Steel-grade gear carried one or two more attributes than Pale-grade, and its basic stats were slightly stronger too. Ye Tianxie glanced them over, then tossed them casually back into his backpack and walked on toward the depths of Fierce Wolf Valley, still wearing that same set of novice clothes. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to equip them — it was that the Use Requirement, every last piece, called for a melee class, and he fell outside that requirement, because he had no class at all.
He hadn’t gone far before a roaming wolf pack came into view. These were the lowest-level fierce wolves in Fierce Wolf Valley; apart from a somewhat larger aggro range, their stats were no different from the wild wolves Ye Tianxie had cut down before. He stepped slowly forward, drew three fierce wolves right in close, and swung the Hour of Eternal Fate in his hand…
He hadn’t forgotten how he’d traded five recovery potions to Red Leaf Iron Wall for nothing earlier. And taking something from his hand… came at a cost that was anything but ordinary.
At the novice village’s revival point, the five Red Leaf Pact members appeared one after another. The Apprentice Warrior, who’d appeared at the same time as Red Leaf Iron Wall, said through gritted teeth, “Brother Seven, when have we ever been humiliated like this?! We absolutely can’t let it go. I’ll go call up a few brothers right now to loot him — and that weapon of his…”
“Don’t say anything yet.” Red Leaf Iron Wall raised a hand to stop him. “I need to report this to the Pact Master. He’s sure to be interested in that weapon.”
The communicator in the World of Fate was a wristband looped around the wrist. This band could be used not only to call people in the game world and the real world, but also to check the time, take photos, record video, and so on. Likewise, it could be hidden and summoned at will. He lifted his wrist and spoke into the communicator: “Pact Master, I just got killed by a Level 1 guy — and not just me, he killed four of us in a row… That guy’s only Level 1 and he can deal over a hundred damage.”
“Oh?” A man’s voice came through the communicator.
“Pact Master, I’ll send you a photo and you’ll see what I mean.”
A photo he’d taken earlier was sent to the other end of the communicator — and it was, glaringly, Ye Tianxie holding the Hour of Eternal Fate. Red Leaf Iron Wall had snapped it in a hurry while Ye Tianxie was attacking the Apprentice Mage.
There was a long silence on the other end of the communicator, and then a voice came: “A very domineering shape. Even appearing in the novice village, it’s still a weapon that would drive every Warrior-type class wild. That person must have triggered some hidden quest… Ah-Qi, I’m extremely interested in this weapon — you must seize it for me. If it really has the attack power you describe, then it would be a huge help to me… First try trading with him. Buying it or exchanging for it from his hands would be best of all; even a price of over a million is acceptable. To trigger and complete a hidden quest in so short a time — this won’t be a simple character. Now is not the time to make an enemy.”
“Guild Leader, I understand your meaning.” Red Leaf Iron Wall assented and switched off the communicator. He flung up a hand. “Come on, back to Fierce Wolf Valley — he should still be there!”
……
……
“Ding… Your level has risen to Level 2. HP +10, MP +10. You have gained 5 free attribute points.”
Dumping all 5 free attribute points into Strength again, Ye Tianxie’s attack power rose to 116. Fierce wolves that had needed two or three strikes could now be wiped out easily in two, and the occasional critical hit could one-shot them outright.
Another small cluster of fierce wolves fell. Ye Tianxie walked up to the wolf corpses strewn every which way and, expressionless, cast the basic Gathering skill:
“Ding… You have gathered 2 wolf eyes and 3 wolf fangs.”
“Ding… You have gathered 2 wolf eyes and 1 wolf fang…”
Looking at the fifty-some wolf eyes and fifty-some wolf fangs already in his backpack, Ye Tianxie casually wiped out a few fierce wolves that had just respawned, then turned to head back. He was in no hurry to complete the village chief’s and blacksmith old Wang’s quests, but the old woman’s quest gave him just a tiny bit of anticipation.
The novice village had no return-to-town scrolls; wherever you went, you could only travel on foot. No sooner had he left Fierce Wolf Valley than five people came straight toward him — precisely the Red Leaf Pact members Ye Tianxie had just killed back to the novice village. Ye Tianxie’s steps didn’t pause and his expression stayed as before, as though he hadn’t seen them at all.
“Xietian, we’re with the Red Leaf Pact… how about we make a deal?” On seeing Ye Tianxie, Red Leaf Iron Wall relaxed slightly, stepping forward and getting straight to the point, sidestepping the earlier conflict entirely.
“A deal?” Ye Tianxie gave a faint smile, sweeping his gaze over the five and saying with contempt, “I’ve no interest in making deals with people who don’t keep their word.”
Everyone his gaze swept over couldn’t help tensing all over, especially the Apprentice Archer who’d suffered the double blow to body and spirit; he shrank back behind the others, as if he still hadn’t recovered from the earlier trauma.
Red Leaf Iron Wall’s face darkened, but he steadied himself and said, “What happened earlier was purely a misunderstanding… I’ll speak plainly: our Red Leaf Pact’s Pact Master, Red Leaf Raging Wind, is very interested in that weapon in your hand. As long as you’re willing to hand it over to us, any trade condition you name can be considered. Our Pact Master personally gave word, too — he’d consider letting you join our Red Leaf Pact and become one of our Pact’s Helm Masters!”
Though the Red Leaf Pact’s power in the virtual gaming world couldn’t compare to the two acknowledged giants, “Divine Domain Pact” and “Wings That Shroud the Sky,” its name was likewise known to all, its overall strength enough to rank in the top ten, and few dared provoke it lightly. The Red Leaf Pact’s name alone was enough to cow the vast majority of players — all the more so when the Pact Master’s name had been trotted out directly.
“Oh…” Interest visibly grew on Ye Tianxie’s face. He raised the Hour of Eternal Fate in his hand in a show of deliberation, then lifted his head and said slowly, “100 gold!”
“100 gold?!” Red Leaf Iron Wall’s eyes went wide, his face shifting rapidly before he gave a light grit of his teeth. “Fine! Refreshingly decisive. We’ll gather the gold at once… Let’s move!”
Red Leaf Iron Wall didn’t waste another word and led his people off directly. After currency exchange opened, 100 gold would convert to a hundred Huaxia yuan — which to the entire Red Leaf Pact wasn’t worth a fart. But in these early days of the game, where every copper was precious, a single gold coin was already an enormous fortune; there was scarcely a player in existence who could even scrape one together. Even after Ye Tianxie had killed a Giant Fierce Wolf hiding a grand fifty-cent sum, his total assets added up to a mere six silver.
Ye Tianxie couldn’t be bothered to spare them another glance and headed straight for the old woman whose legs were sealed.
“Pact Master, he wants 100 gold — gold coins, not real-world currency.” Red Leaf Iron Wall said into the communicator.
“Oh? 100 gold? Doesn’t seem like an ambitious sort. Mobilize everyone in the same novice village to collect it at once — get 100 gold together in the shortest time possible. Even an exchange rate of a thousand-to-one against Huaxia yuan is acceptable. Go, quickly!”
“Yes.” Red Leaf Iron Wall assented and ran swiftly toward the novice village. Even exchanging 1 gold at a thousand-to-one rate against Huaxia yuan, 100 gold came to a mere hundred thousand Huaxia yuan — and if they got hold of that weapon, they could take a commanding lead over other players in the novice stage, bringing influence and attendant benefits that plain money could hardly measure.
(End of Chapter 19)