Ita Era

Chapter 157 Part-time Job Card

Red-clad: "I'm finished."

After saying this, Yu Yuan led eight imperial guards into the palace and sat down ten meters away. Yu Yuan shouted, "Take down Lord Ding first."

"I didn't do anything." Ding Shi turned and ran, grabbing a stool with one hand and smashing it against the latticed wooden window.

Just as Ding Shi was about to jump out of the window, a skilled fighter blocked his path, attempting to grab his shoulder with a grappling move. Ding Shi exchanged a palm strike with the fighter. The fighter took a step back, and Ding Shi was sent flying backward by the immense force, his back smashing through a table.

Ding Shi turned the tables and started fighting the other side again.

The expert's hands were gentle and seemingly weak, but the moment they touched the skin, a tremendous force would follow. After a minute of fighting, Ding Shi was finally pressed down on the stool, his legs and one arm acupoints were sealed, and he couldn't muster any strength.

With the instability factor removed, Yu Yuan sat down in front of the young prince: "Let's discuss this."

Red-clad: "How do we discuss this?"

Yu Yuan said, "I am unwell tonight, so you will preside over the palace banquet in my place."

Red-clad: "And then?"

Yu Yuan said, "Then they will all be poisoned to death." He couldn't directly poison them, otherwise the parameters of the civil and military officials would be immediately depleted. If the Crown Prince could help him, he could achieve his goal of eliminating the Qi faction as much as possible.

Red-clad: "Why don't you ask me what my mission is?"

Yu Yuan said, “Take the throne. But as you can see now, there are only three of us left alive, so you can’t kill me. If you can help me poison the ministers, I will commit suicide after I complete the task, and you can also complete the task.”

Looking into Yu Yuan's eyes, the woman in red replied, "I don't believe it, unless..."

The woman in red took out a pill and placed it on the table, saying, "A poison that will take effect in 6 hours."

Yu Yuan picked up the pill and turned it into a card: a poison that takes effect in 6 hours. Yu Yuan pondered. It was 3 PM now, and 6 hours would be 9 PM, by which time the palace banquet would definitely be over.

Yu Yuan was now unsure about Hongyi, because one of the exclusive items he and Ding Shi owned was an antidote pill. This antidote pill could cure all poisons and needed to be pre-ordered an hour in advance.

The first possibility is that the woman in red was unaware of the existence of the antidote pill, so she wasn't cheating.

The second possibility is that the woman in red knew about the antidote but pretended not to, which means she has another trump card.

A eunuch quickly walked up to Yu Yuan and handed him a piece of paper. Yu Yuan looked at it for a while, then turned to Ding Shi and said, "Lord Ding, how dare you give me false information!" He slammed the paper down in front of Ding Shi.

Ding Shi glanced at the background information on the six NPCs who would be taking over the leadership position. Yu Yuan had previously instructed Ding Shi to conduct an investigation, and Ding Shi had filled in "Qi faction" for all of them. In reality, only one of them was a Qi faction general.

Ding Shi retorted confidently, "Why should I provide you with real information? You're such a stingy person. You have a million taels of silver in your pocket, but when it comes to getting things done, you don't spend a single penny. Look at the Crown Prince's maternal family; they give 20 taels right off the bat. If I don't help the Crown Prince, am I supposed to help you?"

Yu Yuan sighed: "I should have killed all six of you as soon as I made my move. Power unused is power wasted."

Ding Shi said impatiently, "You two hurry up."

Yu Yuan looked at the woman in red, picked up the pill, and asked, "I'll take the pill, and you'll preside over the palace banquet. You don't need to worry about poisoning me."

The woman in red nodded: "Deal."

Yu Yuan put the pill in his mouth, pressed it under his tongue, picked up the tea, and drank it all in one gulp.

As Yu Yuan tilted his head back to drink tea, the woman in red suddenly made a move, pulling a short knife from her left sleeve and slashing it across Yu Yuan's neck.

"Ah, you little bitch." Yu Yuan clutched his neck with one hand, blood seeping out rapidly, and pointed at the woman in red with the other: "Take her... never mind, you're ruthless."

With the imperial guards right beside him, Yu Yuan could have easily ordered the execution of Hongyi before his death. However, he ultimately considered the future of the fire and refrained from issuing this self-defeating order, thus leaving Hongyi indebted to him.

……

The "Feudal Era" arc has ended.

Fire Seed Tribe achieved an A grade in the completion evaluation, receiving a reward of 300 dollars and an additional Vaka card.

Adding bricks and tiles can reduce the cost and construction time of tribal buildings, and you can earn contribution points after using it.

In the feudal era, Ding Shi's personal evaluation is S-level.

The first reward offers a choice of one of three options. One of these three options is a random selection of ten Pure Force skins. These skins are indestructible and cannot be damaged; you can choose to display them or not. Each of the ten skins has unique characteristics. Five are elemental skins: Physical, Freezing, Burning, Paralysis, and Energy Impact. The other five skins are based on the five elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. The Metal skin increases speed, the Earth skin enhances defense, the Wood skin accelerates wound healing, the Water skin increases Force recovery speed, and the Fire skin enhances attack power.

