Chapter 1 The Abyssal Black Lotus

The Abyssal Black Lotus was a high-grade material. If given to an alchemist capable of concocting legendary potions, the resulting legendary black draught would be incredibly valuable. The waters where the Abyssal Black Lotus grew were about fifty or sixty yards from the shore, and the monsters that spawned there were at least Level 40.

Monsters in the water were much harder to deal with than those on land.

So, obtaining the Abyssal Black Lotus wouldn't be easy.

"Should we swim over?" Yao Yao asked. At this distance, they could only reach it through the water.

Nie Yan shook his head. "We have to wait." He walked to the lake's edge and peered into the water. The light was fairly bright, and he could see a shadow flicker beneath the surface. Seeing that shadow, Nie Yan's heart tightened, and he took a few steps back.

This lake was sure to be teeming with monsters. Obtaining the Abyssal Black Lotus would be very difficult.

If they hadn't jumped down the sinkhole and taken the shortcut, entering from the other entrances of the Dark Caverns, it would have taken at least five or six hours to reach this place. The number of monsters along the way was countless, enough to drive anyone mad.

Nie Yan summoned the Golden Earth Dragon. The Golden Earth Dragon's strength was already quite formidable, and it could help Nie Yan tank monsters.

As a beam of summoning light descended, the enormous Golden Earth Dragon appeared before Nie Yan and Yao Yao.

"This is that Golden Earth Dragon?" Yao Yao said in surprise, her slender hand stroking the dragon's scales.

The Golden Earth Dragon's scales were rough and textured, like metal. The Golden Earth Dragon's armor was Dragonscale Armor, stronger than even metal armor!

"Mm, I'll lure the monsters," Nie Yan said, walking to the rock wall. He raised the Headless Horseman's Fallen Rider Crossbow, aiming the massive crossbow at the shadow beneath the water.

Adjusting his aim based on the refraction of the light on the water's surface, Nie Yan fired five arrows with a whoosh as soon as he saw the shadow. *Puff puff puff,* the five arrows struck simultaneously, all hitting the shadow beneath the water. A foul-smelling, bloody water rose to the surface.

The shadow rapidly swam towards Nie Yan. With a *splash*, a massive monster burst out of the water.

Nie Yan finally saw the monster's appearance clearly. It was about the size of a giant bear, its body covered in black fish scales. It had long, sharp horns on its head, and its limbs were strong and powerful. In its hands, it held a giant steel trident, the entire weapon pitch-black and five yards long.

Abyssal Blackhorn Monster: Level 40 Elite, HP 9000.

Although it was only an elite monster, it was still an extremely troublesome creature.

Nie Yan quickly retreated, raising the Headless Horseman Doro's Rider Crossbow and firing at the Abyssal Blackhorn Monster.

*Puff puff puff,* five arrows struck the Abyssal Blackhorn Monster.

-121, -112, -100...

Damage numbers floated above the Blackhorn Monster's head, and its health rapidly decreased.

The Golden Earth Dragon opened its mouth and spewed a scorching Dragon Breath. The Dragon Breath struck the Blackhorn Monster, and with a *bang*, a black scorch mark appeared on the Blackhorn Monster's abdomen.

-529, a damage number floated above the Blackhorn Monster's head.

This damage number startled Nie Yan. He hadn't expected the Golden Earth Dragon's attack to be so powerful.

But after a moment's thought, he understood the reason. The Golden Earth Dragon's attack was a Dragon Breath attack, ignoring all armor types, so the damage would be relatively high. The formula for calculating attack damage was very complex. It had several related factors, including attack type, armor type, level difference, and so on.

For example, Nie Yan's crossbow attacks dealt an additional 160% damage to light armor like cloth and leather, but the damage dealt to heavy armor like metal armor and plate armor was greatly reduced, only about 50%. The Golden Earth Dragon's Dragon Breath, however, was a chaotic type of attack that dealt 200% damage to any unit. So, even attacking the Blackhorn Monster, which was many levels higher, he could still deal such high damage.

Dark Shackles!

The Blackhorn Monster cast a skill. Shadows like ropes tightly bound Nie Yan, preventing him from moving.

Yao Yao was about to use Holy Light Dispel to free Nie Yan.

"Give the Golden Earth Dragon a Holy Light Shield!" Nie Yan hurriedly said.

Yao Yao waved her staff, casting a Holy Light Shield on the Golden Earth Dragon. A holy white light enveloped the Golden Earth Dragon.

Yao Yao's reaction speed was comparable to that of a top-tier expert.

Just as Yao Yao finished casting, the Blackhorn Monster charged sideways, slamming its giant steel trident into the Golden Earth Dragon with a deafening crash.

After the Golden Earth Dragon was covered in the Holy Light Shield, its defense was much higher. The hard scales on its abdomen took the brunt of the Blackhorn Monster's attack. With a muffled sound, the Golden Earth Dragon retreated several steps. Due to the protective effect of the Holy Light Shield, it received much less damage, only about one hundred sixty or seventy points.

If the Golden Earth Dragon had taken the Blackhorn Monster's attack head-on, it would have taken at least three or four hundred points of damage.

Having only taken so little damage, the Golden Earth Dragon feared not the Blackhorn Monster. It pounced forward, attacking the Blackhorn Monster with its claws. Even with just ordinary physical attacks, the damage was still terrifying.

