Returning to Tiannan City felt like stepping into another world.
After a month outside the city, Xiao Chen had surprisingly accumulated 2109 contribution points, worth more than two gold coins.
[You currently have: 1 gold, 706 silver, and 691 copper.]
Xiao Chen had to admit, he made quite a bit of money this month.
Most of this money was saved up, with the majority used to enhance his attributes.
"My current attributes are almost on par with an Archer of the same D-level talent."
Not the best, but certainly not the worst.
Once he buys some skill books and awakens a few professional abilities, his combat power will be quite impressive.
"Perhaps I shouldn't rush to level up now."
With his current attack power and health, soloing a level two dungeon shouldn't be a problem.
Xiao Chen's current wealth allows him to endlessly farm level two dungeons.
Soloing level two dungeons doesn't yield experience, but it still earns some money.
Going alone is much more efficient.
"One dungeon can increase 100 kills and earn 2 guild contribution points, which is enough."
Xiao Chen's range had reached 25 meters, allowing him to pull a wave of monsters and clear the dungeon's small monsters with ease.
The level two dungeon map wasn't large, and the small monsters still had some attack power.
But with sufficient attack range and agile positioning, it was possible to clear a level two dungeon without taking damage.
Over the past month, the attribute Xiao Chen improved the most was agility.
Strength can be increased through leveling up, but archery requires practice.
It's not something that can be mastered in a few days; it requires continuous practice.
High-intensity dungeon farming is an excellent way to practice.
A round of dungeons only takes about twenty minutes to complete.
"In an hour, I can farm three times, and if I farm for over ten hours a day, I can easily exceed five thousand kills.
Earning five attribute points in two days is quite good."
The small monsters in level two dungeons only have 1800 health, and with over a thousand attack power now, they can be taken down in two hits.
The boss is stronger, but it can't withstand a few arrows from Xiao Chen.
As long as he farms enough dungeons, his guild contribution points will surely rank in the top twenty thousand.
Xiao Chen wasn't too worried about being kicked out of the Tianxing Guild.
Previously, he couldn't find a team to farm level two dungeons, but now he could solo them.
"The first time soloing a level two dungeon is quite exciting.
Level two dungeons, especially the Bandit Camp, have a lot of monsters."
Xiao Chen's movement speed was more than double that of the small monsters. As soon as he entered the dungeon, he headed straight for the bandit leader.
Keeping a distance of twenty-five meters, Xiao Chen started attacking.
"Whoosh"
"-1016"
The damage was quite satisfying.
The boss was enraged, raising a spiked club and charging at Xiao Chen.
As it charged, Xiao Chen fired two more arrows and quickly pulled back.
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
While quickly repositioning, Xiao Chen fired two more arrows.
With a four-arrow attack, the surrounding small monsters fell one after another.
"Wow, this is quite easy!"
At this moment, Xiao Chen truly felt that he had become much stronger.
With two more arrows, the level 15 boss fell directly.
It didn't even have time to use its skills!
"At this efficiency, a dungeon doesn't take 20 minutes to clear!"
[Ding, you gained 20 silver coins, experience +0, guild contribution points +2.]
[You obtained a Black Iron Helmet, black iron grade!]
The first solo run, and luck was on his side.
Xiao Chen tossed the black iron helmet into the marketplace and then charged at the remaining small monsters.
[Kill +1, copper coins +100.]
[You obtained Iron Stone ×1.]
Clearing a level two normal dungeon was very easy, and Xiao Chen was very satisfied.
"Let's keep farming!"
Level two dungeons have a very low chance of special drops, and if he encounters one, he'll hit the jackpot.
The probability of special drops is extremely low, but every time Xiao Chen farms a level two dungeon, he's filled with anticipation.
Of course, the more you expect, the deeper the disappointment.
Despite clearing dozens of dungeons daily, he couldn't get a single special item to drop.
***
In the following time, Xiao Chen could trigger the One in a Million effect every two days.
Gaining five attribute points every two days, even though his level didn't increase, his overall strength was steadily improving.
His daily kill count was rising, and reaching a million kills wouldn't be too far off.
Every day, after soloing level two dungeons, he would send a message to Zhang Fan.
"Haha, these black beetles are so easy to kill. The Earth Bear is their nemesis.
