Chapter 28: Killing for Equipment—Four Supreme Treasures

"Damn!" Fourth Brother dashed over, stomping around wildly on the heap of loot left behind by the silent, freshly resurrected Taoist, yelling, "Hurry up and pick it up! Quick! Before someone else shows up!"

But the three brothers' packs were already filled to the brim with potions. It simply wasn't worth tossing out their precious stacks of magical elixirs for a few scattered bottles and a handful of equipment on the ground. Lin Jia hurriedly stuffed a few bundles of potions into Fourth Brother's bag before frantically grabbing whatever he could from the ground. Most of it was just stray red and blue potions, but there was also a Sun Drop. Sun Drops were a rare treasure—unlike the usual red and blue potions, this one instantly restored both health and mana at once, a real lifesaver in critical moments.

The Taoist had dropped two pieces of light armor and a bronze axe, nothing special, but they could still fetch a few thousand gold at the system shop.

Before Lin Jia could finish gathering the loot, the Taoist came charging out of the city again. Fourth Brother snickered, "Is this guy looking for revenge?" Without another word, he and the eldest brother rushed at the Taoist. But after being loaded down with Lin Jia's potions, Fourth Brother was overburdened, reduced to a turtle's pace, and could only watch helplessly as the eldest raced ahead. Frustrated at missing out on the action, he couldn't help but curse loudly.

Lin Jia had already swept everything into his bag. The Taoist was about the same level as the eldest, but his gear lagged far behind. After just two exchanges, realizing his attack and spell power were no match, he wisely gave up on the eldest and charged straight at Lin Jia. Finding the loot had been cleaned out, he stopped and spat a string of curses, "You son of a—! @#$%&*..." and hurled a flame talisman at Lin Jia.

Lin Jia grinned, not even bothering to dodge, and unleashed a barrage of lightning spells at the fool. This time, the Taoist didn't stick around—after taking two hits, he vanished in a flash of light with a random teleport scroll.

Fourth Brother stared in confusion. "What the hell? Did he just come over to get his ass kicked? Why'd he run after only two hits?"

The eldest was puzzled as well. "What skill did he just use? That looked like Soul Fire Talisman. How did he even cast it?"

Lin Jia burst out laughing. "He wanted this!" He opened his pack to show them a piece of equipment he'd just picked up. "Phoenix Pearl, level requirement 17, Taoist Power 1-4, weight 1, durability 8, accuracy +1."

The eldest's eyes widened in excitement. "Damn! That's a great item! No wonder he risked everything to come back for it! Give it here, quick!" He hastily piloted his little female Taoist over to trade with Lin Jia.

Lin Jia laughed as he handed over the exceptional necklace—better than the regular Phoenix Pearl by an extra 0-2 Taoist Power. "This is way more efficient than farming monsters for gear. Plenty of players are better equipped than us! Maybe we should start hunting players for their loot. By the way, I figured out how to use the amulet—it goes in the right bracelet slot! I bet once you equip it, you can use Soul Fire Talismans like that Taoist did. Not that it's all that powerful; even against a weak wizard like me, it only knocked off a dozen or so HP..."

The eldest immediately swapped out his gear, equipping the Phoenix Pearl and then the amulet. He cast a fire talisman—it shot out with a hiss. Delighted, he said, "It works! But that means I can only wear one bracelet at a time." He fiddled with the amulet, swapping it in and out, somewhat conflicted.

As Fourth Brother returned the extra potions to Lin Jia, he remarked, "I bet your Poison spell works the same way, but poison is hard to come by. I saw someone selling it in the safe zone, but it was ten thousand gold a packet! Damn expensive!"

The eldest, itching to try his new skill, said, "Whatever, we've got some cash now. Let's buy a pack and test it."

Fourth Brother thought it over. "Let's get two. I hear there are two kinds—one lowers defense, the other drains health. If we run into tough monsters, they'll come in handy."

The eldest dashed back to the safe zone and, after a lengthy haggle with a poison vendor, bought a packet each of yellow and gray powder (medium size) for fifteen thousand gold. The yellow caused a sustained defense drop; the gray, a steady HP drain. Once an enemy was poisoned, they'd be marked in vivid red and green.

Equipped with his new "biochemical weapon," the eldest was beside himself with excitement. "Hurry up! Let's head to the Stone Fragrance Tomb, second floor! I'm just a sliver away from leveling up. If I can learn Summon Skeleton, I'll have an extra helper to tank monsters for you guys!"

Fourth Brother grumbled enviously, "Damn! You guys keep picking up all these skills, and I still only have two..."

"Count your blessings!" Lin Jia laughed as they raced toward Sabak, "You're a warrior—thick-skinned, tough, and hard-hitting. What do you need so many skills for?" Fourth Brother chuckled. He was just jealous seeing his brothers with so many spells.

They charged into the second floor of the Stone Fragrance Tomb. The monsters had respawned, though not as densely as last time, and the annoying Horned Flies hadn’t flooded the room with bats. Without a word, the three brothers plunged in, each picking a target and unleashing hell.

Fourth Brother braved the monster crowd to pummel an immobile Horned Fly, while Lin Jia blasted the two Electric Zombies lured by Fourth Brother with his lightning spells, dispatching them quickly before turning to help finish off the Horned Fly. The eldest circled the monsters, drawing their attention, and whenever one veered toward Lin Jia or Fourth Brother, he'd toss over a "sheet of toilet paper"—his term for a taunt spell—to pull them back.

Under the combined assault, the Horned Fly barely managed to spit out two bats before collapsing into a disgusting heap of yellow-red mush. The eldest called out, "Hold on! Let's disband the party. I'll take the next kills solo—I need to hit level nineteen!"

Lin Jia had no objection, immediately leaving the party so the eldest could claim all the experience. Fourth Brother took over the task of drawing monsters, while the eldest lured them out with flame talismans and let Lin Jia finish them off for optimal efficiency.

The eldest's experience bar was already nearly full, but they kept clearing monsters ahead until finally, with a triumphant shout, the eldest announced, "I leveled up!"

Fourth Brother snickered, "Oh, really? Did you have a boy or a girl?"

The eldest ignored him, delivered a swift kick that left Fourth Brother grimacing, and quickly learned the Summon Skeleton skill. He set it to his F8 hotkey, and with a press, a strange white mist billowed up from the ground...

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(Trouble: Some brothers say the updates are slow, but I’m not at home—I can only get online for a bit at an internet cafe. I’ll be back home in a few days. Worst of all, there’s a bucktoothed girl beside me watching Korean variety shows and cackling like a banshee. She’s about to drive me crazy! So, given all that, you guys can’t just read without voting, right? Smash those buttons below to show your support!)