Chapter 113: A Few Pieces of Equipment

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“The stuff outside? Not bad, really not bad!” Blackbeard walked slowly with Lin Qi through the narrow corridor, a smug smile playing on his lips. “But those things are useless. Seriously, everything out there is tricky—taking them out will only bring trouble.”

Humming an aria from some opera with pride, Blackbeard strode with exaggerated steps and said, “The truly valuable items are all inside these three secret vaults. Lin Qi, unlike the ‘medicine’ vault you saw last time, this is where the family’s most precious treasures are kept.”

Lin Qi narrowed his eyes, a greedy golden glint flickering within them, and followed Blackbeard without hesitation into a small secret vault about twenty meters across. Inside, neat rows of metal racks held ancient, fragrant crystal medicine bottles and some strange containers.

“Lin Qi, your father just helped you open your meridians, but they haven’t fully stabilized yet. That bowl of medicinal soup only temporarily steadied your current strength. So this bottle of ‘Golden Spotted Saber-Toothed Leopard Meridian Pills’—you must take it with you. There are seven pills inside. Taking three a day will fully solidify and stabilize your meridians, making them several times stronger than an ordinary knight’s.”

Blackbeard tossed Lin Qi a golden crystal medicine bottle about the size of a fist. Lin Qi’s eyes sparkled as he stuffed the bottle into his pocket. The importance of meridians to a warrior is self-evident—the stronger and smoother they are, the more energy shocks they can endure. Whether training or fighting, powerful meridians provide immense advantage.

Lin Qi only needed three pills to stabilize his meridians, but with seven in total, he had four extra ‘Golden Spotted Saber-Toothed Leopard Meridian Pills’—enough to benefit Enzo, Vic, and Yulian as well.

This secret vault housed the rarest medicinal materials the Black Tiger family had amassed over the years through cunning plunder and raids. Nobles across the continent’s great empires and kingdoms loved to spend fortunes acquiring rare medicines to cultivate their young elites, often shipping them by sea. Naturally, many of these precious medicines fell into the hands of the Black Tiger family.

Blackbeard selected two bottles of rare medicines to enhance Lin Qi’s physical constitution, then gave him several pills and medicinal waters to accelerate his energy cultivation. Finally, he produced a large jar of jet-black medicinal ointment, solemnly explaining it was an extremely rare healing elixir—whether broken bones or flesh wounds, applying this ointment ensured rapid recovery.

Lin Qi carefully packed these priceless spiritual medicines into a bundle with a large cloth, slinging it over his shoulder.

Seeing Lin Qi’s sneaky, thief-like appearance, Blackbeard grinned and shook his head, then led him into the second small secret vault. Here, Blackbeard didn’t hand over any other items but selected a delicate anklet for Lin Qi to wear.

It was a slender, exquisitely crafted green anklet, no thicker than a bean sprout. The metal it was made from was unknown, but it felt lighter than a feather. Lin Qi frowned as he fastened the anklet around his left ankle, then looked at Blackbeard with a crooked grin.

“I’m a grown man!” Lin Qi snapped angrily. Who wears anklets like this?

“You’re not a grown man—I’m the real man here!” Blackbeard sneered, mocking him. “A cucumber egg who hasn’t even touched a woman dares to call himself a man? Drip a drop of blood on it!”

Lin Qi, crushed by the jab, lowered his head and bit his finger, letting a drop of blood fall onto the anklet. The exquisite anklet shimmered with a faint green light and suddenly fused into Lin Qi’s ankle. Beneath his skin, only a thin, almost invisible green mark remained. Lin Qi vaguely sensed something connecting between the anklet and his spirit.

“This is a spatial artifact, capable of holding as much as a four-wheeled carriage,” Blackbeard said with a raised brow and a smile. “What’s even better is that it’s an anklet—no one would suspect such a precious spatial artifact hidden on your foot. Putting valuable items inside, it’s very safe!”

Lin Qi was astonished. He carefully placed a few medicine bottles near his foot, and with a flash of light, they disappeared without a trace. He faintly felt there was now something extra inside his left ankle.

“Not bad at all!” Lin Qi smiled. “No one’s going to take off my boots to check what’s on my foot.”

Blackbeard frowned. “Too bad you don’t have foot odor—then it’d be even safer! Hahaha!”

After teasing Lin Qi a few more times, Blackbeard caught him eyeing the many magical artifacts in the vault and dragged him out. “Don’t even think about touching these items. This is the family’s strategic reserve. Unless the family is facing life-or-death, these magical tools can’t be used lightly.”

After sternly warning Lin Qi, Blackbeard led him to the last secret vault.

Here lay a vast collection of weapons and armor forged by master smiths and magicians. Lin Qi’s eyes gleamed as he scanned the cold, gleaming arms, casually lifting a heavy, massive battle axe. The axe was ancient in design, its blade shaped like a full moon with a sharp bull’s horn protrusion on top, radiating a chilling and deadly aura. Runes flickered faintly on it—this was a magical weapon!

Blackbeard grinned broadly. “A real man should wield something like this! Hmm, pick out a few more. Bring some for your brothers too.”

Lin Qi didn’t hesitate. He selected a rapier imbued with tearing and gale magic for Enzo.

A dagger with tearing and deadly poison enchantments, plus a pair of boots made from wind fox leather that doubled running speed and muffled footsteps—these were for Vic.

A splendid floral sword enhanced with dazzling light and soul ensnaring spells—this was for Yulian, the blossoming young noble.

For himself, besides the massive battle axe, Lin Qi chose a light, close-fitting soft armor. Made from the hide of a high-grade venomous dragon lizard, the armor was as thin as butterfly wings, incredibly light, yet offered excellent defense against both physical and magical attacks.

After stashing all the equipment into the spatial anklet, Lin Qi clapped his hands excitedly.

“It’s enough. At least for now, it’s enough.”

C