20: Yuan Shu is everywhere

As far as Lin Du knew, "Rule the World" was a force belonging to the Ning Family.

"Ning Zhi Tian Xia," ranked fourth on the level leaderboard, was likely Lin Du's cheap father-in-law, Ning Tianxiong.

There were at least tens of billions of players in Yunlong City, and the fact that Ning Tianxiong's level could rank fourth showed just how powerful the Ning Family was.

Besides the Ning Family and the Three Kingdoms, a faction called "Peak of the Forbidden City" also seemed very powerful.

The first, second, and tenth players on the level leaderboard were all from this faction, and the level of the first-ranked player was far ahead of the next nine.

"Interesting!"

"It seems Yunlong City is more complicated than I imagined."

The main city had three leaderboards, each with only ten spots.

After finishing with the level leaderboard, Lin Du checked the other lists.

[Weapon and Equipment Leaderboard]

1. Ancient Lingxu (Boots) — SSS-Rank Premium (Rating: 8585) — Yuan Shu

2. annihilation of the ten directions (Crossbow) — SSS-Rank Premium (Rating: 8466) — Hundred Flowers Withered

3. banished immortal (Sword) — SS-Rank Perfect (Rating: 8352) — Ember Eyes

4. King's Sorrow (Spear) — SS-Rank Premium (Rating: 7811) — Qilin Immortal Venerable

5. lonely soul startling silence blade (Blade) — SS-Rank Premium (Rating: 7755) — Ning Zhi Tian Xia

6. three thousand edges (Dagger) — SS-Rank Premium (Rating: 7641) — Nine Year Cicada

7. Dragon Head Nether Blade (Blade) — SS-Rank Premium (Rating: 7542) — Violent Aesthetics

8. Azure Cold Moon Armor (Armor) — SS-Rank Premium (Rating: 7499) — Qilin Immortal Venerable

9. Fangtian Huaji (Halberd) — SS-Rank Premium (Rating: 7489) — Lü Bu Riding a Donkey

10. God-Slaying Absolute Shadow Bow — SS-Rank Premium (Rating: 7322) — Dirty Sect Leader

The ten pieces of equipment on the weapon and equipment leaderboard were selected by universe ol based on their equipment ratings.

There were many factors affecting an equipment's rating, but there were two main determining factors.

One was the equipment's level, and the other was the equipment's quality.

To give a simple example, it was hard to compare the rating of a Level 10 SSS-Rank weapon with a Level 100 SS-Rank weapon.

For two identical Level 10 SSS-Rank weapons, the Perfect quality would have a much higher rating than the Premium quality.

It could be seen from the leaderboard that Perfect quality equipment was extremely rare, and the quality of mainstream equipment was basically at the Premium level.

After finishing with the weapon and equipment leaderboard, the last one left was the Spirit Beast leaderboard.

So-called Spirit Beasts were the babies and pets that players tamed during the game.

This leaderboard did not look at the Spirit Beast's level, but only at its aptitude and bloodline.

[Spirit Beast Leaderboard]

1. Nine Calamity Azure Dragon (SSS-Rank) — Rating: 8955 — Yuan Shu

2. Mystic Heaven Qilin (SSS-Rank) — Rating: 8766 — Qilin Immortal Venerable

3. Ice Flame Spirit Phoenix (SS-Rank) — Rating: 6989 — Ember Eyes

4. Sky Light Demon Tiger (SS-Rank) — Rating: 6322 — Violent Aesthetics

5. Evil Prison Three-Headed Flood Dragon (SS-Rank) — Rating: 6311 — Black Knight

6. Six-Tusked White Elephant (SS-Rank) — Rating: 6248 — Hong Jiu'er

7. Black Crystal Dragon Scale Beast (SS-Rank) — Rating: 6199 — Tony Tony

8. Purple Nether Star Wolf (SS-Rank) — Rating: 6178 — Zhang Fei Who Can Sing Karaoke

9. Silver Ring Blood Scale Bear (SS-Rank) — Rating: 6132 — Ning Zhi Tian Xia

10. Night Blade Spirit Leopard (SS-Rank) — Rating: 6099 — Nine Year Cicada

The rating gap on the Spirit Beast leaderboard was quite severe, with the first two SSS-Rank Spirit Beasts having ratings far higher than the subsequent SS-Rank Spirit Beasts.

