Chapter 146: The Empire

Three items dropped, which could be considered a major jackpot. The rewards from defeating monsters beyond one’s level are usually quite good. Naiyan took a look at the attributes of each piece of equipment.

Ring of Crimson Toxin (Epic): Requires Strength 120, Agility 160.

Attributes: Attack 53-57, 20% toxin damage, +20 poison resistance, +1 level ignore.

Weight: 1 pound.

Limitation: Usable by all factions.

This ring is constructed from black metal, with a large ruby embedded on top, exuding a seductive and eerie glow. A ring that boosts attack is indeed rare. Moreover, with 20% toxin damage, +20 poison resistance, and +1 level ignore, this equipment would still be extremely powerful even at level thirty. When it comes to gear dropped by lord-level creatures, how bad could it be? Especially since it’s epic. Unfortunately, accessories cannot be socketed with gems; otherwise, Naiyan would definitely enhance its level.

With the Ring of Crimson Toxin, one could practically defy the odds at a low level.

However, the requirement of 120 Strength and 160 Agility is practically unattainable for ordinary players below level thirty.

Naiyan checked his own agility. Due to the two points added from the Scroll of Freedom upon leveling up, he already had 110 agility. After recently reaching level sixteen, he had seven free attribute points to distribute. He allocated all of them to agility, bringing it up to 117, still 43 points short. He would need to find some agility-boosting skills later.

If he equipped the Ring of Crimson Toxin, Naiyan’s attack power would be considered godlike for his current level.

Next, he looked at the leather armor.

Scarlet Scale Armor (Epic): Requires Level 30.

Attributes: Defense 268-272, 10% damage reduction, +32 resilience, +1 defense rating.

Weight: 27 pounds.

Limitation: Rogue class only.

This Scarlet Scale Armor has decent attributes and can only be used at level thirty. It’s also rogue equipment, so Tang Yao’s luck seemed rather poor.

Then he looked at the potion recipe, which turned out to be the Intermediate Instant Mana Potion, requiring an Intermediate Alchemist to craft.

“Damn, got a rare drop!” Naiyan understood the value of the Intermediate Instant Mana Potion. In terms of drop rate, it was only a few hundredths of that of the Intermediate Instant Health Potion. Due to its rarity, its value was immeasurable. For mages, mana was their second life. During dungeon runs, a mana potion could provide sustained and stable output. In special situations, a mana recovery potion could even save an entire team from annihilation.

In the previous timeline, the cost of an Intermediate Instant Mana Potion was about one silver coin, while its selling price was approximately sixty silver coins. If raw materials were sufficient, an Intermediate Alchemist could successfully produce fifteen Intermediate Instant Mana Potions per hour. Just a simple calculation could reveal the massive profit potential. The Windbloom used for making Intermediate Instant Mana Potions could be found in maps ranging from level one to fifty. It was likely already available in the market now. However, herbs usually grew sporadically, and lower-level maps had even fewer. A single herb was often an ingredient for countless potions. Even if major guilds didn’t use them, they often acquired and stored them first. Therefore, even by camping at auction houses, one couldn’t buy much.

The alchemists of the Holy Roman Empire had been poached by Star Pharmacy. With reduced herb usage, surplus herbs were sold to Star Pharmacy, which could acquire large quantities daily. Thus, Naiyan didn’t have to worry too much, as they would eventually establish their own guild.

It was a bit of a pity that current players couldn’t afford Intermediate Instant Mana Potions yet, so only wealthy individuals would buy them for collection, using them in critical situations to save their lives.

Tang Yao descended from the top of the rock and tossed the Ring of the Weaver back to Naiyan, asking, “What gear dropped?”

“All of it is rogue gear.”

“…Is my luck really this bad?” Tang Yao was speechless. However, gear drops from bosses were always random, so there was nothing he could do about it.

“The gear you’re wearing no longer suits your current level. I have some level ten gear you can wear temporarily. When I have time, we’ll go farm a set of level twenty gear,” Naiyan said, as Tang Yao would soon reach level twenty after some more farming.

After defeating this Scale Frog Lord, Naiyan’s red name completely disappeared. He still hadn’t managed to drop the Maniac Killer Medal, so he could only regretfully give up for now and try again next time.

“Killing Scale Frogs clears red names quickly.”

“Killing Scale Frogs is the fastest way to clear red names.” Naiyan actually hoped his red name wouldn’t clear, so he could farm Scale Frogs for a while longer, possibly obtaining the Maniac Killer Medal.

Unexpectedly, defeating a single boss had taken over ten hours. Naiyan and Tang Yao went ahead and killed the remaining two elite Scale Frogs. They couldn’t afford to waste daily spawns, as the experience from killing elite Scale Frogs was also quite generous.

Naiyan and Tang Yao didn’t realize how much impact Tang Yao’s sudden level surge had on other players. Breaking Tian had been defeated, and it was a complete rout. The official forums were nearly in chaos because of this.

