Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Soul Harvest, Armored Scorpion
As a Necromancer, there's a 1% chance of absorbing a defeated monster as a pet.
After slaying over a hundred venomous scorpions without triggering the effect, it finally activated here!
Without hesitation, Zhang Yue absorbed the monster.
[Ding~ You've obtained a pet [Armored Scorpion] (Normal Grade).]
Zhang Yue opened his pet space and released the Armored Scorpion.
Roar—
With a menacing roar, a massive black Armored Scorpion appeared before Zhang Yue.
Its appearance was identical to the other Armored Scorpions in the Apocalypse Factory, except for one crucial difference—the monster's health bar was red, but this one had a green bar floating above its head!
Zhang Yue checked the scorpion's status window.
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[Armored Scorpion] (Physical-Type · Normal Grade)
Owner: Zero (Bound)
Type: Defense-Oriented
Loyalty: 100 (Each death reduces loyalty by 10. Loyalty cannot be recovered. When it reaches zero, the pet will rebel.)
Level: 0 (Experience: 0/100)
Strength: 4 / Physical Attack: 2 (Growth: ★★★★★)
Stamina: 5 / Physical Defense: 4 (Growth: ★★★★★★★)
Stamina: 5 / Magic Defense: 3 (Growth: ★★★★★★)
Health: 8 / HP: 80 (Growth: ★★★★★★★★★★)
Spirit: 3 / Mana: 9 (Growth: ★★★)
Skill: Iron Armor (Passive, D-Rank 0/10, reduces damage taken by 5%)
Description: A defense-oriented Armored Scorpion that can protect the beast tamer by standing on the frontlines...
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Just then, a system notification rang in Zhang Yue's ear:
[Ding~ Necromancer class effect activated: Your pet's loyalty has been set to infinite!]
[Ding~ Necromancer class effect activated: Your pet can upgrade to Elite Grade by devouring 10 Normal Grade pets (can be upgraded up to Mythical Grade)!]
[Ding~ Necromancer class effect activated: Your pet's experience requirement for leveling up has been reduced by 50%!]
Beast tamers' pets level up by consuming their tamer's experience.
This is one of the key reasons why beast tamer classes are so difficult to develop in this world!
Early on, they need double the experience other classes require to level up. Later on, as they acquire more pets, the experience demands only increase!
Moreover, pets develop just like their tamers, with equipment enhancement and skill upgrades costing twice as much!
Without a second thought, Zhang Yue spent 1 million energy points to upgrade the Armored Scorpion's Iron Armor skill from D-Rank directly to A-Rank!
[ [Iron Body] (A-Rank): Passive, reduces damage taken by 30%.]
Now it was a true defensive pet.
Once the Armored Scorpion reached level 5 and equipped the "Iron Armor · Hero's Guard", combined with the A-Rank Iron Body skill, it would be an immovable tank!
When the time came, the scorpion would hold the front line and absorb all the damage, while Zhang Yue dealt with the enemies from behind!
But for now, its level was too low, and it had no equipment. It couldn't be of much use yet.
"Let's put you away for now. I'll level you up after I reach level 5," Zhang Yue muttered as he returned the scorpion to the pet space.
With that settled, he continued hunting more Armored Scorpions!
Typically, it only took a fireball spell and a basic attack to take one down.
Unfortunately, the mana cost of an A-Rank Fireball was too high, and Zhang Yue's mana pool couldn't keep up.
With his current level, the 1 mana regeneration per second wasn't enough to sustain his spells.
Once he ran out of mana, he was forced to rely on basic attacks to deal damage.
And so, after spending some time, he managed to take down 30 Armored Scorpions!
With the task completed, Zhang Yue headed back into the Apocalypse Factory, found the NPC Carl, triggered the dialogue, and submitted the mission.
[Ding~ Congratulations on completing the mission [Exterminate the Scorpions]! You have received: 500 experience points, 1 silver coin, 3,000,000 energy points, and the equipment [Magic Necklace].]
Shing!
A beam of golden light shone down on Zhang Yue from above.
[Ding~ Congratulations on leveling up! HP +30, MP +12, free attribute points +6! Current level: 4. Next level requires 2,000 experience points.]
Zhang Yue opened his inventory and took out the blue-striped crystal necklace he had just received as a mission reward.
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[Magic Necklace] (Lv4)
Quality: 1-Star
Attribute: Green (Refinable)
Mana: +30
Class Requirement: None
Description: A legendary necklace forged with magic. Wearing it grants you immense mana...
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Perfect timing!
