“Ziyan, all the materials are here. The boss is away for business and won’t be back for five days. Try to produce as many area-damage magic bombs as possible, especially the intermediate ones, during these five days,” said Niaobushengdan. He had his subordinates gather a large quantity of materials, totaling several thousand sets. The horrifying price of these materials startled him. The cost of materials for one basic area-damage magic bomb was about one gold coin. The intermediate area-damage magic bombs were even worse, costing fifteen gold coins per set. He had only managed to acquire thirty sets so far, which already cost 1,500 gold coins. It felt like a huge waste, especially at a time when funds were so tight. However, Nie Yan had insisted it was worth it, so he naturally had to strictly comply.
As players’ levels increased, more and more players began using area-damage magic bombs. Tesoy Town had long been well known among players, and occasionally even basic area-damage magic bombs would sell out there.
A basic area-damage magic bomb could fetch at least five gold coins if listed on the auction house. An advanced alchemist could produce over two hundred basic area-damage magic bombs in a single day, generating a profit of 800 gold coins after deducting costs!
Was there anything more profitable than this? Nie Yan naturally wouldn’t be stingy when it came to raw materials for such a lucrative product. Selling part of the area-damage magic bombs while using the rest himself would still yield a substantial profit.
Inside Ziyan’s private laboratory, materials were piled everywhere.
“Ziyan, work hard. If you do well, I’ll recommend a raise for you with the boss,” Niaobushengdan said to Ziyan.
“I will do my best,” Ziyan nodded. With so many materials, she would be busy for several days.
She focused on crafting, her nimble fingers constantly moving as one area-damage magic bomb after another was produced in her hands.
Seeing Ziyan’s concentrated expression, Niaobushengdan nodded approvingly. Ziyan was quite talented in alchemy. As long as she could complete the tasks assigned by the boss, he would be at ease.
The war between the Bullman Tribe and the Bloodthirsty Blade Guild had affected countless players across many cities. More and more players were joining the conflict, most of them being formidable experts who formed the main forces. Ordinary players generally had enough self-awareness; they would consider themselves lucky if they didn’t end up being defeated by members of the Bullman Tribe or the Bloodthirsty Blade Guild.
Fighting usually occurred in maps with level requirements of around forty, making it very difficult for ordinary players to participate.
There were even individual cases of players achieving over a hundred kills, although these were extremely rare, limited to only two or three people. These individuals were immediately fiercely competed for by various guilds at great expense.
This chaotic battle was expected to last for a long time.
In the western district of Carol City, inside a narrow civilian house, seven players gathered together. Their equipment could be described as tattered, except for their leader, who was slightly better dressed in a set of silver gear.
“Boss, are you sure you want to go to Radiant City? Why don’t we stay in Carol City and fight against the Bullman Tribe?” several nearby players asked, looking at the player in silver gear.
The player appeared to be in his thirties, with short hair and a sharp, capable look. He was a rogue wearing grayish-white leather armor and wielding two small, mediocre daggers. His name was Wang Zhetianxia.
“Yeah, it costs one gold coin just for the teleportation fee to Radiant City. That’s too costly.”
“We don’t have much money altogether. We’ve already sold all the equipment in our warehouse and barely managed to gather two gold coins, just enough for the round-trip fare,” said a twenty-year-old player with a somewhat youthful appearance.
“Spending two gold coins on round-trip fare would already be a loss. What if we fail to assassinate a member of the Bloodthirsty Blade Guild? We’d go bankrupt!”
“Yeah, if we assassinate a player from the Bullman Tribe, we can get three gold coins without any risk at all.” The players urged Wang Zhetianxia to calm down.
Wang Zhetianxia looked at the nearby priest and asked, “Old Three, do you know why I’m targeting the Bloodthirsty Blade Guild?”
“Why?” the priest asked.
“Because the Bullman Tribe has Kuangzei Nieren. I’ve been constantly studying Kuangzei Nieren’s videos, and only then did I begin to grasp some techniques. So Kuangzei Nieren is like half my master, and I won’t attack the Bullman Tribe. Another reason is that the Bullman Tribe members are far superior to those of the Bloodthirsty Blade Guild. Considering the risk, it’s better to go to Radiant City and assassinate members of the Bloodthirsty Blade Guild. Even spending two gold coins on teleportation fees is worth it!” Wang Zhetianxia explained, expressing his own perspective on the matter.
After hearing Wang Zhetianxia’s explanation, they had nothing more to say.
“Since you’ve made your decision, we won’t say anything else.”
“Brother, we can’t accompany you there, so be careful on your own.”
Wang Zhetianxia smiled confidently, “Although I can’t make a big splash, I can still take down a few members of the Bloodthirsty Blade Guild. As long as I eliminate two or more, we’ll have made a profit, and this operation won’t have been in vain.”
