Time slowly pa.s.sed as Nie Yan repeatedly turned in the quest. His Influence was gradually rising.
After turning in the quest 300 times, the items Katherine requested became more and more expensive, including materials like Dark Runic Cloth and Blackwater Crystal. The value of these items were over several thousand gold, and she would ask for multiple at a time. Yet there was no indication that the rewards would increase. It was no wonder that the person in the rumours had given up after turning in the quest 300 times. Even Nie Yan started to feel his wallet hurt.
Nie Yan wondered if he should give up. If he continued on with this quest, the amount of gold he would have to spend for a point of Influence simply wasn’t worth it.
Weighing his options, Nie Yan decided to go up to 390 times. If nothing happened by then, he would give up.
So far, Nie Yan had gained 132 Influence. This was roughly equal to completing three S-rank quests.
After handing over five Blackwater Crystals, a crisp notification jingle rang out.
You have received 3 Influence.
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This was the 306th time. There finally seemed to be a slight increase in rewards, a small consolation for the ever increasing costs of completing the quest.
When Nie Yan turned in the quest for the 330th time, he received a Resurrection Crystal worth about 60,000 gold. One had to know, he’d spent at least 1,000,000 over the last 30 quest turn ins. A Resurrection Crystal did very little to soothe his bleeding heart. The experience rewards were fairly decent though, filling up his experience bar by 7%. He’d also gained 52 Influence.
Nie Yan estimated even big shots like Cao Xu, Plenty, and Soaring Angel would be hard pressed to continue. Nevertheless, he continued turning in the quest. He couldn’t help but wonder how much more he would have to do to reach the end.
“Oh, Great Prophet. The Hilton Stronghold is being sieged by demonic beasts once more. The soldiers there are fighting bravely to protect our homeland, but they’re running low on equipment and supplies. Please help me find 1,000 pieces of Level 130 Gold-grade equipment,” Katherine said.
Katherine started to ask for equipment. Thankfully, 1,000 pieces of Level 130 Gold-grade equipment wasn’t worth that much. It was much cheaper than the items Nie Yan had to collect before.
Nie Yan had his helpers deliver a thousand pieces of Gold-grade equipment with fairly mediocre stats. They weren’t worth much. Fortunately, Katherine had only specified that the equipment had to be Gold-grade, not whether their quality was good or not.
Nie Yan handed over the equipment to Katherine.
“Great Prophet, thank you for your generosity. I thank you on behalf of the soldiers from the Hilton Stronghold.” Katherine performed a deep bow.
You have received 9 Influence.
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That was 161 Influence gained so far. 300 Influence didn’t seem all that far away anymore.
The subsequent quests all asked Nie Yan to collect equipment, 500 pieces of Level 130 Dark Gold-grade equipment, 800 pieces of Level 135 Silver-grade equipment, 700 pieces of Level 135 Gold-grade equipment… If not for him being the guild leader of a large guild, gathering this much equipment would’ve probably driven him mad. Even though he could always go to the auction house, the equipment listed there were all high quality with expensive price tags. Anything mediocre or bad would generally be sc.r.a.pped. However, turning in anything better than mediocre equipment for this quest would be pointlessly wasting gold.
From the 331st repeat and onwards, it was all equipment collection, which wasn’t too difficult for Nie Yan. After all, the guild treasury was filled with low-level equipment no one needed anymore, at least several million in fact. Even though the treasury would regularly undergo a spring cleaning, Level 130 equipment was still relatively recent.
After the Resurrection Crystal, the rewards only got better and better, leaving Nie Yan bursting with joy. He quickly acc.u.mulated 230 Influence, and his experience bar was also rapidly filling up.
Ding dong! A crisp notification jingle rang out. A level up!
Nie Yan quickly opened his status bar. Sure enough, he had risen to Level 157!
At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before he gained 300 Influence. This progress was far faster than he expected, and the experience rewards were nice too!
Nie Yan was nearing the 360th quest turn in. He wondered if there would be a special reward.
On the 359th repeat, Nie Yan was asked to look for 30 pieces of Level 120 Sub Legendary-grade equipment. This was Sub Legendary equipment! In the past, he had Guo Huai do some inventory. All of a.s.skickers United only had 1,200 pieces of Sub Legendary-grade equipment, and only 600 of those were over Level 120. Yet Katherine wanted to take away 30!
This was only the 359th repeat. Who knew how much more ridiculous the subsequent quests would be?
Nie Yan started hesitating. 30 pieces of Level 120 Sub Legendary-grade equipment, this was no small number!
「Guo Huai, do we have 30 pieces of Level 120+ Sub Legendary-grade equipment to spare?」Nie Yan asked.
「W-what!? D-don’t tell me it’s for that quest?」Guo Huai asked in shock.