Zhang Yue desperately needed more mana, and here came a piece of equipment that boosted exactly that!
Immediately, he began refining it.
[Ding~ Refining complete after 125 attempts, consuming 2,499 energy points. Congratulations, you've obtained a gold-tier item [Sanctuary · Source of Magic]]
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[Sanctuary · Source of Magic] (Gold-Tier)
Mana: +100
Bonus Attribute: Spirit +2
Effect: Mana Devourer (Restores 20 mana points for each monster killed)
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This equipment was tailor-made for Zhang Yue!
He quickly equipped it, then allocated his 6 free attribute points using a 4 Intelligence, 2 Agility distribution.
His mana pool instantly surged to 454!
His magic attack increased from 79 to 89!
With the mission complete, Zhang Yue prepared to move on and challenge stronger monsters.
Now that he had a pet, the experience requirements were even greater.
He needed to reach level 5 as soon as possible and level up the Armored Scorpion to strengthen his overall combat power in the early game!
Meanwhile, NPC Carl lay back in a corner, still groaning, awaiting the next adventurer to pick up a task.
Zhang Yue left the Apocalypse Factory and headed toward the higher-level Armored Scorpions up ahead.
Just then, a sudden system announcement echoed from the sky:
[ [Regional Announcement]: Ding~ Attention all adventurers near Doomsday Town: A Level 5 Secret Realm [City of Apocalypse] has appeared nearby. The secret realm will last for 1 hour. All adventurers are encouraged to enter the realm and challenge it. The first to clear it will receive generous rewards.]
"A Level 5 Secret Realm, huh?"
Zhang Yue opened his minimap and saw a flashing red dot about two miles south of the safe zone near Doomsday Town.
"Perfect. With my current strength, I should be able to check it out."
Following the map's directions, Zhang Yue set off toward the location of the secret realm.
A few minutes later, he arrived at the spot—two miles south of Doomsday Town—and saw a massive, swirling purple barrier, towering over ten meters high, shining in the middle of a grassy field!
By now, quite a few adventurers had already gathered near the barrier!
It had been less than an hour since the interdimensional portal to the otherworld opened.
Most of the adventurers were only around level 2, with many still at level 1, fresh out of the starting zone!
Seeing the Level 5 Secret Realm, they were itching to enter but hesitated at the risk.
A young warrior wearing basic gear and wielding a wooden sword spoke up to the surrounding adventurers: "Anyone want to join me in there?"
"Fortune favors the bold! First to clear the realm will strike it rich! Aren't you all tempted?"
The others debated among themselves: "Of course we are, but going into a Level 5 Secret Realm at our level is suicide!"
"Forget it. I'm not risking my life for money!"
As the group of adventurers hesitated at the entrance, a large group of well-equipped players marched in from behind!
This group was uniformly at level 2, and all had the same guild tag: Supreme.
Their equipment clearly outshone that of the average adventurer.
While the others wore dull, worn-out gear, this group's equipment had a faint white glow—1-star quality!
The surrounding adventurers looked on in awe:
"Seven pieces of 1-star equipment? That's worth 7 silver coins! The system only gives each player 1 silver coin—how did they manage to get full sets?"
"They must've bought the silver coins from the marketplace!"
"The current exchange rate for silver coins is around 140 per coin. A full set of 1-star gear costs nearly a thousand bucks!"
"There are fifteen or sixteen of them, all decked out in 1-star gear. That's over ten grand! Must be loaded!"
Among the Supreme players, the one leading them, a level 3 warrior named Supreme Starshine, wore full gear that glimmered with golden effects!
"Whoa! Full gold-tier gear?!" The surrounding solo adventurers were stunned by Supreme Starshine's equipment.
Someone recognized him the next second: "Isn't that Liu Yao, the son of Liu Yue, the richest man in Linhai City?"
"I've seen him in real life! That's definitely him! It's said his father is an epic-ranked life profession alchemist, and their family owns three of the largest pharmacies in Linhai City. They're worth billions. On top of that, their family invested in a guild, and they're the largest shareholders. That guild is called Supreme."
"No wonder they're so rich..."
At this moment, Zhang Yue's eyes swept across the group of Supreme guild players, and when his gaze landed on a female priest named Supreme Moon, his expression paused.
"Huh? Why does she look familiar?"
After a moment, Zhang Yue suddenly remembered.
"Ah, it's my ex-girlfriend!"
"Well, to be precise, she was the ex-girlfriend of the original owner of this body."
"Never mind, then."
At that moment, Supreme Moon also noticed Zhang Yue from across the group.
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