Chương 35: This Will Be the Norm From Now On

Xiao Chen knew that after today, his feud with Crimson Guild was set in stone. Blood for blood, no quarter given. But what could he do? He never wanted this trouble in the first place. Xiao Chen had killed nine players, and the guild channel was flooded with kill announcements. Aside from Xiao Chen's immediate party, no one else had figured out what was happening yet. The revelation hit Xiao Chen hard. He kept muttering to himself: "Players are mobs too?" Killing high-level players granted EXP.

How many players had those Level 130-140+ Crimson Guild powerhouses killed by now?

"From here on out, maybe it's safer to operate alone in the wild." More and more people would learn this secret. Faced with staggering profits, even your own teammates might stab you in the back.

"Killing players can even give you stat points! Isn't this basically forcing us to kill each other?" Xiao Chen genuinely didn't understand. Weren't they supposed to unite against the otherworldly invasions? This was cutting off their own foundation! Chen Zhan must have seen Xiao Chen's kill announcements. He personally came up to the city wall. Clearly, even he couldn't locate the high-level Assassin.

"That guy's stealth rank must be pretty high. Silver-grade Anti-Stealth Potions won't cut it."

"What's wrong, Xiao Chen? You look shaken." Xiao Chen stood frozen in place, looking like he'd been hit by a truck.

"You didn't die. Don't tell me you're actually scared." Xiao Chen shook his head. He'd won a crushing victory today. Scared? Hardly.

"I get it. Your player kill count hit ten. Getting that achievement messed with your head, didn't it?"

"It hit me hard. Feels like the whole world just changed overnight."

"Reality has always been cruel. Human society has always been dog-eat-dog. The survival pressure forced people to unite like never before. Now that humanity's situation is improving, more and more people start getting other ideas. That's just how it is." Chen Zhan was remarkably calm. He'd probably been through something similar himself.

"Boss, you knew about this already. The Planar System wants us to defend against invasions. Why would it create something like this?"

"If you truly want to change things, you need to select for the strong. The ones who survive are the strong. You have to survive monster attacks and withstand malice from your own kind. It's like raising gu -- some must be sacrificed for others to thrive. Xiao Chen, our power is limited. Some questions aren't ours to answer. All we can do is make ourselves stronger. Make Tianxing Guild stronger. A strong guild can protect you. And only the strong get to write the rules."

"The bounty board will only keep growing. Eventually there'll be too many targets to hunt, and this becomes the new normal. Give it a few years, and killers will be everywhere."

"Of course, whether it's Crimson Guild or other player hunters, everyone shares the same ultimate goal: protect Blue Star. We just choose different paths. Everyone's conscience is their own." Chen Zhan's words steadied Xiao Chen's nerves.

"You're right, Boss. All we can do is keep getting stronger. My stance is simple: anyone who tries to kill me, I kill them right back. Nobody's using me as a stepping stone. Not happening."

"That's the right mindset. I told Chuan Mufeng the exact same thing back then." Chen Zhan smiled and clapped Xiao Chen's shoulder.

"Now be honest. How much did you make?"

"How much of what?"

"Don't play dumb with me."

"Thirty-something thousand."

"You're not playing dumb. You think I'm dumb."

"Whatever I made, I still don't have money to pay you back." Xiao Chen suddenly thought of something.

"Boss, what do you do about Assassins that Anti-Stealth Potions can't detect?"

"Simple. Raise your Spirit. Once your Spirit hits a certain threshold, you can see stealthed targets without any potions. Your base stats are already high. Stack another few thousand Spirit and you should be fine." So Spirit had this kind of use. Every base attribute mattered after all.

"Boss, can you hook me up with some Spirit-boosting items? Put it on my tab."

"I'm starting to realize you've got some serious nerve, kid." Despite killing so many Crimson Guild members today, Xiao Chen felt less anxious than he'd expected. Fear wasn't even in the picture. If anything, he felt a little... excited. Yes, he was starting to see these people as mobs. He'd still feel guilty attacking random players. But Crimson Guild scum? He'd kill as many as they sent.