One slap can kill a bunch.
Xiao Chen, check my contribution point ranking; I might make it to the top hundred."
"Alright, these black beetles are my nemesis; I'll stick to farming dungeons for now."
Other guilds' defense zones also have suitable monsters, but they're not as safe.
In the guild team, at least there are various aura bonuses and a few familiar faces, which provide a sense of security.
"Let's continue farming level two dungeons!"
Xiao Chen had figured out his growth path; the most important thing was to quickly enhance his Innate Talent, One in a Million.
Additionally, he needed a lot of money to upgrade equipment and buy skill books.
Triggering One in a Million every two days was already Xiao Chen's fastest speed.
"I need enough patience and a period of accumulation."
Xiao Chen couldn't rush to level up now; he needed to reach a million kills as soon as possible.
Reaching a million kills would grant an achievement reward, and more importantly, it would allow his One in a Million to level up again.
Everyone's growth path is different, so it's okay to be slower now.
While Xiao Chen was diligently farming dungeons, he unknowingly noticed that most of the names in his friend list had dimmed and would soon disappear.
Su Ming had reached level thirty-eight, becoming a core force in Tiannan City.
Sun Jian and Zhang Fan had both surpassed level thirty.
Among the Awakened that Xiao Chen could interact with, these were undoubtedly the strongest.
"Xiao Chen, why haven't you leveled up recently?"
Xiao Chen didn't expect Su Ming to reach out to him after a year.
Su Ming was his teammate in his first dungeon, so Xiao Chen had a deep impression of him.
Since that encounter, they hadn't had much interaction or communication for over a year.
Xiao Chen never actively contacted Su Ming, feeling that they weren't from the same world.
Su Ming's level was high, always at the top of his friend list.
Many people were gone, but that name remained, preventing Xiao Chen from feeling too hopeless.
At least, someone was still moving forward.
Everyone was progressing on their own path.
Of course, Xiao Chen would occasionally check on Su Ming's status.
Among his first dungeon teammates, only Su Ming was still alive.
"I'm soloing level two dungeons."
"You should level up quickly. Awakening abilities like Lethal Strike won't be effective if you don't increase your level."
Alright, the boast Xiao Chen casually made back then was still remembered by Su Ming. In the future, he needed to be more cautious with his words.
"Xiao Chen, taking people to farm dungeons can indeed make money.
But money can always be earned later; leveling up is the key."
This advice might apply to others, but Xiao Chen was different; his talent was One in a Million.
High-level monsters were too difficult to kill, and the best way to increase his kill count was to fight lower-level monsters.
Of course, leveling up would be beneficial.
"Okay, I'll level up to thirty soon."
"How much is your mental power?"
Xiao Chen found this question strange. Why suddenly ask about mental power?
For Xiao Chen, the two least useful attributes were mental power and intelligence.
Without mastering other skills, he hadn't used any mana yet.
Mental power was naturally useful, affecting perception, critical hit multipliers, or resisting high-level monster pressure, all of which were important.
Xiao Chen hadn't deliberately increased his mental power, but he had consumed many cheap herbs that boosted mental power.
One in a Million occasionally added a bit of mental power.
His mental power should be similar to a D-level professional.
"My mental power is 136."
"Xiao Chen, do you want to have a summoned beast?"
Hearing this, Xiao Chen was a bit confused:"What? Aren't summoned beasts exclusive to Summoners?"
"Aren't you level twenty?
At level twenty, you can learn general skills, and summoning is one of them.
Having a summoned beast as an Archer would make soloing dungeons much easier."
Learning skills required skill books, which were too far out of Xiao Chen's reach, so he never considered them.
Skill books were too precious, and general skill books were even more expensive.
Xiao Chen quickly opened the panel and found the general skills page.
Then, he saw hundreds of general skills, none of which he had learned.
"Throwing Dagger, Shield, Ghost Step, Summoning, Blink."
Xiao Chen examined them closely; general skill summoned beasts were different from Summoner's summoned beasts.
Summoner's summoned beasts could automatically level up with the professional, while general skill summoning required experience to level up.
Summoners could have a group of summoned beasts later on, while others could only have one.
