“What are you making all that noise for? Keep it up, and every one of you will stand in the hallway as punishment!”
Homeroom teacher Chen Cuixia strode into the classroom and slammed her right hand down on the podium.
The entire class fell silent in an instant.
Chen Cuixia’s eyes swept over the students. When her gaze landed on Sun Jinhao, the stern expression on her face thawed at once.
A rare smile appeared on her face, though even Lin Ye could tell it looked somewhat forced.
“Although you were still completely lawless during morning study, there is one thing worth celebrating today.”
“Through his own efforts, along with a little bit of luck, Sun Jinhao has successfully unlocked a supernatural skill. He has taken the first step toward becoming a professional!”
“Your teacher is very pleased! Everyone should learn from Sun Jinhao! The college entrance exams are just around the corner. This is the attitude you should have!”
“There won’t be any regular classes today, and there probably won’t be many more from here on out. You may form parties and go out to train, but be sure to stay safe!”
Faced with such rare praise, the corners of Sun Jinhao’s mouth curled into a smile.
He basked in the envious—and even jealous—gazes of the people around him.
Feng Yuanshan rolled his eyes from his seat and muttered under his breath, “He just got lucky. And she calls that hard work? The homeroom teacher’s just another snob!”
He then nudged Lin Ye with his elbow and whispered, “Ye, how about we go level up too? We may not have supernatural abilities, but my old man left me some good stuff.”
“Next week’s practical dungeon training doesn’t allow parties. We’ll have to enter alone, and there have been accidents in previous years.”
“I heard the monsters around Golden Coast aren’t too vicious. As long as we know our limits, we shouldn’t get hurt. We need to reach at least Level 3 before we can really go out and train. Even if we can’t clear the place, we should at least be able to make it out alive.”
…
Half an hour later, at Feng Yuanshan’s home.
“Ye, what do you think? Do I look handsome?”
Feng Yuanshan stood in the middle of the living room wearing a set of black-iron armor.
The armor was obviously the wrong size, making him look incredibly bulky. One eye slit was set higher than the other, giving his entire appearance a comical look.
Feng Yuanshan slapped his breastplate, producing a dull metallic clang. “This is my grandfather’s family heirloom! Our Feng family once had its glory days. My grandfather was a genuine second-tier knight!”
Lin Ye chuckled. “Passed down through three generations, huh? The men die, but the armor lives on?”
“Get lost!” Feng Yuanshan cursed with a laugh.
He removed his helmet and began taking off the breastplate, then shoved it into Lin Ye’s arms. “It’s a little heavy, but the defense is absolutely reliable. Don’t say I never look after my brothers—this breastplate is yours.”
As he spoke, he removed the armor from his right leg and right arm and handed those over as well.
“You can have these two too. We’ll split the set between us.”
Seeing the strange look in Lin Ye’s eyes, Feng Yuanshan added, “That’s all I can give you. The helmet has to stay with me. This design is way too cool.”
Lin Ye was speechless.
What was supposed to be cool about it?
He never would have guessed that the “good stuff” Feng Yuanshan had mentioned would turn out to be a full suit of knight’s armor.
And he had even come up with the brilliant idea of splitting it between them.
Holding the heavy breastplate in his arms, Lin Ye immediately handed it back. “I really can’t wear this. You should keep it.”
Feng Yuanshan had been forced to train his physique from a young age because his grandfather was a professional.
As a result, he was solidly built, and wearing the full suit of armor did not affect his mobility too much.
But Lin Ye found the breastplate absurdly heavy just from holding it in his arms.
Seeing that Lin Ye was determined, Feng Yuanshan did not press the matter.
He turned around, rummaged through a few things, and placed them in front of Lin Ye.
It was a yellowed paper scroll and three bottles of red potion.
“If you won’t wear the armor, then you have to take these.”
“I’ll keep one Return Scroll and one red potion for myself. You get everything else! Once we reach the training area, stay behind me. I’ll tank the monsters, and you find an opening to land the killing blow!”
Lin Ye looked at the items in front of him, and a warm feeling rose in his heart.
A Return Scroll would teleport its user straight back to Wanghail City after it was crushed.
In this era of universal awakening, scrolls like these could be mass-produced by life-class professionals and were not considered high-end items.
Even so, their market price started at one silver coin.
The three beginner red potions, each capable of restoring 50 health points, cost several hundred copper coins apiece.
Feng Yuanshan’s family was hardly better off than his own. The fact that he was willing to take out these supplies and share them with Lin Ye proved that he was a true friend.
Lin Ye took note of it and did not refuse again.
Leaving aside the red potions, he genuinely needed the Return Scroll.
Their target this time was a high-level training area. Having a Return Scroll in hand would greatly increase their margin for error.
…
Wanghai City was located at the easternmost edge of Jiangnan Province in the Great Xia Kingdom, bordering the boundless East Sea.
After passing through several security checkpoints, the two finally walked out of the city gates. Both turned around to look back.
A gigantic pale-blue barrier rose from the ground, completely shielding the entire city of Wanghai.
After the Chest Era began, the land and oceans across the globe expanded proportionally by seven or eight times.
Countless monsters roamed the wilderness.
