43: Chapter 43 Beautiful Wine Stained Cloak 43: Chapter 43 Beautiful Wine Stained Cloak Before he acquired the System, Zhang Xiaoman, as a member of the Cultivation Party, had once longed for the ability to go without sleep.
However, when his wish finally came true today, he realized that not being able to sleep was not at all as pleasant as he had imagined.
Sleep symbolizes the end of the old; awakening marks the beginning of the new.
The long dark night can be especially lonely for those with nothing to do.
Thankfully, now that Zhang Xiaoman has the System, he wouldn’t be too bored.
After organizing his thoughts about what to do next, Zhang Xiaoman first spent nearly ten thousand yuan online to purchase three high-quality Metal Steel Swords.
Due to his limited knowledge in this area, he took quite a while comparing back and forth, just trying to find materials with greater hardness.
After all, he didn’t need to consider things like moisture resistance or rust protection; he was going for one single purpose—to stick the swords into the ground.
Although the swords sold online were all unsharpened, Zhang Xiaoman did not require them to be particularly sharp.
For him, the process of sticking swords into the ground did not need to be done by himself; it was all handled by the System.
Therefore, theoretically speaking, Zhang Xiaoman’s swords just needed to be harder than the ground.
After successfully ordering the three steel swords, he also bought some flashlights, liners for Bullet-Proof Vests, and other auxiliary equipment online.
Since these were all professional-grade items, he ended up spending quite a bit of money.
But now, with a large sum of money and the support of the System, Zhang Xiaoman felt that this small expense was just trivial; he was not worried at all.
He opened the System Store interface and looked at his current points balance—he had 11 points, enough for another Upgrade.
This time, he didn’t hesitate much; after a brief thought, he decided to spend all these points immediately.
After all, points were the kind of thing that could only enhance his strength when spent.
“I wonder how the System determines which items to Upgrade.
I don’t know if those bullets made from Holy Water will be selected, and if they are, how many it could Upgrade…”
Zhang Xiaoman was sorting his equipment when he took the last two drops of Divine Grace from a small bottle and made them into bullets, placing them in the last two slots of the spare magazine.
This way, not only would it be much easier to carry around, but it could also serve as an unexpected means of attack in the future.
After preparing everything, Zhang Xiaoman reopened the main System interface, ready for an Upgrade.
He was still very much looking forward to this Upgrade.
The ideal outcome would, of course, be an Upgrade to his Soul Absorption Technique or Invincible Skill.
After all, one was a mana recovery Skill that had no consumption and could also be used as a means of attack; the other was his life-saving Divine Skill, which was directly related to his safety level.
“Heavenly Gods bless me, Supreme Deity protect me, great System, please grant me strength!” Zhang Xiaoman prayed fervently.
Then, eyes wide open with lightning speed, he swiftly pressed the Upgrade option.
“Random Upgrade in progress, please wait…”
White item—wine-stained cloak, has been successfully Upgraded to white item—Beautiful Wine Stained Cloak.”
Zhang Xiaoman was startled and quickly looked towards the little red cloth hanging on the chair.
With the success of the Upgrade, he saw the wine stain on the cloth begin to spread and change slowly.
With the color deepening, a rich aroma of wine emanated.
Looking at the small cloak that had now ceased any movement, lines of frustration emerged on Zhang Xiaoman’s face.
What kind of nonsense is this?
Is this so-called Upgrade just about sprinkling some more wine on my cloak?
There’s practically no change at all!
Also, what’s with the ‘Beautiful Wine Stained Cloak’?
The System is really half-assing it now!
He “thump thump thud” ran to the chair where the cloak was hanging, grabbed the small red cloak, and sniffed it close to his nose.
“Why does this smell so strong of alcohol?
I don’t remember it being this exaggerated before, it feels like it’s been soaked in a wine vat for a month.
This is no wine-stained cloak, it might as well be called a wine brew cloak.”
Zhang Xiaoman felt he had been royally screwed by the System.
This piece of cloth, only a little larger than a rag, although he had won it a few days ago, he had never worn it.
The reason being, it was just too ugly, and it smelled awful, not to mention the stench couldn’t be washed out no matter what.
If he were to wear this thing on his back while setting up his stall, he’d probably be surrounded and ogled by the neighborhood aunties and uncles all day long.
“The System is such a scam, other than the scent being a bit more fragrant than before, not even the material has changed.
It’s still so rough to touch…”
Zhang Xiaoman was rubbing the cloth in his hands, but his gaze didn’t wander.
Instead, he stared steadfastly at one spot, and after a few breaths, he opened its attribute panel.
[Beautiful Wine Stained Cloak]
——”Who’s the little rascal that spilled my ’82 Lafite!”
As soon as the attribute panel appeared, the disdain in Zhang Xiaoman’s eyes instantly changed to a mix of surprise and delight.
The reason being a new attribute had appeared on the cloak—Spiritual Power!
Zhang Xiaoman was familiar with the concept of spiritual power, after all those years of gaming weren’t for nothing.
In most games, spiritual power is usually linked to magic limits and magic regeneration speed, and in some games, it’s even related to magic damage and magic defense.
It has to be said, these various possibilities indeed stirred up some anticipation in him.
Zhang Xiaoman flipped the cloak over his shoulder, then lightly tied a knot at the collar, waiting quietly for the change to come.
However, after carefully feeling for a moment, Zhang Xiaoman was somewhat disappointed to find that the cloak didn’t give him that feeling of sudden enlightenment or a jolt to his spirit.
On the contrary, the strong smell of alcohol from behind kept assaulting his nose, making him sneeze several times.
“Could it be that the spiritual power bonus is too low to be noticeable?”
Zhang Xiaoman pondered the reason and subconsciously opened his attribute panel.
When he saw his attributes, his eyes suddenly brightened.
At the very top of his attribute panel, there were two new attributes:
I can see energy now?
But why is the maximum only 10 points, that’s so little!”
Zhang Xiaoman was slightly surprised, but soon he figured it out:
“It seems that no matter what, my spiritual power attribute in reality can at least increase my energy limit!
I was worrying about how to overcome this bottleneck, and here comes a pillow as I was dozing off.
This Upgrade seems pretty powerful!”