It was hard for Xie Feng to believe that the best artifact maker of all time in the history of the gnome race was sitting at the same table with him. The reason was very simple; although Xie Feng had never met any gnomes before and this was the first time he had ever chatted with one of them, he knew that gnomes were really prominent in creating artifacts … But to create good artifacts, not only did you need skill, but you also needed a body in top condition. However, the bodies of all the gnomes that Xie Feng and his group had met so far were almost entirely covered in rocks.
So how was it possible that the most talented artifact maker in history could create something good, even with his body practically petrified? Xie Feng soon got the answer he was looking for.
[Starless Night Sea – Heaven Grade
Description: A beautiful zither created by Daroock, one of the elders of the gnome race. In the right hands, through its music, it possesses the ability to enchant the ears and free any living being from all worries. At the same time, in the right hands, it possesses the power to enchant souls, destroy them, and cause a bloodbath on the battlefield. Note: Its power can be greatly enhanced with the right materials.
Conditions to equip: Receive Daroock’s approval.
Attributes: Intelligence +800 / MP +100% / Luck +20
Special Effects: Immunity to the effects of sleep, dizziness, terrified.
Skill(s): Immortal Starless Sleep / Confused and Mysterious as the Night Sea / Sound of Infernal Purgatory.]
Xie Feng almost screams out loud and jumps out of his chair when he read the partial information of the zither.
The zither had six golden-colored strings in total, each string looked soft, delicate, and mysterious; its golden color drew you deeply like an endless spiral, making it difficult for you to look away from them. The rest of the body was black, as black as the cloak of night itself without any cloud, moon, or star to accompany it; the effect of attraction and mystery was even greater, capable of dragging souls out of the body.
From the mere shape of the instrument, Xie Feng was already sure that it was undoubtedly a great artifact… But neither he nor any of his companions had expected an object of such magnitude.
Heaven Grade!
An object with the ability to completely break the balance of the virtual world! Such an object was something that should definitely not appear before the eyes of the players at the current stage of the game, but right now, in front of their eyes, Xie Feng and the rest were seeing it!
The stats of the Starless Night Sea Zither mainly focused on the magic of its holder, but that alone was extremely terrifying! Although the instrument had no stats other than Intelligence; 800 intelligence points was equivalent to a total of 160 levels since each player only acquired 5 points to increase their stats per level!
800 Intelligence was equal to 1600 points of magic damage and 16,000 points of mana as the Starless Night Sea Zither increased its wearer’s mana by 100%! This might not be much in the early stages of the game, but in the middle and especially in the late stages, such an effect would become the nightmare of all enemies of anyone using such an artifact!
Xie Feng and the rest sucked in a breath of fresh air… That zither already had the power to compare to a God-grade weapon, but the most surprising thing of all was that… It could still become even more terrifying than it already was!
Even without reading the description of the zither’s skills, Xie Feng finally realized something very important; even if the gnomes had no combat power, their artifacts alone were enough for no other race to dare to take them lightly… But more importantly, Xie Feng also realized that if Slekpnir and Daroock really wanted him and his group dead, then it would be difficult for them to survive.
Unconsciously, his gaze drifted to the multicolored ring on the hand of the elder gnome Slekpnir and he swallowed his saliva… If that ring was on the same level or even if it was half of powerful as the Starless Night Sea Zither was…
Daroock seemed pleased with the reaction of the people in front of him and a rare smile rose on his face as he said in a hoarse voice: “This Starless Night Sea Zither and the Immortal Nature Ring that Slekpnir has are the two artifacts I am most proud of… The finest creations of my life.”
“Daroock spent 80 years of his life to create both.” Slekpnir said in a serious voice. “Because our bodies are petrified and because of the cruel environment we live in, Daroock had no choice but to put every grain of effort and patience into creating these two artifacts… Unfortunately, the petrification curse cast by the Goddess Mei Hen and the limited resources due to the extreme climate of this dungeon do not allow Daroock to show all his talent… Otherwise my gnome race wouldn’t have to hide anymore!”
