129: Leaving the city

To Xu Shian, this [Pet Skill] looked pretty good all around... there were quite a few types and a large quantity available!

For tank-type pets, one could choose between skills like [Taunt] or [Thick Hide].

Combat-type pets could use [Mangle], [Swipe]... while magic-output pets could use attacks like [Chain Lightning] or [Lightning Bolt].

Healing types had skills like [Healing Touch] and [Regrowth]... and control types even had options like [Frost Nova] and [Entangling Roots]!

However, the effects were a bit underwhelming, essentially being neutered versions of the standard skills.

Moreover, for Xu Shian, he wasn't lacking in skill slots at all!

He spent the money to grab [Pet Skill] directly! Then, as long as it was a Pet Skill that could be slotted in, Shian basically learned them all once.

No other issues—it was just incredibly expensive!

Currently, Shian had Summon Grizzly Bear for defense, Summon Crow for utility, and the six slots from Contract Summoning for when it was time to fight!

One could say he was prepared for anyone!

But as the saying goes, having too many skills is never a burden, and he wasn't lacking for a single skill slot anyway.

It didn't matter if he learned them and didn't use them; the real headache would be needing them and not having them at a critical moment!

Learn them!

After he finished learning, he felt that this skill was indeed obscenely expensive!

The base cost to learn the [Pet Skill] category was 100 gold coins, and then each sub-skill cost 20 gold coins!

Shian learned 12 sub-skills! In total, he spent 340 gold!

It could only be described as outrageously expensive!

Next, Shian went to the Machinery Workshop to learn Intermediate Engineering, and then to the Alchemy Laboratory for Intermediate Alchemy.

The routine in these two places was basically the same as at the Summoner Association.

Blueprints weren't taught; they could only be exchanged using contribution points earned from tasks!

Even if there was nothing going on, they would arrange a daily quest to keep you busy... although the contribution points weren't much, every little bit helped, and it was better than nothing!

As for Mining and Herbalism... Shian had selectively forgotten them!

He hadn't even maxed out the beginner levels for these two skills... more importantly, he found that no new players had arrived in the main city yet, which meant there were no such goods listed on the Auction House.

However, in the city's Ore Workshop, one could buy ore just by spending money.

Supposedly, as long as one didn't buy too much at once, the price remained basically unchanged!

And herbs... Qixia Town was built in the Lanmeng Basin, right next to the Red Maple Forest.

There were countless herb gardens nearby, and some low-level herbs could be bought for as little as 2 copper coins... he knew all too well the destructive power players had over prices when they acted as the 'Fourth Calamity'.

So Shian quickly bought a massive amount of the herbs he needed... truly a massive amount, spending nearly three thousand gold on various necessary herbs!

Then he had Wu Lun send them all into the Emerald Dream.

With those things finished, only the most important [Fishing] remained!

At first, Shian also thought this was just an ordinary B-rank talent!

He hadn't believed the claim that it could connect to the myriad heavens!

But later, with the increase in pills and the appearance of the Guild Order, Shian had to take this skill more seriously!

Unfortunately, restricted by the Novice Village, this skill could only be raised to around 50, after which it would no longer progress!

Fortunately, 50 was enough to learn and upgrade it to Intermediate!

After paying 5 gold to join the [Anglers Association], Shian was already immune to these various exorbitant taxes.

He mechanically went through the procedures and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's go! Time to go Fishing!"

Wu Lun followed Shian; their Fishing gear had now been completely upgraded!

The two of them each held a fishing rod, followed by a bewildered Ben Boer Ba!

Do you guys even see what you're doing?

You're going Fishing right in front of a fish?

How about I just hook myself and let you catch me?

Ignoring whatever complaints Ben Boer Ba had in his heart as he followed behind,

Shian and Wu Lun set off with great enthusiasm.

Although there was a river flowing through the city, the map indicated that once they left the north gate of Qixia Town, they would be in the Red Maple Forest.

