Ashen God
Chapter 521 - 520: The Mysterious Altar

Chapter 521: Chapter 520: The Mysterious Altar

Zhang Yanhang stood still and silently sighed, then glanced at his watch, "It’s 5:42 AM. I originally thought that I would finish with the treasure box and leveling up within 20 minutes, but I ended up taking an extra two, leaving me with only 18 minutes now.

Moreover, if nothing unexpected happens, even if the slot machines on Goblin Plain haven’t been refreshed, I still need to allocate five minutes to clear out the third prize pool of the slot machines in Raccoon City, and if the slot machines on Goblin Plain have been refreshed, that’s another five minutes.

Which means, I actually only have about eight minutes left to use, or thirteen minutes at most.

Given that, I really can’t afford any more delays. I’ll go pick up the drop treasure box from Chief Shaman Goblin Maka Bagga first, and then immediately after picking up the boxes, I’ll go and take down Goblin Chief Nu Shan."

To save time, Zhang Yanhang didn’t hesitate and immediately activated the Arbitrary Gate; a blue rectangular Teleportation Gate appeared before him. With one step, he was standing on the back of Chief Shaman Goblin Maka Bagga.

Regarding this, he thought it was the pot calling the kettle black for not being skillful, as with more use he certainly wouldn’t do this again; his original target location was actually to the right of the corpse of Chief Shaman Goblin Maka Bagga.

While Zhang Yanhang was pondering over the cause of Maka Bagga’s death, its drop treasure box happened to have just refreshed, lying at his feet and glowing with a shimmering purple light. He immediately bent down and picked up the drop treasure box.

"As expected of a Second Tier Three-Star Dragon Vein Goblin, dropping a Purple Quality Treasure Box directly. With this, there should be a chance to get high-end equipment of Dark Purple Quality from the start. I’m really looking forward to it."

After picking up the treasure box, Zhang Yanhang didn’t leave right away but took a moment to observe the surrounding environment, only to discover that this seemed to be a branch tribe located in the Middle Layer.

The only reason Dragon Vein Goblins from this place all joined the Goblin army to besiege the invader Zhang Yanhang was that only Maka Bagga was left to guard here.

Zhang Yanhang’s interest in the surrounding environment was mainly because he thought that Maka Bagga’s regular work location might contain some Alchemy formulas or similar items, but sadly, because it was so close, the area had been directly turned into ruins by the impact of a Thermo-baric Bomb.

All Zhang Yanhang could see now were just large chunks of stone and broken wooden columns still standing in their original place, seemingly the remnants of what had been walls or wooden roof structures after being shattered.

The smaller fragments, on the other hand, were probably carried away directly by the shockwave, leaving only a small portion trapped under the larger rubble.

Therefore, under these conditions, even after Zhang Yanhang had thoroughly scanned the whole branch tribe residence, he still didn’t gain anything. He estimated that the formulas or any Alchemy tools might have been swept away by the shockwave to who knows where, or were destroyed on the spot.

"Sigh, I just wanted to find a recipe for a Magic Recovery Potion, yet it’s so difficult. It seems like I can only hope that Maka Bagga’s drop treasure box will include a recipe. From an affinity perspective, there’s indeed a good chance of finding a formula in Maka Bagga’s box.

But the problem is, the materials might not be so easy to find."

While saying this, Zhang Yanhang couldn’t help but glance back at the completely flat, dark grey ground. Maybe the materials elsewhere on Goblin Plain were still quite normal, but if there were any materials in that area, they were probably reduced to ash by now.

Of course, the area directly covered by the Thermo-baric Bomb only constituted a very small part of Goblin Plain, so unless there was a unique material at that specific location, the overall supply shouldn’t have too many issues. Yes, provided a formula exists.

"Ingredients like Shining Root and Sunlight Grass are distributed all over Goblin Plain, but I didn’t pay much attention to that blasted area before. If there were indeed some exclusive materials there, that would be troublesome.

Forget it, let’s not think about that now. Anyway, even if I don’t refine the potions myself, my stock of Medium Magic Recovery Potions should last me quite a while."

Zhang Yanhang thought that such matters could wait until he actually obtained a formula.

Although he didn’t find any formulas or the like, Zhang Yanhang did find some other bits of information that were of some value. For instance, why Maka Bagga didn’t join the army on the campaign but stayed at the branch tribe’s location instead.

Zhang Yanhang discovered that Maka Bagga’s corpse was lying on something resembling an altar, and in the center of the altar stood a strange stone Totem pole.

Now, only the base remained, and the actual body of the pole had likely been affected by the shockwave from the Thermo-baric Bomb as well, breaking into several pieces scattered on the ground around.

Deducing from the situation at hand, Zhang Yanhang thought it entirely possible that Maka Bagga had stayed at the branch tribe’s site to use the altar to remotely cast spells and assist the Goblin army in their siege against Zhang Yanhang.

Unfortunately, before it could finish casting, the Thermo-baric Bomb hit, blasting it into a state of paraplegia and brain damage. Then, there was no ’after that.’ It had unwittingly delivered a kill straight to Zhang Yanhang.

And the reason for it casting from a distance, Zhang Yanhang didn’t think was because Maka Bagga was afraid to die; it was more likely that it could exert greater force through the altar, which is why it stayed back and cast spells from afar.

As for this judgment, Zhang Yanhang deduced it from the patterns on the altar. After all, he was indeed an Alchemist and had, by virtue of the Scroll Dragon Bloodline, taken on a side job as a Mage, so he obviously had some understanding of these matters. Thus, making a rough judgment about the function of the altar was not a problem for him.

"An altar, that would be nice. If I could always carry with me one that could amplify the power of my spells. Oh wait, wrong. As a mage like me, compared to a primitive tribal altar, I should actually pursue a Mage Tower, because only with a Mage Tower does a mage truly become a proper Mage."

The benefits of a Mage Tower are numerous, but for Zhang Yanhang, the most practical are just two: unlimited energy and enhanced spell strength. Thus, with a Mage Tower, a mage is essentially in unlimited fire mode, evolving from an ordinary multi-barreled Rocket Cannon into a full-fledged barrage of rockets.