Guo Huai, Hao Cheng, Zhao Li, and others had all sent messages, flooding Tang Yao’s voice chat.

“Yaozi, how did you suddenly gain so many levels? That’s terrifying!”

“Already level seventeen, my god, you’re too strong.”

“Bro, you took down Breaking Tian! We thought you wouldn’t be able to defeat Breaking Tian today, but you pulled off something so impressive.”

“Check the forum,” Guo Huai said.

Naiyan and Tang Yao opened the forum. The Greelan section was nearly exploding, with numerous huge red titles.

“Amazing Player Surges Ahead, Gains Three Levels—Is the Kite a Bug?” Official Response: Additional experience is awarded for defeating monsters above one’s level. After verification, this player received system rewards for overcoming higher-level monsters, which falls within normal monitoring parameters.

Faith’s official team was always efficient. No sooner had players raised doubts than the official team had already issued a response.

Below were numerous threads expressing disbelief. Gaining three levels—how much experience was that? What kind of monster had to be defeated beyond one’s level to jump from level fourteen to seventeen?

“Greelan’s Top Player Levels Up Three Times, Defeats Breaking Tian,”

“The Birth of a Legend: The Astonishing Player Yaozi,”

“A Player’s Glory: The Incredible Yaozi Triumphs Over Breaking Tian.”

Threads like these instantly thrust Tang Yao into the spotlight, making him a celebrity.

“If they knew this amazing player was still wearing a set of Fire Seekers, I wonder what expressions they’d have!” Tang Yao self-deprecatingly remarked. Although the Fire Seekers were still decent, they were far below his current level.

“My god, we’re famous… too famous,” Guo Huai gasped.

“What happened? What’s going on?”

“Since a while ago, players joining our guild have started increasing, and it’s getting more and more. I can’t even keep up with accepting them. The guild headquarters is packed with thousands of people, almost collapsing from the crowd,” Guo Huai excitedly said. He couldn’t have imagined such a spectacle.

“How many people are in the guild now?”

“Over five thousand, and it’s still growing rapidly. Now we basically don’t accept players below level eight anymore, only those at level eight and above, but there are still too many. It’ll take at least one or two days to recruit all these players, and guild affairs will take at least four or five days to organize. If this situation continues, I think we’ll break ten thousand members by tomorrow.”

Hearing Guo Huai’s description, Tang Yao and Naiyan could roughly imagine what the guild headquarters must be like.

The guild headquarters was an activity area created by the server for guilds. At level one, the premises were very small, only a small courtyard, quite narrow. The house inside could accommodate one or two hundred people, while the courtyard could hold seven or eight hundred. Only after paying to upgrade would it expand. The total capacity was only around eight or nine hundred. Now Guo Huai said there were thousands of people crowding at the guild’s entrance. One could imagine what kind of situation that was.

“We did it!” Tang Yao exclaimed excitedly.

Naiyan shook his head and calmly said, “It’s still too early to celebrate. We don’t know how many of these people are from other guilds. We need to check their backgrounds one by one. If there are spies sent by other guilds, we must weed them out. Additionally, it’s hard to say how much combat strength these players can actually bring. We must take it one step at a time; rushing too fast might lead to a fall from which we can’t recover.”

Hearing Naiyan’s words, Guo Huai and Tang Yao fell silent. They had been overwhelmed by the massive surprise and only now began to calm down.

“Recruit more management talents to thoroughly organize the guild, categorizing members into different tiers. Higher-level players and those with more guild contribution can enjoy more guild benefits. I’ll go back and set up the guild warehouse immediately,” Naiyan continued.

“You’re right; we did celebrate too early,” Guo Huai said. Naiyan’s mind was much more mature than theirs.

“However, the current situation is worth celebrating. After all, we’ve taken our first step. Although we can’t compare with those established guilds, with the reputation we’ve gained, as long as we complete the remaining work, we can establish a foothold and then gradually develop further.”

“But if our guild reaches ten thousand members, the equipment in the guild warehouse might not be sufficient!” Guo Huai was still somewhat worried.

“Don’t worry, I have my own ways!” Naiyan said. Given the current situation, to strengthen the guild, they had no choice but to aggressively pursue profits. The large stock of Petrification Resistance Potions they had previously accumulated was nearly depleted. In a few days, the level ten dungeon, Flame Canyon, would open—a crucial dungeon where they could focus on promoting Fire Resistance gear, potions, and raw materials.

Additionally, Basic Flash Dust, Sheep Transformation Scrolls, and Web Spell Scrolls from Sosomia remained in high demand. Since most players were still below level ten, these items still had a vast market. As players’ financial capabilities gradually improved, many could now afford these products, making them ripe for large-scale market distribution!

For the development of the guild, the guild warehouse definitely needed to keep up and even surpass that of any other guild!

What Naiyan was building was not just a guild—it was an empire!