A Few Small Toys

In the east of the city. Big Mouth Barbecue. After ordering, both pulled out their phones to tell their households not to cook dinner for them. Nora got along very well with her new guardian, who was exceptionally skilled at preparing blood feasts, so Nora now usually ate dinner with her. If she wasn't going back to eat, she certainly needed to let her know. Yu Xian, meanwhile, contacted Su Zhuo. As it happened, Su Zhuo was rather busy at the company; the Namo race had previously done a great deal in her name, and everything now had to be set right, so she would likely be spending the night at the company. Once they finished messaging, both set their phones on the table. Suddenly recalling the last time she had come to this restaurant with Yu Xian, Nora asked curiously, "Yu Xian, what happened to that classmate who awakened his werewolf bloodline back then?" "You mean Li Cheng? Brother Zhang sent him to the combat police training school for training. He should be back in a while," Yu Xian answered with a smile. Nora took a sip of blood tea and said wistfully, "Actually, when I was little, I wanted to be a combat police officer too, keeping order in Ice City. Back then, I thought combat police officers were so cool." "Not cool anymore?" Yu Xian asked. Nora shook her head, then looked at Yu Xian, blushing as she said, "Now I think joining Qilin is even cooler." Unfortunately, due to her identity, she was destined to never be able to join Qilin. "I also feel that Qilin was the best choice of my life!" Thinking of the people he had met in Qilin, Yu Xian couldn't help but smile. Noticing Nora's dejection, he comforted her, "Nora, if I become a captain one day, would you be willing to join my squad?" A Qilin captain possessed high authority; so long as an applicant held Huaxia citizenship and had no criminal record, the captain could recruit them into their squad. In any case, the total headcount of a squad was limited. If a captain had poor judgment and recruited dead weight, it would drag down their entire squad. The year-end evaluation would suffer, and if they failed the evaluation for three consecutive years, the squad would even face the risk of disbandment. "But my father is Marcus," Nora said. Yu Xian chuckled. "The one I trust is you, not your dad!" "Then what if the Progenitor acts?" Nora asked worriedly. For some time now, a voice had persisted within the Blood Clan calling to summon her back to their headquarters in Rome, wanting her to perform the Embrace on those who passed the trials as early as possible to see if they could produce new vampires immune to sunlight. However, because her father was Marcus, as long as Marcus didn't nod or the Progenitor didn't give the command, other vampires had no way of forcing her back. "The Progenitor? By the time you join my squad, I'm sure he'll agree," Yu Xian smiled easily. The Progenitor of the Blood Clan was merely Tiger-rank. While he was definitely an extraordinary Tiger-rank far beyond standard parameters, with Yu Xian's current strength, the vampire didn't really pose a threat. Unfortunately, his Falsehood Divine Power had already been exhausted, or else a single blast of divine fire could have incinerated the Progenitor in an instant. Besides, he wasn't a captain yet; he would need to be in Qilin for at least a year before he could possibly be promoted. When that time really came, he could hardly fathom how strong he would be. Never mind the Blood Clan's Progenitor—he was confident he could handle the entire Blood Clan on his own. However, Nora felt Yu Xian was just painting an unrealistic pie in the sky. Although the duel between Yu Xian and Wang Xingnuo at the practical combat building had astonished her with his prowess, to her mind, Yu Xian had been a vampire for less than a year, whereas the Progenitor of the Blood Clan had fed on blood daily and accumulated power for a full five hundred years. Any fool knew who was stronger. Still, she didn't call him out. Instead, propping her cheek with one hand, she looked at Yu Xian and played along with a smile, "If I can really join Qilin, that would be wonderful." She actually had many dreams: traveling, tasting different delicious foods, being together with Yu Xian... Joining Qilin was merely an excuse to stay by Yu Xian's side. Just like Yu Xian wanting to take the college entrance exam. Just then, the food was served. After finishing their meal, the two leisurely walked home together. Only after seeing Nora safely home did Yu Xian teleport back to his own house. He took a shower first, then took out a storage ring. Looking at Zhenwo Changjing sitting on the living room sofa, he said, "Auntie, these are all the materials. Sorry to trouble you." "What styles of defensive gear do you need?" Zhenwo Changjing asked, taking the storage ring. After a moment's thought, Yu Xian replied, "Rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings—any of those will do!" Then he watched Zhenwo Changjing with curiosity, eager to see how she crafted equipment. Who could have guessed that Zhenwo Changjing merely pinched the storage ring he gave her, gave it a gentle shake, and then handed it right back? "Done?" Yu Xian's eyes widened, asking with a completely dumbfounded expression. This was vastly different from what he had imagined crafting transcendent equipment would be like. Just a little shake of the storage ring, without even taking the materials out, and it was done? Zhenwo Changjing said with calm detachment, "They are just a few toys." "Toys..." Yu Xian took the ring back, rendered speechless. If Dragon-rank equipment was just toys, then the Dragon Shield and Dream Butterfly on him were probably nothing more than trash in Zhenwo Changjing's eyes. Putting on the ring, he immediately sensed that inside the storage space were five plain-styled rings, two completely patternless bracelets, as well as two necklaces and two pairs of earrings. In an instant, a ring appeared in his palm, and he used Appraisal on it. —————— [Energy Guardian Ring] [Rank: Dragon] [Ability: When worn, forms an invisible energy membrane across the body surface. When subjected to an attack, it can withstand all types of attacks at Dragon-rank and below until its energy is depleted.] [Energy Value: 1,000,000 / 1,000,000] [Recovery Rate: Naturally recovers 10 points of energy per day.] [Summary: A small trinket casually crafted by that esteemed lord.] —————— After reading the stats, Yu Xian's feelings were exceedingly complex. Curious, he asked, "Auntie, roughly how many full-power attacks from a Dragon-rank can the ring's energy withstand?" "One point of energy can withstand one strike," Zhenwo Changjing answered. Yu Xian hurriedly counted how many zeros there were in the energy value, and then his eyes widened in sheer disbelief. "So... as long as someone wears this ring, a Dragon-rank expert would have to attack one million times to break through the defense?" "As long as it does not exceed Dragon-rank," Zhenwo Changjing emphasized. He hurriedly checked the remaining rings and found that all of them were Energy Guardian Rings. If someone wore all five rings, a Dragon-rank expert would have to attack five million times to shatter the defense! What's more, those five million attacks had to be full-power strikes from a Dragon-rank expert; if an attack didn't meet that benchmark, it wouldn't even consume a single point of energy. Thinking of this, Yu Xian's scalp went completely numb. Looking at the Energy Guardian Rings in the storage ring, he instantly decided how to distribute them in his mind. One for Su Zhuo, one for himself, one for Nora, one for Zhang Shou, and another for Yu Lie. In the Namo incident, if Minister Yu Lie hadn't trusted him without reservation and withstood immense pressure from various factions on his behalf, he might very well have become a wanted criminal by now. Having sorted out how to distribute the rings, he looked toward the two bracelets, took one out, and appraised it immediately.