Ye Ci was certain that her brain was not working at that very moment. Otherwise, why would she be unable to react to the situation? Who was the person squatting in front of her?
"Are you awake?" That voice was still asking anxiously, but from his tone, it seemed to be much better than before. He even extended his arm to help her up.
After a while, Ye Ci regained her breath, but her head was still dizzy. She sat on the ground and closed her eyes. It took her a while to recover. This was a rare situation, at least in Ye Ci's long gaming career.
When Ye Ci opened her eyes again, the first thing she saw was a vast expanse of yellow sand. She narrowed her eyes. She could even see the wind sweeping the fine yellow sand in the distance, forming an extremely strange scene. There was not a single bit of green in sight. Occasionally, she would see a few stalks of grass drooping down, looking half dead. Ye Ci could not see a trace of life in this vast expanse of yellow sand, nor could she see an exit.
Everything seemed to have been turned upside down. Just a moment ago, she was clearly in the dark underground, and there was a clear lake beside her. But now, she was in such a situation. She couldn't help but sigh at the fickleness of the world.
"Araunah, how long have we been here?" Ye Ci was not sure how long she had been in that daze, so the first thing she did was to ask Araunah. Araunah woke up earlier than her. Perhaps, he did not faint at all.
"Not long, just a short while." Araunah was not affected by the white light. His mind was clear.
Ye Ci looked at Araunah, then opened the map, but received a system notification, "You do not have the authority to view this map." She did not have the authority? Ye Ci raised one of her eyebrows playfully. "You don't have the right to explore this map" would only appear in a few situations. The first was that this map was a hidden map that had yet to be released. Players would need to solve various situations in this map before they could obtain a map. Only then would they be able to explore this map freely. Second, the player's identity and the map's worshipers were enemies, so they were not allowed to view the map. If they really wanted to view the map, they would need to defeat the map's biggest BOSS to gain the authority to view the map. The last possibility was that the map had a very high status in the game. For example, super maps such as the God's Temple or the Demon King's Infernal Realm were not allowed to be visited by players. Players could only use the map with the permission of the NPCs.
What kind of situation was this? It was impossible for it to be the third situation, so it could only be the first and second situation.
"White Elf, where are we now?" While Ye Ci was pondering, Araunah asked carefully. Although he did not know where they were, he could vaguely sense an unprecedented danger lurking somewhere in the desert.
"Saga Temple." Ye Ci stood up and continued to sit in her seat. There was no point in thinking about these pointless questions. The most important thing at the moment was to confirm her position on the map and the direction she was heading towards.
"Saga Temple?" Araunah was stunned, but he quickly stood up and followed Ye Ci's footsteps, "Who is Saga? Is he a God? "
Saga was actually not a god. He was just one of the underlings of the Demon King Naga. However, after the war, the entire Majia Continent fell into chaos. All the races seemed to have forgotten their respect for the gods. This led to the rise of all kinds of evil gods. Not only that, they started to recruit believers and built temples for themselves. They were trying to become heroes in this chaotic era. On the other hand, Saga was just a small demon in this chaos. Compared to Naga the Demon King's strength, he was nothing. However, compared to the current Ye Ci, Saga was still an insurmountable height.
Before Ye Ci's reincarnation, Saga was only a Dungeon BOSS in the Instance Dungeon. She had to kill him to finally meet the Demon King Naga. However, in this map, Saga's existence was as difficult as a God.
In her previous life, no one seemed to have discovered the Saga Temple map, so there was no information about this map. Ye Ci had nothing to use. She could only use her understanding of Saga to deduce the main monsters and the difficulty of this map.
Saga was a sand demon, and this map happened to be in a desert. This proved that Ye Ci's main monsters were sand monsters. However, this place seemed to be endless. Ye Ci did not know where the temple was, nor did she know when it would appear.
Ye Ci's guess was right. In the Saga Temple map, the most common thing to do was to kill monsters. They usually hid under the yellow sand and would only come out when they encountered danger. They were around level 80. Although it was difficult for Ye Ci to deal with them alone, with the help of Araunah and the Fourth Prince, it was easy to kill them. Furthermore, most of the monsters were alone. They rarely moved in groups, which made it much easier for Ye Ci to clear them out.
