I Can Upgrade Everything Infinitely-Chapter 60 - 59: Copper Coins Upgrade, Newlywed Red String
"Senior."
Zuo Xin slowly raised his head. His expression was calm, but deep within his eyes, a desire was brewing. It was a greed for power, a thirst for authority. Although he concealed it well, Xu Qing saw through it at a glance.
After all,
in his past life on Earth, Xu Qing had been the big boss of a publicly traded company. He managed numerous employees, so he had a knack for reading people.
"This junior believes that my abilities are more than enough to carry out your orders and instructions. I alone am sufficient; there is no need for Master Zhao to get involved."
Zuo Xin said.
"Hall Master Zuo!"
"What are you saying?"
"How audacious!"
"..."
Instantly,
the other five Hall Masters behind Zhao Yue began to berate him one after another.
"Hahaha..."
But Xu Qing just laughed out loud.
"Senior, I have already handled two matters for you and have demonstrated my capabilities on both occasions. Therefore, I believe I can certainly carry out any of your instructions and commands."
Zuo Xin added.
"Not bad."
The corners of Xu Qing’s mouth lifted slightly as he looked toward Zhao Yue. "You all can leave."
"S-Senior..."
Zhao Yue opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but after seeing Xu Qing’s sharp gaze, he wisely shut his mouth.
"In that case, this junior will take his leave."
Zhao Yue bowed his head, then turned and left with the five Hall Masters.
"What a piece of work."
After they had walked some distance,
one of the five Hall Masters, a bald man, spoke with considerable annoyance. He assumed they were far enough away that Xu Qing couldn’t hear him, so he spoke without reservation.
"Our Gang Leader came here personally, but that guy didn’t give him any face at all. Some Outer Gang Expert... who knows if he’s even the real deal? What’s he acting so arrogant for?"
The bald man continued, "If I remember correctly, didn’t he ask Zuo Xin to help him sell something? When the time comes, all we need to do is interfere a little, and we can make sure Zuo Xin can’t sell a thing."
SWISH!!!
The next moment,
just as the bald man finished speaking, a streak of light shot through the air. Before Zhao Yue and the others could even react, it pierced through the back of the bald man’s head and exited from his forehead.
SPLAT!
Fresh blood splattered, carrying with it white brain matter.
CRACK!
Finally,
the streak of light embedded itself in the wall ahead. Everyone looked closely and saw that the "streak of light" was actually just a withered yellow leaf.
THUD!
The bald man’s corpse fell to the ground.
Xu Qing slowly lowered his raised right hand, his calm gaze fixed on Zhao Yue and the others, showing not a ripple of emotion. But Zhao Yue and his men were already scared out of their wits.
THUD! THUD!!!
They all dropped to their knees.
"Senior, have mercy! Senior, have mercy!!!"
"..."
They were terrified.
"Begone."
Xu Qing just coolly uttered a single word.
Immediately,
Zhao Yue and the others scrambled away.
After that,
Xu Qing began his transactions for the day. After what had just happened, the crowd grew even more reverent toward this mysterious stall owner.
Of course,
even though everyone was reverent, when someone was giving away free money, it would be foolish not to take it.
「By noon,」
the transactions were finished.
Today,
Xu Qing had put out a total of 4,500 taels of silver for his transactions. After everything was traded, he had completed 2,678 transactions.
Each of the eighty-four Copper Coins had gained 2,678 Experience Points.
It was a bountiful harvest.
And so it went.
Xu Qing would go out in the morning to trade Copper Coins and gain Experience Points for his eighty-four coins. In the afternoon, he would return to his residence to practice the Baji Heaven-Striking Fist and the Life-taking Thirteen Swords.
Time flew by.
「In the blink of an eye,」
another ten days had passed.
Basically,
Xu Qing traded 4,500 taels of silver every morning, gaining 2,678 Experience Points each day. He continued this until the tenth day, when he realized that many people in Qingbei Town had already traded with him, and so he stopped.
...
[Great Zhou Copper Coin LV1: 32744/10 (Upgradeable!)]
...
All eighty-four of his Great Zhou Copper Coins had a whopping 32,744 Experience Points each. This was the fruit of Xu Qing’s hard work over the past ten-plus days.
「On this day, at noon.」
"Zuo Xin."
Xu Qing stood with his hands clasped behind his back. He was using the Evil Ghost Mask to disguise himself as a young man. His face was devoid of emotion as he said coolly, "Starting today, I will no longer be conducting these transactions."
"..."
Zuo Xin was stunned for a moment.
One must understand,
Zuo Xin had been relying on Xu Qing as his backer. Using Xu Qing’s influence, he had become a powerful figure within the Axe Gang, and even the Broken Stone Martial Arts Hall treated him with great respect.
It was no exaggeration to say
that Zuo Xin had reached the pinnacle of his life.
And now,
the great tree he had worked so hard to cling to was about to leave.
Involuntarily,
a sense of panic began to stir deep in Zuo Xin’s heart.
Of course,
Zuo Xin was also well aware that this Outer Gang powerhouse had appeared very suddenly and had a mysterious background. He had long suspected that the man would eventually leave just as abruptly.
"Over the past few days, you have indeed helped me handle many matters, and you’ve done an excellent job."
Xu Qing said.
"It is what this junior ought to do."
Zuo Xin lowered his head and replied respectfully, "Besides, I also used your influence, Senior, to gain many benefits for myself. It’s just a pity that my own strength is insufficient. Otherwise, I would have certainly been able to seize the position of Gang Leader from Zhao Yue."
