Chapter 165: Divine Craftsman An Qisheng

riding his Red Hare, Zhang Shan swept through every street of West Capital city, row by row. Whenever he spotted a stationary NPC, he would step forward to test the waters. Yet, two more days passed, and still no quest could be triggered. His mood shifted from initial anticipation to resignation. Let's just sweep all the NPCs as planned.

In truth, Zhang Shan held out little hope; he had nearly run through the entire West Capital. It seemed this divine artifact was simply not meant for him. However, having already wasted five days, a little more time wouldn't hurt.

As Zhang Shan rode quickly past the NPCs, nearing the southern city gate, he suddenly noticed a faint glow near the gate itself. His heart leapt with excitement. The color of this glow looked precisely like the question mark hovering over an NPC's head when a quest was triggered.

Zhang Shan hurried forward. Sure enough, right by the city gate, he saw a beggar with a question mark above his head. What the heck, could this beggar possibly repair a divine artifact? Why did this feel so bizarre? Could it be that he had triggered some other quest?

Without overthinking it, Zhang Shan didn't care whether the beggar could fix the artifact or not; as long as it was a quest, that was enough. Even if it was something like the demon-slaying quest issued by the Novice Village chief, that would do. Thanks to grinding that demon-slaying quest all this time, he had accumulated nearly a hundred gold coins, and it was a permanent recurring quest. Though he wasn't desperate for that pocket change, why turn down free gold?

Though Zhang Shan doubted this beggar could help him repair the divine artifact, he still stepped up to initiate conversation.

"Hello."

"Oh, young hunter, have you brought me food?"

Zhang Shan was speechless. He checked his inventory; there was no food. How was he supposed to respond to this?

"I forgot to bring food today, but I brought some gold coins. How about I give you some gold so you can buy food yourself?"

Money talks; who needed food? Handing over cash directly should work, right? Zhang Shan transferred one hundred gold coins to the beggar.

"Thank you, kind hunter." The beggar pocketed the gold and prepared to leave.

Damn it, he's leaving just like that? Then what was the meaning of the question mark floating above your head?

Where was the quest? Fine, if you can't repair the damaged ring, at least issue the quest! Seeing the beggar pocket the money and get ready to walk away, Zhang Shan grew anxious and quickly stepped forward to ask further, "Uncle, is there anything else you need help with?"

He couldn't just let him leave like this. Stumbling upon a quest by sheer accident was no easy feat.

The beggar glanced at Zhang Shan, shook his head, and said, "You cannot help me."

"Uncle, if you need any help, please tell me. If my individual ability isn't enough, I can find other friends to join forces."

Zhang Shan figured this might be a large-scale quest that required a large group to complete. Regardless of the difficulty, he had to secure the quest first.

However, the beggar's next words caught him completely off guard.

The beggar spoke, "I need gold, a lot of gold."

Zhang Shan was slightly stunned. "How many gold coins do you need?"

"I'm not entirely sure of the exact amount. Once upon a time, I was a great alchemy master. Later, the demon race invaded and destroyed my laboratory. I need a massive amount of gold to rebuild it."

Hearing this, Zhang Shan was overjoyed. What the heck, it came full circle. This beggar used to be an alchemy master—didn't that mean he crafted accessories? No wonder he had a question mark over his head; repairing the damaged ring really did require finding him.

Zhang Shan hurriedly took out the damaged ring, handed it to the beggar, and asked, "Master, could you take a look at this item? Is there any possibility of repairing it?"

The beggar took the damaged ring, glanced at it, and said, "This is the ring of the ancient Sky Eagle King. To think that even a god as powerful as the Sky Eagle King has fallen, and his ring has broken to this extent."

Knowing its origin made things easier. At this point, Zhang Shan was certain this beggar was an NPC of great importance. Obviously, otherwise how could he instantly recognize the origin of the damaged ring at a single glance?

"Master, do you think this ring still has a chance of being repaired?"

"This Sky Eagle Ring is far too severely damaged. Repairing it will require a substantial cost, but right now my laboratory is gone, so I cannot help you."

Zhang Shan understood. Without helping this alchemy master restore his laboratory, everything else was off the table.

"Master, do you know how many gold coins it will take to rebuild your laboratory?"

"Wanting to restore my laboratory to its original state is currently out of the question. However, rebuilding it just to a usable state is still achievable."

"How many gold coins will that cost?"

Zhang Shan felt extremely frustrated. Master, can you just give it to me straight? Who are you looking down on? Don't you know I'm exceptionally wealthy right now?

All the gold coins in Zhang Shan's possession combined totaled eighty to ninety million—he was truly a wealthy individual. Any problem that could be solved with money wasn't a problem at all.

"Twenty million gold coins. To rebuild the laboratory to a functional state will take at least twenty million gold coins."

Damn it, did he know he had just made a windfall? Why else would it be such a coincidence? If he hadn't blown up Chakrat and sold the Source of Magic to Windcloud Cupid, where on earth would he have gotten so much gold?

Although the beggar master was opening his mouth like a lion demanding a huge sum, Zhang Shan had no other choice. Unless he didn't want to repair the divine artifact.

Considering that a divine artifact was a top-tier piece of equipment that could be used permanently in the game, ZhangShan didn't hesitate for long. A one-time investment brought long-term benefits. Owning one more divine artifact meant one less piece of equipment to worry about in the future. Calculated that way, while twenty million gold coins was a hefty sum, it was still acceptable.

Zhang Shan traded the twenty million gold coins to the beggar master.

"Thank you very much, generous hunter. With these gold coins, I can rebuild my laboratory. Anqisheng has returned, hahaha!"

Upon receiving the gold coins from Zhang Shan, the beggar master's appearance changed drastically on the spot. Even his name changed.

Previously, when Zhang Shan looked at him, the title above his head simply read "Beggar," without even a name. Now, it had changed to "Alchemy Grandmaster Anqisheng."

What the heck, a grandmaster? Does that mean he can forge divine artifacts? Why bother repairing this old thing then? Wouldn't it be easier to just have him craft a whole set of divine accessory gear directly?

Filled with anticipation, Zhang Shan asked, "Master, turns out you're a grandmaster! I wonder if you can help me forge divine artifact accessories?"

"Alas, although I was once a grandmaster, I can no longer craft divine-grade accessories now."

"Why is that?"

"Every single divine artifact is tied to racial destiny. Ever since the demon race invaded, the human race's destiny has been in chaos, making it impossible to forge new divine artifacts ever again—even for a grandmaster."

What was going on? Did that mean in the future, even if a player's life profession advanced to grandmaster, they still couldn't forge divine artifacts? This made no sense. This was a game—did it really need to be this realistic?