Chapter Fourteen: The Dark Forest of Goals

  "What's the deal with that fifth-ranked ice mage? What does 'hehe' mean?" a new player who just started playing "Divine" asked in confusion.

  "Hehe......" This is an old player of "Chuan Shi".

  "What does it mean?"

  "Hehe..."

  "Old Wugou seeking supplement! Seeking explanation! Seeking truth!" New player helplessly shouts at Old Wugou.

  "Alright, although I don't want to say it too clearly, because I'm afraid of dirtying up my post!" Lao Xu said helplessly.

  Fifth on the list of celebrities: Ice Mage - Haha, Ice Mage? Filthy Mage! This person is also a legend in his own right, but it's a weird kind of legendary. Let's start with his ID, "Jade Tree Breeze". Ugh, just looking at this name gives me a bad feeling! This guy does all sorts of despicable and shameless things, has no integrity or bottom line - don't even get him started on those topics, he's illiterate! The number of disgusting things he's done is countless, and there are people who hate him in every corner of "Chuan Shi". Who can forget the time he stood on the city wall, facing the tens of thousands of players below who were his enemies, and said "Come on! Attack me head-on!"? How many people spat out their food in disgust at that moment... just thinking about it makes me feel like I need to brush my teeth.

  Lao Xū's words: The only infamous person on the list, I really don't want to mention him, so I'll replace him with Ice Mage. Ice magic is also his profession, and it's precisely because of this ice magic style that he earned his "dirty" reputation. Nineteen control skills out of twenty, and one instant movement skill. It's said that everyone who has faced him head-on can feel the malice coming from the depths of the world. Ugh, how dirty!

  "Great job, Lao Xū!" A group of veteran players applauded loudly.

  New player: "Hehe......"

  Ling Mu only took a glance and didn't look closely, but paid attention to Ou Yang Xiao Jian for a moment before closing it and continuing to flip through the posts, wanting to find some news about the Dark Lord's castle.

  As it turns out, after flipping through two pages, I actually found it. It was a post from a player of the dark camp.

  "I truly regret choosing the dark camp from the start!"

  At first, I just thought that the demon tribe was chosen because of its cool meat wings, but I didn't know that the dark camp in "Deification" is so humble...

  A burst of complaints about the dark camp players being few, facilities broken and treatment low, Ling Mu directly skipped over, his gaze lingering on the last paragraph.

  I finally got a career quest from the career mentor, but it's asking me to run all the way to another main city to deliver a message! Heaven knows that the dark camp's main cities are all hidden in the darkest corners of each map! Where am I supposed to find it?!

  The darkest corner of every map? Ling Mu fell into deep thought...

  Ling Mu reappeared in a forest not far from Wild Bull Valley.

  "Ding! Your level has been upgraded, and you have obtained 5 free attribute points that can be allocated!"

  The moment he logged on, a pleasant system prompt sounded, and Ling Mu was stunned. Before logging off, the Red Eyed Wild Bull leader had just leveled up to 12, how did it level up again after such a short time? He quickly scrolled through that long battle log.

  "You killed a player who didn't love you back! Gained 220 experience points! Gained 1 growth point!"

  "You killed Player Wuma, gained 200 experience points! Gained 1 growth point!"

  ……

  Several big posts! There are actually several hundred comments! Lingmu is shocked, but normally taking down a level 15 ordinary boss should not be difficult with the cooperation of dozens of people, right? Although at this stage, most players have just left the novice village and haven't even equipped their gear, only professions that focus on full strength or full intelligence can break through defenses. However, as long as the shield warrior holds on, it's still possible to take them down without much sacrifice. After thinking about it, Lingmu roughly understands the reason for the city-wide announcement: perhaps too many players were attracted, causing chaos, and these few wild bull skulls took advantage of the situation to achieve a considerable feat.

  Unlike the silly Ling Mu, Tan Lang was furious and rushed over to kill the black-robed Yu Shu Ling Feng as soon as he received the call from Mu Bei Lang. Who knew that halfway there, he heard the city's announcement about a boss, and the location where the boss spawned was exactly where he was headed - Wild Ox Valley? So while cursing the player who made the announcement for being stupid enough to not kill the boss but instead making it public knowledge, he rushed over. As expected, the entire Wild Ox Valley was filled with players attracted by the boss, and there was even a shadow of Yu Shu Ling Feng. Since he came, he might as well take down the boss while he's at it. However, who would have thought that the chaotic state of those scattered players exceeded his imagination? It was like they wouldn't let others get close to the boss unless they died and went back to town. Even Tan Lang got hit by countless stray bullets and almost died. In the end, he couldn't take it anymore and called for backup from his guild to clear the scene. After finally taking down the boss with great difficulty, he was truly furious - what kind of thing doesn't even drop any loot, not even experience?!

  Lingmu opened the map and took a look, only to find that only the areas around Fengyucheng and the eastern part of Niubao Valley were lit up, while all other places showed an unexplored state. It was obvious that there wouldn't be any dark forces near a thriving main city. After some thought, Lingmu felt that exploring on his own wasn't very realistic. Not to mention having no direction, at this stage without a mount, it was completely impractical to explore the map with just a player's movement speed.