Wang Zhetianxia looked at his surrounding brothers. They had sold all their valuable equipment to gather enough money for him to obtain a decent set of gear. For the sake of these poor brothers, he had to give it his all. He had accepted an assassination mission from the Assassin’s Alliance, with the objective of killing at least two members of the Bloodthirsty Blade Guild.
The group headed toward the direction of the teleportation platform.
Six of them were only in their twenties, while Wang Zhetianxia was thirty-seven. Their levels and equipment were quite meager. As they passed by other players, they received looks of contempt.
Wearing such tattered gear in public was almost shameful.
“I’m off,” Wang Zhetianxia smiled at the group and stepped into the teleportation point.
“Goodbye, boss.”
“Boss, good luck.”
As they spoke, Wang Zhetianxia’s figure had already vanished into the teleportation platform. A sense of emptiness filled their hearts. The future was uncertain and filled with unknowns. Ahead, there was only a faint glimmer of hope. If Wang Zhetianxia failed, what awaited them would likely be eternal obscurity.
After a series of twists and turns in the light, Nie Yan arrived at a completely new area.
Here, there was no sunlight, only darkness. Looking around, it was a rocky wasteland, with only some short black plants growing. Looking upward, everything was pitch black, and the sky was nowhere to be seen, giving a feeling of oppression.
Nie Yan had the Phinas Pearl, granting him +12 dark vision, allowing him to see clearly within a range of about ten yards. Beyond that, the darkness obscured his vision.
This place was perpetually dark, so the underground monsters had a high drop rate for equipment that increased dark vision. Equipment with increased dark vision properties was as common here as equipment that increased strength and agility was on the surface. Almost every piece of equipment had a point or two of increased dark vision.
Equipment that increased dark vision was very common underground but extremely valuable on the surface.
Wealthy players in human territories would usually keep one or two pieces of equipment that increased dark vision in their backpacks for emergencies, creating demand. However, equipment that increased dark vision on the surface was extremely rare and scarce.
Thus, in human territories, equipment that increased dark vision was almost in a state of being priceless.
One could imagine the exorbitant prices that equipment with dark vision bonuses of +7 or +8 could fetch if transported to the surface! This represented profit margins of hundreds of times. Additionally, there were other attributes that were common underground but very expensive on the surface, such as focus.
Nie Yan wondered where nearby an underground city might be.
Nie Yan walked forward across the wasteland, where some porcupines covered in spikes were active. They were entirely silvery-gray, resembling giant hedgehogs.
Nie Yan approached one of the porcupines, hiding behind a rock and casting a reconnaissance spell on one.
Bloodthirsty Porcupine: level 45, health 2000/2000.
It was a level 45 monster, and this area was only designated for level 45 monsters. Dark teleportation points were random, so it was fortunate that Nie Yan hadn’t been transported to an area with monsters of much higher levels, which would have been disastrous for him.
In front of him, groups of Bloodthirsty Porcupines roamed the wasteland in large numbers.
Nie Yan thought for a moment, then chanted a spell and summoned the Golden Earth Dragon.
The towering form of the Golden Earth Dragon appeared before Nie Yan’s eyes. It moved slightly, exhaling a stream of hot breath.
Nie Yan lifted his Headless Knight Doro’s mounted crossbow and fired at one of the porcupines in the distance. The porcupine herd was immediately alerted by Nie Yan’s arrow and charged toward him in a group.
The ground shook violently as dozens of porcupines charged forward, a rather impressive sight.
The Golden Earth Dragon exhaled a stream of dragon breath, which exploded among them with a loud boom. The porcupines’ bodies immediately displayed damage numbers hovering around seven hundred.
The Golden Earth Dragon’s area attack covered all the porcupines in the group.
Nie Yan circled around to the back of a porcupine, delivering a sneak attack followed by a series of assassination and slicing attacks. Continuous damage numbers floated above the porcupine’s head.
With only a sliver of health remaining, Nie Yan ignored it and immediately turned his attention to another porcupine.
This porcupine awoke and charged at Nie Yan, but it had barely moved a few steps before damage numbers from bleed and poison effects appeared above its head, causing its health to deplete rapidly until it collapsed to the ground.
The Bloodthirsty Porcupine’s several-hundred-pound body crashed heavily onto the ground. A beam of white light shone on the porcupine, and its body quickly evaporated, finally disappearing altogether.
Nie Yan had a certain probability of purifying the corpses of evil creatures nearby, and the Bloodthirsty Porcupine was one of them.
Purification count: 1.
In a short while, Nie Yan had taken down another Bloodthirsty Porcupine. The Golden Earth Dragon exhaled another stream of dragon breath, leaving the nearby porcupines with minimal health. The porcupines charged at the dragon and hit its body, causing it to pause momentarily. With a single swipe of its claw, the Golden Earth Dragon knocked down another low-health Bloodthirsty Porcupine.
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