Chapter 36: The Possibility of Getting Something for Nothing Twice

This was the first time Su Mubai had encountered a life-span consumption measured in days. Even so, he still considered 120 days of life too expensive.

Gems could be synthesized; by finding a jeweler, one could combine three gems into one of a higher grade, though it would cost a small processing fee. Naturally, the higher the grade of the gem, the lower the success rate of synthesis, which was also linked to the jeweler's skill level. The reason the cost to upgrade [Catastrophe] to level four was so high must be due to the Catastrophe trait.

Su Mubai pondered for a moment and ultimately chose to "freeload." Having learned a lesson from Huai Jian’s instant kill of the Skeleton Warrior, he decided to save his life span until he had at least ten years' worth before spending it. As for gold coins, after giving 600 to Huai Jian, he only had 158 left, which he needed to keep for emergencies.

[You have obtained three "Level 2 Spirit Gems."]
[Level 2 Spirit Gem: Spirit +20, can only be socketed into armor.]

In passing, Su Mubai used his ability to upgrade all the remaining gems for free. Although they weren't useful to him, they could be sold for money. Critical strike gems were clearly rarer than stat gems; the cost to Sublimate and Catastrophe them was five times higher.

[Level 2 Critical Strike Gem: Critical Strike/Spell Critical Strike +2%, can only be socketed into a main weapon, and each item can only hold one.]

"Three Level 2 Spirit Gems mean 60 Spirit, plus the upgrade and the Undead Will necklace—that’s enough!" Satisfied that he had met the equipment requirements for the [Death Speaker’s Robes], Su Mubai felt a surge of delight. He cast his gaze toward the monster corpses dozens of meters away and focused his mind.

[Notification: You have successfully extracted 2 points of Death Aura from the corpses of 20 ordinary "Wild Ox" monsters.]

As he leisurely replenished his Death Aura, preparing to continue leveling up while lying down, a message suddenly appeared in his mind. Nearly 500 meters to his right, one of his skeletons had discovered a wild treasure chest!

"Now that’s more like it." Su Mubai smiled, stood up, and headed toward the coordinates. How could there not be treasure chests in a wild map that no one had explored yet? Finally, he had found one.

Wild treasure chests were immovable and could not be taken away; they had to be opened on the spot. Such chests were either hidden in inconspicuous places or guarded by powerful monsters. The higher the grade of the chest, the more formidable the guardian, and they were certainly not easily obtained by ordinary players.

The chest found by the Skeleton Warrior belonged to the latter category. Surrounding it were over a dozen Prairie Vicious Wolves and a Wolf King significantly larger than the wild oxen. This was a Silver-grade boss; if other players had encountered it, they would have inevitably faced a bitter struggle. But against Su Mubai’s skeleton army, a mere Silver-grade boss accompanied by a dozen reinforced elite monsters was no match.

As soon as Su Mubai approached, before he could even check the Wolf King’s stats, seven or eight Skeleton Warriors swarmed forward.

[Heavy Strike]!
-15195, -15236, -30410! ...

A series of terrifying damage numbers popped up. The Wolf King’s health bar vanished instantly, and it collapsed to the ground dead. At the same time, dozens of fireballs and hundreds of arrows arrived in an instant, providing fire coverage for the remaining Prairie Vicious Wolves.

-2937, -2908, -6002! ...
-6096, 5981, -12108! ...

In an instant, the wolf pack guarding the chest fell under the terrifying output of the skeleton legion. The ability to deal such high damage was inextricably linked to the [Advanced Aura of the Dead] contributed by Regi. Under the enhancement of the class trait, this skill increased all attributes of the skeleton army by 60%!

[Killed Level 10 Reinforced Elite Monster "Prairie Vicious Wolf," received 50% level-gap bonus, Experience +450 points.]
...
[Killed Level 10 Silver-grade Boss "Prairie Wolf King," received 50% level-gap bonus, Experience +36000 points.]

