While equipped with two daggers, Intermediate Dual Wielding would now increase his attack by 13 points. Its effects were quite significant.

His damage was growing increasingly powerful. If he was able to equip the Scarlet Poison Ring, then even a tanky Fighter would be easily cut down by his blade.

Accessories and Legendary equipment usually had stat requirements. So long as they were fulfilled, the player would be able to immediately equip them regardless of their level. On the other hand, regular equipment had strict level requirements. Hence, obtaining a defense or attack that vastly exceeded the norm was very difficult. However, though incredibly rare, rings that increased attack or necklaces that increased defense did exist. In fact, they could even be found in the auction house. It was just that on the rare occasion they appeared, they were often excessively expensive.

Nie Yan had never stopped thinking about how he was going to get enough Dexterity to equip the ring. After all, 160 Dexterity wasn’t an easy hurdle to overcome. Thief skill books that increased Dexterity, for instance, were scarce in the marketplace because players would generally set aside these types of skill books for their acquaintances or friends. Very rarely would they ever be put up for sale. When such a skill book did appear, however, entire auction houses would go into uproar as players entered bidding frenzies to snatch it for themselves. The demand for them was simply too high. Just like how Warriors sought skill books that increased Strength or how Mages sought skill books that increased Intelligence, skill books that increased Dexterity were highly coveted by Thieves. This was why being able to obtain one was simply a matter of luck.

Although Sleepy Fox had gladly agreed to finding him a few skill books in the past, they were Thief skill books that increased Strength. If he had asked for ones that increased Dexterity instead, then he would have put Sleepy Fox in an awkward position. With so many Thieves in Holy Empire, which one didn’t want more Dexterity? For what reason should they be given to an outsider like Nie Yan? Even if the guild leader himself personally agreed, the Thieves in his guild definitely wouldn’t.

As for Dexterity Gems, there was no longer any space because he had already socketed all of his gear with Strength Gems.

For now, 160 Dexterity was too difficult of a barrier to cross. Were it not for him gaining more stat points than other players every level and wearing Sulgata’s Boots that gave him 30 Dexterity, his Dexterity would have had a hard time even breaking through 100. If he really couldn’t find the skill books, then he would simply have to wait until he was higher levelled.

“We should head back,” Nie Yan said. With their guild rapidly expanding by the second, they had plenty of business to attend to.

“Alright.” Tang Yao nodded. He also wanted to take a look at what was going on back at their guild headquarters.

After channeling their Return Scrolls, Tang Yao and Nie Yan were enshrouded by a bright radiance before being teleported back to Calore.

“Let’s check out our headquarters first. Then, I’ll set up the guild treasury,” Nie Yan suggested.

“Sure.”

The pair began walking over to their guild headquarters which was located in the southeast side of Calore. It was established there by the system. When creating a guild, the player couldn’t choose the location of their guild’s headquarters as they were set up in fixed locations. For example, Holy Empire’s was in the south side of Calore and Victorious Return’s was located in the north. They were usually placed far away from one another. Furthermore, several NPC guards were often stationed at their entrances to keep the peace and prevent conflicts from occurring.

To prevent themselves from being recognized, Nie Yan and Tang Yao set their character profiles to private.

Before even nearing the entrance, they saw a bustling crowd of people trying to force themselves through the gates to no avail. Players of all classes were gathering from everywhere.

“Looks like we won’t be able to get in,” Tang Yao noted with a wry smile. He never thought the entrance to their guild headquarters would be packed with so many people. Who knows how long it would take for such a lively spectacle to calm down?

“If we can’t squeeze in, then forget it. I’ll be making a trip to the auction house to start setting up the treasury.”

“Ah, alright. Yu Lan (Blue Feather) and the others sent me a message. They want to head to a Level 10 zone to hunt monsters and then give Black Flame Forest a try. I’ll go check it out. Plus, I can add them to the guild while I’m there,” Tang Yao said. Yu Lan and her team could be regarded as decent. Even though they couldn’t become the main team, as long as they were developed, they were guaranteed to be among the front ranks in the guild.

“After I finish up my business, I’ll meet up with you guys and we can run Black Flame Forest together,” Nie Yan said after giving it some thought. Black Flame Forest was still a difficult dungeon to a certain extent, especially for inexperienced players. But with him leading the team, he would at least save them a couple of attempts.

“I couldn’t ask for more! When will you be done?”

“It won’t take too long, probably an hour tops.”

“Alright, I’ll go farming with them first then. Hopefully, I can find some Level 10 equipment during that time.”

Separating from Tang Yao, Nie Yan’s first stop was at the Starry Night Potion Shop where he withdrew 30 gold from the till. While there, he left the Intermediate Mana Potion Recipe as well as the other recipes that they found while hunting Scaled Frogs in the hands of Bird. After which he made his way to Trembling Milo’s Shop and bought 100 Basic Flash Powders, 50 Sheep Transformation Scrolls, and 50 Web Scrolls. With his preparations done, he finally arrived at the auction house where he would enact his plan. Every 20–30-second interval, he began listing 2 Basic Flash Powders, 1 Sheep Transformation Scroll, and 1 Web Scroll for auction.

At the same time, he opened the window for the equipment section and began browsing the list of items up for sale that reached in the excess of tens of thousands. After filtering them to the quality he desired, he started purchasing equipment en masse. If the piece of equipment was at a suitable price, he would purchase it right away. If it was too expensive, he would skip over to the next item. His bag gradually began filling up with piece after piece of equipment. Aside from the equipment for the treasury, he also snagged any item with Fire-Resistance and stored it inside his bag.

