Chapter 1 The Black Lotus of Sin

The Black Lotus of Sin was a high-grade material. If given to an alchemist capable of brewing legendary potions, the value of a legendary black draught would be considerable. The waters where the Black Lotus of Sin grew were about fifty or sixty yards from the shore. The monsters that spawned beneath the surface seemed to be at least Level 40.

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

So obtaining the Black Lotus of Sin wouldn't be easy.

"Shall we swim over?" Yao Yao asked. At this distance, they could only go through the water.

Nie Yan shook his head. "We have to wait a bit." He walked to the edge of the lake and looked into the water. The light was bright enough that he could see a shadow flash beneath the surface. Seeing that shadow, Nie Yan felt a chill in his heart and took a few steps back.

There were definitely many monsters in this lake. Getting the Black Lotus of Sin would be difficult.

If they hadn't jumped into the sinkhole, taking a shortcut through the other entrances of the Dark Caverns, reaching this place would have taken at least five or six hours. The monsters along the way were as numerous as the hairs on an ox; the annoyance alone would be enough to kill a person.

Nie Yan summoned the Golden Land Dragon. The Golden Land Dragon was already quite strong and could help Nie Yan tank monsters.

After a beam of summoning light descended, the massive Golden Land Dragon appeared before Nie Yan and Yao Yao.

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

The Golden Land Dragon's scales were rough and textured, like metal. The Golden Land Dragon's armor was even stronger than metal armor—dragon scale armor!

"Mm, I'll aggro the monsters," Nie Yan said, walking to the rock wall. He raised the Headless Horseman's crossbow, aiming at the dark shadow beneath the water.

Adjusting for the refraction of light on the water surface, he spotted the dark shadow and fired five arrows in quick succession. *Pfft pfft pfft,* the five arrows struck simultaneously, all hitting the dark shadow beneath the water. A foul-smelling, bloody water welled up.

The black shadow quickly swam towards Nie Yan. With a splash, a huge monster burst out of the water.

Nie Yan finally saw the creature's appearance. It was about the size of a bear, its entire body covered in black fish scales. It had long, sharp horns on its head, and its limbs were strong and powerful. It held a giant steel fork in its hands, the fork completely black and five yards long.

Black Horned Demon of Sin: Level 40 Elite, 9000 HP.

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

Nie Yan quickly retreated, raising the Headless Horseman's crossbow and firing at the Black Horned Demon.

*Pfft pfft pfft,* five arrows hit the Black Horned Demon.

-121, -112, -100...

Damage numbers floated above the Black Horned Demon's head, its health dropping rapidly.

The Golden Land Dragon opened its mouth and spewed a stream of scorching dragon breath. The dragon breath struck the Black Horned Demon, and with a *bang,* a black burn mark appeared on the Black Horned Demon's abdomen.

-529. A damage number floated above the Black Horned Demon's head.

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

But then he understood the reason. The Golden Land Dragon's attack was a dragon breath attack, ignoring all armor types, so the damage would be relatively high. The damage calculation formula was very complex. It had several related factors, including attack type, armor type, and level difference.

For example, Nie Yan's crossbow attacks dealt an extra 160% damage to light armor like cloth and leather, but the damage to heavy armor like metal armor and plate armor was greatly reduced, only about 50%. The Golden Land Dragon's dragon breath, on the other hand, was a chaotic attack, dealing 200% damage to all units. So even attacking the Black Horned Demon across so many levels, it could still deal such high damage.

Dark Shackles!

The Black Horned Demon cast a skill. Black shadows, like ropes, tightly bound Nie Yan, making him unable to move.

Yao Yao was about to use Holy Light to dispel the effect and rescue Nie Yan.

"Give the Golden Land Dragon a Holy Light Shield!" Nie Yan quickly said.

Yao Yao waved her staff and cast a Holy Light Shield on the Golden Land Dragon. A holy white light enveloped the Golden Land Dragon's body.

Yao Yao's reaction speed was comparable to a first-rate expert.

Just as Yao Yao finished casting, the Black Horned Demon charged horizontally, its giant steel fork slamming into the Golden Land Dragon with a loud bang.

After the Golden Land Dragon was shielded with Holy Light, its defense was much higher. The hard scales on its abdomen took the brunt of the Black Horned Demon's attack. There was only a muffled sound, and the Golden Land Dragon took a few steps back. Due to the protective effect of the Holy Light Shield, it took much less damage, only about one hundred sixty or seventy points.

