Ashen God
Chapter 308 - 307: Dark Purple Accessory (6000 words)

Chapter 308: Chapter 307: Dark Purple Accessory (6000 words)

Next came the green treasure boxes from the Crimson Iron Flying Ants and the Crimson Iron Soldier Ants, totaling fifty-seven. Before Zhang Yanhang went to sleep, the Crimson Iron Soldier Ants with the lowest combat damage contributed forty of those treasure boxes, while the more heavily damaged Crimson Iron Flying Ants contributed only seventeen.

Lastly, the least numerous but most important to Zhang Yanhang, were the purple quality treasure boxes. Zhang Yanhang had in total harvested two purple quality drop treasure boxes, one from the Crimson Iron Ant King previously killed at the entrance of the Core Area passage, and the other from the Lord Monster, the Crimson Iron Ant Queen, he had just slain.

Zhang Yanhang held high hopes for these two purple quality boxes. He felt that since they were of the same quality as the ones from the Tracker he had encountered before, even if the items they contained were disappointing, at least dark purple quality items would appear.

Looking at the small mountain of treasure boxes before him, Zhang Yanhang first picked up a purple quality box from the top, which was from the Second Tier Second Star Elite Monster, the Crimson Iron Ant King. For the box from the Lord Monster, the Crimson Iron Ant Queen, he planned to open it later.

"Would you like to open ’Drop Treasure Box (Crimson Iron Ant King)’?"

"Yes, open it." Although the Crimson Iron Ant King was just a Second Tier Second Star Elite Monster, Zhang Yanhang’s expectations for its treasure box were still quite high. Apart from the most desired Crimson Iron Ant King Concentrated Hormone, Zhang Yanhang also hoped to find another dark purple quality accessory.

Zhang Yanhang felt that since even a First Tier Three Stars Ordinary Monster, the Crimson Iron Breeding Ant, could produce a new blue quality equipment, there was no reason why the powerful monster second only to the Crimson Iron Ant Queen in the Ant Nest, the Crimson Iron Ant King, couldn’t produce a new dark purple quality item within its treasure box.

"Please select the specific contents for ’Drop Treasure Box (Crimson Iron Ant King)’"

"Item One: ?"

"Item Two: ?"

"Item Three: ?"

"Item Four: ?"

"Item Five: ?"

"Hopefully, the equipment that comes out of the Crimson Iron Ant King’s treasure box will be somewhat normal in terms of the slot it occupies, so I don’t end up with something like the Crimson Iron Teeth from the Crimson Iron Breeding Ant Treasure Box that I can’t actually use."

Speaking of these Crimson Iron Teeth, Zhang Yanhang planned to deal with this issue after opening the treasure boxes. Since he currently had plenty of free time, spending some of it to gain the charm attribute bonus from the Crimson Iron Teeth seemed like a good deal.

"And not only do I hope it’s not some unusable equipment like the Crimson Iron Teeth, but ideally it should also avoid being something as bizarre and non-mainstream as a tongue piercing, nose stud, or navel ring."

If possible, Zhang Yanhang wanted to find a dark purple quality accessory like a bracelet or a mask. If he could obtain a mask, then Zhang Yanhang would be able to remove the Raccoon City standard-issue anti-poison mask he had grown accustomed to wearing, which, despite its familiarity, is simply too low in quality for him as someone who had advanced to Second Tier.

"Item One"

"Option One: Refined Crimson Iron (500 grams), Blue quality, Material"

"Option Two: 600 Soul points"

"Option Three: 1200 Soul points"

"The first item is indeed familiar soul points, but I didn’t expect that even the Crimson Iron Ant King, a miraculous creature that has reached the ’eating without excreting’ realm, could still drop related materials. But shouldn’t this Refined Crimson Iron actually be the excrement of the Crimson Iron Flying Ants?"

Zhang Yanhang had originally thought that he would not be able to find options related to Crimson Iron in the Ant King’s treasure box, or at the very least, it would be something like the white quality Crimson Iron Residue.

However, the treasure box of the Crimson Iron Ant King was after all a purple quality box, perhaps Refined Crimson Iron being blue quality, was because Crimson Iron Residue was somewhat below its quality limit.

While the lower limit of the treasure box’s quality doesn’t affect Zhang Yanhang much since he always has multiple choice options, he still deduced a possibly reliable pattern: from his experience, the lowest quality of item that a treasure box can produce will only be one quality lower than the box itself.

That is, generally, without accidents, purple quality boxes definitely won’t produce green quality items, with blue quality being the least.

Conversely, Zhang Yanhang is more familiar with and always applies the concept of quality upper limit, which corresponds to the lower limit, generally only one quality higher than the box itself.

Therefore, this is why Zhang Yanhang has never found blue quality items in white quality boxes; the upper limit is green quality, which simply cannot yield higher quality items.

Zhang Yanhang used to dream when sleeping that he’d suddenly find ultra-high-quality items in low-quality boxes, but that was merely daydreaming. After all, such a bug in the real world was never going to happen.

Of course, if Zhang Yanhang’s Multiple Choice Talent evolved to a terrifying extent through successive enhancements, then perhaps he could indeed break through the Quality limit of the treasure box and extract Blue quality items from a mere White quality treasure box.

However, to reach that level, Zhang Yanhang estimated that he would have to strive for a long time, and even if it were possible, it would likely consume a lot of Energy Value. After all, if such a thing could be done, Zhang Yanhang’s Multiple Choice would probably have evolved to a realm of "Speak and follow."

As a Destiny System Talent, Multiple Choice’s subsequent upgrades destined it to develop a Speak and follow realm. Zhang Yanhang never worried about this; his only concern was how much time it would take to get there.

The reason Zhang Yanhang was so certain about the potential of Multiple Choice to develop the ability to Speak and follow was that it had already shown inklings of such power after just evolving once.

As long as Zhang Yanhang expended Energy points, Multiple Choice could indeed accomplish certain feats out of thin air, which could already be considered a weakened version of Speak and follow.

Or rather, it was the limit of Energy value that restricted the strength of the choices Zhang Yanhang could make. If he were given unlimited Energy Value, then even without further evolution, Multiple Choice could immediately enter the realm of Speak and follow.

Of course, if he genuinely wanted to reach that realm, Zhang Yanhang reckoned that by that time, he would need to advance to at least the Fifth or even the Sixth Tier, which meant waiting for roughly half a year more.

"Speak and follow, huh? I feel that if I could really do that, I’d be nearing retirement by then. For now, let’s not think about such distant matters.

Five hundred grams of Refined Crimson Iron is indeed a bit less. If it were five tons of Refined Crimson Iron, I might consider it, as five tons of Refined Crimson Iron can already be fused into a Dark Purple Quality material. Although Dark Purple Quality materials have limited use for me right now."

Compared to five hundred grams of Refined Crimson Iron, Zhang Yanhang unquestionably preferred the one thousand two hundred Soul points from Option Three.

[Item Two]

[Option One: Appendages of the Crimson Iron Ant King (a pair), Blue quality, Material]

[Option Two: 600 Soul points]

[Option Three: 1200 Soul points]

"Appendages of the Crimson Iron Ant King? Why would such a thing drop? Speaking of which, the materials in the options lately seem a bit odd. Despite other parts being of higher Quality, it always ends up dropping parts of more peculiar significance."

Zhang Yanhang remembered the last time with the Crimson Iron Breeding Ant; the strongest part of the Crimson Iron Breeding Ant’s body was its mouthparts, but the options only showed its wings.

This time, the options for the Crimson Iron Ant King were even stranger. Logically, the most valuable parts should be its mouthparts or its exoskeletal wings, but what ended up dropping were the practically useless appendages.

"Speaking of which, I had planned to strip materials directly from the body of the Crimson Iron Ant Queen. But looking at it now, that plan seems to have ended before it even started..."

Since he knew the body of the Crimson Iron Ant Queen was comparable in size to a whale, Zhang Yanhang had always believed that such a massive body would surely yield a large number of materials. However, to his great surprise, the All Four Elements are Void proved to be overly powerful, pulverizing the entire body of the Crimson Iron Ant Queen into minced meat with just one punch.

Thus, the plan to strip materials was aborted right away; even if Zhang Yanhang insisted on obtaining materials, the most he could do would be to gather the minced meat from the walls and the ground for a barbecue.

Initially, Zhang Yanhang wanted to try and strip a large number of Purple Quality materials from the body of the Crimson Iron Ant Queen and forcibly compile them into a Light Gold Quality material to patch together the three Light Gold weapons required to upgrade the Four Great Emptiness Purifying World Fist.

Fortunately, this plan was not very reliable, with a rather low success rate, so he wasn’t very disheartened when the plan was prematurely scrapped.

[Item Three]

[Option One: 120 Soul points]

[Option Two: 600 Soul points]

[Option Three: 1200 Soul points]

"To have three consecutive options about Soul points, it seems the Dark Purple Quality new equipment should appear in either Item Four or Item Five. I hope this time the Dark Purple equipment will be as useful as possible.

I remember that in the treasure boxes of those Crimson Iron Ants before, there should have been options related to a pet by this point, but there’s none this time. According to the pattern, there should have been a Crimson Iron Soldier Ant appearing; now it seems there’s been a hiccup."

Zhang Yanhang felt that it was highly likely that the treasure box of the Crimson Iron Ant King had no pet option because there was no monster suitable for Blue quality in the Crimson Iron Ant Nest. Creatures like the Crimson Iron Flying Ant, Crimson Iron Soldier Ant, and the Crimson Iron Breeding Ant, all First Tier Monsters, all fell within the Green quality range.

"Previously, I always thought that I should at least be able to get a Crimson Iron Ant King from the treasure box of the Crimson Iron Ant Queen, but now it seems not necessarily so."

Although Zhang Yanhang wasn’t particularly fond of the Crimson Iron Ant Queen, if he had to choose between it and other low-quality pets, he would undoubtedly pick the Crimson Iron Ant Queen because he tended to habitually choose items of higher quality most of the time.

[Item Four]

[Option One: Crimson Iron Teeth, Blue quality, Equipment]

[Option Two: Crimson Iron Heart, Blue quality, Equipment]

[Option Three: Makarov’s Regret, Dark Purple quality, Equipment]

"Sure enough, a Dark Purple quality equipment has come out, but this name looks a bit weird. Who’s Makarov?"

Although curious about who Makarov was, Zhang Yanhang didn’t immediately start checking the attribute list. Instead, he first took a look at the thumbnail image of ’Makarov’s Regret’ to ascertain what exactly it was.

After a quick glance at ’Makarov’s Regret,’ Zhang Yanhang discovered it was actually an earring, one that had an unknown gemstone embedded in a Crimson Iron earring. He was truly relieved it was just an earring instead of a nose or tongue piercing.

While Zhang Yanhang didn’t particularly like earrings—they can give off a GAY-ish vibe—he was at least grateful it was a piece of relatively normal equipment. After all, it was far better than something like the Crimson Iron Teeth, which couldn’t even be used properly.

He immediately felt relieved after seeing the thumbnail of ’Makarov’s Regret’ and promptly opened its attribute list.

[Makarov’s Regret]

[Quality: Dark Purple]

[Type: Equipment]

[Origin: Ashen World, Crimson Iron Ore Vein, small Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dalagu, Nameless Blacksmith.]

[Durability: 70/70]

[Defensive Power: 40]

[Additional Attributes: Flame Resistance +17.5%.]

[Additional Attributes: Acid Resistance +17.5%.]

[Additional Attributes: Strength +1, Agility +1, Charm +1.]

[Usage Requirements: Charm 30 points.]

[Score: 260 (Dark Purple Items Score Range: 151 to 260.)]

[Set Effect One: Makarov’s Gift (Unlocked with two pieces of the set.)]

[Introduction: Damn Alchemist! Damn Alchemist!! Damn Alchemist!!!

All I did was drunkenly blab about his one-night fling with the Crimson Iron Ant King and Queen as a bit of tavern gossip to the landlady, but I never expected the alchemist to go ahead and spill the beans about my source of Crimson Iron.

The next day when I sobered up and went to confront him in a rage, I was told by the neighbor who lived next to the alchemist’s home that he had already fled the city with his alchemy workshop under the cover of night, his whereabouts unknown, and without leaving any contact information.

As the alchemist had educated the town’s elderly ladies about the secrets of Crimson Iron, the Crimson Iron scandal became public knowledge in just a few hours, with everyone discussing it in the streets and alleys.

Customers who once came to me for their Crimson Iron Equipment were now at my door demanding an explanation, claiming that if I didn’t provide compensation for mental distress, they would smash my blacksmith shop to smithereens.

——From a Nameless Blacksmith who can no longer silently make money]

"This Nameless Blacksmith wouldn’t happen to be Makarov, would he? According to the context, if it’s not him, it can’t be anyone else, right? Definitely not that Druid-cum-alchemist?

The alchemist has already fled with his alchemy workshop during the night; he probably wouldn’t be feeling regret at that time, considering he has already decided to go down with the Nameless Blacksmith."

"""So, at that time, his mood must have been a mix of joy and sorrow following the sweet revenge, coupled with a sense of melancholic loss. Of course, the most overwhelming feeling was the deep shame that came after ’social death’."

As a part-time alchemist, Zhang Yanhang coveted the professional alchemy workshop mentioned in the synopsis, which only a genuine alchemist would possess.

According to the knowledge he had acquired, the alchemy workshop was truly important for an alchemist. It was essentially on par with a wizard’s magic tower, serving not only to assist alchemists in creating alchemy tools but also offering offense and defense capabilities, helping alchemists fend off enemy attacks.

