Chapter 18 The Ambitious Plan

Exploring new areas yields far greater rewards than simply following others and grinding monsters. This is a well-known fact among the major guilds. The equipment drop rate is significantly higher, and it's not uncommon to encounter gold-grade or even dark gold-grade chests. The gold-grade and dark gold-grade equipment are incredibly tempting. However, the difficulty of exploring new areas deters many large guilds. Elite-level creatures are more frequent during exploration, and encounters with lord-level creatures are common, making total annihilation a regular occurrence. If a group is wiped out several times in a row, even an elite team can become an average one.

Therefore, most guilds are unwilling to take such a significant risk. Only the strongest elite guilds dare to form groups for exploration. However, they only venture into maps of the same level. Anyone who dares to explore higher-level maps is simply courting death!

Most of the dark gold-grade chests still end up in the hands of the major guilds.

However, tragic events often occur. For example, someone might find a dark gold chest but discover their lockpicking skill is insufficient, forcing them to leave empty-handed.

Nie Yan touched the chest. Fortunately, his Lockpicking Expert skill allowed him to open chests beyond his level, almost enough to open this chest.

"It seems I need to find some lower-level chests to continue practicing my lockpicking skill when I get back," Nie Yan thought. He bent down and began opening the treasure chest. The process was slow. He glanced at the official website, where the competition for virtual assets had become fierce. Some prices had soared to around 1,500 gold coins, and the trend was still upward. It wouldn't hurt to wait until the asset auction was almost over before deciding which one to buy.

The official website also featured a prominent announcement about credit point exchange, displayed in large, bold letters.

Credit point exchange would be conducted through the Trading Hall, with dedicated payment methods. For example, if you wanted to exchange a gold coin or a piece of equipment for credit points, you could list it for sale in the Trading Hall at a fixed price. Alternatively, you could negotiate a price with a player in the Trading Hall who wanted to buy equipment, and the buyer could pay with credit points.

These transactions would be regulated by the Federation, as federal law prohibits the use of virtual currency to purchase real-world goods, to prevent virtual currency from replacing credit points. Otherwise, it could lead to market chaos.

Credit point exchange would begin after the virtual asset auction concluded.

Credit point transactions would lead to a massive influx of capital into Faith, continuously driving up the prices of equipment and game currency. Some major corporations were using this opportunity to build their own power within the game.

At the same time, the launch of credit point exchange would undoubtedly stimulate the development of the professional gaming industry. This was evident in the recent performance of the Assassin Alliance. After promotion by Ban Xing De Hu Li, Ai Qing Sha Shang, and others, the number of members in the Assassin Alliance had surged. The number of professional players had exceeded 12,000, and the number of clients had surpassed 8,000. They were processing five or six hundred commissions and thousands of equipment transactions daily. Nie Yan's daily income was as high as 300 gold coins.

Nie Yan already owned two of the most profitable auction houses in the future, countless plots of land, Xingkong Pharmacies spread throughout the major cities, and the formidable Niu Ren Tribe. Even if Cao Xu and his people came, he would dare to face them.

He had enough money to buy at least one more virtual asset. He had to secure a fortress before credit point exchange began, giving him the capital to compete with Cao Xu.

Nie Yan was steadily managing his affairs. In just about a month since the game's launch, he had achieved remarkable progress.

As he was pondering, the dark gold chest clicked open. Nie Yan reached inside and pulled out two pieces of equipment.

Staff of Dark Rites (Dark Gold): Level Requirement 40.

Stats: Attack 332-338, Intelligence +20, Grants Level 5 Dark Bloom skill, 50% increased damage to non-undead and non-mechanical units.

Restriction: Only usable by Good-Aligned Lawful Good Mages of the Light Faction.

The Staff of Black Rites was a top-tier item for mages. Dark gold-grade staves were already rare, but unfortunately, it required level 40 to use.

Nie Yan posted the stats in the guild channel and asked, "Who wants this staff?"

"Boss, how much guild contribution does it cost?" Sha Bu Si De Huai Dan asked. Acquiring equipment required guild contribution, which was a necessary condition. With so many people competing within the guild, Nie Yan couldn't favor anyone.

"Level 40 Dark Gold is 8,000 Glory Points, 20 Intelligence is 6,000 Glory Points, Level 5 Dark Bloom is 10,000 Glory Points, and the increased damage is 10,000 Glory Points," Nie Yan said, setting the price purely based on the stats.

"Thirty-four thousand? Let me see, I don't have enough. Does anyone else want it?" Sha Bu Si De Huai Dan looked at the other members. If no one else wanted it, he could scrape together 34,000 Glory Points.

The top players in the guild earned money quickly. Donating equipment or gold coins could earn them a significant amount of guild contribution. Dark gold-grade equipment was very rare. Right now, they could only wear gold-grade equipment. It was rare to see dark gold equipment of the same level, so they would definitely try to get their hands on a good level 40 dark gold staff. The staff had great stats, and they would soon be able to use it.

"I have enough," Xia Chong Yu Bing said, checking his guild contribution, which he hadn't used and had accumulated to 51,000.

"Damn, Meng Nan, you actually saved up so much guild contribution! Forget it, it's yours then," Sha Bu Si De Huai Dan looked at Xia Chong Yu Bing's guild contribution in the guild channel and was shocked. With so much guild contribution, no one would dare compete with Xia Chong Yu Bing.

Sha Bu Si De Huai Dan, Xia Chong Yu Bing, Cui Can Dao Guang, and others were among the wealthiest players in the guild. Ordinary elite members had a thousand or so guild contribution points, and most of them had only a few hundred left. They would only gather guild contribution points temporarily when they needed equipment. People like them, who traded tens of thousands of guild contribution points at a time, were truly terrifying.

That's what a strong person should be like!

Since it already had an owner, Nie Yan didn't say anything more. He looked at the remaining piece of equipment, and his brow twitched. It was another good item!

Ring of the Leaper (Dark Gold): Special Item.

Stats: Reduces the user's weight by 90%, grants the ability to leap, with a maximum leap distance of approximately 10 yards. Cannot be used in combat. Skill cooldown of ten minutes.

Restriction: Usable by all factions.

These kinds of special items were rare and valuable. Ordinary players might not find them useful, but in Nie Yan's eyes, these special items were even more useful than some sub-legendary items.

~~I can't hold on any longer. I keep dozing off, and my writing efficiency is very low. I've only written 2,000 words. I'll post this first. Today will be four updates, totaling 11,000 words. Please continue to vote for me...~~