Chapter 168 Fortress

That evening, Nie Yan re-entered the game and sorted through the information Guo Huai had gathered from various sources.

First, the Credit Point exchange was now open, and all sorts of items were circulating. Trading in game currency and equipment was booming like never before. Since the exchange rate between game currency and Credit Points fluctuated, determined independently by buyers and sellers, it was still impossible to get a firm grasp on the figures.

In addition, some new things had emerged, though they couldn't be built for the time being. Things like bars and inns in the virtual world, where you could spend Credit Points directly. Faith just provided the venues. Then there were shops where you could pay with Credit Points and receive the corresponding physical items in the real world. This format was similar to online shopping, but it was a completely new experience. Players could examine the quality and any flaws of the goods in the virtual world before confirming their purchase.

There was only one location where such shops could be established: fortresses!

Guilds had to compete for fortresses in order to open up a designated area, distribute land to various merchants to set up shops, and then collect taxes.

This was essentially moving real-world trading models entirely into the virtual world.

This was a major shift for the world. People could stay at home and check the quality of an item in the virtual world before deciding whether to buy it.

This highlighted the value of fortresses.

In his past life, a beginner fortress could generate hundreds of thousands of Credit Points and thousands of gold coins in taxes alone each day. Gold coins were used to pay for guild war expenses, while Credit Points were usually distributed by the guild leader to members who had made significant contributions. The output of one fortress wasn't enough to sustain a guild's war expenses, but as the number of fortresses under management increased, the financial power the guild controlled would grow. Once the guild had developed, its income would be considerable.

In the future, if the Ni Ren Tribe wanted to truly develop, fortresses were the most important thing.

After the Credit Point exchange opened, all thirteen fortresses in Calore City were unlocked, one Super Fortress, one Advanced Fortress, one Intermediate Fortress, and the rest were Beginner Fortresses. They were guarded by a large number of dark creatures, and they had to be reclaimed before they belonged to the various guilds. The only one without dark creatures guarding it was postponed by Sacred Flame of Light and would only be available to compete for in five days.

During this time, Triumph Empire and Sacred Flame of Light had calmed down. The Ni Ren Tribe, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Temple of Galan didn't want to continue wasting their strength either. They were resting and recuperating, preparing to reclaim fortresses. Otherwise, if other guilds seized many fortresses, their own guild's development would be far behind.

When the fortress battles broke out, Warblade Bloodthirst, Mage Alliance, and Sacred Guardians would be the Ni Ren Tribe's greatest enemies! Triumph Empire and Sacred Flame of Light were slowly withdrawing from the ranks of first-rate guilds.

Nie Yan looked at the results of his efforts during this period. The three auction houses were already operating and business was booming. At this rate, they would generate around 1,000 gold coins a day. The eleven Starry Night Potion Shops brought in about 700 gold coins a day. The Assassin Alliance brought in about 300 gold coins a day, and other alchemy shops and the like brought in about 200 gold coins altogether. He had a total of more than thirty plots of land left in various major cities, which were currently being rented out. Once all the land was rented out, the rent alone would generate at least 300 gold coins a day.

This was just the current income forecast. Once the business was developed in the future, he would only earn more money, not less.

Therefore, Nie Yan's future income was considerable. He had about 1,200 gold coins left. He replenished some items in the guild warehouse and spent a lot of money embedding gems and enchanting equipment for the guild members.

The current investment was necessary in order to allow these guild members to produce more in the future.

After bidding farewell to Nie Yan, the team members went to level up. They had to hurry up and improve their strength in preparation for reclaiming fortresses.

Nie Yan walked to a laboratory in the Starry Night Potion Shop, took out the Horn of the Golden Earth Dragon, and cut his finger with a dagger. A drop of blood fell from the air and landed on the Horn of the Golden Earth Dragon.

System: Are you sure you want to summon the Golden Earth Dragon? This item will be bound after summoning.

Yes!

The Horn of the Golden Earth Dragon shone with a dazzling golden light, which was extremely glaring and filled the entire room. The magic elements in the room fluctuated violently, and a manic force emerged, causing the dimensional space to ripple.

After a long time, the golden light of the Horn of the Golden Earth Dragon slowly faded away, eventually becoming dull.

Looking at the system notification, each time a pet was summoned or unsummoned, it took about 30 seconds.

After the summoning was completed, a Golden Earth Dragon appeared in front of Nie Yan, but it was a miniature version, only the size of a penguin. Its whole body was covered with scales, which were a dull gold color. It had a large belly, and it waddled from side to side when it walked. Its wings were very small, making it look a bit like a penguin.

"dhghfssuhg." The Golden Earth Dragon spat out a series of unclear murmurs in dragon language, sounding like a child learning to speak, which left Nie Yan completely confused. Even he, who had studied dragon language, couldn't understand it.