"Mm."
Xu Qing nodded.
"Senior, might this junior be so fortunate as to know your name?"
Zuo Xin asked cautiously.
’A name?’
Xu Qing pondered for a moment before saying, "I am ’Cao Guojiu’."
"Cao Guojiu."
Zuo Xin paused, taken aback.
"That’s right."
Xu Qing nodded.
"This junior will engrave it in his heart."
Zuo Xin said.
"I’m off."
Xu Qing waved his hand and turned to leave. He didn’t leave anything for Zuo Xin, as their relationship had always been one of mutual benefit.
Xu Qing needed Zuo Xin to help with some trivial matters, and Zuo Xin wanted to use Xu Qing’s influence to gain benefits for himself. That was the nature of their relationship.
Now,
Xu Qing’s business was done, and their connection was severed. Xu Qing didn’t want any more trouble for himself. Taking on Yu Hu as a disciple was merely to repay the favor he owed Yu Chen from the beginning.
One could imagine,
with Xu Qing gone and Zuo Xin without his backer, what awaited Zuo Xin would be the frenzied retaliation of Zhao Yue and his men. If Zuo Xin couldn’t withstand it, he would surely die.
It would all depend on Zuo Xin’s own abilities and fortune.
「The scene changed.」
Inside the courtyard.
Xu Qing had already removed the Evil Ghost Mask from his face, returning to his normal appearance. Previously, he had transformed into a burly middle-aged man and used the name of one of the Eight Immortals, ’Lv Dongbin’.
Now,
Xu Qing had switched to another alias, also using the name of one of the Eight Immortals, ’Cao Guojiu’.
「In the bedroom.」
"Upgrade."
Xu Qing took out the eighty-four Great Zhou Martial Country Copper Coins. He sat in a chair, the eighty-four coins laid out neatly on the table before him.
BZZZT!
With a single thought,
the Encyclopedia of All Things flickered with fluorescent light. The eighty-four Great Zhou Martial Country Copper Coins on the table also flashed with a white light, and a series of images seemed to appear before Xu Qing’s eyes.
Xu Qing saw one of the Great Zhou Martial Country’s Copper Coins being traded again and again among the common people, passing through countless hands and becoming imbued with their mortal essence.
Upgrade successful!
[Great Zhou Copper Coin LV2: 32734/20 (Upgradeable!)]
In an instant,
all eighty-four Great Zhou Copper Coins were upgraded to Level 2.
"Good."
Xu Qing nodded in satisfaction. ’Continue upgrading the Great Zhou Copper Coins.’
...
[Great Zhou Copper Coin LV3: 32734/40 (Upgradeable!)]
...
[Great Zhou Copper Coin LV4: 32734/80 (Upgradeable!)]
...
[Great Zhou Copper Coin LV5: 32734/160 (Upgradeable!)]
...
[Great Zhou Copper Coin LV6: 32734/320 (Upgradeable!)]
...
[Great Zhou Copper Coin LV7: 32734/640 (Upgradeable!)]
...
[Great Zhou Copper Coin LV8: 32734/1280 (Upgradeable!)]
...
[Great Zhou Copper Coin LV9: 32734/2560 (Upgradeable!)]
...
[Great Zhou Copper Coin LV10: 32734/5120 (Upgradeable!) (A copper coin from the Great Zhou Martial Country, tradable among the common people. Having passed through long years of history, it is not only imbued with the dense mortal essence of the Great Zhou Martial Country’s populace but has also been touched by the Dragon Qi of its imperial family and the National Fortune of the country itself, making it sufficient to suppress ordinary evil spirits.)]
...
"Excellent, excellent."
An extremely satisfied smile appeared on Xu Qing’s face as he nodded. ’Not bad, not bad at all. After ten upgrades, a single one of these coins is enough to suppress evil spirits.’
’This’ll work, this’ll work.’
Xu Qing was indeed very pleased.
Next,
Xu Qing took out a red string. This string had been a gift from a newlywed couple, imbued with an auspicious air and possessing a special meaning.
[Newlywed Red String LV1: 5600/5 (A red string gifted by a newlywed couple, containing an auspicious meaning.)]
「Ten days ago,」
Xu Qing had found a newlywed couple and asked for this red string from them. He planned to use this string to thread the eighty-four Level 10 Great Zhou Martial Country Copper Coins together and create a Copper Coin Sword.
Of course,
a Level 1 Newlywed Red String was definitely not strong enough. After he had cataloged it, he discovered that the method for it to gain Experience Points was both simple and difficult at the same time.
The Newlywed Red String needed to bind the hands of a man and a woman together for one minute to gain one Experience Point, embodying the meaning of a red string of fate.
For this purpose,
Xu Qing had been forced to don black night-crawling clothes, wear the Evil Ghost Mask at night, and change his appearance and aura to become a slender man.
Moving at night,
Xu Qing would only capture people, not kill them. He would grab a man and a woman at the same time, tie their hands together with the Newlywed Red String for one minute, and then release them.
Furthermore,
Xu Qing would leave them a tael of silver as compensation for their emotional distress.
Because of this,
the common folk went from initial panic to gradual anticipation. The thief persona Xu Qing played was even jokingly nicknamed by the people: the Money-Spending Heroic Thief.
On top of that,
among the people Xu Qing tied up, a surprising number of them actually ended up falling for each other and even held weddings. When Xu Qing found out, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
