Chapter 14: Blood Vine Ring and Spirit Nourishing Grass

Chapter 14: Blood Vine Ring and Spirit Nourishing Grass

Sighing, Su Nan shook his head, not dwelling on the matter.

No matter what, he had the Synthesis Cube and the Player Interface, two powerful advantages that would prevent him from suffering the same fate as Ang McLane.

Putting down the diary, Su Nan picked up another one.

To his delight, this diary contained Ang McLane's experimental records on the Black Rock Leopard.

It detailed the entire process of creating the Black Rock Leopard.

"With this experimental record, as long as I brush up on the puppet creation skill from the books on the shelf, I can try to create a Black Rock Leopard!" Su Nan's face lit up with a joyful smile.

The Black Rock Leopard was a Knight-level puppet, loyal and fearless, making it an excellent combat asset.

If he could create a team of Black Rock Leopards, his safety during future material-gathering expeditions would be much more secure.

After putting away the two diaries, Su Nan picked up the ring.

The dusty ring looked like a cheap trinket from a street vendor, completely unremarkable.

But in Su Nan's perception, the ring was like a miniature black hole, constantly absorbing the stray energy particles from the surrounding air.

"A magical item!"

Su Nan's eyes gleamed with excitement.

He hadn't expected Ang McLane to leave behind a magical item.

Glancing back to ensure the others were still outside, Su Nan inconspicuously opened the Synthesis Cube and placed the ring on it.

A line of text soon appeared before his eyes.

[Blood Vine Ring (Alchemical/Minor Magical Item) - When activated, it can summon blood vines to bind a designated target and gradually drain their energy. Usable 3/3 times. Can be recharged by injecting mana or automatically absorbing stray energy particles.]



"Excellent, a very practical effect," Su Nan nodded to himself.

Magical items were divided into different tiers.

The lowest tier was the Alchemical level, also known as Minor Magical Items.

These items typically had only a single enchantment characteristic.

For example, dimensional bags and spatial rings.

Or various enchanted weapons with traits like sharpness, bleeding, black steel, and so on.

Despite being the lowest tier, their power was still significant.

Taking the Blood Vine Ring as an example, Su Nan estimated that even a peak Knight would struggle to break free from the blood vines.

For a Wizard's Apprentice like him, a Minor Magical Item was undoubtedly a precious treasure.

Of course, to use the Blood Vine Ring, he would need to advance to the Second-Class Wizard's Apprentice.

Only then would he have the basic ability to manipulate energy particles, which was necessary to activate magical items.

Above the Alchemical level were the Glimmering-level magical items, also known as Low Magical Items.

These items usually had multiple magical characteristics and were far more valuable than Alchemical items.

Even a Third-Class Wizard's Apprentice would be elated to acquire one.

Above the Glimmering level were the Magical-level items, also known as Wizard's Implements.

These were true magical items, often possessing at least one activatable magical power with astonishing effects.

Generally, only fully-fledged Wizards had the right to possess Wizard's Implements.

As for even higher-tier magical items, Su Nan suspected that none existed on the current Starlight Continent.

In fact, in the game from his previous life, it wasn't until the 2.0 version, "Return of the Wizards," that Magical-level items and above appeared.

"I remember that in the 1.0 version of the Starlight Continent, there were quite a few Minor and Low Magical Items left behind. I should ask my brother to keep an eye out for them."

Su Nan thought to himself.

However, unactivated magical items looked like ordinary items to the untrained eye, making them hard to distinguish.

Even if Koy helped him look, it probably wouldn't make much of a difference.

But it was better than nothing.

Su Nan carefully stored the Blood Vine Ring and turned his attention to the last two wooden boxes.

Opening the larger one, he found three finger-length leaves inside.

The leaves looked somewhat like four-leaf clovers, but they were entirely a vivid purple color, crystalline and smooth, resembling gemstone-shaped leaves.

"This is Spirit Nourishing Grass!"

Su Nan immediately recognized the leaves and his eyes widened in surprise.

He quickly placed the leaves in the Synthesis Cube.

[Spirit Nourishing Grass, Purity 29.28% - Consuming it can slightly increase mental energy. The effect varies depending on the user's mental energy. The higher the mental energy, the weaker the effect. It has no effect on those with mental energy of 12 or higher.]



"Actually, it's Spirit Nourishing Grass that can increase mental energy!"

"Ang McLane was really generous."

Halfway through his thought, Su Nan suddenly realized that as a Third-Class Wizard's Apprentice, Ang McLane's mental energy must have exceeded 12 points, making the Spirit Nourishing Grass completely ineffective for him. It made sense that it wasn't valued highly.

"Well, now it's my lucky break."

Su Nan closed the wooden box with a delighted smile and turned to the other box.

Inside, he found over thirty shiny gemstones.

"Sapphires, rubies, fire opals, moonstones, and more."

Su Nan marveled at the collection.

The combined value of these gems was definitely over a thousand gold coins.

"Good stuff."

Su Nan thought for a moment and decided to keep the gems for himself.

With the stockpile of black iron in the warehouse and the soon-to-be-reopened black iron mine, Black Rock City would likely have a steady flow of income for a long time. There was no need to sell these gems for gold.

More importantly, for a wizard, gems were a precious resource.

Valuable gems were not just for decoration.

In the hands of a wizard, gems could serve many purposes.

For example, they could be used as casting mediums to cast certain special spells.

Su Nan remembered a spellcasting school called 'Gemstone Magic,' where the casting medium was various gems.

This school was notorious for being a gold sink.

Each spell required a gem, costing anywhere from a few to several hundred gold coins.

Only wealthy wizards could afford such expenses.

However, in return, the spells from this school were incredibly powerful.

A first-level spell like Burning Hands, when cast with a ruby, could have the power of a second-level spell, nearly reaching the strength of a third-level spell!

Thus, the descendants of this school were known for being both fabulously wealthy and capable of challenging higher levels.

Besides serving as casting mediums, gems were also frequently used in the creation of magical items.

The most common example was a wizard's staff.

Embedding different types of gems in a staff could imbue it with specific magical powers.

Additionally, gems were often used as energy cores for puppet creations.

Many Wizard's Apprentices who couldn't afford soul crystals would opt for gems as a cheaper alternative for energy cores.

In short, gems had numerous uses, and Su Nan was reluctant to sell them unless absolutely necessary.

After checking the drawers, Su Nan thoroughly searched the other corners of the room but found nothing else of value.

"Never mind, I've already found quite a few good things. I shouldn't be too greedy."

Su Nan took a deep breath, gathered his items, and left the room.

During his time in the study, Koy had already sent someone to notify the soldiers outside to bring in carts to transport the black iron ingots. The hall was now bustling with activity.

Seeing Su Nan come out, Koy didn't ask what he had found but instead pointed to the laboratory and asked, "Do you want anything from inside? If so, I'll have my men carry it to your courtyard."

"No, that's not necessary," Su Nan shook his head.

After decades, even the magical traps had failed, and the puppet-making equipment inside was long damaged beyond repair. Even if it were fixed, it wouldn't be useful.

Besides, Ang McLane's experimental records included detailed diagrams of the equipment, so if he needed it in the future, he could have the blacksmiths in his territory craft a new set.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end