As the chief designer of universe ol, Lin Du knew the power of SSS-Rank Spirit Beasts well; an SSS-Rank Spirit Beast of the same level could take on ten players of the 300 sequence.

Looking at the three leaderboards, Lin Du had a rough understanding of the strength of the Three Kingdoms and Yuan Shu.

Although Yuan Shu's level was not very high, the Spirit Beasts and equipment she possessed were top-tier, which was no wonder she could make the Ning Family so wary.

There was another name on the leaderboard that was quite conspicuous, attracting a lot of Lin Du's attention.

Ember Eyes!

This player's level was not on the leaderboard, but she possessed the only Perfect-quality equipment on the equipment leaderboard, as well as the third-ranked Spirit Beast on the Spirit Beast leaderboard.

This person's identity must be very unusual!

...

Beep, beep, beep —

Just as Lin Du was browsing the leaderboards, an in-game friend chat window suddenly popped up.

Since entering the game, Lin Du had only added one friend.

Shameless Cao Thief!

Lin Du clicked on the pop-up, and the video feed of Shameless Cao Thief appeared before his eyes.

Shameless Cao Thief's face showed uncontrollable excitement; he pretended to be calm, but the smugness in his eyes was already spilling over.

"Kid, you actually dared to lie to me!"

As soon as the video connected, Shameless Cao Thief immediately put on a stern face and accused Lin Du.

"Lie to you? When did I ever lie to you?" Lin Du frowned, feeling a bit confused.

The location of the halberd technique NPC he told Shameless Cao Thief, as well as the hidden tasks in the Novice Village, were all true, so where did the lie come from?

Shameless Cao Thief sneered, "Hmph! You said those two hidden tasks could raise a novice's level to 10, but after we experimented, we could only barely raise it to 9. Isn't that a lie?"

Listening to Shameless Cao Thief's words, Lin Du suddenly realized and had forgotten about this point.

The reason Lin Du himself could reach Level 10 was because of the existence of the heart of the goddess of luck. When fighting monsters and claiming quest rewards, the heart of the goddess of luck had triggered several times in a row, and Lin Du had received doubled experience rewards.

Ordinary novice players did not have the heart of the goddess of luck and indeed could not directly reach Level 10.

This was a small oversight on Lin Du's part.

Shameless Cao Thief originally wanted to take this opportunity to scare Lin Du properly, but thinking of the reward given by Yuan Shu, Shameless Cao Thief couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Hahaha, I'm not teasing you."

"Although the two hidden tasks you gave can't directly raise one to Level 10, the effect is also very good. Our boss appreciates you very much."

"Kid, are you interested in joining our Three Kingdoms?"

After returning yesterday, Shameless Cao Thief told Yuan Shu about the exclusive A-Rank halberd technique he received and the two hidden tasks. Yuan Shu also became interested after hearing about it.

The main purpose of Shameless Cao Thief video calling Lin Du today was to recruit Lin Du with Yuan Shu's order.

A top-tier force like the Three Kingdoms rarely took the initiative to recruit someone; Shameless Cao Thief was determined to succeed this time!!

Lin Du didn't expect that his trading for some "lifespan value" would actually attract recruitment from the top brass of the Three Kingdoms.

The Three Kingdoms might be very attractive to other players, but Lin Du was not interested. He had too many secrets on him to be constrained by any major force.

Freedom was what Lin Du pursued; he was destined to be a lone wolf in the future.

