Bronze Grade

After running for over ten minutes, he finally returned to Jinling City. Once inside, he discovered that during the six hours he had slept, the city had filled with players.

Looks like I can start making money. Feels like ages since I last earned anything. I'll turn in the quest first.

Wu Shaozhen headed straight to the City Lord's Manor, only to be stopped by the soldiers at the entrance.

"The City Lord's Manor is a restricted area. Unauthorized personnel are forbidden from entering."

Pretty high and mighty. Wu Shaozhen had no choice but to explain why he had come and take out the letter. A soldier hurried inside to report his arrival, then soon returned to escort him in.

When he reached the main hall, Wu Shaozhen saw a stern-looking middle-aged man seated at the head of the hall and knew he had to be the city lord.

"I heard you encountered Jirui. How is he doing?" The city lord immediately stepped down and asked when he saw Wu Shaozhen.

"I'm sorry, but he's dead. Before he died, he gave me this letter and asked me to deliver it to you." Wu Shaozhen handed the letter to the city lord.

"Ah, it's all my fault. I sent them out without properly investigating the enemy's strength." The city lord blamed himself, then took the letter Wu Shaozhen had handed him and read it carefully.

After reading it, the city lord clenched both fists, anger showing on his face. Only after a long moment did he say, "Adventurer, thank you for bringing back this letter. Here is your reward."

"Ding! Quest completed. Congratulations! You received reputation +200 and gold coins +20."

Oh? Twenty gold coins? Not bad for a quest. All I did was deliver a letter, and I got twenty gold coins. This city lord is really generous, Wu Shaozhen thought with delight.

He had been about to leave, but seeing that the city lord still looked troubled, an idea struck him. "City lord, have you run into some difficult problem? Is there anything I can do to help?"

The city lord glanced at Wu Shaozhen, his eyes lighting up before quickly dimming again. "There is indeed a troublesome matter, but your current strength isn't enough to handle it."

"It's all right, city lord. You don't have a solution right now anyway, do you? Why not let me try? Don't worry, I'm very strong, and we adventurers don't truly die." Wu Shaozhen made one last attempt to persuade him. He felt certain this quest was no ordinary one.

Clearly, Wu Shaozhen's words had worked. After considering it for a while, the city lord said, "Very well. There really is no better candidate available at present, so I'll leave this matter to you. But if it proves impossible, let it go. I'll find another way then."

"Ding! The city lord of Jinling City has issued you a quest. Quest objective: go to Black Wind Stronghold, kill the Chief of Black Wind Stronghold, and bring his head back to the city lord. Time limit: 3 days. Quest reward: unknown!"

The Chief of Black Wind Stronghold sounds pretty tough. And the reward is unknown again. Does he have no faith in me? Wu Shaozhen wondered, then asked, "City lord, how strong is this Chief of Black Wind Stronghold?"

"Level 20, Silver Realm!" the city lord said gravely.

"Huh?" Wu Shaozhen was a little stunned. Had he just dug his own grave? A level 20 Silver boss-he didn't need to think about it to know he couldn't beat him with his current strength.

Forget it. Since I've accepted, I'll go meet this chief. Where else would I normally find a Silver boss? Besides, I have three days. If I can't beat him, I'll just build up my strength first, Wu Shaozhen thought.

"Then I'll be off, city lord. Wait for my good news," Wu Shaozhen said in farewell.

"All right. Be careful!"

After leaving the City Lord's Manor, Wu Shaozhen headed straight to the War God Hall. Quite a few players were still inside. The War God Secret Realm was a solo challenge, but multiple players could enter at the same time; they simply wouldn't encounter one another inside. Those standing in the War God Hall now were bored players reading about the War God's deeds.

He walked straight to the swirling portal of the War God Secret Realm...

"Ding! Would you like to challenge the War God Secret Realm?"

"Yes."

The swirling portal opened, and Wu Shaozhen stepped inside. The scene shifted, and he appeared in a separate space. Soon, a phantom carrying a massive axe materialized a short distance ahead.