General skill summoned beasts started below black iron, without any grade, requiring a lot of resources to nurture.
The key is, these summoned beasts could only have one skill, and leveling up couldn't add more.
What the summoned beast was and its abilities were unknown.
In short, this general skill was risky and entirely luck-based.
If you awakened a trash summoned beast, it would take away some experience, making it not worth it.
As a result, the summoning skill book's value was much lower.
"Xiao Chen, most people wouldn't choose the summoning skill because it takes away 20% of the experience.
Once you awaken this ability, your leveling speed will be greatly reduced.
Moreover, nurturing a summoned beast requires a lot of resources, which most professionals can't afford."
Why was Su Ming suddenly telling him so much about summoned beasts?
"Brother Su Ming, why are you suddenly bringing this up?"
"Because I got a summoning skill book and searched my friend list for a while, and you're the only one who might be suitable.
Among the batch of Awakened, it seems you're the only one left.
After all, you farm dungeons daily, so you can also level up the summoned beast's experience."
Xiao Chen opened the marketplace and found that there were very few general skill books for sale, and each one was exorbitantly priced.
Xiao Chen didn't mind losing experience; he needed to farm kill counts, often having to repeatedly farm lower-level dungeons.
Leveling up slower wasn't a problem.
After level twenty, you could learn one general skill every ten levels.
Xiao Chen couldn't afford his own professional skill books, let alone general skills.
He was sure he wouldn't be able to learn all the general skills in the future.
"Brother Su, I do want a summoned beast.
But I know my limits; I probably can't afford it in this lifetime.
You should just sell the skill book; I definitely can't afford it."
As soon as Xiao Chen finished speaking, he heard a notification sound:
[Your friend Su Ming has initiated a trade with you. Do you accept?]
"Didn't I just say I can't afford it?
Wait, the trade price is 1 silver?"
This wasn't a sale; it was a gift?
Honestly, Xiao Chen really wanted to accept it; this skill book was worth more than a thousand gold.
But such a huge favor, how could he repay it?
The temptation was too great, and Xiao Chen realized his resolve wasn't strong enough.
As long as he found a reason to convince himself, any reason, he would accept it!
"Accept it; I have a few general skill books on hand, enough for me.
Recently, I made some money with a few seniors, and the returns were good."
"Alright, I'll take it first.
If I can survive, I'll definitely repay this favor in the future."
Xiao Chen quickly agreed.
He could repay the favor later, but if he didn't accept it, he would regret it for a lifetime.
If worse comes to worst, he could save up and repay it later.
"Xiao Chen, quickly improve your strength; there are more and more monsters.
You don't need to repay the favor; just stay alive.
I don't want my friend list to be dark when I leave this world.
If possible, I hope everyone can keep living."
[General Skill Book, Summoning, No Level.
Randomly summon a level zero summoned beast. Once this skill book is used, it will permanently occupy a general skill slot.]
Xiao Chen didn't hesitate for a moment and immediately activated the skill slot.
Hesitating for even a second would be disrespectful to his brother and to money.
[You obtained a summoned beast: Undead Skeleton.]
[Undead Skeleton, LV1, Attack 6, Defense 2, Health: 40, Cooldown after death: 1 hour
Upgrade Method: Devour Undying Divine Soul Flame, Fuse with Undying Crystal.
Unique Skill: Undead Summoning.]
[Undead Summoning: Summon ten skeleton clones, each with one-tenth of the main body's attributes.]
This kind of summoned beast skill is unique and can't be increased, far inferior to a Summoner's summoned beast.
However, Xiao Chen wasn't demanding.
Or rather, he was already very satisfied with the summoning skill.
"The summoned beast's skill is also summoning; that's a bit strange."
In the future, he'll have plenty of frontliners.
Xiao Chen opened the marketplace and took a look at the Undying Divine Soul Flame and Undying Crystal, then immediately closed it again.
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The Undying Divine Soul Flame was priced in gold.
Non-tier Undying Crystals cost several gold each. The Undying Divine Soul Flame started at a hundred gold.
Xiao Chen checked some guides and found that only one or two people had awakened this kind of general summoned beast.
Then, he got a piece of information: leveling the Undead Skeleton from level one to level two would cost two thousand gold.
The requirements for further upgrades would be even higher, costing several times more.
