Night Rain Family

Having just entered the game, Ye Luo only knew Zhi Yue, and they were not even in the same Novice Village. This meant that he had no fixed party and could only rely on himself to kill monsters and level up. Such formidable attack power was therefore essential, so he firmly decided to continue putting all his points into Strength.

As he pondered this, he continued killing Demonic Mountain Chickens. Although he had already completed the task of collecting Mountain Chicken Meat, Ye Luo planned to look for trouble with other monsters after reaching level 4. After all, he was not far from leveling up now.

Time quietly passed, and more than twenty minutes went by in the blink of an eye. After killing dozens of Demonic Mountain Chickens, Ye Luo successfully reached level 4.

He still put all his points into Strength. Ye Luo's attack power had now reached 39–41, his Defense 18–19, and his HP 150. His strength had risen by another small margin.

After picking up several copper coins dropped by the Demonic Mountain Chickens, he casually used Herb Gathering to harvest a tier-four herb. Ye Luo's Herb Gathering finally advanced to Advanced.

Herb Gathering (Life Skill * Advanced)

Skill Description: Can gather tier 1–6 herbs. Requires a Herb Gathering Shovel to activate and consumes 10 Mana.

Skill Proficiency: Intermediate 0/1000.

After Herb Gathering reached Advanced, Ye Luo could collect tier 1–6 herbs. However, he had not yet encountered a single herb above tier four. Gathering tier 1–4 herbs could no longer increase Herb Gathering proficiency, so he could only wait until he had the chance to find and gather higher-tier herbs.

Afterward, Ye Luo continued deeper in, searching for the wine-stealing monkeys Aunt Li had mentioned. He planned to use Monkey Wine to "bribe" Doctor Hua.

About two or three minutes later, Ye Luo discovered another type of monster: a level 4 Demonic Moth.

Demonic Moth (Semi-Tamed)

Level: 4

Attack: 10–12

Defense: 16

HP: 600

Description: A semi-tamed monster in the Novice Village. It would not attack proactively, but it still retained some demonic nature.

Like Demonic Dragonflies, Demonic Moths dealt ranged damage. With only 10–12 Attack, they could deal around 8 damage at most to Ye Luo, who had 18–19 Defense. They were nothing to fear.

Ye Luo wanted to gather some Monkey Wine as quickly as possible and take up the post of Alchemist. After all, leveling speed would be greatly reduced without medicinal pills to support him. Thus, after trying to kill one Demonic Moth, he stopped paying them any attention and continued south.

By now, most players had reached levels 5 or 6. Although their initial attributes were far superior to Ye Luo's, they had not been as lucky as him to kill a Toad King. Their equipment was therefore far inferior to his, and they could only kill monsters of the same level.

As he went deeper, Ye Luo encountered more and more players. Seeing that most of them had only one or two pieces of equipment dropped by monsters, he felt slightly more balanced.

Before long, Ye Luo found the target of this trip—the Demonic Wild Monkey.

Demonic Wild Monkey (Semi-Tamed)

Level: 5

Attack: 13–15

Defense: 20

HP: 750

Description: A semi-tamed monster in the Novice Village. It would not attack proactively, but it still retained some demonic nature.

The Demonic Wild Monkey's attributes were quite good. It could deal more than 10 damage to Ye Luo, and with his current HP, he could only take thirteen or fourteen hits. Meanwhile, he could barely break its defense, dealing only 50–60 damage. In other words, if he fought head-on, he would need to rest after killing every Demonic Wild Monkey.

Fortunately, Demonic Wild Monkeys attacked by throwing stones, making them ranged attackers. It was relatively easier for Ye Luo to dodge them. Even so, after killing two or three wild monkeys, he had to go aside and rest to recover his HP.

Killing wild monkeys, resting to recover, then repeating the process—Ye Luo gradually obtained several bottles of Monkey Wine as he hunted.

Like Demonic Mountain Chickens, Demonic Wild Monkeys did not always drop Monkey Wine. However, these monkeys also dropped Monkey Meat. From the system description, he learned that Monkey Meat could be handed over to chefs.

I know there's a small tavern in the Novice Village. It wouldn't be bad to trade them the extra Monkey Meat and Mountain Chicken Meat. I should be able to exchange them for some money. Ye Luo thought to himself, then began reading the information on Monkey Wine.

Monkey Wine could also be sold to taverns, but it had medicinal uses as well, such as soaking it for Doctor Hua to drink, as Aunt Li had said.

While resting, Ye Luo also observed the other players. He discovered that his attack power and Defense were slightly higher than theirs, and he knew it was because he had one or two more pieces of equipment.

In addition, he found that none of these people had taken up the post of Alchemist or any other Life Profession. He could tell from the fact that they ignored the herbs around them. This became Ye Luo's private benefit, as gathering herbs while resting saved quite a bit of time.

Besides that, he noticed that other players did not rest as often as he did. After observing them for a while, he learned that they were killing monsters in parties, usually with four or five people per group. They took turns tanking the monsters, and with only the automatic recovery from Soul Crystals, they could almost maintain their HP.

