Her slapping them in the face was much better than if Happy had done it!
Class One Hall had been directly defeated by Beautiful Robes Faction, and their branch, which had been built for less than two days, was destroyed. Such an event would be an unprecedented blow to Class One Hall's reputation.
Even though it was just a small branch, it was still defeated and destroyed by a nameless faction with no people on the Dragon Rank or Phoenix Rank. Not even the sect's foundation was left standing.
No matter how Happy looked at it, Class One Hall had suffered a great loss.
At that point, there was no longer any need for Happy to take the initiative to go up and search for them.
Besides, with Silver Wolf protecting Beautiful Robes Faction, he believed that Class One Hall would not dare to attack Beautiful Robes Faction, unless they decided to give up on resource points in a few cities. But since they were still fighting at full force against Chivalry Sect and Towering Palace for the position of the top dog in the game, there was no reason for Class One Hall to do so, and they also did not dare to fight against Happy at full strength.
Class One Hall then placed more of their resources into defending their resource points instead of losing even more branches for one Beautiful Robes Faction.
Coincidentally, Happy did not have the time to turn against Class One Hall either
Aside from returning to Murong Clan to report that he had completed the task, he also had to retrieve his completely repaired Golden Armor so that he could enter the royal mausoleum and complete his trade with Kind Tycoon.
There was also the matter of Mu Clan's development reaching a critical stage.
All sorts of occupations continued to increase in their clan by leaps and bounds!
The medicinal herbs, crystals, and metals in the storage had already reached a rather astonishing number, and the clan's member count had officially reached more than one thousand.
That night, Thunderous Battle, Little North, and One Circle brought a few Mystical Realm players and a few miners to the second level only to see Happy fighting furiously against Stone King.
The group was dumbfounded.
Happy had someone lure away Stone King before he routinely gave a few orders to the group. "You have to keep this a secret."
Thunderous Battle knew all too well what why Happy was fighting alone against a Moksha Realm Boss, so he asked excitedly, "Does this mean that we can enter the royal mausoleum again?"
"Beautiful Robes Faction's fame isn't enough. Thunderous Battle, Little North, you have to personally guard Baokang!" Happy said. "I can handle the royal mausoleum on my own."
"You're right." Thunderous Battle nodded. "We really can't go away for now, but over the past few days, the development of the sect has been pretty good. The resources in Shennongjia are much richer than I expected.
"Little North and I each led a team, and we obtained quite a lot of stuff. I used some of our resources to buy the rewards One Circle and his group had gained over this period of time to temporarily fill up our clan storage.
"We have more than two hundred masterpieces. Along with the consumables produced by the herbalists, ironsmiths, and tailors, we are almost at the point where we can be certain that we can keep the contribution system going."
Happy nodded repeatedly.
Using their resources to exchange with Beautiful Robes Faction for weapons, amor, and martial art manuals was not just a useful and beneficial move that maintained the operations of the clan storage, it also made sure that their resources did not flow to outsiders. Thunderous Battle did a very good thing.
"Boss, did you call us here to handle this big guy?"
Little North did not pay a lot of attention to the management of the clan, but he was incredibly s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e to matters such as going on adventures. The moment there was a pause in Thunderous Battle and Happy's conversation, he butted in in an incredibly excited manner.
The spirits of Thunderous Battle, One Circle, and the others rose up at his words. Their expressions filled with excitement.
"I practiced four low-tier martial arts over the past few days, and I'm bored of it. The bounty over my head is about to be removed too. I want to seize the moment to kill Stone King before I leave this place and head to the royal mausoleum."
Thunderous Battle nodded quietly.
Even if Happy traveled using a Hoof Shadow, he would need more than a day to reach the royal mausoleum. He had already been held back in the crystal mine for a long time. It would be better if he used the time while the Embroidered Uniform Guards still hunted him to travel so that he would not need to waste even more time later when he was no longer being hunted.
However…
"Stone King is at Moksha Realm. He can't be easy to deal with, right?"
Even though Thunderous Battle had been practicing the Mystical Realm Thunderous Sword Technique, he was still a little nervous at the prospect of going up against a Moksha Realm boss.
Of course, Happy already had a plan worked out in his head. He would not have recklessly asked other people to come and serve as cannon fodder.
His expression became stern, and he looked at One Circle, who was equipped with a high-grade armor and looked like he was ready for battle. "One Circle, when I'm unable to hold on, I'll let you go up and take my place for a while. Five Tiger Rotating Hammer Technique has higher damage than Seven Stars Sword Style. Your main task is to control Stone King's movements and not let it have the chance to rest and recover."
Happy had divided his level-grinding into different sessions. Whenever his body fortification was about to crumble, he would retreat. Because of it, Stone King would be able to absorb the aura in the crystal mine, which allowed it to slowly heal the wounds it had sustained. Whenever its HP was depleted, it would recover it while Happy rested, and because of it, Stone King's condition remained unchanged.
