Chapter 445: The Seductive Goddess

Nie Yan glanced at the attributes of the Weaver’s Ring.

Weaver’s Ring (Silver): Special Item.

Attributes: Can shoot out a strand of spider silk, adhering to an object. The maximum length of the silk is 10 yards, with a maximum tensile strength of 300 pounds. Skill cooldown time is 10 seconds.

Weight: 1 pound.

Restrictions: Usable by all factions.

The maximum length of the Weaver’s Ring had increased from the original 5 yards to 10 yards, its maximum tensile strength had increased from 200 pounds to 300 pounds, and its skill cooldown time had also been halved. Since not long after the game started, this Weaver’s Ring had always accompanied Nie Yan, saving him countless times from peril. Thanks to this ring, Nie Yan couldn’t imagine how many times he would have died otherwise.

The lower the level of a special item, the greater its potential for improvement. For example, a Bronze-level item can be upgraded to Silver. This Weaver’s Ring could later be upgraded to Gold or even Dark Gold using Luminous Gems, significantly enhancing its attributes. Nie Yan wondered what it would be like after reaching its final stage of upgrades.

The longer the length and the greater the tensile strength of the spider silk shot by the Weaver’s Ring, the more useful it would be. However, for now, the Silver-level version was already sufficient.

Following the same procedure, Nie Yan upgraded the other four special items and checked their attributes after the upgrades.

Crawler’s Ring (Silver): Special Item.

Attributes: After activating this skill, your hands gain stickiness, allowing you to climb vertically on walls, trees, etc. Duration: 15 minutes. Skill cooldown time: 30 minutes.

Weight: 1 pound.

Restrictions: Usable by all factions.

The duration of the Crawler’s Ring had increased by 5 minutes, and the skill cooldown time had been reduced from the original one hour to thirty minutes.

The attributes of the other three items had also improved significantly. Among them, the Flyer’s Ring did not increase in level, but its attributes had improved somewhat. Its maximum jump distance had increased to 30 yards, and it could now be used in combat, with a skill cooldown time reduced to 5 minutes. The Camouflage Orb’s duration had become one hour, with the skill cooldown time remaining at one full day. The Deceiver’s Necklace had undergone significant changes as well. Its duration had increased to 5 hours, with the skill cooldown time still at one full day.

These three special items were all Dark Gold-level, and could only be upgraded once, which was somewhat frustrating. However, after these special items’ attributes had improved, they were crucial to Nie Yan’s future development.

Nie Yan put away these five special items. Next, Pegit would borrow Nie Yan’s Pandora’s Box to synthesize a necklace.

Pegit took out several items: three gems of different shapes, in red, blue, and green, and a silver chain that looked somewhat dull and lifeless.

He placed these four items into the Pandora’s Box and began the synthesis.

A dazzling white light flashed, and a colorful chain appeared inside the Pandora’s Box.

Nie Yan looked at the attributes of the item. It was Pejit’s Late Wife’s Chain, a powerful Legendary-level item.

Its attribute was +1 to the Gem Crafting skill. As Nie Yan watched, Pegit, the Gem Artisan, equipped the necklace, and his Gem Artisan level immediately increased from Master to Grandmaster.

Nie Yan hadn’t expected Pegit to use his Pandora’s Box to create such a powerful necklace. He thought he should have crafted this necklace first before having Pegit upgrade the special items. However, at least all the upgrades had succeeded. If any had failed, it would have wasted a Luminous Gem.

Pegit began to explain, “Legend says that as long as you collect the Dreamy Azure Gem, the Blazing Crimson Gem, the Verdant Life Gem, and any magical silver necklace, you can use the Pandora’s Box to combine these items into a Wishful Necklace, a powerful Legendary item. Its attribute is +1 to Professions’ skill level. For any profession, this is an item as powerful as a divine artifact. A Master-level player wearing this necklace can become Grandmaster-level, and a Grandmaster-level player can become a Great Grandmaster. You see, the higher the level of a profession skill, the harder it is to improve. For example, advancing from Master to Grandmaster usually takes at least one or two years after reaching Master level, and crafting items often doesn’t increase skill proficiency.”

In comparison, collecting those three gems and a magical silver necklace seemed much easier, although these four items were also quite rare. Nie Yan memorized the recipe.

“Thank you for your mercy! You have helped me fulfill my wish, and now I have no regrets left,” Pegit said gratefully.

Nie Yan responded with a few lines of standard quest dialogue. To his surprise, he did not receive any quest rewards. Pegit said that Nie Yan could come to him anytime in the future to upgrade any equipment with gems, and he would not charge any fees.