Xie Feng didn’t doubt Slekpnir’s words. If the gnomes had an army of soldiers equipped with artifacts that had only a small part of the Starless Night Sea Zither, then no one would dare to treat them lightly and they would be able to leave this frozen map. Unfortunately, just as the gnome race elder said, things were not so easy for them.
Suddenly, Slekpnir looked at Xie Feng with shining eyes and said out of nowhere, “Apologies for my insolence but… Could it be that you have the Pearl of Light with you?”
Remarkably surprised by the sudden question, Xie Feng did not know how to react at first. However, soon he nodded without hiding it. In fact, there was no need to hide anything since as Slekpnir asked, that meant that the old gnome had surely identified that Xie Feng possessed the Pearl of Light when he used the Bright Light Barrier skill.
“It really is!” Slekpnir exclaimed loudly and his tiny hands slammed down hard on the table.
Daroock’s eyes flashed as well. The surprise and joy in his eyes were so noticeable that for a moment everyone in the room was dumbfounded.
“This…” Xie Feng did not know what to say at the sudden emotional outburst of the gnomes in front of him. Although he already knew that gnomes were susceptible to sudden emotional changes, the surprise was still there.
“*Cough*… Sorry, the joy was too great after all.” Slekpnir apologized when he realized that his attitude might have scared his guests.
Xie Feng shook his head to indicate that it was all right, but still couldn’t help but ask and point out in a serious voice, “Is something wrong? Just so you know, I’m not giving you the Pearl of Light… Although even if I wanted to I couldn’t.”
“No no no no no!” Slekpnir shook his head and both hands quickly as if he was worried about being misunderstood. “We don’t have any thoughts towards your things, it’s just…”
Suddenly, the gnome race elder was speechless, hesitant…. As if he didn’t know what to say.
“It’s because of a legend.” Daroock said out of nowhere, surprising everyone. “Since ancient times, the legend said that a person would gather the seven legendary pearls, with his crimson spear surrounded by flames and his body surrounded by lightning would one day end the war, bringing peace to the Adastreia Continent.”
“That’s right!” Slekpnir shouted, almost scaring Xie Feng to death. “That person would not only bring peace to our lands, he would also unite this entire world under his standard!”
Xie Feng almost suffocated with his own saliva and choked after hearing the two crazy old men in front of him. For heaven’s sake! Although he was strong, he was far from stopping a war that involved God and Saint grade existences! The current him could barely fight with a small Immortal beast… Forget about uniting the entire Samsara world under his standard, Xie Feng couldn’t even bring peace to one city let alone all the lands!
Still, wasn’t it too much of a coincidence? The Pearl of Light had already recognized him as its owner and even if he died he could not be separated from it… He also knew where the Pearl of Earth was and he also knew how to get it… Besides, his main weapon, the Calamity Spear, was as red as blood, so it also matched the legend of which Slekpnir and Daroock were talking about.
Daroock looked at Xie Yao and Gu Qianxue for a moment before giving Xie Feng a smile that all the men could understand as he said: “The legend also says that such a person will sit on a golden throne in the most luxurious palace in history, surrounded by beauties left and right, looking down on the world with disdain.”
Cough, cough!
Xie Feng finally couldn’t help but cough several times when he heard the red-bearded gnome’s last words.
Gu Qianxue, Xie Yao, and the rest gave Xie Feng several strange looks… Please don’t look at me like that! That was what he wanted to say. If it was before, Xie Feng would sneer and spit in the face of the person who said such nonsense, but now he had nothing to say about it.
“Pffft!” Gu Qianxue couldn’t help but giggle a bit when she saw Xie Feng’s complicated look.
Xie Yao also had a strange smile on her face… Saying that she was the “culprit” was not entirely a lie; after all, she was the one who suddenly came up with the idea of allowing Xie Feng to have more wives.
