Chapter 61: Challenging the Tower of Trials

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"Rare staves still hold quite a bit of value, but I've seen this kind before. The damage from its magic dust is mediocre—not even close to the early warning feature of your Starfall Staff. Market price is probably around two gold and seventy silver coins," the Whispering Grimoire said.

"Shall we continue?" the Mimic asked.

Qin Yuan nodded and produced another single gold coin.

"You!" The Mimic quickly darted out its tongue, slurping the gold coin straight into its mouth. However, instead of chewing immediately, it started squawking again:

"Too little, too little! This tiny amount isn't even enough to get stuck between my teeth. Hand over ten gold coins all at once, and I'll give you something truly good. How about a legendary-grade staff?"

"Uhm..." Qin Yuan feigned hesitation for a moment before replying, "Let's do the next round. Finish this transaction first."

"Fine!" The Mimic gnashed its teeth, making a cracking sound.

The noise was rather grating...

Then came another regurgitation.

[Potent Arcane Potion (★★): For the duration, enhances the effect of all spells you cast by 30%. Duration: 1 hour.]

"Oh, a two-star potion." The Whispering Grimoire was trying very hard to hold back its laughter. "This is worth about 2 gold coins, I'd say."

Qin Yuan stowed it away in his backpack.

"Alright, now we can begin," the Mimic said impatiently. "The paltry amount of gold you gave me before wasn't enough, nowhere near enough!"

"Alright then."

Qin Yuan rummaged through his backpack for a moment, then suddenly put on a troubled expression.

"What's wrong?" This reaction caused the Mimic to frown.

"Sorry... I just happen not to be carrying that many gold coins today. How about next time? We'll trade next time!"

Qin Yuan put on a very apologetic look.

"You..." Suddenly realizing something, the Mimic's expression shifted drastically. "You've been playing me this whole time!"

With that, a plume of white smoke suddenly rose from its base, enveloping its entire body. The next second, the smoke dissipated completely, and the Mimic was nowhere to be found.

"Don't let me catch you again! Otherwise..."

Only its lingering voice echoed in the space.

"Pity we only traded three times; the profit was a bit thin."

"Hehe, nobody else would be that foolish... though it certainly felt pretty dense already..."

The Whispering Grimoire remarked with a hint of mockery.

This Mimic was indeed quite unlike ordinary ones. The Whispering Grimoire hadn't recognized it at first, but the Eye of Revelation had provided Qin Yuan with crucial information.

...

[Mimic Kent (LV 12): A creature that loves collecting treasure and finds joy in deception. It likes to swallow various kinds of coins. Its combat capability is practically zero, but its escape ability is exceptionally strong.]

[Treasure Vision (Ability): Through a special perspective, roughly judges the savings carried by a person with a margin of error not exceeding three gold coins.]

...

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Therefore, the moment Qin Yuan took a look, he understood the general routine: it would undoubtedly dangle some bait first, entice him to increase his investment, and finally pull in the net and run away.

"That's enough. Can't be too greedy either..."

Qin Yuan briefly tallied things up. After the past few rounds of trading, he had made a net profit of nearly 3 gold coins for free.

随后, he first took a turn around the forest, wiping out all the gemstone troglodytes he encountered.

He harvested a few more gemstones of various attributes.

Unfortunately, he didn't hit the jackpot to acquire a two-star gemstone.

Afterward, he arrived in front of this pristine, towering white tower.

Looking up from the base, the height of this Trial Tower was roughly one hundred meters.

It was comparable to the high-rise residential buildings commonly seen in the real world.

At the entrance, a purple swirling vortex gate spun quietly.

"Did they have to make it look this cool..."

Curiously gazing at the portal at the entrance of the Trial Tower for a couple of moments,

Qin Yuan took a deep breath and stepped right into it.

The scene before him began to twist, returning to normal after a few seconds.

Looking up, he had now arrived inside the Trial Tower.

This was a vast and open circular space.

Right at the center of the area stood a huge ghoulish statue, approximately three meters tall.

Its entire body was a grayish-brown hue, as if coated in a layer of cement.

Its features were ugly and ferocious, with narrow, elongated ears, a single horn growing from the top of its head, and sharp, protruding tusks on both sides of its mouth.

Its limbs were thick, giving off an impression of immense strength and power.

However, its gaze was vacant, devoid of any apparent life aura.

The system prompt sounded.

[Welcome to the Trial Tower.]

[Do you wish to initiate the challenge for the first floor?]

[Tip 1: This Trial Tower consists of five floors in total, with progressively increasing difficulty. Clearing each floor yields abundant rewards.]

[Tip 2: Only solo challenges are permitted. Rewards will be distributed according to the challenger's class.]

[Tip 3: Pre-casting spells before initiating the challenge is strictly prohibited; doing so will be directly judged as a failure.]

[Tip 4: If you find the opponent insurmountable, challengers may forcefully end the challenge by directly conceding defeat, but you will not be allowed to re-enter this Trial Tower afterward.]

Qin Yuan scanned the rules quickly, gaining a general understanding of them.

Then he stared at the gargoyle for a second.

Information soon surfaced from the Eye of Revelation.

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...

[Ashen-Skinned Gargoyle (LV 8): A creature that occasionally appears deep underground, possesses the ability to fly, moves with agility, and is extremely troublesome to deal with.]

...

"Level eight?"

"The first floor is already this high level?"

Qin Yuan was slightly surprised.

He also recalled seeing a description of this creature while copying the monster compendium from the Whispering Grimoire.

The Ashen-Skinned Gargoyle mastered a sonic attack method that could directly apply a debuff to all creatures within a certain range.

In addition to that, it possessed an output method called Dark Ripple, which packed quite a punch.

Not only that, but the Ashen-Skinned Gargoyle's melee combat capability was also formidable, being very well-rounded and comprehensive. It could be said to be a relatively powerful creature of the same tier.

It could not be underestimated!

Qin Yuan first pulled out a bottle of Arcane Potion and drank it, followed by another bottle of Swiftness Potion.

Only then did he select the start option on the system prompt.

[Challenge begins!]

As this sound echoed,

the gargoyle statue at the very center moved.

It began to vibrate violently.

Accompanied by a series of cracking noises, a massive amount of dust cascaded down from the statue in sheets.

Is this the pre-casting animation for a boss...

Qin Yuan's reaction was equally swift.

Mana rapidly converged toward the staff in his palm.

A magic missile quickly condensed and formed.

*Thwack*, it landed squarely on the boss.

The gargoyle was still shaking intensely.

Following that, continuing to channel his energy, he quickly outlined a complex and massive scorching rune.

At this moment, the gargoyle's startup animation had just faded away, and its previously vacant gaze gradually regained its vitality. Flexing its wings slightly, it glared menacingly at Qin Yuan, preparing to make a move.

Suddenly, it noticed that the surrounding light was dimming, as if something in the sky was blocking out the radiance.

Looking up,

inside the spacious Trial Tower, a massive, burning fiery meteorite came crashing down with a thunderous roar.

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