After checking the system prompt, Naiyan felt puzzled. He had killed a Headless Knight, but hadn’t gained any experience points at all.
Were the monsters in this map not giving any experience? He checked the task status and decided to continue for now, wondering what effect completing the task would bring.
Naiyan had mastered the technique for defeating the Headless Knights, making it easy to deal with these creatures. He shot down one Headless Knight after another without taking any damage. Checking the task status, it showed 16/20, and he had also collected three blueprints.
The drop rate for the Dora’s Mounted Archer Crossbow Blueprint Fragments from the Headless Knights was decent. At least now Naiyan saw hope of collecting a full set.
After killing several Headless Knights, Naiyan began attempting to use the Ritual of the Undead to command the Headless Knights.
Once he had thoroughly figured out the Headless Knights’ weaknesses, he was certain that as long as he stayed behind them, he wouldn’t be in danger. Therefore, he could boldly use the Ritual of the Undead.
The success rate of the Ritual of the Undead was somewhat low, but eventually it worked after multiple failures. Finally, Naiyan managed to summon five Headless Knights. Commanding these five knights, he began an intense monster-slaying spree, significantly increasing his speed and quickly completing the task.
System: Task Progress 1 completed. You have earned the title of Novice Undead Hunter.
System: Task Progress 2. Kill Headless Knights. Quantity 0/200.
Naiyan checked his status. The Novice Undead Hunter title granted him +1 respect value in all Human Nations.
Each player could possess multiple titles, such as Shadow Dancer, Grand Thief, Divine Priest, etc., which represented professional honors. There were also special titles, such as Faithful of the Gods, or the current Undead Hunter.
Each title often came with special attribute bonuses. For example, the Novice Undead Hunter title granted an additional +1 respect value. This reward was quite decent, as gaining even a single point of respect value across the vast Human Nations would prove very useful in the future.
Completing the Treant Grove instance, purchasing shops, and establishing a guild could all contribute to gaining respect value. Naiyan’s respect value in Karol City had already reached 19 points. With this additional +1 respect value, it had now reached 20 points.
City respect value was difficult to raise. Town and village respect values were somewhat easier to increase, while Human Nation respect value was extremely hard to obtain. In his previous life, Naiyan had only ever gained Human Nation respect value once, when he earned the Grand Thief title, which granted an additional +5 respect value in the Human Nations. Of course, the Grand Thief title also came with other additional rewards. He hadn’t expected this Novice Undead Hunter title to grant additional respect value in the Human Nations.
After checking the next task, he was surprised to find that Task Progress 2 was still about killing Headless Knights, and the number required was even higher than in Task Progress 1. This task was indeed strange.
With five Headless Knights under his command, Naiyan’s speed of killing Headless Knights increased significantly. He continued with the task, eager to see what the next reward would be.
After a long while, Naiyan finally collected 10 fragments of Dora’s Mounted Archer Crossbow. These fragments emitted a dazzling glow in his palm before slowly merging into a complete blueprint. It was a heavy crossbow; without enough strength, it would be difficult to wield. And due to its weight, carrying it constantly would greatly reduce movement speed. Therefore, it couldn’t be carried regularly, only stored in the backpack and used when necessary.
After placing the blueprint into his backpack, Naiyan reviewed his gains since entering the area. Besides several level 30 equipments, he had also obtained three equipment blueprints: one level 30 Silver-grade equipment blueprint, and two level 30 Bronze-grade equipment blueprints. Equipment blueprints were quite rare. Bronze and Silver-grade equipment were highly sought after among regular players, as they couldn’t afford Gold-grade equipment. Therefore, they had to make do with Bronze and Silver-grade equipment. If Naiyan opened an equipment shop in the future, hiring some high-level blacksmiths and tailors would allow him to produce these equipments. Since their attributes were fairly decent, they could generate considerable profits.
The drop rate for equipment blueprints here was very high. In Naiyan’s eyes, these items were golden coins!
In the future, besides the pharmacy, various other shops would be essential for Naiyan, including an equipment shop. Once the commercial sector became prosperous, achieving a monopoly would be difficult, but securing a certain market share would allow him to earn a substantial fortune. He could start preparing for this from now on.
Spotting another Headless Knight, Naiyan commanded his five summoned Headless Knights to attack. After a group beating, the knight was eliminated, and he proceeded to search for the next target.
Two hours later, Naiyan completed Task Progress 2.
System: Task Progress 2 completed. You have earned the title of Intermediate Undead Hunter.
Checking the Intermediate Undead Hunter’s bonus status, it granted +2 respect value in all Human Nations.
He hadn’t expected to further increase his respect value. Having a higher respect value would prove beneficial for future tasks and city development.
