Red Leaf Forest was made up of beautiful maple groves, where level 5 monsters roamed. It was an absolute no-go zone for players below level 3. Even Shi Feng, now level 1, was no match for level 5 monsters.
Yet Shi Feng ran into Red Leaf Forest without hesitation, carefully making his way deeper into the woods.
Every so often, he spotted level 5 Forest Wolves patrolling the area and looking around. Shi Feng was only level 1, and if he didn't keep a safe distance, the wolves' keen sense of smell would give him away.
A level 5 Forest Wolf had 400 HP and a powerful attack. It could kill Shi Feng, who had only 120 HP, in two bites.
Shi Feng had no choice but to quietly avoid the wolves and take a detour.
Besides Forest Wolves, the forest was also home to adorable, good-natured bear cubs. They rolled around on the grass, looking silly and sweet, but were actually fierce. Though they were also level 5, bears were even more troublesome for melee fighters. Their high HP and defense made them exhausting to fight.
Shi Feng had just used the trees to get around a bear cub when he heard a wolf howl behind him.
"Damn, a wolf den!" Even the usually composed Shi Feng couldn't help exclaiming.
Even in his previous life, Red Leaf Forest had been a popular place for level 4 and 5 players to hunt in groups. It wasn't just the abundance of monsters; the forest also dropped plenty of good things, such as skill books, leatherworking materials, and equipment. It was also rich in herbs and ores for gathering. But players could easily get wiped out there, and one of the dangers was the wolf dens.
Wolf dens were extremely well-hidden and hard to find. If players came too close to a den's territory, even for a moment, a pack of Forest Wolves would pounce on them. There might be as few as three to five wolves or as many as six to eight. They were practically a party-wipe trap.
As a reincarnated player, Shi Feng was terribly unlucky. Seven Forest Wolves charged out at once. A tender morsel like him wouldn't be enough to go around.
The Forest Wolves were fast, but Shi Feng wasn't slow, either. He had put all his attribute points into Agility, giving him a movement speed of 6—fast as the wind. Still, he was only a level 1 Swordsman, and even with all his points in Agility, he was slower than the wolves.
With the wolves about to catch him, Shi Feng couldn't afford to worry about anything else. He activated the life-saving skill Gravity Liberation.
His body suddenly felt as light as a feather, and his speed surged. He quickly left the Forest Wolves behind, racing away like a shooting star.
They were only low-level monsters, after all. Once he got far enough away, they gave up the chase, and Shi Feng escaped with his life.
More than ten minutes later, Shi Feng reached a rugged mountain range. Several mountains, each over a hundred meters tall, rose from the center of Red Leaf Forest. Clouds and mist swirled around their peaks, making them look like a heavenly paradise.
"I finally made it."
Shi Feng gazed at the towering mountains and looked around. After spotting a small waterfall, he headed toward it.
In his previous life, players had already reached level 20 or higher. With their high attributes, they could do many things that low-level players couldn't, so they loved exploring all kinds of places in God's Domain. The Central Mountain Range in Red Leaf Forest was one such famous location. The Shadow Studio had sent a team of Assassins to investigate the mountain.
They hadn't expected to find a treasure trove. The mountain was full of rare ores, rare herbs, and treasure chests. At its peak sat a Mithril Treasure Chest.
Treasure chests could be found in many hidden places in the wilderness of God's Domain, waiting for adventurous players to discover them. Their contents varied widely, from a few copper coins to Dark Gold Equipment.
Treasure chests came in several grades: Common, Bronze, Iron, Mithril, Gold, and Dark Gold. Even a common chest could yield loot comparable to that of an Elite monster, let alone a Mithril-grade chest.
That Mithril Treasure Chest had made Shadow Studio famous in White River City and helped it build up considerable wealth in the early game.
The Mithril Treasure Chest contained not only equipment but also an alchemy recipe and a Forging Blueprint.
In the early stages of God's Domain, the drop rate for alchemy recipes was less than one in ten thousand, let alone forging blueprints. Forging could produce Bronze Equipment, which players needed more than anything else. As a result, the drop rate for blueprints was even lower. With these items, making money would be easy.
Shi Feng was counting on this to earn 16,000 Credit Points in ten days. Naturally, he wasn't about to leave it to Shadow Studio. Low-level players had less than 40 Agility and hadn't unlocked the hidden basic skill Wall Walking, so they couldn't climb cliffs or mountains. The Central Mountain Range had no path leading to the summit; the only way up was to climb.
Shi Feng didn't have 40 Agility, but he had the Gravity Ring. With its power, he could climb all the same.
With Gravity Liberation active, Shi Feng climbed with ease, scaling five meters in just a few moves.
With only five seconds left before Gravity Liberation wore off, Shi Feng found a clear spot to rest and wait for the Gravity Ring's cooldown.
Before he could sit down, the cliff face suddenly shook, and a Rock Giant appeared with a series of roars.
Rock Giant, Common Monster, Level 5, HP 550.
"Here already."
Shi Feng had been prepared for this. As the Rock Giant approached, he pulled a Burst Berry from his bag and hurled it at the creature's feet. Orange, sticky juice splattered across the ground.
The Rock Giant was a level 5 monster with powerful attacks, massive HP, and high defense. However, it was sluggish, with a slow attack speed and even slower turning and movement. With 20 Agility, a player could run circles around it. Many Assassins liked these dumb monsters; they could kill them easily without losing a single HP.
