If a special quest was involved, certain conditions would have to be met to open the chest. Furthermore, whatever was contained inside would likely be related to the quest.
Nie Yan was about to give up, when he recalled the Mana Key in his bag. He wondered if it could open the chest.
Nie Yan took out the Mana Key and aligned it with the keyhole of the lock on the chest. The key emitted a brilliant light and changed shape to fit the lock.
Nie Yan inserted the Mana Key inside.
Nie Yan's mind trembled. Perhaps the Mana Key really could open this chest!
About 30 seconds later, a notification popped up.
Opening treasure chest... Progress: 8%... 12%...
The Mana Key actually worked! Nie Yan was elated. This was a Sub Legendary-grade chest! With how high level the lock was, the items inside definitely wouldn't be ordinary!
"I hope it's not a quest item..." Nie Yan muttered.
With a click, the chest popped open. Nie Yan was greeted by a blast of hot air which nearly sent him flying.
Nie Yan stabilized himself. A bright red light radiated out from inside the chest as a domineering aura swept over him. He rummaged around inside and fished out a large crimson red egg shrouded in scorching hot flames. He could feel a strong heartbeat pulsing through his hand. There was a living creature inside.
−320
−320
−320...
Will you accept the "Resurrection of the Blazing Phoenix" quest?
Nie Yan's eyes widened in shock. There was a Phoenix inside this egg!
Nie Yan couldn't help but be moved. He had obtained another flying mount.
"It's a pet egg. Here, you can have it," Nie Yan said. The difficulty of the Resurrection of the Blazing Phoenix quest probably wasn't low. A player with a certain amount of skill was required to clear it. Not to mention things like pet eggs had to stay by their owner's side.
Nie Yan had never heard of anyone obtaining a Phoenix. This map had already been opened up at Level 80-90. It seemed this Sub legendary-grade chest was added only after the release of flying mounts.
Nie Yan instantly thought of something. Since he had found this egg here, that meant there were definitely more in other places. The proliferation of flying mounts was inevitable.
"You don't want it?" Xie Yao asked.
"I already have the Darkwing Dragon. Each player can only have a single flying mount," Nie Yan explained. This Blazing Phoenix Egg couldn't be allowed to go to waste.
"Oh, alright. I'll take it then." Xie Yao nodded. When she took the egg from Nie Yan, she started taking 160 fire damage every second. She quickly accepted the Resurrection of the Blazing Phoenix quest. After which the scorching hot flames around the egg no longer harmed her.
"After I accepted the quest, my Fire Resistance increased by 80!" Xie Yao exclaimed. Her current Fire Resistance was over 160. If she drank an Advanced Fire Resistance Potion, it would almost be 200! This was quite frightening at her current level. Even if she were to be directly hit by a Flame Giant's fire magic, she would probably only take around 20% damage.
The Phoenix was a creature of fire!
Nie Yan continued rummaging through the chest and pulled out a silver-white necklace. In contrast to the scorching heat from the chest, he felt a refreshing, cool, and soothing sensation from the necklace.
Nie Yan's heart trembled. This necklace definitely wasn't ordinary!
After taking out the necklace, the chest transformed into flames and dissipated into nothing.
Nie Yan inspected the necklace.
Necklace of Serenity (Sub Legendary): Special Item
Properties: Grants the user immunity to Rank 8 or lower charm, fear, and other mind related status debuffs.
Restrictions: Can only be equipped by players with less than 1,500 Spirit.
"How high is your Spirit stat?" Nie Yan turned to Xie Yao and asked. This was his first time encountering a piece of equipment with this kind of requirement. Only those with low Spirit could equip this necklace.
When a player's Spirit was below the threshold, the spirit imprint on the necklace would have an effect. However, if the player's Spirit was over the threshold, the necklace would have no effect.
The Necklace of Serenity was likely related to the Resurrection of the Blazing Phoenix quest. If Xie Yao could use it, he would give it to her.
"It's over 2,300, why?" Xie Yao replied.
"Wow, that's pretty high," Nie Yan sucked in a cold breath of air. It would be impressive for ordinary players to have 1,200 Spirit at Xie Yao's level. Having 2,300 was practically unheard of. With such high Spirit, even if she didn't wear the Necklace of Serenity, she would still have a high chance of resisting any Rank 8 or lower mind related status debuffs.