Choose two out of three: Pure Force Skill Manuals, which instantly increase the learning progress of skill books by 50% and have a chance to evolve ordinary skill books into true skill books. For example, the "Splitting Palm" skill has a chance to evolve into the "True Splitting Palm".

Choose one of three options: One drop of Force Essence, which increases the total amount of Force after consumption and enhances the speed of Force recovery.

"711-Eleven, boxed lunch, tea."

"Please wait a moment, boss."

Ding Shi looked at the three rewards, scratching his head in frustration. 711 brought him a boxed lunch, poured him tea, and served him. Ding Shi looked at 711 and said, "711, let me ask you a question. There are three options in front of your boss... Which one would you recommend your boss choose?"

711 bowed politely and said, "First, I would rule out the second one, because I will finish reading the book sooner or later. As for the chance of it evolving into a real skill, boss, don't worry about it too much. A chance means no chance."

Ding Shi was very satisfied and asked, "And then?"

711 asked, "Excuse me, boss, how many skins can you provide?"

Ding Shi said, "I can have many skins, but only one skin will be active at a time. I can only change a skin every 24 hours."

711 said, "Does that mean that even if I get a second skin in the future, I will still only be able to use the abilities of one skin?"

Ding Shi replied, "Yes."

711 smiled and said, "Boss, enjoy your meal."

Ding Shi swiped 30 dollars: "711, please renew my subscription for another year."

711 didn't answer, but said, "Boss, due to inflation, it now costs $300 a year to purchase the robot butler service."

Ding Shi said, "Would it cost $300 to replace my robot butler?"

711 answered: "Yes."

Ding asked, "What about renewing the subscription?"

711 said, "Renewing for one year in advance costs $5000 now. Renewing for two years in advance costs $9000."

Ding asked, "What's the price now?"

711 answered: "Yes."

Ding Shi checked his account and found that after deducting the group reward, he had received 800 dollars in rewards from this dungeon run. Wang Meng and Hongyi automatically repaid him, and with his previous savings and the auction house's commission, he could barely scrape together 5,000 dollars.

Ding Shi gritted his teeth and swiped five thousand dollars: "Renew."

711: "Thank you, boss."

Ding Shi felt sorry for 711 and waved for it to go play by itself, then chose the Force Essence. Having obtained the Force Essence, to avoid any unforeseen complications, Ding Shi immediately licked it clean. After calmly sensing its power, he found that his Force equivalent and recovery speed had increased by about 20%. Ding Shi believed that his Force was still inferior to that of the Imperial Guard, not to mention the Imperial Guard's ability to overcome strength with softness and unleash internal energy; he was far from being a match for the Imperial Guard.

Furthermore, Ding Shi discovered that the use of cold weapons was extremely high in both primitive and feudal times. In the dungeon, he pondered how to conduct practical training with cold weapons. He was torn between learning the saber or the sword. The saber technique was easy to learn but had a lower skill ceiling, while the sword technique was more difficult but also had a higher skill ceiling.

Reward Two: A Legendary Scratch Card, which may contain a special item. The item could be a building, a elixir, a skill book, or a card.

Ding Shi glanced at his luck stats; it was 25 points. He clicked to use it and obtained a card: Part-time Job Card.

After using the Part-Time Job Card, you can choose a second profession, such as the ninja profession. Choji's ninja profession does not use chakra; instead, he directly uses the Force to activate ninjutsu. Because he uses pseudo-chakra, Choji cannot learn or use advanced ninjutsu.

Ding Shi summoned: "711".

711 quickly came to Ding Shi's side: "Boss."

Ding Shi showed the part-time job card to 711-Eleven and asked, "Any suggestions?"

Without a second thought, 711 replied, "The boss can draw the Golden Thunder Incantation, which clearly indicates his affinity with Taoism."

Ding Shi understood and patted 711 on the shoulder: "Go get busy."

Ding Shi used a part-time job card to open the True Qi Trial dungeon. This dungeon was a class dungeon that Ita prepared for players in the early stages. Ding Shi was a pure Force class and did not participate at that time.

Now, entering this pure force instance, Ding Shi is the BOSS. He cuts through everything with ease, making it a breeze.

The three branches of the True Qi profession: Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.

Taoist branches: talismans, Taoist arts, formations, flying swords, and spells.

A talisman is simply a drawn symbol, infused with true energy. It has a limited shelf life, and its power far surpasses that of a small lightning bolt. The drawback is that the talisman must be affixed to the surface. The most practical talismans are those that enhance one's own abilities; talismans are primarily supportive.

Taoist arts: the arts of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements.

Formation: Arranged using the spiritual energy of heaven, earth, mountains, and rivers. Advantages: Great power, far exceeding human strength. Disadvantages: Cannot be moved.

Flying sword: It can release a weapon, which is controlled by its master while in flight. This thing has many advantages, but also many disadvantages.

