Chapter 103: Gathering Materials

The [Rose Maid] set, although only a level 15 set, was a purple epic piece of equipment. Moreover, it boasted an extra “sleeve” compared to other sets, meaning that a total of more than 23 different materials were needed to create the full set.

Although Chen Zixuan had already killed many monsters, his current inventory only contained 5 types of materials, barely meeting the requirements for forging a set.

As for the remaining nearly 20 types—such as materials like [Natural Snow Silkworm Silk]—he had never even heard of them.

How was he supposed to start collecting these?

Luckily, Chen Zixuan already had dozens of the most crucial item for crafting epic equipment, the [Purple Gem].

These were all rewards obtained previously, either from killing world bosses or from opening treasure chests.

He hadn’t known the purpose of these gems before. It wasn’t until he had examined the equipment blueprints that Chen Zixuan realized every single piece of equipment required one gem to forge.

To craft a blue piece of equipment, one had to consume a [Blue Gem].

To craft a purple piece of equipment, one needed a [Purple Gem].

By analogy, there should also be “white” or “colorless” gems used for crafting white-quality equipment.

And even higher-level [Orange Gems] for making legendary-grade items.

Currently, Chen Zixuan’s backpack contained 30 blue gems and 15 purple gems—more than enough to forge two complete sets of epic equipment.

Switching off his inventory interface, Chen Zixuan glanced around the dimly lit small room of the inn. The silver-haired girl named Cecilia sat at the edge of the wooden bed and let out a quiet sigh.

Ever since “blueprints” became a thing, Chen Zixuan had sensed what was coming.

When the game transitioned out of its early stages and entered the mid-to-late game, players would likely never get ready-made equipment directly from monsters anymore.

Even if something did drop, it would undoubtedly be a design blueprint, while the required materials for crafting would have to be gathered by the players themselves.

And even if one gathered enough materials, without a high-level [Forging] skill, those blueprints and materials could only be stared at in vain.

The game developers really knew how to make things grindy and tedious.

Thankfully, Cecilia had unlocked the [Forging] skill on day one of the server launch, saving herself a huge amount of trouble for the adventures ahead.

In the mid-to-late stages of the game, anyone who wanted to craft equipment would find [gems] indispensable, and they could easily become vital strategic resources.

“Looks like I’ll have to start collecting extra gems in advance in the future.”

This thought flashed through his mind. Chen Zixuan stood, cloaked himself in a pitch-black cape, stepped out of the inn, and headed out of the city gates.

His target this time was a material called [Winter Bear Fur], which was also essential for forging the [Rose Maid] set.

This particular material only dropped from elite brown bears in the [Nightshade Forest].

Because most of the players had rushed off to see the D-rank world boss, there were very few players left in the main city, sparing Chen Zixuan a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Exiting through the city gate, Chen Zixuan broke into a run. With his nearly 400 points of Agility bonus, it only took him a few short minutes to reach the dense woods of [Nightshade Forest].

The monsters in [Nightshade Forest] generally ranged from level 1 to 5, so the players training in this area were about the same level.

As a result, it was easy to run into crowds of rookie players grinding at the forest’s edge.

Avoiding those players, Chen Zixuan headed deeper into the woods. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration dawned—a clue that might be valuable.

Back in the wilds outside Crown Town, the goblin monsters he’d encountered were all level 1-3, while the area’s world boss—the [Goblin Hero]—was level 10.

Since the monsters in [Nightshade Forest] were mostly level 1-5, it stood to reason that the world boss in the area, the [Darkwing Demon Bat], would be level 15.

Although this pattern wasn’t perfectly precise, Chen Zixuan could roughly deduce that the world boss in the [Mutant Jungle]—the [Sawtooth Demon King Crocodile]—was very likely around level 22 to 25.

That was not good news… Under the hood, the silver-haired girl’s brows furrowed slightly.

That level was simply too high for someone currently stuck at level 8.

Unless he managed to craft the full [Rose Maid] set, or found a new set of level 10 maid attire, going up against the [Sawtooth Demon King Crocodile] would be an impossible task for Chen Zixuan right now.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel a bit schadenfreude. He wondered if those players who had hurried over after hearing the news were being hammered into submission by the Sawtooth Crocodile by now.

With his attitude corrected, Chen Zixuan began searching for brown bears in [Nightshade Forest].

The forest was enormous—if he searched on foot, he might not find more than a few all day.

Fortunately, he had his own mobile drone radar.

Reaching a secluded spot deeper in the woods, Chen Zixuan released the Darkwing Demon Bat and activated empathy scout mode.

Immediately, ultrasound pulsed out!

The silver-haired girl’s left pupil flashed blood-red as she grimaced in pain and clutched her forehead.

After a soul-shaking surge, countless red dots—of various sizes—clearly appeared in Chen Zixuan’s mind.

Each red dot represented a monster somewhere in the area.

By common sense, bears were solitary creatures, while wolves were pack animals.

So, using the 3D map in his mind, Chen Zixuan first excluded the western and southern zones.

Both areas were occupied by several large wolf packs, thick with tiny red dots, making it unlikely for him to find any brown bears there.

The eastern area, however, only had a handful of scattered red dots. These dots were larger and darker in color, so Chen Zixuan deduced that the probability of finding a brown bear in that area was much higher.

He mentally commanded the Darkwing Demon Bat to continue scouting from above, while he set out toward the first red dot on the eastern ground.

Because it had just rained, the forest air was heavy with dampness. After only a few minutes of walking, the silver-haired girl’s clothes and scarf were soaked with water dripping from the leaves.

After a few hundred more meters, a thick fog enveloped the woods, making every breath Chen Zixuan took feel wet and heavy. It made him long for the warmth he’d shared with Gu Yanxi.

According to the original plan, he should have been well on his way to the pinnacle by now.

Unfortunately, the Angels’ existence had shattered Chen Zixuan’s dream of a worry-free life. Now, he was forced to slog painfully through a misty, damp, and dense forest, tormented by dew and thorns.

“One day, I’ll kill all four of you!” she spat through gritted teeth, hacking through a vine with her knife. Only the image of cutting the wings from each Angel one by one could ease the rage burning in Chen Zixuan’s heart.

………

Something happened yesterday, so I didn’t sleep all night.

Guess what? Heh! I ended up browsing women’s clothes on Taobao!

Woke up late today, couldn’t finish 5 chapters, so here are 3. I admit defeat.

Tomorrow will go back to five updates a day, just in time for Double Twelve in a couple of days.

So what if it’s Keqing? I’ll buy it if I want!

New Names, locations, skills, and Techniques:

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep