Giant Rat Leather Armor

Hearing that Yan Hua Yi Leng had a photographic memory, Ye Luo was slightly surprised but did not dwell on it. After all, China was full of talented people, and there were quite a few with such abilities. Since he had learned that Yan Hua Yi Leng could not help with his mission, Ye Luo gave up on seeking her out and prepared to head to the Giant Rat Cave to kill Demonic Giant Rats and complete Aunt Li's mission.

However, Zhi Yue did not end the call. "Brother Ye, you want to find Sister Yan Hua? I have a way to get in touch with her. By my side..."

"Since every Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission is different, there's no point in finding her..." Ye Luo said, but Zhi Yue interrupted him before he could finish.

"Besides having a photographic memory, Sister Yan Hua is also very good at analysis. Maybe she can help you," Zhi Yue said. Sensing Ye Luo's interest, she continued, "Also, Misty Pavilion, where Sister Yan Hua is, is very powerful. It ranks ninth among all the guilds in our country, and it has many conflicts with the Dongfang Family. It would benefit us greatly to join forces with them. After all, the two of us alone could never destroy the enormous Dongfang Family."

Hearing this, Ye Luo was even more tempted. "They're enemies with the Dongfang Family? Then they're worth befriending. Yue Er, but are you sure she'd be willing to work with us? They're a major force, after all. And you said Yan Hua Yi Leng is naturally cold and dislikes interacting with outsiders."

"Heehee, Brother Ye is the first player to take up a Life Profession. All the major forces are eager to befriend you, and Misty Pavilion will be no exception," Zhi Yue said with a sweet laugh. Then her tone shifted. "Others might not be able to speak with Sister Yan Hua, but Sister Feng can, because she is Misty Pavilion's guild leader, and they live together."

"Live together?" Ye Luo froze for a moment, then quickly understood. "A gaming studio?"

"Yes, a gaming studio," Zhi Yue said, sounding proud. "I'm lucky, right? I met Sister Feng. I can ask her to contact Sister Yan Hua, and then you can help each other. After all, it's still hard to get by alone in Novice Village."

Knowing that Zhi Yue was with the leader of Misty Pavilion, the ninth-ranked guild in the country, Ye Luo finally felt at ease about her leveling and safety. "All right, then I'll trouble you with it."

"Heehee, it's no trouble." Zhi Yue laughed sweetly, and then the communicator fell silent. Apparently, she was speaking with the Sister Feng she had mentioned.

About two minutes later, Zhi Yue's voice sounded again. "Brother Ye, Sister Feng agreed to my suggestion immediately after learning that Ye Luo Zhi Qiu was my brother. But Sister Yan Hua isn't accepting calls right now. She should be busy with something, so you'll have to wait a while."

"It doesn't matter. I need to level during this time anyway." Ye Luo did not care much. After chatting casually for a while, he ended the call and continued gathering Medicinal Herbs as he made his way toward the Giant Rat Cave.

Before long, Ye Luo reached the Giant Rat Cave and saw the attributes of the Giant Rats, each about the size of a small dog:

Demonic Giant Rat (Semi-Tamed)

Level: 9

Attack: 28-30

Defense: 45

Health: 1400

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

With roughly 65 Attack, Ye Luo could break through the Giant Rats' defense by a wide margin, dealing more than 70 damage with nearly every strike. However, the Giant Rats could also break through his defense, dealing around 30 damage each time. With his current 170 Health, he could not withstand many hits.

Fortunately, Ye Luo could dodge, and he had the double healing effects of the Battle Soul Crystal and Steamed Buns. More importantly, he had plenty of pills to support him, so he did not fear these Giant Rats. Waving his Novice Iron Sword, he charged forward.

The Giant Rat Cave was dark and eerie, filled with the constant squeaking of Giant Rats that sent chills down one's spine. It was precisely because of this that no one came here to kill monsters and level up, which worked out perfectly for Ye Luo. There was no one to steal his monsters.

Although Giant Rats lived in groups, the monsters in Novice Village were all semi-tamed and would not coordinate their attacks. This gave Ye Luo a chance to hunt here. If those Giant Rats had swarmed him, death would have been his only outcome.

With pills replenishing him, Ye Luo's monster-killing efficiency greatly improved. Still, he did not waste too many pills. Between fights, he rested to recover Health. Since the Giant Rat Cave also contained some Medicinal Herbs, gathering herbs while recovering Health was quite pleasant.

Time slowly passed as he killed monsters. The experience from killing monsters three levels above him was plentiful, and Ye Luo soon reached Level 7. After putting all his points into Strength, his attributes improved slightly again, making it even easier to kill these Giant Rats.

"Ugh, I've already killed nearly a hundred Giant Rats. Why hasn't even one piece of equipment dropped? The drop rate is way too low." Ye Luo sighed as he looked at the empty slots in his Equipment Slot. "I still haven't even completed a full set of equipment. This is taking far too long."

Just as he spoke, several dinging sounds suddenly rang out. This was the sound of a monster dropping items, and there was more than one. Ye Luo's eyes lit up at the sound. "The rats here only drop Giant Rat Whiskers, a quest item, and coins. I heard three different drop sounds. It must be equipment."

