Chapter 016: Item Upgrade?

After the intense exchange, Qian Baidu's clothes were torn to shreds by Xin Lang’s grasp, and several wounds on his body gushed blood relentlessly. Xin Lang cursed inwardly, “Damn! This ‘Heart-Rending Dragon Claw’ is way too brutal. It’s my first time using it and I couldn’t restrain myself!”

Qian Baidu, drenched in blood, supported himself on his hands, kneeling on the ground, his spirit and pride deeply wounded. He had believed that after advancing to the fourth level of Martial Apprentice, he would finally defeat Xin Lang, yet he hadn’t expected to lose even more miserably this time.

Xin Lang helped Qian Baidu up from the ground and took out a bottle of wound medicine he had concocted from his upgrade device’s pack, handing it to him, “Classmate, treat your wounds first!”

“Fellow student, what martial skill did you just use? How can it be so powerful? And... and... it feels very similar to my family’s ‘Piercing Heart Dragon Claw’?” Qian Baidu ignored his wounds, urgently questioning Xin Lang.

“Want to learn it? If you do, I can teach you!” Xin Lang didn’t want such a good ‘point farming tool’ to disappear just yet.

“What? You’re willing to teach me?” Qian Baidu was astonished. In the Great Xia Dynasty, martial techniques were always bought with money.

Xin Lang chuckled, “What’s there not to teach? This mid-tier mortal-level martial skill is called ‘Heart-Rending Dragon Claw’. I was inspired by your family’s ‘Piercing Heart Dragon Claw’ when I saw it two days ago and created this myself! Since I benefited from your family’s skill, teaching you counts as my repayment.”

“You created it yourself? My god!”

To create a higher-level martial skill after seeing it only once—what kind of existence was this!

“Don’t be surprised, Qian. It was just a flash of inspiration yesterday, really just luck!” Xin Lang didn’t want Qian Baidu to lose his confidence in robbing the rich and helping the poor, so he coaxed and tricked him into learning ‘Heart-Rending Dragon Claw’. Not only that, to farm more experience points, Xin Lang also taught him the mid-tier mortal-level martial skill ‘Dragon Subduing One Thousand and Eight Palms’, urging him to come challenge again once he had mastered it.

From Qian Baidu, Xin Lang gained another five experience points, making him wish he could immediately upgrade ‘Heart-Rending Dragon Claw’ to a high-tier mortal-level martial skill.

Just as Xin Lang was about to upgrade ‘Heart-Rending Dragon Claw’, the jovial, chubby Gu Ge returned!

Gu Ge spotted Xin Lang from afar and shouted, “Boss, I’m back!”

Ever since Gu Ge took the ‘Lotus Whitening Dew’, this lecherous fellow hadn’t returned.

Xin Lang snorted coldly, “I thought you’d died in the Spring Delight House!”

Gu Ge laughed, “How could I? Even if I were to die from exhaustion, I’d finish the task Boss entrusted me with first!”

“How much did you price the ‘Lotus Whitening Dew’ per bottle?” Seeing Gu Ge’s beaming face, Xin Lang knew the potions he’d given him must have sold out.

“Guess, Boss!” Gu Ge teased.

“Speak!” Xin Lang was impatient, uninterested in playing guessing games.

“Hehe, not too expensive—five gold coins per bottle!” Gu Ge said proudly.

Xin Lang sucked in a breath. Though he’d mentally prepared himself, he hadn’t expected Gu Ge to sell the ‘Lotus Whitening Dew’ at five gold coins a bottle.

He asked incredulously, “You mean you sold them for five gold coins each?”

“Yes!”

“All one hundred bottles sold out!”

“Hehe, not nearly enough! If I hadn’t run fast, those little vixens would’ve eaten me alive! I was nearly squeezed dry!” Gu Ge laughed lewdly.

“Damn, how did you sell them?” Xin Lang was very curious how Gu Ge managed to sell one hundred bottles of ‘Lotus Whitening Dew’ at such a high price in just one day.

Gu Ge explained his sales process in detail to Xin Lang.

Because Gu Ge had personally used Xin Lang’s potion and had absolute confidence in its effects, upon receiving the goods, he selected a striking but dark-skinned woman from Spring Delight House and gave her a free trial. Once the whitening effect became apparent, her natural beauty made her instantly popular.

Coupled with Gu Ge’s exaggerated promotion, the whitening effect of ‘Lotus Whitening Dew’ was mythologized to the extreme, and the product was immediately snatched up. Many brothel girls, who couldn’t get their hands on it, even offered themselves to Gu Ge in hopes of obtaining the potion.

Gu Ge not only made money but also enjoyed the company of women for free, no wonder he was so exuberant.

After hearing this, Xin Lang couldn’t help but admire Gu Ge’s business acumen. One hundred bottles of ‘Lotus Whitening Dew’ sold for five hundred gold coins—after deducting costs and Gu Ge’s commission, Xin Lang netted over three hundred gold coins.

The money Xin Lang earned was all displayed in the upgrade device’s task information, calculated precisely, not a single copper was missing.

With ‘Lotus Whitening Dew’ selling so well, Xin Lang quickly applied for leave, striking while the iron was hot, and rushed to prepare two hundred more bottles for Gu Ge to sell.

“What a pity! If only ‘Lotus Whitening Dew’ could be mass-produced, even if the price went down a bit, I could easily make ten thousand gold coins a month.”

After completing his daily training and earning another experience point, Xin Lang suddenly remembered he should upgrade his mid-tier mortal-level martial skill ‘Heart-Rending Dragon Claw’ to high-tier.

He had gained five experience points from Qian Baidu in the morning, and another point from evening tasks, totaling six. Upgrading ‘Heart-Rending Dragon Claw’ to high-tier would leave him with five experience points.

The upgrade process was the same as before; once ‘Heart-Rending Dragon Claw’ advanced to high-tier, it became ‘Soul-Shattering Dragon Claw’.

With two high-tier mortal-level martial skills, Xin Lang was absolutely invincible among his peers—even those two or three levels above him, sixth or seventh-level Martial Apprentices, might not be his match.

“I wonder how much mortal-level martial skills cost on the market?” Xin Lang considered selling his skills but hesitated, fearing unnecessary trouble. With his current strength not quite sufficient, it was better to keep a low profile.

“That’s it!” Xin Lang suddenly thought, “If the upgrade device can upgrade martial skills and techniques, maybe it can upgrade other things too?”

PS: Update notice—this book was previously uploaded under the title ‘Invincible Upgrade’ with thirty thousand words, but now the word count has surpassed the original. Tomorrow is Monday, and taking advantage of the ranking rush, I’ll explode with ten updates for everyone! The first chapter will be released after midnight tonight—Brothers, remember to support me!