The Elusive Yellow Ox and a Fateful Encounter

Lin Shenyue and Ye Jue battled for a full two hours before finally completing their task. Though the enraged Yellow Ox possessed formidable defenses and a vast HP pool, it was no match for Ye Jue’s exceptionally high attack power. While most players at Level 4 might achieve a maximum attack power of around 30, dealing only about 10 damage to a Yellow Ox, Ye Jue’s approximately 40 attack power allowed him to perform as effectively as two players combined.

Coupled with Lin Shenyue’s potent healing, Ye Jue could forgo dodging or blocking entirely, dramatically boosting their attack efficiency. With their average rate of defeating one monster per minute, they slew nearly 150 creatures to finish the quest. Having eliminated so many Yellow Oxen, they successfully reached Level 5, though the experience required to advance from Level 5 to Level 6 had now astronomically jumped to 20,000.

Ye Jue felt a pang of helplessness. In his previous life, this particular dungeon had been automatically released by the system on the second day. The Yellow Ox were notoriously difficult to kill, and the experience they granted was not particularly generous; spending the time to kill one Yellow Ox was equivalent to taking down four Wind Wolves.

Moreover, while the Yellow Ox dropped decent equipment, most of it consisted of leather armor, and the drop rate was abysmally low. Consequently, even players who received the Level 5 quest often chose to skip it, preferring instead to form parties after reaching Level 5 to hunt Level 6 Killer Bees.

Even with Lin Shenyue’s remarkably high luck, two hours of grinding yielded only four iron-tier items, five common-tier items, and a mere ten Yellow Ox horns. One could only imagine that for other players, this task would easily consume five hours or more.

Lin Shenyue yawned rather boredly, stretching languidly as she said, “Finally, it’s over.”

Ye Jue, catching a glimpse of Lin Shenyue’s unintentional grace, found himself momentarily stunned. Despite having lived two lives, beauties like Lin Shenyue were a rare sight, especially one who was still a loli. Shaking off his thoughts, Ye Jue quickly stated, “Let’s go turn in the quest. The dungeon’s opening is quite a hassle. We’ve been farming Yellow Ox for so long, others must be catching up. We should learn our second skills first, then complete the task.”

Lin Shenyue hesitated for a moment. “My second skill seems to have unlocked already, right when I leveled up.”

Ye Jue blinked in surprise. Typically, a novice’s second skill required visiting the Novice Skill Instructor and paying one silver to learn. It was almost unheard of for a skill to unlock directly, as Lin Shenyue’s had. However, a moment later, he surmised that Lin Shenyue likely possessed a hidden class, which would naturally bypass the usual learning process, as hidden class skills certainly wouldn’t be found in the Novice Village. He inquired, “What is your second skill?”

Lin Shenyue posted the skill description to the team chat.

[Healing Art: Instantly restores 75 + 80 HP to the designated target. Cast Time: None. Mana Cost: 20. Cooldown: 30 seconds.]

Ye Jue was speechless. While instantaneous healing might offer slightly less total healing than a standard healing spell due to a shorter duration, the ability to instantly restore a large amount of health with Healing Art could absolutely save a team’s life in critical moments. Furthermore, Healing Art was typically a Level 10 Priest skill, where the healing output would be around 300. However, after locking in a profession at Level 10, attribute growth drastically increased, with attack power often more than doubling from Level 9 to achieve such healing. Yet, Lin Shenyue, at only Level 5, already possessed healing equivalent to a Level 9 Priest. He murmured, “This skill of yours is incredibly useful. When we enter the dungeon later, we can try challenging a higher difficulty one.”

While Level 5 dungeons had no entry limit, only the first three attempts each day granted experience and equipment rewards; subsequent entries yielded nothing. Though higher difficulty dungeons presented a tougher challenge, they offered proportionally better experience and equipment.

Lin Shenyue nodded. “Let’s go, then. We should finish the quest quickly.”

****

As Ye Jue led Lin Shenyue to the village entrance, they discovered several members of the Heaven Guild cornering a lone individual. Ye Jue frowned slightly, choosing to pause and observe the situation.

The village entrance was already teeming with people, and Lin Shenyue quickly pieced together the situation from their murmurs. The Heaven Guild had been sweeping the Wind Wolf hunting grounds when they encountered an elite Wind Wolf. Just as they were about to defeat it using their human wave tactic, someone swooped in and stole the kill, absconding with the equipment. Enraged, the Heaven Guild swore vengeance, vowing to make life miserable for the culprit even in the Novice Village. Beyond the village, they promised to repeatedly kill them until they were stripped bare and sent back to the starting point. Although player-killing was forbidden in the Novice Village, the Heaven Guild dispatched several elites to shadow the rogue. The moment the rogue tried to level up, they would steal their mobs. The rogue, however, proved stubborn, refusing to level up and instead began snatching the Heaven Guild’s monsters. With no other recourse, as they still needed to level, the Heaven Guild resorted to intentionally blocking the rogue’s path. Unlike typical online games where players can overlap, Divine Realm prevented such a mechanic to reduce player congestion; after all, seeing two heads on a single person would likely be quite startling.

