Because it is equipment for the Soul profession, this item can be resized at will, whether larger or smaller.
That meant players could equip it directly without any post-processing.
However, in the current game, Epic-grade equipment was practically an existence on the level of a cheat.
[Reaper’s Scythe (Epic Grade):
Soul Attack +800.
Spirit +360.
Trait 1: Soul Rend: Ignores the target’s physical and magical defenses to rend their soul, causing excruciating spiritual pain. The severed body part will lose control temporarily.
Trait 2: Soul Surge: Attack range increased by 100%.
Trait 3: Death Sentence: 5% chance to kill instantly.
Trait 4: Summon Lord of Wraiths: Summons a level 70 Lord-rank monster, the Lord of Wraiths, to assist in battle.
Trait 5: Soul Convergence: When an enemy dies, its soul is absorbed into the Reaper’s Scythe, increasing its attack power. One soul is consumed per minute, with the effect gradually diminishing.]
It could be said that whoever obtained this piece of equipment would instantly become an overwhelmingly powerful, god-tier player.
Naturally, Chu Fu would never let such equipment fall into the hands of outsiders.
In addition to requiring an enormous number of contribution points, the exchange also required the player to belong to the Thorns Guild or Thorns Studio.
Furthermore, players were granted usage rights only, not ownership. If they acquired better equipment and replaced it, the Epic-grade item had to be returned to the guild, with the contribution points refunded at a depreciated value.
In the end, this terrifying piece of equipment was obtained by the Bitter Melon King, who had bankrupted himself and borrowed money from everyone he knew.
He felt as though it would take ten months of working for the guild to pay it off.
But it was worth it.
Who wouldn’t want such a treasure? Even if others wanted one, they couldn’t get it!
The players in the guild’s whale group were anxious as well.
These players held a special position within the Thorns Guild. They had paid to remain in the guild—in other words, they were among the first players to hire the Thorns Guild to carry them through the speed-clear rankings.
One of them was a player whose ID was Virtue Bears All.
He was also one of the players who had purchased a Necromancer class-change token from Jiaojiao Isn’t Delicate. He had changed classes long before the Lich Tower was established.
Thanks to his wealth, he had spent lavishly and even purchased an exclusive Thorns Guild membership.
He had coasted along the entire way.
By now, he had an SS-rank talent and the hidden class Lord of the Undead.
However, because he did not want to work for Thorns, he had never joined Thorns Studio.
Naturally, he had no qualifications to purchase Epic-grade equipment.
He panicked.
“Guild Leader, please let me join Thorns Studio! I’ll work for Thorns from now on! I was born a member of Thorns, and I’ll die a ghost of Thorns!”
More importantly, the currency system in the real world had collapsed. No matter how much money he had, it could no longer keep up with the prices in the game.
However, every member of the whale group was a shrewd businessman. They had all invested in the game, establishing small studios or monopolizing certain hard currencies. Within the game, they had also become top-tier merchants.
After shamelessly befriending Jiaojiao, Virtue Bears All rented three shops and made a fortune every day. That was the only reason he could afford to spend so extravagantly in the game.
But no amount of money could buy Epic-grade equipment!
Who didn’t want to become a god-tier player?
What was more, the Thorns Guild had now grown to the strength of a nation. Virtue Bears All decided to abandon his former stubbornness. He would no longer act like an arrogant, high-and-mighty tycoon. Instead, he would become a working member of the Thorns Guild.
At fifty-five, he was still in his prime.
“Sure, Uncle Li. Just have Manager Feng arrange it for you.”
Chu Fu gave the order.
Before long, Virtue Bears All joined the Thorns Guild as well. However, his contribution points were too low, so he could only earn them through purchasing.
This created a virtuous cycle.
The Epic-grade equipment became a carrot dangling in front of players who wanted it, driving them to buy guild contribution points.
Other guild members who wanted money would sell their contribution points, and to obtain more contribution points, they naturally had to improve their standing.
They completed guild missions: carrying new players, working in life professions, helping the guild gather materials, and submitting high-quality equipment to the guild warehouse.
The guild’s finance department would then sell those items through the auction house and various shops, bringing in funds, earning gold, and returning the profits to shareholders such as Chu Fu.
Therefore, to determine whether a guild was strong and profitable, one only had to check whether its warehouse contained a treasure capable of anchoring the entire guild.
Before long, all the Epic-grade equipment had been exchanged, mobilizing an astonishing amount of capital—up to 100 million gold coins.
The publicly listed price of a single piece of Epic-grade equipment was currently 8 million gold coins, making it even more expensive than a City-Building Token.
After distributing the equipment and organizing their team, Chu Fu finally set out.
They found a new dungeon 50 kilometers outside Thorns City. This was also the location where an invasion rift had appeared when Thorns City was defending itself.
When they arrived, they saw a leaderboard suspended above the dungeon.
Speed-Clear Leaderboard: Current Clear Teams: None, None, None, None, None.
Since no team had cleared it yet, the first-clear reward was naturally still available.
[Enter The Fall of Undead Apostle Valle (Nightmare Difficulty)? This dungeon is highly challenging. Please choose carefully!
Please note: The speed-clear leaderboard for this dungeon is global, and reward attributes are doubled.]
Now that was a pleasant surprise!
Wouldn’t that mean a full 360 points to all attributes?
They had arrived just in time!
Failing to respect an all-attribute reward like that would have been unforgivable.
With a wave of her hand, Chu Fu entered the dungeon.
The world around them grew dim, as though they had stepped into the land of the dead.
If not for the surprisingly small number of monsters ahead, they might have suspected that they had entered another Origin-level dungeon.
[Battleaxe Skeleton Summoner (Elite Boss), Level 31, HP: 180 million]
There were ten bosses like this.
Upon seeing the group appear, the Battleaxe Skeleton Summoners began summoning battleaxe skeletons.
In an instant, the monsters surged toward them like a stampeding horde.
“Pull them all together and wipe them out!” Jiaojiao Isn’t Delicate shouted.
Her body became encased in thick layers of rock, transforming her into a giant made of stone.
She slammed one fist into the ground. The earth trembled, drawing the attention of every boss.
The bosses had originally intended to remain where they were and continue attacking, but Jiaojiao Isn’t Delicate clenched her massive hand, and the ground beneath every monster turned into quicksand, dragging them all together.
That made it easy for the others to focus their fire.
Chu Fu also unleashed Soul-Extinguishing Calamity and Black Death Calamity, forming a dense black-and-gray fog that enveloped all ten bosses.
In less than two minutes, all ten Elite Bosses had been slain.
“That was easy! I wonder why the other teams still haven’t cleared it!”
“This dungeon requires level 40 to enter. It’s probably not easy for the other servers to gather a hundred level 40 players!”
“True. After all, people from outside can’t compare to the Thorns Guild.”
As they talked, they continued forward. Each wave contained ten bosses, and every round summoned at least a thousand monsters, but the group slaughtered them all with overwhelming ease.
Compared to them, players from the other servers had never faced monsters of this level.
Chu Fu and the others had no idea that players overseas had already begun cursing on the forums.
[What the hell is this dungeon? How is it so difficult? The first stage of Nightmare difficulty starts with Elite Bosses!]
That elite boss has a whopping 180 million HP, and it keeps summoning an endless stream of monsters. We’ve been holding them off for a full hour, and the monsters still haven’t stopped spawning.
Has anyone beaten the boss from the first wave yet?】
