Chapter 46: Iron Armor Set (Blue)

"Do you really have to send a message about it, are you feeling embarrassed?" Xu Xin laughed.

He then looked down at the eight iron blocks (blue) in his hand. He was almost reluctant to use these advanced iron blocks.

He sent a message to Li Wenxi: "There’s so much of it, I might just end up hoarding all your resources."

The reply came quickly: "No way, would the top of the leaderboard really need to hoard even this bit of resources?"

This bit of resources?

Alright then.

He truly couldn’t compare with the rich lady.

Xu Xin went straight to the weapon and armor crafting table, and using the iron blocks Li Wenxi gave him, he crafted two sets of blue-grade iron armor.

[Scale Armor (Blue): Can withstand attacks from large beasts. Made with advanced materials, the thinner iron sheet offers stronger defense.]

[Iron Greaves (Blue): Even though they are iron armor, they feel as light as cloth armor!]

[Iron Helmet (Blue): Perfect design that doesn’t obstruct vision or head movement.]

[Iron Boots (Blue): Wearing them almost makes you feel like you can run faster!]

The descriptions had changed. The biggest flaw of the iron armor, its bulkiness, was gone in the blue grade!

At the same time, Xu Xin noticed a line of small text in the description of each piece of equipment.

[Iron Armor Set (Blue) Four-piece: Enhances strength]

The blue-grade set actually has a special effect! And it’s the strength Xu Xin needed the most!

Not only did the weight decrease, but it also increased the wearer’s strength. Truly worthy of being blue-grade iron armor.

Xu Xin traded one set to Li Wenxi and wore the other set himself.

There was no sense of heaviness at all; the weight of the iron armor set was much lighter than expected. Once all four pieces were on, Xu Jin even felt more relaxed and agile than when he wore the beginner’s two-piece set.

"Is this the effect of a blue-grade set?" Xu Xin was very satisfied.

He felt that now he could confront a single beast head-on and might even be able to take on the monster guarding the treasure chest.

However, the iron armor did have one issue: it made a crisp sound of clinking iron when walking, making stealth a bit of a problem. But that wasn’t a major issue, as wearing the iron armor was intended for direct combat with beasts.

Xu Xin recalled the dense cluster of red dots in the northwest. After the treehouse’s protective range expanded, that area was now within Xu Xin’s reach.

"There’s an adjustment period tomorrow. Since I have iron armor now, I’ll go check out that area tomorrow."

Xu Xin planned to visit there the next day, hunt some beasts, and see if he could collect some beast tendons to craft the treehouse’s trebuchet and his crossbow.

Without a long-range attack method, the next beast tide would be much more challenging.

After taking off the iron armor set, Xu Xin washed up and lay down on the bed. He hadn’t slept for two days and one night, and although his spirits were held up by the power of the orange, his physical fatigue had reached its peak.

He stroked Keke’s little head curled up beside him, and Xu Xin gradually fell asleep.

"I’ll give you a bath tomorrow; I’m too tired today, just gonna laze about..."

...

Xu Xin was awakened by the vibration on his wrist.

He sat up, rubbed his eyes, and lifted his wrist, where a virtual screen appeared before him.

"It’s just past seven... inviting me to join the [Explorers]? What’s this..."

Xu Xin almost canceled it absentmindedly, then his mind cleared: "Is this the organization Ji Chaoyang mentioned?"

Indeed, upon closer inspection, the invitation was from Ji Chaoyang.

Xu Xin immediately clicked to accept.

Wang Lei: "Welcome, Xu Xin, to our [Explorers] organization!"

Zhao Xiaochuan: "Welcome, Xu Xin!"

Wen Guixin: "Xu Xin, who’s stronger, you or Boss Ji?"

As soon as Xu Xin joined, several messages popped up in the group chat.

The group chat now had seven people, just two short of the nine mentioned by Ji Chaoyang.

Xu Xin looked at the member list. Besides him and Ji Chaoyang, there was Wen Guixin, ranked third on the leaderboard, Wang Lei, ranked fifth, Zhao Xiaochuan, ranked seventh, and two with similar names, Qin Yunlong and Qin Yunhu, ranked sixth and ninth, who sounded like brothers.

Ji Chaoyang had mentioned that the third, fifth, and seventh were all his acquaintances, the ones who had just spoken when Xu Xin joined.

"Hello, everyone." Xu Xin used voice input.

Ji Chaoyang: "I originally planned to gather everyone and bring you in as the finale, but then Li Wenxi, ranked fourth, said she’d join if you join, and we haven’t been able to contact Qi Xuefei, ranked eighth."

"I know Li Wenxi, I’ll bring her in." Saying this, Xu Xin invited Li Wenxi.

Ji Chaoyang: "I figured you knew her. When I talked to her, she didn’t even wait for me to finish, just hung up saying, ’Let Xu Xin invite me.’"

Xu Xin: "Oh, I had talked to her about this organization before."

[Li Wenxi has joined the Explorers]

Li Wenxi: "Hello, hello everyone!"

Wen Guixin: "Finally, a girl! I’ve had enough of being in a group full of men."

Zhao Xiaochuan: "Hello, girl! By the way, Wen Guixin, what’s wrong with men? Isn’t it great being surrounded by handsome guys?"

Wen Guixin: "Handsome guys? You? Maybe only Boss Ji is kind of handsome."

Wang Lei: "Look at my healthy physique, strong wrists, and simple gaze; isn’t that handsome enough?"

Li Wenxi: "Haha, you guys are so amusing!"

At this moment, Qin Yunlong, who had been silent, also spoke up: "Xu Xin, can you and Ji Chaoyang really provide us with iron armor and iron weapons?"

Xu Xin didn’t speak; he wasn’t sure how Ji Chaoyang had guaranteed them, but he wasn’t about to provide them directly without getting a satisfactory price in return.

To avoid any conflict, he waited for Ji Chaoyang to respond.

Luckily, Ji Chaoyang replied directly: "You can trade with us, or if you have the raw materials, we can help you craft them, but you will need to pay accordingly. We only open trades within the organization, not providing them for free."

Xu Xin then said, "That’s what I mean too."

"Understood," Qin Yunlong replied and said nothing more.

Ji Chaoyang: "Alright, there’s still one person we haven’t heard from. Let’s temporarily put aside the matters we discussed earlier. You all can try contacting Qi Xuefei, ranked eighth. If she hasn’t joined by tonight, we’ll discuss the next steps."

"Got it."

"Got it, Boss!"

"Understood."

Xu Xin pondered for a moment and then asked in the group chat: "Have any of you collected any beast tendons?"

Zhao Xiaochuan: "Is Xu Xin talking about materials for making bows and heavy crossbows? I once found a beast carcass, but didn’t get any tendons."

Wang Lei: "I haven’t even seen a beast carcass; I hid in the treehouse that night."

Wen Guixin: "I killed a wolf, but it didn’t drop any beast tendons either."

Ji Chaoyang: "I didn’t get any tendons either. Afterward, I asked some people, and none of them managed to carve tendons out of a beast carcass. Perhaps the beasts didn’t drop tendons that day because they didn’t want us to have long-range weapons this early."

Xu Xin replied with a thoughtful "Okay, I got it," then closed the screen projected from his watch and sat up in bed.

"Eee..." The little panda Keke beside him also got up.

Xu Xin’s plan for the day was to explore that densely packed area of red dots in the northwest.

With the iron armor, he could take on some medium to small solitary beasts. He could go there to hunt some lone beasts; perhaps he might get some beast tendons and hides.