Ye Ci did not know how much experience she had accumulated. Araunah had reached level 82 in this map. His health and mana had almost doubled that of Ye Ci's. He had become the main force of the party. Araunah had a certain amount of intelligence, but it was not enough in a real battle. That was why he often needed Ye Ci's command. Ye Ci gradually stepped down from her position as the main force of the party. She became the main commander of the party and controlled Araunah and the Fourth Prince. She would attack from time to time. Although it was slower for her to gain experience, it freed up her energy and gave her more time to study the map.
These sand monsters gave a lot of experience and dropped good loot. Although they did not drop much equipment, they dropped a lot of skill books. It was a pity that most of the loot were Magic Skill Books, and there were very few Physical Skill Books. Ye Ci had only managed to obtain a Thief's Eviscerate and a Warrior's Assault Skill Book after spending so much time in the map. She did not have any skill books for the other Physical classes. As for her Hunter skill book, she did not even have one.
Ye Ci picked up a Shaman skill book and handed it to Araunah without hesitation. Araunah was now a huge monster slayer. As long as he was strong enough, Ye Ci would benefit greatly. Besides, Ye Ci still wanted to bring Araunah out of the Doro tribe. It was necessary for her to nurture him.
After walking for some time, Ye Ci felt that she had entered the heart of the desert.
This place was no longer filled with endless yellow sand. From time to time, she could see some dilapidated walls. From the broken cornerstones and walls, it was not difficult to see that this place used to be prosperous in the past, but now, all that was left was desolation.
After walking through a huge dilapidated courtyard, Ye Ci found herself standing on top of a huge ruin. Judging from the layout and the broken walls, this must have been a very prosperous courtyard. A gust of wind blew through the broken window on the wall, stirring up a whimpering sound that sounded like the low howling of wolves. Ye Ci stood in the middle of the ruins and looked around. Suddenly, she noticed a faint light behind a broken wall. She quickly walked up to it and leaned against the wall to take a closer look. She was right.
There was a golden treasure chest. Although some of the exquisite patterns on the chest had been eroded by the wind and sand for a long time, the chest was still bright and dazzling. It was obvious that it was not an ordinary item. Ye Ci thought for a moment. In this kind of map, a locked chest with monsters of this level would be at least level 8. Therefore, the chances of it dropping good stuff was very high.
Originally, Ye Ci would take a detour when she saw a chest. Since she could not open it anyway, she did not have any other thoughts. However, it was different now. She had the master key in her hand. Naturally, she had to give it a try no matter what.
However, would there not be a monster guarding a chest like this? Definitely not.
According to Ye Ci's understanding of the game, a level 4 treasure chest would be guarded by an elite monster that was one or two levels higher than the average monster in the map. Therefore, a high level treasure chest like this would definitely be guarded by a monster. However, where was the monster?
Ye Ci looked around but did not find anything.
Just as Ye Ci was hesitating whether she should open the chest or not, Araunah suddenly said, "Wow, what a big bird!"
Ye Ci looked up. Sure enough, there were two giant vultures circling in the sky above the chest. Their wingspans were eight meters long, and their sharp beaks were stained with blood. Their eyes were fixed on Ye Ci. If Ye Ci approached the chest in the slightest, they would swoop down without hesitation, press Ye Ci to the ground, dig out her heart, and eat her alive.
Ye Ci inspected the two vultures with Transcendent Insight. Holy shit! Both of them were actually Level 85 elite monsters!! If Ye Ci was targeted by both of them at the same time, she would probably be instantly killed. Although these monsters were fierce, they had a flaw. They would only circle around the chest. As long as you didn't get too close to the chest, even if you brushed past them, they wouldn't take the initiative to attack. This would explain why Ye Ci was drooling over the chest, and why they did not attack her even when she was standing by the wall.
Leave?
