"Blue Team: Jianghu Jiuyu achieved a god-like massacre!"
As the battle concluded, Qin Zheng topped the leaderboard with a record of 17 kills, 0 deaths, and 8 assists.
When the settlement screen popped up, Qin Zheng exhaled slowly. If the fight had continued any longer, he probably wouldn't have been able to hold on.
The intensity of the final moments was too high, and the state boost from the Breathing Technique had reached its limit.
The BB3-01 was also severely damaged. Being a pure melee mech, it couldn't completely evade many of the long-range shots.
The system appeared at the right moment, bringing Qin Zheng his exclusive settlement rewards:
[Stormlands Battlefield - Completed]
[Rewards: 1000 (Battlefield Reward) + 170 (Kill Reward)]
[Special Reward: Battlefield Chest (Can draw Martial Manual)]
[Greatly increased chance of obtaining "Gale Saber Art★★"]
A small chest appeared on Qin Zheng's system panel.
He selected to open the chest with his mind, and a large number of martial manuals appeared in a scrolling bar.
As the scrolling bar gradually slowed down, a martial manual stopped within the selection box.
"Gale Saber Art★★"
Description: The signature saber art of a certain bandit surnamed Tian, known for its speed. When executed, it resembles a gale, making it difficult to precisely control the saber's position. Requires recovery time after a short burst of slashes.
The description highlighted the drawbacks of the saber art due to its pursuit of speed.
However, having just experienced the power of this saber art, Qin Zheng chose to learn it without hesitation!
After all, it was a 2-star saber art, and compared to the Five Tigers Gate-Severing Saber, it had its advantages.
In an instant, a vast amount of information about the Gale Saber Art converged in Qin Zheng's mind.
Combining it with his recent battlefield experience, he quickly grasped the essence of the saber art.
His system panel now displayed a new saber art entry:
Gale Saber Art★★ (0/3000)
As Qin Zheng was transported out of the battlefield, his eyes widened. A 2-star martial manual required 3000 experience points just for the first upgrade?!
It seemed his experience points were far from sufficient.
After pondering for a moment, Qin Zheng reluctantly poured a large amount of experience into the Gale Saber Art, leveling it up to level 2.
He allocated the remaining experience points to the Breathing Technique.
Through the prolonged high-intensity combat on the battlefield, Qin Zheng felt that mastering this breathing method would be more beneficial to his combat prowess.
Host: Qin Zheng, Tier 1
· Martial Experience: 0
· Strength: 12
· Agility: 8
· Root Bone: 9
· Star Energy: (Not Activated)
· Inner Art: Breathing Technique★ (Level 3: 1211/10000)
· Techniques: Five Tigers Gate-Severing Saber★ (Level 3: 0/10000), Gale Saber Art★★ (Level 2: 0/12000)
· Lightness Skill: Grass Skimming Flight★ (Level 2: 0/4000)
With the enhancements, Qin Zheng felt a deeper understanding of saber usage.
Although he had only learned a new saber art, the insights gained were beneficial to his overall strength.
Closing the system panel, Qin Zheng opened the friend system in Dreamworld.
At this moment, a flood of friend requests filled his screen.
As agreed earlier, Qin Zheng searched for Youyou Luming and accepted the friend request.
He rejected the remaining requests with one click and then disabled the auto-add friend permission.
Youyou Luming: "Jianghu, do you have time? Up for another round?"
Zhou Ming sent this message amidst the anticipation of the live stream audience.
However, Qin Zheng declined him.
Jianghu Jiuyu: "Sorry, I have things to do today. Let's play another time."
Youyou Luming: "Alright, next time then. Remember to call me when you're online."
Jianghu Jiuyu: "Sure."
Closing the chat page, Qin Zheng exited Dreamworld.
With a hiss, the simulation pod's door slowly opened, and Qin Zheng climbed out, stretching lazily.
The Ancient Martial Arts System's battlefield chest rewards only came with the first victory of the day; playing more wouldn't yield additional rewards.
Thus, Qin Zheng only played once a day, exiting after winning and drawing the prize.
After all, in reality, he had many things to do, and the pressures of life required him to complete more tasks to make ends meet.
Qin Zheng opened his communication terminal to check his upcoming expenses:
Rent: 4000/month;
Mecha Warehouse: 3000/month;
Mecha Maintenance: 2000/month;... This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
Without doing anything, his monthly expenses would reach 9000 Star Coins, not including his daily expenses.
Moreover, there was an item in his shopping cart that he had pinned to the top:
"Bedrock Mk I PS-01 Mech Left Arm, retail price: 35000 Star Coins."
The lack of a mech arm was a constant flaw, significantly affecting his operation.
Especially after mastering the Gale Saber Art, Qin Zheng felt that such a technique, which required mobilizing the entire body's strength and pursuing extreme speed, would be even more affected by the missing arm.
"It seems I need to take on some missions!"
With this thought, Qin Zheng opened the old laptop on his desk and logged into the Balin Mecha Mission Center's page.
In the D-rank Mission Area, he filtered for tasks related to mining planets, and instantly, a dozen tasks appeared on the page.
"YT-117 Mining Planet suspected of armored insect activity, proceed to search and exterminate, mission level: D3, reward: 3000 Star Coins."
"YT-116 Mining Planet, exterminate at least 20 Blade Bugs, mission level: D2, reward: 4000 Star Coins."
"YT-117 Mining Planet, guard the mining vein for 15 days, mission level: D2, reward: 15000 Star Coins."
...
Looking at the refreshed tasks, Qin Zheng sighed. Earning money wasn't easy.
The carapace of the armored insects was extremely tough, and his Ship-Cleaving Blade likely couldn't penetrate it, making this task unsuitable for him.
Blade Bugs had sharp forelimbs resembling blades, capable of easily slicing through mech armor plates. A slight mistake could result in repair costs exceeding the mission's reward.
As for the guarding task... Qin Zheng directly dismissed it. In 15 days, he might even draw another martial manual.
Sitting in his chair, Qin Zheng thought for a while before finally picking up his communication terminal and finding Zhu Fugui's name to send a message:
"Old Zhu, how's your rest? Any mission recommendations?"
Zhu Fugui replied quickly:
"Perfect timing! Zheng Ge, I was just about to message you. There's a good mission, not on the platform, a private job from a minor noble!
Do you have time? How about we grab lunch together and discuss it?"
"Alright, send me the location."
"Sure, see you soon."
Putting on his communication terminal, Qin Zheng quickly washed up, threw on a jacket, and headed out.
The Battleaxe Bar was located in the Commercial Street near the spaceport, right next to the Mission Center, making it a prime location.
Most mecha mercenaries liked to come here for a drink after completing missions.
Even during the day, the place was bustling with people, with many mercenaries looking for tasks and employers posting private jobs hoping to get lucky.