Zhan Long
chapter-61

At 4 am in the morning, I had about 3500+ Indigo Seaweed in my inventory. They were neatly arranged in bundles of 100 and easily filled up 40 boxes of my inventory. The only other items I had space for were the City Scrolls, some Chilling Wind Pills , a stack of seal cards, and a slot for equipment.

“Snap!”

Jade City Sword struck the head of an Ice Rat, splitting it into two as dark blue blood splattered everywhere. Before it died, it managed to reduce my HP by 300+ with an [Ice Cone]. The damage from these tiny guys was seriously painful.

It was about time to return and start creating mana potions. What’s more, it was getting really late and I couldn’t keep skipping class or the Professor would take note and deduct points off my grades. If I lost too many credits, I would get skinned alive by Wang Xin; sending me to Liu Hua University cost a lot and it was all borne by the Bureau.

……

As I raised my head, the forest in front of me vibrated as a new monster spawned. Dark blue rays of light encircled an Ice Rat as it spawned. Though the sight was beautiful, I only cared about the line of words above the Ice Rat’s head. Damn, I was finally lucky today —

[Ice Rat] (Normal Monster)

Level: 1

Extra: Sealable

……

Hell yeah, after getting chased by bounty hunters, I finally got to meet a Level 1 Ice Rat!

With a 4 Star Magic Attack growth, this magic pet’s attack was certainly not lacking. Especially when it came to heavy armor classes, these attacks would be super effective. Even a single [Ice Cone] would equal the attack of a high-level magician!

I took a Sealing Card from my inventory and raised my hands to perform the seal lock!

“Shua!”

The seal card appeared below the Ice Rat as the little bugger grumbled aloud. It prepared an [Ice Cone] with both arms and tossed it over. Although it hit me, a Level 1 monster had limited attack power and I only lost 40+ HP.

The seal card’s magic ensnared the Ice Rat and pulled it in. The most unexpected thing was that I am successful on the first try even though the seal only had a 21.9% chance of succeeding.

A flash of light appeared in one of my pet slots. Great, a Level 1 Ice Rat!

I opened the pet info and took a look. I was overjoyed–

[Ice Rat]

Level: 1

Attack: ★

Defense：★★☆

Health：★★★

Agility：★★★☆

Magic：★★★★

Excellency Rating：90%

……

In the early stages, having a magic type pet was really useful. With an Excellency Rating of 90%, this Ice Rat’s value was unquestionable. Attacks like [Ice Cone] and Frost Magic could continually devastate enemies, so as long as the owner protected it well, this Ice Rat would be able to mow down even the toughest of enemies.

I happily stored the Ice Rat into my pet slot and fished out a City Scroll. It was time to return to Ba Huang City and repair my equipment before planning what to do next.

In a flash of light, I arrived at Ba Huang City. Though it was still in the wee hours of the morning, there were players about. There were even quite a few players selling their wares on the street. As I looked around, it seemed that many of the players were Level 30. Basically, a couple of all-nighters would mean level 30 and more than 40% of all players were at least Level 30 already. The speed that mainstream players raised their levels at was indeed scary.

Upon reaching the store, I purchased the necessary ingredients and started to create the Level 5 Indigo Sea Mana Pills!

Indigo Seaweed x 3, Chilling Grass x 1, Alchemy Furnace x 2, after placing these ingredients into the combination interface and confirming the procedure, I heard a ring —

“Ding!”

System Notification: You have successfully created [Indigo Sea Pills] using Alchemy. Alchemy Proficiency +1. As the first person to create Indigo Sea Pills, you receive a reward: Charm +1!

……

Yet another point to Charm. It was already 29 points. It was a pretty useless stat though, I’d rather gain gold coins instead!

I kept training Alchemy for the next hour. The 3500+ Indigo Seaweed in my inventory had now become 1100+ Level 5 Indigo Sea Pills. It was also the first batch of level 5 mana pills in the entire server. Being shrouded in secrecy, its main ingredient surrounded by high level monsters with most players busy leveling up instead of going out of their way to face Level 40 monsters, not many players had been able to find out the secret to refining level 5 mana pills. With the game’s current progress, it was common for players to gather Seven Star Herbs and Chilling Wind Herbs. I was pretty sure that only a small handful of players had attained a Level 5 in Alchemy at the moment.

Opening my own stall, I displayed the Indigo Sea Pills for sale at a cut-throat price of 1 gold each! Level 4 pills recovered 300 mana but the Level 5 pills recovered 500 mana, the efficiency between the two was a really large jump. If you thought about it, a team using Level 4 pills could get wiped out while fighting a boss because the Healer may have insufficient mana. However, if they were to use Level 5 pills, they could recover 500 MP every minute, which should be sufficient to stay alive. That was why Level 4 pills could only command 10 silver per pill but Level 5 pills could get 1 gold each……although selling it for such a high price was equal to robbery in plain daylight!

At the same time, I put the Ice Rat pet up for sale and shouted: “Valuable pet with 4 stars in Magic Growth and 90% Excellency for sale! This mythical creature will help you level and PK. Interested players please place your bids!”

Within half a minute, my store was swamped with both players who stayed up late to level and merchants. Both the Ice Rat and Indigo Sea Pills were rarely seen treasures and naturally attracted lots of interest.

