The over-mutated lord was too powerful. Nie Yan wasn’t sure whether Cui Can Dao Guang (Radiant Blade) could handle it. After careful consideration, he decided to wait and suppressed this dangerous thought. Sub-legendary items weren’t easy to obtain. Nie Yan didn’t want his teammates to suffer a total wipe due to his inner adventurous nature. He should first defeat ordinary lords, upgrade his teammates’ equipment and levels, and then consider hunting over-mutated lords later.
Nie Yan checked his level—it was already level 33. As for his teammates, six of them, including Sha Bu Si De Huai Dan (Invincible Brat), Hei Bai (Black & White), Wu Feng (No Edge), and others, had already reached level 30 and left the group. However, they were still helping Nie Yan to pull monsters. Cui Can Dao Guang had just leveled up to 30 and also exited the team.
Four people had yet to reach level 30, but soon, large groups of mechanical puppets were drawn in. Seeing the densely packed waves of mechanical puppets surging from every street, Nie Yan was startled. How come there were still so many left? He began to suspect whether his teammates had drawn all the mechanical puppets from the entire Eternal City. Under Nie Yan’s warning, these teammates dared not venture into the central area of Eternal City and only operated around its outskirts.
Nie Yan continued dropping area-damage magic bombs, which exploded with loud bangs, felling rows upon rows of mechanical puppets.
After a while, only a vast expanse of mechanical puppet corpses remained in the square.
The teammates collected the dropped equipment.
“Did anyone find boots or shoulder armor?” Nie Yan asked. Right now, the most urgent matter was to complete the full Eternal Set for Cui Can Dao Guang.
“I found a piece of shoulder armor,” Xia Chong Yu Bing (Summer Insect’s Frosty Ice) picked up a piece of equipment.
“There’s a pair of legguards here.”
“We already have legguards!”
“Let’s farm a few more waves. The boots should drop soon.”
Nie Yan checked his backpack. He had over 300 area-damage magic bombs left. In such a short time, the stock of 2000 magic bombs had dwindled to just over 300. The consumption rate was truly staggering.
The teammates did a quick calculation. Due to this leveling session, Nie Yan had spent nearly 500 gold coins. Each of them felt guilty, unaware that leveling up so fast could be so expensive. Thinking back, it felt selfish to have asked their leader Nie Yan to guide them through leveling.
“Boss, we’re really sorry. We wasted so much guild money,” Sha Bu Si De Huai Dan apologized beside him. After all, it was their idea to ask Nie Yan to help level up. Considering the high cost, why hadn’t Nie Yan explained the situation beforehand?
“Don’t worry. Bringing you all to level 30 means the 500 gold wasn’t wasted. Once we complete the Eternal Set, it’ll be even more worthwhile. 500 gold can always be earned back,” Nie Yan smiled. Although 500 gold was a significant sum, the improved strength of his teammates was a worthy investment.
“Boss, you’re too generous. From now on, just say the word, and we’ll serve you loyally,” Sha Bu Si De Huai Dan half-jokingly, half-seriously replied.
Nie Yan chuckled. “Alright, enough with the flattery. You can now wear the level 30 golden sets in the guild. Go tell Guo Huai to get them from the guild warehouse.”
“No way. We can’t keep taking things from the guild for free. The other guild members might complain. My guild contribution is already over 6000. I just need to donate a few more pieces of gear to complete a level 30 golden set. I’ll donate my current set,” Xia Chong Yu Bing interjected. They all understood that the guild was still developing, and everyone needed to contribute for its growth. Only then could everyone benefit from its success.
Xia Chong Yu Bing’s words resonated with the others. After all, used equipment could be placed into the guild warehouse and converted back into guild contribution points. The existence of the guild warehouse made things much more convenient for everyone.
If every guild member had such a mindset, the guild’s growth was inevitable.
Three more people reached level 30, leaving only Dai Tou Da Ge Qi Zai (Big Brother Seven) still below level 30. As a priest, he had always leveled up the slowest, hence his level lagged slightly behind the others.
After some thought, Nie Yan said to Dai Tou Da Ge Qi Zai, “I still have some area-damage magic bombs left. Let me bring you up to level 32.”
Priests leveled up slowly. In the future, they would inevitably fall behind others. Therefore, letting Dai Tou Da Ge Qi Zai gain a few more levels now would prevent him from falling too far behind later.
“That might be too wasteful,” Dai Tou Da Ge Qi Zai hesitated.
“No problem. Leveling up with just two people will be fast enough,” Nie Yan replied. Without other teammates splitting the experience, helping Dai Tou Da Ge Qi Zai reach level 32 would be quick.
“Alright then,” Dai Tou Da Ge Qi Zai thought for a moment. As a priest, he understood how crucial he was to the elite team, so he didn’t refuse.
Another wave of mechanical puppets was drawn in. Area-damage magic bombs continued to rain down, engulfing the puppets in waves of flame. Row after row of mechanical puppets fell.
