14: Chapter 14: How many points did you get in your first assessment?

Jiang Shu looked at the unremarkable wooden whistle in Willy's hand, his brow furrowing slightly as his expression fell into conflict.

Five hundred points—he had risked being killed by those invisible things to finally earn them.

Wasn't the risk a bit too high to exchange them for something of unknown use?

Standing to the side, Gu Changming took in all of his hesitation, his own heart fluctuating along with it.

After a few seconds, seeing Jiang Shu still struggling, Gu Changming couldn't help but say in a low, casual tone:

"Five hundred points... in the shop, you could buy roughly one basic class and one skill each."

Gu Changming spoke very skillfully; he didn't directly say the whistle was too expensive or not worth it, but simply stated an objective fact to let the other party re-evaluate its value.

However, somewhat to Gu Changming's surprise.

After he finished speaking, the struggle in Jiang Shu's eyes was replaced by a look of 'going for broke'.

"You're right!" Jiang Shu said excitedly, as if he had realized something. "One of these costs as much as two things, so it must be good! Cheap goods aren't good, and expensive ones are expensive for a reason!"

With that, without waiting for any further reaction from Gu Changming, Jiang Shu's fingers moved rapidly in the air, decisively transferring the five hundred points.

Gu Changming: "..."

Gu Changming just watched quietly as the other man took the wooden whistle from Willy's hand.

At the same time, Willy spoke to himself, delivering his final closing words.

"Congratulations on passing the trial. This treasure from my hometown is yours. May the power of nature be with you."

As its voice fell, its figure began to gradually blur, finally turning into shimmering stardust and vanishing.

By this time, Jiang Shu had finished reading the description and snapped back from his joy.

He glanced at the spot where Willy had disappeared, weighed the whistle in his hand, tucked it away, and turned to leave the park.

Gu Changming looked at his back without saying a word.

Then he set off, silently following behind.

Seeing Gu Changming catch up, Jiang Shu slowed his pace and shrugged, sounding a bit apologetic yet slightly smug:

"Sorry man, I just had better luck."

Gu Changming responded in a calm tone, "True, I didn't understand those herbs at all."

Hearing this, Jiang Shu's smile became a bit more sincere. "Yeah, I didn't understand them either. It was pure luck, just blind guessing."

"Speaking of which, it's a coincidence today. I was feeling restless and suddenly wanted to come out for some air. Somehow I ended up in this crappy park, and I didn't expect to run into this."

"Indeed, good luck," Gu Changming echoed again.

As they spoke, the two walked out of the abandoned park's large iron gate one after the other.

Jiang Shu turned his head to look at Gu Changming with an inquiring gaze, as if asking where he was going next.

Gu Changming pointed to a motorcycle parked on the roadside not far away. The meaning was clear: he had ridden here.

Jiang Shu understood and then pointed in another direction, saying:

"My house is that way, not too far. Well... see you if fate allows."

After speaking, he smiled at Gu Changming as a farewell and was about to walk away when Gu Changming called out to stop him.

"Excuse me," Gu Changming remained polite, "I'd like to ask you something."

Jiang Shu stopped and turned around. "Hmm? What is it?"

"In this Silent Day Assessment, how many points did you end up getting?"

Jiang Shu smiled, seemingly not minding the question, and replied, "Six hundred points. By the sixth attempt, I felt those 'things' reacting terrifyingly fast. I almost didn't dodge, so I didn't dare try any further."

Actually, he felt he could have gambled on a seventh time, but for the sake of his life, he chose to be a coward.

After speaking, Jiang Shu looked at Gu Changming and asked in return, "What about you? How many did you get?"

After Jiang Shu asked, Gu Changming didn't answer immediately.

While Jiang Shu was looking at Gu Changming in confusion, he saw the other man reach out into the air between them and then close his fingers as if grasping something.

In the next second, a faint light flashed, and a Tang sword about 1.2 meters long, gleaming with a cold, sharp light, appeared out of thin air. The blade rested against his neck.

Gu Changming held the hilt, his arm steady without a hint of trembling. He spoke in a tone that sounded like casual conversation:

"Two choices."

"First, give me the whistle."

"Second, I kill you, and then I'll take the whistle off your body myself."

Well, all those questions just now were to confirm if the other person had any points left.

Gu Changming needed to be sure about the points he would consume; for example, he had spent a hundred points to buy this sword.

If the other person had extra points, like a hundred or two left over, he couldn't afford to be so stingy.

With the blade at his throat, the smile on Jiang Shu's face slowly froze.

Immediately after, he subconsciously cast his gaze toward the depths of the abandoned park they had just exited.

Seeing his movement, Gu Changming kindly explained, "Don't look. That guy left long ago. Even if he hadn't, he wouldn't stop me."

The trial was over; the transaction was complete.

What happened next had nothing to do with the other party, so no matter what he did, the other party wouldn't intervene even if they were present.

Hearing Gu Changming's cruel words, the color drained from Jiang Shu's face, and his Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty.

But Gu Changming didn't give him any more time to think and directly began a countdown.

"Three..."

"Two..."

Before he could count to one, Jiang Shu resigned himself to fate.

"I'll give it!"

As he spoke, he slowly held out the wooden whistle he had been clutching tightly.

Gu Changming's gaze swept over it, and then his hand shot out, taking it from Jiang Shu's palm.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome," Jiang Shu said, relaxing after handing the item over. He even felt like complaining: 'You worked hard for this yourself, no need to thank me.'

Jiang Shu watched Gu Changming's back as he turned toward the motorcycle. Before he could fully recover from the shock, a semi-transparent blue panel suddenly popped up before his eyes.

[Do you wish to accept a point transfer from the other party: 500 points?]

Jiang Shu froze for a moment, subconsciously looking up at Gu Changming.

He opened his mouth, not quite understanding the situation.

"I'm not robbing you; it's a forced sale," Gu Changming explained, pausing slightly.

Although the man didn't survive until the later stages, as a powerhouse in the early period, he had indeed protected many humans.

Therefore, Gu Changming still felt a fair amount of respect for him.

Besides, this item originally belonged to him. Since Gu Changming had snatched the opportunity, he didn't need to take the man's points as well.

"Oh, right." Gu Changming remembered something as he approached the motorcycle and reminded him, "Since you're so good with herbs, why not use those five hundred points to choose a class or skill related to healing or support?"

He had heard from that teammate back then that the man didn't seem to be good at combat.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have died before even reaching the mid-stage.

In that case, it would be better to take a different direction; perhaps he could live a bit longer.

It was unclear if Jiang Shu was actually listening; he was currently staring blankly at his point balance.

He was wondering if he should take the chance to exchange for some powerful skills and snatch the item back.

But before he could make up his mind, Gu Changming's voice came over again.

"Didn't you just ask me how many points I got in the Assessment?"

Jiang Shu looked up.

"One thousand points," Gu Changming said, looking over from his motorcycle.

Jiang Shu was stunned, then pursed his lips.

Fine, the guy had given him five hundred and still had over four hundred left. Combined with the natural way he had just held that sword to his neck, Jiang Shu felt that even if he exchanged for some powerful ability, he wouldn't be able to snatch it back.

Forget it, at least... he hadn't lost anything.

...

Watching Jiang Shu's figure leave the area, Gu Changming finally withdrew his gaze and focused his full attention on the wooden whistle in his hand.

After staring at it for a short while, information about the item clearly surfaced before his eyes like a system panel.

[whistle of contract.]