Li Xi did not pay much attention to Ai Si’s matters. His own strength was too weak, and it was meaningless to meddle too much. It was better to go home and draw prizes.
Returning to the mercenary hall again, he settled his task completion count to nine, one more and he could be promoted to E-rank. Li Xi then scurried home.
This mission had been completed exceptionally well, and Li Xi was eagerly anticipating what good things the prizes would hold.
"Xiao Fan, open the roulette."
[Understood, Master.]
A large roulette appeared before him. The moment Li Xi saw the items on it, his eyes widened.
There were so many good things that Li Xi found himself momentarily unable to resist, his vision blurred with desire for everything.
In the blade category, there was only one long sword. Its smooth and elegant form, with a green hilt, immediately made Li Xi recognize it as Sasuke's sword, the Kusanagi.
The Kusanagi could perfectly transmit chakra, and its sharpness far surpassed other weapons, making it a graduation-level weapon.
The benefits of such a weapon were self-evident. Even his current two refined-grade sabers could increase Li Xi's combat power by thirty to forty percent. If he could draw this Kusanagi, Li Xi even considered going to confront the Horned Demon, using the Kusanagi to lop off its horn and hang it on his wall as a trophy. When guests visited, recounting the story would be quite a display of prestige.
After examining the Kusanagi, he looked at the next item: Water Release: Water Colliding Wave.
This was a ninjutsu of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. It could summon a vortex of water from thin air that rapidly spun upwards like a tornado. While serving as defense, it could also be used for offense, making it a versatile technique.
If he had possessed such a ninjutsu today, he wouldn't have had to choose to engage the Horned Demon in close combat. Water countered fire, and they would have complemented each other.
Li Xi declared that he wanted this too.
After Water Colliding Wave came Earth Release: Great Wall of Earth. This could summon a giant lid from the sky to trap enemies. The size of this giant lid could be infinitely large, depending on one’s chakra cultivation.
A single lid could easily cover an entire city.
Following the Great Wall of Earth was the genjutsu Li Xi had pondered for a long time: Dark Binding Technique.
Dark Binding Technique could summon an abyss-like dark space, completely disrupting the enemy’s vision and causing them to lose their awareness of their surroundings.
In a world of pitch-black darkness, even a Kage-level shinobi would be affected. The Third Hokage himself was beaten by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, using the Dark Binding Technique.
After the Dark Binding Technique was something Li Xi had never dared to dream of: the divine strength of the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade Hime.
How great was Tsunade’s strength? She was the woman who could destroy Susanoo with her bare hands, even surpassing the Raikage in physical power. In terms of brute force, she was arguably the strongest in the shinobi world.
Although the Senju clan's genes did not allow her to inherit the First Hokage Hashirama Senju's Wood Style, they granted her strength that was several levels above superhuman.
Upon seeing this, Li Xi decided he could forego all the previous items; he wanted this one above all else.
With the same strength as Tsunade Hime, Li Xi even dared to arm-wrestle dragons and grapple with the behemoths of the wilderness.
His heart pounded like a drum. If he could exchange for Tsunade’s divine strength, Li Xi would even consider trading ten years of his lifespan.
With this divine strength, the Horned Demon from today would be nothing more than a toy poodle, easily kicked back into the abyss with a single stomp. He could even pluck out its eyes and use them as balls.
Following Tsunade Hime's divine strength was the 'Sharingan Bloodline Limit' that had appeared before.
If he had a choice, Li Xi still preferred divine strength. The Sharingan required cultivation, awakening it bit by bit. Divine strength, however, was instant and at its peak from the start.
After the Sharingan came the 'First Hokage Hashirama Senju's Cells,' which he had seen several times before.
This was something he would rather avoid if possible. The risk factor was too high.
The items on the roulette ended here. There weren't many, but their quality was unprecedentedly good. Among them, the Kusanagi had the highest probability, reaching twenty percent, while Tsunade’s divine strength had the lowest, around five percent.
Li Xi clasped his hands in prayer, "Heaven and Earth bless me, may the Great Lord Taishang manifest."
He then washed his hands and changed into clean clothes. He sat firmly on his bed, posture upright, his mind pure and free of distractions.
"Spin."
The pointer spun madly. Even with Li Xi's current strength, he couldn't see it clearly.
"Stop."
The pointer’s speed decreased, it swept past the Kusanagi, then Water Colliding Wave, Great Wall of Earth, and Dark Binding Technique. Finally, it reached Tsunade Hime's divine strength, but the pointer moved too quickly, and without lingering, it spun past.
The pointer was already very slow. To Li Xi's disbelief, it crawled past the 'Sharingan Bloodline Limit' and landed on 'First Hokage Hashirama Senju's Cells.'
"Go, go faster, don't stop." Li Xi even wanted to jump into the roulette and help push the pointer, but this time the pointer did not hear Li Xi's plea. Fate was not on his side, and it slowly stopped there.
[Congratulations, Master, you have obtained 'First Hokage Hashirama Senju's Cells.']
Just like the Summoning Jutsu last time, he truly did not want this. Looking at the small syringe in his hand, Li Xi directly threw it into his spatial ring, letting it gather dust.
He still had one more chance to spin the roulette. Li Xi took a deep breath, ran three circles around the room, three circles to the left, three to the right, twisted his neck, and shook his hips.
"Success or death, spin."
The pointer spun again. Li Xi truly dared not to look.
He wandered around the room, even digging out gold coins and magic crystals from the ground, transferring them into his spatial ring handful after handful.
Taking advantage of his distraction, Li Xi gritted his teeth and said, "Stop."
