Nie Yan didn’t know the specific attributes of the Dark Dryad. Since he had only opened half of that Dark Gold Treasure Chest, he naturally felt very reluctant. He opened the official website and searched for “Dark Dryad,” eventually finding relevant information.
The Dark Dryad is a type of Dryad. Unlike most Dryads, it cannot move but can only attack with its tendrils, having a thirty-yard attack range. Due to its immunity to magic and high physical defense, ordinary crossbow bolts deal very little damage to it. It’s not easy for average players to deal with it; only warriors can tank its attacks. However, the Dark Dryad’s entangling tendrils have a binding effect. Therefore, when groups encounter it, they usually have no choice but to detour unless their team has sufficiently powerful crossbows to shoot it dead.
Nie Yan wondered whether his Doro’s Horseman Crossbow could kill the Dark Dryad. Leaping high into the air, he grabbed onto a tree trunk and flipped himself onto a branch. He took out his horseman crossbow, supporting it with his left hand while gripping the handle with his right, aiming at the Dark Dryad.
He pulled the trigger, and a series of bolts shot forth.
The bolts flew straight, slicing through the air with a sharp sound. Thud after thud, they all struck the trunk of the Dark Dryad, and damage numbers floated up from its body.
-28, -28, -28, -192…
One critical hit landed. Nie Yan managed to chip away some of the Dark Dryad’s health. After being attacked, the Dark Dryad opened its eyes but couldn’t reach Nie Yan, leaving it helplessly frustrated.
Seeing that his attacks were quite effective, Nie Yan’s heart stirred with hope. He quickly reloaded his crossbow. However, by the time he finished reloading and looked back at the Dark Dryad’s health, it had already fully regenerated.
Damn, this thing’s health regeneration speed is really fast!
Nie Yan held the horseman crossbow, bitterly smiling. He randomly shot a few more bolts, but his damage output couldn’t even match the Dark Dryad’s health regeneration speed.
At this rate, Nie Yan would never be able to kill the Dark Dryad with his crossbow.
As Nie Yan was about to put the crossbow away, a sudden thought struck him—could the Dark Dryad have any weaknesses?
Some monsters do have weak points, and hitting them can cause additional damage.
The official website didn’t mention any weak spots for the Dark Dryad, which was understandable since the website wouldn’t reveal everything.
Nie Yan’s hope reignited slightly. He continued shooting the Dark Dryad with his crossbow, firing bolt after bolt.
In his past life, Nie Yan had been an expert crossbowman with an extremely high accuracy rate—almost always hitting his intended target.
Nie Yan kept firing, continuously testing different body parts of the Dark Dryad, but unfortunately, there was no result. His damage remained at a mere 28 points.
Still, he didn’t give up, continuing his barrage of bolts, testing every part from the branches to the roots.
Nie Yan aimed at the Dark Dryad’s eyes and fired five bolts. The Dryad closed its eyes, and the bolts struck its eyelids with metallic clinks, bouncing off and falling to the ground.
It seemed hopeless, but at that moment, a sudden idea struck Nie Yan. He let out a low shout, “True Sight!”
Red beams of light shot from Nie Yan’s eyes. He discovered that many parts of the Dryad were illusions—its branches, leaves, and parts of its trunk were all fake. Only parts of the trunk and the tendrils below were real. A vivid heart was beating just about two inches below its eyes.
That was its weak point!
It was only about two fingers wide. Without using True Sight, Nie Yan would never have noticed the Dark Dryad’s weak spot.
Only now did Nie Yan realize how useful True Sight really was.
Over countless years of evolution, the Dryad had evolved into a creature somewhere between an animal and a plant.
Nie Yan raised his horseman crossbow, aiming the crosshair at the heart. A series of bolts shot forth.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Five bolts struck the heart simultaneously.
Damage numbers of -323 floated up from the Dryad’s body. Seeing this damage, Nie Yan felt confident—this time, he had a real chance.
Although the Dark Dryad’s health regeneration speed was fast, it couldn’t keep up with Nie Yan’s damage output.
The Dark Dryad roared and screamed furiously, but it was useless. Nie Yan kept firing, and the Dryad’s health gradually dropped.
Minute by minute, time passed. More than an hour later, the Dark Dryad finally couldn’t endure any longer. Its health was gradually drained by Nie Yan’s bolts, and it collapsed to the ground with a loud crash, scattering branches and leaves everywhere.
Ding! Ding! Two system notifications rang consecutively. Nie Yan checked his level—it had reached level 58.
Gaining two levels in two hours was quite fast.
Finally done, Nie Yan stood up, wiped sweat from his brow, jumped down from the tree, and walked toward the Dark Dryad’s corpse.
He wondered whether the Dark Dryad had dropped anything valuable. As an elite monster at level 80, it should at least drop something decent!
