Alchemy Blueprint and Treasure Map

Xiao Ling walked to the stream at the edge of Skeleton Forest and washed his face with cold water. His heart raced again when he recalled what had just happened. He could not believe that he had suddenly obtained so many good things. It took him quite some time to digest the fact and calm himself.

Items like Titan's Heart only appeared in legends from ten thousand years ago. Sometimes, one or two singers mentioned its name in the inns, but Xiao Ling only regarded it as a fictitious item. He never thought he could get his hands on one. And those two blueprints were definitely not common items either. He still felt a little dizzy even now. 'I'm not dreaming, am I?'

Legend had it that mechanical imps, mechanical gargoyles, Titans, and Diamond Dragons were all extremely powerful alchemy creations. The first two were too common and could be seen everywhere, while Titans and Diamond Dragons had only appeared in ancient myths, but their prowess was beyond doubt. The most important component for a Titan was none other than the Titan's Heart, as only with it could a Titan be driven. Of course, it was not easy to obtain the rest of the components, so it was unlikely for Xiao Ling to craft one now. However, the Titan's Heart alone was worth at least hundreds of thousands of gold coins on the market.

But, Xiao Ling did not plan to sell it, because a Titan's Heart was the dream of all mechanical alchemists, and the pleasure of owning an item worth hundreds of thousands of gold coins was not something ordinary people often had the opportunity to experience.

He fiddled with the bright blue gemstone carefully and could hardly tear himself away from it. It was a long time before he put the Titan's Heart back in his pouch.

Then he took out the two parchments. They were also extremely valuable items.

Mechanical Alchemy Blueprint

Use: Crafts a Mechanical Gargoyle

Requires Journeyman Engineering

Requires 2 Metal Ingots, 5 Deep Blue Gems, 5 Verdant Gems

Skills: Frost Blast, Ring of Frost

Mechanical gargoyles were a kind of mechanical puppets one rank higher than mechanical imps. The fighting power of a level-1 mechanical gargoyle was equivalent to that of a level-3 mechanical imp, sometimes even stronger, and its market price was around 100,000 gold coins. Moreover, those sold on the market had only one skill at most; mechanical gargoyles with two skills were rare. At present, there were not many mechanical alchemists who owned a mechanical gargoyle in the whole server, only one or two at most.

Xiao Ling estimated that if he could make a dual-skills level-1 mechanical gargoyle and sell it on the market, the price would be around 200,000 gold coins. However, except for some major guilds, it was very difficult for ordinary players to afford such a large sum of money.

He already had the required metal ingots, but he did not have 5 Deep Blue Gems and 5 Verdant Gems. The market price of a Deep Blue Gem was 2,000 gold coins, and the price of a Verdant Gem was 1,500 gold coins. In other words, he had to save 17,500 gold coins to craft a mechanical gargoyle.

"Why do I feel that I am getting further and further away from my goal of leveling?

"Originally, I only needed a few thousand gold coins to begin my journey of leveling, but now I need 17,500 gold coins.

"Well, as the road ahead will be long, I'll regard all this as paving the way for my future journey of leveling. After all, the strength of a mechanical imp is much worse than that of a mechanical gargoyle. If I can really craft a dual-skills mechanical gargoyle, then my grinding speed will definitely be faster. It's like laying a foundation."

Xiao Ling looked at another parchment.

Treasure Map of Goblins

"We have been driven out of our homes to a terrible land of plague, where many of our people have died in pain from disease. There is no hope for our future. In order to get out of the nightmare, we buried our last wealth in the Western Plague Swamps..."

After taking a look at the map, Xiao Ling felt depressed and angry. "God gave me a slice of roast meat, but forgot to let me grow the teeth to eat it! Why is the treasure buried in the Western Plague Swamps?"

Brakada was located in the southernmost part of the Endace Continent, while Western Plague Swarms was located in the northernmost part. If Xiao Ling wanted to find the treasure, he must pass through the Human kingdom of Erathia, the Elf kingdom of Hamundale, and the Undead kingdom of Deya. The Human and Elf kingdoms were easy, because they and Brakada were a part of the Angelic Alliance, so he could travel through them freely. But, Deya was an Evil Alliance kingdom. There were often wars between the two alliances, and their rancor ran deep. It was extremely difficult to cross an Evil Alliance kingdom to reach the Western Plague Swamps in Eli, a feat that even those who had reached the level of over 40 did not dare to try.

For Xiao Ling, it was simply impossible to get the treasure.

"I'd better put aside these wishful thinking for now and be a miner..." he sighed. "It seems that I still have a long way to go in my mining career. Well, I've no other choice anyway..."

...

"Sis, now that he is fired, isn't he jobless?" Huowu asked worriedly.

Huawu smiled. "Don't tell me you're in love with him?" Her smile was always so subtle and gentle, dignified and generous.

Huowu's pretty face turned red as she pouted her lips and said, "No!"

"Who was it that looked at him in a daze just now, then?"

Huowu stamped her foot and said shyly, "I was just wondering what he was doing." The charming red on her face was as intoxicating as a puddle of Nu'er Hong[1], attracting the glances of people around them.

"Alright, don't be angry!" Huawu comforted her. "Everyone has his own future, and he has to rely on himself to grasp it. No one else can help him. We just happened to meet him somewhere in our lives. Even if some of his behavior caught your attention, we are just random passers-by. It is likely that you will forget this person in a day or two. So, why should we care about him so much?"

Huowu nodded. "Sis Huawu's words always have a good deal of reason." She was only curious about Xiao Ling like all other girls would, and she would forget him in a few days.

Through a narrow dirt path, the two girls walked to the inn, bought bread and spring water, and then made all the necessary preparations. Half an hour later, a large team of fifty players, all over level-45, headed toward Zanga Marsh.

[1] Nu'er Hong - A variety of huangjiu(yellow wine) that originates from Shaoxing, in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang. It is made of glutinous rice and wheat. This wine evolved from the Shaoxing tradition of burying nu'er hong underground when a daughter was born, and digging it up for the wedding banquet when the daughter was to be married. The containers would be decorated with bright colors as a wedding gift. To make the gift more appealing, people began to use pottery with flowery carvings and patterns.