Chapter 116: Stars Rating (2)
Translator: Zen Translations Editor: Zen Translations
Mu En’s hands seemed to blur as he just seemed to fling the arrows out randomly. However, it was as if the arrows had eyes, and screams rang out along the mountainside. The dozen or so bandit archers lining both sides all perished, with an arrow in their throat. The bandit archers were about 50 yards from where they stood, and were on higher ground; Mu En only gave a casual throw of the arrows and had struck over 20 targets with such accuracy, the level of difficulty was just too high!
This was the first time Zhou Weiqing had seen his teacher attack, and he couldn’t help but stare, dumbfounded.
*Poof*, A kick landed on Zhou Weiqing’s buttock, as Mu En said exasperatedly: “What are you staring at!? Are you trying to get killed? Go deal with the bunch in front, if anyone escapes you won’t get a cut! You’re not allowed to use arrows!” As he said that, the Black Dawn Bow which was in Zhou Weiqing’s hands a moment ago suddenly disappeared and reappeared in Mu En’s hands.
It was only at this point that the bandits on the road awoke to the situation; even the most foolish person would have realised by now that this horse carriage was not an easy target at all. The bandit leader ignored the burning pain in his ear, and gave a strained shout: “Run, sound the alarm!” Saying that, he turned tail and fled. The group of bandits were clearly experienced in fleeing, and they scattered off in all directions, with hardly a single one headed together.
Having been given the reminder by Mu En, Zhou Weiqing slammed his right foot on the ground and shot forward. He knew that Mu En did not allow him to use his bow and arrow in order to test his close combat skills in an actual battle. Even if he did not mind losing face, he did not want to throw his father’s face either! As he thought of that, Zhou Weiqing felt his blood boil as excitement surged through him.
As soon as his right leg struck the ground, there was an explosion, startling even Mu En. As Zhou Weiqing’s body flew off like an arrow, his speed actually caused Mu En to reveal a surprised expression.
Almost instantly, Zhou Weiqing had caught up to two bandits; the bandits were at best of equal physique to ordinary soldiers and could hardly compare to a Heavenly Jewel Master like him. With each hand grabbing hold of a bandit’s neck, he slammed their heads together, causing them to lose consciousness. Almost at the same time, his body vaulted forward, and his left hand struck out, shooting forth a black light which flew forth like a bolt of black lightning, heading towards the majority of the bandits. His body flashed away again in the other direction, with the sheer explosive power of his Demonic Right Leg, he caught up with bandit after bandit, throwing their unconscious bodies back to where Mu En was. As for the black light, it was naturally the Touch of Darkness, which had by now bound over a dozen bandits and brought them together. Only the bandit leader was fast enough to reach the mountains.
Of course, Zhou Weiqing couldn’t possibly let him off, and with another burst of speed, he surged forth towards the bandit leader.
As if he had eyes on the back of his head, the bandit leader suddenly kicked savagely to the right while running, causing his body to spin around in a surprising turn, the large knife in his hands twirling towards Zhou Weiqing viciously. From the strength of the blow and the whistling sound it made as it cut through the air, it was clear that it held some Heavenly Energy. The bandit leader was at the cultivation level of the second level of Heavenly Energy, though he hadn’t Awakened his Power Jewels, it was still this strength that allowed him to become the leader of the bandits. Alas, this time, he had met an actual Heavenly Jewel Master.
The large knife had only closed half the distance to Zhou Weiqing when a green light flashed, and the bandit leader found that he was suddenly unable to move. The next instant, Zhou Weiqing had grabbed his collar, and with a surge of Heavenly Energy, this bandit leader who weighed at least 200 jin including his splint mail had been thrown all the way back 20 yards onto the path. Of course, it could not be forgotten that Zhou Weiqing had a pure Strength Physical Jewel.
From the time that Zhou Weiqing exploded into action, to the bandits being captured, it was barely the time taken to breathe 10 breaths of air. No matter Mu En or the other members in the carriage, no one had expected him to finish the battle so quickly.
Hua Feng’s eyes lit up, looking at Zhou Weiqing contemplatively.
Zhou Weiqing returned to Mu En’s side, saying: “Teacher, you guys are too evil, using the horse carriage to lure bandits, and robbing them instead.”
At this time, Mu En was standing in front of the bandit leader, kicking him repeatedly as he muttered: “Calling me old? Calling me old…” Zhou Weiqing stood at the side with his mouth twitching. So vicious!
“Spare me, please spare me lords…” The bandit leader cried out shrilly, trying to resist but he couldn’t garner the strength to do so. Zhou Weiqing’s Fetters of Wind was not something that an ordinary person could easily handle.
Mu En looked over at the dozen or so bandits bound at the side, and said: “Little brat, the first skill you stored for your Darkness Attribute, it’s the Touch of Darkness?”
Zhou Weiqing said: “Teacher, you’re so experienced and knowledgeable!”
