Wu Shaochen quickly finished his meal and returned home, donning his helmet to log back in. Every second counted now, and there was no time to waste. If he wanted to be stronger than others in the game, he had to work harder. The wealthy players had game pods, never needing to log off, while he, on the other hand, could only push himself to the limit.
Once online, he found himself standing in the Class Change Hall of Jinling City once more. The first thing he did was check his inventory. He had yet to examine the two skill books the system had awarded him. Upon seeing the two books, especially the golden one, his breath quickened, and any prior frustration vanished instantly.
[Immortal Body] Special Passive Skill (Unique): Every time you kill a monster of a level equal to or greater than your own, your maximum health permanently increases by 1 point.
"This is undoubtedly a skill that rivals my own talent, and it's a unique one at that. It seems the heavens themselves want me to rise! The assassin's burst potential is already terrifying, but what would it feel like if this assassin was tougher than a shield warrior? How hopeless would it be for an opponent to face that?"
The price of such a skill was beyond imagination, but it was clear this was not something that could be sold—it was a unique skill, after all. Now that he wasn't struggling for money, he wouldn't consider selling it. Trembling with excitement, he took the invaluable skill book from his inventory and whispered the incantation to learn it. As the skill appeared in his skill bar, he finally felt a sense of relief. He would have never believed it if he hadn't learned it himself. He then turned to the second skill book in his inventory:
[Void]: Removes all negative effects and sends the body into the Void, making it untargetable for 1 second. Mana cost: 100, cooldown: 5 minutes. Learning requirement: Assassin.
Another extraordinary skill. Wu Shaochen quickly learned it. Any one of these skills was priceless beyond measure, and he was glad he endured his hunger to secure the first.
After learning the skill, along with the two basic assassin skills, Wu Shaochen now had six skills in his skill bar.
[Insight]: View information about monsters within 10 levels of your own. No mana cost, no cooldown.
[Swift]: Increases movement speed and attack speed by 50% for 30 seconds. Mana cost: 50, cooldown: 2 minutes.
[Stealth]: Enter a hidden state, reducing movement speed by 30%. Lasts for 5 minutes. Mana cost: 1 per second. Cooldown: 1 minute. Attacking, being attacked, or being touched will cancel the effect. Stealth is ineffective against bosses 10 levels higher or normal monsters 30 levels higher, and can be detected by archers' Eagle Eye.
[Backstab]: Attack from behind the target, dealing 150% physical damage and ignoring 50% of the target's defense. Mana cost: 30, cooldown: 30 seconds.
[Immortal Body] Special Passive Skill (Unique): Every time you kill a monster of a level equal to or greater than your own, your maximum health permanently increases by 1 point.
[Void]: Removes all negative effects and sends the body into the Void, making it untargetable for 1 second. Mana cost: 100, cooldown: 5 minutes.
Looking at these skills, Wu Shaochen felt a surge of excitement. He was eager to start grinding monsters, but he resisted the urge. First, he needed to explore the main city and see if there were any quests to take.
He left the Class Change Hall and stepped into the streets of Jinling City. The buildings lining the main street were primarily for everyday needs, such as weapon shops, clothing stores, jewelry shops, pharmacies, and general stores.
When he reached the weapon shop and opened the purchase menu, his expression darkened. To his surprise, the shop was selling white-grade equipment for levels 11-100. This meant that after level 10, he could no longer sell his white gear—such equipment would become worthless.
Fortunately, he had sold all his white gear in the novice village, and had earned all the money he could from it. Realizing this, he shrugged it off. It was no longer important, especially since white-grade equipment now had level requirements for use. Players would likely stop buying them.
Aside from buying and selling weapons, the shop also offered the option to learn the crafting skill of weapon forging. If a player learned it, they could craft their own weapons in the future. Each player could learn up to three life skills, but Wu Shaochen wasn't interested. It was too time-consuming, especially in the early stages of the game. It was more efficient to hunt bosses instead of wasting time on crafting.
He assumed the clothing and jewelry shops were similar, and continued to wander until he came upon a general store. He purchased two town return scrolls for 10 silver coins each—outrageously expensive—when his eye caught a map scroll priced at 1 gold coin.
"What is this ridiculous price?" Wu Shaochen thought, as he looked at the item:
[Map Scroll]: When used, it activates the map feature. This scroll records the monster distribution within a 10-kilometer radius of Jinling City.
"Ah, that's why there's no map in this game! If the novice village hadn't been small, I'd have gotten lost. So it's necessary to buy a map scroll to activate the map feature. 1 gold coin... that's daylight robbery!"
Despite his complaints, Wu Shaochen didn't hesitate to spend the money. After all, he had more than 90 gold coins in his possession, and this item was something every player would need.
After purchasing the scroll, he used it, and the map feature was immediately activated. He opened it and saw the monster distribution and map information within a 10-kilometer radius of Jinling City. The areas beyond that were shrouded in black, requiring exploration. As players walked through areas, the map would automatically light up and record the journey.
"This is decent. It's worth the price," Wu Shaochen murmured to himself, then continued exploring Jinling City. It was vast, with not only functional NPC areas but also residential zones. These NPCs might offer special quests, though such quests were rare, and most NPCs had no tasks at all. Special quests, when encountered, often had generous rewards.
Next, he passed through the player trading area, where players could set up stalls and trade freely without transaction fees, a much fairer system than the auction house. There were also shops for sale where players could list their equipment for sale, even without being present. This was much more convenient than setting up stalls, but the cost of purchasing a shop was exorbitant—often upwards of tens of thousands of gold coins. Wu Shaochen briefly considered buying a shop, but after inquiring, he realized it wasn't feasible.
Further along, there were the arena, tavern, and lord's manor, and Wu Shaochen felt somewhat overwhelmed by all the options.
As he walked, he arrived at a massive building comparable in scale to the Class Change Hall. Above the entrance, three large characters were emblazoned: "Hall of the War God."
Curious, he entered. Inside, towering statues of warriors stood on either side of a long central passageway, at the end of which was a swirling vortex gate.
He approached one of the statues of a middle-aged man, where an inscription was carved:
In the 356th year of the Holy Light Era, Gribb, the War God, single-handedly killed dozens of Star-Rank magical beasts and intercepted an Immortal-Rank magical beast for two whole hours before finally perishing! He was sealed as the War God and entered the Hall of the War God!
Reading the inscription, Wu Shaochen recalled his first experience in "The Oracle," feeling a surge of respect for the fallen hero.
Next, he approached a statue of a noble-looking woman with silver hair. The inscription on this statue read:
In the 487th year of the Holy Light Era, Silver Ice, the Magic Goddess, sacrificed herself to cast a forbidden spell, freezing three thousand miles of land. She sealed the Evil Demon Lord and his million beasts, making an enormous contribution to human survival. She was sealed as the Magic Goddess and entered the Hall of the War God.