Chapter 65 - Crossbow of Blood

Nie Yan would have to wait until tomorrow for Gato the Lion King and the Ogre Devourer to respawn. As for leveling, his speed was already sufficiently quick so there was no need to grind normal monsters. With the time remaining, he could do some small businesses on the side.

The Ogre Devourer dropped a total of two items, both of which were rather decent.

Crossbow of Blood (Gold): Single-handed Crossbow

Requirements: Level 5

Properties: Attack +11, 10% Armour-piercing Effect, Triple-shot.

Shooting Speed: 16, Deviation 3%.

Restriction: None

Staff of Moonlight Worship (Gold)

Requirements: Level 5

Properties: Attack 32–38, Level Three Holy Explosion. 20% extra damage against demons.

Restriction: Holy Mages; can only be equipped by a member of the Righteous Faction.

Nie Yan had challenged the high-level Elites alone and had successfully defeated them despite the level gap. As such, the chances of receiving additional drops were multiplied and of course the system’s rewards were especially munificent. Nie Yan had acquired four pieces of Gold-tier equipment by now, and every single piece was extraordinary—the Crossbow of Blood particularly. It brought a great surprise to him; the ten percent armour-piercing effect was fairly decent.

When compared to such a substantially superior crossbow, the one in Nie Yan’s current possession was of such a poor quality that there was absolutely no need to hesitate in switching. When comparing goods, there would always be one inferior. The crossbow bought from the NPC had finished its quest. It had served him well, and its times of glory were now coming to an end.

Thus, Nie Yan equipped the Crossbow of Blood. As for the old one, it should still fetch some money on the auction. It had a price tag of thirty-seven copper coins when he bought it, so its resale value should be some dozen copper coins.

Nie Yan returned to Calore, having finished examining the new equipment he acquired. There were quite a few people within the city, but the vast majority of players had gone outside for leveling. The streets were bustling with people, many of whom were visiting Jaden’s shop, the high-level Alchemist, on the corner. All players who exhausted their stock of potions when leveling outside had to replenish their supply at that place.

The auction house that sat in the heart of the city teemed with an even greater number of people. On the nearby streets, many players laid out their booths and once in a while, some eye-catching items would appear.

Nie Yan entered the auction house and sold off equipment he no longer had any use for. He also continued buying all available Black Phenol Formulas, Black Phenol, and the ingredients required. He left nothing unbought. After the opening of the new instance tomorrow, many guilds would go and spearhead the investigation. They would discover, to their amazement, that all traces of the low-priced and relatively unknown Black Phenol had vanished. Alchemists would occasionally produce several bottles of Black Phenol, but they’d be bought before one even had time to blink. As for the Black Phenol Nie Yan collected… they became commodities worth being stockpiled. He could starve the marketplace and slowly rid himself of the Black Phenol and Black Phenol Formulas bit by bit, thus inflating the prices. The larger the development into the new instance, the greater the players’ need for Black Phenol, and the easier the prices would rise. He could start by first selling Black Phenol and its ingredients, then he’d sell the formula at the later stages. He could gather a large sum of wealth with a method like this. Other investment options would be considered only after earning the money since he had spent quite a sum purchasing Black Phenol.

As usual, Nie Yan went over to several small towns to collect Bat Teeth. He sold them off and earned thirty or so silver coins. He even bought most of the Bat Teeth on the marketplace, and he was now waiting for players to continue grinding. When they came by more Bat Teeth, he would return.

However, Nie Yan felt slightly puzzled because he hadn’t even bought a single set of Bat Teeth at Link. Odd, as it was one of the larger sources of Bat Teeth.

“Mr. Kade, these are the Bat Teeth you asked for.”

“Sir Nie Yan (Nirvana Flame), I am grateful for your assistance.”

After Nie Yan’s Influence in Calore had been raised, the NPC started using honourifics with him. It was evident as Kade was much more amiable.

He came out of Kade’s store, the high-level Blacksmith. Nie Yan raised his head and saw a Paladin with Silver armour entering with a hammer in his hand.

This person seemed a bit over thirty years old. He was very tall and a bit fat; he had quite a unique appearance.

The Paladin looked at Nie Yan with a cautious gaze. They brushed past each other before the Paladin walked into Blacksmith Kade’s store and went to chat with him.

Nie Yan recalled this person: he was the Paladin who discovered the blacksmith quest in his past life—the person who made over ten gold coins. The person who truly discovered this Bat Teeth quest had arrived, increasing the total number who knew of this money-making method to two.

If there were two people simultaneously collecting Bat Teeth, one would raise the prices to increase competition. The opposing side would raise the prices as well, and it would turn into a repeated back-and-forth situation until the profits became marginal. The players would also begin to suspect whether the Bat Teeth held special uses and thus start holding onto them. Last time, there was a Thief that followed Nie Yan and now, there were a total of two players buying Bat Teeth for high prices. That would elicit more suspicion and soon, someone would follow that Paladin and Blacksmith Kade would be revealed.

I won’t be making much profit of off this quest any longer.

But to Nie Yan, Kade’s Bat Teeth quest was now dispensable. He had already acquired sufficient starting capital, and he also had many other methods of making money. This quest was not a necessity for him.

Nie Yan checked his total assets: there were over sixty silver coins in his bag, and there were also large amounts of Black Phenol, its ingredients, and the formulas, all of which were going to inflate exponentially in value.

It was absolutely fine even if he lost this source of income.

Without even realizing it, he arrived at the Alchemist Guild’s entrance after finding his way through the crowd. His mind had been wandering about before a vender disrupted his thoughts.

“High-level potion ingredients and a Swift Retreat skill book for Thieves! It’s a pretty decent skill book! This brother here, would you like to have a look?” yelled a white-robed Holy Mage. He had laid out a booth at the Alchemist Guild’s entrance, and when Nie Yan passed by, his eyes brightened. He decided to draw attention to himself.

The Holy Mage was a shrewd person. With a glimpse, he knew Nie Yan’s equipment wasn't common gear and several of them were quite high-quality. This skill book, Swift Retreat, was something good for early-level Thieves. However, it went for a rather expensive price—he demanded a silver.

Obviously, it was tough to find a buyer for such a costly item. If it were put on the auction, he’d likely find someone but he would only receive money and there was even a fee! The reason he chose to set this booth here was because he wanted to trade this skill book for Holy Mage equipment. His chances were greatly increased while people were converging here to form groups for the new instance.

Normal Thieves simply couldn’t afford to buy such a skill book. As a result, even though he had been yelling for twenty minutes and there were Thieves who came up to inquire the prices, they all shook their head as they departed. However, the Holy Mage couldn’t help but call out for Nie Yan since he appeared rather well-off.

Nie Yan turned his head around and glanced at the Holy Mage. With an ash-black staff in his hand, he was clad in a white mage robe and seemed to be around twenty years of age. With his sharp judgement, Nie Yan instantly recognized his equipment. The robe he wore was called the Holy Walker and the ash-black staff was the Wind of the Fallen Moon. Although these weren’t the best equipment at this level, they were still rather decent.

“You’re pretty lucky! Swift Retreat dropped for you,” Nie Yan said, faintly smiling. It was a very useful skill.

“Yeah! My luck’s always been good. I have a few friends who were grinding for several days at Holy Canyon, yet they haven’t even gotten anything good. I, on the other hand, just grinded for three hours and this Swift Retreat dropped! Right now, one of these is even more expensive than a Silver-grade equipment on the marketplace!” Nie Yan’s response to the Holy Mage’s advertisement immediately triggered this chatterbox. He was like a radio that had been turned on!