Chương 24: Better Not to Look

"Alright, let's head back!" Xiao Chen wasn't exactly comfortable being alone with a female Awakened. He just walked ahead, clearing mobs while keeping an eye out for elite spawns.

"Xiao Chen, what are you doing in a Lv40 monster zone by yourself? Killing bosses?"

"Yep. Bosses, elites -- I don't discriminate."

"Are you that desperate for money?"

"The hell? Who doesn't need money?"

"Want me to heal you? With your DPS, we could probably take down Lv50 elite mobs."

"Nah, I'm good solo." Xiao Chen meant it. Two people would only slow things down. He had lifesteal. In a low-level zone, a healer made basically no difference. If he let Liu Man stick around, he'd owe her a favor he didn't need, and he'd slow down her leveling speed too.

"Alright then. Let's head back to the city." She wasn't offended by the rejection. Everyone walked their own path. On the way back, Xiao Chen couldn't help but check Liu Man's stats. Then he lost his composure:"Hold up -- you're a healer and you've got over a hundred thousand HP?"

"I'm in my sixties. Isn't that normal?"

"Is it? What rank class are you?"

"B-Rank Cleric."

"Okay, yeah, that makes more sense." Someone decked out in a full Silver set, with a Gold weapon at Lv60 -- a rich lady with actual strength to back it up. That tracked.

"What's your total stat count, by the way?"

"Fifteen thousand." Seeing that number, Xiao Chen felt a little better. When he reached the sixties, if he also had a Silver set on, he'd probably be around there too.

"Add me as a friend, then."

"..."

"Wait, if my rank was lower or my gear was worse, would you not have added me?"

"Not at all. Most of my friends are E-Rank and F-Rank Awakened." It's just... most of them aren't around anymore. After that, she stopped adding people. On the way back, Xiao Chen started sorting through his inventory.

"Sold Starlight Dagger (Silver Grade), +2, 800 Gold."

"Sold Starlight Helmet (Silver Grade), +800 Gold."

"Sold Abyssal Demon Core (Silver Grade), +10, 000 Gold."

"Sold Mana Vortex Potion Recipe (Learnable by Lv60 Alchemists), +12, 000 Gold." One Lv60 boss kill. Total earnings: 25, 600 Gold. Not bad at all. Honestly, this was the single most profitable haul since he'd become an Awakened. Xiao Chen's current total wealth: 31, 056 Gold.

"Liu Man, you've been Awakened less than a year, right?"

"Mm. Almost a year."

"How much gold do you have, anyway?"

"A bit over fifty thousand." Needless to say, she was from a major family, just like Wang Hai. Don't compare wealth with people like that.

"You should find a reliable team going forward. Someone with your class talent -- if something happened to you, it'd be a loss for the whole of Tiannan City." This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Someone like Li Fei would probably have a massive headache dealing with an Awakened like Liu Man. Killing her would be incredibly difficult. A normal Awakened? They'd die in a few hits.

"I'm still going to grind outside the city, but I'll have to hide my name from now on." He couldn't stop progressing just because he was afraid of retaliation. He had to keep pushing forward.

"You're right, Xiao Chen. Being an Awakened is always dangerous. If humanity wants to escape this mess, we can't keep retreating. Compared to our predecessors, we're already living in paradise."

"Dude, we're just making small talk. Don't get all philosophical on me."

"Xiao Chen, I just remembered -- I've heard your name before."

"Huh? Am I that famous?"

"Wang Hai and I are friends."

"Oh. Okay!" These rich kids all ran in the same circles. Of course they knew each other.

"For people like us, leveling up is easy. But real life-or-death experience? That's rare. Today, I learned a lot. And I want to thank you again, sincerely."

"Don't worry about it. You already thanked me." A Lv60 boss drop was already plenty of gratitude.

"I have a Gold necklace in my bag. If you need it, I'll give it to you. Consider it thanks for saving my life." A Gold necklace!

"Well, hey, if you really want to thank me again, I won't say no." Gold-grade equipment. And a necklace slot on top of that. Who could turn that down?

"Good. Level up fast. I want to still see you around when you hit Lv80, Lv90."

"You will. Really, thank you so much. If you ever need anything from me, Xiao Chen, I'll do my best to help." Taking a Gold necklace from her -- Xiao Chen actually felt a little guilty now. Compared to this, kicking her from the party earlier seemed even worse. Even if he hadn't kicked her, she wouldn't have wanted the drops, would she? For a moment, Xiao Chen felt like kind of a jerk.

"Alright, I'm heading back to the city. Once I push to Lv80 and go out grinding again, I refuse to believe I'll get ganked." For someone like Wang Zhen or Liu Mei, Lv80 would be a dream they'd never reach in their lifetime. But for Liu Man? Lv80 wouldn't be hard at all.

