Chapter 189: Two Abilities, Conflicting Abilities, Setting Off Again

While Jier was curious about the function of this Sixth-Rank Defend Badge, Weier seemed to have a telepathic connection, opening his mouth to ask Pastor Hadli, who was leaning back in his chair, about the badge's purpose.

"As for its function, as long as you place this badge in a location filled with gold and silver treasures for a period of time, it will accumulate the Divine Power of our great God of Wealth! And when the Divine Power within the badge reaches a certain level, it can randomly grant a small number of allies passion and high-spirited mental stimulation during battle! And when the Divine Power stored inside is full, it can activate another effect: it can use the stored divine power to block damage and protect the person holding the badge."

Pastor Hadli looked proud, because unlike the sixth-rank badges of other large churches, their Church of the God of Wealth was willing to put effort into such things; therefore, unlike the sixth-rank badges of other churches which only had one ability, this Sixth-Rank Defend Badge of theirs had two quite practical abilities.

Jier raised an eyebrow after overhearing this, not expecting such an unexpected joy. Although they had fled Suishi Cheng overnight, all in all, the harvest from that middle-of-the-night in Suishi Cheng could truly be considered quite significant!

When he first arrived at Suishi Cheng, he had made a small fortune because of the bounties on those Bandit Leaders, and later at the banquet, he had fulfilled the weapon-forging wish of his subordinate Warrior Bawei. Subsequently, although the matter of the Dwarf Secret Vault was perilous and could have capsized the boat in the gutter at any time, at least today he had received the hush money the other party had caught up to give him. And now, there was this unexpected joy.

Very good, very good indeed!

As expected of Suishi Cheng, a city of considerable scale, compared to when they were in Sasi County, it was easy and pleasant to get more money here, and the time and energy spent were simply not worth mentioning.

"How is it? It's a good item, right? To be honest, if it weren't for you leaving in such a hurry, the Fifth-Rank Badge personally issued and customized by our church would have even stronger effects and abilities. I can only say that Knight Jier left at the wrong time. By the way, why did you all leave so suddenly yesterday?"

Facing Pastor Hadli's question, Xueya Site, who roughly knew the reason, did not know how to answer. To tell the truth, they were still in Cuikuang at the moment, and although this Kagali Town was the territory of a Knight Lord under the Bostafa Family and was not directly controlled by the Bostafa Family, this matter was still not easy to speak of.

He was afraid of any additional trouble.

"As for this, we aren't quite sure..." Xueya Site answered vaguely, while Weier said straightforwardly: "It's Knight Jier's order; who in the team would dare to ask more? We are Warriors under the Knight's command. If he says to set off in the middle of the night, we set off in the middle of the night; if he says to draw swords and hack someone, we draw swords and hack them. After all, we Warriors receive a handsome salary from Knight Jier, and these are things we should do."

"Ha, I like that saying. That's right, if you take money, you should get things done. If only everything in the world were this easy, sigh." Pastor Hadli shook his head with much emotion, seemingly in the mood to talk, and began to speak of some things he had encountered before.

Many times, it wasn't that you gave enough money and people would be willing to do things for you wholeheartedly after taking it. Pastor Hadli had encountered quite a few of these frustrating matters, and each one could make him angry enough to die.

Fortunately, he was a formal Priest of the Church of the God of Wealth, backed by the powerful Church of the God of Wealth, so greedy people always had to restrain their greed a little.

While talking, Jier went around to the backyard of the inn, grabbed a bow and arrows, and then casually took a walk in the Shulin that provided firewood near the town. He shot a few long-eared rabbits, tied their ears in a knot, and hung them on his belt. He also luckily shot down a reddish-brown fox; this color of fox particularly liked to be active near human society, usually living off the trash generated by human daily life and stealing the poultry raised by humans.

Of course, eating the burrowing big rats that parasitized human buildings was also one of their broad food sources.

With a bow and arrows in one hand and the fox with its still-pretty fur in the other, Jier walked in from the inn's entrance.

He pretended to be surprised to see Pastor Hadli, who was waiting for him in the lobby, raised an eyebrow, and asked Xueya Site who this person was and what he was doing.

Just as if he had only just found out.

"Good mood, Knight Jier. Hello, I am the Pastor of the Church of the God of Wealth in Suishi Cheng—Benz Hadley. To thank you for resolving the large number of Bandits that hindered trade activities on the road from Duoen Town to Suishi Cheng, the church's superior Priests have decided to specially award you this Sixth-Rank Defend Badge, specially made by the Church of the God of Wealth!"

At this moment, Pastor Hadli flipped open the luxurious Wooden box on the table, revealing the Sixth-Rank Defend Badge that had not been shown until now.