Every time Nie Yan took a step, the Golden Earth Dragon immediately followed him, swaying. When he stopped, the Golden Earth Dragon stopped as well. After a while, if Nie Yan still didn't move, it would hold its head with its claws and sit down on the ground, scratching its head, and occasionally rolling around on the ground once or twice.

This chubby, slightly comical Golden Earth Dragon would be Nie Yan's pet.

Nie Yan looked at the Golden Earth Dragon's attribute bar.

Golden Earth Dragon: Level 0, 3000 experience required for the next level.

Health Points: 100.

Loyalty: 60/100.

Attack Type: Physical/Magical Attack.

Attack: 32-33, Defense: 30, Strength: 30, Agility: 20, Intelligence: 2, Movement Speed: 22, Attack Speed: 21.

Growth Rate: 15.

Talent: A certain probability of obtaining Dragon Magic upon leveling up.

Skill Slots: Empty.

If the Golden Earth Dragon died, it couldn't be summoned again for ten days, and it would lose experience and loyalty. Loyalty could be increased by feeding it, which would increase by about one point per day. The food could be purchased from an NPC shop.

The Golden Earth Dragon wasn't strong now, but its strength would definitely be amazing in the future. However, leveling up the Golden Earth Dragon wasn't easy. The amount of experience required to level up was very high. Bringing up the Golden Earth Dragon's level was really not a simple task.

Fortunately, when taking a pet, you could enable the experience to be shared exclusively by the pet, so that the pet would level up much faster.

Nie Yan took out the Mutated Energy Crystal from his backpack and prepared to use it to improve the Golden Earth Dragon's abilities. This thing obviously had a better effect when used at a lower level.

"Goo-roo, goo-roo." The Golden Earth Dragon's round eyes stared at the Mutated Energy Crystal in Nie Yan's hand. Wherever Nie Yan's hand moved, its eyeballs would turn to follow.

Nie Yan held the Energy Crystal over the Golden Earth Dragon's head. Was he going to implant the Mutated Energy Crystal into the Golden Earth Dragon's head?

It was so small. Its head wasn't much bigger than this Mutated Energy Crystal.

Nie Yan was helpless. He had never done such a bloody thing before. He admitted that he was a little soft-hearted.

He crouched down and looked at the Golden Earth Dragon, teasingly saying, "Hey, buddy, what should I do? Should I implant this Mutated Energy Crystal into your head, or should you swallow it yourself?"

Nie Yan thought that if he really couldn't use this Mutated Energy Crystal, he would just have to give up. He couldn't kill the Golden Earth Dragon with his own hands.

The Golden Earth Dragon looked at Nie Yan expectantly, looking pitiful, which made Nie Yan laugh a little. Although these pets didn't have the same high intelligence as humans, the main brain still gave them some basic comprehension abilities.

The Golden Earth Dragon opened its mouth and swallowed the Mutated Energy Crystal, then swallowed hard. A large bulge appeared on its neck, and then with a gulp, the entire Mutated Energy Crystal was swallowed.

"Damn, it really swallowed it." Nie Yan didn't expect the Golden Earth Dragon to move so fast. It was too late to stop it. He stared at the Golden Earth Dragon.

The Golden Earth Dragon squatted on the ground, its belly bulging high. It stroked its belly and burped heavily. The bulge on its belly slowly disappeared. A tiny bump grew on its forehead, a round crystal, emitting a shimmering light.

The Golden Earth Dragon's dull scales had a hint of bright color.

Nie Yan could clearly feel that the Golden Earth Dragon had grown a size. Perhaps that was how the Mutated Energy Crystal was used. It was a lucky mistake.

Nie Yan quickly looked at the Golden Earth Dragon's attributes.

Golden Earth Dragon (Enhanced): Level 0, 3000 experience required for the next level.

Health Points: 120.

Loyalty: 60/100.

Attack Type: Physical/Magical Attack.

Attack: 38-43, Defense: 37, Strength: 33, Agility: 22, Intelligence: 5, Movement Speed: 32, Attack Speed: 26.

Growth Rate: 20.

Talent: A certain probability of obtaining Dragon Magic upon leveling up.

Skill Slots: Empty.

The Golden Earth Dragon's attributes had undergone a qualitative change, especially the growth rate. The growth rate was the key! Sacrificing a rare Mutated Energy Crystal to create a unique pet was definitely worth it.

A growth rate of up to 20 could be considered super growth.

Although pets were open to the public, not many players had them. It was good if there was one out of tens of thousands of people, and many of them were trash pets that couldn't compare to Nie Yan's Golden Earth Dragon at all.

The Golden Earth Dragon would not only appear in Calore City, but also in other cities, so the leaders of other guilds might also get similar things.

However, they shouldn't have pets that had been enhanced with a Mutated Energy Crystal.

So the Golden Earth Dragon was unique!

Nie Yan recalled the Golden Earth Dragon to the pet space. It would be too eye-catching to let the Golden Earth Dragon walk on the street. He planned to find a place to level up the Golden Earth Dragon first.

Fa Biao De Wo Niu