Chapter 32

(Listened to the previous chapter's item probability adjustments. From now on, the probability will be listed as a total of 100%, which will not affect the reading experience. Finally, I request everyone's recommendation votes. If you're not busy, you can also go to the Sanjiang page and vote for Futu. Thank you!)

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There weren't many people in the market area, and most of the stalls were just hanging there.

Zhao Futu inquired the Nightmare Space and found that he could rent a stall here for 50 survival points per day. The prices for items on the stalls came in two types: one was the bidding price, which would be sold to the highest bidder based on the time set by the contractor. The other was the fixed price, and many pieces of equipment were set at a fixed price. After the item was sold, the space would automatically transfer the earnings to the contractor.

"Head Wolf's Fang." Since he had equipped the Iron Branch, Zhao Futu took off the Head Wolf's Fang. Like rings, accessories could only be equipped in two slots. So he planned to sell this piece of equipment to get some cash, and then see if he could get a sword. His main combat strength was still focused on unarmed combat and sword techniques, so getting a good sword was necessary.

After walking around the market area, Zhao Futu found that there weren't many pieces of equipment on the stalls, and even fewer accessories and rings.

"It seems the drop rate for equipment isn't very high?" Zhao Futu walked through the market area and found that the most common items were various materials. Many contractors also put their abilities up for sale on the stalls, such as the person who appraised equipment that Zhao Futu initially encountered. His ability was likely the 'Appraisal' spell from the first-level magic, which, according to his rules, could only be memorized once every eight hours, indicating it was a D&D-type spell skill.

This seemed different from the spell abilities that the glasses-wearing man possessed!

There were only about three to five pieces of accessories in the entire market, and they weren't cheap. The lowest-priced one was 1500 survival points and one large soul fragment, with attributes similar to Zhao Futu's 'Head Wolf's Fang.' It was called the 'Bronze Ring,' adding one point to both Strength and Intelligence. Zhao Futu didn't intend to sell it at a low price, so he listed it at a slightly higher price.

Compared to Intelligence, new contractors needed more direct combat enhancements like Agility and Strength.

Most of the items in the market area were mid-to-low-tier equipment. At this stage, contractors didn't have many spell skills, so increasing Intelligence was far less effective than increasing Strength and Agility.

After a full circle, Zhao Futu found only two weapons he could use. One was too expensive for him to afford, and the other was slightly cheaper but still required him to sell the 'Head Wolf's Fang' to buy it. It was a fine steel longsword with enchantment, a very ordinary white equipment, worth only what the space would recycle. However, for some reason, the stall owner had performed enchantment on it.

This longsword was very ordinary in appearance, with the following attributes:

"Fine Steel Longsword." (Status: Enchanted)

"Origin: Nightshade Town, Blacksmith Shop."

"Rarity: White."

"Material: Fine Steel Ingot."

"Weight: 1500 grams. (The weight of the item affects the wearing requirements.)"

"Equipment Slot: Weapon."

"Weapon Damage: 25-35"

"Enchantment Effect: Strength +2, Agility +1."

"Equipment Requirements: None."

"Description: This is a very ordinary fine steel equipment, but someone has performed a bit of enchantment on it!"

...

The longsword was listed at a fixed price of 3000 survival points and one F-grade soul crystal. The stall owner seemed indifferent to whether it was bought or not, and there was no one around. The stall had a few ordinary light blue equipment pieces, but they all had one thing in common: they had all undergone simple enchantment, adding one to two extra attribute points.

The prices were naturally about 80% higher than those on the market. The most eye-catching was a dagger, which added three points to Strength and five points to Agility, with the weapon itself adding two points to Strength and two points to Agility. However, this weapon was also extremely expensive, listed at 15000 survival points and two E-grade soul crystals.

"First, spell appraisal, then equipment enchantment?" Zhao Futu walked around and realized that the abilities in this space were truly varied.

Soon.

Another batch of contractors emerged from the light circle. A rather slender contractor paused at his stall and bought the 'Head Wolf's Fang' he had listed. After the earnings were credited, Zhao Futu immediately bought the fine steel longsword. It was clear that the number of people in this space wasn't too high, probably around two to three thousand. With so few pieces of equipment in the market, it was best to buy what was suitable when you found it.

One transaction in and one out, Zhao Futu immediately became a pauper.