The Spellcaster is a hidden class rewarded for speedrunning class dungeons, specializing in Taoist hand seals and incantations.

It's simple in some ways, just nine characters: 临兵斗者皆阵列前行. But it's also complex, with dozens of hand seal variations for each character, each representing a different effect. The faster and more accurately the hand seals are performed, the greater the power. Another characteristic is that knowing how to perform the hand seals is useless before learning the corresponding skill.

Ding Shi didn't have a clear career goal because every profession has its advantages and disadvantages. He chose sorcery simply because it was a hidden profession.

As a reward, Ding Shi can choose any character and randomly learn a basic hand seal. Of course, he will need to practice a lot to use the hand seal.

Lin: Immovable as a mountain.

Soldiers: Invincible.

Dou: brave and fearless.

The subject is highly variable.

All: keenly perceptive.

Formation: To eliminate evil and filth.

Example: Changes in time and space.

First: Strengthen yourself.

On the surface, the character appears to be the strongest, capable of altering spacetime, far surpassing the descriptions of the other seven characters. However, based on Ding Shi's understanding of the dog system, this is a trap.

The other seven characters each have their own characteristics. Ding Shi (丁时) is most concerned with "Jie" (皆) and "Zhen" (阵). "Jie" enhances perception and can effectively avoid danger. "Zhen" is different from the other characters in the Eight Characters; while the other characters enhance, "Zhen" bestows.

Ding Shi selected the formation and randomly obtained a set of hand seals, a total of eight gestures, which could be activated with one hand or both hands. The left hand should strike 1, 3, 5, 7, and the right hand should strike 2, 4, 6, 8. As long as the order is correct, the formation can be activated.

Unlike ninja hand seals, which use both hands to form a single seal, curse magic uses only one hand seal.

The shorter the time spent forming hand seals, the greater the power of the spell. Forming hand seals with both hands simultaneously is the best way to increase power. Therefore, to become a master of spells, one needs to multitask, using both hands simultaneously.

After reading the message, Ding Shi wondered if he could leave footprints, which would further increase his speed. Whether it's used for two purposes or four, it's still useful; since he couldn't do it himself anyway, he wouldn't waste a lot of time and energy training for ambidextrous combat.

The handprint that the system gifted to Ding Shi was named Palm Light.

After completing the hand seals, he shouted, "Array!" A rotating "Array" character appeared beneath his feet, and a beam of light could be emitted from his palm, possessing a certain degree of lethality against ghosts, spirits, and demons. The extent of its lethality depended on two factors: the quality of the hand seals and the amount and purity of the practitioner's true energy, as well as the opponent's resistance.

Aside from the cool special effects, Ding Shi was completely unmoved by the palm light. Of course, he didn't regret it either, since the skills you could get from the beginner class dungeon were basically useless.

The third reward is seven scratch cards, three of which are quite interesting. The first one is a building upgrade card; Ding Shi upgraded the martial arts school, which allows him to learn swordsmanship from the girl.

The second card is a whole-house upgrade card. After use, the living space increases to 300 square meters, and the furniture, appliances, and even the floor tiles are made with the most advanced technology and the most comfortable materials on Earth.

After this upgrade, the residence will no longer be able to be upgraded using the whole-house upgrade card.

The third card is a Fusion Card.

The rest are all trash rewards, like unlimited trash cans, island-wide surround sound music players, etc.

There are three things to learn: first, incantation; second, swordsmanship; and third, the art of splitting the air with a palm strike.

During the less productive time in the dungeon, Ding Shi spent a considerable amount of time practicing the "Splitting Palm" technique. He has now basically mastered the theoretical knowledge, and the next step is the exam. 80 points allows him to unleash 60% of its power, 90 points allows him to unleash 80% of its power, and 100 points allows him to unleash 100% of its power.

After eating his boxed lunch, Ding Shi began his first test of the Splitting Palm technique. The test consisted entirely of multiple-choice questions, totaling 50 questions, each worth two points.

Question 1: First, stimulate the soles of the feet to vibrate? Second, stimulate the waist and hips to twist in a spiral motion.

A: Heaven and Earth B: Sun and Moon C: Rivers and Mountains D: Earth Veins

Damn it!
Ding Shi stopped the exam, pulled out the skill book, found the answer: the ley lines.

Ding Shi started the second exam. This time, without studying, he got 50 points by guessing.

Ding Shi threw the Splitting Palm skill book back into his inventory, took out a bag of fruit tree seeds he had seized from the bandits, and shouted, "711."

"Hello, boss." 711 rushed over from a hundred meters away and poured tea for Ding Shi.

Ding Shi handed the seeds to 711: "Plant the fruit trees."

711 said, "Boss, this is a magical fruit tree. It can grow into a mature tree in seven days and bear fruit once a month. Do we really want to plant something so precious?"

Ding Shi looked at 711: "How much does a pound of fruit cost? Let's plant some."

711: "Yes."

(End of this chapter)