Ice Seal World froze, realizing instantly that someone in stealth had picked up the treasure chest!
"Area spells, quickly!" Ice Seal World roared furiously.
The Ice Seal Guild members, seasoned gamers, understood the situation. As soon as Ice Seal World shouted, ten area spells covered a large portion of the ground. Anyone in stealth would be unable to avoid them!
A masked figure appeared, and Ice Seal World felt a sense of contempt and mockery. Did this person and Piaoling really believe they could take the items away from hundreds of people?
"Kill!" Ice Seal World’s face turned cold as he waved his hand, issuing the command.
Various spells and bow skills rained down, and the masked figure turned into a beam of white light, dying and disappearing. But...
"Where’s the treasure chest? Where’s the treasure chest? Why didn’t it drop out!" Ice Seal World, prepared to retrieve the treasure chest, began shouting frantically after the figure vanished.
The ground was empty. When a player died, it wasn’t strange for their equipment and potions not to drop, but what about the treasure chest? It was supposed to be a guaranteed drop. Ice Seal World couldn’t believe his eyes. How was this possible?
Not just Ice Seal World, but the other several hundred guild members of the Ice Seal Guild were equally stunned! They looked at each other, unsure what had gone wrong.
At that moment, the system provided the treasure chest’s new coordinates. One of the members, looking at the coordinates, exclaimed in disbelief, "The treasure chest is located over an hour’s journey from Snowdrift City. How is this possible?"
With only thirty minutes remaining, even if they returned to Snowdrift City, it would be too late!
For a moment, Ice Seal World felt utterly defeated!
"Return to Snowdrift City! Some of you go to the coordinates, the rest find Piaoling. Follow her and prevent her from reaching the treasure chest!" Ice Seal World made a last-ditch effort.
But things weren’t as simple as Ice Seal World imagined. Xiao Hua and Piaoling had anticipated this possibility. Once Piaoling died and returned to the city, she changed into a set of non-mage gear and a very ordinary coat for warmth. Unless seen from the front, she would be unrecognizable. At this early hour, many players were still online, returning from battling monsters and preparing to log off. Piaoling would blend in with the crowd, making it nearly impossible to find her in such a vast city.
Meanwhile, Xiao Hua, after pretending to pick up the treasure chest, wandered around aimlessly in the wilds, biding his time. Once the bounty period expired and the system’s coordinate prompt disappeared, he would meet Piaoling to open the chest, resolving everything. With his Master-level Stealth, he didn’t have to worry about being intercepted or ambushed.
About an hour later, in a remote spot outside Snowdrift City on the snowy tundra. By now, the sky had begun to brighten, far from the pitch-black night. A man and a woman met secretly in this quiet place. Upon closer inspection, the man wasn’t handsome, and the woman wasn’t beautiful.
"You’re here," the man said.
"I’m here," the woman replied.
"I brought the item," the man said, holding out a slightly luminous golden chest.
"Yes, this is it," the woman said, nodding satisfactorily as she took the chest.
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These secretive individuals were Xiao Hua and Piaoling. After Piaoling blended into the crowd and left the city, she followed the coordinates Xiao Hua had given her, arriving at a low-level monster spawn area with few creatures and no players.
Piaoling placed her hand gently on the treasure chest, which clicked open, followed by a series of system prompts.
System Prompt: You received 4,123,300 gold coins! System Prompt: You received “Water’s Guardian Staff”! System Prompt: You received “First-Class Attribute Conversion Gem”! System Prompt: You received “Second-Class Attribute Conversion Gem”!
The treasure chest dimmed and vanished from Piaoling’s hands. Satisfied, she looked at the system prompts and smiled at Xiao Hua. "Thanks to your skill, otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to escape."
"This skill is only useful for this kind of thing. It’s useless against monsters, as it doesn’t even break their defense," Xiao Hua said bitterly. Without mentioning Illusion, he doubted he could even breach a monster’s defense. Since leveling up, except for the initial Strength points added in the newbie village, he had allocated all his free attribute points into Agility.
During the beta, at level thirty-eight, he had invested many attribute points into Strength to fight monsters. He always wondered how much Agility was needed to use a higher-level step technique, but he never achieved it. Now, with a substantial sum of money coming in, there were many ways to level up. He could buy high-attack weapons and gear to compensate for his lack of offensive power, or purchase magic bombs and other consumables. If he encountered good output skills, he could acquire those too!
Despite his low attack power, Xiao Hua planned to keep increasing his Agility until he could use a higher-level step technique. During the beta, his step technique became ineffective against monsters above level thirty-three due to their increased reaction speed. If he could use a higher-level step technique, it would solve the problem!
"You’re getting the benefits and complaining," Piaoling rolled her eyes. Others might not understand, but after witnessing Xiao Hua use his skill several times, she knew its value well.
"Let’s trade," Piaoling said, sending a trade request to Xiao Hua.
"What’s going on?" Xiao Hua asked, accepting the trade request in confusion.
Piaoling placed items into the trade window, and Xiao Hua’s eyes widened with each addition!
Gold Coins: 4,567,211! Water’s Guardian Staff (Dark Gold): Physical Attack: 110-230, Magic Attack: 550-660. Requires level 50. Constitution +20 Agility +10 Intelligence +40 Spirit +30 Additional Skill: Water’s Guardian. Water’s Guardian (Passive) (Advanced): When successfully casting Magic Shield, the surface of the shield is covered with water elements, allowing it to withstand more damage. Additionally, the character regenerates 10 HP and 3 MP per second. Skill activation requirement: Water Element Proficiency. First-Class Attribute Conversion Gem: Allows the physical attack and magic attack, or physical defense and magic defense attributes of gear below purple quality that hasn’t undergone attribute conversion to be swapped. Second-Class Attribute Conversion Gem: Restores the original attributes of gear below purple quality that has undergone one successful attribute conversion.
Though few, the items were of immeasurable value!
Four and a half million gold coins were self-explanatory. The Dark Gold weapon, with its impressive stats, was a coveted piece of equipment for water mages! As for the attribute conversion gems, they were items that required incredible luck to obtain, essential for professions with unconventional attributes!
"What do you mean by this?" Xiao Hua asked, looking at Piaoling in confusion.
"I’m giving them to you," Piaoling said with a smile, her tone serious.
"Why?" Anyone playing games wouldn’t give away items of such value for free, especially not to someone they had just met today.
"As I said, I’m a person who repays kindness! If not for meeting you and having your help, I wouldn’t have been able to escape successfully. All that time would have been wasted. Now that I’ve taught Ice Seal World a lesson, my goal is accomplished, and continuing to play holds no interest. Originally, I planned to leave the stolen items in storage to rot. Since you helped me, I’m giving them to you as a reward for your assistance. These items will be useful to you," Piaoling said calmly with a smile.
She intended to stop playing? This information sparked thoughts in Xiao Hua’s mind.
If this had happened ten days or half a month earlier, Xiao Hua, then penniless, would have gladly accepted the items without hesitation. But now, as someone about to become a multimillionaire, he considered things more deeply. In online games, no matter how much money one had, how high their level, or how powerful their gear, without companions, it was always a bit dull. Furthermore, in Second World, many activities required grouping, and as a thief with no offensive capabilities, the lack of a group would eventually become a problem.
A partner like Piaoling, who wasn’t perfect but rated at least ninety points out of a hundred, was rare to find, even with a magnifying glass!
With this in mind, Xiao Hua decided on a plan and canceled the trade.