The Indigo Sea Pills started to sell off one at a time as players parted 1 gold for each pill. Looks like there were many rich players here!

Looking at the current exchange rate of gold to RMB at 1:11, it seemed the opportunity to make quick cash was decreasing as the value of in-game gold drops decreased as most players leveled up. If I wanted to make money, I must strike while the iron was hot!

Many players bid for the Ice Rat, but only for a few gold, so I wouldn’t even consider their offers. After wandering around the Deep Cold Forest, facing off with countless bounty hunters and even fighting extremely skilled people like Jian Feng Han, I finally managed to capture this Ice Rat. If they thought that they could get it for a few gold, they were gravely mistaken.

……

“Di!”

I received a message from my friend Yue Wei Liang, Yue Qing Qian’s younger sister: “Brother Xiao Yao, the person in Ba Huang City square selling the Ice Rat… … is it you?”

I replied: “Yup, it’s me. What about it?”

Yue Wei Liang: “Elder sister just went to bed, but she did say that she wants a magic pet really badly to help her level because the effectiveness of using a magic pet in killing monsters is unmatched…..”

“Hmm? Qing Qian wants it? Should I reserve it for her?”

“Nah it’s okay, I’ll go offline and wake her up so she came come online and speak to you. Don’t sell it before she comes!”

“Sure!”

Immediately, Yue Wei Liang’s picture grayed out and within a few minutes, both her and Yue Qing Qian’s pictures lit up. A message came right away: “Heehee, Brother Xiao Yao, can you send over the Ice Rat’s stats for me to take a look?”

I sent it over immediately and in seconds, I got a response: “The Excellency is really high……I really want it, Brother Xiao Yao how much are you planning to sell it for?”

I pondered for awhile: “With this Excellency and Magic Growth potential, its market rate should be about 500 gold. But since Qing Qian wants it, I’ll let it go for 200 gold……”

Yue Qing Qian laughed: “That’s a good price but my pocket money is almost all used up already so I can’t buy gold. I only have 50 gold on me at the moment……”

“Forget about it, I’ll just sell it to you for 50 gold then.”

“That’s not acceptable!”

Yue Qing Qian firmly rejected: “How about this, wait for a couple minutes as I wake up my Mom and ask her to transfer some money to me. It’ll be quick, I only need about 10 minutes!”

“Alright……”

……

I continued selling Indigo Sea Pills and after 15 minutes, Yue Qing Qian finally came back online and appeared in front of my store with her dagger in hand: “Brother Xiao Yao, sorry for making you wait……”

“It’s nothing. So I guess it’s settled?”

“Yeah!”

Yue Qing Qian opened her trade window and immediately placed 500 gold into the trade.

I frowned and canceled the trade: “Don’t need to pay me 500 gold, that’s a rip off price.”

“No, I cannot take advantage of you.” Yue Qing Qian said: “I heard that you got chased by many bounty hunters at Fire Stone Canyon. Even Jian Feng Han went after you, and knowing his skill and your level, I’m sure you must have died. After going through so much trouble to seal this Ice Rat, how can I let you lose out?”

I was speechless and just quietly reopened the trade window and placed the Ice Rat into it. Yue Qing Qian placed 500 gold in and the trade was completed!

……

“Shua!”

The Ice Rat was summoned and it squeaked while wagging its tail. Yue Qing Qian laughed and rubbed its head: “Hey little one, let me give you a nice name!”

In the next moment, the Ice Rat’s name appeared — Bulldozer!

I stood there shocked as Yue Qing Qian looked at me: “Brother Xiao Yao, how’s the new name?”

“Not bad, extraordinary taste.”

“Exactly, when killing monster with continuous Frost Magic, it will be just like a Bulldozer……”

I nodded: “Yeah, it’s a Bulldozer…”

“Oh yeah, Brother Xiao Yao you’ve finally made Indigo Sea Pills! Shucks, it’s really expensive, 1 gold a pill……”

“Why? Prague cannot afford it?” I chuckled.

Yue Qing Qian pursed her red lips, and muttered quietly, almost as if she was sending out a message. Then, she raised her head: “Alright, Uncle Yan Zhao has decided to buy your Indigo Sea Pills at 1 gold each. But, he wants a monopoly. You can only sell it to Prague and nobody else. Of course using it yourself and giving to to friends is permissible. What do you think of this deal?”

I nodded: “Deal, I’ll sell the rest of these to to Prague then. There are 1100 pills here, do you want all of them?”

“Yes, wait a second as I get someone to send the money over!”

“Okay……”

……

Not long after, a few players from Prague walked over and traded with Yue Qing Qian. Then, she turned around and opened her trade window. I placed 11 batches of Indigo Sea Pills as she placed 1100 gold. My heart almost jumped out when I saw the gold. I was rich, really rich! The day at Fire Stone Canyon had not been in vain!

The two beautiful twins, Yue Qing Qian and Yue Wei Liang went offline after the trade. Me? I hesitated for moment and then placed 1500 gold for sale on the online exchange before going offline too. At a 1:10 exchange rate, my gold was selling for 15000 RMB!

I took off my helmet and my cellphone rang. It was a game notification showing that my 1500 gold had already been bought by somebody! I received 15000 RMB immediately, what an indescribable happiness……

Feeling dizzy, I dropped into my pillow and slept for a few hours before class……