Nie Yan searched the corpse for a while and picked up three items. Two of them were level 80 golden equipment pieces, which he couldn’t use for now. The remaining item was a thin piece of paper—a blueprint of a giant crossbow, but only half of it. This was just a fragment.
It was a crossbow blueprint, an item of dark gold quality.
Blueprint Fragment of the Inferno Giant Crossbow: Quantity 1/5.
Nie Yan examined the crossbow depicted on the blueprint. This crossbow was different from ordinary ones. It was more complex and much larger, truly a giant crossbow. It weighed sixty pounds and required two people to carry and three people to operate.
Looking at the crossbow’s attributes, its range was about 300 yards, with an attack power of 3000+, capable of loading five bolts at once. These five bolts didn’t fire in a straight line but spread out.
Crafting the Inferno Giant Crossbow required five intermediate-level mechanics and took two days to complete one unit. The materials needed were also very complex. As strongholds developed, mechanics became increasingly valuable. More and more players who struggled to level up began turning to this profession, making it a highly sought-after career in the future.
If such a giant crossbow could be made, it would be extremely effective for outdoor monster hunting. If equipped on arrow towers, it could significantly enhance their power.
Nie Yan wondered where he could find the remaining fragments. There might be other Dark Dryads nearby!
There was still one treasure chest unopened. He wasn’t sure what was inside. Nie Yan drew the Sword of Zaenarad and cut off all the roots of the Dryad. Finally, he unearthed the treasure chest from among the roots. This time, there should be no monsters to disturb him from opening the chest.
Nie Yan bent down and began opening the treasure chest.
This chest was of a higher level, but fortunately, Nie Yan’s Lockpicking Expert skill allowed him to open it despite the level difference, although the process was quite slow.
After about five or six minutes, the chest clicked open.
Nie Yan reached inside and pulled out a staff. The lower half of the staff was made of nanmu wood, very sturdy. Atop the nanmu wood was a white skull about the size of a fist. Inside the skull’s eye sockets, two flickering red flames continuously danced.
Checking the staff’s attributes, it was a Legendary Item Fragment!
Shattered Nadago’s Necromancer Staff (Legendary Item Fragment): Requires Intelligence 1200, Focus 130.
Item Description: Nadago was a legendary necromancer who, in pursuit of the ultimate power of death, challenged the Spider Queen Phinas, attempting to turn her into his undead to enhance his curse power. Unfortunately, he ultimately failed. Collecting the Shattered Nadago’s Necromancer Staff, Shattered Nadago’s Death Skull, and Shattered Nadago’s Dark Drill is required to synthesize this legendary staff.
Item Attributes: Attack 1028-1203, Willpower +30, Dark Magic Effect +30%. Attached Skill: Spirit Possession—summons a vengeful spirit to possess the user, increasing all curse magic effects by 200% and Magic Defense by 30%. Skill cast time: 3 seconds. Skill cooldown: 2 natural days.
Limitation: Can only be used by Evil Lawful Dark Alignment Warlocks.
It was a warlock item. Nie Yan felt a bit disappointed since this was Evil Lawful territory, so it was normal for Evil Lawful equipment to drop.
The requirements for this staff were quite high. Reaching 1200 Intelligence was beyond the capability of ordinary players. Even top-tier warlocks would need to reach levels 70 or 80 before wielding this staff.
Thinking about it, this staff’s attributes were so good that Nie Yan believed exchanging it with Angel’s Descent for a decent rogue equipment should be no problem. If Angel’s Descent didn’t offer equivalent gear, Nie Yan wouldn’t give this item away for free.
Such a valuable item, if sold at an Evil Lawful auction house, would surely cause quite a stir. Of course, he wouldn’t sell it—only trade, no selling!
After putting the staff into his backpack, Nie Yan reached into the chest again. Since Bennett’s Spirit had led him here and helped defeat the Dark Dryad, there should be at least one or two quest items inside.
Nie Yan pulled out a bead-like object. Actually, it wasn’t a complete bead but just a fragment, only a small part of it.
Fragment of the Antidote Pearl: Special Item, Quantity 1/3.
Item Attributes: Wielding this item grants +10 poison resistance, ignores all basic poisons, and has the attached skill: Intermediate Antidote—removes all Intermediate or lower poison effects from the user.
Limitation: None.
It was an Antidote Pearl, with quite decent effects. The Intermediate Antidote skill was still useful at current levels. However, after gaining another ten or so levels, it would become obsolete. By levels 70 or 80, players generally used high-level poisons.
Nie Yan wondered what would happen if he collected all the Antidote Pearls. At this moment, Bennett’s spirit floated up and began guiding Nie Yan toward a distant location. This quest had only just begun, and who knew what unpredictable situations lay ahead.
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