"All three pieces of Legendary-grade equipment I'm wearing increase Spirit," Xie Yao explained. It was impossible for her Spirit stat not to be high.
"So it's like that." Only then did Nie Yan recall the Spirit bonus of the Saintess Christiana Set was excellent, far superior to other similar sets.
Since Xie Yao couldn't equip it, Nie Yan decided to keep the Necklace of Serenity for himself. This necklace was fairly useful to him, especially as a melee class that tended to have fairly low Spirit. Mind Magic was the main method casters used to deal with melee classes.
The harvest this time around was pretty good, in particular the Phoenix Egg in Xie Yao's hands. If she could hatch it, Asskickers United would have another flying mount.
"Let's keep farming Flame Giants," Nie yan said.
"Mhm."
The two continued farming Flame Giants to level up. Grinding like this, their contribution was rising rapidly. In a day or two, Xie Yao would probably have enough contribution to buy a property in the Hilton Stronghold.
They had to snag as many properties as possible, especially the ones that were prime real estate. In the future, these properties would be golden geese!
Nie Yan continued aggroing over Flame Giants. By taking advantage of the terrain, killing the Flame Giants was fairly easily, especially now that Xie Yao's Fire Resistance had greatly increased. She no longer feared their magic attacks.
After five hours, Nie Yan lit up with a brilliant light. He had reached Level 94. He estimated he would rise halfway to Level 95 when he accepted the subjugation quest reward from the Hilton Stronghold.
"What's your contribution at?" Nie Yan asked. They had just killed another Flame Giant. Even within the darkness of the narrow tunnel Xie Yao's eyes resembled black pearls flickering with a captivating light. As he looked at her from the side, he could see her curvaceous and enchanting figure.
"Let me check." Sensing Nie Yan's gaze, Xie Yao felt a bit flustered. "About 20,000."
Xie Yao was quickly gaining merit points. It took five or more 20-man teams to safely take down a single demon beast. After killing one, the amount of contribution earned was evenly divided, so the amount each individual received wasn't much. Meanwhile, the contribution Nie Yan and Xie Yao received was only divided between the two of them.
The amount of contribution Nie Yan and Xie Yao received for killing a Flame Giant was 50 times what each player in an expedition team received after killing a demon beast. Add this to the fact their mobbing speed wasn't too bad, and they were earning contribution at a rocket-like pace.
"I estimate you'll be able to buy your first property in the Hilton Stronghold by tomorrow," Nie Yan said. Each property acquired represented another significant source of income.
"I'll go pick up the loot dropped by the Flame Giant," Xie Yao said. She had to walk past Nie Yan. In this narrow tunnel where even turning around was incredibly cumbersome, making intimate body contact was inevitable.
A faint, sweet smell wafted into Nie Yan's nose. Seeing the delicate and charming Xie Yao brush against him, he felt a wave of warmth in his heart. He could feel her supple skin through the thin fabric of her robe.
This was the virtual world, not reality. In this place, Xie Yao in her light blue robe possessed a captivating, dream-like beauty.
Nie Yan reached out and grabbed Xie Yao. His mind flashed with the scene of their time in the secret underground chamber. He wondered if that place was still the same as back then.
In the narrow tunnel, Xie Yao could hear Nie Yan's heavy breathing. Her mind instantly turned chaotic. He had gradually taken a more and more important place in her heart. The two had accepted each other's feelings. However, every time they became intimate, she would always become uncontrollably flustered.
Xie Yao's beautiful face was inches from Nie Yan's. Her erratic breathing revealed the nervousness in her heart.
"Nie Yan..." Xie Yao called out in a helpless tone. She attempted to push him away to prevent herself from being pulled into his embrace. However, the warmth of his body caused her to lose all strength.
Nie Yan mischievously reached his hand up under Xie Yao's robe. Through the soft and smooth, silk-like fabric... he found a pleasant surprise. Since her bosom was well developed and her bra nothing more than a thin piece of cloth, he felt a mellow and plump sensation in his hand.
In this life, this was Nie Yan's first time being so intimate with Xie Yao inside the game. He felt a strange feeling well up in his heart. Right now, the person standing in front of him was Xie Yao and also Yao Yao. The two were one and the same, yet they shared different stories with him.