Chapter 1842 - Attributed Ore Vein
Upon hearing Fire Dance mention an ore vein, everyone's eyes glowed with excitement.
Ore veins were extremely rare in God's Domain and particularly in Star-Moon Kingdom[l]. This was because Star-Moon Kingdom was a relatively balanced kingdom. While the kingdom had no lack of herbs, ores, wood, and food materials, it did not specialize in any of these resources. Hence, ore veins were very rare in the kingdom.
Whenever one was found, it would be highly contested over.
"An ore vein? What type is it?" Shi Feng asked curiously.
He wasn't particularly surprised by the fact that an ore vein had appeared in the Flame Demon's Valley. After all, this was a mountainous region. It was also a danger zone, a map famed for abundant resources. However, although ore veins were generally quite valuable, they were also differentiated by rank. For example, the difference between a Bronze vein and a Magic Crystal vein was like heaven and earth. Although a Bronze vein could tempt ordinary large Guilds, it wouldn't be particularly helpful to Zero Wing. At the very least, it wouldn't be occupying if it were in the Flame Demon's Valley.
The Flame Demon's Valley was a danger zone and home to very dangerous monsters. The map's harsh environment would only make it even more difficult to mine the vein. Even Super Guilds had a hard time setting up mining operations in danger zones within kingdoms and empires, and the Flame Demon's Valley was both a neutral map and a danger zone.
Normally, superpowers ignored ore veins in danger zones. The rewards simply weren't worth the effort.
"A Source Fire vein!" Fire Dance exclaimed.
When Fire Dance reported the vein's identity, her teammates let out a gasp. In their opinion, finding a Copper or Mithril vein was already exciting, yet they had stumbled across a Source Fire vein.
"Source Fire?" Shi Feng's heart raced upon hearing this.
A Source Fire vein was a bona fide Grade 2 vein. Unlike ordinary Grade 2 veins, a Source Fire vein was also an Attributed ore vein. It was extremely rare even among Grade 2 veins.
Normally, an ore vein didn't Attributes, just like how ores were normally Unattributed. However, if an ore had an Attribute, its price would increase by severalfold. For example, Frost Steel Ore was an ice-type ore. When using this type of ore to forge weapons, the weapons produced would deal additional frost damage. When used to produce equipment, the equipment would have additional Ice Resistance.
This was why Attributed ore veins were far more valuable than their non-Attributed counterparts. Superpowers would even fight over a Grade 3 Attributed vein, not to mention a Grade 2 vein.
If the various superpowers found out about this Source Fire vein, they would do everything they could to acquire it. The vein might not be as valuable as a Grade 1 vein, but it would greatly help their members when raiding Dungeons or exploring new maps. Even if the price were great, they would pay it to secure the Source Fire vein.
However, Shi Feng had never heard of an Attributed ore vein in the Flame Demon's Valley in the past, leaving him a little confused. Had such a vein existed, the Flame Demon's Valley would've been a battlefield for the various superpowers, rather than some obscure map that no one cared about.
"Send the coordinates. We'll head there immediately."
Thinking up to this point, Shi Feng wanted to verify the authenticity of the vein. If the Source Fire vein were real, it could help Zero Wing's rapid advance in both ship and weapon production.
After Fire Dance relayed her current coordinates, Shi Feng led the team, slowly approaching the Assassin's location.
Fire Dance was situated before a canyon that was surrounded by mountains and lava. The canyon was clear of black smoke, so visibility was excellent. Only, the terrain was extremely dangerous. There were also a large number of Giant Lava Beasts in the area. Moreover, laying at the canyon's entrance was a gigantic, Level 80 Mythic ranked beast.
[Lava Hound] (Elemental Creature, Mythic) Level 80
HP 450,000,000/450,000,000
Everyone felt their heads ache when they saw the two-headed Lava Hound guarding the canyon's entrance.