"Alright, I'm heading to bed. We'll talk tomorrow." Chen Zhan took good care of him. The next day, he showed up with a massive pile of Spirit-enhancing items. Xiao Chen's Spirit skyrocketed to 7, 000 -- far higher than even Chen Zhan's at Level 128. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. With Spirit that high plus Anti-Stealth Potions, Xiao Chen still wasn't entirely confident. Chen Zhan brought in a Level 130 Assassin to test it out. The results were satisfying.

As long as the Assassin got within ten meters, Xiao Chen could make out a faint shadow. The following day, Chen Zhan issued a strict new guild rule:"Under any circumstances, attacking fellow guild members is strictly prohibited." Most people read the announcement with indifference. They probably couldn't imagine a day when a guildmate would turn on them. Xiao Chen couldn't control everyone else. He sent private messages to each member of Storm Squad, briefing them on the situation. Better safe than sorry.

Caution never hurt anyone. Inside the city, the Star Pact maintained order, so safety wasn't a concern there. Guild territory was relatively secure too. Everywhere else was potentially hostile ground.

"Nothing in life is risk-free!" Xiao Chen decided to keep leveling in the open world, heading to the Level 100 mob zones. He couldn't let Crimson Guild throw off his rhythm. He needed to power up, fast.

"Seventy thousand gold in debt. I'll pay it back later." After selling a few Gold-grade equipment pieces, Xiao Chen had a hundred and twenty thousand gold on hand. Epic-grade equipment was still out of reach, so he focused on other avenues of improvement.

"Let's enhance my Soul-Bound Weapon first." Enhancement Gems were expensive -- five thousand gold each.

"Enhancement to +1 requires 10 gems. Total cost: fifty thousand gold." Every bit helped. He'd take what he could get.

"You have consumed 10 Enhancement Gems."

"Your weapon has been enhanced to +1. All attributes +10%."

"Enhancement to +2 required materials: 100 Enhancement Gems." As expected, each enhancement tier cost ten times more. Tier 2 would run him five hundred thousand gold.

"A 10% boost is already pretty solid." Attack Range increased by another 10 meters. Attack Speed gained 0. 15. His Attack Range now reached 280 meters. From the city walls, he could hit plenty of mobs. Xiao Chen almost found himself hoping the monsters would launch another siege.

"Fifty thousand gold left. Time to buy some Universal Skill books." He wasn't buying Summon-type skills anymore. Sure, the book only cost a thousand, but the gold sink after that could run into the millions.

"I need survival skills!" There were a few flying skills he desperately wanted, but the prices were not wallet-friendly." 【Guardian Shield】: Blocks damage equal to twice your Defense Value. Each cast consumes 1, 000 MP. Cooldown: 1 minute." This skill book cost exactly fifty thousand gold. Painfully expensive. But for Xiao Chen, it was essential. If an Assassin attacked, it could absorb massive damage. A thousand MP cost? He didn't care in the slightest.

From now on, he'd keep a shield active on himself at all times. Once his base stats climbed higher, the damage his shield could absorb would be even more impressive. Combined with his raw Defense, an Assassin would need over three hundred thousand attack power to one-shot him. Even top-tier Assassins like Chuan Mufeng probably couldn't hit that hard on a stealth crit. With the remaining twenty thousand gold, Xiao Chen bought two one-time use items -- emergency escape tools."

【Random Teleport Talisman】: Teleports you to a random location within ten li." If you can't win, run. Simple as that. Xiao Chen was ready to head outside the city, but he didn't want anyone tracking his movements. While still inside guild territory, he activated a Teleport Talisman and materialized directly inside a forest.

"Using a ten-thousand-gold item as a taxi. That's peak luxury right there."

"There's a forest outside Heavenfall City?" Xiao Chen was sure he'd never been here before. Not exactly towering mountains -- just sprawling jungle.

"The mob density here isn't as packed as outside Tiannan City. Just scattered groups here and there." Maybe this was what the wilderness was actually supposed to look like. The nearby mobs were just over Level 100. They were highly alert. The moment Xiao Chen appeared, a pack of black serpins coiled toward him. Each serpent measured over ten meters long, thick as a washbasin around the middle.

"Abyssal Python" -- LV102 | HP: 1, 010, 000 | Attack: 11, 200 | Defense: 6, 000 Reading the pythons' stats, Xiao Chen realized he'd gotten genuinely strong. Level 100 mobs couldn't even pierce his Defense. Though with over a million HP, killing them still took some effort. He didn't even need 【Guardian Shield】. He took zero damage. Pythons were excellent farming targets, but their spawn density was too low. Xiao Chen kept searching for a better spot. After several consecutive Blinks, he spotted a peculiar valley.