And so, as if it were running water, 30 gold went straight from his pockets down the drain. 10 of that was spent on Fire Resistance equipment while the remaining 20 was spent on 200 or so pieces of Silver-grade equipment. Paying 10 silver each on average for Silver-grade equipment was a little on the expensive side, but their properties made them worth the expense. With regard to today’s player base, they were definitely at a quality an ordinary player would drool over.

Finished buying what he needed, Nie Yan opened the warehouse manager and began establishing the guild treasury and its rules. All members would be able to deposit medicinal plants, equipment, and money into the treasury. According to the quality of the equipment or the amount of money donated, they would receive 1–2 merit points. After accumulating enough contribution, they would be able to withdraw equipment from the treasury. For example, a piece of Silver-grade Thief equipment with Strength +7 and Dexterity +8 required 200 merit points, and returning it would earn them back 120 merit points. The system worked in a sort of similar way to a bank except a guild treasury was designed to constantly grow, allowing the guild to prosper even more over time.

Of course, depositing items and money into the treasury wasn’t the only way to earn merit points. Another way to earn them was by doing dungeon runs with the guild. When splitting the spoils of battle, players who didn’t obtain a piece of equipment would be rewarded with some merit points. Completing quests assigned by the guild was also another option.

In this fashion, as a player contributed more to their guild, they would be able to withdraw progressively better items from the treasury.

Piggybacking off the knowledge of those major guilds in his past life, Nie Yan wrote down each rule in detail. After running through them once more, carefully scanning line by line, to ensure no exploitable loopholes existed, he finally declared the guild treasury open.

He had sole ownership of the treasury. Hao Cheng, Zhao Li, and Guo Huai were given 1000–2000 merit points each while Tang Yao was given a little more at 3000 to freely distribute as they pleased. Of course, if they felt the amount still wasn’t enough, they could simply ask him for more.

The guild treasury could be accessed by members at their personal storage as well as at the guild headquarters.

With everything settled, Nie Yan sent a message to Guo Huai and the others.

「Hey, guys. I just finished setting up the treasury. Go take a look.」

Back at the guild headquarters, Hao Cheng, Guo Huai, and Zhao Li were all heavily preoccupied with handling all of the applications to join the guild. Despite a deluge of members flooding their ranks, the crowd gathering outside their headquarters didn’t diminish at all. In fact, it was growing ever larger.

After Guo Huai and the others received Nie Yan’s message, they opened the guild treasury with eager haste. What awaited them was 200 pieces of Silver-grade equipment arranged neatly inside, truly a magnificent sight to behold. There were even 30 pieces of Level 10 Gold-grade equipment. Lastly, they saw some Silver and Gold-grade equipment that required the player to be Level 20 or 30 to equip. Their cost was staggering, requiring 3000 merit points or more to acquire.

Nie Yan had carefully considered the matter. Even though adding Level 30 equipment into the treasury might seem a little ostentatious, it was no longer a secret that Tang Yao had levelled up through killing monsters above his level. By having them in there, not only was it guaranteed to shake the minds of the ordinary members, it would also thoroughly convince them of the guild’s strength.

Hao Cheng stood there in a daze, staring blankly at the treasury. The neatly sorted display of equipment truly gave him quite a shock. Not a single one wasn’t good in one way or the other. When his gaze eventually fell on the Level 30 equipment at the back, he saw an even clearer sign of their strength. Just what did having such equipment right now signify? It would undoubtedly let their members know, as long as they brought their contribution up, while others were still worrying about finding equipment at Level 30, they would be able to wear Silver and Gold-grade equipment!

“Everybody, please calm down!” Guo Huai shouted at the players, who were lining up to be added, at the back.

As soon as they and the bustling crowd of players squeezing in from the entrance heard Guo Huai, all of them quieted down in order to hear what he had to say.

“You’ve all already seen for yourselves. The guild leader of Asskickers United, Young Sparrow Hawk, is currently the number one player on the leaderboards. Thanks to that, we’ve received everyone’s enthusiastic support, and for that, we are deeply honoured. I know you’ve all seen many guilds rise and fall. It’s a fairly regular occurrence... but I want to assure you that our guild will definitely prosper long into the future! Naturally, various benefits will follow accordingly. I wish for more players to join our ranks, to expand ourselves into a major power that’s equal in footing with the likes of Victorious Return, Radiant Sacred Flame, and Holy Empire! We’ve already let all our players know, as members of Asskickers United, they may enjoy a 5% discount at the Starry Night Potion Shop. Well, now, I am happy to announce that we’ve finally established our guild treasury! Everyone, please feel free to take a look. I hope that many more of you strong players will join us in our endeavor!” Guo Huai shouted at the top of his lungs.

“The treasury is set up already...? Wow, that’s pretty fast!”

“So much Silver-grade equipment! They even got a few for Level 30s!”

The numerous new recruits went into an uproar. The Silver and Gold-grade equipment glistening ever so brightly caused their mouths to water and their eyes to fill with greed.

“Big Bro Watchful Snail, can you please tell us what kind of relationship our guild has with the Starry Night Potion Shop?”

“Yeah, please tell us!”

“Sorry, everyone. That’ll have to remain a secret for a little while longer,” Guo Huai replied in a calm and collected manner. He was finally starting to have the bearing of a superior.