June 20th, the third day since Tianyan launched.
Morning.
5:30 AM.
Chen Lang got up on time, feeling completely refreshed.
The game helmet of Tianyan has a brainwave calming function, and more than four hours of sleep was entirely sufficient.
Chen Lang washed up briefly, then went downstairs for breakfast.
Two fried dough sticks, a bowl of tofu pudding, plus a tea egg, all for a total of 8 yuan, quite economical.
After breakfast, Chen Lang didn't rush back but instead went to the Small Park across the street for some exercise.
It was early summer now, and although it wasn't yet six o'clock, the sky was already bright. The park wasn't empty, mostly filled with older folks, with very few young people around.
Chen Lang did a dozen pull-ups, strolled around for a bit, and then returned upstairs.
"Hurry up, hurry up, you said you wouldn't come, yet here you are. It's all your fault, our team leader is waiting for me!"
"Hehe, just waking you up a bit!"
As Chen Lang stepped out of the elevator, he ran into the young couple from next door. The girl was complaining to her boyfriend, but upon seeing Chen Lang, they quickly fell silent.
Chen Lang glanced at them. They were dressed casually, the young man in a vest, shorts, and slippers, his hair a mess, while the girl wore a small camisole and hot pants, her face flushed with a hint of spring—clearly the two of them had just finished a round in bed.
Chen Lang was already used to this. He nodded at them and then opened his door and went inside.
"Honey, do you think he's playing Tianyan too?"
"I don't know, maybe!"
"Then he must be pretty good, right? Oh, wasn't his girlfriend on the promotional poster?"
"Who knows..."
The conversation outside gradually faded as Chen Lang lingered at the door for a moment, then returned to his room.
After a quick shower, Chen Lang lay on the bed, ready to dive back into the game.
"Beep!"
Just then, his phone on the nightstand buzzed with a message in the WeChat group.
Chen Lang frowned, picked up his phone, and saw it was a message from Chen Ming, a video link titled: "Tianyan's First Solo Boss Kill!"
Seeing the title, Chen Lang's eyes lit up, and he opened the video.
In the video, a swordsman was battling a Giant Blood Spider, the two locked in fierce combat.
To Chen Lang's surprise, the Giant Blood Spider was a level 10 Boss.
In the video, Jianqi Jinglan fought relentlessly with the Giant Blood Spider, his reaction speed incredibly fast, his movements smooth as silk, repeatedly dodging the spider's attacks. His strikes were precise, hitting the spider's weak points almost every time, with terrifying numbers constantly popping up.
"Is it possible to play like this?"
Jianqi Jinglan's stunning maneuvers left Chen Lang in awe. It wasn't a simple back-and-forth fight but a near-realistic battle, so real it hardly seemed like a game.
Jianqi Jinglan almost always attacked from the Giant Blood Spider's blind spots, making it extremely uncomfortable.
Although Chen Lang's reaction speed was also quick, his movements were far from as smooth as Jianqi Jinglan's, and his strikes lacked that level of precision and sharpness, a significant gap...
Clearly, Jianqi Jinglan's skills had reached an impressive level, leaving people in awe.
The battle between the man and the beast lasted a full half-hour. In the end, Jianqi Jinglan unsurprisingly slew the giant spider, smoothly leveling up to 10, becoming the first player in the China Region to reach level 10, once again appearing on the system announcement.
"Looks like I have a long way to go..."
Chen Lang took a deep breath, his eyes filled with excitement.
If someone could perform at this level, he believed he could too!
Then, Chen Lang picked up his helmet, put it on, and eagerly entered the game.
...
Swish!
With a flash of white light, Chen Lang reappeared in the mountains.
The morning light spilled over the forested hills, lush and vibrant, the scenery breathtakingly beautiful.
Azure Lions roamed around, and from afar came the occasional roar, mixed with the shouts and curses of players.
Overnight, the area was no longer peaceful, with players forming teams to come here. However, the numbers were not large, scattered with about twenty people.
Chen Lang pondered for a moment, choosing not to start killing monsters but instead heading straight into the depths of the mountains.
Even small monsters have drop rates, and the more they are refreshed, the lower the drop rate. He didn't want to follow others and pick up scraps.
Half an hour later, Chen Lang crossed a hill and arrived on the other side of Eastwind Ridge.
Although there were fewer Azure Lions here than in front of the mountain, there were no players, which suited Chen Lang just fine.
Without hesitation, Chen Lang drew his dagger and attacked the nearest Azure Lion.
This time, however, he didn't choose to fight the Azure Lion head-on but instead kept moving and counterattacking.
Though this method was slower for killing monsters, it allowed him to hone his movement and combat awareness.
Chen Lang firmly believed that every expert was not made overnight but honed bit by bit.
Of course, part of the reason was that the top three reaching level 10 had already been confirmed, so even if he reached level 10, there would be no rewards. Therefore, Chen Lang was not in a hurry to kill monsters.
Roars echoed continuously, and in Chen Lang's mind, the image of Jianqi Jinglan appeared as he kept trying various maneuvers and movements.
As time went on, Chen Lang's movements and strikes became increasingly fluid. Although he couldn't reach Jianqi Jinglan's level, he was much smoother than before.
In the end, Chen Lang could even handle the siege of three Azure Lions with ease, a significant improvement!
Two hours later, Chen Lang successfully reached level 9, just one step away from leaving the Novice Village!
However, the experience required from level 9 to 10 had increased to 10,000, and each Azure Lion now only gave 200 experience points, meaning he needed to kill a total of 50 Azure Lions to level up.
This was a massive task, one that couldn't be completed in less than four or five hours.
Of course, Chen Lang wasn't in a hurry. He was immersed in this state, the video of Jianqi Jinglan providing him with great inspiration, as if opening another door.
Time passed unknowingly, and soon another three hours had gone by, bringing Chen Lang closer to the level 10 milestone.
"Plop!"
Just after killing the thirty-seventh Azure Lion, another piece of equipment finally dropped.
It was a dung-colored helmet, somewhat similar to Guan Suo's game helmet.
Chen Lang was delighted, quickly picking up the helmet.
[Azure Lion Battle Helm] (Leather Armor)
Quality: Black Iron-grade
Defense: +15
Constitution: +8
Required Level: 10...
"It's leather armor!"
Chen Lang let out a long breath, relieved that it wasn't armor this time, or he would have been really frustrated.
Although the attributes of this battle helm were slightly inferior to the chest armor, it was still quite good, adding 8 points to constitution, a nice piece of equipment.
Chen Lang happily put away the helmet and then checked the time, realizing it was already noon.
"I'll finish lunch first."
Chen Lang hesitated for a moment, finally deciding to finish lunch first.
He only needed a little over 3,000 experience points to level up to 10, which would take about two hours, so there was no rush.
"Roar—"
Just as Chen Lang was about to log off on the spot, a low roar suddenly came from the distant forest, causing all the Azure Lions around to crouch down...