Chapter 516 - Resurrection Scroll (1/2)
Chapter 516 - Resurrection Scroll
Nie Yan pulled up some information related to demon beasts online and started researching the topography of the nearby maps. Gradually, his old dust-laden memories were brought back to the surface as he recalled the locations of certain chests, monsters, and more.
There were several suitable levelling spots for him and Xie Yao in the vicinity of the Hilton Stronghold. After finally deciding on one, Nie Yan headed to the Starry Night Potion Shop and picked up 100 Advanced Fire Resistance Potions and 10 Intermediate Invisibility Potions. Intermediate Invisibility Potions were fairly common, costing about 5 gold each. On the other hand, the material cost of Advanced Fire Resistance Potions alone was already 10 gold. Adding in labour costs, the production cost for a single potion was 60 gold. However, Advanced Fire Resistance Potions sold for at least 300 gold each in the marketplace. This was a markup of 400%! Ordinary players couldn’t bear to casually use such a precious potion, saving it only for special occasions, such as running an especially challenging dungeon.
For every Advanced Fire Resistance Potion sold, the Starry Night Potion Shop pocketed 240 gold. They were a money-making machine!
At this stage of the game, Advanced Alchemists were relatively rare and Advanced Fire Resistance Potion Recipes were difficult to come by, while demand was only increasing. This ensured the price of Advanced Fire Resistance Potions remained high. Ordinary players would think twice before using up such a precious potion. After all, 300 gold was enough to buy a piece of decent Gold-grade equipment. However, once you drank a potion, it was gone.
In the previous timeline, Nie Yan couldn’t bear using such a costly potion. Obtaining one alone was enough to make him go wild with joy. However, in this life, he didn’t even bat an eye at the sight of a hundred.
With his financial resources, Nie Yan couldn’t care less about this amount of gold. Only vast sums could pique his interest.
Advanced Fire Resistance Potions provided 50 Fire Resistance for two minutes with a cooldown of 10 minutes.
Besides the Fire Resistance Potion, Nie Yan still had the Kiln Fire Heart.
Kiln Fire Heart (Special Item)
Properties: Fire Resistance +50, Fire Magic Amplification +20%
Kiln Fire: Allows the user to possess the strength of the Kiln Fire, becoming immune to all fire damage for 30 seconds. The user can survive in lava. Cooldown: 20 minutes.
The Kiln Fire Heart and Advanced Fire Resistance Potion gave a combined total of 100 Fire Resistance. Add this to the 20-30 base Fire Resistance most players had, and you could completely ignore the fire attacks of ordinary monsters. If that still wasn’t enough, you could activate Kiln Fire to become completely immune to fire damage.
Nie Yan had also snagged himself a couple pieces of Thief equipment with high Fire Resistance, further increasing his Fire Resistance by another 70–80.
About 20 minutes later, Xie Yao arrived at the Hilton Stronghold. The two met up outside the entrance of Nie Yan’s villa.
Xie Yao wore a tight-fitting, light blue robe which accentuated her slender figure. It emitted a gentle blue glow that paired well with her fair face as well as the blue ribbon tied to her hair. She looked lovely and adorable. Her staff was about a meter long and crafted from Magic Redwood. It had a large blue magic crystal at the tip which swirled with magic energy.
The blue glow around Xie Yao’s robe made her look even holier and pure.
“The robe, staff, and ribbon are all part of the Saintess Christiana Set. What do you think?” Xie Yao said with a smile. She twirled around to give Nie Yan a look.
Nie Yan couldn’t help but be captivated by Xie Yao’s smille. All the worries in his heart disappeared.
“You look great.” Nie Yan nodded. This was undeniable. A natural beauty like Xie Yao would look good in anything she wore. One could also see this from the reactions of the surrounding players. They couldn’t help but gawk. When they saw Nie Yan next to her, their eyes were filled with envy.
While the two chatted and strolled along the streets, time seemed to freeze around them. Everyone dropped what they were doing to gaze after Xie Yao.
“Who is she?”
“Yao Yao, Nirvana Flame’s girlfriend.”
“Then that person in the black cloak must be Nirvana Flame!”
“Yeah, probably…”
The players on the streets chatted with one another in hushed tones. After the incident with Eternal, Yao Yao had entered the limelight. When it was later revealed she was Nirvana Flame’s girlfriend, only then did everyone understand what was going on. Even his girlfriend was strong!
“Nie Yan, what are we going to do?”
“We’re going to hunt demon beasts.”
“Just the two of us? Don’t we need more people?” Xie Yao asked in shock. She heard that even the weakest demon beasts were Level 70–80 Elites and Lords. They were incredibly difficult to deal with.
“It’s fine, trust me,” Nie Yan chuckled. Two players hunting demon beasts made for quick levelling. If they formed an expedition team, the experience would be divided up between many more players.
“Where are we going?”
“Flame Cavern,” Nie Yan replied. Flame Cavern was a map where Level 80 Elites and Lords roamed.
Xie Yao figured Nie Yan had probably come up with some bizarre levelling method. She had a type of absolute confidence in him. After he reassured her, she stopped worrying. She would leave everything to him. It seemed like he already had a plan anyway.
“Take these, you’ll need them later,” Nie Yan said. He handed over the Kiln Fire Heart and 100 Advanced Fire Resistance Potions to Xie Yao.
