Black Lotus of the Guilty Realm is a high-grade material. If given to an alchemist capable of crafting legendary potions, it could be used to produce a legendary-grade black potion, which would be of considerable value. The lotus grows in waters about fifty to sixty yards from the shore. The area beneath the surface appears to spawn monsters of at least level forty.
The creatures in the water are far more formidable than those found on normal ground.
Therefore, obtaining the Black Lotus of the Guilty Realm would not be easy.
“Shall we swim over?” Yaoyao asked. At such a distance, they had no choice but to go through the water.
Nie Yan shook his head. “We need to wait a bit first.” He walked to the lakeshore and peered into the water. The light was fairly good, and he caught a glimpse of a shadow moving at the bottom. Seeing the shadow, Nie Yan’s heart tightened and he instinctively stepped back a few paces.
There were definitely many monsters in this lake, making it extremely difficult to acquire the Black Lotus.
Had they not jumped down the sinkhole to take a shortcut, entering through any of the other entrances of the dark cave would have taken at least five or six hours. The path would have been filled with countless monsters, enough to drive anyone mad.
Nie Yan summoned his Golden Earth Dragon. By now, the Golden Earth Dragon had become very powerful and could help Nie Yan tank the monsters.
A beam of summoning light fell, and the massive Golden Earth Dragon appeared before Nie Yan and Yaoyao.
“This is the Golden Earth Dragon?” Yaoyao asked in amazement, gently running her slender fingers over the dragon’s scales.
The dragon’s scales were coarse yet textured, almost metallic in feel. Its armor was composed of dragon scales, even stronger than regular metal armor!
“Yeah. I’ll draw the monsters’ attention,” Nie Yan said. He walked to the cliffside and raised his headless knight Doro’s crossbow, aiming the massive weapon at the shadow beneath the water.
After adjusting for the refraction of light on the water surface, he spotted the shadow and shot five bolts in quick succession. Plop! Plop! Plop! All five bolts struck the shadow at the bottom of the lake, and a stream of foul, blood-red water rose to the surface.
The shadow quickly swam toward Nie Yan’s position. With a splash, a huge monster burst out of the water.
Nie Yan finally got a clear view of the creature. It was about the size of a grizzly bear, covered in black fish scales, with a long horn atop its head. Its limbs were strong and powerful, and it wielded a massive steel trident, entirely black and nearly five yards long.
Guilty Realm Black Horned Beast: Level 40 Leader, HP 9000.
Though only a leader-type monster, it was still a very formidable opponent.
Nie Yan quickly retreated, raising his headless knight Doro’s crossbow and firing at the Black Horned Beast.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Five bolts struck the beast.
-121, -112, -100… Damage numbers floated above its head as its health rapidly dropped.
The Golden Earth Dragon opened its mouth and unleashed a stream of scorching dragon breath. The fiery torrent struck the Black Horned Beast with a loud boom, leaving a black burn mark on its belly.
-529 appeared above the beast’s head.
Nie Yan was startled by the damage number. He hadn’t expected the Golden Earth Dragon’s attack to be so powerful.
But then he realized the reason. The Golden Earth Dragon’s attack was dragon breath, a type of attack that ignored all armor types, which explained the high damage. The damage calculation formula was very complex, involving several factors such as attack type, armor type, and level difference.
For example, Nie Yan’s crossbow bolts dealt 160% extra damage against light armors like cloth or leather, but were greatly reduced against heavy armors like metal or plate, dealing only about 50% damage. However, the Golden Earth Dragon’s dragon breath was a chaotic-type attack, dealing 200% damage to any target. Even though it was attacking a monster many levels higher, it still dealt such high damage.
Dark Bind!
The Black Horned Beast used a skill. Dark shadows wrapped around Nie Yan like ropes, binding him tightly and rendering him immobile.
Yaoyao was about to use Holy Light to dispel the bind.
“Cast a Holy Shield on the Golden Earth Dragon!” Nie Yan quickly shouted. Yaoyao waved her staff, casting a Holy Shield on the dragon. A pure white light enveloped the Golden Earth Dragon.
Yaoyao’s reaction speed was comparable to that of a top-tier player.
Just as Yaoyao finished casting, the Black Horned Beast charged sideways, slamming its massive steel trident into the Golden Earth Dragon.
Protected by the Holy Shield, the Golden Earth Dragon’s defense was significantly enhanced. The hard scales on its belly absorbed the blow. With a dull thud, the dragon stepped back a few paces. Thanks to the Holy Shield, the damage it took was greatly reduced, only around 160 to 170 points.
Without the shield, the Golden Earth Dragon would have taken at least 300 to 400 points of damage.
Suffering only this much damage, the Golden Earth Dragon was unafraid of the Black Horned Beast and lunged forward with its claws. Even with ordinary physical attacks, the damage was still astonishing.
Yaoyao continuously cast her Holy Word spells. Boom! Boom! Boom! Explosions erupted on the Black Horned Beast, and damage numbers floated above its head.
