Chương 18: The Divine Curse and the Tianyin Sword

Seeing that Ying Yao was about to walk back into his house, Yang Fan did not have time to think too much. He had to fight for it, to see if he could secure a quest reward through persuasion. So he immediately called out to stop him.

"Senior Ying Yao, are you just going back like that? It seems you have forgotten something." Ying Yao turned his head and glanced at Yang Fan, looking confused.

"What?" Yang Fan pressed on.

"I delivered your master's armguards to you. Should you not give me some kind of quest reward as a gesture of appreciation?"

"Oh, you people need that kind of thing? What quest reward?" Ying Yao scratched his head, then picked up his wine gourd and took a sip, acting as if he had no idea what Yang Fan was talking about. Yang Fan felt a surge of anger at Ying Yao's response. How could anyone be like this? Was this not obviously just taking advantage of him? He had worked so hard and put in so much effort, and all he got in return was a single sentence: "Oh, you people need that kind of thing? What quest reward?"

So he asked with great unwillingness, "You are the disciple of the First Generation Metal Chief! Do you not have any legendary divine weapons?"

"Hmm... no." Ying Yao shook his head and continued drinking his wine. Yang Fan pressed on.

"What about overpowered martial techniques? Invincible cultivation methods?"

"Hmm... no." Ying Yao still refused, his eyes seemingly fixed only on the wine gourd in his hand, as if he could not even see Yang Fan standing right in front of him. Yang Fan was getting frustrated by this attitude. At this point, he was already disheartened. He deeply regretted not giving the pair of armguards to the White Tiger Temple Divine Minister. At least the Divine Minister would have been open to negotiation.

At worst, he could have given the armguards to the Qi Clan, which would have solved his assassination problem and allowed him to latch onto a powerful backer. But he still felt unwilling to give up, so he asked again, "Then what do you actually have right now?"

"Unremarkable martial techniques. Unimpressive cultivation methods," Ying Yao replied.

"That will do!" Yang Fan's heart surged with excitement. Finally, he was going to get something. This man in front of him was an NPC powerhouse. What he considered unremarkable and unimpressive would, in Yang Fan's hands, be incredible and invincible.

"But our school's techniques cannot be passed on to outsiders. I cannot give them to you." Ying Yao was still refusing, but Yang Fan could now see a glimmer of hope. This was classic Chinese game quest tug-of-war logic. So he quickly blocked Ying Yao's way back into the house and said, "Senior, you can take me as your disciple! That way, you can pass the techniques on to me!" Ying Yao seemed to think he had misheard, and a hint of surprise crossed his face.

"Take you as my disciple? Are you sure you want to become my student?"

"Of course! With my talent, am I not qualified enough?" Yang Fan could see this was going somewhere and grew very excited.

"Your talent is indeed somewhat lacking," Ying Yao said very sincerely.

"What? You are using that as an excuse to reject me? No, you cannot reject me! Your master said that I should join your school!" Yang Fan lied without a hint of conscience. He was determined to join this old man's school today, no matter what. After all, this was the legacy of the First Generation Metal Chief, an absolutely overpowered hidden class!

"Master? Why would he want me to take in someone like you as a disciple?" Ying Yao tucked his wine gourd into his robe, raised his right hand, and stroked his white beard thoughtfully. He mused to himself, "What does he mean by this? Where has he gone?" After standing there and thinking for a moment, Ying Yao decided to follow his master's wishes. He pulled out the wine gourd from his robe and handed it to Yang Fan.

"Go to the tavern and fill this gourd of mine with wine. Bring it back to me, and consider it your initiation offering." System Notification: "You have accepted the quest: Join Ying Yao's School." Yang Fan took the wine gourd, his heart filled with joy.

"As expected, there is nothing in this world that I, Yang Fan, cannot handle. I am about to unlock a hidden class and take off straight to the top!" He opened his map, found the nearest tavern, and rushed over without a moment's delay. When he arrived at the tavern, the tavern keeper took the gourd, gave him a slightly pitying look, filled it with wine, and handed it back. Yang Fan did not pay much attention to the tavern keeper's look.

