Chapter 129: Building a Courtyard, Flaming Golden Blades
Chapter 129: Building a Courtyard, Flaming Golden Blades
Ye Rong put out the attributes of the Seven Birds Feather, the Solid Gold Balls, and the Seven Avian Feather Fan after they were combined. Hengheng Haha immediately jumped forward excitedly, itching to grab them all at once. The other players were even more unrestrained. Each of them stared at these treasures with such greedy eyes it was unsettling—they were nearly drooling.
Fifth-Rank Flying Swords were already such a distant goal for most players. Being able to equip a full set like this was more than enough to satisfy them.
Think about it—even an expert like Ye Rong had not been using Fifth-Rank Flying Swords for long.
“Don’t be so jealous. The drop rates for Chongming Beasts here are very high. Putting together a full set shouldn’t be too hard.”
“Boss, you truly are wise, powerful, and unmatched—a true model of Qingcheng! You even found such an amazing treasure-hunting spot! Wahaha!”
Hengheng Haha was flattering Ye Rong as usual, but he also seemed genuinely excited and coveted those Fifth-Tier treasures.
“If these Flying Swords and treasures keep dropping continuously, our team’s strength will quickly rise. We’ll soon surpass the other factions in Qingcheng and stand alone at the top!”
“Then let’s get to work right away!”
Ye Rong pretended to kick Hengheng Haha. The sixty-plus players he brought with him split into several groups and charged at the Chongming Beasts—after all, not every player had skills like his, beheading Chongming Beasts as easily as slaughtering poultry.
“Boss, this is the first batch of Second-Grade pills Xuanhu Xiaoyao made. He sent them especially for you.”
Hengheng Haha traded over more than a hundred Second-Grade pills—half for restoring Qi and Blood, and half for restoring True Qi. Among these, the pills for Qi and Blood were even better than Blood Restoration Pills. After using one, it restored 240 points of Qi and Blood over 8 seconds. It seemed Xuanhu Xiaoyao’s role as an Alchemist of the Qingnang Sect was paying off.
Ye Rong accepted all of them. This amount of pills should last him for a while.
It seemed it wouldn’t be long before Xuanhu Xiaoyao could supply pills for the team—even if selling them for profit wasn’t feasible yet.
Ye Rong decided to discuss rules with the core members later, outlining how many pills one could get by providing alchemy materials or recipes to Xuanhu Xiaoyao, or selling them to fellow members at a price lower than the market rate.
Only in this way would other members not feel like they were at a disadvantage or doing free labor; and Xuanhu Xiaoyao himself wouldn’t think that making pills was purely a charitable act that dampened his motivation.
“But why did you bring Jiafang Yifang along? At his low level, he can’t be of much help here.”
“Brother Yijian, you’re looking down on me! Yesterday, a brother gave me a Civil Engineer skill book as a gift. Now I can build small courtyards. As long as there are enough materials, I could even build a village in this desolate mountain range.”
Jiafang Yifang waved his hand and scattered piles of construction materials everywhere. Sword Light crashed down, carving out a several-zhang deep foundation. He had several people prop up the building materials, then used his skill—and soon, a small single-story house appeared.
In the blink of an eye, a three-section courtyard formed, surrounded by a stone wall with a defense rating of 10,000.
Jiafang Yifang picked a location where no Chongming Beasts spawned. This courtyard essentially served as a safe resting spot for everyone to recover, and they could temporarily store looted equipment in its storage.
“Too bad it’s only a regular courtyard. If it were a Guild Stronghold, after placing the Black Iron Order, NPCs like blacksmiths and ginseng fairies would appear here. Our logistics wouldn’t be a problem then. We could also gather spiritual veins, build spirit towers, and construct Divine Thunder Towers. With all sorts of facilities, we could turn this place into a real stronghold.”
Jiafang Yifang looked at the courtyard he built and sighed with regret, as if feeling his talents were wasted.
“Black Iron Order? You’re really dreaming! What’s the value of a single Black Iron Order? How difficult is the Guild Creation Quest? Choosing a Guild Stronghold in a place like this—even if a horse kicked you in the head, you wouldn’t make that decision.”
Hengheng Haha sneered at Jiafang Yifang’s words. Indeed, a Guild Stronghold couldn’t be chosen just anywhere that looked good. It required careful analysis from multiple angles—monster distribution nearby, development prospects for expansion, etc.—before the best location could be picked.
A place like Nameless Solitary Peak, where only Chongming Beasts appeared and no higher-level monsters roamed, definitely wouldn’t work for a faction aiming for long-term growth. Could faction members really travel thousands of miles to grind monsters once they leveled up? That would be too inconvenient and wouldn’t leverage the benefits of a home turf.
“Alright, enough! Everyone, go kill monsters! Hurry up and collect more treasure sets!”
Ye Rong kicked each of the two bickering guys away, sending them off to obediently slay monsters.
When dealing with monsters like Chongming Beasts, Ye Rong was naturally more efficient working alone. He could take down any of them in just a few sword strokes. Teaming up with others would just be a waste of time.
