15: Attack distance doubled, special rules of Black Sand City

“Boom!”

Several Fireballs smashed into a purple wolf-shaped monster, easily a person’s height.

The monster didn’t even have time to whimper before it turned into a charred corpse.

Ye Xiao looked at the hundred or so charred corpses around him and nodded in satisfaction.

After leaving the Professionals Hall, Ye Xiao immediately rushed towards Black Sand City.

He had been traveling for most of the day.

Along the way, besides encountering a few scattered lone monsters, he hadn't seen a single person.

However, just as Ye Xiao was about to reach Black Sand City, he encountered a pack of level 35 Purple Secluded Demonic Wolves.

If it were an ordinary newcomer, encountering a pack of over a hundred Purple Secluded Demonic Wolves would surely make them feel their scalp tingle and turn to flee.

But Ye Xiao naturally had nothing to fear. After a few rounds of Fireball, these Purple Secluded Demonic Wolves were completely incinerated.

It must be said, the effect of the exquisite gem was indeed powerful.

If Ye Xiao hadn’t upgraded Fireball four times, dealing with this pack of demonic wolves wouldn’t have been so easy.

Sure enough, he still needed to find a way to get more exquisite gems as soon as possible.

Next, Ye Xiao went forward and searched the area.

Relying on his extremely high drop rate, the hundred or so Purple Secluded Demonic Wolves contributed a total of 20 Skill Stone.

After a thorough inspection, Ye Xiao was somewhat surprised.

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【Wolf Eye (Normal): Upon learning, your skill attack range increases by 10 yards】

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Ye Xiao hadn't expected it to be a passive skill that increased attack range.

And all 20 of them were the same skill.

Of course, this Wolf Eye only increased the attack range by 10 yards and also occupied one slot in the Skill Bar.

For ordinary people, it was utterly useless.

Its only use was probably for synthesis.

However, Ye Xiao, with his Infinite Skill Bar, naturally wouldn’t dislike it.

He learned all of them in one go.

As expected, just like the skills he had learned before, the passive effect of Wolf Eye stacked directly.

Ye Xiao’s Fireball had an initial attack range of 100 yards.

And now, it had directly increased to 300 yards, a threefold increase.

Ye Xiao was a little excited.

The appearance of Wolf Eye gave him an idea.

If he had the chance, he could completely stack his skill attack range to infinity.

That way, future enemies wouldn’t even see his silhouette before being met with an overwhelming barrage of various skills.

Just thinking about that scene made Ye Xiao unable to help but get excited.

After learning 20 Wolf Eye skills, Ye Xiao’s Intelligence increased by 20 points, and his maximum Health also rose by 4000 points.

He glanced at his stats.

His Health had already reached 93,840, and he was only about thirty more Skill Stone away from the 100,000 mark.

Next, Ye Xiao kept hoping to encounter Purple Secluded Demonic Wolves again.

Unfortunately, until he arrived outside Black Sand City, he didn’t even encounter a single hair, let alone Purple Secluded Demonic Wolves.

Ye Xiao was a bit helpless.

The encounter rate in the wilderness was simply too low.

However, he didn't dwell on it. The most pressing matter was to complete the first-tier advancement quest as soon as possible.

Thinking this, Ye Xiao walked into Black Sand City.

Everywhere he looked, there was a desolate, decaying scene.

If it weren’t for the conversations of passersby, Ye Xiao would have thought he had come to the wrong place, even though he was certain this was Black Sand City.

What was called a city here was actually just the size of a village.

According to past introductions in school, Black Sand City was indeed a small village a hundred years ago.

Later, due to the war that broke out between humans and NPCs, the NPCs here were almost completely slaughtered.

The place gradually became desolate.

However, this situation did not last too long.

Later, with the sudden appearance of the wilderness boss, Calamity Herald, in Black Sand City, to prevent this wilderness boss from running wild and attacking innocent newcomers, many civilian legions spontaneously sent people to maintain the security of this area.

This continued for decades.

To express gratitude for the efforts of these civilian organizations, Professionals who passed through Black Sand City would later spontaneously donate a small amount of eternal coins as a token of their appreciation.

“Have you heard? The Black Tiger Legion and the Silver Dragon Legion are in a standoff in Blackwater Canyon.”

“Hey! This time of year is always the liveliest in our Black Sand City.”

“You’re right. Every year at this time, the big families start making arrangements in advance for their young disciples to get the advancement tokens for their first-tier promotion quest.”

“I wonder who will be the first to complete the first-tier this year.”

“I guess it should be Bai Xiaoxiao from the Bai family. After all, she’s an SSS-grade Talent Awakener, and her profession is a Sacred Priest of the Holy system. I have a cousin who’s a guard for Bai Xiaoxiao, and I heard that an hour ago, Bai Xiaoxiao also reached level twenty.”

