Chapter 713: Probing into the truth
After distributing everything, everyone took out their scrolls and left the Mythical Dragon Realm. Well, this realm was going to collapse automatically, soon. It remained unknown how long would it take for this realm to spawn again. Also, there was no telling where the realm would spawn either. Players would have to look it up from scratch.
After arriving at the main city, Zhang Yang quickly inserted a Level 6 Strength Gemstone into the socket of his [Crimson Goblin Gaunlets]. Until he reaches Level 160, he would not be able to equip it. Zhang Yang was currently at Level 154. He only needed 50% more to reach Level 155. From that perspective, it would not take long before he reaches Level 160.
Also, another happy thought crossed his mind. When he reaches Level 160, he also gets to borrow the little brat’s hammer for a spin.
Among the ingredients required to make [Amateur’s Power Potion], Zhang Yang had kept a substantial amount of [Blazing Mushrooms] in the warehouse. Furthermore, he could also command his [Herb Foraging Familiar] to gather them for him. On the other hand, the [Crimson Blazing Essence] could only be used to make [Amateur’s Power Potion]. Meanwhile, Zhang Yang was the only one who had the recipe to make that. There was no way that players could get it from the Auction House or other shops. Some players even sold them to NPCs for some money after they inadvertently coming across them.
Zhang Yang made a deal that he would pay anyone 8 gold pieces for every piece of [Crimson Blazing Essence] that they could bring him. That amount of reward was slightly better than the 4 gold pieces that the NPCs would offer. Zhang Yang believed that the players would not mind walking a few steps further just to earn some extra gold pieces. Well, he did not dare to mark the price up anymore to prevent any crooked businessman from taking advantage of the situation. They might even try to snatch Zhang Yang’s business by offering higher rewards to get them.
From that point of view, we know that The Little Merchandize had grown famous. Every small detail that was happening in the shop was being ’monitored’ by everyone in the game. Some businessmen knew that Zhang Yang was purchasing [Crimson Blazing Essence] from the players with higher prices. So they also purchased quite a number of the item and kept it to themselves. They did not purchase too much because they were concerned that it might be a tactic Zhang Yang used to trick them into wasting their money.
After all, there was no true or false when it comes to business. Some people would make or buy a certain number of items that are less valuable first. Then they would purposely blow up the value of those items so that their values might increase. When the price of those items rocket up, they would sell those items that they kept secretly, long before the prices had gone up to earn a fortune! With that sort of tactic, they could easily cripple their competitors in the same field.
Zhang Yang withdrew a large number of [Blazing Mushrooms] from his bank. Then he put them according to the ratio of 3:1 with the [Crimson Flame Essences] into his inventory. Afterwards, he put the remaining of the [Blazing Mushrooms] back to the bank. He would only take them out again after he manages to purchase more [Crimson Flame Essences].
Zhang Yang arrived at the Alchemist Shop and bought some empty bottles. Just when he was ready to make some potions, he received a sudden message from Chen Xue Yao. She requested for help in clearing her next dungeon.
Since he could still sit back and make his potion, Zhang Yang did not reject her request. So he hopped onto his Phoenix pet and flew over to where Chen Xue Yao was. The two of them entered the dungeon. Zhang Yang was making his potions at the rear while his Phoenix pet and Felice took care of the monsters.
The two of them were attempting to clear the Level 70 Vestibule of Stones. Therefore, the Phoenix pet and Felice were more than enough to wipe out the monsters and bosses in the dungeon oppressively. Zhang Yang did not feel any stress at all while he was making his potions at the rear of the battlefield. He did not waste any second of his time.
"You’re so famous now, so you must have a lot of enemies, right?" Chen Xue Yao asked Zhang Yang out of her curiosity.
Zhang Yang nodded and said, "That’s right! Anyone would suddenly appear on my back trying to stab me! I can’t even rest without the need to worry about people trying to kill me!"
"Hmm... some people are really born to be bad! To me, games are just games. Why would they bring the grudge into real life!? Humph!"
Zhang Yang smiled and said, "Are you talking about that Heaven’s Pride?" Then he shook his head and said, "That prick is just the type of people who would seek revenge for the smallest grievance! He’s very used to be arrogant! So don’t mind him!"
"So, how did he made enemies with you?" Chen Xue Yao asked.
"Well, during the Soaring Sword Competition in Shang Hai, he used some dirty tricks trying to frame me!" Zhang Yang told Chen Xue Yao about the ’prostitution incident’ that happened long ago in Shang Hai. Of course, everytime he mentioned Liu Wei’s name, he was practically spitting it out.
"Oh... so that’s how it happened." Chen Xue Yao nodded. "You must hate him very much now!"