Black pythons everywhere. A massive serpent nest.

"You have entered Abyssal Python territory." This was the first time he'd heard this type of announcement out in the wild. This was no longer human territory. To level fast, Xiao Chen couldn't afford to work alone anymore. Epic-grade Little Strong, decked out in defensive gear, was even tankier than Xiao Chen himself. Level 100 mobs couldn't even break through the little skeleton's Defense.

"Little Strong, time to work. Let's get you past Level 100." Little Strong had always been working. The guy never stopped! Leveling up required 900, 000 EXP per level. Still a hefty grind. This was where numbers became an advantage. Especially with Xiao Chen soaking up all the EXP solo, his growth rate was phenomenal.

"Let's avoid Elite mobs for now. We'll deal with them after hitting Level 100." His Soul-Bound Weapon upgrade had boosted his strength considerably. He could probably take Level 100 Elites. But out here, caution came first. Accidentally pulling a Level 100 Boss would be bad news.

"My attack power is on par with a Level 110 player. My Defense isn't tank-level, but it's still higher than most melee classes." This was the conclusion he'd drawn from forum comparisons with same-level players. Of course, his HP still lagged behind dedicated melee builds. Most melee players at his level had around three hundred thousand HP. -81, 365 -41, 259 Little Strong's attacks were approaching fifty thousand damage. Not bad at all.

After ascending to Epic grade, every level Little Strong gained delivered serious returns.

"Kill +1. Gold Coins +1. Serpent Gall +1. EXP +3, 002." Level 100 mobs dropped one gold coin each. At this level, he couldn't kill fifty or sixty thousand per day, otherwise the coin drops alone would be enough.

"Gotta push for twenty thousand gold a day in pickups." Add material drops to that, and his daily wages were solid. Occasionally a Silver-grade equipment piece would drop -- a few thousand gold bonus. Since he'd come all this way, Xiao Chen didn't plan on heading back to the city for rest. Sleep in the wild when tired. With Little Strong and the skeletons standing guard, there was no danger. When he left the city, his EXP bar was already past the halfway mark.

Killing mobs five to six levels above him gave solid EXP bonuses. After one grueling day, Xiao Chen hit Level 96.

"As long as I can solo farm mobs, leveling alone can be fast too." Faster than he'd anticipated, honestly. A level every two to three days! In a sense, with eleven summons working for him, Xiao Chen's leveling speed was at least ten times faster than the average player. He'd been so busy power-leveling other people that he'd never fully experienced how ridiculous his own grinding speed was. For the next two weeks, Xiao Chen stood his ground in the same spot, slaughtering wave after wave of black pythons.

A golden flash erupted around Xiao Chen's body. He'd finally reached Level 100. 【Level Up! All Attributes +20. Free Attribute Points +40. Attack Range +20m. Attack Speed +0. 2】 After Level 100, each level's attribute gains had clearly increased.

"Attack Range hit 300 meters!" 【Congratulations on reaching Level 100! Planar Vault Reward: Gold Coins +10, 000. 】 【You have broken through to Level 100 within the time limit! Planar Vault Bonus Reward: Attribute Fruit (Epic Grade) -- adds 2, 000 points to any attribute of your choice. 】 An Epic-grade Attribute Fruit was genuinely powerful! In the past, Xiao Chen would have dumped the points into Strength or Agility. Now survival came first. He dumped all 2, 000 points into Constitution.

"Constitution +2, 000. HP +40, 000. Defense +3, 200." His HP finally crossed three hundred thousand. For the first time in a while, Xiao Chen felt a sliver of safety. 【 Xiao Chen: LV100 (10, 000, 000 / 10, 000, 000 EXP)】 Total Attributes: 87, 236 | Attack Power: 97, 006 | HP: 321, 800 | Defense: 29, 125 Attack Range: 300m | Attack Speed: 6. 1 | Movement Speed: 82 Skill 1: 【Tenfold Shot】 Skill 2: 【Armor-Pierce Arrow】Tier 2 (+20% damage) 【Power Strike】: 20% chance to deal double damage.