Learn one small skill every day

To avoid appearing out of place and also to avoid attracting the attention of the War Commander, Bai Miao joined in the shouting.

"Damn it, I knew all along that I possessed invincible power! But if it weren't for the hesitation of you bunch of idiots, why would I have bothered to fight that Demon King and make such a pointless provocation just to prove myself?!"

"I possess greater strength and unparalleled wisdom than any of you. No one is entitled to question my decisions. To grant you death is the greatest honor. Your lives are the currency in my hands, the chips that help me win every war."

"I want you to believe, and you can only believe that anyone who has even the slightest doubt about my power should get out of this country and this land as soon as possible."

"You don't even need to believe in gods, because even if a god descends to earth, I will blast it to dust!"

"You are able to live and work in peace on this land because you are citizens of the Cang'ao Empire, citizens under the protection of my War General."

"You don't need to worry about being slaughtered by the Demon King's army, nor do you need to worry about any coups in the empire. Under my rule, the entire Cang'ao Empire will be a paradise in the hearts of every one of you!"

The crowd was already out of control; some were biting their fingers frantically, while others were scratching their cheeks.

Screams and cheers filled the air, and Zhao Wanyang couldn't help but complain about this cult-like scene on the Knockers website.

"What a bunch of lunatics... So what are we supposed to do?"

"Be patient and let him finish speaking."

Wang Xiang was also somewhat bewildered by the situation at the start of the game.

This seems to have absolutely nothing to do with the objective of the instance.

How to become a hero team?

From the words of the War General, we know that there is a Demon King's army in this world. The hero's mission should be to defeat the Demon King, right?

But this newly emerged war commander is clearly a more ruthless character than the Demon King. He can defeat the Demon King on his own, so what is the point of the hero team?

After the crowd vented their emotions, Zhan Shuai continued, "I am tired of the boring battles with the Demon King, because I am already invincible. What I want to prove is that even the people of my Cang Ao Empire have the ability to defeat him or even kill him!"

"You are all registered adventurers within the empire. Your mission is to form your own teams to seize the legendary Sword and Shield of the Hero. When any of your teams brings these two items to me, I will bestow upon you the title of Hero Team and personally grant you the power to defeat the Demon King!"

With that, he waved his hand and said, "Go! The legends of heroes await your discovery, and your names will have the chance to be written in the imperial annals as my foil!"

I see. So you felt that defeating the Demon King was too boring and wanted to see other people fight it.

Bai Miao sometimes couldn't understand the thoughts of these so-called strongest people.

I feel... like I'm pretty sick.

Of course, it's also possible that they are overconfident in their own abilities and think that they can act recklessly without any problems.

The adventurers who came to this place, apart from a very small number of lone wolves, actually already had teams. After the War General stepped into the air and left, everyone scattered to find their teammates.

"There are too many people here, let's go to the outskirts of the city to meet up first."

Wang Xiang offered his advice.

As the capital of the Cang'ao Empire, the city is naturally quite large. It took Bai Miao almost two hours to walk from the palace gate to the city gate, even at a normal walking pace.

After Wang Xiang repeatedly changed his location to avoid being followed, the three met by a river in the suburbs.

"You two have pretty professional gear."

In the dungeon, Zhao Wanyang is a mage who carries a broken wooden staff, wears a blue-black robe, and has long golden hair.

Wang Xiang was dressed like a wanderer, with a morin khuur (horsehead fiddle) slung over his back.

Bai Miao himself was wearing chainmail, with a long sword at his waist.

"I've been looking around, and it seems there are different professions in this world. But for us knockers, these professions are mostly just a cover for our identities. There's no system to cover our identities in this instance, so everyone needs to be careful and not expose themselves unnecessarily."

Wang Xiang explained, "Xiao Zhao, you should be a mage, Bai Miao is a warrior, and I am a bard. When we're out in public, we should be mindful of our behavior."

Zhao Wanyang sighed: "But I don't know any magic at all."

"This is another point I wanted to make. In this instance, we have a real opportunity to learn magic. Whether magic can be used in other worlds is another matter, but learning magic will definitely help our next move."

Bai Miao also wanted to avoid using his brain as much as possible, so he asked, "So what should we do next? By the way, as for magic, I've already learned the basic fireball spell, but I haven't tested its power yet."

As soon as he finished speaking, the two of them stared at Bai Miao with wide eyes.

"What? You've already learned magic?"

Zhao Wanyang handed over the wooden stick in her hand: "Come on, you be the magician."

After calming down a bit, Wang Xiang asked, "How did you learn that?"

"I can't explain it clearly either. You'll learn it on your own, and I can teach you too. Fireball is very simple."

Wang Xiang nodded without asking any further questions, and pointed to the small river in front of him: "Then try casting a fireball spell towards the middle of the river first."

"Ah."

Bai Miao concentrated and unleashed a fireball spell.

"boom!"

A ball of intense heat condensed in Bai Miao's palm, then flew out under his will, exploding on the river and producing a large amount of steam and roasted fish.

"This power is comparable to a small hand grenade."

Wang Xiang asked with admiration, "How was the consumption?"

"It's not low. This might take 10 points of mental energy, and I feel like something else has been consumed as well."

