Chapter 66: Madly Grinding Passives

Returning once again to the abandoned mining area, Wu Shaochen made his way effortlessly to the section he hadn’t finished clearing last time. There were still 465 Skeleton Warriors left to kill here. While they couldn’t be used to farm talents, farming the 465 HP boost was still pretty decent. After clearing them out, he’d probably be close to leveling up again.

He summoned Silvermoon Wolf and let it stand in the passage to share experience while he rushed ahead to lure enemies. These Skeleton Warriors had ranged skills that could deal over a hundred damage to him, so he had to lure them out in small batches. Even though his stats had significantly increased, he still couldn’t handle too many at once. That said, taking on more than ten at a time wasn’t an issue.

While Wu Shaochen was focused on farming skeletons, undercurrents had begun surging in all the major cities. Each level-two main city had tens of millions of players, and naturally, countless ambitious ones wanted to make a name for themselves. Guilds sprang up like mushrooms, and a power struggle began unfolding in every city. That said, the top ten veteran guilds were truly formidable. Except for Jinling City, the major cities were dominated by the development of these top guilds.

Jinling City, too, saw the emergence of countless guilds, some with over ten thousand members, others with only a few hundred. Although no guild had yet surpassed Proudly Peerless, the guild’s complete defeats in their recent clashes with Wu Shaochen had significantly damaged their reputation, severely restricting their growth.

At this moment, inside a private room of a tavern in Jinling City, the core members of Proudly Peerless were gathered. Proudly World sat at the head of the table, tapping his finger rhythmically against the table. Once everyone had arrived, he spoke, “How many of our guild members now have over a thousand attack?”

“More than three thousand players have broken the 1,000 mark, all fully equipped with Black Iron gear. Some even have one or two pieces of Bronze,” Proudly Fangyu reported.

“Good. We’ve been quiet long enough. By now, the people of Jinling City must think Proudly Peerless is declining. It’s time they remember whose domain this city really is,” Proudly World said.

“Boss, are you saying we should go after those rising powers?” Proudly Heartless asked.

“No, no. There’s no point in dealing with those ants. If we’re going to make a move, we need to get rid of a certain stumbling block first.”

“Boss… are we really going to go up against Dust-Sealed again?” Proudly Lonepeak swallowed nervously.

“Hmph, if I don’t beat him all the way back to the Beginner’s Village, I won’t be able to let this go,” Proudly World growled coldly.

Proudly Lonepeak opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing.

“From the past fights, Dust-Sealed’s defense is around the 700 mark, HP is over 6,000, and his attack isn’t particularly high—around 1,100 or so. A tanky Assassin like him is destined to be obsolete. He was only a problem before because our members lacked the gear and power to pierce his defense. But now, we’ve got over three thousand people with over 1,000 attack—we can easily take him down,” Proudly World analyzed.

“But Boss, that was back then. He’s probably improved even faster than we have. And he’s already got Epic gear. That Golden piece is probably his too. Plus, Zihou said his talent is likely poison—we can’t ignore that,” Proudly Lonepeak reminded.

“Poison? That’s just an early-game talent. Besides, we didn’t see any poison in our recent fights. I’m guessing the talent’s already useless. Even if his poison is strong, how many of us can he poison? As for his gear, even better—let’s just loot it from him. I’ve had my eye on that Epic belt of his,” Proudly World said, clearly determined to take Wu Shaochen down.

No one dared to speak further, and soon, orders were issued to track down Dust-Sealed’s location.

Back in the abandoned mine, Wu Shaochen spent less than an hour clearing out the remaining 465 Skeleton Warriors, earning 143,220 EXP, which brought his level up to LV21: 62,790/400,000. He gained 80 HP, 40 MP, 4 Agility, and 20 free attribute points. Silvermoon Wolf also leveled up to 18.

After level 20, each level-up gave 20 free attribute points. Including the unallocated points from before, he had a total of 40. Wu Shaochen put them all into Constitution. For now, his main goal was to deal with that tiger boss. He had enough speed, but his defense still needed work. That tiger’s 4,200 attack was no joke.

After allocating his points, Wu Shaochen’s physical defense, boosted by medals and titles, reached 893. His magic defense was 882. His HP increased by 545 points thanks to the Immortal Body passive and the 80 points from leveling. With the title bonus of 10%, his total HP had risen to 12,957.

He looted three pieces of Black Iron gear and listed them on the auction house for 8,000 each. After that, he pressed on, making his way down a long corridor until he reached another mining area. Just like before, it was filled with skeletons—this time, Level 22 Skeleton Archers with 580 attack and 48,000 HP. Their skill, Armor-Piercing Arrow, ignored 30% of defense and dealt 165% physical damage, with a 10-second cooldown.

“Their skill does a little over 300 damage to me. As long as I don’t pull too many at once, I should be fine. Let’s take it slow,” Wu Shaochen muttered. This time, his main goal was to grind passives and build up his HP. As long as he could survive a full skill rotation from that tiger, he had a shot.

He thought about testing an AoE skill but decided against it. The range was too large—if he accidentally aggroed half the Skeleton Archers, he’d be toast. Better to grind them down one by one.

This round took over two hours, but he managed to clear all 578 Skeleton Archers. He earned 203,456 EXP, and Immortal Body increased his HP by 578. Silvermoon Wolf leveled up again to 19. At level 20, it would unlock a second skill. He hoped it’d be something strong—anything but just leeching off him for free food.

After finishing the area, Wu Shaochen moved on and quickly entered the next section. The enemies here were Level 23 Skeleton Mages with 640 magic attack and 54,000 HP. Their skills were Fireball and Lightning Bolt. Fireball wasn’t a threat—it couldn’t even break his defense. But Lightning Bolt had 180% damage and added a one-second paralysis, with only a 10-second cooldown. That was nasty.

Wu Shaochen considered it and decided not to fight them for now. If he accidentally pulled a dozen of them, he could get paralyzed to death. He activated Stealth, planning to bypass the mages and head to the next mining area. But the Skeleton Mages were packed too closely together. After several failed attempts, he couldn’t find a way through without aggroing them.

“You guys are really forcing me to clear you out, huh?” Wu Shaochen muttered helplessly. He examined the enemy formation and frowned. No matter how he pulled them, at least a dozen would come out due to how tightly packed they were. Glancing at the Silvermoon Wolf behind him, a smile tugged at Wu Shaochen’s lips. It was time for it to prove its worth. At level 19, with 38,000 HP, it should survive a round of Lightning Bolts.

With that thought, Wu Shaochen gave the order, and Silvermoon Wolf trotted forward. The moment it entered the enemy’s aggro range, the thirteen nearest Skeleton Mages reacted. Fireballs and Lightning Bolts flew toward it.

Silvermoon Wolf was immediately paralyzed and stood motionless as a barrage of fire and lightning slammed into it. Its HP dropped rapidly, over 16,000 damage in just one wave. Wu Shaochen quickly ordered it to retreat. Luckily, the mages didn’t coordinate their skills. If they had staggered their Lightning Bolts, the poor thing might have been stunned to death.

Seeing that Silvermoon Wolf had successfully pulled the mages, Wu Shaochen charged forward to swap places with it, letting it retreat to heal. Since the Skeleton Mages didn’t understand skill coordination, there was nothing to fear anymore.