A system prompt chimed: Nie Yan gained another level, reaching level 34. He hadn’t expected to approach level 35 so quickly. In his backpack, he still had a complete Thief’s Skywalk Set—a defensive gear set he originally intended to use only when the situation demanded. Unexpectedly, he now needed to start collecting level 35 and 40 gear. However, the Skywalk Set’s defense would still be sufficient even up to level 40.
At worst, he could enhance the Skywalk Set with gems. Since it was an elite rare item, enhancing it with gems would still be cost-effective.
A beam of white light fell on Dai Tou Da Ge Qi Zai. He reached level 30, and his experience bar rapidly climbed to 86%. Without teammates sharing the experience, leveling up was much faster.
After collecting the dropped equipment from the ground,
“There’s a piece of Eternal Set armor here,” Xia Chong Yu Bing exclaimed joyfully. In the Eternal Set, the armor was the most important component. With it, one could wear other pieces of the set at a higher level.
“Good,” Nie Yan replied with noticeable excitement. Even as separate pieces, the Eternal Set had excellent attributes, especially when worn at level 30, offering considerable defense. With the armor, he could now give the remaining pieces to Yi Yan.
“There are boots here,” Wu Feng picked up a piece of equipment from the ground. Now the Eternal Set was finally complete.
All components were traded to Cui Can Dao Guang. With the full Eternal Set, every part of Cui Can Dao Guang’s body was protected by sturdy metal armor. This set was even comparable to ordinary level 30 elite rare sets. Its powerful defense allowed him to look down upon all level 30 lords. Even against a level 30 over-mutated lord, he might be able to withstand the onslaught.
With Dai Tou Da Ge Qi Zai’s level also rising, it was nearly time to organize guild activities, Nie Yan thought.
Continuing to level, Nie Yan’s voice chat rang out. He checked the caller—it was Ban Xing De Hu Li (Half-Awake Fox). This guy finally couldn’t resist contacting him. Nie Yan answered the call.
“You guys are really impressive. The leaderboard is practically your territory,” Ban Xing De Hu Li said, envying Nie Yan. If only he had such a group of experts under his command, he would be in heaven.
The current situation was: Bright Holy Flame and Triumph Empire were the strongest. The Cowmen Tribe had the most experts. As for the Holy Roman Empire, their only hope lay in the fortress battle. If they could seize the fortress, the Holy Roman Empire could rise. If Bright Holy Flame captured it, the Holy Roman Empire would have to remain dormant for a while, as Bright Holy Flame would surely seize the opportunity to strike hard.
“You didn’t message me just to talk about levels, right?” Nie Yan smiled faintly. Compared to Ban Xing De Hu Li, he was much more relaxed.
“Send your guild experts to help me seize the fortress,” Ban Xing De Hu Li finally got straight to the point. The small fortress battle would be supervised by the Granland Empire. Each side could field 2000 players. Whoever seized the fortress would gain five months of control. After five months, the fortress would become open territory, available for free competition. Even with only five months of control, the fortress’s tax revenue was a huge temptation, enough to propel the Holy Roman Empire’s rise.
Among all the guilds, the Cowmen Tribe had the most experts.
“Our alliance is merely a defensive pact. The Cowmen Tribe has no obligation to help the Holy Roman Empire seize the fortress,” Nie Yan replied. Sending experts to help the Holy Roman Empire would involve significant risks. Unless there was sufficient benefit, he wouldn’t act. As a guild leader, he had to consider the guild’s interests.
“I want your top ten people to help. How about 200 gold coins?” Ban Xing De Hu Li said. The ten people he referred to were the same ten from the Cowmen Tribe who had effortlessly withdrawn after killing 500 people in the Magma Forest. Offering 200 gold coins as payment was an astonishingly high price.
“You really value us highly,” Nie Yan said. 200 gold coins could probably hire a top-tier 200-person studio to serve Ban Xing De Hu Li. Yet he was offering that amount just to hire Nie Yan’s ten people. However, to Nie Yan, 200 gold coins were nothing. He was so wealthy that he didn’t even care about such a sum.
“You’re worth it,” Ban Xing De Hu Li replied. He guessed that, given their cooperative relationship, Nie Yan would probably agree.
However, Nie Yan had a different plan.
“I’ll send 200 people. I have an 80% chance of helping you seize the fortress. But 200 gold coins definitely won’t be enough. If I help you seize the fortress, I want 30% ownership of it,” Nie Yan’s demand was quite steep.
“What makes you so confident?” Ban Xing De Hu Li countered. He had been seeking out top mercenaries everywhere but still lacked confidence in seizing the fortress. What made Nie Yan so sure of success?
“Think about it,” Nie Yan replied calmly, unfazed by Ban Xing De Hu Li’s skepticism. The number of experts in the Cowmen Tribe was beyond Ban Xing De Hu Li’s imagination—more than the combined total of their few guilds. If it were a large-scale battle involving ten thousand players, he couldn’t guarantee anything. But for a 2000-player battle, if the Cowmen Tribe contributed 100 people to fight alongside the Holy Roman Empire, they could probably crush Bright Holy Flame.
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