In theory, this was a good way to make money. Nie Yan could upgrade equipment for others and charge them for the service. However, as the leader of the Bull Tribe guild, doing such things would seem somewhat beneath his status, and he simply didn’t have the time to manage such affairs.

Just as he was feeling disappointed about receiving no quest rewards, Nie Yan glanced at his status and noticed a new attribute: “Mercy.”

Previously, Nie Yan already had two character attributes: “Justice” and “Courage.” Now he had gained another: “Mercy.” He didn’t know what effects these character attributes would have. Perhaps they would only be useful if he continued collecting them.

In his previous life, he had never heard of anyone collecting such character attributes, nor had he seen any discussions about them on the official website. He couldn’t understand their effects and would have to explore them slowly in the future.

After finishing the upgrades of all the special items, Nie Yan and Sun exited the shop together. Sun still had two quests to complete and left first.

Nie Yan still had a broken Nadago’s Necromancer Staff in his backpack. After killing the necromancer Nadago, he had received a follow-up quest progress notification: “Take the broken staff of the necromancer Nadago and find High Commander Breckspier. He will give you some surprises.”

Previously, Nie Yan didn’t know where High Commander Breckspier was, so he had the Bull Tribe players search for him. Later, Guo Huai told him that High Commander Breckspier was actually stationed at the distant Hilton Fortress.

Traveling from Carol City to Hilton Fortress wasn’t too difficult. First, he would spend one gold and sixty silver coins to teleport to the town of Kriston in the Emerald City, and then ride his horse for about an hour or so.

Outside Hilton Fortress stretched vast wastelands, where large numbers of underground monsters often surged forth from the caves. Hilton Fortress was the front line of the Greenlan Empire’s defense against these subterranean monsters. Nie Yan wondered what reward he could receive by presenting this broken staff, but he was willing to make the trip. The reward for defeating the legendary necromancer Nadago’s quest was definitely not going to be bad.

Nie Yan handed the recipes for the Elixir of Eternal Winter and the Potion of Basic Vitality to Bird No Egg Left, asking him to handle them. He also gave instructions regarding guild matters. Seeing that time was almost up, he prepared to log off.

Carol City was peaceful. Even if an unexpected event occurred, Nie Yan could teleport back in a short time.

Nie Yan teleported to Kriston Town and mounted his Forcenna Warhorse, heading northward.

As time passed, it was almost time to log off. Nie Yan found a relatively safe spot and dismissed his Forcenna Warhorse.

Nie Yan exited the game pod and looked toward his bed, finding Xie Yao sleeping peacefully. Somehow, Xie Yao had crawled into his bed at some point.

Nie Yan approached Xie Yao. She was covered with a thin blanket, her eyes closed, her face still showing a hint of fear, looking vulnerable and pitiable. The psychological impact of the previous events on her was indeed significant. Nearly being kidnapped and witnessing Nie Yan kill a person must have frightened her greatly.

Her delicate face was flawless, her hair slightly disheveled. Her curved eyelashes were lifted, and her sensuous, full lips evoked infinite imagination.

Xie Yao was wearing a lace nightgown with a low neckline, revealing her delicate, rounded shoulders and some of her fair skin. She looked like a sleeping sensual goddess, making Nie Yan’s blood rush with excitement. Xie Yao must not have realized that dressing like this was practically tempting him to commit a crime.

In his previous life, Nie Yan could never have imagined a scene like this—being able to watch Xie Yao sleep so peacefully was a simple happiness, like a faint fragrance, soothing and pleasant.

Nie Yan saw Xie Yao’s eyebrows tremble slightly, and a slight smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. Xie Yao had woken up, but she seemed a bit embarrassed to open her eyes.

Nie Yan bent down, leaning close to Xie Yao’s face, revealing a mischievous smile.

Xie Yao opened her eyes and looked at Nie Yan. Seeing Nie Yan so close, her face flushed with red.

“You’re out?” Xie Yao asked softly, her clear eyes sparkling with a lively glow.

“Why are you sleeping here?”

“Last night I was a bit scared and didn’t dare to stay alone in the next room, so I came here,” Xie Yao said. She always felt a sense of peace when she was with Nie Yan. The ruthless killing during Nie Yan’s battle with the ghost fire had caused her some discomfort and psychological shock, but it did not affect Nie Yan’s position in her heart. On the contrary, every time she thought of Nie Yan at that moment, she felt a strange emotion she couldn’t quite describe.

Looking at the radiant Xie Yao, Nie Yan suddenly felt a surge of impulse and leaned down to kiss her lips.

Xie Yao let out a soft moan, which further ignited the desire hidden deep within Nie Yan.