Successive Notifications

The sudden system notification caught Ye Luo off guard. He had some impression of Dongfang Mingzhu; when he had checked the level rankings that morning, he had seen that she was the third-ranked expert. He had not expected her to complete the Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission and take up a Hidden Profession as well.

"Ice and Snow Mage... From the name, it sounds like the Ice Spirit Archer. It should also excel at control and come with ice-element attacks." Ye Luo muttered. Then, recalling something, he frowned slightly. "Dongfang Mingzhu, Dongfang... Could she be a member of the Dongfang Family?"

"Yes, she is from the Dongfang Family." Yan Hua Yi Leng's calm voice rang out as she attacked the Bamboo Viper. "She is very strong and highly accomplished in magic. Now that she has taken up a Hidden Profession, she is probably even more powerful."

"So she really is from the Dongfang Family." At the mention of the Dongfang Family, Ye Luo's grip on his iron sword tightened, and the cold gleam in his eyes grew even sharper.

"Based on what I know of Dongfang Mingzhu, her control is about on par with yours right now. If her equipment is even slightly better and she has a few more skills, you would have less than a thirty percent chance of winning against her." Seeing Ye Luo frown, Yan Hua Yi Leng changed her tone. "Of course, if you can get close to her, she would also have less than a thirty percent chance of defeating you."

"So my chances against her aren't very high." Ye Luo spoke calmly. Having witnessed how overpowered Hidden Professions were, and knowing that mages were ranged classes, he understood that Yan Hua Yi Leng's words made sense.

"It is just a matter of class advantage. Before acquiring something like a knight's Charge skill, swordsmen do not have good odds against mages head-on. They may even be killed before they can get close. Of course, once a swordsman closes in, with a swordsman's high burst damage and a mage's health, it only takes a few slashes." Yan Hua Yi Leng calmly analyzed the characteristics of swordsmen and mages. "If I am not mistaken, your equipment is better than Dongfang Mingzhu's right now, but her skills should be stronger. If the two of you fought, your odds would be about even."

"Even with equipment this strong, I would only be evenly matched with her. It seems there is quite a gap between ordinary classes and Hidden Professions." Ye Luo pondered this, becoming even more eager to complete his own Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission.

Ding!

System Notification (China): Congratulations to Ru Ying Sui Xing for completing the Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission and successfully taking up the assassin-class Hidden Profession—Phantom Assassin. This announcement is hereby made. He has been specially awarded a General Skill Book, 1 Skill Point, and 100 Reputation.

"Oh, another person has completed the Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission. Ru Ying Sui Xing... He is also an expert on the level rankings." Ye Luo murmured to himself. "Phantom Assassin. It sounds like a very formidable class, probably much stronger than an ordinary assassin."

"I do not know whether that class is strong, but I do know that Ru Ying Sui Xing is an expert on the Celebrity Ranking. He is also a professional killer in the online gaming world, and he is very formidable." Yan Hua Yi Leng saw Ye Luo's unconcerned expression and continued. "Back then, one of Ru Ying Sui Xing's friends was bullied by a mid-sized guild. He camped near that guild for three days by himself, killing anyone from that guild. After three days, none of that guild's members could leave their base for ten thousand meters. It was said that he killed over a thousand people by himself, and he only stopped after that guild's leader personally apologized."

At the end, Yan Hua Yi Leng added, "That guild had nearly ten thousand members. Now do you understand how formidable he was?"

"Guarding a guild alone for three days... Tsk, tsk, that guy was certainly domineering." Ye Luo was quite impressed. Then he looked at Yan Hua Yi Leng. "Yan Hua, where does he rank on the Celebrity Ranking? What about the Killer Ranking?"

"Seventy-eighth on the Celebrity Ranking and third on the Killer Ranking," Yan Hua Yi Leng answered without hesitation. Then she changed her tone. "Also, if he fought Sister Feng head-on, he would definitely lose. But if it were an assassination, Sister Feng would also find it difficult to escape him."

"What rank is Sister Feng on the Celebrity Ranking?" Ye Luo did not have a clear sense of the outcome if the two fought, but he was curious about Misty Pavilion's guild leader's ranking on the Celebrity Ranking.

"Twenty-seventh." Yan Hua Yi Leng answered indifferently. Seeing Ye Luo's confusion, she explained, "Getting onto the Celebrity Ranking does not depend solely on personal strength. There are other factors, such as influence and contributions to the online gaming world. Sister Feng is the master of Misty Pavilion, and Misty Pavilion is one of the nation's top ten guilds. Its influence is enormous, so Sister Feng ranks much higher."

"So that was how it worked." Ye Luo finally understood. Then he looked at Yan Hua Yi Leng with great curiosity. "Yan Hua, what about you? What is your rank on the Celebrity Ranking?"

"Thirty-sixth." Yan Hua Yi Leng did not hide it. Then she changed her tone. "But my strength should rank quite low among those on the Celebrity Ranking, at least below fiftieth place. I made the list because of my command ability."

"No way. With your almost computer-like calculating ability, your combat power is actually below fiftieth place?!" Ye Luo's face was full of disbelief.

"When it comes to combat, calculation alone is not enough. To a great extent, it also depends on a person's talent and instincts—combat talent and combat instincts." Yan Hua Yi Leng muttered to herself, "An elder once told me that it was precisely because I excelled at precise calculations that my combat instincts could not be fully brought out. Sister Feng said the same thing."

