Element Ore = Good Stuff
The atmosphere was a little quiet.
Yun Yan snapped out of her shock and gave a dry laugh, “So the combat power of life professions is this high…”
“Not exactly,” Yan Yiqiu explained, not wanting to pressure life players. “I was just lucky—I got a special bound item, so my combat power is much higher than an ordinary life player’s.”
Yun Yan felt even worse. She tilted her head back at a 45° angle, staring stubbornly at the sky, refusing to let her tears fall. “I see… no matter the game, it’s always the domain of the lucky ones.”
If you’re unlucky, you either fight hard or die. Wuwu… so tragic.
Yan Yiqiu nodded in agreement. “You’re not wrong.”
After that, Yun Yan didn’t mention forming a team again. Her combat power was still lower than others’, so she had no face to suggest it!
Better to focus on fighting monsters, gaining experience, gathering materials, and getting stronger.
So Yan Yiqiu and Yun Yan took positions at the bow and stern of the boat respectively.
Yan Yiqiu pedaled at the bow, fishing as she went along, taking out one mutant fish with each axe strike. Yun Yan summoned her battle pet at the stern to fight the mutant fish. Each fish took at least half an hour to finish off.
Yun Yan was a Summoner.
The Summoner class has a very polarizing reputation among combat professions. Strong Summoners are extremely powerful, but weak ones are painfully useless—even falling behind life players in combat by mid-to-late game.
Yan Yiqiu observed Yun Yan’s summoned battle pet.
A little white creature, cloud-like, moved quickly. Below two green-bean-sized black eyes was a tiny pink mouth.
It looked as cute as Yun Yan herself.
Until Yan Yiqiu saw it open its mouth wide and bite a mutant fish. The cuteness instantly turned… well, funny.
Its mouth could open as wide as its body!
Watching, Yan Yiqiu realized something was off. Why was Yun Yan just standing there watching her pet fight the mutant fish? Help it!
Wouldn’t two-on-one finish faster? No need to be polite to dungeon mobs—if you can gang up, don’t fight alone.
“Yun Yan,” Yan Yiqiu squinted, “why aren’t you helping?”
Yun Yan made a small sound, turned her head, twin ponytails swaying, and whispered, “I’m afraid I might accidentally hurt Tuanzi…”
Yan Yiqiu guided her, “Your pet’s advantage is speed. You can kite the mobs, but its damage is a bit lacking. You need to make up for it.”
“It won’t hurt it. If it has any brains, it knows to dodge.”
“If it doesn’t, you can switch to another pet to minimize losses.”
Yun Yan thought Sister Yiqiu could be a little harsh sometimes—her words gave a cold feeling inside.
“Thanks, Sister Yiqiu. I’ll try,” Yun Yan said. She pulled three weapons dropped from dungeon mobs out of her backpack and jabbed at the mutant fish chasing Tuanzi.
[Player dealt 467 damage to Mutant Fish.]
The mutant fish ignored her and continued chasing the battle pet.
After two jabs, Yun Yan gained confidence and hit harder.
[Player dealt 352 damage to Mutant Fish.]
The mutant fish turned to bite Yun Yan, only to be knocked aside by Tuanzi. Together, the player and pet defeated the mutant fish, cutting the time in half!
From then on, the young Yun Yan seemed to open the door to a new world. She cooperated with her pet to fight mutant fish more efficiently, her movements faster and more decisive, no longer hesitant.
“Sister Yiqiu, these are for you!”
Seeing Yun Yan get into the rhythm, Yan Yiqiu relaxed, fishing and keeping an eye on materials.
A trade window suddenly popped up.
[Player Yun Yan offers: Wood x602, Tier-1 Ore x299, Fire Element Fish Scales x2, White Bracers x1, Gold x2.]
Yan Yiqiu was about to decline when Yun Yan half-jokingly said, “Sister, don’t refuse me! These barely pay for my life.”
“Of course, my life has to be worth something!”
As a recently admitted college student with a good education, Yun Yan had been embarrassed before for giving too few materials. Now that she finally had enough, she wouldn’t let Yan Yiqiu refuse.
She wasn’t buying gratitude—just wanted to return a little favor.
“Keep the bracers. I’ll take the rest,” Yan Yiqiu guessed her intention and smiled, accepting the materials. The bracers added defense, which was useless for her; current monsters couldn’t break her defenses anyway.
Yan Yiqiu explained: “Equipment that increases defense or damage is most useful to you. Summoners don’t fight themselves—you coordinate with your pet.”
“You have to cooperate and develop synergy with your pet to unleash its full power.”
Every ten levels, a Summoner could summon an additional pet. Pet stats depended heavily on luck, which explained why the class had such a polarized reputation in the past.