"If I can upgrade Xiao Qiang to tier three, maybe I'll have a chance to solo high-level dungeons in the future!"
But just thinking about the cost made Xiao Chen feel like he should stop dreaming for now.
The skeleton had no intelligence but could understand Xiao Chen's commands.
"From now on, can I pretend to be an Undead Summoner?"
The summoned beast even had an equipment slot, identical in number to Xiao Chen's.
No wonder they say Summoners are expensive; they need to equip several sets of gear.
"From now on, you'll be called Xiao Qiang."
Suddenly having a summoned beast, Xiao Chen felt more motivated to level up.
[Ding, summoned beast experience +22]
Even though it only took 20% of the experience, the experience gain was still considerable.
With the experience bonus from crossing over ten levels and being the sole recipient of all experience, leveling up was still fast.
A level one skeleton clone had less than one point of health.
A small monster's roar could shatter these little skeletons.
"Although it lacks intelligence, it's at least a companion for dungeon farming."
After one dungeon run, Xiao Qiang reached level four.
An unenhanced summoned beast's combat power was only about two to three-tenths of its master's.
"Let's focus on leveling up first and worry about other things later."
Since he was going to solo dungeons anyway, having Xiao Qiang share the experience was better; it was a form of improvement.
***
Another two months passed, and Xiao Chen didn't know how many times he had farmed level two dungeons.
"Ding, your summoned beast has reached level 20, experience +0"
After reaching level 20, level 15 small monsters no longer provided experience.
Xiao Qiang's health reached 800, and the skeleton clones had 80 health.
What can I say, it's still not very useful right now.
But a row of skeletons standing there was still somewhat intimidating.
After Xiao Qiang reached level twenty, Xiao Chen continued farming normal dungeons.
Calculating the kill count, it should be close to a million.
Sure enough, after clearing three more runs, Xiao Chen received a notification:
[Ding, you triggered One in a Million, random attribute +5]
[Ding, your kill count reached one million, achievement unlocked: Ruthless Blood Hand.]
[All attributes +10, gold coins +1.]
Extremely generous rewards.
[Your Innate Talent has improved.]
[One in a Million (LV3): Every ten thousand kills, gain 10 random attributes
Upgrade condition: Reach ten million kills.]
"Finally improved, the process was so arduous."
But why did the difficulty increase tenfold again?
Months of grinding had significantly increased Xiao Chen's attributes, totaling over three hundred points.
"I need to prepare well and see if I can solo a hard-level dungeon."
Hard-level small monsters are level twenty, with difficulty more than doubling compared to normal.
"Xiao Qiang, let's get you equipped first!"
After farming so many level two dungeons, Xiao Chen had processed batch after batch of equipment.
Now he had some basics and naturally couldn't let Xiao Qiang wear only basic gear.
A set of equipment consisted of six pieces, each carefully selected.
The attributes weren't exceptional, but they were very suitable for Xiao Qiang: all focused on health and defense.
"Weapons can wait, and you're a skeleton, so necklaces and rings can wait too."
These pieces of equipment were relatively expensive.
After equipping the set, Xiao Qiang's health reached 1600, with 40 defense.
Attack wasn't important; being able to tank was crucial.
With such health and defense, it could already play a role.
"After defeating the boss, I'll rely on other level two normal dungeons.
Xiao Qiang, go tank the monster and see how many hits you can take."
The skeleton, like a machine, charged at the bandit leader as soon as it received the command.
After three attacks, Xiao Qiang's health was nearly depleted.
At that moment, Xiao Chen directly killed the boss.
[Ding, you gained 20 silver coins, experience +0, normal professional skill book +1]
Wow, finally a special drop.
Just as he was about to leave the normal dungeon, a surprise came.
"Great, finally, haha."
Xiao Chen sat on the ground, laughing somewhat maniacally.
Better late than never.
[Normal Professional Skill Book: Randomly activate or upgrade a skill of your profession, usable ten times per professional.]
A normal professional skill book was worth two hundred gold.
Without thinking, Xiao Chen sold it.
Such an item, Xiao Chen really wasn't worthy of owning right now.
He needed to exchange it for bronze equipment and sets.
Two hundred gold coins, that amount was just right.
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