There was not even a need to mention Happy's damage while he practiced low-tier martial arts. That bit of damage could not even break through Stone King's defenses. Hence, Happy could truly be said to have only been practicing his martial arts.
Under his companion's admiring gazes, One Circle tightened his grip on his purplish red great axe.
"Got it."
"I'll attack head-on. You can divide yourselves into two groups to attack him from behind. Make sure that you don't get too close to him," Happy said, giving final instructions.
"Got it!" The group voiced their obedience.
Once they finished speaking, nearly one hundred people from the five great sects in the mine slowed down in their mining. They turned their heads around and held their breaths as they watched a group of people head toward Stone King.
*****
"ROAR!"
Stone King's roar filled the crystal mine, and it mixed with all sorts of muffled sounds of weapons cutting at the air, along with the sounds of swords, sabers, and axes crashing against stone. Those noises rang through the mine.
Using fancy moves with the intention to break through absolute defense was a mere dream. Aside from withstanding the attacks from Stone King with everything they had and using all their strength to break off some stones from Stone King's body, there was no way to killing it.
Throughout his training, Happy had become used to Stone King's powerful and vicious attacks, which were as strong as a whirlwind. His Golden Bell Cocoon had reached great completion, and it was enough for him to tank its attacks for more than five minutes. If he used Dew Pills, he could last for another three minutes or so. He stood in front of Stone King in his silver armor and did not move back.
What he did not know was that before the people's eyes, while Stone King was strong, Happy's defenses had already reached a stage where it was plain insane!
When Happy's body fortification was about to crumble, One Circle went up to take his place. Ever since he came out of the royal mausoleum, he changed his equipment, and he had improved even further. Even though he could not compare t
o Happy, he was not that far off. Besides, the defense of his purplish red great axe was greater than of many other weapons, and he could take on Stone King and make sure that its HP was being whittled away.
Boom!
More than half an hour passed before Stone King was finally cut so much that there were multiple holes on its body, making it look like rotten mud. Then, it exploded with a bang.
A black object and a brilliant, deep blue crystal appeared in the air. They fell to the ground in an incredibly eye-catching manner!
Chapter 357 - The Unrest Caused by Refinement
Stone King's Heart!
It was a heart that was like a black crystal. It was one of the sturdiest items in the game, and it was said to be the source behind Stone King's ability to move, as well as its life. It could be used to make the best puppets, and it was a very amazing item.
When Happy picked up the heart that was so unbelievably black that it was as dark as a black crystal, a faint smile appeared on his face. Then, he redirected his gaze on the other loot that had fallen to the ground.
At that moment, all the people who heard the commotion recognized the other drop on the ground, and they s.u.c.k.e.d in sharp breaths.
"A unakite!"
That was right, the dark blue crystal that was on the ground was so dazzling that it looked like a piece of an exploded start. It looked like a blossoming flower, and it was so beautiful and magnificent that everyone sighed.
It was a unakite, and its value had been jacked up to nearly three million.
"Damn, just these two things?"
When Thunderous Battle and Little North saw that only two stones had been dropped as their loot after they had fought for half an hour, they were speechless. "It's a Moksha Realm boss, you know? And it only dropped a few items? We've been trolled."
But Happy just smiled in satisfaction and said, "Ah, enough with you. Stone King is inferior to other Moksha Realm bosses. It can be found in the second level of crystal mines and metal mines. We could get rich in a day if it dropped good stuff."
Thunderous Battle nodded. He seemed to have understood something. "Actually, it's pretty good if each Stone King will drop a unakite. Within a day, we can get at least five of them, and that'd earn us at least ten million."
"I don't think so."
Happy might not have entered the mines many times in his previous life, but he knew that most of the time, Stone Kings would not drop anything. They might just give a Stone with Water or Mineral Water Crystal.
However, Thunderous Battle and the others did not know that.
After all, it should be the first Stone King that died. None of them knew the details clearly, and they petitioned to head to the next mine in Shennongjia to kill more Stone Kings.
Happy did not reject it.
With the d.e.s.i.r.e to make them give up on the idea, he led the group out of the crystal mine and headed to the next area.
The results were very terrible.
After fighting hard for nearly an hour, the second Stone King crumbled to the ground, but it did not even drop a single good item. Aside from a valueless low-grade crystal, it did not even drop the second Stone King's Heart.
They had wasted eight berthierites.
Happy returned to Baokang by himself. He then handed Stone King's Heart over to be placed into the clan storage so Red Coral could pick it up and went to meet up with Absolute Nonsense and the others to bid farewell before he left Shennongjia.
*****
"Selling first-echelon grade two Osmanthus Tree Spears! 720 damage! Attack speed 15. It's only one million and two hundred thousand taels of silver! Those who want it, hurry up and get it! First come first serve basis!"
"First-echelon axe! 800 damage! A true man's weapon! Those who want it, shout!"
