Chapter 409: Chapter 409: Collecting Ancient Gods
People were spitting blood again. Dammit, so even the body of an ancient god could be harvested.

But they could only watch with jealousy now. More than a hundred players had already undertaken Li Yao’s mission and only he could harvest these materials. Robbing him was pretty much out of the question.

Many masters angrily turned to leave, no longer wanting to stay in this heart-wrenching place. It was too frustrating. Ever since they encountered Li Yao, nothing had gone right.

What started as them planning to use Li Yao had now turned into them being played by him. In the end, he reaped all the benefits, and they had to thank him for saving their lives.

Whether they admitted it or not, once news of this got out, Li Yao could not be blamed at all. On the contrary, they would be viewed as ungrateful if they bad-mouthed or maligned him after he had saved their lives.

If they were unappreciative, that would be one thing, but to repay kindness with hostility would certainly turn them into objects of disdain.

As for the other players, they were rather understanding of the situation. They had made it onto the world announcement again, while they didn’t receive much in the way of rewards, the honor alone was enough to console them.

The players who had died after battling the ancient god were heralded as heroes. They weren’t penalized for failing the mission and instead received pretty decent rewards. It was the camps’ way to honor those who made sacrifices for world peace.

The two camps started promoting their achievements as soon as news got out that they killed an ancient god, emphasising their roles in the process.

Especially the Light Faction, since the gnome who had led the battle was one of them, hence they embellished the event greatly. Just like Li Yao said, many bards began composing songs about this epic event.

Li Yao didn’t have the time to bother about these things right now. He was busy harvesting the ancient god’s body under the watchful eyes of the players. Although they couldn’t come close due to the dark energy, watching what the ancient god yielded was quite interesting.

“System: You have harvested epic material Heart of the Ancient God*1.”

“System: You have harvested epic material Remains of the Ancient God*4.”

“System: You have harvested epic material Eye of the Ancient God*1.”

“System: You have harvested epic material Blood of the Ancient God.”

The Heart of the Ancient God was a guaranteed drop, while the other three materials depended on the harvesting technique, especially the Blood of the Ancient God.

It was a stronger version of the dark energy, had it not been for Li Yao’s dark touch, he wouldn’t have been able to collect that much Blood of the Ancient God.

Li Yao was quite satisfied already. All the materials were of epic grade, if converted into equipment, these would definitely be top-tier purple equipment.

But Li Yao, of course, wouldn’t foolishly create an excess of equipment. These materials, for the most part, could be used to craft puppets, which would certainly enhance the quality of the puppets to a whole new level.

Just thinking about the new puppets obtaining certain characteristics of the ancient god, Li Yao couldn’t wait to fly back to his lab in Undercity to start crafting.

“All right, let’s get going, find a peripheral point and we can teleport back,” said Li Yao, waving his hand.

“Master, you’ve harvested so many things. Let us take a look, please.” A player suggested.

“These are all corrosive materials, they are of no use to you guys. There’s no need to get your hopes up. Let’s hurry and get back so you can claim your rewards. I believe once we return, they will have come to their senses,” answered Li Yao, not letting them peek at the attributes and leading the way without hesitation.

With these players as his escort, the masters who had ill intentions were forced to refrain, plus, Li Yao had an electronic map and knew which areas had no influence from the Titan array. After a few hours, Li Yao finally led the team to such a place.

Then he crumbled the teleportation scroll Miller gave him and everyone returned to the gnome’s town in turns.

Li Yao then rewarded the players with blue equipment he was planning to let Little Cold Hands consume and insincerely proclaimed that he needs to rest for a couple of days and will be settling in this town.

He told the players that he would be posting a task at the Mercenary Hall in a few days, the reward being the golden dress. The players left contentedly to turn in their quests and collect their other rewards.

“Little Hands, I have no use for these blue equipment, store them all in your bank. Your ability does consume equipment, these should be enough for you until level twenty,” Li Yao said, storing the blue equipment in Little Cold Hands’ bank.

“Master, how could I take these? These blue gears are worth quite a few Gold Coins altogether.” Little Cold Hands shook her hand in protest.

“No need to be courteous with him. You wouldn’t know how loaded he is if you don’t look at the forums. Nevermind, it’s too complicated to explain. Just look at the forums and you’ll know,” said Ephemeral Bloom.

“All right, then. Master, once I become stronger, I will help you,” promised Little Cold Hands.

“Okay, I’ll be looking forward to it,” replied Li Yao, paying no mind.

“Wait, wait. Now that you’ve gotten so many benefits, granted I didn’t help much, but I kept your secret and joined your guild. You can’t possibly give this powerful expert nothing in return,” said Ephemeral Bloom hastily as he saw Li Yao was about to leave.

“Tell me, what do you want? I must caution you that I’m very frugal,” warned Li Yao.

“Don’t look so scared, I just want a bit of the Blood of the Ancient God so I can complete another task given by my mentor,” said Ephemeral Bloom.

“Here.” Li Yao handed Ephemeral Bloom a small test tube that was only as big as his thumb and filled to one-third with Blood of the Ancient God.

“Dammit, you truly are a cheapskate. You harvested two big buckets of Blood of the Ancient God, and you only give me this tiny bit?” Ephemeral Bloom rolled his eyes.

“Take it or leave it, it’s enough for you to use twice since you’re planning to enhance yourself,” replied Li Yao bluntly.

“Even my intentions are known to you. All right, I am at a loss,” Ephemeral Bloom grumbled and took the test tube before leaving.

“Don’t forget to report to the guild,” Li Yao waved at Little Cold Hands and also left.

He was eager to find Miller and get his blueprints now. Although the encounter with the ancient god yielded quite a bit, the third door was in ruins and he failed to retrieve any blueprints.

So now, all his hopes were on Miller’s private collection.

“Master, you have truly lived up to expectations,” Miller greeted Li Yao with utmost respect.

“It’s all thanks to the Golden Puppet,” replied Li Yao, handing over the key along with a large test tube.

“Master, you are too modest. My puppets merely gave you some means to protect yourself. They couldn’t possibly help you unlock the gates and defeat an ancient god.” Miller laughed, “Master, what is this test tube for?”…

PS: I am hesitating on how to proceed with the next plot.

Monthly ticket, please