Chapter 153 – Ambitions
Nie Yan only knew that a player had collected an Energized Arcane Crystal Core from Everlasting City and used it to resurrect their Arcane Fairy. The only problem was that Everlasting City was a Level 40 zone! The Magic Golems there were machine-type monsters that had very high defense and were extremely tough to deal with. Even though Tasoyi Village had Magic Bombs for sale which were especially effective against machine-type monsters, such expensive items weren’t something ordinary players could afford. Even he felt hesitant about using them.
“Nirvana Flame, please tell me how I can resurrect my Arcane Fairy! I need to know!” Tang Yao asked somewhat emotionally. He didn’t expect that he’d suddenly see a glimmer of hope in his despair.
“It won’t be possible for the time being. We’ll have to head to Everlasting City to search for an Arcane Energized Crystal Core, but the monsters there are Level 40. We’re too weak right now, so there’s no way we can go there.”
“A Level 40 map?” Tang Yao was a bit taken aback. “How do you know all this?”
“The library and the official website. A quick search on the official forums should get you the answer on how to revive an Arcane Fairy.” Since Nie Yan couldn’t exactly reveal himself as a reincarnated person, he pinned everything on the library and the forums. Conviction was true to life in the sense that players would often find themselves growing attached to their familiars after spending every waking moment in the game with them. Hence, when these familiars died, many players would try to employ a method to revive them. However, these methods were often more difficult than obtaining the familiar in the first place. So generally only a few foolhardy and determined players would go on to attempt the arduous task. Even if they couldn’t find what they were searching for in the short term, they would still see a shining glimmer of hope, and given enough time, if they still failed to succeed, they would calm down and move on.
Tang Yao did a search on the official forums, and indeed, three methods came up for reviving an Arcane Fairy. The first method was using an Energized Arcane Crystal Core. As a very rare form of crystal, it had a wide range of applications but was mostly used in manufacturing Magic Golems. It could be found in Level 30 maps or above, but it was exceedingly rare with only a few crystals existing within certain specials maps. The second method was using a Revival Stone, a stone that could revive any familiar, but it only started dropping from Level 60 maps onward. Due to its rarity, a single Revival Stone was worth far more than an Arcane Fairy. In fact, it was only worthwhile to use a Revival Stone on a Rank 5 Arcane Fairy. Anything less would simply be too much of a waste. To illustrate, in Nie Yan’s past life, a single Revival Stone could be traded for over a hundred Rank 3 Arcane Fairies. The third and final method was using a Divine Wish Stone. It was so priceless that there didn’t even need to be a discussion on how laughably wasteful it would be to use on an Arcane Fairy.
Of course, these methods were the ones achievable in the Viridian Empire. Other places such as the Spring of Life in the Sacred Land of the Fairies in the Satleen Empire, or the mysterious Fate Items in the Land of the Undead all had the ability to resurrect Arcane Fairies and other familiars.
Even though there were so many ways available, out of all of them, Nie Yan’s was the most reasonable. At the very least, he knew where he could find an Energized Arcane Crystal Core laying around.
“Wait until we level up some more, then I’ll help you revive your Arcane Fairy!”
Having these words, Nie Yan patted him on the shoulder. Tang Yao felt touched and nodded his head.
At that moment, Guo Huai walked up to them. Of the reinforcements he had brought along, only he and three others survived.
“You guys didn’t die! That’s great,” Guo Huai said as his face lit up with joy. It didn’t matter how many of their players died as long as Nie Yan and Tang Yao survived, especially the latter. If Tang Yao died, it would be an absolutely devastating blow to their fledgling guild.
“We were lucky Holy Empire arrived in time to save us,” Nie Yan said with a faint smile.
“You also have connections with people in Holy Empire?” Guo Huai asked. He glanced at the Holy Empire troops across from them. They wore excellent gear, with most of them clad in complete sets. Their orderly ranks and solemn atmosphere left him with quite an impression. A top five guild in the entire Viridian Empire really was a cut above the rest. As he recalled the mediocre quality of his own reinforcements, he couldn’t help but feel ashamed.
“You could say that. We were saved by them this time, so we owe them a favour,” Nie Yan nodded. He then glanced at Guo Huai who seemed a little dejected. “Don’t mind it too much. We’re still a new guild, of course we aren’t close to their level. But you know… even if they’re well-known and established names, we’ll definitely surpass all other major guilds in the future, including Victorious Return, and become the most powerful guild in the Viridian Empire.”
“Alright.” Guo Huai earnestly nodded his head. He also had great ambitions in his heart. Although Asskickers United was only recently established, they had already created a reputation for themselves and their initial expansion could be considered frighteningly fast.
“I’m gonna head over and have a chat with the guild leader of Holy Empire.” Nie Yan informed Guo Huai, Tang Yao, and the others.
After which he walked over to where Sleepy Fox was standing. As he drew closer, he waved his hand and greeted, “I really have to thank you this time. If you hadn’t appeared in time, my friends and I would have definitely died here today.”
“It’s nothing,” Sleepy Fox replied with a light smile.
Although Sleepy Fox seemed relaxed on the surface, he was actually deeply worried. How he was going to handle relations between his own guild and Victorious Return was a top priority at the moment. Were they to completely fall out with Victorious Return, then the ramifications would be inconceivable. If Victorious Return started an all-out war with them with no regard for the consequences, then the losses for both guilds would be equally disastrous. However, having taken all of this into consideration, he had still chosen to help Nie Yan.