If the Golden Land Dragon had taken the Black Horned Demon's attack head-on, it would have taken at least three or four hundred points of damage.

The Golden Land Dragon, having only suffered so little damage, was unafraid of the Black Horned Demon. It pounced and attacked the Black Horned Demon with its claws. Even with just ordinary physical attacks, the damage was astonishing.

The Holy Word spells in Yao Yao's hands were continuously cast, exploding on the Black Horned Demon with a series of *bangs,* and damage numbers floated above the Black Horned Demon's head.

After the Dark Shackles on Nie Yan were解除, he instantly appeared behind the Black Horned Demon, performing a Backstab followed by an Eviscerate.

The Black Horned Demon roared angrily and crashed into the Golden Land Dragon.

Time passed second by second. Yao Yao waved her staff, gathering a giant orb of light in her left hand. The orb quickly shrank. After a long while, she waved her staff, and the orb flew towards the Black Horned Demon. With a *bang,* the orb exploded. The powerful impact of the explosion made the Black Horned Demon stagger several steps back, and a damage number of over six hundred floated above the Black Horned Demon's head.

The Black Horned Demon let out a mournful cry, its heavy body losing support and crashing heavily to the ground.

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

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

"Yes," Yao Yao nodded. She had bought it from a professional player, and it had cost a fortune.

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 hard to find a skill with magic damage comparable to Holy Word Detonation within Level 50.

Nie Yan hadn't expected Yao Yao to be able to find even such a skill. He began to suspect Yao Yao's background. Without a powerful background, it would be difficult for ordinary players to gather so much good equipment. He knew Yao Yao's skills; although she could be considered excellent, she wasn't top-notch. The only explanation for being able to obtain so many good items was that Yao Yao had some background behind her.

But Nie Yan had no intention of pursuing the matter. He wanted to quickly help Yao Yao complete this quest.

Nie Yan walked over and picked up the items dropped by the Black Horned Demon. There was a Level 40 gold equipment blueprint, and a mage's headpiece. It was a rare item that reduced level requirements, and could be worn at Level 30.

Dark Ritual Headpiece (Gold): Limited to females, Required Level 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, headpiece equipment had gender restrictions and could only be worn by female players. This was a preferential condition that the main brain gave to female players. Because of the additional headpiece, female players' defense was often slightly higher than that of male players.

However, because it was an additional piece of equipment, the added stats of headpieces were quite low. A headpiece like the Dark Ritual Headpiece was already considered extremely good.

"It's better than the headpiece I'm wearing," Yao Yao said. It was rare to encounter headpiece equipment with such high stats.

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

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

Yao Yao made the Dark Ritual Headpiece into a small embellishment, tying it in her hair. The black ribbon was covered with stripes, adding a bit of mystery to her playfulness, and giving her a different kind of temperament.

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

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

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

Nie Yan quickly turned his head to aggro the monsters, walking to the edge of the lake, raising the Headless Horseman's crossbow, and starting to aggro the monsters. One Black Horned Demon of Sin after another was pulled out of the water by him, then killed by Nie Yan and Yao Yao.

With a shield on the Golden Land Dragon, the Golden Land Dragon could tank the Level 40 Elite Black Horned Demon of Sin. This made Nie Yan more clearly aware of the Golden Land Dragon's strength. The Golden Land Dragon needed about four times the experience of Nie Yan to level up. It was so difficult to train, and there was a reason for that.

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

Seeing that Nie Yan didn't dare to look directly at her, a playful smile appeared on the corner of Yao Yao's mouth. She thought that the current Nie Yan was very interesting.

After several tens of minutes, the two cleared 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 about enough to pick the Black Lotus of Sin, but he felt vaguely uneasy, so he prepared to go down with Yao Yao. If something happened, the two could help each other. If they encountered the Black Horned Demon of Sin, Nie Yan alone wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Mm," Yao Yao nodded.

Nie Yan recalled the Golden Land Dragon, and the two jumped into the cold lake water one after another.

A breeze blew across the lake surface, causing slight ripples. The calm and deep lake surface was like a monster with a wide mouth, ready to devour people at any time. Looking down, one could only see darkness, unable to see the situation at the bottom of the lake. 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 Black Lotus of Sin slowly wafted over, making people feel relaxed and happy.