“That fast? So, Bai Xiaoxiao will be level 30 in just one more day.”

“Sure enough, having resources and background makes a difference. It’s truly enviable.”

“But besides Bai Xiaoxiao, several other families in our region also produced some newcomers with excellent Talents this year, so the top spot is really hard to say.”

“That’s true, but I just don’t know which Novice Realm Night Shadow, who previously achieved an SSS-grade rating in the Novice Realm, belongs to. I wonder if he’ll have a chance to claim the title of the first Transcendent.”

“Hey! That depends on whether he has a powerful force backing him. If not, no matter how strong he is, this first-tier advancement quest could hold him back for a long time.”

“You’re right. Alright, enough talk. Let’s go watch the show.”

…Watching the two leave in a hurry, Ye Xiao was deep in thought.

It seems this first-tier quest isn’t that easy to complete.

Thinking this, he came to Blackwater Canyon behind Black Sand City.

He was also curious about the legions he had just heard about.

However, the next second, a figure blocked his path.

“Non-members of the three major legions must pay 1000 eternal coins to enter the canyon.”

At the entrance of Blackwater Canyon, Ye Xiao was slightly stunned as he looked at the Professional reaching out for money, then he looked up at the slightly bustling figures above.

After a few seconds of contemplation, he took out 1000 eternal coins and handed them over.

This money was dropped after he killed Zhao Xue earlier.

It wasn’t much, a total of 20,000 eternal coins.

Ye Xiao didn't feel too bad spending it.

His goal was the Calamity Herald, so he naturally didn’t want to get entangled with these people.

He thought it was just a small interlude.

However, he had just reached halfway up the mountain when Ye Xiao was stopped again by another Professional dressed differently.

“To go up, 1000 eternal coins.”

This time, Ye Xiao’s brow furrowed unconsciously.

“Didn’t I just pay?”

Upon hearing this, the Professional sneered contemptuously.

“That guy is from the Black Tiger Legion. They set up a roadblock there. It’s your business if you want to give it to them, but to go up, you must pay us, the Silver Dragon Legion.”

The Professional blocking the way said unhurriedly.

Ye Xiao nodded after hearing it, then took out another 1000 eternal coins.

After receiving it, the Professional blocking the way gestured inside with a nod.

“Go on up.”

Ye Xiao gave the other party a deep look, then continued forward.

However, what he never expected was that just as he was about to reach the depths of the canyon, he was stopped again.

This time, however, it was a female Professional who blocked him.

Before the other party could speak, Ye Xiao raised an eyebrow and asked, “Are you also going to collect money?”

The woman couldn’t help but chuckle, covering her mouth.

“New here? You’re quite sensible. Not bad. If you want to go in, first pay 1000 eternal coins.”

Ye Xiao also laughed upon hearing this.

“Tell me about the ins and outs of this place.”

The woman, not being polite, said carelessly, “In Black Sand City, the Golden Phoenix Legion is the true ruler. Those two, the Black Tiger Legion and the Silver Dragon Legion, are newcomers. Everything here belongs to the Golden Phoenix Legion, so of course, you have to pay to enter.”

Ye Xiao: “Since you are the rulers, do you just let those two set up checkpoints privately?”

The woman rolled her eyes at Ye Xiao.

“Our leader only cares about protecting this place, and all her energy is focused on staking out the Calamity Herald. She doesn’t have time to deal with these trivial matters.”

Ye Xiao: “Oh? No time to deal with trivial matters, but you have time to collect money here?”

The woman’s expression suddenly changed, and her voice turned cold.

“Do you dare question our leader?”

However, instead of getting angry, Ye Xiao took out 1000 eternal coins and handed them over.

Seeing Ye Xiao so obedient, the woman’s anger subsided slightly.

After taking the 1000 eternal coins, she snorted coldly.

“It’s a good thing you met me. If any of my other sisters were here and heard you speak ill of our leader, they wouldn’t let you off so easily.”

“Go on in.”

Ye Xiao smiled and didn’t reply.

He walked straight in.

He had certainly had his eyes opened today.

From the bottom of the canyon to its depths, a distance of less than 1 kilometer, he was charged a toll three times in a row.

At this moment, he finally believed what the textbooks said about people spontaneously donating eternal coins to thank the legion organizations guarding this place; it turned out to be true.

But thinking about it, it wasn’t surprising.

Newcomers in their Novice Realm who wanted to complete the first-tier advancement quest would inevitably need to obtain an advancement token from the Calamity Herald.

Being able to monopolize the Calamity Herald’s quest was a considerable income.

Anyone with a bit of strength wouldn’t possibly let such a juicy piece of meat go uneaten.