“Mhm.” Xie Yao accepted the trade.
The two departed from the Hilton Stronghold and set off for the Flame Cavern.
...
Inside a house in the Hilton Stronghold, Crazy Magic, Divine Flame, and 15 others had gathered for a meeting. Everyone here was part of the upper echelon of Alliance of Mages or Divine Protectors.
“We’ve received word that Asskickers United’s forces are challenging Level 90 Lords right now. I reckon the amount of contribution we earn from killing six Level 80 Lords won’t equal their earnings from killing a single Level 90 Lord. At this rate, all the properties in the Hilton Stronghold are going to end up in their hands,” Divine Flame said. Merit points were required to purchase properties from the administrator of the Hilton Stronghold. Whoever racked up contribution the fastest would get to snatch up all the good properties first. In the future, the Hilton Stronghold would become the battlefield between the Righteous Faction and Evil Faction, the main place for players to earn glory and achievements. Every expert in the Viridian Empire who planned on walking the martial path would come here. The future prosperity of this stronghold was guaranteed. Not to mention the consumption costs for players here was significantly greater compared to other cities. They definitely didn’t wish to see Asskickers United monopolizing such a large market.
“If worst comes to worst, we’ll have to resort to that,” Crazy Magic said in a chilling tone. He wouldn’t sit idly by while Asskickers United gobbled up all the properties in the Hilton Stronghold. Even a rabbit would bite if backed into a corner.
“We’ll leave this matter to you then. Let us know if you need anything, and we’ll try our best to accommodate you.” Divine Flame let out a lazy yawn. He didn’t enjoy doing this type of work. Whatever plan Crazy Magic came up with, he would be happy to idly follow along.
The relationship between Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors was complex. They shared the same boss, having both received the investment of the Century Financial Group. So, they had to cooperate. At the same time, they were also competing against each other. As Level 7 guilds that occupied a city each, both were important partners of the Century Financial Group. However, neither was willing to lose out to the other. Both wanted to surpass the other and receive more investments from the Century Financial Group, for the sake of growing more powerful. So, from a certain angle, they were also fierce rivals. Since Alliance of Mages was taking the initiative to impede Asskickers United, they were receiving more support from the Century Financial Group. Meanwhile, Divine Protectors opted to recuperate and gather their strength. They didn’t care much for the conflict between the Century Financial Group and Asskickers United. Most of the time, they were only putting in the bare minimum amount of effort.
After hearing Divine Flame’s words, Crazy Magic inwardly snorted. He was quite dissatisfied with Divine Flame’s attitude. However, he didn’t say anything. They were allies, after all. The Century Financial Group wouldn’t permit any internal fighting. There was no reason to have a falling out over something like this.
Crazy Magic gathered some Thieves. After passing down his orders, he had them move out and start tracking the movements of Asskickers United’s forces.
“I heard Nirvana Flame is in the Hilton Stronghold. Apparently, he got himself a villa here,” Divine Flame said. Any news about Nirvana Flame was always world shaking. This matter had already blown up on the forums.
“I know. I bumped into him earlier,” Crazy Magic responded.
“You two met? Where?” Divine Flame was stunned. He wondered what kind of circumstances would lead to the two of them meeting.
“At the administrative hall. After I finished turning in a quest, I saw Ignatius leading him inside. I can confirm whatever quest he received, it wasn’t ordinary. Ignatius is one of the most influential figures in the Hilton Stronghold. However, he was completely fawning over Nirvana Flame. This can only mean one thing. Nirvana Flame has a much higher status than him. Who knows what kind of title he obtained. Not long after that, word came out that he got himself a villa here. That villa is probably a quest reward. It’s best if you steer clear of him in the Hilton Stronghold. His status is higher than ours. If a dispute breaks out, we’ll be the ones suffering,” Crazy Magic said. He recalled a previous incident when the former guild leader of Victorious Return, Heaven Breaker, had been tricked by Nirvana Flame, and was thrown into jail and locked in there for quite a few days before being released. If Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors wanted to harm Nie Yan, they would have to do it outside the stronghold. Furthermore, they would have to make sure the tables couldn’t be turned on them.
Divine Flame sank deep into thought. Nirvana Flame truly wasn’t simple. Even though Asskickers United was still only a Level 5 guild, they weren’t the slightest bit weaker than Alliance of Mages or Divine Protectors. In some aspects, such as number of experts, they were even superior. With Nirvana Flame’s esteemed status in Calore and the Hilton Stronghold, defeating Asskickers United would be incredibly difficult. At least, this wasn't something Alliance of Mages or Divine Protectors could accomplish. It would be better to wait and see what the Century Financial Group had up their sleeve. Perhaps only Angel Corps going all out stood a chance of victory.
At this moment, Crazy Magic received word that the Thieves he dispatched to tail Nie Yan and Xie Yao had completely lost track of them.
Crazy Magic’s expression gradually darkened. It appeared tracking Nie Yan’s whereabouts wasn’t a simple matter.
“Do you know the identity of the five who surrounded and almost killed Nirvana Flame?” Divine Flame asked. It wasn’t easy for him to obtain this insider information from Asskickers United. Alliance of Mages, on the other hand, had a better information network than Dvine Protectors.