Chapter 17 The Forest Lake

At the next respawn point for the sub-elite scalefrogs, Nie Yan used a Dust of Mist, shrouding the sub-elite scalefrog before handing it over to Tang Yao.

Apart from the sound of Tang Yao casting spells, the jungle remained exceptionally quiet. Occasionally, a small animal or two would dart through the undergrowth between the trees.

Faint sounds of water drifted from afar, almost imperceptible.

"Is there a lake or stream ahead?" Yao Yao asked casually. The sound of the water was like a light piano melody, floating through the jungle, empty and distant.

"A lake?" Nie Yan's heart stirred. He suddenly remembered that there was indeed a lake outside the scalefrog spawn area. It was a small lake hidden in the forest, its surface obscured by tall, lush trees. In the center was a small island with an abandoned Fallen Elf altar. It was said that some good items could be found there, including several lost Fallen Elf recipes.

Nie Yan considered it. Since they were already in the vicinity, there was no harm in taking a look. If they didn't find anything, they could always come back.

Soon, it was time to log off. After Tang Yao killed the last sub-elite, a beam of white light landed on Nie Yan. *Ding dong*, a crisp system notification sounded.

Nie Yan checked his level. He was currently level 17, on par with Tang Yao. However, Tang Yao's total experience was much higher, and he would soon reach level 18.

"There are eighteen minutes left. Find a place with fewer monsters to log off," Nie Yan said, glancing at their gains for the day: three pieces of equipment, a level 30 silver equipment blueprint, a mid-level instant recovery potion recipe, and three lucky gems.

Killing monsters above their level gave them extra drop rate bonuses, and since they were killing elite monsters, the returns were quite good. In his past life, they rarely encountered elite monsters. Even if they did, many teams would compete for them. There were too many monks and not enough gruel. As a result, they could only get one or two silver or gold pieces of equipment a day. Most of the time, it was good enough if a boss spawned for them to farm. Nie Yan and the others were challenging monsters above their level, avoiding the competition with other players, and Nie Yan knew where to find the elites. Their advantage was obvious.

Today, Sun had reached level 11, and Yao Yao had reached level 12, just one step away from level 13. Their leveling speed had startled them both. It was so fast!

"Nie Yan-dage, Yaozi-dage, Yao Yao-jie, see you tomorrow," Sun bid farewell to Nie Yan and the others before logging off.

"I'm logging off too. Nie Yan, Yaozi, goodbye," Yao Yao said goodbye to Nie Yan and Tang Yao before logging off as well.

"Aren't you logging off?" Tang Yao asked, as Nie Yan didn't seem ready to log off yet.

"There are still ten minutes or so. I'll take a look around and scout the terrain. Here are five Dusts of Mist. I'll tell you the respawn locations of some sub-elite and elite scalefrogs. Record them, and tomorrow, before I get back online, give the Dusts of Mist to Sun and have him use them. You guys can continue farming the scalefrogs," Nie Yan said, trading Tang Yao several Dusts of Mist.

Tang Yao thought for a moment and nodded. "Alright." He confirmed the trade. He had complete trust in Nie Yan. With Nie Yan's skills, he should be able to avoid any danger if he made a conscious effort.

"You should log off too."

"I'm leaving." Tang Yao's figure gradually faded and disappeared.

Nie Yan followed the sound of water, heading towards its source. He found a stream in the forest and began to trace its origin. He encountered many scalefrogs along the way, but he activated Stealth and bypassed them.

As he delved deeper into the jungle, Nie Yan found a wooden treasure chest by the stream. After opening it, he only found a piece of level 30 white equipment. He felt a bit depressed, opening a treasure chest only to get a white item, his luck was too bad. But then he thought that even if he sold the level 30 white equipment to an NPC shop, it would be worth more than five silver coins, and it would be even more valuable if he disassembled it into materials, so he felt relieved.

Following the stream deeper into the jungle, he passed through the scalefrog spawn area. In the distance, a lake appeared before Nie Yan's eyes. The lake wasn't large, about 300 by 300 yards, and there was a small island in the middle.

System: You have discovered Lake Soradin.

In his past life, it was said that players had found several rare recipes in the center of the lake. Rare recipes produced from a level 30 map were at least intermediate level, so each one was very valuable. For Nie Yan, who owned a potion shop, every potion recipe was of extraordinary significance.

Nie Yan reached the edge of the lake. The lake surface was calm and waveless. He remembered that monsters would spawn in the lake, and there seemed to be elite creatures. He currently had a considerable amount of wealth, and dropping items upon death would be a great loss, so he dared not risk it easily.