Stepping out of the city gate meant leaving the safe zone!

In fact, in myriad realms online, there were no safe zones in the absolute sense.

As long as someone was determined to break the rules, there was no such thing as a safe zone.

However, wild mobs wouldn't spawn within city limits... at least most of the time. But once they stepped outside the city's reach, the number of wild mobs increased significantly.

Perhaps because Shian took the wrong direction out of the gate, as soon as he walked out, he was met head-on by a Level 15 mob!

[Lightning Wind Serpent]

[Beast]

[Level: 15]

[Health: 4400]

[Mana: 5000]

[Physical Attack: 300]

[Magic Attack: 500]

[physical defense: 90]

[magic defense: 90]

[Strength: 150]

[Agility: 180]

[Constitution: 220]

[Spirit: 250]

[Lightning Breath: Shoots a Chain Lightning from its mouth, dealing 300% magic damage to the target and jumping to seven subsequent targets, with damage decreasing by 20% per jump; Mana Cost: 300, Cooldown: 15 seconds]

[Tail Whip: The Wind Serpent's tail strikes the target like a whip, dealing 300% physical damage; Cooldown: 7 seconds, requires melee range!]

[Hurricane Breath: The Wind Serpent exhales a whirlwind that controls the enemy for 3 seconds, dealing 80% magic damage per second; during the duration, the target cannot move or cast spells!]

...Shian looked at the Wind Serpent's attributes, feeling a bit uncertain!

Was this a racial difference, or the vast disparity between the main city and the Novice Village?

He proceeded to check the attributes of several other types of wild mobs.

Level 15 to 18 Elemental creatures, [Phantom Maple Demon]!

Level 16 to 20 Beasts, [Steel-Beaked Red-Feathered Sparrow]!

Then he rode his horse to the East Gate to check the Level 11 and 12 mobs... Shian summarized his findings!

First of all, after Level 10, these wild mobs had definitely received an epic-tier buff.

Setting everything else aside, a Level 11 common mob had a total attribute count of around 600 points!

Depending on the type and race, some were proficient in Strength while others focused on Spirit, but if you added their total attributes together, they were basically all at 600 points... Furthermore, for every level higher a mob was, their total attributes increased by roughly 50 points!

Points were also allocated to specific areas based on their own needs.

Another difference was reflected in their skills; the mobs here in the main city basically all had three skills!

(Setting for main city mobs: for future minions that aren't particularly noteworthy, I won't waste word count on this! Basically, seeing the level and tier will give you a good idea of their strength!)

Shian recorded all this surveyed data, intending to post it on the guild Forum later to give them a bit of a wake-up call!

Want to slack off?

Go ahead and slack; in the Novice Village, there are welfare mobs like Wild Rabbits and Irritable Wild Chickens for you to hunt, allowing you to maintain a living without starving.

But once you reach the main city, you won't even be able to survive without some strength... and that 'won't be able to survive' is literal. With the prices in the main city being so ridiculous, Shian felt that ordinary players would truly struggle just to stay alive!

In one go, he summoned all the minions he could!

With [Pigsy] leading the team, coordinated with [Frost Fang] and the six newly caught level five Boar-men... although they could level up in the Emerald Dream, the team still needed to build synergy... Of course, Shian didn't forget the level one [Big Bear] and [Second Bear]!

Even though they were only level one, they were summons with six equipment slots... combined with Shian's own ultra-high attributes... if nothing else, taking down that [Lightning Wind Serpent] solo would be a breeze.

Shian spent a long time picking and choosing, and finally managed to gather twelve pieces of equipment for these two brothers!

Two Silver Tier shields, one for each bear.

Ten pieces of equipment that boosted various attributes were also arranged... soon, they were armed to the teeth.

Shian looked at the team before him, quite satisfied.

The only fly in the ointment was Ink Shadow and Night Pupil; because of the large number of [Steel-Beaked Red-Feathered Sparrows] around, they were a bit hesitant to scout further out... these two... really did need a buff!