When it came to combat techniques, Ye Luo had the most say. He naturally knew how important those instinctive reactions were once a battle began. They might even be much faster than a computer's calculations.

"Yes, that makes a lot of sense." Ye Luo nodded.

"But things should be somewhat different now. I have taken up a Hidden Profession, and it is the Hidden Profession most suitable for me." A faint glint appeared in Yan Hua Yi Leng's eyes. "I believe that with my powerful calculating ability, I will have a chance to defeat those battle maniacs, such as Sister Feng."

"Haha, battle maniacs." Ye Luo laughed loudly. Then he asked curiously, "I would like to spar with her if I get the chance. Not in real life, though. It would only be interesting in the game."

"With equal equipment, equal classes, and equal skills, your chance of defeating Sister Feng right now is less than thirty percent." Yan Hua Yi Leng did not wait for Ye Luo to speak before continuing, "Because you still have not completely adapted to the combat techniques in the game, and you cannot bring out all your combat power."

Ye Luo frowned slightly. He knew Yan Hua Yi Leng was right.

"I have been in the game for a while now, and I have been thinking about this problem. But something always feels off, and I still do not know what is wrong." Ye Luo looked at Yan Hua Yi Leng. "Yan Hua, can you see anything?"

"I can see that your attacks are still somewhat uncoordinated, but I cannot help you adjust them." Yan Hua Yi Leng was blunt. "Combat techniques are best when they suit you. Others cannot help you much. Even the strongest person on the Celebrity Ranking can only give you some advice; the specifics still depend on yourself."

Knowing that Yan Hua Yi Leng was right, Ye Luo nodded. "I will have to slowly figure it out myself. I have only been in the game for one day. It is normal that I cannot completely integrate real-life combat techniques into the game yet."

Yan Hua Yi Leng nodded and said nothing more, continuing to kill monsters.

After killing monsters for so long, Ye Luo and his group had gathered quite a bit of Bamboo Viper venom. Taking an opportunity, they refined Rotten Skin Powder again. Out of one or two hundred batches, they produced more than ten portions of mutated Rotten Skin Powder:

Rotten Skin Powder*Mutated (Tier 3-4 Medicinal Powder)

Pill Effect: Coats a weapon with poison. Attacking a target poisons it, causing it to lose 50 Health per second. It also reduces the target's overall defense by 20% and eliminates Health Recovery Speed for 10 seconds.

Duration: Thirty minutes.

Usage Restriction: Cannot be stacked.

The mutated Rotten Skin Powder was a Tier 3 to Tier 4 medicine. It greatly increased the rate at which targets lost health, and more importantly, it could weaken a target's overall defense and Health Recovery Speed. It was practically a miraculous monster-killing medicine in the early stages of the game.

Although they had refined some mutated Rotten Skin Powder, Ye Luo and Yan Hua Yi Leng could not bear to use it on ordinary monsters. They planned to save it for when they encountered a powerful boss.

Ding!

System Notification (China): Congratulations to Yi Nian Cheng Yao for completing the Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission and successfully taking up the knight-class Hidden Profession—Holy Knight. This announcement is hereby made. He has been specially awarded a General Skill Book, 1 Skill Point, and 100 Reputation.

Ding!

System Notification (China): Congratulations to Nü Er Hong for completing the Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission and successfully taking up the priest-class Hidden Profession—Holy Priest. This announcement is hereby made. She has been specially awarded a General Skill Book, 1 Skill Point, and 100 Reputation.

Two more system notifications rang out. Two more people had completed the Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission and taken up Hidden Professions.

"Why have another two people completed the Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission? In less than half an hour, four people have taken up Hidden Professions. Are Hidden Professions as common as cabbages?" Ye Luo looked at Yan Hua Yi Leng with tightly furrowed brows. "How did all of you complete the Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission so easily, while I do not even have a clue?"

"I have mission prompts. I just need to follow them step by step." Yan Hua Yi Leng looked at Ye Luo, her tone faintly puzzled. "But your Trial Mission has no prompts at all. You do not even know how to trigger it. That is a little strange. Could this be the Trial Mission for having all base attributes at 1 point?"

"Could the game system be deliberately messing with me?" Ye Luo said indignantly. However, Yan Hua Yi Leng ignored him, as she was currently communicating with someone.

A moment later, Yan Hua Yi Leng closed her communicator. Seeing Ye Luo's thoughtful expression, she did not hide it. "I told Sister Feng about your Trial Mission and asked her to ask Yi Nian Cheng Yao, Nü Er Hong, and the others how they completed the Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission. Perhaps it will give us some inspiration."

"Then thank you." Ye Luo gave a bitter smile. "Honestly, this mission has already given me a headache. Right now, I would rather go kill a level 100 monster than keep knowing nothing about this game."

"Going to kill a level 100 monster right now would be no different from going to one's death. Besides, there do not seem to be monsters like that in the Novice Village." Yan Hua Yi Leng saw Ye Luo's helpless expression and frowned slightly, her tone becoming faintly unusual. "Do not worry. When something is abnormal, there must be something strange behind it. Perhaps this will turn out to be a good thing for you."

Ye Luo smiled bitterly again. "I hope so."