System: Task Progress 3. Kill Headless Knights. Quantity 0/2000.
This task was becoming increasingly terrifying, but out of curiosity about the final outcome, Naiyan decided to persist.
Continuing deeper, Naiyan gradually realized that this Dora’s Illusory Realm was extremely vast, seemingly boundless. He had walked for several hours without reaching its end.
After more than three hours, Naiyan discovered a grand temple building at the center of the Dora Illusory Realm. It was expansive and magnificent, resembling a Greek temple. Towering stone pillars stood tall, adorned with lion carvings, and a series of steps led up to the grand hall.
The grand hall’s doors were tightly shut, and the massive six-yard iron gates, though weathered by time, still exuded a chilling aura.
Naiyan wandered around the temple, noticing that at least a hundred Headless Knights clad in black armor had gathered at its entrance.
Although highly intrigued by the temple, he dared not take risks. He bypassed the temple and continued obediently slaying Headless Knights. Although they didn’t grant experience, their loot was excellent, providing some consolation.
A bit puzzling to Naiyan was that despite killing countless Headless Knights, his wanted level barely decreased, remaining stagnant for quite some time.
This place was truly strange.
As he was about to log off, Naiyan obtained a backpack. Initially unimpressed, he examined it and discovered it was a 32-slot Magic Rune Backpack.
In other areas, even a common 24-slot backpack was rare, and a 28-slot one was even harder to come by. He hadn’t expected to find a 32-slot backpack here. Even at levels forty or fifty, a 32-slot backpack would be highly valuable, and currently, it was simply unavailable on the market.
He promptly organized his inventory, replacing his 20-slot backpack with the 32-slot one. Instantly, his backpack had many more available slots. If he could acquire more Magic Rune Backpacks, his carrying capacity would significantly increase.
Since he had already obtained the first Magic Rune Backpack, it proved that there was a certain probability of Headless Knights dropping them.
Perhaps he could obtain a second one. Naiyan felt more motivated. If he could collect five 32-slot backpacks, he wouldn’t need to change them even at levels fifty or sixty. He could carry more consumables when going out, avoiding the need to constantly use Return Scrolls to the city.
As Naiyan diligently continued slaying Headless Knights, outside the game, things were in an uproar.
Tang Yao had reached level 18 and was aggressively pushing towards 19. Po Tian was also closely following, reaching level 17. Ban Xing’s Fox and others were unwilling to be left behind, and a wave of leveling up quietly swept through.
“Why hasn’t Brother Nieyan sent any messages yet?” Sun asked with concern.
“He should be in the game right now. Since he hasn’t been killed and returned to the city, he must still be safe. We don’t need to worry too much,” Tang Yao replied. Although he was also a bit worried inside, he didn’t show it.
Yaoyao continuously sent message after message to Naiyan, but never received a reply.
One elite monster after another fell at Tang Yao’s hands, but he still hadn’t found the Maniac Killer Medal. However, his experience gain was skyrocketing, his leveling was rapid, and his wanted level was gradually decreasing, so Tang Yao still didn’t relax. With the Mist Dust exhausted, Sun went to the Star Pharmacy to borrow some money and bought more.
Naiyan had previously instructed Niao Buren Dandan that if Tang Yao needed money, he should be lent to first. Moreover, Tang Yao had brought several intermediate potion formulas to the Star Pharmacy, which were far more valuable than the money he had withdrawn. Sun also replenished the guild warehouse with the equipment dropped by Tang Yao and others, and provided them with additional consumables.
At the 20-level Dodo bird spawn point in the Vermilion Dream Forest, where there were usually few players, now it was bustling with activity. At least seventy to eighty players from the Triumph Guild had gathered here.
Po Tian had finally managed to assemble twelve mages who could cast small-scale area magic and formed a team for leveling up, using area-of-effect spells to clear monsters.
Twenty to thirty thieves darted through the forest, luring groups of Dodo birds into a clearing within the jungle. Then the mages unleashed their area-of-effect spells, causing massive damage in waves. Area-of-effect spells were extremely mana-intensive. When their mana ran low, immediately a group of Holy Word Mages stepped forward, channeling mana to the damage-dealing mages to ensure their mana remained high. If that wasn’t enough, they resorted to drinking mana potions!
With over a dozen area-of-effect spells intertwining, wave after wave of Dodo birds fell to the ground. Po Tian’s experience bar surged rapidly. This method of leveling up was not slow at all, and he was actually keeping up with Tang Yao’s pace, closely trailing behind.
As for Ban Xing’s Fox and others, they had also found some faster ways to level up, furiously pushing their levels. The leaderboard was in a state of fierce competition. However, Tang Yao’s position at the top remained unshaken by anyone.
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