How was that possible? No matter how you looked at it, it didn't seem like Ye Ci's style to leave without taking a bite of the fatty meat in her mouth. Not to mention, the harder the loot, the more enjoyable it was to enjoy it, right?
Judging from the distance between the two vultures, as long as one of them was attacked, the other would definitely swoop down. But right now, Ye Ci wanted to deal with both of them by herself. That was impossible. However, with Araunah around, this wasn't a difficult task. Ye Ci called Araunah over and explained her plan to deal with the two vultures.
Araunah nodded, indicating that he understood. The current Araunah was no longer the same Araunah as before. Not only had he leveled up, but his combat ability had also improved greatly. Moreover, he had a certain level of intelligence. As long as Ye Ci explained her plan to him, he would quickly understand what to do.
"You won't be in danger, right? You and the Fourth Prince will take on one of the vultures together. " Although Ye Ci had explained to Araunah how to deal with the vultures, it didn't mean that Ye Ci was completely at ease. After all, Araunah was only an NPC. His reaction speed was still inferior to a real player's.
"Don't worry. I've just learned Regeneration. I can heal myself." Araunah smiled at Ye Ci. If it wasn't for Ye Ci, she wouldn't have thought that the Shaman class was awesome. This class was exactly like a Paladin. They could attack, defend, heal, and when necessary, they could even deal damage like a Magician. They were a true jack of all trades. However, there was a downside to this class. They knew everything, but they weren't proficient in anything. This was why Ye Ci was worried about Araunah. She was afraid that the vulture would kill him, and her plan would be ruined.
Because of this, Ye Ci assigned the Fourth Prince to fight the same monster with him. This way, the Fourth Prince would play the role of a meat shield, greatly reducing Araunah's burden. As for herself, although the vulture's level was much higher than hers, it was still a piece of cake for her to kite it.
After the battle began, Ye Ci and Araunah each lured a vulture away. Just as Ye Ci had expected, Araunah's performance was not particularly outstanding. This had something to do with the fact that he was still a normal NPC. If he could level up to become an Elite or Legendary NPC, things would be very different. Fortunately, the Fourth Prince quickly caught up with the vulture and used a few powerful skills to attract the vulture's full attention. Although the Fourth Prince was only level 60, he was still an Epic tier monster with high HP and Defense. As long as Araunah was healing him from behind, it wouldn't be difficult for him to tank the vulture. Araunah had already reached level 85, which was the same level as the vulture, so it was easy for him to defeat it.
With buffs, totems, and Araunar's own attack power, it only took five to six minutes to kill the vulture. The vulture let out a shriek and died on the ground. At this time, Ye Ci immediately lured the other vulture to Araunah, leaving the task of attacking the monster to him. During the kiting process, Ye Ci had used a few skills that dealt continuous damage to the vulture, so the battle ended very quickly.
Ye Ci looted the corpses. Other than a few gold coins, the two vultures did not leave any equipment behind. They only left behind a few feathers. Ye Ci had no idea what they were used for, but there was a faint silver glow on the edge of the feathers. At first glance, she knew that they were not ordinary items. Moreover, they were dropped from two level 85 Elite tier monsters. Although they were only White tier items, they were not to be underestimated. Ye Ci had a feeling that the feathers were some kind of rare material, so she did not throw them away. Instead, she kept them in her inventory and kept them safe.
This was how rare materials were. They could only be obtained by accumulating them over time. If not, how could you obtain them when you needed them?
After keeping the two feathers, Ye Ci immediately walked towards the golden chest. Ye Ci looked around the chest again. After making sure that there were no monsters around, she crouched down and took out the Master Key from her inventory and inserted it into the keyhole.
Ye Ci's guess was right. The treasure chest was a lvl 9 treasure chest, and it was obvious that its metal parts were made of gold. Even after experiencing the sandstorm, gold was still gold, and it still shone brightly. However, the wooden carvings that were originally embedded in the chest were not as lucky. They were either withered or cracked into pieces. Ye Ci had to examine them carefully to see the patterns on them.
The Master Key was also a rare item.