Inspired by the precedent of the Seven Avian Feather Fan, all the players were highly motivated. Especially after someone yelled, “I got a Solid Gold Ball!” or “I found a Seven Birds Feather!” None of the members needed any urging—they all put in 120% effort.
Since both Seven Birds Feathers and Solid Gold Balls only revealed their true power when a full set was assembled, and to prevent parts from being scattered—where everyone ended up with two or three pieces but no one could complete a set—Ye Rong gave the order: all Flying Swords and treasures obtained were to be handed over to Hengheng Haha first.
Once complete sets were assembled, they would be distributed, with priority given to top performers.
“Darn it! Did I use up all my luck? Why can’t I get anything to drop!”
Ye Rong darted up and down Nameless Solitary Peak, slicing down every Chongming Beast he saw without holding back. But even after quite some time, he still had empty hands.
“Boss! I’ve put together a full set of Solid Gold Balls!”
Hengheng Haha ran over excitedly, holding nine Solid Gold Balls in his hands as if presenting a treasure.
When nine Solid Gold Balls formed a set, they could be equipped in one Talisman Slot. Once activated, they launched a chain of balls linked head to tail, and each ball was coated in a layer of golden flames, blazing fiercely.
Curious, Ye Rong equipped them—after reaching Level 40, he gained an extra Talisman Slot, bringing his total to four.
Unless he was leveling in water areas where the Water-repelling Pearl wasn’t needed, his four Talisman Slots were equipped with the Mystic Purple Turtle Shell, the Shangqing Blessing Token, and the Leigong Hammer, leaving exactly one slot open.
The golden flames on the Solid Gold Balls only added 10 points of fire damage, but a single strike sent the Chongming Beast in front of him flying over a dozen meters away, carrying wave after wave of immense force. However, this attribute was only useful against tough, close-range monsters with fearsome attack power—to keep them from getting too near.
Ye Rong deployed the Primordial Golden Ball Array. A string of golden balls danced up and down in his hand, trapping a Chongming Beast inside. Clusters of Flaming Golden Blades spat out, forming a sea of golden fire that instantly roasted the Chongming Beast to a crisp.
Under the Primordial Golden Ball Array, Flaming Golden Blades could be summoned to attack enemies, with an attack power of 150-180. Up to nine Flaming Golden Blades could manifest at once.
“Whoa, that’s brutal! It didn’t just use up True Qi—it drained Qi and Blood too!”
The Flaming Golden Blades had quite impressive damage, but with just that one use, his True Qi dropped by nearly a third. What was even scarier was that his Qi and Blood decreased by the same amount—it turned out both True Qi and Qi and Blood were consumed together to use this skill.
This treasure’s damage was far stronger than the Seven Avian Feather Fan, especially the Flaming Golden Blades—they were almost comparable to the Divine Thunder attached to the Leigong Hammer, and could be reused repeatedly.
It was certain—for most players, the appeal of this treasure far surpassed that of the Seven Avian Feather Fan.
Ye Rong thought for a moment, then unequipped the Solid Gold Balls. He asked Hengheng Haha for the contribution record of handed-in Flying Swords and treasures, then awarded it to a player who had already turned in three Seven Birds Feathers.
“From now on, follow this record. Whoever contributes the most gets priority for complete sets of Flying Swords and treasures.”
Ye Rong instructed Hengheng Haha and traded him the few Solid Gold Balls he had on him, keeping only one set of the Seven Avian Feather Fan.
“Don’t worry, I’ll allow you to claim a set for yourself later.”
Hearing this, Hengheng Haha’s face lit up with excitement, and he nodded repeatedly like pounding garlic.
As soon as Ye Rong awarded the Solid Gold Balls, he saw that player wield a golden ball in his strikes. The Chongming Beast in front of him was battered relentlessly, forced to retreat continuously, unable to get close. The player toyed with it effortlessly, showing off quite grandly.
The other members watched with envy. Such a flashy, high-damage treasure was already within reach, waiting for them to claim it. Everyone put extra effort into their tasks.
“Boss, I really think this treasure is great! With this knockback effect, wouldn’t it be invincible against bosses? Have a dozen players each equip a set of Solid Gold Balls and pummel the boss relentlessly, keeping it at a distance while others just focus on dealing damage.”
Hengheng Haha suddenly jumped up and exclaimed loudly, seeming very excited about what he thought was a brilliant idea.
“Hengheng Haha, are you suggesting using this Third-Tier treasure to knock back bosses? Never mind whether the knockback that works on common monsters would still be effective against Elite Tier or even Rare Grade monsters—do you even know how far the attack range of high-level bosses is? Or how wide a high-level Dao Spell can reach?”
“N-No, I don’t.”
Hengheng Haha’s excitement faded, and he answered meekly.
“Ten miles! And that’s on the low end. If it were really a Rare Grade monster above Level 100, or a cultivated Monster, it wouldn’t be strange for a Dao Spell to strike dozens of miles away!”