More than an hour later, before the Wild Bee King could grow its wings for the sixtieth time, Lu Yang killed it with a Fireball, sending it crashing to the ground.
Looking at the Wild Bee King's half-grown wings, Lu Yang let out a long breath. Killing a boss without enough mana was still too troublesome. He needed to find a way to complete his equipment set first.
Picking up the equipment it had dropped, Lu Yang checked the attributes:
Wild Bee Longbow (Silver-grade)
Attack 6–18
Strength +3
Constitution +2
Physical damage increased by 4 points
This was the top hunter equipment in the beginner village and could be used all the way to the level 8 dungeon. The other two items were a Pig Iron Ring (Black Iron) and Black Crystal Bracers (Black Iron-grade).
He hadn't expected another pair of mage bracers to drop. With this, Lu Yang now had bracers, a ring, a cloak, and a staff. All that remained were standard pieces like armor, shoulder guards, and leg guards, which could only be obtained from dungeons.
Checking the time, he saw it was already six in the morning. Lu Yang used his Hearthstone to return to St. Gall City and headed for the eastern plaza.
Because the eastern plaza had plenty of open space, it had naturally become a player market for setting up stalls. After an afternoon and a night of playing, many players had found items and were preparing to trade with others at the market.
Lu Yang casually found a spot and set up his stall.
Not long after, when two human players passed by Lu Yang's stall, a female player's frantic cry threw the entire Holy City into an uproar.
"Ahhh... Black Iron equipment... Silver equipment... There's actually this much?"
"Where? Where are the Black Iron and Silver equipment?" More than one player rushed over at the sound.
At this stage, people were already proud to own a single Bronze item. Most players were selling basic cooking ingredients and various life-skill materials.
"Tch, it's probably just hype. Even the leader of our Blood Battle guild doesn't have a single Black Iron item, much less Silver. What are you yelling for?"
"Fuck, they really are Black Iron and Silver equipment. Damn, look at those attributes. Hurry and message the guild leader. Tell him to get here now, or they'll be gone."
"I already sent him screenshots. The guild leader and the others are on their way."
Not everyone was skeptical. Some bored players approached out of curiosity, and once they opened the stall interface and saw Lu Yang's equipment, they were rendered incoherent.
Then, more and more people gathered.
Lu Yang had known this would happen. In his previous life, it wasn't until the morning of the third day that Xiong Ba of the Heavenly Overlord guild had used over a hundred level 8 players to slowly wear down the Wild Wolf King and obtain the first Silver item.
"Brother, will you sell that Ox-Horn Dagger for five silver coins? If you will, I'll pay right now."
"How much is this Focus Staff? I want to buy it for my girlfriend."
The surprise eventually passed, and some players who had recovered began asking about prices. Lu Yang merely smiled without answering, then marked the prices and placed them on his stall.
When they saw the prices, the crowd erupted again.
"The Ox-Horn Dagger costs two gold coins? That's robbery! I don't even have two silver coins on me."
One gold coin was equal to one hundred silver coins, so two gold coins meant two hundred silver coins.
"You've got to be kidding. A Black Iron Helmet costs three gold coins? Who can afford that?"
Lu Yang's prices drove everyone to despair. Just as the players cried out in shock, a furious shout came from the noisy crowd. "Move! Stop blocking the way."
Hearing that voice, everyone shuddered and hurriedly turned around. A player dressed as a thief pushed through the crowd and walked up to Lu Yang, surrounded by more than twenty other players.
The thief looked down at Lu Yang, who was sitting on the ground, and said with a ferocious gaze, "Kid, I'm taking all your stuff."
Lu Yang knew this thief. His name was Black Blood, an infamous gaming thug in his previous life and a gangster in real life as well. During a nationwide crackdown, he had formed a guild with over a hundred underlings, then recruited more than five thousand people online to enter the game. With his shameless thug tactics, he bullied others by relying on his numbers. Later, he attracted a large group of bastards like himself and formed a small guild with tens of thousands of members.
When Lu Yang had first established his guild in his previous life, he had suffered quite a bit at Black Blood's hands. Although he later took revenge with the Demon God's Heart, that did not mean Lu Yang could be friends with him. In his previous life, Lu Yang had personally destroyed Black Blood's guild, and the two had become mortal enemies.
"Sure. One hundred gold coins," Lu Yang said.
