He hid his ID, even hiding his ID on the leaderboard. The moment the Slime King was defeated, Lin Zhao frantically grabbed the loot and stuffed it all into his inventory. He then immediately used a novice village return scroll, and his figure instantly turned into a white light, returning to the village. A few seconds later, a bell rang through the novice village, making everyone uneasy—
"Ding!"
System Announcement: Congratulations to player 【**】 for successfully defeating the [Golden Slime King] (Golden Tier Boss), rewards received: Level +1, Reputation +50, Gold Coins +10!
...
"How can this be?"
Shen Xingchen, standing under a fiery red maple tree, was as beautiful as a little white flower. Her heart stirred, and she turned and rushed into the woods. But all she saw was an empty forest, and the Golden Slime King had disappeared. Shen Xingchen's heart sank. Who could have conquered the Slime King in such a short time? What kind of strength was this?
"Could it be him again?" Shen Xingchen's delicate brows furrowed.
"Vice Guild Leader."
A level 20 Sharpshooter frowned. "Someone must be cheating. Otherwise, it's impossible to achieve this. How about... we report it to the officials and see if they can investigate?"
"How do we report it?"
Shen Xingchen looked at him with her beautiful eyes and smiled, "Saying someone's clearing speed is even faster than ours? If that's the case, won't our Xinghe Guild become a laughingstock? Everyone in the China region will think we're sore losers."
"But..."
A level 19 Earth Mage gritted his teeth. "I feel like someone is leading us by the nose, completely toying with our Xinghe Guild. If we don't find this person, where will the face of our Xinghe Guild go?"
"Is face that important?"
Shen Xingchen picked up her staff and turned around, her pretty face exuding a carefree air. "Perhaps they just happened to defeat the Boss before us, and they don't even know the Xinghe Guild exists. There's no one targeting us. If Xinghe were to aggressively reprimand this number one person in Luoxia Village, as you said, it might be equivalent to pushing an unknown master towards the Xinghe Guild's enemy. Wouldn't that be too shortsighted?"
"What now?"
A level 20 Templar Knight frowned. "Shall we go to the third Boss?"
"No."
Shen Xingchen shook her head. "We can't let an unknown player drag down our overall leveling progress. Now, everyone who has reached level 20, follow me out of the novice village. We should go to the county town to level up. Novice village Bosses might drop some good items in the early stages, but as long as we maintain our overall lead in levels, the Xinghe Guild's overall advantage will remain."
"Understood!"
Everyone smiled slightly, looking at this beautiful Vice Guild Leader with even more admiration. Shen Xingchen was Shen Xingchen; she always thought further ahead than others.
...
Luoxia Village.
Lin Zhao was overjoyed. He was now level 20, reaching the peak level in Luoxia Village. Moreover, he had the loot from the Golden Slime King in his inventory. He quickly checked if there were any suitable treasures. Perhaps... a golden tier longsword? In the early stages, a decent weapon was crucial for every player!
Opening his inventory, he was slightly disappointed. There were no weapons, only a pair of greyish bracers and a golden pair of boots. The moment he saw the golden sheen, his disappointment vanished, and he began to look forward to it. He checked the bracer's attributes first—
[Pine Forest Bracers] (Black Iron Tier)
Type: Leather Armor
Defense: 20
Agility: +6
Required Level: 15
...
It was a leather armor, suitable for Sharpshooters, Phantom Assassins, and Storm Gunners. These classes relied on attack speed and critical hit attributes, and agility was precisely the source of attack speed and critical hits. The higher a player's agility, the higher their attack speed and critical hit rate. Therefore, these black iron bracers were actually somewhat useful.
Regardless, he'd keep them for now. He looked at the boots, which was what Lin Zhao cared about most. Holding the boots in his hand and giving them a brush, the attribute description appeared before his eyes with brilliant radiance, making his heart pound—
[Elite Battle Boots] (Golden Tier)
Type: Armor
Defense: 40
Strength: +35
Stamina: +32
Special Effect: Fleet Footed, increases movement speed by 3%.
Required Level: 20
...
Lin Zhao gasped. They were level 20 golden tier boots with excellent attributes. The dual stat bonus of Strength and Stamina totaled 67 points, equivalent to gaining nearly 7 levels of attribute points for free compared to other players. Moreover, there was a 3% movement speed bonus. These boots were simply a divine artifact for heavy armor players in the early game!
Without a doubt, these must be the first golden tier item in Luoxia Village!
Lin Zhao's heart raced. He immediately sent a message to Ding Chi: "Return to the village!"
"Coming!"
While Ding Chi was returning, Lin Zhao put on the Elite Battle Boots. His attributes immediately became stronger. His base attack power reached 105-209. At this moment, even without the 20x "Life and Death Ignored" buff, Lin Zhao was already at the absolute peak level in the novice village.
"Ah Zhao!"
Ding Chi appeared in his sight, carrying a level 1 iron sword. He glanced at Lin Zhao's equipment and was stunned. "What the hell... Silver tier chest armor? Golden tier boots?"
"Mmm..."