Mu En said exasperatedly: “What bullshit knowledge, no wonder your old man sent you to the Heavenly Bow Unit. Don’t you know that your father’s eighth Jewel’s Skill is that Touch of Darkness? He likely doesn’t have the face to teach you personally. Hahaha, Old Zhou also has such a day, hahaha, now you can officially be a member of us Paradise Strange, you’re indeed a little weirdo!”
Turning to the bandit leader, Mu En grabbed him up and said: “Where is your lair?! Bring us there now.”
In about an hour, a dozen bandits with ashen faces carried sacks of gold coins back to the carriage under Mu En and Zhou Weiqing’s supervision, placing the sacks into the hidden compartment of the horse carriage. Before leaving, Mu En patted the bandit leader’s face and said: “Remember! When you’re in hell, collect more money before trying to rob us!”
In the next instant, Mu En shot out arrows viciously, finishing off all the bandits. “Teacher, they already gave us all their money, why still kill them?” Zhou Weiqing was still rather young after all, and seeing Mu En finishing them off in cold blood, he felt a chill run down his spine.
Mu En gave a humph: “What do you understand, do you think that we are the first targets of these bandits? If we did not have our abilities, what do you think would happen to us when they robbed us? These bandits deserve death more than ten times over.”
As the pair returned to the carriage, Luo Ke Di moved over and asked: “Old scoundrel, how much did you earn this time?”
Mu En said exasperatedly: “These poor bastards, we only got less than a hundred thousand gold coins. Without a Jewel master, how strong can these bandits be? Hopefully we get lucky and meet another bunch of bandits later.”
Hua Feng said: “Don’t complain, remember my 30% cut.”
Mu En gave a humph and said: “You vampire!”
Hua Feng’s mouth beamed in a graceful smile: “Without my horse carriage, with the way you look, do you think that bandits would even bother attacking you? Little Wei, your first skill for your Darkness Attribute is already the Touch of Darkness. Are you planning to go on the control route?”
Zhou Weiqing started and said: “What’s the control route?”
The moment he asked that, Mu En couldn’t help but cover his face and lean back in his chair. Gao Shen was so surprised that his eyes bulged out, while Luo Ke Di said: “Are you serious, Little Wei? As Admiral Zhou’s son, you don’t even know what’s control? Who taught you about Heavenly Jewels?”
Shangguan Bing’er flushed and said: “I was the one who taught him. Admiral Zhou only just recently knew about his Heavenly Jewels Awakening, and did not have the opportunity to teach him at all before we came to the Heavenly Bow Unit.”
Hua Feng said: “Simply put, when every Jewel Master is cultivating, they will choose a path that is suited to their Attributes. For example, a fire attribute Elemental Jewel Master will almost always go for on a more offensive route, while a wind attribute Elemental Jewel Master will normally choose to a more nimble or flexible attacking patterns, which is what we call agility attacks. When I mentioned control route, it means focusing on controlling enemies on the battlefield, restricting their movements and attacks. Your Touch of Darkness is a classic control skill, with an additional effect of improving senses and other benefits. I do not know how you managed to successfully Store it, but I have to say I have never seen such a good first Skill.”
Zhou Weiqing said: “Leader, I have never been able to understand how the Stored Skills and Consolidated Equipment are classified, don’t they all improve and evolve as the number of Jewels increase?”
Hua Feng said gently: “There are differences of course; no matter Consolidated Equipment or Stored Skills, they are classified according to their worth, and that is determined by several factors. First of all, is their growth factor. You are right that all skills will improve as the amount of Jewels increase. However, they do have differing rates of improvement, and the when a Jewel is added, a Skill could have a huge difference in how it evolves. For example, if you Store a Skill from a Shi Stage Heavenly Beast, when it evolves, it increases at a rate of 1, while a Zun Stage Heavenly Beast’s skill might increase at the rate of 2, Zong Stage at the rate of 4, and so on so forth. As such, the Skill Storing Palaces have come up with a Stars Rating for Consolidate Equipment and Stored Skills, to determine how strong they are depending on how many stars they are assigned. Of course, the stronger the skill, the more stars they have; the lowest being 1 star, and the highest 12 stars.”
“Taking your Touch of Darkness as an example, it would be considered a 8 Star skill by the Skill Storing Palaces. In general, Shi Stage Heavenly Beasts’ Skills are from 1-3 Stars, Zun Stage Beasts 4-6 Stars, Zong Stage Beasts 7-9 Stars. As for the Skills above 9 Stars, only Heavenly Jewel Masters will be able to get them. The general consensus is that you are usually able to Store Skills of a similar Star rating as your number of Jewels, or you might not be able to fully express your strength. To actually Store a 8 Star Skill when you only have one set of Jewels, it is something that we have never heard of previously.”
“Furthermore, when we are rating skills, control skills generally are considered 1 Star higher than Skills of the same rank. As such, although the Touch of Darkness is an 8 Star skill, it is still comparable to some of the 9 Star Skills. This is also the same for Consolidated Equipment, those which have sockets are usually given an additional Star rating as well. It can also be said that the Star Rating of a Jewel Master’s skills are also what we use to determine the person’s future talent and possibilities.”