Zhang Yang smiled. Well, the grudge that he held against Liu Wei would never be understood by any other person in the entire world other than him. Even if he was willing to honestly tell others about how Liu Wei forced him to perish together, others would only think that he might have hit his head a little too hard.
Chen Xue Yao stayed quiet while she was picking up the loot that had been dropped by the boss upon its death. She seemed to be troubled by something.
"This man is not simple at all. He must have something more than just grudges against Liu Wei! Damn it! How can he be so stubborn! Can’t he just tell me something I want to know? Must I use my final triumph card as well to get him talking?"
"Or should I just come clean and tell him everything from scratch? If only I can get him to help me, it might be much easier to cripple the Liu family?"
"No! Mum and dad were killed because they were too trusting! If I accidentally pass the information to Liu Wei’s lackeys without knowing it, I will be the next to go! I must not repeat their mistakes! Or else mum and dad would have died for nothing! Their sacrifices would have been for nothing!"
"So, he hired Private Investigators to find me... what is his true agenda then? Is he working for Liu Wei too, or is he really trying to get rid of him? Although they are enemies on the outside, sometimes, that might not be true. Business partners are always enemies on the outside but secretly, they are close friends... Only god knows if he would betray me for money! Come on, Chen Xue Yao! Just sacrifice your body, and you can get to know about the true relationship between him and Liu Wei!"
Zhang Yang had no idea at all what was going through that little head of his pretty secretary. When he turned all the ingredients he took along into a bunch of [Amateur Power Potions], they had already cleared the entire dungeon once --- the Vestibule of Stones was only a 5-player scale dungeon. It was a rather simple dungeon. Furthermore, Phoenix pet and Felice were extraordinarily powerful! They were basically clearing the dungeon, like cutting through butter with a hot knife!
After clearing up the dungeons a couple of times, Zhang Yang teleported himself back to Souron’s castle. One of the reasons why he was willing to help Chen Xue Yao was because low-level players would definitely not be capable of clearing a dungeon all on her own. Furthermore, now that the central point of the game was more focused in the Chaos Realm, it was extremely hard for her to form a descent party as well. Most of the low-level players would have their friends who were higher leveled guiding them through a dungeon. Furthermore, only those who did not belong to any guild would be forced to clear out a dungeon all by themselves. That was one of the main reasons why they could not gather too many powerful equipment. Other than that, they also lacked cooperation skills. So, they could only clear out dungeons in Normal Mode. Well, a party usually would be disbanded after they were wiped out several times in Hard Mode of the dungeon.
Not to mention, Chen Xue Yao was gifted in the art of gaming. That was also one of the most important reason Zhang Yang was willing to help her. Of course, there was also that reason where she looked gorgeous. After all, Zhang Yang could have some eye candy for his eyes just by staring at her. If she was an ugly horse, Zhang Yang would not have agreed to meet her at all.
Those [Amateur Power Potions] that underwent Transmutation could increase an additional 60% damage to players at the most. It was a great effect that would really make a difference in a battle. The effect of the potions could last for 10 seconds, after all. Plus they only needed 60 seconds to cooldown before players could use again. The average of the additional DPS increment could reach up to 10%! For Zhang Yang who had not activated his Inheritance Transformation, that additional 10% damage could increase approximately 3.75% of his DPS performance. It was just astonishing!
However, when Zhang Yang activates his Inheritance Transformation, the additional increase in his Attack power would drop from 3.75% to only 1.3%. By then, the change would not be as significant.
Of course, Zhang Yang would keep the Transmutated [Amateur Power Potions] only for his own people. He put the others for sale at his Little Merchandize Shop. However, players would need to reach Level 150 before they could consume those [Amateur Power Potions]. Therefore, the number of players who could take an [Amateur Power Potion] was so low that even a person could finish counting the number in two hands.
Potions such as [Mobility Potions] and [Invincibility Potions] would find more usage in PvP matches. Meanwhile, [Power Potions] were more sought after when players are up against monsters or bosses. It would not matter if the bosses were from Open World Maps or Dungeons. Sometimes, players would get so close to killing the boss before they fail. With the power-up of [Power Potions], they could get the job done easier. These [Amateur Power Potions] would become popular when players are beginning to reach Level 150.
Right before they left, Zhang Yang added Chen Xue Yao to the main guild of Lone Desert Smoke. He had clearly seen how capable she was in the game. He could also see her potential of becoming one of the best players in the world, as well. Other guilds would be looking for talented players like Chen Xue Yao. Other than that, since the guild had just been upgraded to a Level 5 Guild, Zhang Yang would need to recruit another 10,000 members into his guild, Of course, he must recruit those who are really going to contribute to Lone Desert Smoke to fill in the slots.
