Chapter 13: The Temple of Magic

After some negotiation, Li Bin and Tears of Sorrow managed to form a rather loose alliance. Tears of Sorrow only needed to assist Li Bin when he confronted the Silver Dragon, and in return, Li Bin granted him the right to freely resupply and recruit troops.

If Tears of Sorrow happened to find the Silver Dragon first, he could also call upon Li Bin for help; in that case, Li Bin would receive a third of the spoils of war and all the dragon corpses.

After discussing these terms, Tears of Sorrow asked, "What are your plans now? Are you coming with me?"

"Coming with you?" Li Bin suddenly thought of something. "How did you get in here? I remember that all three entrances to this underground world are guarded by powerful enemies."

"You mean you don’t know?" Tears of Sorrow looked at him in surprise. "VIP players can use teleportation portals three times a day. That’s how I got in—one step at a time."

"VIP players truly are different," Li Bin sighed deeply, then told Tears of Sorrow how he had been tricked into the underground world by others and found himself unable to leave.

Tears of Sorrow listened with interest, though what fascinated him wasn't the Black Moonstone Guild’s conspiracy, but rather the magical temple mentioned in the quest.

Coincidentally, Li Bin didn’t intend to make the trip for nothing either. After a brief discussion, they decided to team up to search for the magical temple.

During the process, Li Bin discovered that the guards under Tears of Sorrow were all level 1 soldiers, but each of them was equipped with low-grade magical items that Tears of Sorrow had obtained wholesale through his VIP privileges.

According to Tears of Sorrow, once these guards were armed with such items, their strength was comparable to level 4 or 5 troops. The battles that followed soon proved his claim.

Whenever a fight broke out, the guards’ morale soared. Five or six magical enhancements would immediately be cast upon them, and they would charge forward recklessly, as if they feared nothing.

After each battle, the guards were typically wiped out, at which point Tears of Sorrow would retrieve the magical items from their bodies and use a small box to summon a new batch of guards.

This strategy made Li Bin, who usually tried to preserve even a single skeleton soldier, sigh at the unfairness of the world.

Not wanting to be looked down upon, Li Bin decided to be generous for once. He turned all the fallen guard corpses into skeleton soldiers, planning to employ the undead’s greatest strength—the sea of skeletons tactic.

With the combined might of the guards and skeleton soldiers, both level 1 troops, the two of them easily fought their way through wave after wave of level 6 creatures, finally arriving at the location of the magical temple marked on the map.

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Perhaps the battle for the Bloodthirsty Wasteland had already begun, for all the Black Moonstone Guild players who had tricked Li Bin and his party into the underground world had already withdrawn. The magical temple, which should have been fraught with danger, now stood lonely on a patch of empty ground.

Everything inside the temple had been looted; only a mess of footprints and dust remained on the floor. Li Bin and Tears of Sorrow looked at the empty bookshelves one by one, at a loss for words.

Wandering inside the magical temple out of boredom, Tears of Sorrow finally turned to Li Bin and said, "I’m heading back. What about you? Are you staying here or coming with me?"

"Of course I’d rather go with you. I have no desire to linger in this godforsaken place," Li Bin replied at once.

"Is that so? I thought you’d want to search around a bit longer," Tears of Sorrow teased.

Li Bin forced a wry smile. "Given what’s left here, what could I possibly find? Do you think I’ll stumble upon an ancient spellbook just by kicking around, or that the paintings on the wall contain some legendary forbidden magic?"

"Just because you can’t doesn’t mean a VIP player can’t," Tears of Sorrow laughed heartily. "Take a look at this."

Seeing the golden, card-like item in Tears of Sorrow’s hand, Li Bin couldn’t help but ask, "What’s that?"

"A Refresh Card. To prevent your quest items from being looted by others, VIP players can purchase these to refresh quest items," Tears of Sorrow explained.

"Such a thing exists? So if you find a treasure, you could just keep refreshing it and get rich," Li Bin mused. This was his first real glimpse into the VIP player world. He’d thought VIPs only had slightly better attributes or extra items, never imagining there were so many perks.

"Of course not," Tears of Sorrow said with a dismissive wave. "The developers are sharp—they won’t let you break the game’s balance. These only refresh quest items, and each item can only be refreshed once."

With that, Tears of Sorrow waved the Refresh Card in the air. Instantly, the deserted magical temple filled with the aura of magic. The bookshelves brimmed with books, and the worktables were piled high with potions and notes.

With a look of regret, Tears of Sorrow tucked away the Refresh Card and muttered, "This card only has ten uses. I just spent one to help you out. If you don’t give me something in return, that wouldn’t be fair, would it?"

"In that case, you can distribute things as you see fit," Li Bin replied without hesitation.

Tears of Sorrow didn’t refuse. He began dividing the magical tomes and materials. Although he was a VIP player—likely the second son of some wealthy family—he didn’t have the typical arrogance of a young noble.

He split the magical materials into two fair shares, then gestured, "You choose first."

Watching the whole process, Li Bin shook his head and said, "Either pile is fine with me. But I’d like to trade the finished potions for the crystal vials in the other pile. Also, I need some architectural blueprints for the magic tower. I can offer intermediate or advanced magic books in exchange."

Tears of Sorrow considered, then selected a few potions and books from one pile and handed over the crystal vials and blueprints Li Bin wanted from the other.

Then, after a moment’s thought, he added a basic alchemy manual, a book on arcane geometry, and some rare herbs to Li Bin’s share.

Seeing this, Li Bin was moved. "Tears of Sorrow, you didn’t have to do this."

"It’s nothing," Tears of Sorrow replied, putting on an air of a grown-up. "I’m a VIP player—I can buy all this with money. You, on the other hand, have no guild support and still want to build a city. That’s a tough road." But his cherubic face dispelled all the seriousness in the air.

Li Bin said no more, quickly packed away his share, and immediately began studying the basic alchemy manual.