This was a beautiful badge the size of a palm. The base was overly bright gold, and the front frame was a square frame representing cargo. Inside the frame, fine Gems were used to form the image of a carriage, and on top of the carriage was a silver Long Sword guarding the carriage.

The entire badge had a clear meaning at a glance; just like the word "Defend" in its name, it clearly indicated that it was a reward for those who had contributed to defending trade.

Jier casually dropped the fox in his hand, along with the few long-eared rabbits at his waist, then handed the bow and arrows to Weier to hold temporarily. He stepped forward and used his fingers to lightly flick the badge, revealing its back.

【This badge is used to thank Knight Qiao Jier for heroically defending the right to trade and defeating those who hindered the Shanglu. This young Knight from Kendall County in the Northwest Province is a sharp sword and shield for all those trading on the Shanglu.】

A few sentences were embossed in gold on the bright gold back of the badge, explaining the origin of the badge, as well as the holder's name, place of origin, and identity.

And at the bottom of the box under the badge, there were also a few exquisitely crafted papers, on which were the specific abilities and usage methods of this Sixth-Rank Defend Badge. This included how to replenish the Divine Power needed inside, what this badge could do, and what the secret command to actively activate it was.

Jier took off the Steel Gauntlet on his hand, picked up the beautiful and valuable badge with his bare hand, held it in his left hand, and flipped through the instructions with his right hand.

"The God of Wealth remains in my heart, let us defend the right to trade..."

Jier recited the secret command on the paper to actively activate the ability. The next moment, the Sixth-Rank Defend Badge in his left hand emitted a bright golden light, flashed once, and quickly swept over the few people present in the lobby. Besides Jier's whole body flashing with golden light, unexpectedly, the Caravan Steward who had come with Pastor Hadli, and the innkeeper who was pretending to calculate accounts in the lobby but was actually curious about the matter here, also had a golden light flash over them.

Subsequently, Jier felt a wave of inexplicable high-spirited emotion ignited from the bottom of his heart, but before Jier could do anything, a gem necklace under his armor on his chest also lit up. Jier's emotion, which had just risen, was suddenly pulled back.

The expression on his face changed, quite spectacularly.

As for the other two people whose emotions had been strengthened and spirits lifted, it was quite interesting.

The Caravan Steward, who had been riding a horse to chase Jier's team for a day, was quite exhausted. He was holding two Cloaks that blocked dust and was leaning on a chair to the side, dozing off. As a result, a golden light flashed over him, and he stood up with a start, excitedly throwing the Cloaks toward the ceiling, and excitedly singing a ditty that would be sung when trading was boring.

"Woo-hee-hee, I have money in my pocket."

"Woo-hee-hee, I shake my money bag."

"Woo-hee-hee, the crisp sound rings out."

"Woo-hee-hee, women, look over here."

However, before he could finish singing, his mouth was blocked by Pastor Hadli, because the following ditty was a bit unbearable to the ear and was really not suitable for the current occasion.

As for the innkeeper, he didn't start singing directly, but instead, with full spirit, he re-examined today's accounts and found a few places where the Shop Assistant might have embezzled money. He shouted loudly to call the Shop Assistant over and, full of energy, demanded that the other party give him an explanation.

The greedy Shop Assistant had of course played tricks, so he had to honestly confess the true situation.

"Jier, what is this?" Xueya Site was quite concerned about his little partner Jier. Seeing the strangely twisted expression on Jier's face, he immediately spoke, while his hand was also placed on the hilt of the sword at his waist.

Weier was more knowledgeable, especially about similar situations; he had seen it at home before: "Is it that there is a conflict between ability items with similar effects?"

Jier twitched the corner of his mouth and took out the Calming Necklace he had newly worn around his neck.

Pastor Hadli saw at a glance that this item was still something from their Church of the God of Wealth, and it was also a Divine Power item similar to those used to reward meritorious people. And just from the type of Gems used on the necklace, he could guess the effect of this item.

After all, in the meaning of Gems, sapphire often represents wisdom, the ocean, calmness, detachment, and other meanings.

"It's an effect conflict. If I'm not mistaken, this necklace should have an emotional and mental calming effect, right? It just happens to conflict with the active effect of this Sixth-Rank Defend Badge. I have to say, Knight Jier, you have to make a choice between the two. However, if you ask me, I still suggest you wear the Sixth-Rank Defend Badge I gave you this time. After all, it also has an effect that can assist you in battle, and in terms of practicality, it is stronger."

Jier shrugged: "I think so too."

He took off the Calming Necklace he had only gotten a few days ago and casually handed it to Xueya Site: "Good partner, you take it and use it."

