi treasured so much is actually pretty crappy. Heh, I'm not jealous anymore," Lin Ziyi said with a cheeky smile as she looked at the exasperated Zui Xiangsi.

"You dead girl, I dote on you for nothing." Zui Xiangsi angrily ruffled Lin Ziyi's hair into a messy nest, then turned to Ye Chen and asked, "According to what you said, does that mean the standard star rating for a Bronze Soul is 3-star across all attributes?"

"Of course not, only Excellence is like that. Star ratings for things like Attack and Defense vary completely depending on the type of soul—well, they're identical for souls of the same type. For example, any Wandering Swordsman will have the exact same star ratings for these three attributes: Attack, Defense, and Health." Ye Chen pointed to the level of the Wandering Swordsman on Zui Xiangsi's card and continued, "Besides, the best souls are always Level 1. Souls with levels are pretty trashy; their stats are much worse than Level 1 souls. Sister Xiangsi, you'd better sell this Wandering Swordsman while players still don't understand the system, so you can fetch a high price."

Realizing that her Wandering Swordsman was actually garbage, Zui Xiangsi's face immediately fell with disappointment as she said somewhat distractedly, "Since you say it's so bad, how much can it even sell for?"

"Heh, Sister Xiangsi, don't underestimate it just because I called it trash. If you take it to the auction, this Wandering Swordsman is easily worth over a thousand gold," Ye Chen said with absolute confidence.

"A thousand gold?! Are you out of your mind?" Zui Xiangsi suddenly raised her pitch, her eyes widening as she stared at Ye Chen.

"That's right, it should be able to fetch that kind of price." This time, it was Jian Qingcheng who spoke. She glanced at the puzzled women and explained, "First of all, the value of a Bronze Soul won't be lower than that of Bronze equipment. Right now, souls have a market demand where supply falls drastically short, and the demand is enormous. Don't forget, out of the 100,000 players in Lieshan City, fewer than 200 entered today, and each person can carry at most three successfully sealed Soul Cards. Even if all 200 of them maxed out their catches, that's only 600 souls—a drop in the bucket for the Lieshan City market. Furthermore, players from the major factions are fundamentally unwilling to sell their souls; they don't even have enough for themselves. Therefore, once you put this Wandering Swordsman on the market, it will definitely be fought over like crazy. A thousand gold is absolute."

Listening to Jian Qingcheng's clear and calm analysis, Ye Chen nodded inwardly. Big Sister was indeed Big Sister. He had only reached this conclusion after prior discussions with 2058, but Jian Qingcheng was able to read the situation so quickly—truly exceeding Ye Chen's expectations.

"Ha, hahaha! We're rich, we're really rich! Big Sister, let's just keep grinding these Wandering Swordsmen here today. If everyone catches three, won't we make tens of thousands of gold when we go back?" Hearing that her Bronze Soul was worth a thousand gold, Zui Xiangsi stowed away the precious Bronze Soul Card again, her eyes glowing with excitement as she suggested it to Jian Qingcheng.

"Second Sister, stop daydreaming. If you really caught that many Wandering Swordsmen, the price would definitely plummet upon our return. Scarcity drives value; having just this one of yours is enough. Besides, do you think Bronze Souls grow on trees? You were already lucky enough to encounter a captureable white-named one. Killing another hundred red-names might not even yield a single white-name, and they'll only become scarcer. Wanting to catch fifty or sixty Wandering Swordsmen is completely unrealistic. Moreover, our main objective today is to satisfy the studio's own needs. A soul like the Wandering Swordsman really isn't all that great. Taking advantage of the fact that the mystic realm has just opened, having everyone grab a truly powerful soul is the key. We might not get such a great opportunity again in the future," Ye Chen hurriedly intervened. There were plenty of chances to make money, but exceptional souls were not common. Before long, this Soul Realm would be crawling with players, and by then, competing with countless others just to catch a single soul—with dozens fighting over one—wouldn't be rare at all.

"Ye Chen is right. Don't let immediate gains blind your eyes; strength is the path to survival. With a batch of exceptional souls, Qingyu can develop faster and go further." Jian Qingcheng gave Ye Chen an approving look and flatly rejected Zui Xiangsi's proposal. The studio had always been Jian Qingcheng's domain, and hearing this, the women naturally raised no further objections.

"By the way, Ye Chen, you couldn't have brought us here just for these Wandering Swordsmen and Soul Cards, right? What on earth is your plan? You can tell us now," Jian Qingcheng signaled the others to step out of the Wandering Swordsman's attack range, then gently stroked the golden hair on her forehead and gazed intently at Ye Chen as she asked.

"Yesterday, when I was browsing legends about the Soul Realm in the library, I discovered a piece of secret lore. Rumor has it that beneath the ground of this Soul Realm lies a boundless underground world, where the souls are far more ferocious and formidable than those on the surface. Trash like the Wandering Swordsman is basically at the very bottom of the food chain down there."

Ye Chen spoke casually, but the women couldn't help letting out gasps of shock. Even Jian Qingcheng couldn't maintain her composure, furrowing her brow slightly as she asked, "Could it be that the souls in that underground world are all Silver-grade or above? That's way too overpowered, and with souls that strong, I'm afraid they won't be easy to deal with."

"Souls of Silver-grade and above are truly high-end entities. When I say the Wandering Swordsman is at the bottom, I don't mean its grade, but rather its combat power. There are no weaklings among the souls in the underground world, and their strength is reflected heavily in stats like Attack and Defense. Down there, many Rare-grade souls have stats no worse than the Wandering Swordsman's, and Bronze Souls should be even more abnormal. Some of those souls might even master quite a few powerful skills. It's very dangerous down there, and casualties are indeed a possibility. Whether to go or not is entirely up to you to decide—anyway, I don't need a soul right now." After explaining, Ye Chen calmly acknowledged the high danger of the underground world, then looked quietly at Jian Qingcheng. If Qingyu didn't even have this much courage, any empty talk of rising to prominence was meaningless.

"Go, why wouldn't we go? Should we push away benefits when they're handed to us? Ha, everyone gets one badass soul, and later we'll go crush those stinking bitches from Linghu Shenyue!" Zui Xiangsi suddenly let out a loud shout. The name Linghu Shenyue seemed to trigger the other girls as well, and in an instant, all thirteen girls acted as if possessed, unanimously voting to head to the underground world to hunt down those most ferocious and powerful underground souls.

*(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to visit Qidian to cast recommendation votes or monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)*