And just as Ye Xiao had thought, when he arrived at the depths of Blackwater Canyon, which was the Calamity Herald’s spawn point, people had already gathered around.

“Kid, you look unfamiliar. Where are you from?”

Ye Xiao said calmly, “I was entrusted by someone to come and get a quest token.”

The person wasn’t angry upon hearing this; instead, he was overjoyed and said, “So you’re a client! My apologies for my poor attitude just now.”

Without waiting for Ye Xiao to reply, the person continued, “You’ve come at just the right time. Tomorrow’s boss belongs to our Black Tiger Legion. Do you want someone to help you fight, or do you want to buy it directly?”

“What’s the difference?” Ye Xiao asked curiously.

The person smiled and began to explain.

“For assistance, it depends on how many people you want. Our Black Tiger Legion’s prices are fair and just, and all our members are veterans with extremely high efficiency. As for the price, it’s 2000 eternal coins per person. Based on our past experience, just five people can safely kite the boss to death.”

Hearing this, Ye Xiao was somewhat surprised.

Although the Calamity Herald was only level 30, it was still a boss.

Could it really be handled by just 5 people?

At this point, the person continued, “Of course, killing the boss doesn’t guarantee a token drop every time; it purely depends on luck.”

“If you don’t want that much trouble, you can also pre-order directly from us, but the price will be a bit higher, costing 30,000 eternal coins.”

“So, which one do you choose?”

To be honest, this price wasn’t too expensive.

Every school provides welfare to newcomers before they enter the Eternal World.

That money was entirely enough for the first-tier advancement.

However, Yun Province alone had seven to eight million awakeners this year.

Calculating this way, just this first-tier BOSS could bring in tens of millions of eternal coins in income.

Not to mention the tolls.

It truly was a huge profit.

Of course, not everyone among these seven to eight million people received the same first-tier quest.

But after decades of summation, the probability of being assigned the Calamity Herald was still quite high.

And through the actions of these people, Ye Xiao could easily guess that even if one received other first-tier advancement quests, it would likely be a similar scenario to Black Sand City, just with potentially different prices.

Moreover, it had become the norm in the Eternal World, tacitly accepted by everyone.

But this didn't mean it should be accepted.

At least, Ye Xiao didn't want to spend that money.

Because he was very poor.

Furthermore, he had absolute confidence in his own strength.

If he couldn’t even take down a mere first-tier boss, wouldn’t his god-tier Talent be wasted?

Thinking this, Ye Xiao smiled and said, “What if I don’t want either of those options?”

“Don’t want them?” The person was stunned for a moment, then frowned and said, “Besides these two methods, we don’t offer any others.”

Just then, someone rushed over from the side.

Then he laughed loudly and said, “Chen Hu, he must have already heard about our Silver Dragon Legion’s reputation and doesn’t want to choose your Black Tiger Legion. Haven’t you understood what he means yet?”

Chen Hu’s expression changed, and he angrily said, “Zhang Tian, are you trying to steal my business?”

At this moment, Zhang Tian had already arrived in front of Chen Hu, looking at him disdainfully.

“Idiot, he must think your people aren’t skilled enough and doesn’t want to choose you. How is that stealing business? If you don’t believe me, ask him yourself.”

Chen Hu snorted coldly, turned around, and was about to ask.

“Huh? Where is he?”

Zhang Tian also realized at this moment that Ye Xiao had disappeared at some point… As soon as Zhang Tian appeared, Ye Xiao had already left.

The Eternal World was not a place to reason.

He didn’t expect his few words to make these people let him pass.

Since that was the case, he was too lazy to waste words and left directly.

However, Ye Xiao’s direction of departure was not out of the canyon.

Instead, he avoided the crowd and came to a high ground.

Ye Xiao looked around. It was very secluded.

But directly below was the Secluded Pool in the depths of the canyon. Roughly speaking, the distance between them was about 250 meters.

It was perfectly within Ye Xiao’s Fireball attack range.

At this moment, the advantage of a long attack range was fully demonstrated.

The people below would never have thought that someone could attack the Secluded Pool below from this high ground.

That Secluded Pool was the Calamity Herald’s spawn point.

Don’t ask why Ye Xiao knew.

At this moment, it was already surrounded by many people.

Even a fool would know what was going on.

At this moment, Ye Xiao couldn't help but feel fortunate that he had obtained 20 Wolf Eye Skill Stone earlier.

Otherwise, directly confronting these legions would be somewhat troublesome.

As for paying money?

Ye Xiao would never pay.

Moreover, he had already planned to find an opportunity to make them spit out the three thousand eternal coins he had just given, doubled.

Just like the hooligans who robbed Bai Xiaoxiao back then.