"First-echelon masterpiece, Blood Saber. The attack isn't high, only at 600, but its speed and recovery are at 20. Its other attributes are pretty good as well. Those who can offer a price, send me a messenger pigeon with it. I won't reply to those with a low offer."
"First-echelon equipment, Black Wing Shirt. 600 defense. 20% dodge rate. 15 Body Movement… Those who can offer a good rate, come to the center of the market!"
"Selling items that are necessary for increasing echelons of your equipment and weapons! Metal ores, crystals, and Beauty Melting Liquid. Each is five thousand taels of silver."
"Do you want first-echelon supreme-grade masterpieces? As long as you have enough silver, I will have the weapons you want!"
It was less than five days since the shock brought by the third-echelon Clear and Far, yet all sorts of shouts in the market selling weapons and armor with echelons had already become normal in the market. High-tier martial art manuals were no longer the sole favorite. They were replaced by weapons and armor with echelons.
Right then, no one showed any interest in weapons that had no echelons, and many players chose to save up their money to buy one or two masterpieces, then buy Beauty Melting Liquid and other materials from the market so they could refine the weapons through the system's forgemasters.
If any high-grade masterpiece successfully gained an echelon, its attributes increased by 50%, and its value also increased by several fold!
Even though the 50% failure rate resulted in quite a number of masterpieces being destroyed, there were quite a number of lucky souls who managed to increase the echelons of their weapons and armor, and their wealth increased by leaps and bounds.
Normal masterpieces could usually be sold up to one million taels of silver!
And swords as well as sabers were even more expensive, since they were popular weapons. No one wanted to sell those weapons without someone offering them more than one million taels of silver as a risk fee. Grade two masterpieces with an echelon were sold for at least two million and four hundred thousand taels of silver.
Since the price of armor was slightly lower than that of weapons while the demand for it was just as great, more people chose to take the risk to increase the echelon of armor. Even though the profit was smaller, the risk was lower. The speed at which some lucky souls covered their expenditure was very fast, but those who were unlucky, did not manage that. Even though their losses were smaller, increasing the echelon of armor was still as exciting as not knowing whether they would end up in heaven or hell in the next second.
However, most players only dared to attempt reaching the first echelon, since the requirements for the ingredients were not that great.
If they tried to attempt reaching the second echelon, they would need more than just a few materials.
The materials needed to reach the second echelon were already at an exorbitant price of one million and five hundred thousand taels of silver, which was equivalent to the price of a decent masterpiece sword or saber. Normal players could simply not pay it, and they did not even have the thought of using hundreds of thousands of RMB to take a gamble. After all, a first-echelon weapon was already very expensive.
A success rate of 40% meant that the failure rate was very high.
Of course, there were large organizations who were rich enough and willing to gamble on it.
However, the failure rate was much higher than their success rate.
After all, if anyone wanted to reach the second echelon, they needed a forgemaster who was experienced and had reached Skilled Level. If they just relied on the forgemasters the system provided in the game, they would have little to no chance of obtaining a second-echelon weapon.
Some sects failed multiple times and sacrificed resources worth tens of millions, which they had acc.u.mulated for a long time. They found themselves in deficit and were dragged down because of money.
Those who succeeded still had to build their successes on multiple failures, and one second-echelon supreme grade weapon was precious enough that they could not afford to take the risk to continue attempting to reach the third echelon.
There were very few second-echelon weapons that appeared in the market. Almost al
l of them were carried everywhere by those who had them, and their sects mobilize their forces to enter dangerous regions that they previously could not enter, such as territories where zombies roamed, the royal mausoleum, and Poison Snake Valley...
Among those places, needless to say the most popular place was still the royal mausoleum. The number of masterpieces that dropped in that place was the highest, and it was also the most dangerous region for a quest.
However, the situation right then was different compared to the previous time when players attempted to clear the royal mausoleum. Those who dared to clear the royal mausoleum were no longer large groups that numbered to two or three digits.
Aside from a few powerful players on the Dragon Rank or Phoenix Rank who were especially confident in their abilities and wanted to attempt clearing the place solo, most of them were elite squads that were formed of groups of three-to-five people. They were scattered around the entrance of the royal mausoleum and never bothered each other.
Everyone waited quietly for noon to arrive and for the moment the Living Door of the Eight Trigrams Bewitching Matrix leading into the royal mausoleum would open.
Chapter 358 - A Familiar Person
A group of four people walked out of the bamboo forest in a majestic gait. They quickly looked around, and their eyes lit up. One of them could not help but let out a proclamation.
"The lineup of people coming to the royal mausoleum has become better and better…"
The three other people beside him were clearly veterans who had wandered around a lot in the game. They were very familiar with many of the people present. While looking around, they nodded.
"Indeed, it's different every day. When we first came here, there were only around a dozen faces, and only Iron Arm Divine Ape, Jade Finger Cups, and Flute in Cave were slightly stronger. Now? Sigh… we're old."
While they walked, they entered the crowd and arrived at the edge of the entrance.
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