Thinking this, Ye Luo hurriedly checked. Giant Rat Whiskers were guaranteed drops, as were coins, so there was nothing special to see there. He fixed his gaze on the final glowing orb, and his eyes immediately brightened. Just as he had guessed, it was a piece of equipment. He quickly picked it up, and its attributes appeared:

Giant Rat Leather Armor (Chest Armor - Common Equipment)

Defense: 14-16

Equipment Durability: 100/100

Required Level: 7

It was a piece of clothing, and its defense was far stronger than Novice Clothes. Ye Luo hurriedly equipped it, raising his defense significantly to 42-47. The Giant Rats could no longer break through his defense by much.

However, after putting on the Giant Rat Leather Armor, he stared blankly at his Novice Clothes. More precisely, he was staring at their additional traits: Cannot be dropped, cannot be sold to the System Store, cannot be destroyed, can be traded.

"How strange. This equipment can't be sold to the System Store, but it can be traded." Ye Luo muttered, slightly puzzled. "Everyone in Novice Village gets a set of Novice Clothes, and they can't be destroyed or dropped. Why would anyone need to trade them to other players? It seems they can only be thrown away."

Though he thought so, Ye Luo did not throw away the Novice Clothes. Instead, he kept them in his inventory space. After all, they had been with him for so long—meaning a few hours—and he had grown a little attached to them. Besides, if the clothes he was wearing ever dropped, he could use them as a replacement. Better than nothing.

Having finally obtained a powerful piece of equipment, Ye Luo was quite excited and killed monsters with even greater enthusiasm. As he fought, he kept muttering about getting another weapon, a necklace, and a ring. His current weapon was still the Novice Iron Sword, its grade far too low, and his necklace slot and one ring slot were still empty.

Unfortunately, things did not go as he wished. Ye Luo did not obtain another piece of equipment afterward, even after killing two or three hundred Giant Rats. By then, the massive amount of experience had already raised him to Level 8.

"Looks like getting equipment from ordinary monsters is a bit unrealistic. I still need to kill bosses." Ye Luo pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "Unfortunately, bosses are too strong. Even with pills to replenish me, it would probably be hard to kill one."

"I should hurry and reach Level 10 for my First Advancement. According to what this game has revealed, players become much stronger after every advancement." With that in mind, Ye Luo began heading back to Novice Village to turn in his mission, then planned to go trouble the Young Demon Wolves.

On the way there and back, Ye Luo gathered quite a few herbs, including some Sanqi Herbs and Yuanhu Herbs. After refining them, he replenished his backpack with more Minor Blood Recovery Pills, and he now had five mutated Minor Blood Recovery Pills as well.

After turning in the Giant Rat Whiskers, Ye Luo received 8,000 Energy Experience, 15 Silver Coins, and 100 Villager Favorability. However, he did not receive any equipment, which left him slightly disappointed.

Although 8,000 Experience filled a large portion of Ye Luo's experience bar, he still did not level up. And compared with the 11 Gold Coins he already possessed, 15 Silver Coins were nothing much. Neither reward interested Ye Luo, but Aunt Li still had a follow-up mission for him, and its target was once again Young Demon Wolves:

Collect Demon Wolf Bones (Novice Village Mission, Difficulty: F+)

Mission Details: Kill Young Demon Wolves in Demon Wolf Valley outside the North Gate of Novice Village, then bring 20 Demon Wolf Bones back to Aunt Li.

Mission Requirement: Within 2 days.

Mission Method: No restrictions.

Mission Rewards and Penalties: Upon completion, you will receive plentiful experience and some money. If lucky, you may obtain a piece of equipment.

"Well, Aunt Li, Uncle Zhang, and Blacksmith Li all have missions involving killing Young Demon Wolves. Those wolves really are hated." Ye Luo jokingly muttered to himself. "But that's a good thing for me. Killing one type of monster can complete several missions, saving me plenty of travel time."

With that in mind, Ye Luo first headed to Blacksmith Li. Some of his equipment had become damaged and needed repairs, and Blacksmith Li was the only person in the entire Novice Village who could repair equipment.

After repairing his equipment, Ye Luo was refreshed from head to toe. In high spirits, he headed toward the North Gate of Novice Village.

Unexpectedly, when he was still dozens of meters from the North Gate, he stopped. A player stood at the entrance to Novice Village, watching him. She was clearly waiting for him. Although she had hidden the ID above her head and even covered her face with a veil, Ye Luo recognized her at once—Yan Hua Yi Leng.

His heart stirred, and Ye Luo walked over. Without waiting for Yan Hua Yi Leng to speak, he said directly, "Yue Er and the others contacted you so quickly? But how did you know I would come here? I never told Yue Er where I was going."

"Yue Er? Contacted me?" Her voice was as cold as ice from the netherworld, devoid of even a trace of emotion. Even her questioning tone sounded like a calm statement. Yan Hua Yi Leng lightly shook her head. "No one contacted me. I came to find you on my own."

This time, Ye Luo was the puzzled one. He looked at Yan Hua Yi Leng with interest. "Then how did you know I would definitely pass by here? Does Misty Pavilion have other people in Novice Village?"

As if she knew Ye Luo suspected that he had been watched, her tone remained unchanged. "No, no one was watching you. I merely calculated it. At this time, you should have arrived here."

"Calculated it?" Ye Luo was stunned, even more puzzled than before.