Wu Shaochen had just stepped out of the Hall of War Gods when a private message notification chimed.
Xue'er: "Aren't you worried about being overtaken after being offline for so long?"
Wu Shaochen: "Not at all. If I wanted to level up, I could do so in minutes. No one can catch up to me." He spoke truthfully; lately, he had been frustrated by how quickly he leveled up.
Su Muxue, reading Wu Shaochen's reply, curled her lips. Although she felt he was boasting, the truth was undeniable. After being offline for so long, she herself had only reached level 12. Shaking her head, she stopped dwelling on it and asked, "Do you have any Mage gear?"
Dust Seal: "None."
Reading the reply, Su Muxue felt a bit disappointed but, unable to help herself, asked, "Is there any way you could help me get through the War God's Secret Realm?"
Dust Seal: "Bronze-tier?"
…
Su Muxue gritted her teeth before replying: "Black Iron."
Dust Seal: "Ah, in that case, this should work."
He then sent over a screenshot of the [Wild Boar King Summoning Scroll]. It was something he had never used and didn't need anymore.
Su Muxue's eyes lit up when she saw it. This person really had some useful items. If she had this scroll, completing the challenge should be easy—just let the Wild Boar King tank while she unleashed a barrage of attacks.
"How much?" Su Muxue asked.
"Pay whatever you feel is right," Wu Shaochen replied. It was of no use to him now.
"Let's say 50,000," Su Muxue thought for a moment before stating.
Typically, single-use items weren't worth more than a few thousand to ten thousand, unless they were extremely powerful. But since this scroll was exactly what she needed, she didn't want to owe him anything, so she raised the price.
Dust Seal: "Are you out of your mind? Are you burning through your money? You want to pay 50,000 for this worthless item?"
Wu Shaochen was someone who valued money, but he was not foolish. The auction house price for this scroll would never exceed 20,000. His intention was for Su Muxue to pay just a few thousand. When she offered 50,000, he was genuinely shocked.
Seeing Wu Shaochen's reply, Su Muxue's chest heaved with indignation. Even with her exceptional composure, she found it hard to keep calm. It took her a while to steady herself before she gritted her teeth and replied, "What's your price?"
Dust Seal: "How about 10,000? If it's any higher, I'll start thinking you have some ulterior motives."
Su Muxue's frustration was palpable as she muttered, "Deal!"
The trade was quickly completed, and Su Muxue hurried back to the War God's Hall. Many players were now aware that upgrading one's rank could significantly boost their strength.
After the transaction, Wu Shaochen listed the [Black Bear King Armor], [Wolf Fang Club], [Bear King Necklace], and the replaced [Wolf King Leggings] on the auction house with a bidding option. He set the bidding time for half an hour, longer to allow for a higher price. The auction house had been empty lately because everyone had discovered that white-grade gear could be bought from the shop, and black iron equipment was incredibly rare—any item listed would be snatched up quickly. Materials were plentiful, however.
The moment Wu Shaochen listed his three black iron pieces and one bronze-tier piece, it caught the attention of all players.
"Damn, bronze equipment! I've never even seen black iron equipment, and this guy's selling bronze gear straight away?"
"Three black iron and one bronze-tier. Who's the big shot behind this?"
"Damn, this armor would be a huge boost for Shield Guards. If I had the money, I'd be the first to grab it."
At that moment, Aoshi Tianxia, gazing at the auction house gear, asked in a grave tone, "Do you know who's selling this?"
"I don't know, it's listed anonymously," Aoshi Jueqing replied.
"There are very few people who can sell bronze-tier gear at this stage, and this armor wasn't dropped by the Silver Wolf King. Don't you think it's possible that Dust Seal is in Jinling City, just like us?" Aoshi Gufeng mused.
"It's highly likely. Let's buy this armor first. Then, tell everyone to be on the lookout. If Dust Seal is in Jinling City, we need to find him. I'm curious to see what he's capable of," Aoshi Tianxia said.