[War God Phantom] Bronze Grade

Level: 13

Health: 250000

Physical attack: 700

Physical defense: 300

Spell defense: 150

Movement speed: 80

Skill 1: Heavy Slash: swings the massive axe down in a fierce chop, dealing 170% physical damage to the target. Cooldown: 20 seconds.

Skill 2: Horizontal Cleave: sweeps the massive axe in a full circle, dealing 155% physical damage to all enemies within 1 meter. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Skill 3: Block: uses the massive axe to block the next attack. Cooldown: 5 seconds.

This guy's stats rivaled the Black Bear King's. Fortunately, his skills had no crowd control effects. His damage was pretty fierce, but he wouldn't be much trouble. Wu Shaozhen activated Extreme Speed, rushed in, and landed two sword strikes, then took a basic attack and easily backed away.

He activated Stealth, thinking it would make things easier, but to his surprise, this guy could see straight through it. Apparently, he wouldn't be allowed to slack off. Fortunately, the War God Phantom's skills had very short range. As long as he only struck twice each time, he only had to take one basic attack or skill hit, leaving him in little danger.

Just like that, after a little over eight minutes, the War God Phantom fell to the ground. A moment later, Wu Shaozhen was teleported out.

"Ding! Congratulations on successfully completing the challenge. Your realm has advanced to Bronze Grade. You received all attributes +20 and 20 free attribute points. [War God Medal] upgraded from Black Iron Grade to Bronze Grade. As the first player to reach Bronze Grade, you received a system reward: free attribute points +20."

That feels great. Advancing my realm really does give the biggest boost to my strength. He checked his free attribute points. Together with the points he hadn't allocated from his previous two level-ups, he had a full 60 free attribute points.

After some thought, he put 20 points into agility and 40 into bone root. He still needed to build up his defenses. His agility was already very high, and none of the monsters he currently encountered could come close to his speed, not even bosses. He glanced at the upgraded [War God Medal]. It boosted all attributes by a full 20%, which was insane. He checked his stats again:

Name: Dustseal

Realm: Bronze Grade

Level: 13

Health: 2708

Mana: 540

Physical attack: 263

Spell attack: 84

Physical defense: 246

Spell defense: 216

Movement speed: 258

Attack speed: 54%

Critical hit rate: 10%

Experience: 29710/50000

Strength: 57 + 20% = 68

Intelligence: 35 + 20% = 42

Constitution: 86 + 20% = 103

Bone root: 130 + 20% = 156

Spirit: 35 + 20% = 42

Agility: 174 + 20% = 208

Talent: 260 poison damage, stacks up to 3 times

Immortal Body: increases maximum health by 318.

Equipment:

Weapon: [Wooden Sword] Starter equipment: attack +2

Helmet: [Wolf King Helmet] Black Iron Grade: health +200, defense +10. Bonus attribute: constitution +6

Armor: [Boar King Armor] Black Iron Grade: health +100, defense +10. Bonus attribute: constitution +8

Legs: [Bear King Legguards] Black Iron Grade: health +300, physical defense +20, spell defense +10. Bonus attribute: constitution +12

Belt: [Silver Wolf King Belt] Bronze Grade: health +300, both defenses +20. Bonus attributes: constitution +10, bone root +10

Boots: [Black Bear King Boots] Bronze Grade: movement speed +50, physical defense +30, spell defense +30. Bonus attributes: agility +18, bone root +15

Necklace: [Silver Wolf King Necklace] Bronze Grade: attack +25, critical hit rate +10%, luck +3. Bonus attributes: strength +10, agility +8

Left bracelet: [Silver Wolf Bracelet] Plain: health +20, attack +12, attack speed +1%

Right bracelet: [Bear King Bracelet] Black Iron Grade: physical attack +50, attack speed +6%. Bonus attribute: agility +12

Left ring: [Toad Ring] Plain: health +20, physical attack +8, attack speed +1%

Right ring: [Silver Wolf King Ring] Bronze Grade: health +100, attack +30, attack speed +5%. Bonus attributes: strength +12, constitution +10