  So he turned a corner and Lingmu walked back to Fengyucheng again, what did he go back for? Of course it was to buy a map, but not from an NPC, let alone the NPCs of the Bright Alliance had a good impression of Lingmu, so they couldn't be bought.

  The development of online games has long since moved beyond the simple era of killing monsters, leveling up and brushing equipment. Life occupations and adventure players are also becoming more and more numerous, so there are also players who like to explore and sell maps they have explored for profit.

  The city of Wind and Rain was already bustling with crowds, following Ling Mu and others, mainstream players also reached level 10 and came to the major cities to transfer professions. The entire city of Wind and Rain was filled with players, either heading out of the city to level up or running tasks within the city.

  Ignoring the NPCs' disgusted gazes, Lingmu directly walked to the commercial district in the city. At this stage, no one could possibly own a shop, so the entire commercial district was filled with players setting up street stalls.

  "Bronze Great Sword! High Attack Power! Only 10 Silver!"

  "Bronze Master's Hand Exchange for Bronze Warrior Equipment!"

  "Make your own red medicine! Good quality and cheap price! 20% lower than store price!"

  "Newly emerged White Silver Staff! Comes with a price or exchange for an equivalent warrior's gear! Merchants, do not disturb, swindlers detour!"

  "Top-quality white helmet! Top-quality attributes must not be missed!"

  "Materials for sale! High prices paid for all kinds of leather, medicinal herbs and minerals!"

  ……

  A loud cry of peddling, many vendors, and a large crowd of onlookers. Players buying or exchanging equipment, as well as members of large guilds' logistics teams collecting materials for secondary professions. Lingmu also browsed several stalls and managed to exchange the bronze boots from his backpack for a bronze cloth armor glove. The silver staff also caught his eye. As players changed jobs and learned new skills, their strength increased greatly, making 10-level and 15-level bosses no longer difficult. Silver equipment was no longer rare, and even the lowest-ranked equipment on the leaderboard was now gold-grade. Of course, Lingmu's batch of high-level equipment remained at the top.

  Leading Silverlight Wand

  Quality: Sterling Silver

  Equipment requirements: Level 12, Law system

  Magic Attack: 78-132

  Physical 10

  IQ 42

  Spirit 38

  Commander: Increase summoned unit's attack power by 20%

  Three attributes are not bad, very suitable for the law profession, the attached skills are more suitable for summoners and beast tamers, but Lingmu can also use them, so I took a fancy to them at once, and squeezed in from a large number of onlooker players.

  "How much for the Silver Staff?" Ling Mu asked directly.

  "Equivalent exchange or 10 gold coins!" The seller was a warrior, perhaps having been set up for a long time without selling anything, his face showing some impatience. However, upon seeing Ling Mu's cool and sleek black cloak, his eyes lit up.

  Ling Mu slightly furrowed his brow, he didn't have anything to exchange for it, the things in his backpack were either too expensive or too cheap, and there was no way to trade them. However, shouting a price of 10 gold coins was indeed too high, no wonder so many people had gathered to watch but hadn't sold any. Having just come out of the newbie village, he didn't have much money to begin with, and changing jobs, learning skills, buying medicine, and repairing equipment all cost money, so now players who had a few silver coins were considered rich, of course, this was only true for now before currency exchange was opened.

  Ling Mu shook his head and decided not to buy it after all. Although he had obtained the gold coins easily, he was still reluctant to part with them.

  "Wait for this friend!" The warrior shouted at Lingmu.

  "What? 10 gold coins are too expensive for me to afford, and there's no equivalent exchange equipment." Ling Mu shook his head.

  "Looking at your equipment, you're also a master. Alright, if there are other low-level warrior equipment that can be traded, just make up for the difference!" The warrior said helplessly, having wasted so much time already, he knew that asking for too high of a price would be unreasonable, but asking for too low of a price would be a loss for himself as well. Now that a skilled player had finally arrived, he wanted to discuss the price.

  "I don't have any equipment to exchange, and I also don't have enough gold coins." Lingmu shook his head again. From the novice village to now, he had only pushed a level 15 ordinary boss, and his luck was still bad, having only gotten two bronze equipment, which made him feel depressed.

  "How many gold coins are you short of?" The warrior gritted his teeth and prepared to lower the price.

  "I only have 7 gold coins." Ling Mu said, though he actually had 12 gold coins in his backpack. The 7 gold coins were the price he had set for this white silver staff, and although he was stingy, he hadn't reached the point of maliciously undercutting the price.

  The onlookers were all shocked, they also gathered here to watch the excitement of who would buy this white silver staff. After all, only people from large guilds could afford to take out so many gold coins at this time, and it was clear that Lingmu, shrouded in a black cloak, didn't even show his name, obviously not a member of any guild. So, he must be some kind of legendary player!

  "This..." The warrior was also slightly surprised, not only because he guessed the identity of this black-cloaked player god, but also because 7 gold coins were exactly the low price in his mind.