Nie Yan would never be satisfied with merely a +1 enhancement. He placed the Blood Oath Dagger and a Luck Gem into the Pandora’s Box once again, and continued the synthesis process using another Luck Gem.
He placed the Blood Oath Dagger and a Luck Gem into the Pandora’s Box again. If the synthesis was attempted during an even-numbered time period, the success rate was around 80%.
System: Synthesis successful. Equipment rank increased by 1. Current rank is 2.
Nie Yan checked the attack power of the Blood Oath Dagger—it had risen to 43-46.
Nie Yan placed another Luck Gem into the Pandora’s Box and continued the synthesis. He clicked confirm. A dazzling ray of light flashed, followed by a sudden dimming. Nie Yan’s heart sank—this was a sign of failure. He had hit the 20% failure chance, truly bad luck.
System: Synthesis failed. Equipment rank decreased by 1. Current rank is 1.
However, Nie Yan wouldn’t be discouraged by this. Luck Gems were indeed expensive—costing five silver coins each—which was enough to scare off many players, but not Nie Yan.
A single failure equated to a loss of ten silver coins, which Nie Yan could still afford.
System: Synthesis successful. Equipment rank increased by 1. Current rank is 2.
System: Synthesis successful. Equipment rank increased by 1. Current rank is 3.
System: Synthesis successful. Equipment rank increased by 1. Current rank is 4.
System: Synthesis failed. Equipment rank decreased by 1. Current rank is 3.
…
With an 80% success rate, failing twice before succeeding was just too unlucky.
After using seven Luck Gems, Nie Yan finally enhanced the Blood Oath Dagger to +5. Its color had already changed slightly, becoming purer. He checked its attributes:
Blood Oath Dagger (+5 Epic): Required level 5.
Attributes: Attack 73-76, Agility +11, Critical Hit +12, Life Steal 3%.
Attack Speed: 2.3
Weight: 3 lbs.
Limitation: Usable by all factions.
The +5 Blood Oath Dagger had absurdly high attack power, far surpassing even level 10 epic-tier equipment. He still had eight Luck Gems left in his bag. It should be possible to enhance it to +6. According to the synthesis pattern of Luck Gems, enhancing to +7 was relatively cost-effective, while +8 and +9 were riskier—failure could drop it back to +5. Only those with extremely high luck or immense wealth dared to attempt +10 or higher.
Nie Yan placed the +5 Blood Oath Dagger into the Pandora’s Box, then added a Luck Gem. With a 70% success rate, this was already considered very high. At this level, a +7 epic-tier weapon was extremely rare.
Looking at the dazzling glow of the Blood Oath Dagger inside the Pandora’s Box, Nie Yan’s heart raced. After all, enhancing to +6 and +7 was no small feat, and he couldn’t help but feel nervous.
With a 70% success rate, it was worth trying.
Nie Yan gritted his teeth and clicked the synthesis button.
Another blinding flash of light erupted, followed by a burst of golden radiance. Nie Yan’s heart pounded—success!
The golden radiance gradually dissipated, unveiling the Blood Oath Dagger within Pandora’s Box. A crimson aura shimmered across its surface like swirling wine, resplendent and dazzling.
The +6 Blood Oath Dagger was stunning.
Next was +7. The pressure on Nie Yan’s heart grew heavier. While 70% was a high success rate, the 30% chance of failure was still a source of immense anxiety.
After careful consideration, Nie Yan decided to give it a try. He placed the Blood Oath Dagger and another Luck Gem into the Pandora’s Box.
His finger hovered over the confirm button as he silently prayed, Please succeed, please succeed!
Failure wouldn’t cripple him financially, but every gem represented hard-earned money.
System: Are you sure you want to synthesize?
Yes!
Without hesitation, he clicked confirm. A golden light flashed, and Nie Yan’s heart clenched. The previous failures seemed to have exhausted his bad luck. To his surprise, the +7 enhancement succeeded. He checked the updated attributes:
Blood Oath Dagger (+7 Epic): Required level 7.
Attributes: Attack 93-96, Agility +11, Critical Hit +12, Life Steal 3%.
Attack Speed: 2.3
Weight: 3 lbs.
Limitation: Usable by all factions.
This synthesis had been lucky. Now, the Blood Oath Dagger’s attack power was nearly 100, rivaling epic-tier equipment at level 15.
Such an expensive Luck Gem—was there anyone else who dared to enhance an item to +7 like Nie Yan? Even guild leaders would proceed with great caution, especially since their synthesis success rates were nowhere near Nie Yan’s.
They might need twice or even several times as many Luck Gems just to reach +7 on a weapon.
The Blood Oath Dagger now gleamed like a ruby, its surface flowing with red light like blood vessels, exuding a bloodthirsty aura. Even when hiding its glow, its uniqueness was unmistakable.
Enhancing it further to +8 would be risky. If the +8 synthesis failed, the Blood Oath Dagger would drop back to +5.
