The Wizard: Grinding Experience Starting with Knight Breathing Techniques 81

“Old Hank?”

That was the name of the previous owner of this blacksmith shop; Li Wei rented it from him.

“No wonder this old fellow stopped operating, no wonder the rent is so low. It’s because these people couldn’t make a living, leaving the mess to a newbie like me.”

Li Wei’s heart stirred. The outer city was too chaotic, with gangs running rampant, and the Holy City’s security officers not bothering to intervene.

In fact, regarding the chaotic outer city, they were, on the one hand, incapable of managing it, and on the other, probably unwilling to manage it. Only by allowing the lowly poor of the outer city to constantly engage in meaningless infighting and internal consumption, constantly plagued by various petty conflicts, and oppressed by gangs – their superficial enemies – could the upper class of the middle city and the privileged elite of the inner city better control this city, and even this country.

Compared to the middle city where Li Wei lived, the outer city was truly chaotic and filthy beyond belief. As Li Wei walked along, he had already seen several gang fights and protection racketeering incidents in the streets and alleys.

He hadn’t expected to encounter such a thing so soon after arriving; he was really unlucky.

“I’m the new tenant here. You should go to Old Hank for protection money; I’ve already paid the rent,” Li Wei said in somewhat broken Tuva.

After practicing for a while, he had become fairly proficient in basic spoken Tuva.

“Oh? An outsider?” The scarred man sneered, but didn’t pay much attention. The outer city was a melting pot; people from everywhere came here.

Every day, numerous stowaways arrived, hoping to integrate into this city of dreams. Many members of their Blood Hand Gang were outsiders themselves.

“I don’t care if you’re a tenant or not. This Black Corner Alley is the territory of our Blood Hand Gang. If you operate here, you have to pay protection money.”

“Protection money, quickly now.” The scarred man clenched his fists, eyeing Li Wei with ill intent.

His subordinates immediately surrounded Li Wei. They didn’t look easy to deal with.

To be honest, Li Wei didn’t even bother to deal with these gang thugs who weren’t even Knights. Killing them wouldn’t give him any sense of accomplishment, nor would they drop anything good.

So Li Wei remained calm, calmly watching these people yell.

This was the Holy City.

In broad daylight, with so many people watching, there was no need to expose himself.

Li Wei noticed that the doors of the surrounding neighbors were tightly closed, with some people cautiously watching from behind the cracks in their doors.

He silently took out ten Tuva silver coins and handed them to the scarred man.

Unexpectedly, the scarred man swatted away the coins. The coins scattered on the ground, spinning around.

“Silver coins? Outsider, you may have some misunderstanding about our Blood Hand Gang.”

“Do you think you’re fooling a beggar? Don’t think that just because you look strong we’re afraid of you. Our gang leader, Blood Hand Boss, is a proper Knight.”

“Do you know the rules here?”

The scarred man, mentioning his gang leader, spoke with unrestrained enthusiasm.

It seemed that having a Knight as backing was a remarkable thing.

“Sorry, then how much should I give? I’m new here, and I really don’t understand the rules,” Li Wei said calmly, smiling in response.

He thought ten silver coins were a lot. After all, the monthly rent for his blacksmith shop was only one gold coin.

Unexpectedly, these thugs didn’t find it sufficient.

“Seeing as you’re new, we won’t make things difficult for you. One gold coin, and we’ll ensure your blacksmith shop is safe for the next month,”

The scarred man said.

Li Wei hesitated for a moment, then silently took out a gold coin and handed it to the scarred man. He then picked up the silver coins one by one from the ground. The scarred man looked at all this with satisfaction.

He had been prepared to teach this person a lesson, but the other party was surprisingly compliant.

With the underground king of this area, the Blood Hand Boss, backing him, what was he afraid of?

“Guys, let’s go.”

“What are you all looking at? Hurry up and make money. If you can’t pay next month’s protection money, the Blood Hand Boss’s wrath is not something you can bear.”

The people who had been peeking from their doors and windows quickly retracted their heads, daring not to make a sound.

On this street, everyone knew the terror of the Blood Hand Boss.

The reason he was called Blood Hand was because he had once torn apart several members of rival gangs with his bare hands.

Li Wei watched the scarred man walk away, found a deserted corner, changed his clothes, and secretly followed him.

He found the Blood Hand Gang’s headquarters, a dilapidated tavern.

After noting the location, Li Wei left and returned to the blacksmith shop to start forging.

He wasn’t in a hurry to act.

Even if he destroyed the Blood Hand Gang, various other gangs would immediately seize control of the area, and the protection money would still be unavoidable.

Li Wei wasn’t here to clean up the dark forces for the Holy City’s lords and maintain order in the outer city.

These gangs, being so arrogant, must have some connection with the nobles of the middle city and even the bigwigs of the inner city.

His goal hadn’t been achieved yet, so he shouldn’t cause trouble.

But this grudge must be avenged; the accounts must be settled. He would only act after achieving his goal and preparing to leave.

It was still the same phrase: “The time for reckoning hasn’t arrived yet.”

Next, the blacksmith shop, which hadn’t been in operation for a long time, resumed business.

Li Wei forged some ordinary-quality equipment to conceal his true intentions.

He then spent several days creating a suit of armor infused with a little mithril.

This armor was a master-level work. Li Wei even incorporated mithril, its defensive power was not inferior to his dragon armor, but it wasn’t as light and flexible.

He planned to sell it at the Shining Auction for a good price.

Even the best longsword would only earn him pocket money; armor was what truly held value.

…

In the middle city, a dimly lit tavern, seemingly small from the outside, was situated there.

A person wearing a golden mask slowly approached.

After presenting his membership card, Li Wei smoothly entered the Shining Tavern.

“You must be Master Terra,” a staff member of the tavern immediately greeted him.

“That’s right. I need to consign a suit of armor.” Li Wei threw the armor he had brought onto the ground.

“It’s called Silver Scale, a mithril armor forged from fine steel and half a pound of mithril. It’s definitely my most outstanding work in recent years. I hope your tavern can get me a good price at auction,” Li Wei said in a low voice.

“Rest assured, Master Terra, our auctioneers are professionally trained and will surely satisfy you.” Then they took the armor away for appraisal. Li Wei believed this suit of armor should be worth over two hundred Tuva gold coins; after all, the mithril alone cost several tens of gold coins.

The auction of a mithril armor crafted by a legendary craftsman required pre-publicity, so the Shining Tavern would likely spread this news through its many members, reaching the ears of the nobles and Knights of the Holy City.

While waiting for the auction, Li Wei visited the bounty and commission area of the Shining Tavern, perhaps finding what he couldn’t find in Icewind City.

After all, this was a branch based in the Holy City of Landis, one of the largest branches of the Shining Tavern. It was said that a Great Knight-level powerhouse was stationed here.

Li Wei posted the commissions for the few items he needed at the Shining Tavern. After browsing around, he found some breathing techniques for sale, but the vortex worm eggs and the other two spellcasting materials were still unavailable.

Finally, Li Wei left the Shining Tavern, happily carrying a rudimentary bloodline breathing technique he bought for thirty gold coins.

The name of this breathing technique was the Azure Falcon Breathing Technique.

This should be the breathing technique of the Azure Falcon Knight who was crushed to death by the earth dragon beast.

Li Wei hadn’t found it then, unexpectedly finding it in a foreign land at the Shining Tavern.

This breathing technique had twenty-five small human figures.

It should be a superior one among the rudimentary level, second only to the extremely rare human-faced spider type.

According to Li Wei’s estimation, it should be possible to cultivate it to the fifth rank.

(Chapter end)

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