"Silly Yu! Come and accompany me! I’m going to gather some cooking ingredients!" Without giving Zhang Yang a chance to reject, Han Ying Xue pulled Zhang Yang deep into the forest.
Han Ying Xue had already upgraded her ’Cooking’ to the highest level. However, to make sure that she can handle everyone’s HP bars which were getting longer and longer when their levels were getting higher, she would need to cook up some snacks that could increase her healing efficiency. The best [Snacks] that could be found in the Bakery shop was the Level 120 [XXL Jumbo Cheese]. When Zhang Yang and his party equip their Level 150 Holy Tier equipment, each of them would have to take at least two [Snacks] before their HP bars are fully filled. That would be wasting some of their precious time.
Han Ying Xue bought a Cooking Recipe. The Recipe was called ’Diced-Chicken Burger’. However, the ingredients needed to make a [Diced-Chicken Burger] were extremely rare. They could only be gathered from Level 150 maps. Furthermore, the Auction House at the current stage of the game did not sell this item yet. So, Zhang Yang and Han Ying Xue had to go out hunting for the ingredients all by themselves.
[Diced-Chicken Burger] (Consumable)
Use: Recovers 500,000 HP and 200,000 MP over 15 seconds. Can only be used when player is not in combat mode. If you eat the entire snack, you’ll also acquire an additional 200 Strength Attribute, 200 Agility Attribute, 200 Intelligence Attribute or 200 Spirit Attribute. The Attribute that you will acquire depends on your highest Attribute. Effects will last for 15 minutes.
Required Level: 150
The main ingredient for making a [Diced-Chicken Burger] was [Chicken Meat] that could be acquired by slaying Arrow-Tailed Chicken. Of course, the other ingredients were [Chilli] and [Flour]. [Flour] could be purchased from shops in the main cities. However, players had to hunt down the Arrow-Tailed Chickens to get their meat. [Chilli] could be gathered from low-level maps and areas. Therefore, the only problem the players had was collecting the [Chicken Meat].
Hang Ying Xue hopped onto Zhang Yang’s Phoenix pet. The two of them flew straight into a forest and walked around in the forest. They were trying to find some Arrow-Tailed Chickens to kill.
Although these chicken monsters were rather common in this forest, they were scattered. Zhang Yang and Han Ying Xue had to search around in order to find one. Therefore, the two of them did not get many of them, even after wandering around, killing Arrow-Tailed Chickens for about two to three hours. However, Zhang Yang was not bored at all, because he had the lady that he loved at his side, keeping him accompanied.
After walking for a while, the two of them heard the clashing sound of metallic weapons. They looked at each other for a brief moment. Then, they slowed down their Flying Mounts down and sneaked up towards the direction where the sounds came from. All they saw were two different groups of players battling against each other.
Zhang Yang was bored with what he saw. Such clashes were far too common in game. So, he had no reason at all to waste his attention on other people’s affairs. He may try to get himself involved if he ever sees people battling against a boss. But PvP matches? Well, he is not that free to do something so pointless.
However, Zhang Yang tilted his mouth a little after observing for a little while. There was a group of 13 players, trying to kill another group of only 2 players. What caught his attention was that the two players were not faltering or losing the battle. Instead, they were holding up pretty good! One of them was a Guardian while the other was a Holy Knight. Both of them were holding shields.
These two players were both Thick-Armored type players. While the Holy Knight could heal better and protect their allies better than a normal Healer could, the Guardian also had an abundance of methods to defend himself. The two of them seemed to be working together like they had been doing this for a long time. It would take a lot more than just 13 players to kill them! This is what people would call a ’Dual-shield Team’.
Of course, having very powerful Defence would mean that the player had to forego on increasing their Attack power. That is the cost that one must pay to obtain a Turtle-shell level kind of Defence power! It was just how things work in an online game. Therefore, the advantage of these two Classes working together would be acquiring super high Defence while their disadvantage was that they would not have the firepower to finish their opponents off fast.
Ten Dusk, Guardian, Level 144.
Female Raid Covent, Holy Knight, Level 143.
These two Tankers did not belong to any guild currently. It was actually quite impressive that they could manage so well and they could still get equipment that were above average! Of course, their equipment seemed to have been obtained from dungeons. Therefore, they were just Level 140 Mythical Tier equipment. It was not considered as top Tier equipment yet. However, these equipment were already considered as some of the top mainstream equipment.
Most importantly, there were no high Tier player in the group of 13. Their equipment seemed to be much lower in Tier than the equipment of Ten Dusk and Female Raid Covent. Therefore, they still could not kill Ten Dusk and Female Raid Covent even though there were just two of them.