Besides the Blood Oath Dagger, Nie Yan also used two Luck Gems on the Assassin’s Doctrine, successfully enhancing it to +2, gaining an additional 20 attack power.
The Assassin’s Doctrine was only a rare-tier item, with mediocre stats. Nie Yan would use it temporarily before replacing it with a better dagger. Further enhancements wouldn’t be cost-effective.
Nie Yan checked his stats. With two top-tier daggers in hand, his attack power soared to 176. An average level 7 rogue would be thrilled to reach 100 attack power. Nie Yan’s stats were nothing short of monstrous for his level.
After securing land and upgrading his weapons, Nie Yan returned to the auction house to sell the Black Fenol Reagent and Black Fenol Potion in his inventory. Then, he opened the list of rogue-compatible equipment and searched for items that increased Intelligence.
Items that increased Intelligence for rogues were extremely rare. Even if a player obtained one, it would likely end up unsold in the auction house, gathering dust in some corner.
Nie Yan searched the auction house thoroughly but couldn’t find a single one. He was stunned. If he couldn’t buy Intelligence-boosting gear, would he have to grind for it himself? At this rate, when would he ever reach 30 Intelligence?
The Thunder Flame Scroll was a mid-tier scroll, currently quite rare and highly useful. Once players reached higher levels, everyone would have a few scrolls for self-defense, and Thunder Flame wouldn’t seem so special anymore.
Nie Yan wanted to use Thunder Flame, but his Intelligence wasn’t high enough.
Suddenly, Nie Yan thought of Ban Xing De Hu Li. He wondered if Ban Xing De Hu Li had any Intelligence-boosting gear. Considering that a major guild like Sacred Rome would occasionally obtain a few pieces of Intelligence-boosting rogue equipment, it was normal. Such items were usually unused and not easily discarded. The wise choice would be to store them in the guild warehouse for future use.
“Online?” Nie Yan sent a message to Ban Xing De Hu Li.
“Yep. I’ve found five passive skill books you wanted. We don’t have the first two at the moment, but we should get them this afternoon.” Ban Xing De Hu Li replied apologetically. Thanks to Nie Yan’s supply of Black Fenol Potions, their guild had entered the Sos Valley ahead of others. Although they were still farming regular werewolves and hadn’t even seen the boss, the rewards were impressive—many good items and 800 experience points per werewolf. It was much faster than leveling outside. Yet, he still hadn’t gathered everything Nie Yan requested.
The Backstab and Disembowel skills Nie Yan was looking for were relatively rare at this stage. Their guild only obtained a few copies a day, with high demand. The other five passive skill books, while obscure, were cheaper and easier to find since players had little interest in them.
Ban Xing De Hu Li was puzzled. Why would a rogue learn so many Strength skills? They would occupy too many skill slots and eventually need to be reset, wasting money. But considering Nie Yan was likely the richest solo player he’d ever met, maybe he didn’t care about such costs.
“Those aren’t urgent. Save any Strength-increasing skills for me. Do you have any Intelligence-boosting skill books or gear?” Nie Yan asked.
“Intelligence? For a rogue?” Ban Xing De Hu Li asked in surprise.
“Yes, preferably gear that rogues can use.” Nie Yan replied. Learning Intelligence skills would take up skill slots, and he would eventually have to reset them, which would be a waste.
“I have some. Let me check the warehouse.” Ban Xing De Hu Li said, puzzled. Why would a rogue want to boost Intelligence? Was Nie Yan using some gear that required Intelligence?
Nie Yan patiently waited for Ban Xing De Hu Li’s reply.
“I found a pair of cloth shoes with +7 Intelligence, a piece of leather armor with +8, a pair of gauntlets with +7, and two skill books—Wisdom (+9 Intelligence) and Insight (+6 Intelligence). That’s all I could find.” Ban Xing De Hu Li said.
“That’s enough. Lend me the shoes, armor, and gauntlets for half a day. As for Insight, name a price.”
“Not worth much. Take them.” Ban Xing De Hu Li replied. Intelligence-boosting gear for rogues had little practical use. Even if sold at a very low price in the market, no one would buy it. Most would eventually be handed to a disassembler.
“Thanks. Mail them to me.” Nie Yan said. Individually, these items were worth no more than a silver coin, or even half a silver coin. Ban Xing De Hu Li refused to accept payment, and Nie Yan didn’t insist.
“Sure.” Ban Xing De Hu Li agreed. Nie Yan was taking so many Intelligence-boosting items—there must be a special reason. But since it involved Nie Yan’s secrets, he didn’t ask further.
Later, Nie Yan retrieved a package from his personal warehouse, mailed by Ban Xing De Hu Li’s subordinates. It contained four Intelligence-boosting items.
Combined with Nie Yan’s base Intelligence, these four items pushed his total Intelligence far beyond 30—enough to cast the Thunder Flame skill!
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