However, they could clearly see a cave in the distance with some crimson ore around its entrance. This crimson ore was none other than Source Fire Ore.
It's actually real?! Shi Feng's eyes burned with desire as he gazed at the Source Fire Ore.
Although the vein seemed small, it was definitely a Source Fire vein.
"How unfortunate. There are too many lava monsters nearby. There's even a Level 80 Mythic monster guarding the canyon's entrance. We don't have a chance of securing the vein," Aqua Rose said, slightly frustrated as she looked at the cave entrance.
With their current strength, they might be able to defeat Level 60 Mythic monsters, but a Level 80 Mythic ranked monster was still too difficult. Furthermore, they had to fight the lava creature in such an extreme environment. Under such circumstances, they wouldn't be able to defeat the Lava Hound even if they were Level 80.
This was because this was a danger zone. The monsters here had much higher combat standards than monsters in a normal map. Including the frightening Attributes of a Mythic monster, they had no hope against the Level 80 Lava Hound unless they returned at Level 90 or 100.
Lava creatures were different from ordinary monsters. Players would be subjected to the burning heat radiating from the monster's body if they got close to it. Even if players had sufficiently high Fire Resistance to avoid taking any damage, they'd still feel the searing pain. This pain would significantly affect players' combat power and prevent them from fighting at their best.
However, this was not the most frightening aspect about lava creatures.
Lava creatures' corrosive ability was far more dangerous. Weapons and equipment would rapidly lose durability when they came into contact with these creatures. If the items lost all durability mid-battle, they'd be permanently lost.
Because of this, players tried to avoid lava monsters as much as possible.
Meanwhile, every monster in the canyon was a lava creature. Trying to clear out these monsters long-term would be hell.
Not only would they fail to acquire the vein, but they would also sacrifice a large number of weapons and equipment.
If they tried to construct a mining base here, a large number of monsters would assault the base during its construction. If the mining base were destroyed, all resources they had invested would be lost.
On the off chance that they managed to construct a mining base here, there was also the problem of manpower. Zero Wing simply couldn't afford to station a lot of players here. This was the Flame Demon's Valley's core. Its harsh environment could easily kill the Guild's players. Players needed sufficiently high Fire Resistance to survive here.
They were only able to explore this area because they were fully equipped in Fire Resistance equipment and had consumed Master Fire Resistance Potions. If any other player stood in their place right now, the extreme temperatures would've long since claimed their lives.
The rest of the team agreed with Aqua Rose's assessment, a little disappointed.
While the Source Fire vein before them was a priceless treasure, they could only afford to view it from afar...
Meanwhile, as Shi Feng examined the roaming lava monsters, he fell deep into thought.
Not many people knew the true value of an Attributed ore vein in God's Domain yet. However, he did. The Source Fire vein would be particularly valuable to the current Zero Wing. Not only did the vein produce Source Fire Ore, which could be used to increase the Guild's overall combat power by a significant margin, but the vein also produced the super-rare by-product, Flame Source Crystals.
Flame Source Crystals were incredibly useful to Master Alchemists, but they were also one of the main materials to produce the Epic Set Equipment, Broken Steel, a set exclusive to his Blade Saint class.
"Lava creatures?" After carefully observing the terrain and the wandering lava monsters, Shi Feng said, "While it would be impossible to set up a mining base here, it isn't entirely impossible to harvest the ore."
"Guild Leader, can we really mine here?" Anticipation burned in Aqua Rose's eyes as she looked at Shi Feng.
Nowadays, Fire Resistance weapons and equipment were in high demand since the various large Guilds had realized how necessary these items were to their development If Zero Wing could harvest the Source Fire vein, it would definitely increase the Guild's development speed. Given enough time, Zero Wing's members wouldn't be limited to operating near Silverwing Town. They could freely explore the Ore Empire and cross swords with the Ore Empire's Evil God's Temple.
They had long since grown tired of the Evil God's Temple's antics by this point