Chapter 2582
The little old man’s expression immediately changed when he saw the secondary stones, and he habitually leaned in closer, "These are good stuff."
"Who would have thought, kid, you’re quite loaded."
"Are you really okay with entrusting these secondary stones to me? Secondary stones with special properties are excellent materials for crafting props, hard to find in the game. You could sell any piece for a decent price."
"A monk may run, but the temple won’t disappear," Xu Huo said, "You’re in this district, it shouldn’t be hard to find you."
The little old man pondered for a moment, "What type of prop do you want to make?"
"Ordinary small props won’t require these few secondary stones, but for relatively large defense props and attack props, even several secondary stones might not suffice. But the more materials you use, the better the prop’s quality."
"I don’t have any ideas for now, do you have any suggestions?" Xu Huo asked.
"A few secondary stones with special properties are enough to make a decent Rank A prop. Depending on the properties of the materials, the crafted prop will have corresponding effects. From what I see, two of your stones are suitable for making spiritual items, the rest are spatial type."
The little old man thought for a moment, "It would be a pity to use them for defense props; attack type props would better showcase the value of the secondary stones."
(To be modified later)
*
Ten minutes later, Xu Huo and the others arrived at a hotel on the other side of the city. According to the city’s construction, I saw a scene of an artifact maker polishing a prop watch. In that instant, it was like a force struck my mind, sparking countless thoughts completely different from before; it was also a turning point in my life."
She gazed at Xu Huo, "I hope you’ll have such good fortune too."
Xu Huo naturally didn’t refuse and thanked her solemnly. Jing Shi, knowing he wouldn’t be leaving for a few days, simply invited him to stay at her house so she could take him to meet her grandson’s teacher at any time.
Xu Huo confessed he had a few friends staying at the hotel, making it really inconvenient to disturb her place, and politely declined.
Jing Shi didn’t insist but indicated he could always come over to chat.
Xu Huo left after having lunch. He found a quiet place and started searching for the rankings of artifact makers in this district on the collection of information terminal.
However, the search results were somewhat disappointing because, according to some organizations, the artifact maker rankings were unreliable; some artifact makers were reputed without merit. In contrast, the clock master rankings were considered more authoritative and widely recognized by society.
The rankings are publicly visible, with many online platforms having dedicated discussion areas. Unsurprisingly, Xu Huo saw an account named "World’s Number One" aggressively criticizing these rankings on each platform. He also dragged down some clock masters on the rankings for critique, not only attacking their professional skills but also bringing up dirt like owning a house in each city or threatening association members to agree to shameful demands to secure orders and rankings.
To "World’s Number One", almost all members of the Clock Association on the rankings were no good. The key point is that much of the dirt had logical grounds; when scrutinized, it seemed to be true. Thus, despite the unpleasant words, the account still had quite a few fans.
Seeing these pieces of dirt and the arguments with clock master fans, Xu Huo immediately imagined an old man with sparse white hair, staying up late staring at the terminal and arguing with others online.
No need to think, this old man must be Mr. Xi. No wonder his shop was customarily shut down. He went both online and offline; though not too radical, his unpleasant words were enough for others to nitpick if unhappy.
However, the "World’s Number One" account didn’t mention his own grievances with the Clock Association.
Someone dug up his identity and subtly mentioned an unpublished lawsuit more than twenty years ago.
The plaintiff was Mr. Xi, suing the Clock Association and its former president for stealing his teacher’s achievement, though what the achievement was, they didn’t mention.
Mr. Xi’s teacher was not a renowned figure, not even making it to the rankings; in his city, he wasn’t recognized much. The only highlight was teaching Mr. Xi, this student. Over twenty years ago, Mr. Xi was already quite famous, ranking high on both the clock making and artifact maker rankings, attracting many from the outer zone to custom props.
"Mr. Xi probably wanted to use his fame to wrestle with the Clock Association, seeking justice for his recently deceased teacher. However, the outcome was not ideal. After losing the lawsuit, Mr. Xi angrily withdrew from the Clock Association and the Artifact Maker Association, declaring he wouldn’t make any items for the government or associations until the truth was clear."
The fact is, the world operates normally without anyone, and the Clock Association and Artifact Maker Association initially tried asking him a few times. Seeing his firmness, they could only give up; outsiders couldn’t order through the association, visiting him directly, he still refused. Over time, gradually, no one sought him out anymore.
Many uninformed people thought he retired due to age, but in reality, he opened his own store, living off past savings. Life was manageable since he was once a famous artifact maker who contributed to District 001. Plus, with age, he received a government welfare benefit.
But like his teacher, he was forgotten.
Not defeated or framed, but forgotten as an insignificant presence.
When the enemy you recognize utterly ignores you, this disdain can incite anger, causing one to lose composure.
When Mr. Xi became famous, though ill-tempered, he could maintain basic courtesy, unlike now, cursing everything on the information terminal.
However, what good is it if someone exposes his past? At most, it earns outsiders’ indifferent sighs.
Just after reading about some of Mr. Xi’s life experiences, a call came in, as urgent as a debt collector. The little old man’s face appeared in the projection, urging impatiently: "Have you decided or not, what prop do you want? I’m free now, I might not have the time in a few days."
"Do you have the materials?" Xu Huo said, "With all your customers being driven away by insults, do you have money to buy them?"
The little old man angrily replied, "Who do you think you’re underestimating? Even if you take just one of my props out, people would scramble for it. How could I lack money for materials?"
But he added a caveat, "I said it before, advanced items, don’t be too picky."
Xu Huo chuckled, "I can provide the materials for prop making. Didn’t you participate in creating Super Instruments? Helping me make a Rank A prop shouldn’t be a problem, right?"
The little old man thought for a while, "You’ve helped me twice, so making a Rank A item for you is fine, but I don’t use any and every material. Don’t bring me something substandard to embarrass us both."
Xu Huo placed a few secondary stones on the table.