Subsequently, Jier searched under the paper in the Wooden box and found the gold necklace chain that matched the badge. Although Jier was not very satisfied with the strength of the gold, it would barely work.

Later, he would still find an opportunity to change the gold necklace chain into a sturdier steel one; otherwise, it would be difficult for this thing to adapt to the high-intensity, vigorous activities during his battles, and the necklace made of gold would be torn apart.

Xueya Site, who had unexpectedly received the Calming Necklace, waved his hand and gave it to Weier: "I am not a Warrior fighting in the front row, so I don't need this wonderful thing. Weier, you take it and use it. I think it will help you in battle."

Weier took a deep breath. Seeing that Jier did not object to Xueya Site's transfer, he looked at Xueya Site gratefully, nodded, and hung the Calming Necklace around his own neck.

This thing also had a very good effect on him. When he was studying at the Swordsman Academy, his Sword Technique teacher said: Exquisite advanced Sword Technique often requires the combination of strong emotions and firm will, and among various emotions, calmness is also a kind of emotional feeling.

This thing was especially suitable for some Sword Techniques that required judgment, calculation, and estimation, and were very particular about the distance between the enemy and oneself and the enemy's next move. Although Weier had not learned such advanced Sword Technique, he felt that he could develop in this direction.

"Do you need to test the other effect of this badge?" Pastor Hadli suggested.

Although the badge had just actively released one ability, he was present and could directly and quickly fill the badge with Divine Power to activate the other defensive effect after the badge's Divine Power was full.

"No need, I'll go back and test it privately by myself. Thank you, Pastor Hadli, for riding a horse for a long distance under the scorching sun to catch up and deliver this treasure."

Jier expressed his gratitude and thanked Pastor Hadli with standard Knight etiquette.

Pastor Hadli accepted it calmly, and he said understandingly: "Of course, of course, regarding matters of battle, it is only right to keep the effects confidential. Hey, it's just that I don't have much experience in battle and didn't think of this layer."

I don't know where this Priest's thoughts wandered, or if he imagined some reason himself, providing a justification for Jier not testing the protective effect of the badge.

Since he had braved the scorching sun to deliver a gift, Jier could not fail to show his appreciation, so he invited Priest Hadli and the accompanying Caravan Steward to dine together at the inn's restaurant.

Of course, because they were hosting this priest of the God of Wealth, they could not simply eat cheap food that only served to fill their stomachs; Jier called for the innkeeper, and this exceptionally excited fellow immediately declared he would pay to bring in cooks from several nearby inns to ensure they prepared a meal that would satisfy everyone.

This man indeed succeeded; Jier and his group were very satisfied with their meal that night. Although the cooks from the several inns each brought out their signature dishes, and the two Dwarf Chefs in the group also prepared some Dwarf-style food, how much could Priest Hadli actually eat? Having been exhausted all day, he did not have much of an appetite, though he did drink quite a lot of the cool wine and beverages, and the vast majority of the food on the table was still sent into the belly of Jier, the Knight.

Early the next morning, Jier and his group continued on their journey, while Priest Hadli and his companions, who had ridden hard for a day to catch up, had not yet risen and would likely need to rest for another day before returning to Suishi Cheng.

Thus, after a brief farewell to the priest, Jier and the others set off again. Incidentally, the Dwarves had taken the opportunity last night to sell the three ox carts to the inn where they were staying; although the innkeeper had somehow developed superb bargaining skills, the three ox carts were still sold for a decent sum.

It was mainly the three Plowing Oxen that were worth some money; after all, even if one only counted the beef on the three oxen, it was not a small amount of money. As for the dilapidated ox carts themselves, once the axles were removed, the other parts could only be chopped up and burned as firewood.

Under the scorching summer sun, Jier's caravan, a group consisting of nearly thirty wagons and over a dozen people on horseback, continued to head east along the main Shanglu.

Continuing east from this Kagali Town and traveling for over two days through seven or eight Cunzi along the Shanglu, one would reach Copper Mine County and the neighboring county—Ke'er Shan Jun. Where they were currently traveling was still relatively flat hilly terrain, but after passing a garrison checkpoint ahead, they would enter Ke'er Shan Jun, a place with many mountains, much water, many bridges, and little farmland.

Visibly, the terrain ahead began to undulate, and mountain peaks over a thousand meters tall appeared before their eyes.

But unlike continuous mountain ranges, the peaks within Ke'er Shan Jun were not connected, which allowed for gaps of Forest and grassland to appear between the various Rock Mountain formations of significant height and area.

And the people of the neighboring county naturally lived on the land divided by this topography and landscape.

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