「Yeah, it is.」Nie Yan bitterly chuckled.「Should we continue?」
「How much more Influence do you need?」Guo Huai asked. If he was still far away, it wouldn’t be worth it to continue. Even though Wolf King was an extremely powerful skill, one that could absolutely serve as a deterrent, they had already spent too much to obtain the 300 Influence Nie Yan needed. Katherine was now even asking for Sub Legendary-grade equipment!
「Only 52 points away,」Nie Yan replied.
Guo Huai knitted his brows. Based on Nie Yan’s current progress, 52 Influence really wasn’t that much. Perhaps they really should continue.
「I think the 360th repeat will be an important milestone, but the things we’re being asked for is way too much. I think we should just give up. I’ll get the remaining 52 Influence by doing a couple of major quests. Besides, worst case scenario, we can always continue this later,」Nie Yan said.
「You know, major quests don’t just grow on trees, and it’s not like you’re guaranteed to be rewarded Influence either,」Guo Huai argued. Nie Yan was a.s.skickers United’s untoppable pillar. Having him further raise his strength and hold onto his position as the strongest player was crucial to keeping up the morale of the guild members. He was worth every coin. Plus, true morale wasn’t something that could necessarily be bought with money. Guo Huai gritted his teeth.「No, continue with the quest. 30 pieces of Sub Legendary-grade equipment isn’t a big deal. I’ll have someone send them over in a bit.」The guild had some unwanted Sub Legendary-grade equipment lying around. Even though they were Sub Legendary-grade, their properties were terrible. There were 16 pieces in total. All he had to do was find another 14.
Nie Yan felt his heart ache as he handed over the equipment to Katherine.
You have received 25 Influence.
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“Oh Great Prophet, as a token of my grat.i.tude, this is something I found while braving through the Abyss Marsh. I hope it will be helpful to you. Your potential is limitless, and you have a high chance of breaking through to the Legendary realm.” Katherine took out a translucent blue crystal.
Nie Yan’s heart trembled. He couldn’t be any more familiar with this item. It was a Shattered Divinity, one of the four things he needed to enter the Legendary realm. He already possessed three of the four: Virtues of a Saint, a Sacred Object, and a Holy Spirit Heart. As for the Shattered Divinities, including this one from Katherine he now had four in total. He was only a step away from becoming a Legend, the next realm after a Shadow Dancer. In the previous timeline, no one had ever reached this height!
Nie Yan didn’t expect to receive such a great reward!
“Oh Great Prophet, I’ve bothered you with many troublesome requests. Please accept my sincerest apologies. However, there is one more thing I need. This is my final request. Will you be willing to help me find five pieces of Level 120 Legendary-grade equipment?” Katherine asked.
Nie Yan’s heart trembled. This was the final request! At the same time, it was almost the most frightening request of all. Five pieces of Legendary-grade equipment. Oh Lord Budha up in the heavens! Even in a.s.skickers United, Legendary equipment over Level 120 was as scarce as could be. The top players in the guild, including himself, only had 60 pieces between them. Yet Katherine wanted to take away five! This was practically asking him to donate his lifeblood!
However, considering the Shattered Divinity he received for the 359th turn-in, he couldn’t help but think the next reward would be even more amazing!
Nie Yan recalled there were seven pieces of Legendary-grade equipment sitting in the guild treasury without anyone touching it. This wasn’t because he restricted them or anything, but rather their requirements were too high to the point of being impractical. Normal players had no way of equipping them. Since they were just sitting there rotting away, it would be better to make use of them. Maybe the reward for the 360th repeat would be enough to overshadow the loss of these pieces of Legendary-grade equipment.
Nie Yan had someone retrieve the Legendary equipment. Even though he felt extremely reluctant, he had already reached this point. It would be a waste to turn back now!
When Nie Yan handed over the equipment, a pure and holy light fell over him, causing a warmth to seep through him.
You have completed all of Katherine’s requests and obtained the Venerable t.i.tle.
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The white light woke up Kalenna from her slumber. She flapped her wings and flew up above his shoulder. As she bathed in the white light, another pair of white wings slowly grew out from her back. She had become a Seraph, a six-winged angel! Even though her size didn’t change, the holy aura around her became even stronger.
Nie Yan glanced at Kalenna’s information. Nearly half of the skills in her skill window had become available. He could now command her to use 16 skills!
What an amazing harvest! Even though the most powerful skills were still grayed out, like Kalenna’s Guardian Barrier, the 16 unlocked skills already had Nie Yan jumping with joy.
Ever since he became a Shadow Dancer, Nie Yan had experienced first-hand on multiple times just how powerful this little angel was. She was definitely better than any pet!
Nie Yan had no idea what sort of bonuses this Venerable t.i.tle gave. He opened up his character page.