The three of them arrived at the main city's council hall, where they could sign the contract.
Hua Luo Hongchen promptly fulfilled the conditions she had just mentioned. This contract offered Tulip Studio’s highest possible price.
Aside from Hua Luo Hongchen herself, Xia Miao and Nangong Wen received the best treatment Hua Luo Hongchen could currently offer.
She had even added some benefits at her own expense.
If they wanted even better treatment, Hua Luo Hongchen no longer had the authority to grant it.
Fortunately, money and beauty had finally won over these two promising younger sisters, securing them for the studio!
After signing the contract, Hua Luo Hongchen smiled at Xia Miao and Nangong Wen. “Now we’re all on the same side. As it happens, a level-15 Outdoor Instance will open tomorrow morning. You two should come along too~”
《The Gods》 contain many kinds of Dungeon. Outdoor Instances are among them; they appear randomly and come with certain restrictions.
These restrictions usually limit the number of players who may enter. Once enough players have entered the Dungeon, the Instance Entrance closes.
Some Outdoor Instances impose a time limit. When time runs out, the game teleports everyone out, whether or not any players remain inside.
Once players clear an Outdoor Instance, it disappears. Its rewards are usually worthwhile, and obtaining them would greatly improve the Gaming Studio’s overall strength.
After securing these two level-17 girls, Hua Luo Hongchen naturally planned to take them along.
“Your Equipment will be ready tomorrow too. Don’t be late~ See you tomorrow~ Wenwen~ Little Shrimp Sprout~” Before either girl could speak, Hua Luo Hongchen flashed them a flirtatious glance and turned to leave.
Signing the contract obligated them to cooperate with Gaming Studio activities, but Hua Luo Hongchen could at least have given them a chance to voice their opinions.
Nangong Wen glanced at the elegant figure beneath the loose Priest Robe and could not help sighing.
Choosing Tulip Studio and following Hua Luo Hongchen... who knew whether it would bring fortune or disaster?
Xia Miao still stared toward the direction Hua Luo Hongchen had taken, wearing a silly smile.
“Stop staring. She’s already out of sight.” Seeing Xia Miao’s lovestruck expression, Nangong Wen rolled her eyes.
“She’s beautiful...” Xia Miao giggled. “Hehe...”
Bonk!
Nangong Wen gave Xia Miao a solid knuckle on the head, then dragged her along to continue farming monsters.
..
Previously, Xia Miao used Thorn Armor’s damage reduction and Reflective Damage to perform Level-Skipping Monster Farming. However, she had no way to recover Health, so after killing a few high-level monsters, she had to stop and wait for it to regenerate, wasting a great deal of time.
Now that they had also acquired a sustain Skill, the two farmed monsters far more efficiently!
The level-20 Dire Wolves in the outskirts of the eternal forest were the first level-20 monsters players encountered. They were also among the easiest level-20 monsters to farm.
By this point, the first wave of players attempting to advance could reach level 15 and learn their second Skill.
An extra Skill considerably strengthened the players.
Some level-15 player teams confident in their abilities therefore set their sights on the level-20 Dire Wolves in the outskirts of the eternal forest.
Farming monsters five levels above their own was risky, but the experience was much better than farming monsters at their level, making it worth trying.
Several teams of players attempting Level-Skipping Monster Farming cautiously entered the eternal forest.
However, after circling the forest’s outskirts several times without finding a single Dire Wolf, the players in those teams were dumbfounded.
“That’s strange. Why have all the Dire Wolves disappeared?”
“I saw Dire Wolves here this morning.”
“Could someone be farming the level-20 Dire Wolves here? Maybe they killed them all, and they haven’t respawned yet?”
“Impossible! Even cheating, nobody could farm them that fast. There are plenty of Dire Wolves here. How fast would they have to kill them all for none to have respawned yet? Do you think they’re slaughtering chickens?”
“Then where did all the Dire Wolves run off to? Are they holding a wolf clan meeting?”
..
The players had eagerly prepared to farm monsters above their level, but after searching the area several times without finding even a single wolf hair, they left in disappointment, puzzled.
Unbeknownst to them, the two culprits were inside the eternal forest, battling a swarm of Tree Flies.
Tree fly
Level: 23
Health: 1500
Description: A strange creature that lives among the trees. Its body is tiny, but anyone who looks down on it for that reason will become fertilizer for the trees!
The Tree Flies had slender bodies, like little snakes with dragonfly wings.
Their bodies bore yellow-and-green patterns that clearly marked them as poisonous.
Without antidotes, players facing these poisonous monsters could suffer a team wipe from one careless mistake. They were extremely troublesome.
However, the Tree Flies’ poison was no problem at all for Xia Miao.
The Tree Flies’ poison also counted as an independent attack, so Thorn Armor’s 200 points of damage reduction nullified it.
As long as the poison dealt no more than 200 damage, Xia Miao would not lose a drop of blood, no matter how many poisoned stacks she accumulated.
Xia Miao swung her Cross Sword repeatedly, trying to drive away these monsters, which were more annoying than ordinary flies.
Her cheeks and exposed skin had turned dark green. She had accumulated countless poisoned stacks, yet remained perfectly fine.
Unfortunately, the Tree Flies’ attacks dealt less than 200 damage, so they could not hurt Xia Miao at all. Reflective Damage therefore remained limited, returning only a little over 100 damage per hit—far short of an instant kill.
The poison carried by their attacks did not come from direct damage, so it could not trigger Reflective Damage. This slowed their monster-farming speed considerably.
“These Tree Flies are troublesome. If they were Dire Wolves, we’d have plowed through them twice by now.” Nangong Wen idly rubbed her chin nearby, occasionally casting Fireball to finish off Tree Flies with little Health remaining and blast them to death.
Because Nangong Wen killed the monsters directly, their aggro did not become chaotic, leaving her safe.
Ding!
Congratulations, you have reached level 19!
When Nangong Wen cast Fireball and killed three Tree Flies with barely any Health remaining, the long-awaited Notification Sound rang in her ears.
“I finally leveled up!” Nangong Wen stretched and exclaimed with delight.
After spending several hours in the outskirts of the eternal forest, the two finally reached level 19 together.
“I’m so tired...” Xia Miao dropped onto the ground and yawned as drowsiness overcame her.
“Hang in there. Log out after we return to the main city. It’s too dangerous here.”
Without further ado, Nangong Wen pulled Xia Miao back the way they had come.
When a player logged out outside the Main City, their character remained where they were. This left the character vulnerable to monster attacks and could also attract the attention of players with ill intentions.
The Main City was a Safe Zone. When a player logged out there, the game automatically placed their character under the inn’s supervision. This was safe and did not occupy space in the Main City.
It was highly player-friendly!
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