"Hei Zi, how's it going over there? What level is everyone at now?" Shi Feng asked.
"Leveling in this hidden spot is incredible — nobody's come to steal mobs, and everyone's past level 5 now. We've also gotten a ton of wolf meat and wolf pelts. Our bags are totally full, and we're about to head back to clear them out," Hei Zi said excitedly. Farming the forest wolf den these past few days had netted four pieces of level-5 Bronze Equipment, including a level-5 Bronze staff that boosted his magic damage significantly.
"Full already? You guys are efficient," Shi Feng said, mildly surprised. A stack of wolf meat was a hundred pieces, and while Hei Zi and the others had bought plenty of large bags, he hadn't expected them to fill up so fast. That was a mountain of wolf meat. If he handed it off to Ziyan Liuyun to turn into premium cuisine and sell, it'd be a fortune.
"Perfect timing then. Give all the wolf meat to a female priest named Ziyan Liuyun — just mention my name and she'll know. After that, rest up a bit, buy some mana and health potions, and wait for me in the Trade District," Shi Feng said. He thought it over — there still wasn't enough time to make the trip, so he'd let Hei Zi and the others rest.
"Brother Feng, are we going to run a dungeon with the Goddess of Ice and Snow?" Hei Zi blurted out, excitement bubbling up.
"Yeah. Get some rest. Once we're in the dungeon, you'll need to keep your nerves tight," Shi Feng nodded, then ended the call.
Hei Zi nearly jumped for joy. He'd assumed Shi Feng wouldn't bring them along — their skills weren't great, and they'd just embarrass themselves. But if Shi Feng didn't mind having them, who was he to argue?
The thought made Hei Zi buzz with anticipation. Getting to run a dungeon with the Goddess of Ice and Snow — even if they looked like fools, so what? They could tell everyone afterwards, and it'd be an honor. They'd partied with the Goddess of Ice and Snow. They'd cleared a dungeon with her.
White Sand Ruins, Stone Hammer Town.
Mayor Blackbeard spotted Shi Feng walking in and hurried over to greet him warmly.
"Brother Nightwind, you're here! That Ice Juice you sold me last time was amazing — everyone in our town is hooked. Now if we don't have a cup a day, we can't even sleep," Blackbeard joked.
"Mayor Blackbeard, sir — is this the Titan's Heart you wanted?" Shi Feng smiled and pulled out the Titan's Heart.
Blackbeard's jaw dropped the moment he saw the gray metallic sphere.
The shape, the color, the texture — it was exactly like the legendary Titan's Heart.
"That's right — this is the Titan's Heart, just like the old texts described. I never thought I'd see it with my own eyes in my lifetime. Brother Nightwind, I never imagined you were such a remarkable adventurer. You've restored the glory of us Black Iron Dwarves. On behalf of all Black Iron Dwarves, I offer you our deepest gratitude," Blackbeard said, his voice trembling with emotion as he accepted the Titan's Heart and thanked him profusely.
System: Unique quest "Steel Shell Fortress" complete. Reward: one Black Iron Badge, a letter of introduction from Blackbeard, a High-rank Magic Energy Book, 100,000 experience points. Reputation with Stone Hammer Town has reached Exalted.
A flood of rewards cascaded in, making Shi Feng's eyes spin. His level jumped to 6 at 73% — a leveling speed that put even the most hardcore grinders to shame.
Shi Feng didn't care much about the experience points. It was the other rewards that mattered.
This quest had exceeded all his expectations. A Titan's Heart with no energy remaining as a reward could turn a third-rate guild into a second-rate one. This one still had a quarter of its energy left, and the rewards were even better than that.
In his previous life, the player who'd completed this quest hadn't been so lucky — just a letter of introduction and a mid-rank Magic Energy Book, plus Exalted reputation. No Black Iron Badge at all.
Black Iron Badge — Gold-grade, unique equipment, restricted to Nightwind. The Black Iron Badge was the highest honor of the Black Iron Dwarves. While equipped, forging success rate increased by 5%, proficiency had a 10% chance of gaining an extra point, and forging carried a 1% chance of upgrading the forged item's attributes.
Shi Feng's eyes widened as he read the description. This Black Iron Badge was practically a god-tier forging tool — far superior to any forging talent. That 1% attribute boost was the real kicker. Out of every hundred items forged, one would have enhanced stats. If he forged nonstop, three to four hundred pieces of equipment a day was doable — meaning three to four upgraded items daily.
What separated players in this game was equipment quality. Even a slight edge in stats, when accumulated across every piece of gear, added up to a massive advantage over other players — in both PvP and dungeon runs.
He didn't know how big the boost would be, but even a single point of extra attributes could jack up an item's price by a large margin. A significant boost? The price could multiply tenfold — one item worth more than ten.
The Black Iron Badge was a pleasant surprise. The main goal of this quest had been the Magic Energy Book and the letter of introduction — both assets capable of propelling a guild to prominence. The Magic Energy Book being high-rank was especially valuable.
Forging wasn't just about crafting weapons and armor. You could also make armor patches, gem buckles, alchemy wands, and other items. Among these, armor patches had the highest demand and were the most universally useful.
A decent armor patch could enhance a chest piece's attributes — boosting defense or adding stat bonuses, depending on the patch's quality and rank. The Magic Energy Book Blackbeard had given him was essentially the blueprint for an enhanced, one-of-a-kind armor patch. No one else had it.
That single item had generated enormous revenue, transforming a third-rate guild into a second-rate one. The magic armor patches were largely responsible for that rise.
As for Blackbeard's letter of introduction, it would only be useful once he reached White River City. It was no good to him now.
Reaching Exalted reputation with Stone Hammer Town, however, opened up the ability to purchase Bronze-rank and even Iron-rank personal-bound weapons and equipment at dirt-cheap prices — affordable even for a level-10 normal player. It was the best place to get Iron-rank gear, which was why so many players ground reputation here, aiming to buy a full set of level-10 Iron-rank gear once they hit Exalted. That was considered solid equipment.
But grinding to Exalted was no joke. Wearing a full set of Iron-rank reputation gear at level 10 was nearly impossible.
Besides, a full set of Iron-rank reputation equipment was actually inferior to the Silver Moon Bronze set. Top-tier players wouldn't be caught dead wearing it.
Shi Feng had no intention of wearing it himself, but it served another purpose — feeding the Magic Artifact, the Abyssal. Magic Artifacts leveled up by devouring weapons. From what he knew, the better the material of the devoured weapon, the greater the stat boost. Essentially, it was a weapon you cultivated over time, making it far more powerful than epic-grade weapons and capable of rivaling even legendary ones.
If nurtured properly, a Magic Artifact's stats could completely surpass legendary weapons. The catch was that the materials required were exorbitantly expensive — even a second-rate guild's leader would struggle to afford it, all while bearing enormous backlash risk. That was why players had such a love-hate relationship with Magic Artifacts.
For the Abyssal's sake, Shi Feng had planned to feed it one Iron-rank level-5 weapon and ten Bronze-rank level-5 weapons. He'd purchased eleven Iron-rank level-5 weapons from the weapon shop, though he wasn't sure how much that would boost its stats.
He then opened the Abyssal's upgrade system panel and let it devour the weapons.
P.S. Thanks to Fallen Youth Who Became King for the 100-yuan tip!