Hongwei boastfully unleashed his Berserker aura, telling Yan that he was about to make a huge mistake by challenging him. He screamed out in confidence that he was going to beat Yan so badly that he would lose all of his teeth.
Then he activated his Berserker skill, which drained one percent of his HP per minute while amplifying his battle lust and increasing his strength, agility and defense by thirty percent.
Yan teased him. He liked how much of a big talker Hongwei was, he said, but he was curious to see whether he would be able to keep the energy up for a whole minute.
Yan could not believe that Hongwei seriously thought he could crush him on class difference alone. He put up a fighting stance, preparing to teach Hongwei a lesson he would not forget: that true strength did not come from one's class.
Deep down, Yan was relieved that before he left the training grounds, he had restored all his gear to its original state, so he did not have to worry about anyone noticing anything strange about his equipment. He even took off the leather boots that had been given to him, just to show Hongwei that he had not a single piece of gear on him.
Hongwei believed that this was to his advantage. He rushed toward Yan, aiming to punch him in the head.
Yan dodged the strike easily, which shocked Hongwei. He refused to believe it and started throwing punches frantically, hoping that he would catch Yan with one of them. But all his punches looked slow in front of Yan, who moved out of the way every single time.
Yan admitted that an A-rank Berserker class was impressive. An attack only mattered if it actually landed, though. Swinging blindly was nothing but a waste of stamina, and he let Hongwei know that he had seen through his fighting style over the past three years they had been together.
Yan prepared a counter-strike, and reminded Hongwei that Hongwei had never once seen through his.
Before Hongwei could react, Yan delivered a powerful punch to his right torso, sending a huge wave of pain through his body. He crashed to the ground in severe pain, and Yan confidently declared that he was still the top dog.
Everyone held their heads in astonishment, wondering how it was possible for an F-rank craft class to defeat an A-rank Berserker.
Since he had put Hongwei in his place already, Yan decided it was time to leave, because he would have to head into the wild very soon. Before he did that, he had to get himself some decent gear. With his modification skill, he knew that good equipment was not going to be a problem. Since he had returned all the issued equipment, he had no choice but to buy some basic gear.
Then he looked at his wallet, and it reminded him of how broke he was.
Suddenly, he sensed a punch coming from behind, and he reacted instantly, blocking it pretty easily. He turned around to see who it was, and it turned out to be his friendly rival, Wang Qingfeng.
Qingfeng commended him for blocking the strike, saying it was no surprise that he had been at the top of the year in both academics and combat three years in a row.
Qingfeng bought Yan a drink, and Yan asked him if he had been there when he was fighting Hongwei. Qingfeng confirmed that he had been. If Yan had not been able to beat Hongwei, he would have stepped in and beaten him up himself, because Yan was the only opponent he recognized. People like Hongwei, he said, did not matter.
Yan pointed out that Qingfeng had never gone all out against him.
Back in their first-year finals, Qingfeng had thrown in the towel, and ever since that day, Qingfeng had surrendered every single year. Yan pointed out that he was aware Qingfeng was trying to hand him the top scholarship, because Qingfeng was a rich second-generation kid who obviously did not need the money.
Qingfeng tried to deny it, saying he had only gotten scared of Yan's ruthless eyes.
Yan then used the opportunity to ask him whether he was going to surrender if they ended up facing each other at that year's National Rookie Tournament.
Qingfeng told him there was no chance whatsoever. He promised to go all out against Yan, and the two of them made a toast to it.
Just then, Qingfeng threw a card containing two thousand to Yan, telling him that he wanted to buy his whirlwind wolf speedrun strategy. As he left, he reminded Yan to send it to him very soon, and Yan assured him that he would.
Yan heaved a sigh of relief. He admitted to himself that he owed Qingfeng for this, and he promised himself he would pay him back for it.
Now that he had two thousand to spend, he planned to hit the stalls, and he wondered what treasures he would come across.
Moments later, Yan arrived at the cheapest black market stall he knew. He was not looking to find anything out of the ordinary, because everything being sold there was basic. That did not mean there was nothing at all.
He soon found a stall where a Demon Shade Saber, embedded with a whirlwind wolf magic crystal, was on display. It was E+ rank equipment, forged from meteor iron and fused with a level 5 whirlwind wolf magic crystal, which could unleash the whirlwind skill.
The seller told Yan that he could only sell it for eighteen thousand, because if the sword were at peak durability, it would be going for at least twenty-five thousand.
Yan was not surprised. He had already expected it to be expensive. He turned to what appeared to be a basic sword and asked the man how much he wanted for it.
The seller said the sword was going for fifteen hundred. It was the Azure Steel Sword, an E-rank sword forged from ordinary azure steel.
Yan then decided to make a deal with the seller. He asked him whether he would give him the Azure Steel Sword if he fixed the Demon Shade Saber for him.
The seller immediately became interested, asking Yan if he could truly do that.
Yan activated his Durability skill, and with a smile, he told the seller that there was only one way to find out.
Yan's target from the start was not the demon blade. It was the Azure Steel Sword. Because the moment he used the modification skill on it, the Azure Steel Sword could become a certain legendary weapon.