Parties received an experience bonus and killed monsters much faster. All things considered, they were somewhat more efficient than Ye Luo alone, though their monetary drops were slightly lower than his.

"It seems I should get to know some people and form a fixed party in the future. That would be more efficient. After all, there are many monsters I can't deal with alone, especially bosses." Ye Luo pondered, then his expression darkened considerably. "Besides, I can't bring down the Dongfang Family by myself."

As he thought about this, Ye Luo's HP fully recovered, and he threw himself back into monster hunting.

And so, he killed monsters for experience and Monkey Wine. Whenever his HP ran low, he recovered while gathering herbs, making quite a good haul. Many people asked him why he could gather herbs, and from the envy in their voices, he could tell just how valuable it was to possess this skill in the early stages.

Of course, some players had sharp eyes and recognized the equipment Ye Luo wore. Quite a few wanted to recruit him, but Ye Luo politely declined them all.

Naturally, some people had other thoughts. Unfortunately, even if they killed someone in the Novice Village, the victim would not lose levels or drop equipment. To save time, they did not do anything so meaningless.

Some people also wanted to party with Ye Luo to level up. Although this would make monster killing more efficient, he would receive much less Monkey Wine. Moreover, he would feel awkward gathering herbs while fighting monsters alongside them. It was not worthwhile, so he declined them all as well.

Time quietly passed, and more than half an hour went by in the blink of an eye.

Over that time, Ye Luo killed countless Demonic Wild Monkeys and obtained more than twenty bottles of Monkey Wine. More importantly, he had already reached level 5. After putting all his points into Strength, his attributes rose by another small margin.

After reaching level 5, Ye Luo no longer intended to keep fighting monsters. He wanted to return and turn in the tasks Aunt Li and the others had assigned him. More importantly, he wanted to visit Doctor Hua and take up the post of Alchemist. With that in mind, he started back.

"The Novice Village started with one hundred thousand people. More players have flooded in since the servers opened, so there must be nearly two hundred thousand people now." Ye Luo pondered as he traveled. "Yet among so many people, not a single one has taken up a Life Profession, or even obtained a Life Skill. It seems taking up a Life Profession isn't easy."

After learning about several other games, Ye Luo knew that Life Professions were just as important as combat professions. Many gaming clans and major powers had realized this, and they invested no less in cultivating Life Profession players than combat players. Some gaming clans even spent enormous financial and material resources specifically training Life Profession players.

Yet despite Heavenly Tribulation having been open for so long, Ye Luo had not encountered a single player who had taken up a Life Profession. This allowed him to infer just how difficult it was to take up such professions. Of course, he also understood the benefits of doing so early.

"Hey, kid, wait up."

As he walked, a shout suddenly came from behind him.

Ye Luo turned around and found three level 6 or 7 players standing behind him. A glance at their names showed they were Night Rain Mad Song, Night Rain Misty, and Night Rain Madman. Since all three names shared the same prefix, they were likely members of the same gang or gaming clan.

If Zhi Yue had been here, she would certainly have recognized them as members of the Night Rain Family. Night Rain was a gang that had fought across many major online games. Though it could not compare with first-rate gaming clans, it had some reputation among all the gangs in China, at least ranking within the top hundred.

Of course, although Ye Luo had crammed plenty of gaming knowledge, he did not understand much about gangs and clans in the gaming world. Even if he did, his personality meant he would not care too much. The only gaming clan that concerned him now was the Dongfang Family.

Ye Luo gave the three a faint glance and said indifferently, "What do you want?"

Night Rain Madman was a warrior. He laughed heartily. "Brother, I'm sure you recognize that we're from the Ye Yu Gang. Our gang ranks seventy-second among the nation's gangs. Are you interested in joining us? Our benefits are good, and there are plenty of beautiful women..."

"Sorry, I'm not joining." Ye Luo coldly cut him off and stepped forward. "Is there anything else? If not, make way."

Night Rain Mad Song frowned slightly, and a sharp glint flashed through his eyes, but he quickly put on a smile. "Everyone has their own ambitions, so we won't force you. But brother, could you trade us the equipment you're wearing? We'll pay a high price..."

Ye Luo laughed inwardly. He finally understood that the three had their eyes on his equipment. He decisively shook his head. "Not for sale!"

Night Rain Madman's gaze turned cold, though his threatening manner concealed his lack of confidence. "What if I insist on buying it?"

"Madman, don't do that." Night Rain Misty stopped Night Rain Madman. Her voice was gentle as water, and her lovely face and graceful figure exuded endless allure. "Brother Ye Luo, we're going to fight a boss and really need equipment. Name your price, and the Night Rain Family will definitely satisfy you."

Night Rain Misty spoke in a negotiating tone, which made Ye Luo feel slightly more comfortable. However, he would not hand over the equipment he depended on for survival in the early stages just because of that. He said calmly again, "Not for sale. Please move aside."

Seeing that Ye Luo would not budge, Night Rain Madman and Night Rain Mad Song flew into a rage and wanted to make a move, but Night Rain Misty stopped them. She stepped aside to make way and said, "Brother Ye Luo, sorry for disturbing you."