There were so many chests in Fate, and 90% of them were locked. Furthermore, each lock was different, and the holes on the chests varied in size. However, the Master Key was able to fit all locks and holes. Ye Ci held the Master Key and compared it to the holes on the chest. She could not help but worry. She inserted the Master Key into the hole. To her surprise, the Master Key fit perfectly with the hole. It was as if the Master Key was made by nature.
Following that, a system notification appeared: Opening treasure chest. 3% … 7% … 39% …
The higher the level of the treasure chest, the longer it would take to open it. This was not only applicable to Rogues with Lockpicking skills, but it was also applicable to the Master Key. As there were no monsters around, Ye Ci relaxed and waited for the treasure chest to open.
As long as one was a gamer, they would love to open treasure chests. Aside from the treasure chests containing a lot of treasures, what they liked even more was the thrill of opening a treasure chest that made them tense up. In fact, everyone was a gambler. It was just a matter of how much you gambled.
After about three minutes, a "Kacha" sound was heard. The lock on the chest fell off. Ye Ci pulled out the Master Key, and the lock was immediately destroyed. It was covered in dust. Ye Ci did not want to look at it again.
Ye Ci opened the chest. It was filled with sand, and she could not see what was inside. She could only reach her hand into the sand, and after searching for a while, she was able to get her hands on three items. She couldn't be bothered to look at what these things were. First, she put them into her bag. Then, she poured out all the yellow sand from the treasure chest. After fiddling with it for a while, she confirmed that there was nothing else inside. Only then did she stop. The treasure chest had also disappeared because there was nothing inside.
It was only then that Ye Ci took out the three items that she had just put into her inventory.
Out of the three items, two were equipment. One was a necklace, and the other was a wrist guard. However, they had not been appraised. Equipment that could appear in a treasure chest in a map like this must not be ordinary. Ye Ci could not appraise it now. She could only bring it back for someone else to appraise it.
The last item was a book. This book was not complete. It only had the first half, and the second half had been torn away. The cover of the book was wrapped in dark red leather. There were a few golden words on it. It said, "Soul Return."
Ye Ci's heart skipped a beat. Soul Return. This was an extremely rare skill in her previous life. She did not expect to encounter it in this life.
Ye Ci quickly checked the book's attributes.
Remnant Soul Return: Can revive an NPC. As this book is incomplete, the revived NPC will become weak. They will remain weak for 24 hours. Their loyalty will decrease randomly. Suitable for all jobs. Level 5 requirement.
Even though it was only a remnant page, the book's attributes still made her heart skip a beat. In Ye Ci's previous life, due to the later stages of the game's mercenary and slavery system, many players would bring along humanoid NPCs to help them in battle or to produce some items. However, NPCs, especially normal NPCs, were not very intelligent. If they were not careful, they could easily die. It was not easy to obtain humanoid NPCs. Therefore, players treasured these NPCs very much.
However, no matter how careful a player was, there would still be a time when they would fail. It was hard to guarantee that an NPC would not die. And it was at that time that the Soul Recall skill appeared out of nowhere and solved the regrets in the hearts of countless players.
However, it was said that Soul Return was one of the few skills that God accidentally left behind on the continent. Therefore, it was extremely precious. Not all players could learn it. This skill book could not be obtained from NPCs. It could only be obtained through quests or treasure chests. It was really a coincidence. And in this world, how many people could have such a lucky coincidence?
Soul Return could be used to revive NPCs. There was no cooldown, no restrictions, and it would not reduce the NPC's attributes. It was a very overpowered skill. The most overpowered setting was that Soul Return could revive all NPCs, regardless of whether they were the player's own NPCs.
It was because of this overpowered attribute that the first player to obtain Soul Return made a fortune just by reviving NPCs.
Unfortunately, the skill book that Ye Ci had obtained was a remnant. There were still many restrictions. However, Ye Ci was already very happy and satisfied. After all, she was still worried about what to do if Arauna died! Even if there was a 24 hour period of weakness, even if there was a random decrease in Loyalty and Favorability, it was still better than not being able to revive.
