MMORPG: Divine Mech Hunter

The first kill in a new instance drop-off often rewards a high drop rate for premium items. Money and gemstones are doubled too.

Witnessing Li Yao’s earnings of two gold coins, many people drooled with envy.

As for the bag of gemstones, it could reveal some rare and precious gemstones. Gemstones, as rare minerals, were extremely hard to come by.

Gemstones were hugely beneficial, particularly in the early stages for crafting jewelry. It could be transformed into attribute gemstones and embedded into equipment fittings to enhance attributes.

Jewelry crafting was a very expensive but indispensable sideline discipline. If someone could acquire a good blueprint, the continuous output of excellent jewelry could generate an astounding amount of money.

The difficulty and costly nature of honing this skill were second only to engineering. Yet, its profit-making ability was several times that of engineering. A good jeweler often made a fortune.

Like engineering, however, without team support, it would be impossible to master the art of jewelry crafting. As Li Yao opened the bag of gemstones, a dazzling light burst out.

Although several women knew it was just an illusion, they couldn’t hide the brightness in their eyes. Not just the women, even the men were bewildered by the colorful radiance.

“Ahem, stop looking.” Li Yao collected the dozen or so gemstones into his inventory, and said: “Back to work, Shadow Dance, what are you waiting for? Go scout ahead.”

“Oh, right.” Shadow Dance slid back into stealth and began to scout ahead.

Under the leading of the Fruit Knight, the team went on walking down the pathway in a cavern, which looked no different to the starting point.

If there was a disparity, it was the eerie silence. In the initial caverns…

You would occasionally hear the growls and movement of monsters on the first journey, but this part was eerily quiet.

“I’ve been instantly killed,” a dejected voice from Shadow Dance came through the team’s voice-chat.

Even without his announcement, everyone saw his health bar had been emptied in the team panel.

“What happened?”

“Bats, I believe. They perch on the cavern ceiling. I couldn’t see them at all. They could still attack me even when I’m stealthed, and some invisible things could attack me too.”

“Let’s ask the audience,” said Li Yao, and added: “Wait there, we’re coming to revive you.”

Feng Yi took a moment before saying: “The audience says that the elite creatures are bats from the ceiling, and floating ghosts. But they said the bats aren’t that brutal, and you can faintly see a form of ghost.”

Li Yao nodded, “That’s normal. Bats use sonar, they can spot you even if you’re stealthed. As for the ghost, it’s different from a transformed High Elf Banshee, you really can’t see them in their true form.”

“The concept of magical realism shows up starkly in the wilds and Master level instances,” Li Yao said. “Therefore, we should all immerse ourselves in this game world. The normal and elite difficulty modes can act as a buffer for players who struggle to adapt to the sudden exposure to new things.”

“The Ancient Gods Company is always customer-friendly. It claims to strive for realism, but there’s still a big difference between the bloodshed in the game and what would be a real-life fight to the death. I’ve seen previews that suggest a step towards realism the further into the game you progress. Thankfully, there are cerebral wave protection measures in place; otherwise, there’d be a lot more mental accidents, even possible brain deaths,” added the Angel of Protection.

The vast expanse of the sky could only nod in agreement, saying, “That’s why guilds like ours may appear splendid, but the truth is they are miserable. Some previous masters became merely ordinary when they entered the Ancient Gods. Anyway, there are many problems. Prairie Fire, you have sufficient prestige. Your charisma will definitely attract many potential newcomers. You will accomplish great things— I wish I were you.”

“Many guilds want to sign The Uncle into their guilds. Why didn’t you try to get him?” Da Vinci asked with curiosity.

“Actually, when I first met Prairie Fire, I wanted to offer him a contract. I even offered him the guild leader’s position, but Prairie Fire didn’t want it. I couldn’t force him, could I?” He laughed bitterly, then added, “Now we’re friends. Creating a guild will certainly bring about more prospects and development. I wouldn’t entice him.”

“That’s acceptable.” Li Yao nodded in approval.

“Sea Boss is indeed a good companion,” Feng Yi also commented, much to the surprise of the audience in the live streaming room.

After turning another corner, the team already saw Shadow Dance’s body.

“Guardian, can you cast a Holy Light spell?” asked Li Yao.

The Angel of Protection cast a Holy Light spell at the ceiling of the cavern. A flash of holy light shone, everybody saw a pair of eyes from afar on the cavern ceiling watching them, as well as a white shadow floating at the end of the cavern. It disappeared in a flash. It was gone before they even had a chance to look at it closely.

“Can you see the ghost when it attacks you?” Li Yao, of course, knew all the situations and how to deal with them. But it couldn’t be disclosed.

“No, it didn’t show up. I couldn’t see it at all. My attacks were so off target that they missed twice,” Shadow Dance said as he restored his health by eating and drinking.

“This is a dilemma. The audience say in Elite Mode, mages’ attack towards ghosts would drain their mana. Now that we can’t see the ghosts, and there’s the bats too, how are we going to fight?” Feng Yi frowned.

“It’s indeed difficult. Most of us are magic wielders. If our mana gets drained, it means trouble,” Li Yao also added.

“Does any of your Holy Light spells have a duration effect, Grandpa Guardian?” asked Dull Eyes.

“No,” the Angel of Protection shook his head helplessly.

The team began to worry. Being stopped by something like this wasn’t a good omen.

“I’ve thought of a solution. Wait for me, I’ll be right back,” Li Yao announced as he began to return to the city.

“What’s the solution?” asked Ocean Sky.

“I can’t say right now, and it’s not guaranteed to work. Just wait, we’ll know if it’ll work after the trial.” Li Yao gave a mysterious smile.

However, keeping it a secret made them even more curious. The audience was also eager to know how to solve this puzzle. Everyone realized that the Master level not only heightened the properties of the monsters, but also increased difficulty in regards to their characteristics.

After Li Yao returned to the city, he sent a private message to Zhao Lei: “Don’t wait any longer. Clean sweep all the Glowing Grass from the Light and Neutral Factions’ auction.”

“Is it time?” Zhao Lei was astonished. Gold had been spent like water these past few days. Although it wasn’t his money, he found it painful to watch. But now that returns were going to be earned, he had every reason to show excitement.

“Yep, just start gathering. This time we’re definitely going to make a massive profit.” Li Yao also opened the auction. Regardless of the price, he bought up all the Shining Fruits.

There were over 4,000 groups of Shining Fruits in the warehouse. Combined with the collection from the Neutral Auction Faction and the Light Faction by Zhao Lei, the total number exceeded 10,000 groups.

Meanwhile, Li Yao’s wallet had suddenly become depleted. He was broke.

After storing everything in the warehouse, he then teleported back to the instance.

Li Yao held a Shining Fruit in his hand, a smile slowly appeared on his face. The fruits’ value would skyrocket through this exploration. The start-up fund for the guild was going to be lavish…