"Kid, are you looking to die? You dare ask us for money?" Black Blood's men swarmed forward and surrounded Lu Yang.
"Do you believe we'll kill you?"
"My brothers and I have five thousand people. You dare haggle with our boss?"
"You'd better not leave the safe zone again. We'll kill you every time we see you."
"Beat him to death."
The vicious expressions on more than twenty faces filled the ordinary players nearby with fear. They hurriedly backed away from the circle to avoid getting caught up in it.
"This player is done for. Even if he doesn't want to sell his equipment, he'll have to," someone whispered.
"Yeah. We ran into Black Blood yesterday afternoon. He doesn't listen to reason at all."
"What are we supposed to do?"
At the center, Lu Yang had lowered his head, his fists pressed beneath his chin as though he had suffered a terrible blow.
Black Blood was very satisfied with his men's performance. Feeling the time was right, he walked up to Lu Yang and arrogantly said, "I'll give you two choices. Either hand over the items, and I'll count them as your membership fee for joining my guild's elite group, or I'll kill you until you can't leave the safe zone. Kid, think it over carefully."
This was his usual tactic for collecting debts, but he had forgotten that this was a game.
Without even raising his head, Lu Yang calmly spat out one word. "Fuck off."
"What?" Black Blood glared at Lu Yang and cursed, "Say that again?"
Lu Yang raised his head and looked Black Blood in the eye, his gaze icy as he said, "I told you to fuck off. Didn't you hear me?"
Black Blood's men were stunned. They had never expected anyone to dare speak to Black Blood like that. If this had been reality, Black Blood would have had someone beat him into a cripple long ago. The more than twenty of them were so shocked that they had yet to react and start cursing Lu Yang.
The surrounding players were stunned as well. Just how much of a bastard was Black Blood?
On the first day after entering the game, he had already caused a sensation among players by killing people indiscriminately. The players he killed wanted revenge, but after learning that their opponent was the leader of a guild with more than five thousand members, they could only swallow their anger. Lu Yang dared provoke someone like that, and the surrounding players could not help worrying for him.
Just then, a cold snort came from behind the crowd. Everyone turned and saw a group of players filing in.
The man at the front sneered. "Black Blood, you're still as shameless as ever. Do you think this is the street outside your house, where you can collect protection fees whenever you want?"
Lu Yang knew this man. He was Xiong Ba Fengyun, the guild leader of Supreme Dynasty and one of the ten great warlords of the national server in his previous life. Although he was domineering, he was very trustworthy. Even many people who had grudges against Xiong Ba respected his character.
When Black Blood saw Xiong Ba, a wary expression appeared on his face. Compared to Xiong Ba's guild of thirty thousand members, Black Blood's five thousand people were nothing.
"Xiong Ba, what do you mean by this?" Black Blood asked, putting on a fierce front despite his inner weakness.
"Of course, I'm here to buy things. Friend, I'll buy everything you have. Give me a fair price." Xiong Ba ignored Black Blood and walked straight over to Lu Yang.
Just as Lu Yang was about to speak, an aged voice suddenly came from his left.
"Hold on."
Lu Yang turned his head and saw another group of players approaching from his left. The leader wore a faint smile and looked around sixty years old, his face full of kind and benevolent features.
"Brother Xiong Ba, what a coincidence. This old man happens to be in need of a Two-Handed Greatsword as well. Why not do me a favor this once and let me have that weapon?"
Lu Yang knew this old man too. He was the chairman of one of the world's top five hundred companies, a player born in the 1980s. Though he was old, he loved games dearly. When Virtual Helmets were finally released, he handed his business over to his son and entered the game with one hundred million Credit Points. With the money at his disposal and the support of a group of esports experts born in the 1980s and 1990s, he quickly made a name for himself. Later, he became one of the ten great warlords of the national server, known as the Smiling Fox.
The old man's name was Old Twilight, but no one should be fooled by his name or appearance. Though he was over sixty, he looked more like a middle-aged man in his forties, and his muscles were even more solid than those of young men. His appearance in the game had been deliberately made uglier to lower his enemies' guard. That alone showed how cunning he was.
Xiong Ba was very wary of the old man. When their guilds had previously recruited online, the two had clashed once. While competing for a gaming expert, Xiong Ba had suffered a hidden loss.
Xiong Ba frowned and said, "Old fox, I'm getting this weapon no matter what."
Before you continue