Ye Ci did not hesitate and immediately learned the remnant of the skill book.
This was probably the best loot that Ye Ci had obtained after entering this map.
This battle had really exhausted Arauna. He sat on the ground alone and took out the roasted meat that Ye Ci had given him and started eating. Although Ye Ci did not use much energy, she was still a little hungry after walking for so long. In addition, The Fourth Prince was staring at her from the side. Ye Ci could not ignore it. So she sat down and lit a fire to cook. After a while, the meat on the bonfire sizzled. Not to mention the aroma, just the sound alone was enough to make one's mouth water.
Arauna was also staring at the oily steak. He could tell that compared to the cold and hard roasted meat, the freshly baked steak was even more tempting.
Ye Ci looked at Arauna and smiled, "Wait a little longer. It's not done yet."
Arauna scratched his head embarrassedly and lowered his head to continue eating his roasted meat. After taking two more bites, he suddenly remembered something and threw the barbecued meat in his hand to Ol 'Four. Ol' Four instinctively opened its mouth to catch the meat. Then, it realized something and spat out the piece of barbecued meat. It then roared angrily at Araunah. It seemed that the Fourth Prince was very dissatisfied with this unfair treatment. If not for Ye Ci, he would probably teach this little brat a lesson and teach him who was the boss.
Ye Ci was indifferent to the "interaction" between the The Fourth Prince and Arauna. She pretended not to see anything. This made the Fourth Prince feel very wronged. He groaned and rubbed his large head against Ye Ci. It seemed like he was acting cute. Arauna mocked him rudely, "Look at yourself. You're so big. Why are you still pretending to be weak? You don't look like one at all!"
The Fourth Prince immediately bared his teeth at Arauna. Arauna also kept provoking him. To Ye Ci, this was just a quarrel between two children. She looked at them as she roasted the meat and laughed softly. Just as they were laughing happily, Ye Ci felt something approaching her. The thing came quickly and fiercely. It was so quiet that Ye Ci was caught off guard. She only noticed its presence now. Ye Ci's heart skipped a beat. Her body instinctively dodged. She flicked her wrist and a short sword appeared in her hand. She aimed it at the thing's weak spot!
In the blink of an eye, the thing shouted, "Ah! Don't hit me!"
The voice came at the right time. Ye Ci held back the short sword in her hand. She focused her gaze and saw a skinny man just a few feet away from her short sword. He was staring at Ye Ci with wide eyes. He looked terrified. It was as if the person in front of him was not a kind Elf, but a fierce Asura!
Ye Ci finally got a good look at the man's face. She couldn't tell his age because he was really dark and skinny. His skin was wrinkled and drooped on his bones. He looked very old. There was no flesh on his body. A layer of dry skin wrapped around his skeleton. A few rags hung on his body. If they could still be used as clothes, he was barefooted and lying on the yellow sand. One of his hands was bent, and the other was reaching for Ye Ci!
"Who are you!" Ye Ci didn't sound angry. However, her expression wasn't friendly either. After all, someone who could get so close to Ye Ci was not to be underestimated, even if he was an NPC. What's more, this person looked no different from a mummy. He was extremely weak. This kind of person was actually able to avoid her senses. It was really too surprising!
"I'm just a merchant passing by. I'm really thirsty. I want to ask you for some water." The man was out of breath. He looked like he was not far from death.
Araunah stood up and stared at the man cautiously. Even though he was just a normal NPC, he had been with Ye Ci for a long time, and he had developed a sense of wariness when it came to matters of the outside world. The Fourth Prince was even more so. He stood behind Ye Ci and looked at the man fiercely. It was as if he was the most dangerous creature in the world. As long as Ye Ci gave the order, he would rush forward and tear the man apart.
"A merchant passing by?" Ye Ci narrowed her eyes. She didn't believe him, "There are merchants here?"
"Yes, yes." The man nodded. However, his hoarse voice couldn't hold on for long. He coughed continuously. It looked like he was going to die without water.