Lin Zhao quickly activated the equipment shine concealment function and gave Ding Chi the Bronze tier Deer Hide Boots and the Black Iron tier Pine Forest Bracers. "You wear the Deer Hide Boots first. See if the Pine Forest Bracers can be sold for some money. We don't have anyone playing a leather armor class in our studio, so we can only sell them."
"Mmm!"
Ding Chi lowered his voice and said with a knowing smile, "Did you kill two golden bosses?"
"I exploited a bug, keep it a secret."
"Got it!"
Ding Chi laughed heartily. "Da Jun and I are almost level 20. We can reach level 20 in twenty minutes at most, and then we'll choose a county town together?"
"Mmm!"
Lin Zhao picked up the level 1 iron sword and smiled, "I'll go search for other Bosses."
"Level 1 sword?"
Ding Chi tilted his head and smiled. "Haven't gotten any weapons along the way?"
"No, weapons are too hard to drop..."
"Same here..."
Ding Chi raised the level 1 broken iron sword in his hand and smiled. "Don't know when I'll be able to upgrade. I'm leaving now!"
"Go ahead."
...
After bidding farewell to Ding Chi, Lin Zhao immediately headed west, towards the last blood-red area on the world map. He basically ignored the monsters along the way. They attacked, but it didn't hurt much. About ten minutes later, he arrived at a lush forest full of autumn colors. Wild boars roamed everywhere, and they were all level 20 Tusker Boars.
Lin Zhao walked through, heading straight for the area with the densest blood-red color. Two minutes later, a low roar echoed from ahead. He looked closely and saw a wild boar glowing with a golden light lying in a pigsty under a tree. Its tusks were like blades, and its pair of fiery red eyes stared intently at the newcomer. Its front hooves were slowly stomping the ground, preparing to charge.
Golden Boar King, level 20 Golden Tier Boss!
This was the third and last golden boss in Luoxia Village. Lin Zhao even felt a bit embarrassed. He had consumed all the peak resources of this novice village in one go. Was he being too greedy? But how could he not be greedy? The game "Tian Xia" was destined to be a chaotic world of resource competition. If one always acted like a gentleman, they would probably be bullied. More importantly, Confucianism emphasizes not yielding one's rightful place. Since I, Lin Zhao, am the first person in the novice village qualified to challenge Bosses, why shouldn't I take all the resources?
At most, I'll contribute a little more in future battles!
Having convinced himself, he charged!
The novice sword brought a streak of sword light, fiercely cleaving the head of the charging Golden Boar King. Lin Zhao then slashed his sword, and the second strike landed on the Boar King's neck, almost making its head roll off. This Golden Boar King, with 5000 HP, let out a groan and fell after only two hits.
"Clang~~~"
A thin golden longsword then dropped, making Lin Zhao's heart almost stop!
No way, a golden tier weapon dropped so quickly?
He stumbled and lunged forward, grabbing the longsword, fearing that someone would snatch it away. As he held the longsword, a faint warmth entered his palm, making him even more excited. He brushed his hand, and the sword's attributes floated before his eyes—
[Tusk] (Golden Tier)
Attack: 80-125
Strength: +35
Agility: +33
Trait: Increases damage dealt to monsters by 10%.
Legend: A blade formed from the tusk of the Golden Boar King, tempered by malevolent energy.
Required Level: 20
...
Good sword, good sword! He was smiling so widely he could barely close his mouth.
With an attack ceiling of 125, and a dual stat bonus of 68 points for Strength and Agility, what else could be considered a top-tier weapon? With this, after entering the county town to develop, it wouldn't matter if the "Life and Death Ignored" buff disappeared after logging off, because Lin Zhao's equipment was already good enough and his attributes were strong enough. He still held a significant advantage.
The third golden boss did not trigger a system broadcast, likely because he was already level 20 and no longer eligible for the first kill achievement reward. But it didn't matter; these were not important anymore.
"Clang~~~"
After equipping the Tusk, his attributes truly soared—
[White Robes] (Apprentice Swordsman)
Level: 21
Attack: 203-372
Defense: 110
Health: 2460
Critical Hit: 0
Life Steal: 0
Comprehension: 99
Charm: 0
Reputation: 100
Combat Power: 72
...
Now, his real attack power reached 4060-7440. What trace of the first day of the game was there? At this moment, Lin Zhao could probably cut through the entire novice village with a single sword.
Looking again, there was another piece of equipment, a pair of cloth shoes with a bronze sheen—
[Jungle Rain Boots] (Bronze Tier)
Type: Cloth Armor
Defense: 10
Spirit: +5
Required Level: 20
...
With these attributes... Lin Zhao naturally wouldn't look at them. However, in the novice village, and even in the county town for the next day, these cloth shoes would likely be in high demand. After all, these extra 5 points of spirit would increase spirit spell damage significantly. The vast number of Starfall Mages in the national server would fight fiercely for them.
Return to the novice village.
Shortly after, Ding Chi and Zhang Jun returned. Both were wearing white gear and damaged equipment. The drop rate was too low; it was too difficult to expect attribute equipment from normal monsters.
"It's past eleven o'clock."
Ding Chi said, "I heard quite a few people have already gone to the county towns. Should we choose a county town and prepare to rent a horse carriage to get there?"
"Mmm!"
Lin Zhao nodded and raised his hand to open the list of available county towns for this novice village.