He now had only 210 survival points and one large soul fragment left, with nothing else.

"Check battlefield mission information!"

After returning to his room, Zhao Futu immediately opened the space page on the wall, which provided access to information based on the contractor's permission level. Soon, information about battlefield missions appeared. It turned out that the space would periodically release battlefield missions to contractors, which were more intense than the main missions but offered richer rewards.

"Contractor 1013, with 5 merit points and the rank of Corporal, can join E-grade low-intensity battlefields and check the additional rewards for the corresponding battlefield!"

"Check the additional rewards for ordinary E-grade battlefields!" Zhao Futu flipped through and said.

"Contractor 1013, with the rank of Corporal, will receive a 5% additional drop rate for equipment and a 20% increase in survival points when entering an ordinary E-grade battlefield!"

A 5% increase in equipment drop rate and a 20% increase in survival points?

Zhao Futu closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then continued, "Check the additional rewards for random E-grade battlefields!"

"Contractor 1013, with the rank of Corporal, will receive a 15% additional drop rate for equipment and a 50% increase in survival points when entering a random E-grade battlefield, with a 5% increase in the possibility of collecting soul crystals."

"Note! Once a contractor chooses a random battlefield, they may enter a high-intensity E-grade combat mission! The death rate for this mission is 50%!"

"Battlefield missions are not mandatory, and contractors can choose not to accept them!"

"The space will periodically release some general battlefield missions, and contractors can choose to join them as appropriate!"

"Friendly reminder! Contractors can purchase additional supplies from the quartermaster based on their rank, with the number of items they can purchase varying according to their permission level!"

...

"Battlefield missions? Non-mandatory missions?" Zhao Futu closed his eyes and pondered, muttering to himself, "So, they can be refused?"

This was clearly a choice given by the Nightmare Space to the contractors. The danger in the missions was undeniable. Since they were battlefield missions, there was always a risk of death. However, according to the man who called himself 'Juantu,' it was best not to give up on battlefield missions because completing them would make the next month's mandatory main mission easier.

"This is clearly a choice for the contractors! To take a certain risk and attempt the battlefield missions to make the main mission easier, or to give up the battlefield missions and face a more challenging main mission!" Zhao Futu frowned as he thought.

The rewards for completing battlefield missions were clearly higher, and the strength would increase faster, making the main mission much easier in the future.

But!

The premise was that they had to successfully survive the battlefield missions.

Undoubtedly, contractors who chose to accept battlefield missions would improve faster, but they would also face double the danger, as they might have to go through two to three mission spaces in a month. No one could guarantee that their luck would always be good, and the more battlefield missions they accepted, the higher the chance of death!

If, as the space said, there were combat missions with a 50% death rate, the death rate would be even higher.

"Never mind. Don't think too much!" Zhao Futu shook his head, driving the thoughts out of his mind.

He still had two hours left in the space, and after that, he would be sent back to reality. After seven days in reality, he could re-enter the space for three days. Although he didn't know the meaning of this arrangement, since he still had time, he should do something useful!

Behind the small courtyard Zhao Futu had opened was a training ground, paved with blue bricks and equipped with all kinds of weapons. He drew the fine steel longsword he had just obtained and began practicing the Silver Cross Sword Technique he had learned in the space. This sword technique was of a high level, actually a Silver-tier sword technique, but the cost to improve it was terrifying, requiring 5000 survival points and one E-grade soul crystal!

Zhao Futu didn't have that much to directly improve it, but this sword technique had one advantage: it could be improved through practice.

It took about five minutes to complete a set of the Silver Cross Sword Technique, and two hours was enough for him to practice it more than ten times.

After about half an hour, Zhao Futu, drenched in sweat, took a short break. He checked the proficiency of the Silver Cross Sword Technique and found that it had already increased to over a hundred. This surprised him because he had practiced it during the space mission, but the proficiency increased very slowly, only by 2 points per set.

According to the 10,000 proficiency points required to upgrade the Silver Cross Sword Technique to level 2, it would take him nearly three months to reach level 2 if he practiced for five minutes at a time, ten hours a day. However, after just five or six sets, he already had nearly a hundred proficiency points. He focused and practiced another set, and found that he could increase his proficiency by about ten points each time. More importantly, he felt that the practice was much smoother, without the stiffness and awkwardness he had experienced during the mission.

Even more importantly, his stamina was hardly depleted.