Upon hearing this, Blacksmith Wang became somewhat anxious. "Blood Emperor, let's talk this over. We've had such a pleasant cooperation before. There's no reason to let a little thing like this spoil our relationship."
Lin Tianhao paused in his tracks. "Blacksmith Wang, to be honest with you, the village head has offered quite a generous deal."
Upon hearing this, Wang knew that Lin Tianhao was likely to make a hefty demand. "Blood Emperor, my platinum-level necklace is no slouch either."
"Not bad, it's not bad," Lin Tianhao hesitated, "but it's still just a transitional piece of equipment. The village head has even put forward a Saint-level Awakening Stone."
"How about you give me a Saint-level Awakening Stone too?" Lin Tianhao suggested.
Wang's expression changed slightly. He didn't have a Saint-level Awakening Stone. "BloodEmperor, I truly don't have a Saint-level Awakening Stone."
"However, I can help you upgrade your Nine-Compound Longbow to platinum level, and add a platinum-level necklace," Wang offered.
Lin Tianhao raised an eyebrow. A platinum-level main weapon plus a platinum-level necklace would indeed significantly boost his combat power. But there was still a problem. If he changed his necklace, then his Treant Set would only have nine pieces left. The set effect would be lost.
"Using platinum-level equipment as transitional gear does seem a bit of a waste," Lin Tianhao mused. "How about this? Give me a set of gold-level equipment for an archer."
"A set?" Wang's face changed dramatically.
"Blood Emperor, a set is not something easily found. In the entire Novice Village, the best available is a bronze-level set, and that's the limit of what I can offer," Wang explained.
Lin Tianhao was slightly disappointed, but it was within his expectations. "Bronze-level? Not even silver? Show me the set attributes."
Wang took a deep breath. When had a player ever haggled with him like this? But he had no choice. The Iceflame Ore was something he needed.
"Alright," Wang led Lin Tianhao into the inner room. There, Lin Tianhao saw three sets of bronze-level equipment.
"This one is the bronze-level set suitable for archers, the Clear Wind Set," Wang said.
Lin Tianhao's gaze fell on the Clear Wind Set, and the attributes of the set appeared before his eyes.
Clear Wind Set.
Effect 1: Attack Speed +3.2.
Effect 2: Movement Speed +5.9.
Effect 3: Critical Strike +35%.
Effect 4: Attack +1800.
Set Special Effect 1: Your normal attacks can stack attack speed. Each normal attack stacks 0.5 attack speed, up to a maximum of 6 layers.
Set Special Effect 2: Your normal attacks can stack movement speed. Each normal attack stacks 0.5 movement speed, up to a maximum of 6 layers.
Lin Tianhao frowned. This equipment was not what he wanted. Although attack speed and movement speed seemed important, he had looked at another set of equipment that had high counter-damage. What he needed was life-steal! Otherwise, if Wang used that counter-damage equipment, he would be very passive.
"Blood Emperor, what do you think?" Wang asked.
"Underwhelming," Lin Tianhao commented.
"How could that be?" Wang feigned surprise. "The set has everything an archer needs: attack speed, movement speed, critical strike, and attack power."
Lin Tianhao gave a noncommittal smile. It did have all of those, but it lacked life-steal, which was the most critical attribute he needed. In the current stage, with counter-damage present, without life-steal, the faster his attack speed, the quicker he would die. Wang's counter-damage set was a perfect counter to this Clear Wind Set. This was premeditated!
"I'm not short on attack speed or critical strike right now. What I need is life-steal," Lin Tianhao said. Life-steal was a special attribute that couldn't be added with free attribute points. It could only be obtained through equipment or skills.
Wang's eyes narrowed. An archer wanting life-steal seemed to be for increasing survivability. But to be honest, life-steal wasn't as effective for survivability as attack speed and movement speed. Once those two attributes were high enough, there was nothing to fear. However, there was a prerequisite for this: the opponent had to have no counter-damage.
Lin Tianhao's demand for life-steal equipment already hinted at his intentions. Looking across the entire Novice Village, aside from the twisted treants having a bit of counter-damage, there was only Wang's equipment.
"Blood Emperor, life-steal is a special attribute. I do have it here, but not in a set. Moreover, only three pieces of bronze equipment have the life-steal attribute," Wang said.
Lin Tianhao's expression changed slightly. It seemed Wang had guessed some of his intentions.
"Alas," Lin Tianhao sighed, "since that's the case, I might as well go to the village head."
Wang's eyes narrowed, and an intangible aura was released. Lin Tianhao felt the temperature around him rising.
"Ding, you are affected by high temperature."
-18.
-18.
...
The damage wasn't much, but Wang's attitude was quite annoying to Lin Tianhao.
"Blacksmith Wang, are you going to attack me?" Lin Tianhao asked.
With that, Lin Tianhao shrugged. "Alright, I know I can't beat you. Go ahead and kill me."
Wang's expression turned gloomy. He naturally knew that if Lin Tianhao were killed, he would only lose a level. Moreover, this was the Novice Village. If he killed Lin Tianhao here, the village head would use it as an excuse to cause trouble for him.
"Blood Emperor, I do have a special piece of equipment here that can life-steal," Wang said. "I believe you won't be able to refuse it."
"Oh?" Lin Tianhao was somewhat surprised. What kind of equipment could make Wang so confident?
Wang took out a necklace from his pocket.
Bloodthirsty Necklace: Special.
Wearing requirements: None.
Effect: Each normal attack restores 1% of your health.
Durability: 100.
Lin Tianhao's eyes narrowed. He had to admit that Wang was right. This was a piece of equipment he couldn't refuse. One percent health recovery might not seem like much, but with Lin Tianhao's high health, it added up.
"Alright, this Iceflame Ore is yours," Lin Tianhao said.
"No," Wang shook his head. "To get this piece of equipment, in addition to the Iceflame Ore, I also need a thousand other pieces of equipment."
Lin Tianhao's expression changed slightly. This was quite a demanding request.
"Blacksmith Wang," Lin Tianhao's voice deepened, "isn't your demand a bit excessive?"
"Not excessive. I believe you will agree," Wang said confidently.
Lin Tianhao gave a noncommittal smile. Wang had guessed right.
"Alright, as you wish, but I don't have it right now. I need some time," Lin Tianhao said.
"No problem, I'll wait for you," Wang replied.
Lin Tianhao agreed because it was something he could do easily. He had already accumulated quite a few pieces of equipment from clearing dungeons. He planned to continue clearing dungeons to increase his health as much as possible. Ideally, he wanted to upgrade his Punishment Hand talent to three stars, which would significantly boost his damage.
Leaving the Novice Village, Lin Tianhao began to farm the Twisted Jungle intensively.
Emerald City.
Zhumeng Yanxue saw the message from her subordinates and couldn't help but look puzzled. "After such a long time, still at level ten. It seems there's no hope for him."
Zhumeng Yanxue replied with a message, "Stop paying attention to Blood Emperor. Even if he logs on now, he won't be able to catch up with me."
"Should we still try to recruit him?" came the follow-up question.
Zhumeng Yanxue hesitated for a moment, "Recruitment is fine, but lower the annual salary to 100,000. If he agrees, great; if not, forget it."
"In the game, one step behind means always behind. Don't worry about him anymore."