The night was dimly lit by faint stars.
A thin layer of mist enveloped the entire mountain range, giving it an eerie appearance.
Accompanied by the continuous roars of lions, after a full hour and a half, Chen Lang finally killed enough of the 22 Azure Lions. A flash of golden light enveloped him as he leveled up once more.
"Ding!"
"System Alert: Congratulations to the player for leveling up. You have received 5 Free Attribute Points. Keep up the good work!"
"Level 8!"
Chen Lang exhaled deeply and without hesitation, allocated all 5 Free Attribute Points to Strength, raising his attack power to 79-83.
At this stage, Chen Lang focused on increasing his attack. It wouldn't be until he reached level 10 that he would consider adding to Agility.
He picked up the two silver coins from the ground and checked the time.
It was not yet 10:30, so he could continue hunting for another hour or so.
As for the Minor Healing Potions, he had about a hundred left, more than enough for him to use liberally.
Chen Lang took a deep breath and continued his relentless grind!
...
"Bang!"
A few minutes later, another Azure Lion was taken down by Chen Lang, dropping three silver coins and a piece of blue armor.
"An equipment drop!"
Seeing this, Chen Lang was delighted. This was the first piece of equipment dropped by an Azure Lion!
He quickly picked up the chest armor, and its attributes appeared before him.
[Azure Lion Battle Armor] (Armor)
Grade: Black Iron-grade
Defense: +18
Health: +200
Required Level: 10...
"Fuck!"
Chen Lang cursed under his breath as he put away the armor, looking somewhat helpless.
It wasn't that the armor's attributes weren't good; in fact, they were excellent. But it was armor, and he couldn't equip it yet.
However, Chen Lang wasn't discouraged. He still had a long way to go before reaching level 10, and he might find some leather armor in the meantime.
"Ding!"
"System Announcement: Congratulations to player [Jianqi Jinglan] for successfully reaching level 10, becoming the first player in the China Region to reach level 10. Special rewards: Level +1, Luck +1, 10 Gold Coins." Read the latest chapters at novelping.com.
"System Announcement..."
At that moment, a system announcement echoed throughout the server, repeating three times, leaving everyone in shock, including Chen Lang.
"That Jianqi Jinglan again..."
Chen Lang looked at the floating red text in the sky, feeling a bit resigned.
He thought he was already quite powerful, but he had only just reached level 8, two levels behind the first place. The gap was significant.
Of course, as the first player to kill a Boss, Jianqi Jinglan's equipment must be top-notch, and he had been directly rewarded with a level increase and 10 Gold Coins at the time, so it was only natural for him to level up faster.
"It seems I really can't underestimate the people of this world..."
Chen Lang sighed softly, then gripped his dagger and charged towards the next Azure Lion.
He didn't want to fall too far behind...
The roars of lions echoed continuously through the dense forest, as Chen Lang relentlessly slaughtered, taking down one Azure Lion after another.
Soon, it was midnight.
Chen Lang had killed a total of 25 Azure Lions, but he hadn't yet reached level 9, still needing 2,500 experience points.
The experience bar from level 8 to 9 required 8,000 points. Chen Lang had gained 5,500 experience points from killing 25 Azure Lions.
Now that he was level 8, the experience gained from killing an Azure Lion had dropped to 220 points, and he needed to kill 12 more.
However, it was already midnight, and the experience gained from killing monsters had been halved, making it not worthwhile. Even if he fought through the night, it would be difficult to reach level 10.
With no other choice, Chen Lang reluctantly stopped and logged off at his current location, planning to continue the battle the next day.
...
Removing his helmet, Chen Lang exhaled deeply, got up, and went to the bathroom to take care of some personal needs.
"Beep beep beep..."
Returning to bed, Chen Lang opened his phone. In the WeChat group, Guan Suo and Chen Ming were chatting enthusiastically.
[Guan Suo: The twelve Commandery Cities in the China Region have refreshed. Which Commandery City should we develop in?]
[Chen Ming: I think Langya City. It's located in the eastern part of the Central Plains, surrounded by high-level monsters, and has abundant resources. It's a pretty good choice.]
[Guan Suo: I agree. After all, Qinghai City is in the east, and its geographical location is somewhat similar to Langya City. Most people in the local forum have chosen Langya City.]
[Chen Ming: Let's wait for Langzi to log off and see what he thinks.]
[Guan Suo: It's past midnight, why hasn't Langzi logged off yet?]
[Chen Lang: Just logged off, let me take a look first.]
Chen Lang replied and then opened the Tianyan official website, where the announcement of the twelve Commandery Cities update was prominently displayed.
With players reaching level 10, the twelve Commandery Cities in the China Region had also been updated, namely:
[Beiyuan City] [Donglai City] [Nan'an City] [Xihuang City]
The first eight cities were located in the Central Plains, albeit somewhat scattered, while the latter four cities were situated at the far edges of the China Region, relatively remote.
Of course, each of the twelve Commandery Cities had its own advantages, such as additional experience bonuses for killing monsters, increased drop rates, or the ability to directly learn production skills, and so on...
However, relatively speaking, the bonuses in the four border cities were slightly greater, as fewer people chose to go there due to their remote locations.
Chen Lang briefly reviewed the situation of each city and felt they were all similar, with no particular city he was eager to go to.
"Beep!"
[Chen Ming: Langzi, have you made up your mind? As far as I know, Linjia Xiaotong is also planning to go to Langya City, so think about it!]
In the WeChat group, Chen Ming sent a message that left Chen Lang a bit confused.
Chen Lang had some impression of Linjia Xiaotong. If he remembered correctly, she was ranked third on the Qinghai City level leaderboard.
But what did Linjia Xiaotong going to Langya City have to do with him...
[Guan Suo: Who is Linjia Xiaotong?]
[Chen Ming: She's the top goddess of Qinghai University, Lin Tong, ID Linjia Xiaotong, one of the representatives of Qinghai City, currently ranked first on the Qinghai City level leaderboard, and the leader of "Snowfield."]
(Snowfield: A faction composed of student players from Qinghai University, led by Lin Tong.)
[Guan Suo: Wait, isn't Langzi the first?]
[Chen Ming: Langzi just got bumped down to second...]
[Chen Lang: What does her going there have to do with me? (Speechless)]
[Chen Ming: Langzi, you might not know, but your goddess Nan Xi and Linjia Xiaotong are besties, so... (Smirk)]
[Chen Lang: That still has nothing to do with me. (Rolls eyes)]
Chen Lang closed the WeChat group and casually opened the Qinghai City level leaderboard. Sure enough, he had dropped to second place, with Linjia Xiaotong now at the top.
[Hey, Mingzi, do you know Nan Xi's ID?]
Chen Lang hesitated for a moment and couldn't help but ask in the WeChat group.
[Chen Ming: Haha, of course I know!]
[Nan Xi, ID Luo Xi, currently ranked ninth on the Qinghai City level leaderboard. (Smirk)]
[Chen Lang: Your information is really up-to-date.]
[Chen Ming: Of course, it's all over the forums, full of gossip. Don't you guys browse them?]
[Chen Lang: No wonder you're only level 5.]
[Chen Ming:...]