Watching the system notifications flood the screen and his experience bar jump by nearly 10%, Su Mubai was shocked by his own absurdity. A dignified Silver-grade boss, just like that, was killed in seconds? If he could find a few more chests like this, wouldn't he be able to reach level ten immediately? Unfortunately, Silver-grade bosses were clearly rare in the新手村 (Newbie Village). Su Mubai cast aside this unrealistic thought and walked forward slowly.

[You obtained 1 Gold Coin and 38 Silver Coins.]
[You obtained Level 1 Agility Gem x1.]
[You obtained "Primary Skill Book" x1.]
[You obtained Silver-grade material "Wolf King's Tooth" x5.]
[You obtained Silver-grade equipment "Wolf King's Leather Pants."]
[You obtained Silver-grade equipment "Wolf King's Leather Armor."]
[You obtained Silver-grade equipment "Wolf Tooth Dagger."]
[You obtained Silver-grade equipment "Cruel Pauldrons."]

Aside from the materials and the negligible amount of money, the Prairie Wolf King didn't drop much. Su Mubai could only use one piece of equipment and the primary skill book.

"Upgrade one tier."

With a thought, Su Mubai upgraded all this equipment to Gold-grade and the skill book to Intermediate.

[Cruel Pauldrons]
Pauldrons, Cloth Armor
Level 10
Gold-grade
Durability 100/100
Physical Defense +28
Magic Defense +35
Spirit +15
Constitution +15
Spell Power +20

Having seen Legendary-grade equipment, Su Mubai no longer felt anything for Gold-grade gear. He threw them all into his backpack to either equip or sell once he reached level 10.

With a flick of his mind, the Intermediate Skill Book turned into a stream of golden light that merged into his brow.
[You have used "Intermediate Skill Book" x1, Skill Points +5, current available skill points: 11.]

He hesitated, but Su Mubai chose not to immediately increase the level of the [Death Extraction Feedback] skill. The main reason was that he would be level 10 soon, and he wanted to see if he could learn new skills from the [Book of the Dead].

"It won't be too late to upgrade after level ten."

Having made his decision, Su Mubai’s gaze fell on the chest in front of him. The chest was not large, silver in color throughout, and carved with various inscriptions.

[Detected unlocked "Silver-grade Treasure Chest," open it?]

The system prompted him, but Su Mubai decisively chose "No." He wanted to test a hypothesis in his mind. Could the [Catastrophe] talent be used on objects that didn't belong to him? Thinking of this, Su Mubai took a deep breath, locked his eyes on the Silver-grade chest, and focused his mind.

[Catastrophe]!
[Target: Silver-grade Treasure Chest]
[Notification: Please select the upgrade tier: Tier 1 / Tier 2 / Tier 3.] (Click to view details)

"It really works!" A look of wild joy appeared on Su Mubai’s face. If the chest could be upgraded, it meant he could "freeload" and upgrade the contents inside twice! After all, the chest and the items inside were not the same thing!

Suppressing his excitement, Su Mubai clicked to view the details.
Option 1: Upgrade to [Gold-grade Treasure Chest], no cost.
Option 2: Sublimate to [Dark Gold-grade Treasure Chest], cost 2000 gold coins.
Option 3: Catastrophe to [Epic-grade Treasure Chest], cost 200 years of life.

Although he was very curious about what kind of Catastrophe traits would be added to the chest, Su Mubai couldn't afford it. There was no way around it; he had to choose the free upgrade.

"Upgrade one tier."

The next moment, the chest in front of him lit up with a blinding golden light. Its surface rippled like flowing water, the silver color gradually fading to reveal a golden hue. A few seconds later, the Silver-grade chest had completely transformed.

[Detected unlocked "Gold-grade Treasure Chest," open it?]

"Open!" This time, Su Mubai firmly placed his hand on the chest.

The chest opened slowly amidst the golden light, and two items lay quietly inside. Beneath a staff made of unknown material, a yellowed piece of parchment was pressed down.

"What is this?" Su Mubai picked up the two items with curiosity.