Bai Miao estimated that as the level of Fireball Technique increased, its power would be greater, while its consumption would be lower.

It costs 10 points of mental energy to reach level one, so it's not worth it for such little power.

"Well, let's put learning magic aside for now. Our priority is to find a place to stay in the city and gather intelligence. The capital has a lot of people, making it a great place to gather information. Once we've gathered enough information, we can set off again."

"Agreed, agreed. We need to find the Sword and Shield of the Hero. We don't have any clues right now, so how are we supposed to find them? I just want to go to the inn and take a shower right now. Someone just peed in my pants right next to me. It was disgusting."

Bai Miao's body was also covered in a lot of unidentified liquid, including sweat and saliva, which was disgusting.

How much money do we have left?

"Let me see……"

Wang Xiang counted everyone's money; the three of them had about six silver coins and three copper coins on them.

"How is the value of currency calculated in this world? How long can we survive on this little bit of money?"

Zhao Wanyang was worried that such a small amount of money might not be enough for a night's stay.

Wang Xiang smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's definitely not enough for our living expenses. I noticed when I left the city that the entrance fee is 1 silver coin per person, which means the three of us will have to pay 3 silver coins to enter the city later. The worst room in the inn here costs 5 silver coins a night."

"Huh? Do we still need to go into the city? The capital is so expensive!"

Zhao Wanyang experienced the terror of a big city for the first time.

"These three silver coins are necessary expenses to enter the city. The people in the capital are relatively wealthy, so we can earn some money through other means. Let's go into the city first and then talk about it."

Bai Miao glanced at Wang Xiang: "You wouldn't be planning to rob someone right under Zhan Shuai's nose, would you?"

"How could that be? My profession is a bard, so it's perfectly reasonable for me to sing on the street, right? If you know any acrobatic skills, remember to come with me, and we can beg for our living expenses tonight."

"what?"

Chapter 256 Adventurers' Guild

"The adventurers from afar shouldered their packs~"

Everyone is eager to sing the story of the war hero~

"Then the Demon King could only retreat back to his castle, wallowing in his sorrow and despair."

Wang Xiang and Bai Miao stood on the street, playing a tune on the morin khuur (horsehead fiddle) and singing impromptu lyrics.

Zhao Wanyang swayed back and forth awkwardly, while Bai Miao started doing something funny on the spot.

"If you have money, please support me financially; if you don't have money, please show your support by being there. I will now perform sword swallowing. Thank you all for your support!"

Bai Miao drew his sword from his waist and, to the astonishment of the crowd, shoved it down his throat. As the sword completely disappeared into Bai Miao's body, the onlookers erupted in cheers.

One copper coin after another was thrown at Bai Miao's feet. Zhao Wanyang immediately found the meaning of her existence there, bending down and frantically picking up the money from the ground, thanking the surrounding crowd as she did so.

Wang Xiang played with even more enthusiasm.

After the sword-swallowing performance ended, Bai Miao, still eager for more, asked the people around him, "Does anyone want to see someone eat noodles with their nose?"

"Have!!"

This is a rare thing. Apart from those drunkards who can't even find the door, who would eat noodles with their nose?

Soon, a busybody brought out a plate of fried noodles from a nearby shop and handed it to Bai Miao: "Eat this, and I'll give you a silver coin as a reward!"

The onlookers applauded and encouraged Bai Miao to eat the noodles with his nose.

Bai Miao leisurely brought his nose close to the plate, smelled it, and after confirming that there was no poison inside, he continued to build up the atmosphere, saying, "If you have money, please support me financially; if you don't have money, please support me with your presence. Next, I'm going to perform eating noodles through my nostrils!"

As he spoke, Bai Miao didn't even need a fork; he simply sucked the fried noodles into his nose.

"Slurp! Hiss! Slurp!"

In no time, Bai Miao had devoured the entire plate of fried noodles.

Such a skill naturally deserves a reward, and Zhao Wanyang was grinning from ear to ear as she picked up money.

Wang Xiang also understood the principle of knowing when to stop while he was ahead; continuing to make money would likely attract the attention and envy of others.

This trip earned at least three or four hundred copper coins.

Based on the 1:10 ratio within the empire, I won't have to worry about living expenses for the next few days.

After quickly packing up and leaving, the group went to an empty alley to take stock of their spoils.

The final amount was 5 silver coins plus 421 copper coins.

This is equivalent to an income of 47 silver coins.

"We've really struck it rich! This money should be enough for us to live in the capital for a long time."

Wang Xiang shook his head: "The accommodation fee is 5 silver coins per day. Don't forget about the cost of food. Under normal circumstances, it will cost 2 to 3 silver coins per day. This amount of money is only enough for about a week."

"A week should be enough time to gather intelligence. If all else fails, I'll go out and take another look tonight."

Zhao Wanyang and Wang Xiang both glanced at Bai Miao, seemingly aware of what Bai Miao planned to do that night, but neither of them revealed it.

There's no other way; busking and performing can only solve immediate problems. The first time, it was a quick way to make some money before others realized what was happening, but if you keep doing it, it's easy for someone with ulterior motives to target you.

If you want to live longer in such an expensive capital city, resorting to some extreme measures is the fastest way.