The Holy Word spells in Yao Yao's hands were constantly being cast, exploding on the Blackhorn Monster with a *bang bang bang*. Damage numbers floated above the Blackhorn Monster's head.

After the Dark Shackles on Nie Yan disappeared, he instantly appeared behind the Blackhorn Monster, delivering a Backstab followed by an Eviscerate.

The Blackhorn Monster roared furiously, ramming into the Golden Earth Dragon.

Time passed. Yao Yao waved her staff, a massive ball of light gathering in her left hand. The ball of light rapidly shrunk. After a long moment, she waved her staff, and the ball of light flew towards the Blackhorn Monster. With a *bang*, the ball of light exploded, and the powerful shockwave from the explosion sent the Blackhorn Monster stumbling back several steps. A damage number of over six hundred floated above the Blackhorn Monster's head.

The Blackhorn Monster let out a mournful cry, its heavy body losing its support and collapsing heavily to the ground.

Yao Yao's last spell, with its extremely high spell damage, startled Nie Yan.

"Was that Holy Word Detonation?" Nie Yan asked, looking at Yao Yao. The Holy Word Detonation skill had certain characteristics that he could barely recognize.

"Yes," Yao Yao nodded. She had bought it from a professional player, and the price was quite steep.

Holy Word Detonation was one of the most powerful skills for low-level Holy Word mages, a treasure for those under Level 50! It would be difficult to find a skill with spell damage comparable to Holy Word Detonation for those under Level 50.

Nie Yan hadn't expected Yao Yao to find even such a skill. He began to suspect Yao Yao's background. Without a powerful background, ordinary players would find it difficult to gather so much good equipment. He understood Yao Yao's skills; although she was considered excellent, she wasn't exactly top-tier. The only explanation for being able to obtain so many good things was that Yao Yao had some kind of backing.

However, Nie Yan no longer wanted to investigate. He wanted to quickly help Yao Yao finish this quest.

Nie Yan walked over and picked up the items dropped by the Blackhorn Monster. There was a Level 40 gold equipment blueprint and a mage's headdress, which was a rare piece of equipment that reduced level requirements; it could be worn at Level 30.

Dark Ritual Headdress (Gold): Limited to females, Level Requirement 40.

Stats: Defense 32-38, HP +30, When Intelligence is higher than 260, Level Requirement -10.

Restriction: Only usable by Lawful Good Holy Word Mages of the Light Faction.

Generally, headdress-type equipment had gender restrictions and could only be worn by female players. This was one of the benefits the main system gave to female players. Because of the addition of a headdress, female players often had slightly higher defense than male players.

However, because it was an extra piece of equipment, the added attributes of the headdress were quite small. This Dark Ritual Headdress, however, was considered extremely good.

"It's better than the headdress I'm wearing," Yao Yao said. It was rare to encounter a headdress-type piece of equipment with such high attributes.

"You take it," Nie Yan said, trading the Dark Ritual Headdress to Yao Yao.

Yao Yao put on the Dark Ritual Headdress, spun around, and looked at Nie Yan. "Nie Yan, how is it?"

Yao Yao made the Dark Ritual Headdress into a small ornament, tying it onto her hair. The black ribbon was covered with stripes, adding a touch of mystery to her playfulness, enhancing her unique temperament.

Nie Yan nodded slightly. "Very nice." Yao Yao was youthful and beautiful. No matter how she dressed, she wouldn't look bad.

Hearing Nie Yan's praise, Yao Yao also smiled.

"I'll go lure the next monster," Nie Yan said. He had to admit that Yao Yao was indeed very attractive.

Nie Yan quickly turned his head to lure the monsters. He walked to the lake and raised the Headless Horseman Doro's Rider Crossbow, luring one Abyssal Blackhorn Monster after another from the water. Then, Nie Yan and Yao Yao killed them.

Giving the Golden Earth Dragon a shield allowed it to withstand the Level 40 elite Abyssal Blackhorn Monster. This made Nie Yan even more aware of the Golden Earth Dragon's strength. The Golden Earth Dragon required about four times the experience Nie Yan needed to level up, so it was no wonder it was so difficult to train.

With the Golden Earth Dragon's terrifying growth, its stats would be unimaginable when it reached Level 100 or more.

Seeing that Nie Yan didn't dare to look directly at her, a playful smile appeared on the corner of Yao Yao's lips. She found the current Nie Yan, all serious and upright, very interesting.

After several tens of minutes, the two cleared out all the elites in the lake, confirming that there were no other monsters nearby.

"Let's go down together," Nie Yan said. Swimming over would be enough to pluck the Abyssal Black Lotus, but he felt vaguely uneasy, so he prepared to go down with Yao Yao. That way, they could help each other if something happened. If they encountered an Abyssal Blackhorn Monster, Nie Yan alone wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Mm," Yao Yao nodded.

Nie Yan recalled the Golden Earth Dragon. The two jumped into the cold lake water one after the other.

A breeze swept across the lake surface, creating ripples. The calm and deep lake surface was like a monster with its mouth wide open, ready to devour people at any moment. Looking down, they could only see darkness and couldn't see the bottom of the lake at all. It was precisely because of the unknown that people felt fear.

The two swam towards the center of the lake. The faint fragrance of the Abyssal Black Lotus slowly drifted over, making people feel refreshed and at ease.