His heart was about to jump out of his mouth. His ears perked up high, and he listened intently to the system's voice, as if awaiting judgment from the heavens, the favor of the goddess of fortune, or the scorn of misfortune.
It felt like an eternity, but finally, he heard the voice of the system, Xiao Fan.
[Congratulations, Master, you have obtained 'Tsunade Hime's Divine Strength.']
Li Xi leaped two meters high, "Oye, from today onwards, I am not me, I am a different kind of firework."
A powerful energy appeared out of nowhere, further strengthening Li Xi's body, which had just been reinforced by the basic physical training. But this time was different from the last. Last time, there were still some limitations, only strengthening Li Xi's body to the level of an intermediate warrior.
This time, it was different. Li Xi could not feel any upper limit to the enhancement. It was as if an ancient dragon had been stuffed into his body, and with every move, he felt an invincible power.
"Hahahaha, who do I have to fear now? I'll kill him."
After the reinforcement, his body did not show any significant changes, but only Li Xi knew the world-destroying power contained within this scrawny frame.
He scanned the room, but there was nothing suitable to showcase his strength. Li Xi casually grabbed a few gold coins, clenched his fist slightly, and the thick gold coins turned into a lump of dough in his grip.
With a slight exertion, he effortlessly rolled this irregular lump of gold coins into a ball.
"I don't think I even used my strength."
"Hahaha, I'm godlike."
Li Xi's eyes gleamed with intensity, as if he could see the Horned Demon. "You wait, the next time we meet, I will definitely kill you."
His newfound power inflated his ego, and in an instant, he decided on his next course of action.
First, he would raise his mercenary rank to E-rank, then he would deal with the leather armor matter. The thirty gold coins were insignificant; Li Xi was primarily interested in what lay hidden behind the thirty gold coins.
Previously, he had felt fear regarding the hidden traps within this situation, but now… bring it on!!!
At this moment, Li Xi was like a great villain, playing along with their scheme, and extracting what he desired from it.
Returning to the mercenary hall again, Ai Si had also returned at some point. Li Xi walked straight up to her, "Sister Ai Si, I heard that one can donate valuable items to count as task completion, is that right?"
Ai Si looked at Li Xi in surprise. She knew that Li Xi possessed a large quantity of magic crystals that she envied. "There is such a thing. You're not thinking of using magic crystals to complete your last task and get promoted to E-rank, are you?"
Li Xi nodded calmly, "That's exactly what I'm thinking. Ordinary tasks are not interesting to me, and E-rank tasks don't suit me yet. I don't really need money right now, so I might as well use it for the promotion."
"Since you say so, then alright. Two level-one magic crystals, or one level-two magic crystal, is equivalent to one F-rank task completion. Hand over the magic crystals to me, and I'll promote you."
Li Xi did not take out the magic crystals, but asked again, "If I hand over more magic crystals, can it count as multiple task completions?"
"No, no matter how many magic crystals you hand over, it only counts as one."
"And this method can only be used once for each promotion."
Li Xi thought about it. If he only used one magic crystal for promotion, the items from Xiao Fan's system would surely be trash like shuriken and kunai. If he handed over all his magic crystals at once, the items on the roulette might not be amazing, but they wouldn't be bad either.
Having made up his mind, he took out all fifty-five magic crystals he possessed. As Ai Si’s mouth formed an astonished ‘o’ shape, Li Xi said, "These magic crystals are of no use to me, so I'll exchange them all for task completion."
Ai Si found Li Xi’s actions utterly incomprehensible. "Are you sick? Using so many magic crystals for just one F-rank task settlement? No one on the entire continent is as foolish as you."
Li Xi chuckled, "Consider it my support for your work, Sister Ai Si. Ever since I registered as a mercenary, you've been helping me. I can't help you much, so these magic crystals are my way of repaying you."
Ai Si smiled, her smile blooming like the most beautiful flower in the world. She did not try to dissuade Li Xi any further, but instead collected the magic crystals. They, the priests, also had task quotas to meet. Although not large, they still needed to be completed. Otherwise, why would she, a respectable B-rank mercenary, always be doing odd jobs at the counter? Li Xi's magic crystals this time would allow her to not work for several months.
"Give me your badge."
Li Xi quickly handed over his copper F-rank badge to Ai Si. Ai Si operated the console and handed Li Xi an iron badge.
It bore an 'E' and Li Xi's portrait on the back, with a large sword beside it, indicating his warrior status.
"Congratulations, little brother, for becoming an E-rank mercenary. You can now accept E-rank and D-rank missions."
Li Xi could not suppress the joy on his face. His hands, holding the badge, trembled uncontrollably. It wasn't due to the promotion, but because of Xiao Fan's words that excited him.
"Sister Ai Si, I'll be going back now. I'll see you tomorrow."
After bidding farewell to Ai Si, Li Xi raced home, practically using the Body Flicker Technique.
The reason for his excitement was that Xiao Fan's words were unusual.
[Master, due to your mercenary rank promotion, a Super Grand Prize Event has been specially unlocked.]
Upon returning home, Li Xi immediately asked, "What is the Super Grand Prize Event?"
Xiao Fan did not answer but directly materialized a roulette divided into four quadrants before Li Xi's eyes. However, there was no pointer.
The quadrants were labeled 'Nin,' 'Tai,' 'Gen,' and 'Kekkei' (Nin, Body, Illusion, Bloodline).
"What does this mean?" Li Xi did not understand.
[Master, you can choose a specific aspect and then conduct a targeted draw.]
"Is it that good?"
Li Xi rubbed his hands together and began to ponder.
'Nin' represented ninjutsu. There were hundreds of ninjutsu, with a mix of good and bad. One never knew what would be drawn. Now that there was a better option, he would not choose that.