“Empty Night, you’re a dead man. Daring to offend our Heaven Guild, you can look forward to us infinitely wiping you until you’re stripped bare.” Lin Shenyue heard the harsh threat from afar and couldn’t help but sigh softly. Such a blatant offense against the Heaven Guild would surely make things difficult for Empty Night.

However, Ye Jue’s eyes gleamed beside her. ‘So it’s this guy,’ he thought. He had always wondered why the Iron Blood Clan had clashed with the Heaven Guild in later years; this was the reason. The Iron Blood Clan was the third-ranked guild among the ten great guilds. While their influence didn’t quite match the Heaven Guild’s, the difference wasn’t substantial. Furthermore, the Iron Blood Clan was composed of retired veterans, and even with the Heaven Guild’s powerful backing, they dared not easily infringe upon the Iron Blood Clan’s interests. Empty Night, the chief rogue of the Iron Blood Clan, was ranked second on the rogue leaderboard, with the top spot held by a rogue from the second-largest guild, Water Moon in the Mirror.

Ye Jue’s own interactions with the Iron Blood Clan had also occurred during his conflicts with the Heaven Guild. The Iron Blood Clan eventually intervened to help, and although Ye Jue’s guild was ultimately defeated, without the Iron Blood Clan’s repeated assistance, they likely would have crumbled much sooner under the Heaven Guild’s relentless targeting. In the end, it seemed the Iron Blood Clan faced real-world pressure, forcing them to shift their overt support to covert aid, with Empty Night’s rogue squad undoubtedly participating in the battles.

Lin Shenyue saw Ye Jue give her a meaningful look, momentarily freezing before quietly asking, “What do you mean?”

Ye Jue offered an awkward smile, having unconsciously treated Lin Shenyue as a teammate with whom he had cooperated countless times in his previous life. He typed in the team chat:

[I’ll go help him secretly. Wait for me for a moment.]

Lin Shenyue gave a soft hum. “Go on, then.” Watching Ye Jue squeeze forward, her expression became slightly dazed.

Under Ye Jue’s subtle interference, Empty Night successfully slipped away from the encirclement. Before leaving, he cast a grateful glance at Ye Jue.

Once Lin Shenyue saw Ye Jue successfully assist and then extricate himself, she breathed a sigh of relief. “Shall we go? Let’s quickly finish the quest.”

Ye Jue nodded, leading Lin Shenyue along a small path towards the blacksmith’s shop. As for why he avoided the main road, Ye Jue, recalling their previous encounters with players blocking their return to the village, had reluctantly opted for a less conspicuous route.

Lin Shenyue watched Ye Jue take turn after turn, thoroughly disorienting her. Already possessing a poor sense of direction, she was now, with Ye Jue’s ‘help,’ barely able to distinguish left from right.

Lin Shenyue finally (or so she believed) followed Ye Jue to the blacksmith’s shop. The shop was largely deserted. Players who came to buy weapons quickly discovered they needed to complete the Level 5 quest first, and that quest was notoriously troublesome. Consequently, not a single player was present in the blacksmith’s shop.

Ye Jue turned to Lin Shenyue. “Go submit the quest. This task can be submitted as a team, and the rewards are likely related to charisma.”

Lin Shenyue nodded and approached the blacksmith, smiling sweetly. “Blacksmith, Uncle, we’re here to turn in the quest.”

The blacksmith paused his hammering, wiped a bead of sweat, and chuckled. “Ah, Yue’er! Have you finished the quest?”

Lin Shenyue saw the prompt asking if she wanted to submit the quest. After selecting ‘yes,’ she replied with a sweet smile, “Of course, Uncle.”

The blacksmith accepted the ten ox horns Lin Shenyue handed over, shaking his head with a sigh. “There are too few diligent young people like you two nowadays. Here are your rewards.”

[Ding! Congratulations on completing the quest ‘Collect Yellow Ox Horns’! You have received 2 silver, 6500 experience, and the item ‘Crystal Staff’.]

[Ding! Congratulations on completing the quest ‘Collect Yellow Ox Horns’! You have received 2 silver, 6500 experience, and the item ‘Iron Shield’.]

Ye Jue was momentarily startled, then overcome with elation. Shields were off-hand equipment, and their drop rate was exceptionally low, comparable to rings. Most importantly, shields typically didn’t drop before Level 10, as the distinct class roles became more defined only after that level. Before Level 10, roles were less clear-cut. Shields also provided a substantial boost to defense and health, allowing a player with a shield to withstand significantly more damage in the early game.

“Oh, right, my apprentice went mining for me, but they haven’t returned yet, and I don’t know why. Could you two help me check on them?” the blacksmith suddenly asked.

After Lin Shenyue accepted the quest, Ye Jue also received a notification.

[Quest: Find the Missing Apprentice Kaira. Kaira went mining and has not returned. The Blacksmith requests your help in finding them.]

Lin Shenyue glanced at Ye Jue, and seeing his nod, she understood that this was the prerequisite quest. She turned back to the blacksmith. “Blacksmith, Uncle, we’ll go look for them right away.”

The blacksmith chuckled, nodding. “Go on, go on.”