Firstly, even if Victorious Return held grievances with Holy Empire over this matter, their guild leader, Heaven Breaker, wouldn’t likely take it so far where the two guilds would diametrically oppose one another. After all, this wouldn’t benefit either of them. Secondly, Nie Yan most likely had a mysterious backer supporting him. Add on the Starry Night Potion Shop, he was definitely worth roping in! Lastly, whether it be dungeoneering, level, or personal ability, Nie Yan was amazingly talented in all respects.
If it weren’t for these last two points, he would have never braved the dangers of incurring Heaven Breaker’s wrath for the sake of saving Nie Yan.
After giving it a little thought, Nie Yan also roughly understood what led to Sleepy Fox’s decision. Everyone here was intelligent, so there was no need for him to lay the facts bare. Regardless of intentions, Sleepy Fox had saved his life, that was without a doubt, so he owed him a favour.
There was no such thing as eternal allies—only eternal interests. He and Sleepy Fox already had a favourable foundation for cooperation. For him and his fledgling guild, having Holy Empire as an ally was extremely advantageous.
When Guo Huai, Tang Yao, and others saw Nie Yan laughing and chatting with Sleepy Fox, they were all quite amazed. The person he was talking to was the very guild leader of Holy Empire! In all of Calore and even in the entire Viridian Empire, he was a figure who could topple mountains and overturn the seas! Was this really the Nie Yan they all knew? Guo Huai, Tang Yao, and the rest now felt Nie Yan was suddenly deeply wreathed in mystery.
“What are you guys going to do about your red names?” Sleepy Fox asked. He couldn’t help glancing over at Tang Yao in the distance. A player that held the number one position on the level leaderboards, to say nothing of the sheer number of Victorious Return’s elites they had slain, how could such a figure not attract his interest?
The Holy Empire players behind Sleepy Fox also looked over at Tang Yao and began commenting in hushed tones.
“Look at his name. It’s so red, it’s pretty much black. Say, how many people do you think he killed?”
“I’m not sure, I’d say at least thirty.”
“It’s hard to estimate.”
In the eyes of these players, Tang Yao was equal to a god or a figure of legends. Little did they know that he was simply a vulgar, lecherous fatty who hated doing any kind of work.
“Of course we plan to get rid of it by hunting mobs, but it’s probably going to take quite a while,” Nie Yan replied.
“You guys will have to be careful while in the wilderness. We can’t say for sure Heaven Breaker won’t keep on coming after you.”
“Don’t worry. After this run-in, we’ll be a lot more careful.”
Besides, they wouldn’t be hunting mobs in low-level zones, so there was no real need to fear Victorious Return catching them off guard again.
“That’s good then.”
“You should worry more about how you’re going to deal with the fallout. I doubt Heaven Breaker will simply forgive you guys for involving yourselves with this. It might even be the trigger for a large-scale guild war.”
“I’m not too worried about that. Heaven Breaker might act like a tyrant, but he does have some rationality. Victorious Return might be big, but there’s nothing they can do to my guild,” Sleepy Fox answered. He had confidence in the strength of his own guild. He then hesitated for a moment but eventually spoke up, “I have a request for you.”
“Speak. What is it?”
“I’d like to custom order a few high-level concoctions from the Starry Night Potion Shop,” Sleepy Fox said. He actually felt quite embarrassed. Even though Holy Empire was considered a major guild, it actually didn’t have many Alchemists. They were simply too difficult to nurture, and more importantly, very few were willing to join their guild. After all, an Alchemist’s role in a guild was basically no different than a full-time nanny’s. This put Holy Empire in a predicament. Buying concoctions from the auction house was too expensive, and the Starry Night Potion Shop held dominance over more than half of the market in Calore. Even if they were a major guild, they could only succumb to the pressure in the end.
Nie Yan was in a pretty good mood. Bird’s business tactics were extremely effective. He had allowed Bird to flaunt their wealth and snatch away the Alchemists of all other shops, basically poaching every Alchemist that was notable in his past life. Of the ten most famous Alchemists in the Viridian Empire, eight of them were in the Starry Night Potion Shop, while of the remaining two, one was in Victorious Return and the other was in Radiant Sacred Flame. Those two Alchemists were simply too devoted. No matter how much he enticed, they still wouldn’t budge.
Nonetheless, there were already two Alchemists in the Starry Night Potion Shop that had advanced to Intermediate rank. There were even more that broke through to Junior Alchemists at about one hundred and sixty. As for Apprentice Alchemists, they had well over five hundred. Every day, they would rake in massive amounts of money for the shop.
Right now, Holy Empire’s daily expenditure of potions, pills, and other concoctions was mostly provided for by the Starry Night Potion Shop. The amount that came from their own in-house Alchemists was almost insignificant. Even though they were putting in all their effort, nurturing an Alchemist was an extremely costly and time-consuming affair. Moreover, many Alchemists lacked talent and often ended up using enormous amount of resources without showing any results.
“I’d like a few batches of Cure Charm Potions. It requires an Intermediate Alchemist to manufacture. I’ve heard the Starry Night Potion Shop already has two Alchemists at that rank,” Sleepy Fox said.
“Cure Charm Potions? Are you guys preparing to clear the Succubus Den?” Nie Yan narrowed his eyes. Holy Empire was quite ambitious.