42: Chapter 42 Next Steps Plan 42: Chapter 42 Next Steps Plan Mom went to bed.
Zhang Xiaoman was still sitting on the sofa in the living room.
he had energy in him and didn’t need to sleep for the time being.
He tapped on the attribute panel over and over, never tiring of looking at the new skills he had acquired, even though he couldn’t use the most powerful Fusion skill himself.
But since that was the case, he didn’t dwell on it.
After all, it was his own dog.
If he came across a big boss, he could just release Jin Bao.
On the balcony, the dog Jin Bao, deep in sleep, was still unaware that it had been designated as someone’s future backup hitter.
“I should have around 20 points of energy now, deploying a green Sword Array costs 5 points, a blue one costs 10 points, and the purple Mountain River Suppression needs 20 points…
Leaving other things aside, this energy limit is indeed a bit low.
My urgent task now is to find a way to increase my energy cap…”
Zhang Xiaoman analyzed his attributes information, but the System provided too little guidance—many things felt like he was examining them through a veil.
“Hmm, I’ve got a decent understanding of the skills now.
It’s time to try one out!”
He sprang up from the sofa and selected a green skill that only cost 5 points of his energy reserves, trying to activate it silently in his mind, just as he had done with the Soul Absorption Technique.
However, half a minute passed and there was no activity around Zhang Xiaoman.
He looked at his attribute list in confusion.
The skill name was correct, but why couldn’t he use it?
Could it be that this skill had to be shouted out loud?
With that thought, he formed a sword gesture with his hand and shouted, “Sky Shattering!”
Then, keeping that pose, nothing happened after a considerable wait.
Isn’t it that in the games, once the character strikes a pose, a sword flies from his body and spins around in the sky before stabbing down into the ground–why doesn’t it work when I do it?”
Zhang Xiaoman walked around the living room in irritation.
Who would have thought that the anticipated Sword Array couldn’t be used?
“Could it be that I’ve been misunderstanding this whole time and my energy value isn’t even close to 20 points?
Or maybe it’s not even 5 points?” Zhang Xiaoman suddenly considered a possibility.
“If that’s really the case, then I’ll have to make another trip to Su Fu’s house tomorrow to absorb some more energy…”
Zhang Xiaoman was deep in thought with a frown, having reached the door of his room.
Still, he tried to activate the skill one last time.
He whispered, raising his hand to point at the floor in front of him.
The moment the action was completed, Zhang Xiaoman instinctively went to shake his head.
That was too cringeworthy.
However, before he could react any further, he heard a disturbance coming from the room behind him.
Then came the sound of something slicing through the air.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a colorful stick-like object whizzing by his side and then whirling around the spacious living room.
Accompanied by a swishing sound, the object struck directly towards the spot he had just pointed at.
It was the sound of plastic breaking.
Zhang Xiaoman stared dumbfounded at the “Immortal Slaying Sword” on the floor, broken into several sections, before he came back to his senses after a long while.
“This, isn’t this the ‘Immortal Slaying Sword’ I won last time?
How did it fly over here?”
He looked at his own finger and then at the plastic sword on the ground, gradually a light of realization appeared on his face.
“Could it be that the activation command for this skill is, ‘Sword, come forth’?”
Just as the thought crossed Zhang Xiaoman’s mind, he immediately dismissed it.
“That can’t be the reason…
It doesn’t make sense…”
He muttered to himself, then brightened up, annoyed at his own foolishness as he smacked his forehead.
“I’ve been foolish, so foolish.”
He remembered now, the skill description had made it very clear, “Plant a sword by your side to form a Sword Array.”
Because of the inertia of the game mechanics, he hadn’t thought in that direction.
After all, in the game, the sword came right out of the character as a Qi Sword without needing to prepare any actual sword in the inventory.
But this was reality.
In reality, he realized, the abilities awarded by the System lottery had changed somewhat.
The most evident change now was that he needed a real ‘sword’!
Zhang Xiaoman looked down at the heroically sacrificed toy sword on the floor, he already knew the answer.
However, a new question arose due to this.
“What is the definition of a ‘sword’?
Does it have to be commonly recognized by people as a sword, or does it just have to be something I consider a sword?”
With these thoughts, he had already moved to the kitchen and picked up a spatula.
Then he stared intently at it, trying to hypnotize himself into believing it was indeed a sword.
Zhang Xiaoman gave it another go, but the spatula remained motionless in his palm.
“It seems that the definition of a ‘sword’ has to be universally acknowledged as a ‘sword’ for it to be valid.”
As he mused, his gaze returned to the remains of the Immortal Slaying Sword on the floor.
“Although the sword skill was activated just now and I could feel the skill enter cooldown, the skill still failed to deploy…
which means, not only do I need a sword to activate this skill, but also the sword needs to insert into the ground to be effective.”
Zhang Xiaoman shook his head, somewhat helpless.
The limitations of these skills were greater than he had expected.
He would need to buy some sufficiently hardy swords for it to work.
After cleaning up the broken pieces, he went back to his own room to think over his next steps.
“Sushi, still selling?”
Zhang Xiaoman shook his head.
With the five hundred thousand given by Su Fu, there was absolutely no need to waste time selling sushi every day.
He’d be better off finding more supernatural events, continuing to pose as a Master, offering exorcism services, and earning money and points.
And now, he even had an invincible means of protecting his life.
If he truly encountered danger, he could simply Teleport back, provided he had enough energy and a high-quality sword.
“In that case, it’s time for me to start my hunting plan…
So the first step is to go to the spot where young master Su encountered danger last time.”
Zhang Xiaoman’s eyes brimmed with the urge to fight.
He now started to adapt to these monsters and was no longer as helpless as he had been in the beginning.
“But before that, for safety’s sake, I still need to get my Sword Array ready.
Let’s go online and see if there’s anywhere selling swords…”