"Mr. Shameless Cao Thief, thank you for your regard!"

"I'm sorry, I don't have any plans to join any faction for the time being."

As soon as Lin Du said this, Shameless Cao Thief was stunned on the spot; he even vigorously picked at his ears.

"What did you just say? You don't want to join the Three Kingdoms?"

Lin Du nodded seriously.

Shameless Cao Thief narrowed his eyes, and an inexplicable look flashed in his eyes.

"Young man, maybe you have secrets, but can your secrets support you in reaching the peak step by step?"

"The profession you awakened is the weakest sequence, the Clown. Without a big tree to shade you, you will have a hard time moving forward in the future. I'm not alarmist!"

Shameless Cao Thief's expression became rare and serious.

Lin Du cupped his fists at Shameless Cao Thief and smiled: "I appreciate your kindness, but I don't have many pursuits. I'll just go wherever I end up in the future!"

After Lin Du refused again, Shameless Cao Thief stopped persuading him.

The Three Kingdoms had never recruited players after sequence 500. This time, Shameless Cao Thief coming out to recruit in person had already given enough face; there was no need to force it excessively.

Otherwise, it would lower the class and status of the Three Kingdoms.

"Since you don't want to join the Three Kingdoms, then forget it."

"If you have any good things to trade in the future, you can contact me at any time!"

After chatting briefly with Lin Du, Shameless Cao Thief hung up the video.

Lin Du firmly believed that there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. The Clown profession was too weak, and the Three Kingdoms recruiting him was nothing more than because of those secrets from before.

If he really joined the Three Kingdoms, then the word "freedom" would be out of the question.

Being constrained by the Ning Family in the Real World, and then being controlled by the Three Kingdoms in the game... then Lin Du could really just end it all.

...

Outside Yunlong City, at the entrance of the Heavenly Wolf Dungeon.

As a basic dungeon for Level 10 players, the Heavenly Wolf Dungeon was favored and sought after by players, and the entrance to the dungeon was crowded with players.

"I'm Level 13, I awakened the 525th sequence Red Flame Gunner, any brothers want to team up?"

"Professional team to clear in seconds, four waiting for one! Must be in the top 200 combat sequences, qualified players hurry and join!"

"Top-tier support looking to be carried, long-term cooperation or cp is possible, those with low combat power don't bother!"

"Renting high-quality B-Rank equipment, can easily clear the dungeon after wearing it, private message if interested!"

"Selling the most detailed guide for the Heavenly Wolf Dungeon, 20 days of 'lifespan value' per copy, easily helping you clear the level within five minutes!"

...

Where there were players, there were advertisements; the entrance to the Heavenly Wolf Dungeon was bustling with noise and excitement.

There were three rules for the Heavenly Wolf Dungeon.

1. No more than five people in a team.

2. Player level between 10 and 13.

3. Each player only has three chances to enter the dungeon per day.

A huge screen stood next to the entrance of the Heavenly Wolf Dungeon, on which the clearance time leaderboard for the Heavenly Wolf Dungeon was recorded.

1st Place: 4 minutes 12 seconds, Yuan Shu!

2nd Place: 4 minutes 29 seconds, Peak of the Forbidden City Team (Nine Year Cicada, Hong Jiu'er, Ling Chuan, Sickly Cute Princess, Flirting Princess)

3rd Place: 4 minutes 30 seconds, Ember Eyes

4th Place: 4 minutes 41 seconds, Dragon Slaying Team (Violent Aesthetics, Small-Eyed God, Immortal and Indestructible, Smiling Half-Step Crazy, Zhuyou)

...

There were many familiar names on the leaderboard, and some big shots had already shown their edge at low levels.

The current record holder of the Heavenly Wolf Dungeon was Yuan Shu!

Her achievement was rated as "unprecedented and unrepeatable," claimed to be impossible to surpass, after all, it was a full 17 seconds faster than the second place.

...