36: A mythical beast driven mad with greed!

Having accepted the quest, Lin Yue was in no rush. He waited for the young couple to eat and drink their fill. The Hunter then patted his stomach and led Lin Yue toward the back mountain of the Novice Village.

The back mountain of the Novice Village was a leveling area for Level 9 monsters.

Mountain Boars could be seen all over the hills. This was originally a gathering place for Level 8 and 9 players, but because Lin Yue had opened the Novice Village dungeon ahead of time, not a single player could be seen on the vast back mountain now.

Mountain Boar: Level 9.

health: 1600/1600

Attack Power: 800

Skills: Collision, Tusk Thrust.

They were very weak monsters. While following the Hunter up the mountain, Lin Yue cleared them out along the way.

With the Chain Fireball and Explosive Flame skills, six or seven Mountain Boars would fall to the ground with a simple raise of his hand. Calculating it, the effect of stacking health was also quite decent.

In less than 20 minutes, the two reached the summit of the back mountain. Lin Yue had stacked another four or five thousand health points, and his health had now broken through 110,000.

"Wait here for a moment."

The Hunter called out to Lin Yue, then squatted on the ground to begin observing the tracks.

"Go this way."

The Hunter pointed the way, and Lin Yue nodded and followed.

The summit area was large, surrounded by emerald bamboo and pine trees. The two walked and stopped intermittently. After walking for about another five minutes, Lin Yue heard the sound of a gurgling stream.

Following the stream down and passing through a grove of emerald bamboo, his vision suddenly opened up.

This was a valley located at the summit. With the gurgling stream and lush forest, the scenery was pleasant and refreshing.

"Do you see that cave? The Auspicious Beast is right there."

Following the direction of the Hunter's finger, Lin Yue spotted a cave entrance not far away.

"I won't be going in next. You go alone."

Lin Yue nodded. The Hunter's role was merely to lead the way; now that they had found this place, the Hunter was no longer needed.

"Hurry back then. Widow Wang is still waiting for you."

The sky was getting dark now. It was lucky that the Hunter had led the way, otherwise, this place would have been very hard to find.

The Hunter also thought of something. His dark face flushed red, and he waved his hand as he departed.

With a beautiful wife at home, he wouldn't be getting out of bed tonight!

Watching the Hunter run down the mountain excitedly, Lin Yue used the cover of night to walk into the cave alone.

"Who is it?"

Just a few steps into the cave, Lin Yue heard a voice coming from within.

Someone's here?

There were many glowing orbs on the stone walls of the cave. Lin Yue walked forward cautiously by the light.

"Adventurer, this is not a place you should come to. Leave quickly!"

As Lin Yue went deeper, the voice became clearer. After walking a few more steps, his field of vision widened, and a Four-Legged Gold-Swallowing Beast was staring at Lin Yue with hostility.

"You can talk?"

Lin Yue was stunned. At first, he thought someone was inside, but it turned out the sounds were all made by this Auspicious Beast.

"Of course I can talk. Adventurer, no matter what your purpose is, you are not welcome here."

The Four-Legged Gold-Swallowing Beast stood up, and Lin Yue saw its full appearance: the head of a lion, the body of a tortoise, the antlers of a deer, and the tail of an ox. Its body was covered in scales, and a faint golden light flickered around it. It looked very cool.

If I could catch this to use as a mount, it would certainly be great!

Lin Yue thought to himself. However, he hadn't undergone his class advancement yet, and mount quests weren't open, so he couldn't catch a mount.

"Don't be in such a hurry. I came here to make a deal with you."

Seeing the Four-Legged Gold-Swallowing Beast showing a fierce expression, Lin Yue said quickly.

"A deal?"

"Correct."

Lin Yue pulled a gold coin from his bag and tossed it in an arc, landing it at the Auspicious Beast's feet.

Looking at the glittering gold coin, the Four-Legged Gold-Swallowing Beast hesitated for a moment before picking up the coin in its mouth and swallowing it in one gulp.

"A small gift."

Lin Yue grinned, looking completely harmless.

"Fine, Adventurer, you are very generous. The Hunter's ancestors once saved me. I recently suffered the painful loss of a gold coin, so my emotions were a bit impulsive."

So that was it. Lin Yue nodded. For the money-loving Gold Swallowing Beast to give a gold coin to the Hunter, there really was some history there.

"Now, can we talk about the deal?"

Lin Yue sat on the ground, looking intently at the Auspicious Beast.

"Speak, what do you want?"

Seeing that Lin Yue was not a threat, the Auspicious Beast also lay on its side to speak.

"I want to trade with you for the treasure of the gods."

As the words fell, the Auspicious Beast's ox-like eyes, as large as copper bells, widened even further.

"I do indeed have that item. What can you give me?"

The Auspicious Beast shook its massive head, a greedy light shining in its eyes.

"Ten gold coins?"

Lin Yue held up one finger.

"Adventurer, you underestimate me too much. Ten gold coins would at most let you take a single look at the treasure."

The Auspicious Beast snorted a cloud of white mist from its nostrils, clearly disdainful of Lin Yue's proposal.

"One hundred. Is one hundred enough?"

Lin Yue shouted with extreme heartache. From the server opening until now, he only had a bit over a hundred gold coins. An average small guild wouldn't have assets as rich as his.

"For one hundred, I can let you touch the chest."

The Auspicious Beast stood up instead, its massive head looking at Lin Yue with a faint, indiscernible smile.

"Ten thousand gold coins. If you can produce them now, I can give you the treasure chest of the gods right now. I have guarded this chest for a hundred years, and it is time to let it go."

As the Auspicious Beast finished speaking, Lin Yue immediately frowned.

Ten thousand gold coins?!

Dammit, isn't this just playing with people!

In the Novice Village, the drop rate for gold coins was extremely low. Ordinary players should be overjoyed to have even one gold coin on them right now.

Lin Yue had only managed to scrape together over a hundred gold coins because of various first kills and the funds from Feng Yun and Young Master Leng.

Asking for ten thousand in one breath—let alone not having it, even if he did, it was impossible for Lin Yue to give it to the Auspicious Beast.

"It seems you never intended to trade from the beginning."

Lin Yue's eyes flickered with a cold light. As a person who experienced Rebirth, he was actually being toyed with by a field BOSS.

"Hahaha..."

The Auspicious Beast suddenly burst into laughter, making the entire cave rumble as dust and debris fell.

"Adventurer, although your strength is decent, I advise you not to make a move. You cannot defeat me."

Lin Yue had already raised his staff, and at the same time, his Eye of Insight opened.

"Four-Legged Gold-Swallowing Beast: Level 20 BOSS"

"health: ???"

"Attack Power: ???"

"Skills: ???"

The next moment, he lowered his staff; the Eye of Insight had actually failed.

This indicated that the Auspicious Beast had a treasure on it that could prevent peeking. Now was not the time to act.

A Level 20 BOSS shouldn't have appeared in the Novice Village, but since it involved the treasure of the gods, the Auspicious Beast's strength was likely greater than all the BOSSes Lin Yue had encountered so far.

Without knowing the opponent's trump cards, Lin Yue chose to endure for now.

Seeing Lin Yue lower his weapon, the Auspicious Beast's expression didn't change. Instead, it seemed to be thinking about something.

Immediately after, the Auspicious Beast's next words caused Lin Yue's anger to dissipate quite a bit.

"Adventurer, although a trade is impossible, there are other ways to obtain the treasure."

"You, come with me."