If possible, Zhang Yanhang also wanted to construct an alchemy workshop of his own, but the process of creating one was overly tedious and complex. He simply didn’t have the time to spare. Even if he had a sufficient supply of materials, he estimated it would take a good half a month to build, which was not feasible for him at the moment.

"No, the important thing is that ’Makarov’s Regret’ is actually a two-piece set. Sadly, I probably won’t be able to find the other Makarov piece in the Crimson Iron Ant King’s treasure box since the remaining item is definitely going to be talent-related."

Zhang Yanhang found it strange when he looked at the thumbnail earlier, wondering why there was only one earring.

He naively assumed it was because the pair of earrings were identical, so the thumbnail only showed one, but it turned out that the other earring was indeed a separate piece of equipment, forming a dark purple set with this one.

"After all, it is a dark purple quality set, and if I can complete it, I believe there should be quite a nice set effect bonus."

Zhang Yanhang anticipated the set effect of the dark purple quality set but, unfortunately, because there wasn’t a second Crimson Iron Ant King’s treasure box, he wouldn’t be able to complete this dark purple set for now.

Fortunately, Zhang Yanhang could later rely on the slot machine’s third prize pool to acquire more Crimson Iron Ant King’s treasure boxes and eventually complete the other half of the Makarov set.

"Strength +1, Agility +1, Charm +1. Although this dark purple quality accessory is not the kind that boosts charm attribute alone that I had envisioned, the addition to strength and agility is equally valuable. Along with a 17.5% increase in flame resistance and acid resistance, it’s quite good overall.

Moreover, since it’s a piece of set equipment, having a full-score dark purple quality rating is indeed quite justified."

Zhang Yanhang had always felt that if he could find some new dark purple quality equipment from the treasure box of the Crimson Iron Ant King, it would definitely boost three points of charm attribute.

Unexpectedly, although the dark purple quality equipment was indeed an accessory and boosted three attribute points, it only granted one point to charm. The other two points unexpectedly went to strength and agility attribute.

As for the reason why it added to strength and agility attributes instead, Zhang Yanhang thought it was most likely due to the unknown gemstone that the Nameless Blacksmith had mounted on the earring.

The gemstone appeared quite conspicuous, capturing Zhang Yanhang’s attention instantly when he viewed the thumbnail earlier, so he would never believe the gemstone was not the cause of the issue.

After reviewing the attribute list of the dark purple quality equipment ’Makarov’s Regret,’ Zhang Yanhang proceeded to the next item.

[Item Five]

[Option One: Ant Power, Quality E, Talent]

[Option Two: Crimson Iron Ant (Breeding Ant), D-Level Quality, Talent]

[Option Three: Crimson Iron Ant (Ant King), C-level, Talent]

"As I suspected earlier, only at the stage of the Crimson Iron Ant King does one have C-level quality racial talent. I wonder if the Crimson Iron Ant Queen’s talent level would also be C-level if I encounter it later.

I’m not sure if I encounter third-tier monsters, whether their talent level will remain C-level or rise to B-level."

Zhang Yanhang cared so much about the quality of monster racial talents because he felt that if the monster’s racial talent was high enough, then maybe other talents, such as the amplifying talents like Ant Power, could also be upgraded in quality, for instance, from E to D or even C.

Since each upgrade of talent after Zhang Yanhang levels up requires triple the number of previous talents, starting with talents of a higher quality level and more quantity would easily lead him to SS and even SSS talents.

For example, the Ant Power series of talents that Zhang Yanhang has been upgrading. If Ant Power started off as a D-level talent, then upgrading to SS would only require 243 related talents, instead of the astronomical 729 needed now to reach SS level—a truly vast number.

But since a second-tier four-star lord monster still shares the E-level talent with an ordinary first-tier one-star monster, Zhang Yanhang believed that if he could encounter third-tier monsters, he might be able to gain those initial D or C-level talents.

By then, he felt confident he could quickly upgrade to SSS or even higher levels of talent. Currently, advancing his SS talent ’Longevity Mountain and Fortune Sea’ required 2187 ’Slow Corrotion.’

Gathering such a number was virtually daydreaming, unless he found a new area related to zombies. However, if Zhang Yanhang could obtain a talent that started off at C-level, then he would need only 243 talents to advance to SSS.

With such a vast difference, it’s no wonder Zhang Yanhang desired talents of initially higher quality, for if the talent quality is high enough, upgrading is genuinely convenient, rather than the current situation where he must find another new Crimson Iron Ant Nest to continue obtaining talents just to upgrade to SS-level."""

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.