Ordinary people could only remain inside base cities guarded by official professional armies and protected by formations and energy barriers, relying on them to resist monster attacks.
This was the first time either of them had ever left a base city.
Everything before their eyes felt new and exciting.
Feng Yuanshan sighed. “I feel like even the air outside smells fragrant. Base cities are great and all, but they’re just too stifling!”
“If you don’t become a professional and see the world for yourself, you’ll have wasted your entire life.”
As they spoke, a shuttle bus pulled up. The two of them swiped their student cards and boarded.
The high-speed shuttle slowly started moving, then raced away from the city.
There were three training areas around Wanghai City. At that moment, the screen inside the shuttle also displayed the day’s information for each one.
Golden Coast: Monster levels Lv. 1–4. Chest drop rate: None. Crowd level: Packed.
Tidal Caverns: Monster levels Lv. 4–9. Chest drop rate: Extremely low. Crowd level: Crowded.
Poisonmist Forest: Monster levels Lv. 7–12. Chest drop rate: Relatively low. Crowd level: Sparse. A lord-class monster is expected to spawn in the forest’s central region soon, and killing it will have a high chance of yielding a chest!
The three training areas were not far apart, yet there was a huge difference between the levels of their monsters.
Half an hour later, the shuttle stopped at the edge of Golden Coast.
The deep-blue sea came into view. The golden beach was packed with people, and everywhere they looked, adventurers were battling monsters and leveling up with great enthusiasm.
Before long, the two spotted a lone hard-shell crab.
Even though it was only a Level 1 monster, its size far exceeded Lin Ye’s understanding of what a crab should look like.
The hard-shell crab was about the size of a large dog, and the crushing power of its two claws was astonishing.
Lin Ye had no doubt that if it clamped down with all its strength, it could snap a child’s arm.
Feng Yuanshan drew his iron sword, strode forward, and brought it down on the crab’s head.
The hard-shell crab was enraged. One man and one crab began clumsily trading blows, but neither could penetrate the other’s defenses.
“Ye, look for an opening and stab it in the ass! There’s no shell there!” Feng Yuanshan shouted at Lin Ye while hacking away.
Lin Ye watched Feng Yuanshan continuously circle the monster. Tightening his grip on the longsword, he finally spotted a rare opening and thrust toward the Armored Crab’s only weakness.
Just as the sword was about to strike, a wave of scorching air suddenly swept in from behind and to the side.
Boom!
A ball of fire slammed precisely into the Armored Crab’s head.
The flames burst apart. The Armored Crab’s body was charred black, and its eight legs twitched twice before going still.
It then transformed into a streak of light and flew toward the direction from which the fireball had come.
“Damn it! Who the hell stole my kill?” Feng Yuanshan roared.
He turned around and found himself facing Sun Jinhao’s mocking grin.
Seven or eight lackeys followed behind Sun Jinhao, while a few sparks still lingered in his palm. Faced with Feng Yuanshan’s furious accusation, he merely said indifferently, “What do you mean, ‘stole your kill’?”
“Did the monster have your name written on it? Whoever kills it first gets it!”
The lackeys burst into laughter.
Sun Jinhao swaggered away with his group.
For the rest of the afternoon, Lin Ye and Feng Yuanshan continued searching for prey along the coastline.
But throughout the entire morning, even until the sun climbed high into the sky, they had barely managed to kill a few monsters.
For one thing, neither of them had a class or any abilities. Dealing with the Armored Crabs was genuinely difficult.
Even when Lin Ye managed to land a sneak attack, the damage he dealt was pitiful.
What was worse, several times, just as they were about to finish off a monster, a fireball would come flying over and snatch their kill.
Feng Yuanshan dropped onto a reef, removed his helmet, and gasped heavily for breath.
He glanced at his status panel. He was only a sliver of experience away from reaching Level 2.
“I’m done training!”
Feng Yuanshan was so furious that his teeth nearly itched. “That bastard’s got his eye on us today! I can’t do this anymore. I can’t even cut through these things. There’s no point wasting more time.”
Lin Ye glanced at the forest in the distance. An ominous purple poisonous haze hung above it, and he immediately made up his mind.
“Then you go back first. I’ll look around a little longer and find somewhere with fewer people. We can avoid the crowds next time.”
“Then we’ll head back too.”
Feng Yuanshan nodded. “All right. Be careful! If you run into a monster, run. Don’t try to fight it!”
“We’ll come back tomorrow!”
He then headed toward the shuttle station and soon disappeared from Lin Ye’s sight.
Lin Ye let out a long breath.
He had originally planned to come alone and head straight to a high-level leveling area.
But he hadn’t wanted to deliberately ditch Feng Yuanshan, so he had simply trained with him for half a day.
Turning around, Lin Ye did not head toward the crowded coastline. Instead, he walked straight toward the poisonous fog forest in the opposite direction.
Not far away, Sun Jinhao froze when he saw Lin Ye’s back.
“Brother Hao, that kid’s leaving.”
“Looks like he’s heading toward the Poison Fog Forest!”
“He’s crazy!”
“That place is full of high-level monsters. And they aren’t yellow-named—they’re all red-named! They’ll attack from a long distance away!”
Sun Jinhao sneered. “He’s looking for death… Come on. Let’s follow him and see what he’s really up to!”