After listing the items, Wu Shaochen glanced at his bag, filled with white-grade gear, and shook his head. He headed into a nearby clothing store, unloading all the white gear there. Each piece fetched only a few copper coins, which left him feeling helpless. At least he didn't have to sell them one by one, as both weapons and accessories could be sold here. Wu Shaochen had already decided—he would stop picking up white-grade gear in the future. Not only did it take up space, but it wasn't worth much.
After selling the gear, he noticed that the store was selling those same items back for several silver coins each. That was pure profiteering.
His gaze swept across the store's goods until his eyes landed on a mask. He thought for a moment and decided to buy it. The mask didn't provide any attributes; its only purpose was to conceal his face. Since he was now a recognized figure in the game, it was better to keep a low profile.
Though exposure in-game didn't matter much, Wu Shaochen was wary of the potential consequences in the real world. After all, in reality, he was just an insignificant person without power or wealth. If someone he offended in the game came after him in the real world, it would be disastrous.
Once he donned the mask, Wu Shaochen left through the south gate. On the way, he passed many players heading out to fight monsters. It was already 4 or 5 in the morning—weren't these players supposed to be sleeping?
At that moment, four players—a group of three men and one woman—approached him. The leader, a man, spoke up, "Hey, buddy, want to team up? We're looking for a damage dealer."
"No thanks," Wu Shaochen politely declined and continued walking.
"Hey, what's with your attitude? Our boss, Hao, invited you because he values you, and you just walk off like that?" A young man behind him jeered.
Wu Shaochen stopped and turned to face the young man. "I've been polite enough. Just because he invited me doesn't mean I have to accept, right?"
"Haha, do you know who our boss is? He's from the Aoshi Dominion guild. It's an honor that he's interested in you. You'd better apologize now," the young man boasted.
"Oh," Wu Shaochen replied lazily, not interested in dealing with this type of person. He turned to walk away, but the group quickly surrounded him.
"Kid, you think you can walk away? Believe it or not, I'll kill you and send you straight back to the newbie village!" another young man sneered.
The leader, Hao, stood back with his arms crossed, watching the scene with a smile. He had noticed that Wu Shaochen's gear looked decent, and had hoped to team up with him. But when Wu Shaochen rejected his offer, he decided it was time to teach him a lesson.
"Don't believe it?" Wu Shaochen replied calmly.
"Hah! You're getting cocky, huh? Let me show you that there are some people you can't mess with." With that, the young man charged at Wu Shaochen and slashed him with a sword.
-62
An embarrassingly small damage number appeared, and the young man's eyes widened. He was a warrior who had fully invested in physical attack, and although he was wearing white gear, his attack power was over 300. Yet his strike had only dealt 62 damage. Was this guy's defense that high?
Players could hide their ID and level, but their class was always visible.
"Is that all?" Wu Shaochen glanced at the stunned young man and casually pulled out his starting wooden sword. "Well then... it's my turn."
He glanced at the group, noting that the young man's strike had caused all of them to turn gray, indicating they were in a party.
"Haha, a wooden sword? You think you're going to kill us with that?" The only woman in the group laughed out loud.
Wu Shaochen couldn't be bothered to waste time with them. He activated his speed boost, moving so quickly that the group didn't even have time to react before he slashed each of them once and continued walking, not looking back.
"Damn, this guy is fast. What's he doing, slashing and running? Is he scared he can't beat us?" one of the young men muttered.
"No... I'm poisoned! Damn, I'm losing 260 health per second. Xiaoli, heal me!" Hao, the leader, yelled in panic. He was an archer with low health, and in just two seconds, he was already half-dead.
Xiaoli quickly cast a healing spell, but the result showed "+0."
"I can't heal you, Hao. Quickly drink a potion!" she cried out. But before Hao could even reach for his potion, he collapsed to the ground, dead.
The rest of the group was in the same situation. By the time they realized they were poisoned, they had already fallen. Even the tankiest Shield Guard only lasted five seconds before dying, and the entire group was wiped out.
Other players nearby looked on in confusion at the sudden demise of the group.