Ye Ci thought for a moment. She took out a bag of spring water from her inventory and placed it in front of the man, "I can give you water, but you have to tell me everything you know. Otherwise …" Ye Ci gently placed her short sword on the bag of spring water, "Don't even think about drinking a single drop of this water."
"Okay! Okay!" When Ye Ci took out the bag of spring water, the man's eyes seemed to have seen the world's biggest diamond. He couldn't look away. When Ye Ci placed the short sword beside the bag of spring water, the man showed a look of despair, "No, no, as long as you give me water, I'll tell you everything you ask!"
Ye Ci looked at the man. He seemed very natural. After thinking for a moment, she threw the bag of spring water to him. She had used Detection on the man and found out that he was just an ordinary NPC. His name was Mark. This kind of NPC didn't have high intelligence and couldn't have the acting skills of an award-winning actor. Therefore, Ye Ci believed the man's words.
Mark hurriedly picked up the water bag from the sand and opened it with his trembling hands. Then, he poured the water into his mouth. He drank quickly, as if he wouldn't be satisfied if he didn't finish the entire bag of spring water.
Seeing Mark like that, Arauna quietly approached Ye Ci and asked nervously, "White Elf, is he … is he in danger?"
Ye Ci shook her head, indicating that she wasn't sure either. However, she had a feeling that the sudden appearance of such an NPC in this map was definitely related to the exit of this map. However, it was up to the individual to find out the relevant information. Not only that, Ye Ci also had a feeling that there were more than one NPC like Mark in this map. They must be waiting in various places, waiting for players to arrive.
"Here you go," Ye Ci looked at Mark drinking water and thought for a moment. Then, she cut a small piece of steak and handed it to him.
Mark was very excited and flattered. He didn't dare to reach out to take the steak. Instead, he looked at Ye Ci nervously.
"Eat. You won't be full just by drinking water. Eat something," Ye Ci's tone was much gentler, but the hidden glint in her eyes didn't disappear at all.
"Thank you, thank you!" Mark didn't hold back anymore after hearing Ye Ci's words. He immediately grabbed the steak and stuffed it into his mouth.
Ol 'Four was displeased by Ye Ci's action. He let out a low growl, and Mark took a few steps back in fear. Ye Ci patted Ol' Four on the back, and began to share the steak with Ol 'Four and Arauna. The Fourth Prince was very dissatisfied with Mark's sharing of the steak, but the large piece of steak Ye Ci gave him calmed him down a little.
Mark ate some meat and drank some water. He looked a little more energetic. Then, he thanked Ye Ci politely, "Thank you very much for your help. Thank you."
"You're welcome. Tell me, where are you from? Where are you going? " Ye Ci looked at Mark's weak appearance. He might not be able to run, so she didn't pay attention to him. That way, he would let his guard down and not be too nervous. Maybe she could get more information out of him.
"I'm a merchant from the Maacah Continent. I'm going to the Emerald Island." Mark sighed, "I'm going there to buy some rare goods and then ship them back to the Maacah Continent."
"The Emerald Island?" Ye Ci furrowed her eyebrows in surprise. In her past life, the Emerald Island had always existed in the history books of the Maacah Continent. However, no player had ever found the entrance to the Emerald Island, making it one of the most mysterious maps in Fate.
"Yes, the Emerald Island." Mark did not seem to be interested in explaining to Ye Ci what the Emerald Island was. He sat there with a bitter expression, looking very tired and sorrowful.
"Is this your first time walking this path?" Ye Ci looked at Mark from head to toe.
"No, no. I've walked this path many times, but I've never encountered such a terrifying situation!" A horrified expression suddenly appeared on Mark's face. This expression seemed to indicate how unacceptable and horrifying the situation he encountered at that time was.
Ye Ci stared at Mark's expression, and thought to herself, I'm afraid that Mark's situation has something to do with where I'm going next. She asked calmly, "What's wrong? What exactly did you encounter in this rolling yellow sand? "
Ma Ke covered his face with his skinny hands and burst into tears. Ye Ci was at a loss for what to do when she saw how heartbroken he was. (To be continued. If you like this work, you're welcome to vote for it at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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