Once Nie Yan was freed from the Dark Bind, he quickly repositioned behind the Black Horned Beast and executed a Backstab followed by a Disembowel.
The Black Horned Beast roared in fury and charged at the Golden Earth Dragon.
Minute by minute passed. Yaoyao waved her staff, gathering a massive ball of light in her left hand. The light ball gradually shrank, and after a while, she swung her staff, sending the ball flying toward the Black Horned Beast. With a loud explosion, the ball detonated, sending a powerful shockwave that forced the beast to retreat several steps. A damage number of over 600 floated above its head.
The Black Horned Beast let out a mournful cry before collapsing heavily to the ground.
Yaoyao’s final spell, with its immense magical damage, left Nie Yan astonished.
“Was that Holy Word Explosion?” Nie Yan asked Yaoyao. He could barely recognize the skill by its characteristics.
“Yeah,” Yaoyao nodded. She had bought it from a professional player, and it was quite expensive.
Holy Word Explosion was one of the most powerful skills for low-level Holy Word Mages, a rare gem before level fifty. It was hard to find any other skill within level fifty that could rival its magical damage.
Nie Yan hadn’t expected Yaoyao to possess such a skill. He began to suspect her background. Without a strong backing, it would be extremely difficult for an ordinary player to gather so many top-tier items. He was familiar with Yaoyao’s skills—they were good, but not top-notch. The only explanation for her having so many high-quality items was that she had some powerful support behind her.
However, Nie Yan had no time to dwell on it. He needed to focus on helping Yaoyao complete this quest first.
Nie Yan walked over and picked up the drops from the Black Horned Beast. There was a level forty golden equipment blueprint and a female mage’s headpiece. It was a rare piece that reduced the required level, allowing it to be worn at level thirty.
Headpiece of the Dark Etiquette (Golden): Female-only, requires level 40.
Attributes: Defense 32-38, HP +30. When Intelligence exceeds 260, required level decreases by 10.
Restriction: Can only be used by Good Lawful Holy Word Mages of the Light Faction.
Generally, headgear had gender restrictions, being wearable only by female players. This was a privilege granted by the system to female players. With the addition of a headpiece, female players usually had slightly higher defense than male players.
However, since headpieces were additional equipment, their stat bonuses were typically minimal. This Headpiece of the Dark Etiquette was an exception and considered quite impressive.
“It’s better than the one I’m wearing,” Yaoyao remarked. It was rare to find a headpiece with such high stats.
“You can have it,” Nie Yan said, trading the Headpiece of the Dark Etiquette to Yaoyao.
Yaoyao equipped the Headpiece of the Dark Etiquette and spun around, looking at Nie Yan. “Nie Yan, how does it look?”
Yaoyao had styled the Headpiece of the Dark Etiquette as a small accessory, tying it into her hair. The black ribbon was adorned with intricate patterns, adding a playful yet mysterious charm to her appearance, giving her a unique aura.
Nie Yan nodded slightly. “Very nice.” Yaoyao was youthful and radiant; no matter how she dressed, she never looked unattractive.
Hearing Nie Yan’s compliment, Yaoyao’s face lit up with a smile.
“I’ll go draw the next monster,” Nie Yan said. He couldn’t deny that Yaoyao was indeed very attractive.
Nie Yan quickly turned to draw the next monster. He walked to the lakeshore, raised his headless knight Doro’s crossbow, and began drawing monsters out of the water, one after another. Each Black Horned Beast was defeated by Nie Yan and Yaoyao together.
With a shield cast on it, the Golden Earth Dragon could withstand the attacks of the level forty leader-type Black Horned Beast. This made Nie Yan realize the true strength of the Golden Earth Dragon. The Golden Earth Dragon required about four times the experience of Nie Yan per level, and now he understood why it was so difficult to level.
With the Golden Earth Dragon’s terrifying growth rate, its stats at over one hundred levels would be unimaginable.
Seeing Nie Yan avoiding her gaze, Yaoyao’s lips curled into a playful smile. She found the current Nie Yan quite amusing.
After about half an hour, the two of them had cleared all the leader monsters from the lake and confirmed that no other monsters were nearby.
“Let’s go down together,” Nie Yan said. Swimming over should allow them to pick the Black Lotus, but he felt a vague unease. He wanted to go down with Yaoyao so they could watch each other’s backs. He wouldn’t be able to handle another Black Horned Beast alone.
“Okay,” Yaoyao nodded.
Nie Yan dismissed the Golden Earth Dragon and the two of them jumped into the icy lake water one after the other.
A gentle breeze blew across the lake’s surface, creating ripples. The calm, deep lake looked like a beast with its mouth wide open, ready to devour at any moment. Looking down, they could only see darkness, unable to make out the bottom. It was this unknown that made the situation so terrifying.
The two swam toward the center of the lake. The delicate fragrance of the Black Lotus of the Guilty Realm gradually drifted toward them, bringing a sense of tranquility and refreshment.
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