"Miss Liu, you're only going to get stronger."

"Why so formal all of a sudden?"

"Just being polite." Xiao Chen was on his best behavior. He waited until Liu Man was gone before ducking into a quiet corner to sit down. Not that anyone around him could see what was in his inventory anyway. 【Flowing Light Necklace -- Gold Grade -- No Level Requirement All Stats +100, Attack Power +20% Effect 1: 10% chance to evade damage. 】 Absolutely insane bonuses. Ridiculously good stats. A Gold necklace -- its bonuses were more than double what a Silver necklace offered.

This was the kind of item only Lv80-90 powerhouses could normally get their hands on. On the Auction House, it cost ten times what a Silver necklace went for. Nearly thirty thousand gold, and she just gave it away.

"Well, I did save her life." Thinking of it that way, Xiao Chen felt a bit more at ease. Right now, he genuinely needed something like this.

"Still have over thirty thousand gold. Time to invest in Little Strong." Today was the most Xiao Chen had ever spent in a single day.

"Bronze Grade Undeath Flame x2, -10, 000 Gold."

"Acquired Black Iron Grade Undead Core Crystal x80, -1, 600 Gold."

"Acquired Bronze Grade Undead Core Crystal x100, -20, 000 Gold." Xiao Chen was going all in this time. He was going to push Little Strong to the absolute limit. 【Your summon has advanced to Silver Grade. HP +20, 000, Attack +1, 000. 】 【Your summon has fused with Undead Core Crystals. HP +200. 】 【Used Bronze Grade Undead Core Crystal. HP +1, 000, Attack +100, Defense +50. 】 After a barrage of system notifications, Little Strong's frame expanded to twice its previous size.

Bigger body, but somehow he looked more agile too. 【Undead Skeleton: Lv55 -- Silver Grade HP: 140, 000 | Attack: 10, 001 | Defense: 1, 852 Skill: Summon (Lv4) -- Each clone inherits 40% of base stats. Advancement Requirement: Undeath Flame (Silver Grade) x2】 Over thirty thousand gold dumped in, and Little Strong was finally getting somewhere.

"Once I get him a Silver gear set and a decent weapon, he'll be able to hold his own." Xiao Chen pictured himself tossing Little Strong into a mob pack and letting him go to work. Every little skeleton now had over fifty thousand HP -- more than the original main body used to have. Equipping the Gold necklace, Xiao Chen's overall combat power jumped noticeably.

"Come on. We're grinding Lv60 mobs!" For safety, Xiao Chen didn't go back to his old spot. Instead, he teleported straight to the guild territory. A month ago, he wouldn't dare stray far from the defensive tower range with his level of strength. Things were different now. Coming back to the guild territory again, Xiao Chen felt a certain warmth. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but this time, everyone was smiling and greeting him. Xiao Chen didn't have many friends.

Were these people mistaking him for someone else?

"Boss, you're back!" Hearing that term, Xiao Chen wondered if his ears were playing tricks on him.

"Boss?" Since when did that word have anything to do with him?

"Yeah, Boss Xiao Chen, don't be modest. Killing an assassin in the sixties -- regular people can't pull that off."

"How do you even know about that?"

"There was a system announcement in the guild channel. Boss Zhang Fan spammed the guild chat for ages. Everyone knows by now." Hearing that, Xiao Chen wanted to scream:"Zhang Fan, I swear I will end you!" Wasn't this just painting a target on his back? Xiao Chen immediately hid his name, level, and all other information.

"Don't worry, Zhang Fan got muted by Chen Zhan in the guild channel."

"Good call."

"He couldn't talk in guild chat, so he ran over to the city channel and spammed there instead." Now half of Tiannan City knew that Zhang Fan had an amazing bro who'd killed a bounty-listed assassin ten levels above him. The feat was genuinely impressive -- even absurd. But it was a fluke! He'd just gotten lucky and barely survived! Xiao Chen hadn't intentionally gone after the bounty. He'd accidentally stolen a kill, pure and simple!

"Seems like killing a bounty-listed Awakened makes a bigger splash than I expected." Xiao Chen hadn't messaged most of his friends in almost a year. Now every single avatar was flashing. Su Ming: "I knew I had an eye for talent. Nice!" Sun Jian: "Your level's not high, but your damage is undeniable." Zhang Fan: "You're welcome. I made you famous!" Li Hailan: "Big Bro Xiao, you can't stay low-key after this." Wang Zhen: "So that's why you never bothered leveling. You were secretly doing big things."

Chen Zhan: "You've brought honor to the guild. Rewarding you with a Black Iron skill book." Now that was what guild people were good for -- giving actual useful stuff. Black Iron skill books -- you could use five total. What skill you got was pure luck.

"Your Attack Range +10!" Yeah... never mind. This skill book might as well not exist.