He didn't think he had the ability to solo level 30 elites, and moving underwater wasn't as nimble as on land. Even encountering ordinary level 30 monsters would be very dangerous.

He glanced at the island in the center of the lake. It was only about thirty yards away. Tall trees, fifty or sixty yards high, grew along the lakeside, and vines hung down from the trees, shading the lake surface.

Nie Yan looked at the lush leaves and intertwined branches above. Even if he didn't swim across the lake, he should be able to reach the opposite island!

He walked to a large tree and used the skill on the Creeper Ring. Nie Yan climbed onto a thick branch like a spider, his movements clean and swift. He glanced at the opposite side, about ten yards away from the branches on the other side.

After pondering for a moment, he estimated the distance. It should be about right. Nie Yan suddenly jumped, leaping forward.

The horizontal distance across the water was at least twenty yards. Nie Yan used the momentum of his forward rush to fly a distance before falling towards the lake.

Nie Yan used the skill on the Left Hand Weaver Ring. The spider silk from the Weaver Ring adhered to the opposite branch. The spider silk quickly tightened, pulling Nie Yan and allowing him to swing forward like a pendulum.

Flying over the lake, Nie Yan retracted the spider silk and continued flying forward for a distance.

His altitude rapidly decreased. Nie Yan landed on the opposite shore, rolled, and finally steadied his footing. A damage value of -23 floated above his head.

Looking back, he smiled slightly, having successfully crossed the open lake. The Weaver Ring and Creeper Ring were indeed very useful.

In the distance, a giant water snake slowly swam over the lake. It was five or six yards long, its body covered with yellow and white scales. As it swam, ripples spread across the surface of the water. This water snake was probably a level 30 or higher monster. Nie Yan dared not be careless, entering Stealth and hiding in a patch of grass on the island.

The water snake didn't detect Nie Yan and swam past, disappearing into the distance.

Nie Yan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If he hadn't chosen to leap over the lake from above but had chosen to swim across, he didn't know what would have happened.

The small island in the middle of the lake was only about 30 by 30 yards. A few large trees grew there, and there were no monsters active. In the center of the island was a giant tree, towering into the sky, but its trunk had been hollowed out. Under the hollow trunk was a black chest. It was an ancient chest, it must have been there for a long time, eroded by wind and rain, covered with dirt, dull and without any luster.

Nie Yan walked towards the chest. The shape of the chest was full of the flavor of the Dark Ages, the era when the ancient dragon clan ruled, much older than any chest he had encountered before. The older and more historically rich the chest, the better the things inside, this was a common understanding among players.

Wiping away the mud, a dark golden luster flickered faintly.

It was a dark gold chest!

Discovering that it was a dark gold chest, Nie Yan's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Nie Yan had never seen a dark gold chest before. Even in his past life, he had only heard of dark gold chests, never actually seen one. Dark gold chests contained at least dark gold items, and there was a high probability of finding sub-legendary items. It was also possible to find legendary items, but the probability was very small.

He didn't know if it was locked. Nie Yan bent down, his right hand reaching for the latch. A huge sense of disappointment surged up. The dark gold chest had a very delicate small lock, its intricate locking mechanism was breathtaking.

This was the most sophisticated lock Nie Yan had ever seen. It would probably take at least expert-level lockpicking to open it. This type of lock might have a special key, and an ordinary key would definitely not open it.

Nie Yan felt depressed and smiled wryly. He thought to himself, of course, how could a dark gold treasure chest be left wide open here, waiting for him to open it?

Although he remembered that there were things on this island, the results of his search were very disappointing.

Nie Yan stood up. On second thought, he felt that something was wrong. In theory, expert-level lockpicking would only be available to great thieves, meaning that players would have to wait at least five or six, even seven or eight years before they could use expert-level lockpicking to open this dark gold chest. By then, countless players would have discovered this place, and news of a dark gold treasure chest here would spread widely. But why had Nie Yan never heard of a dark gold treasure chest here?

Unless someone had discovered the dark gold treasure chest before the players arrived and used expert-level lockpicking to open it, taking the items away, and the treasure chest disappeared, then the players wouldn't know there was a dark gold treasure chest here.

Even great thief-level players rarely cultivated expert-level lockpicking, because expert-level lockpicking wasn't something that could be obtained casually, but required constantly practicing lockpicking skills, opening thousands upon thousands of locked treasure chests to reach that level.

The only possibility was that there were other ways to open this dark gold treasure chest! Maybe he could find a special key to open this dark gold treasure chest.

Thinking of this, Nie Yan stood up. The answer must still be on this island! There was also an abandoned Fallen Elf altar on this island, maybe it was related to that altar!

He looked at the time. The game was about to shut down, and there was no time left. He would take another look next time he logged in.