“Damn! Forcefully accepted again!”

Jiang Bai grumbled curses as he opened his quest log.

[The Blacksmith's Test (1)] Quest Description: I am surprised, adventurer. I didn't expect you to truly be somewhat unusual. Then let us continue down this path; let me see just how great your potential really is. Quest Objective: Within 6 hours, hunt 100 "Evil Centaurs". Until the quest is completed, the player's level will be permanently locked at Level 4, 99% EXP. Failure Penalty: If the quest is failed, the player will be permanently stuck at their current level [Level 4]. Quest Reward: ???

“Just as I thought, exactly the same pattern...”

Jiang Bai slowly closed the quest page. "But this time, the required level cap is 4. This means I can reach Level 4 before doing this quest. If I fail then, I'll be permanently stuck at Level 4..."

“Evil Centaur?” Unfamiliar with this monster, Jiang Bai opened the officially released monster encyclopedia and started searching.

“Damn it!!!”

Half a minute later, Jiang Bai started cursing loudly.

“Level 7 monsters? This time it's 3 levels above me!??”

“And they're aggressive monsters too?”

“This is tough...”

After thinking for a long time, there seemed to be only one solution.

Opening the Trading Market, the staff he had put up for auction already had bids up to 4 Gold Coins. Jiang Bai had set the auction time for 3 hours; if it went to the end, reaching 6 Gold wouldn't be a problem, but the issue was, Jiang Bai couldn't wait.

Looking at the private messages still flooding his screen, one person's message caught Jiang Bai's attention.

Da Tang Wu Zui: "Brother, I urgently need a staff right now, can't wait three hours for the auction. If you really want to sell, message me. Name your price."

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Bai replied. “You make an offer.”

It wasn't that Jiang Bai didn't want the auction to continue, but he needed the money now to snipe some gear and improve himself. Otherwise, with his current stats, soloing Level 7 monsters would be extremely difficult, let alone killing 100 within 6 hours!

Da Tang Wu Zui: "I won't mess around. 8 Gold Coins. This should be the highest price anyone on the market can offer. Add me if you agree. Otherwise, I don't think I need to explain how fast these low-level items depreciate."

“That's quite a bit.”

Honestly, the price Da Tang Wu Zui offered slightly exceeded Jiang Bai's expectations. He originally thought 6 Gold would be the maximum, because at the end of the day, it was just a low-level Green item, albeit very precious at this stage.

“Okay.”

After adding Da Tang Wu Zui as a friend, Jiang Bai immediately cancelled the staff auction and initiated a remote friend trade with him.

Of course, doing this incurred a 10% penalty fee for cancelling the auction early, but Da Tang Wu Zui covered it for Jiang Bai.

Da Tang Wu Zui was also a straightforward guy. The entire transaction was smooth without any hitches. Half a minute later, the staff was in Da Tang Wu Zui's inventory, and 8 Gold Coins entered Jiang Bai's pocket—tax-free, which felt great.

Da Tang Wu Zui: "So you're Old Dream of Empty City?" Da Tang Wu Zui: "Wondering if brother has any intention of selling the Purple gear he's wearing? Can do offline RMT anytime."

“Not those, they're my bread and butter.” Jiang Bai replied bluntly.

Da Tang Wu Zui: "Understood. Brother, if you get any good gear in the future, feel free to message me first. Price guaranteed to satisfy." Da Tang Wu Zui: replied directly.

“Okay.” Jiang Bai was naturally happy to associate with such a straightforward and decisive person.

"Should be a guild with considerable strength, otherwise finding 8 Gold Coins at this stage wouldn't be easy," Jiang Bai guessed inwardly.

"Boss, wasn't 8 Gold a bit expensive? At this stage, that staff should be worth around 5 Gold, right?" After the trade was done, Da Tang Wu Zui's underling, Da Tang Xiao Guang, commented.

"I originally thought it was a bit pricey." Da Tang Wu Zui said while examining the staff in his hand, "But when I found out the seller was Old Dream of Empty City, the gold was well spent."

"You mean the Old Dream of Empty City, the first on the server to get Purple gear?" Da Tang Xiao Guang was instantly astonished.

"Could there be another?" Da Tang Wu Zui equipped the staff. "This guy is not simple. The money was worth it." ...

Meanwhile, Jiang Bai stared at the gold coins in his bag with a silly grin.

At this stage, a normal player's bag might contain one or two hundred copper coins at most, while Jiang Bai's assets already exceeded 10 Gold Coins.

“One hundred thousand RMB... but it's about to be mostly spent...”

Thinking this, Jiang Bai opened the Trading Market again, searching for Level 2 Common-quality equipment.

“Average price is still around 2000 copper. Seems the equipment market is holding relatively strong...”

Although reluctant, 'nothing ventured, nothing gained.' Jiang Bai directly bought eight Level 2 rings, eight Level 2 boots, and eight Level 2 leggings.

Because accessories like necklaces and rings had even lower drop rates, their prices remained high, with necklaces being particularly rare.

These 24 items cost Jiang Bai nearly 6 Gold Coins, mainly due to the eight rings, whose average price was almost 4000 copper each.

Besides that, he also spent 7000 copper coins on an E-Rank Archer skill book.

[Aimed Shot]: Deals 120% physical damage to the target. Cooldown: 6s.

A very standard basic skill.

Quickly, Jiang Bai expertly fused these items one by one.

[Fatal Cat's Eye Ring] (Epic) Physical Attack: +9 Agility: +3 Strength: +2 [Fatal]: Critical Hit Chance +2%.

[Swift Longboots] (Epic) Defense: +8 Constitution: +2 Agility: +3 [Swift]: Movement Speed +10%.

[Sturdy Wild Boar Legguards] (Epic) Defense: +10 Agility: +3 Constitution: +2 [Sturdy]: Max HP +100.

Jiang Bai admired the three newly forged Purple items. Honestly, the leg guards' stats weren't hugely significant for him, being an Archer who rarely engaged in close combat, but having them was better than nothing.

After equipping the gear and learning the skill, the Level 3 Jiang Bai's stats underwent another earth-shattering transformation.

[Old Dream of Empty City] Level: 3 Class: Archer Race: Human HP: 400 MP: 80 P.ATK: 124 M.ATK: 4 Attack Power: 16 Defense: 48 Attributes: Constitution: 10 Spirit: 4 Strength: 8 Intelligence: 4 Agility: 21 Skills: [Concussive Shot], [Aimed Shot] Title: [I Am Strong]

“The stats are really strong...”

Jiang Bai stared at his panel thoughtfully. "But only compared to players. Against that Boss, it's probably still not enough..."

“As expected, soloing Bosses in 'Genesis' is theoretically almost impossible.”

Just as Jiang Bai was hesitating, he suddenly seemed to remember something and agitatedly opened his inventory.

“Holy crap! I forgot the important thing! The system gave me 100 Reputation from that quest, which is exactly enough to upgrade the Heart of Genesis!”