Yun Yan was lucky—Tuanzi’s damage wasn’t high, but its speed made kiting effective.
“Mm, anything else?” Yun Yan’s clear eyes widened, like a student paying close attention.
Yan Yiqiu thought carefully. “If you get special drops you can’t use, feed them to your pet. They might improve your pet’s stats.”
Yun Yan’s eyes lit up. “Got it—special items I can’t use go to my pet…”
“Thanks, Sister Yiqiu,” she said sweetly.
“You’re welcome,” Yan Yiqiu said. She felt the wind pick up, stood to check the direction, confirmed it, and instructed Yun Yan to lower the stern sail: “The wind’s perfect. We should reach the shore before nightfall.”
Yun Yan obediently lowered the sail. The wooden boat sped up, cutting through the waves.
“This dungeon is huge… I haven’t seen any other players.” Yun Yan sat cross-legged beside Yan Yiqiu, absentmindedly petting Tuanzi.
Yan Yiqiu leaned back in the chair. “True, there are so many players.”
With the global population and the age restrictions, there could still be billions of eligible players. Yet along this path, the only other players they saw were Yun Yan’s group yesterday. Half a person since then.
Enough to show how massive the dungeon was.
“You’ll probably see others once we reach the island,” she said.
The boat swayed forward as they chatted, restored energy, and continued harassing mutant fish.
The sun slowly set, the sea glittering with golden light.
Finally, the horizon revealed a large island, lush with vegetation, with exposed mountain areas.
Yun Yan checked the dungeon map, pleasantly surprised. “Sister Yiqiu, we’re here. The island ahead is the marked destination.”
Yan Yiqiu had already seen it, stretching from her chair: “Get ready to land.”
Yun Yan couldn’t get excited—landing meant they’d have to split up.
The wooden boat docked at the sandy shore. Both jumped off, feeling a bit unsteady, as if floating.
Yan Yiqiu stored the boat in her backpack, turning to Yun Yan: “Time to split up. Be careful. Don’t let what happened the day before repeat.”
Yun Yan pouted sadly. “You too, Sister Yiqiu. If you need me, I’ll come running!”
Yan Yiqiu nodded silently. She thought: she probably wouldn’t get the chance. Problems she couldn’t solve herself, this girl definitely couldn’t.
“Let’s go.”
Yan Yiqiu waved casually and disappeared into the forest, her red high ponytail swaying slightly before vanishing.
Yun Yan took a deep breath, patting Tuanzi. “Let’s go, Tuanzi.”
Tuanzi chirped: “Jiu!”
On the island, no other players were around.
Yan Yiqiu walked into the forest, found a flat spot, took out some wood, and began crafting a wooden juicer.
Insects and birds chirped softly, the sunset filtered through leaves, later giving way to gentle moonlight.
Crafting was tedious, but being a carpenter shortened production time.
Making the wooden juicer was easy. After assembling the cleaned parts:
[Obtained Wooden Juicer x1, Carpenter XP +60]
Yan Yiqiu brightened, immediately cutting a watermelon into pieces and cranking the handle.
Juice flowed into an empty bottle. One watermelon made one bottle of juice—pretty good.
She sipped—it was sweet, though without a fridge it wasn’t cold. No matter, ice could wait.
She packed up the juicer and made ten neutral sponge cakes to restore fullness.
Then she began searching the island for mineral veins.
Night deepened. Silence filled the forest, broken only by the wind through leaves.
Within half an hour, she found a large cave.
Bigger than the previous dungeon’s cave, and considering she needed 50,000 Tier-1 ores for a Level-6 territory, she immediately started mining with her mechanical mining cart.
The mining sound was loud at night, easily attracting odd creatures—but Yan Yiqiu didn’t care. She sat in the control room, eating cakes and sipping juice while operating the cart.
If other players saw this, they’d be envious to the point of bleeding from their eyes.
She drank juice:
[Obtained Tier-1 Ore x333, Tier-2 Ore x98, Tier-3 Ore x15, XP +10]
Biting a cake:
[Obtained Tier-1 Ore x401, Tier-2 Ore x109, Tier-3 Ore x12, XP +10]
Another sip:
[Obtained Tier-1 Ore x319, Tier-2 Ore x82, Tier-3 Ore x9, Fire Element Ore·Green x1, XP +10]
Huh?
Yan Yiqiu checked her backpack. A glowing red ore lay quietly in a separate slot.
Element Ore—good stuff.
Can be used in weapon crafting or territory walls. Adding it to a weapon may give extra elemental damage; adding to walls may increase fire resistance.
In short: Element Ore = Good Stuff.
In a great mood, Yan Yiqiu continued mining—then sensed something hiding in the shadows, watching her.
She narrowed her eyes, kept working, scanning the surroundings without showing any sign of alarm.