Shi Feng didn't have 20 Agility, but he had Burst Berries. Their effect covered a 3-by-3-yard area, reducing movement speed by 30% and turning speed by 70% for one minute. They were a godsend against clumsy monsters. Two months after God's Domain launched, many players would use this method to kill sluggish, high-level monsters. But such monsters were extremely rare, so players couldn't rely on them to level up all the time.
Thanks to the Burst Berry, the Rock Giant's movement speed plummeted.
Shi Feng drew his Novice Sword and rushed behind the Rock Giant, striking it with a slash.
The Rock Giant took 3 damage. Compared to its 550 HP, that was negligible. On top of that, it recovered 1% of its HP every five seconds, or 5.5 HP per five seconds. It would be hard to kill in a minute.
After Shi Feng attacked it once, the Rock Giant tried to turn and strike back. But it was already extremely slow at turning, and now its turning speed had been reduced by 70%. It became even more sluggish. Shi Feng hit it with two more normal attacks, then used Slash. A string of damage numbers appeared: -3, -3, -6.
Because of the level difference, Slash wasn't very effective. But since the Rock Giant was four levels higher, the skill gained extra proficiency, and thanks to the Swordsman's talent, Slash's proficiency increased by 3 points at once.
This was definitely a great place to raise skill proficiency.
The Rock Giant finally managed to turn and face Shi Feng, but Shi Feng didn't give it a chance. He circled behind it again and continued attacking.
Wind Thunder Flash!
A flash of lightning struck, dealing 4 damage. Another followed, dealing 5, and the final one dealt 7.
All three lightning strikes hit, and Wind Thunder Flash's proficiency rose by 3 points at once.
Then Shi Feng landed several more sword strikes.
A string of -4, -4, and -4 appeared. Each sword strike dealt one more damage than before, and together the extra damage added up. Wind Thunder Flash's follow-up effect was extremely powerful. Although the increased damage lasted only 15 seconds, it greatly sped up the kill, allowing Shi Feng to finish the fight within a minute and save his precious Burst Berries.
The Rock Giant had plenty of HP and hit hard, but it couldn't land a blow on Shi Feng. It had become a training dummy, giving Shi Feng experience and skill proficiency.
Skill proficiency didn't increase every time a skill was used. Against monsters of the same level, there was a 20% chance to gain 1 point. Against monsters one level higher, the chance was 40%; two levels higher, 70%; three levels higher, 100%; four levels higher, 150%; and five levels higher, 200%. The chance continued to increase beyond that, up to a maximum of 1,000%.
Shi Feng was killing level 5 Rock Giants, so his skill proficiency increased several times faster than other players'.
In less than a minute, the Rock Giant finally fell.
System: For killing a level 5 Rock Giant while 4 levels lower, experience gained increased by 400%. You received 120 experience.
Shi Feng's experience bar jumped forward. He needed only 880 more experience to reach level 2. In other words, he just had to kill eight more Rock Giants to level up.
The Central Mountain Range was an excellent place to level up and find treasures. Unfortunately, people wouldn't discover it for another two months.
After killing the Rock Giant, Shi Feng searched its body and found a piece of Bronze Ore, a material used to craft Bronze Equipment, as well as a hard stone. Then he searched the clearing and soon found a rare herb, a Bailing Flower—the main ingredient for a Basic Recovery Potion.
As soon as he approached it, another Rock Giant appeared. He threw out another Burst Berry.
Wind Thunder Flash!
Slash!
Soon, he had another hard stone, 120 experience, and a large amount of skill proficiency.
The Gravity Ring's cooldown was over, so Shi Feng continued climbing.
He searched for rare herbs and killed Rock Giants along the way.
When the eighth Rock Giant fell, Shi Feng reached level 2. He put all his attribute points into Agility, bringing it to 16—just 4 points short of unlocking Agile Swiftness. Slash's proficiency reached 300. Upon reaching level 2, the next level required 600 proficiency, its bonus damage increased to 12, and its cooldown was reduced by one second.
If other players knew about this leveling speed, they would probably go mad. It took five or six hours to go from level 0 to level 1, let alone the seven or eight hours it took to go from level 1 to level 2. But Shi Feng had reached level 2 in less than twenty minutes. His leveling speed was like a rocket.
Shi Feng went to the Rock Giant and searched its body again.
"Not bad luck. I actually got a piece of equipment." Shi Feng found a piece of cloth armor and felt a little disappointed.
Gorgeous Cloth Garment, Common Equipment, Level 4, Defense +3, +10 Magic, Durability 20/20.
But God's Domain had only just launched, and equipment drop rates were extremely low. Even common equipment was rare, let alone a level 4 common item. Someone would definitely pay a high price for it.
Shi Feng put away the equipment and was about to continue climbing when he spotted a cave not far ahead.
He walked over to take a look, and his heart suddenly raced.
A gigantic Rock Giant was sleeping inside the cave. Its rocky body wasn't the usual dark gray, but silvery white.
Shuoluosi, Special Elite, Level 6, HP 900.
A Special Elite was more powerful than an Elite. A six-player team could take down an Elite of the same level, but it took at least twelve or even fifteen players to kill a same-level Special Elite. In other words, the Shuoluosi before him would take fifteen level 6 players working together to kill.
Shi Feng didn't hesitate. He charged forward and used Wind Thunder Flash, lightning streaking across Shuoluosi's massive body one strike after another.
-1, -2, -3 damage numbers appeared above Shuoluosi's head.