He paid, then ran back full of excitement and handed the gourd directly to Ying Yao. Ying Yao said, "By the way, take out that heirloom sword from Peach Blossom Village." Yang Fan was somewhat confused as to why the old man wanted that piece of junk Gray equipment. But he obediently handed it over. Ying Yao took the heirloom sword, ran his hand along the blade, and then returned the sword to Yang Fan. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

System Notification: "Congratulations. You have completed the quest: Join Ying Yao's School." System Notification: "Congratulations. You have successfully joined the White Tiger Temple." System Notification: "Your heirloom sword has been unsealed as the Tianyin Sword." System Notification: "You have joined the Ying bloodline and have been afflicted with the Divine Curse. All equipped items have been reduced to common quality." Yang Fan was shocked when he heard the system notifications.

He quickly opened his equipment panel and saw: Attribute Value Name Qi Clan Standard Sword Quality Gray Physical Attack 10 Special Effect None Level Requirement 10 Note Forged by the Qi Clan's exclusive smith. Attribute Value Name Qi Clan Chest Armor Quality Gray Physical Defense 10 Magic Defense 10 Special Effect None Level Requirement 10 Note Forged by the Qi Clan's exclusive smith.

Attribute Value Name Qi Clan Leg Guards Quality Gray Physical Defense 5 Magic Defense 5 Special Effect None Level Requirement 10 Note Forged by the Qi Clan's exclusive smith. Attribute Value Name Qi Clan Armguards Quality Gray Spirit 5 Special Effect None Level Requirement 10 Note Forged by the Qi Clan's exclusive smith. Attribute Value Name Qi Clan Boots Quality Gray Agility 5 Special Effect None Level Requirement 10 Note Forged by the Qi Clan's exclusive smith. What the hell?

All my equipment has been reduced to level 10 Gray gear!

"Master, what is going on here?"

"Our Ying bloodline was afflicted with a curse after the ancient war. Many of our people suffered greatly because of it. However, by the time it reached you, the curse had weakened considerably. It only affects your equipment."

"The Divine Curse?" What was going on? Was he that unlucky? Yang Fan wailed in his heart. He had thought he was stepping into a prestigious family and reaching the peak of the game, but instead, he had fallen straight into an abyss. His hard-earned Bronze equipment set was gone just like that. From now on, he could not even touch any equipment above Gray quality. For a moment, he actually thought about deleting his character and starting over. No, he could still salvage this.

After all, this was still a game, and there had to be a way to break the Divine Curse. Besides, the Ying bloodline had gone toe-to-toe with gods, so it was definitely no ordinary family. Even if they were cursed now, they were still a massive presence, and there had to be many powerful techniques and martial skills. Having thought it through, Yang Fan picked himself up again. Where there was a will, there was a way.

The key now was to learn powerful martial techniques and skills to make up for his equipment deficiencies. He looked at Ying Yao with hopeful eyes and asked, "Master, do you have any powerful martial techniques you can teach me?" Ying Yao shook his head and said, "You are not high enough level yet. Come back when you reach level 20." Yang Fan then asked, "Then, Master, do you have any powerful cultivation methods?" Ying Yao waved his hand dismissively and said, "Just go to the White Tiger Temple in the prefecture.

They will teach you there. The methods are the same for everyone."

"What? Then what can you actually give me? I joined your school, got nothing out of it, and got cursed by a god on top of that! Is this how your school treats its disciples?" Yang Fan was utterly frustrated and could not help but complain. Hearing this, Ying Yao's expression turned serious.

"Hmph! This curse only affects your weapons and armor. It does not affect your body at all. The essence of martial cultivation lies in strengthening oneself, not in external objects. Besides, did I not give you something? The Tianyin Sword, passed down through our bloodline for generations. Whoever wields this sword is the head of the Ying family." Yang Fan then remembered that the heirloom sword had become the Tianyin Sword.

The series of changes had happened so quickly that he had been caught off guard and had not had time to check his backpack. He opened his backpack and took a look. Attribute Value Name Tianyin Sword Quality Gray Physical Attack 10 Special Effect 1 Divine Curse Special Effect 2 Somewhat Sharp Level Requirement 10 (Scalable) Note A symbol of the Ying bloodline passed down through generations. The wielder of this sword is the head of the Ying family. It had two special effects now.

One was the Divine Curse, which turned his equipment into Gray gear. The other special effect was "Somewhat Sharp." What did "Somewhat Sharp" mean? Yang Fan did not quite understand, but he was certain it was not simple. After all, it was paired with the Divine Curse, so it definitely was not just a literal description. There had to be something special about it. And the note said, "The wielder of this sword is the head of the Ying family." So he was now the head of a family? That did not sound too bad.

At least he had a family behind him now, one that was clearly an ancient, prestigious bloodline with many members. At the very least, he would have allies to call on when he got into fights.