Several of the hottest posts on the homepage were more or less related to him. Jiang Bai hadn't expected someone to actually record his fierce battle with the Yuncheng guild and upload it to the forums, instantly blowing up the entire platform.

"Mysterious Expert 'Old Dream of Empty City' Battles Yuncheng Guild, 1 Man Takes Down 33 Yuncheng Warriors!"

The title was very catchy, and the written description of the content was also top-notch. The vast majority of comments were speculating about his identity.

“This Old Dream of Empty City is probably a core figure from some super awesome major guild, right? Otherwise, how could he develop so fast?” “Why do I feel like he's a solo player? Look, he always comes and goes alone.” “Are you f***ing kidding me on an international scale? Have you ever seen a solo player develop this quickly?” “As long as he's not a foreigner, it's fine. I heard those players from Sakura Country (Japan) are eagerly waiting to fight us in a national war!” “Hmph! Let them f***ing start it quickly! I'll kill them all back to Level 5!” “National War? When does it start? So looking forward to it...” Towards the end, the topic got completely derailed.

Several subsequent posts were all offering bounties for information on the player "Old Dream of Empty City."

“Hehe, seems like quite a few people are concerned about me...” However, one post did catch Old Dream of Empty City's attention.

"Worldwide Search for 'Old Dream of Empty City' to Power Level Me, 100,000 RMB per Hour!"

“Well damn, that rich?” Jiang Bai clicked into the post. The poster had actually revealed their game ID: "Vivi'er." “Looks like a female player?”

As for the replies in the thread, they were much more interesting. “Hey OP, I only need fifty thousand, how about it?” “I only need fifty, at your disposal...” “F*** your mother, guy above! Malicious competition! Are you trying to undercut everyone like that?” “I'll pay fifty, just to make the OP happy...”

Jiang Bai silently noted down this ID, planning to add them in-game. Wasn't his initial reason for playing the game to make money? Earning 100,000 per hour would be just too delightful...

After finishing his takeout, Jiang Bai logged into the game and got to work, still engaged in endless monster grinding. As Jiang Bai became more proficient at grinding, his efficiency also increased. His kill count went from 200 to 300. After killing the 477th snow wolf, Jiang Bai had collected his 98th portion of Demon Wolf Blood; he was finally almost done. The snow wolves in this area had all been cleared out. He could only sit on the ground and wait helplessly for the next wave to respawn.

“Damn!” At this moment, Jiang Bai was drenched in sweat, panting, his eyes glazed over; he felt like an emotionless monster-grinding machine. “This quest really is insane!”

By now, Jiang Bai had reached Level 8. He felt leveling up was already very difficult, but if other players knew, they would probably go crazy. Gaining two levels in one afternoon? That was a godlike concept, something ordinary players wouldn't even dare to dream of. As for the rewards, while not overwhelmingly rich, they were definitely substantial. One E-Rank Mage skill book, [Lightning Spell], one Priest skill book, [Minor Heal], plus three white items and one Green dagger—from these alone, Jiang Bai earned 8 Gold Coins. If this were five hours ago, these items would have sold for at least 10 Gold Coins or more. However, as the main player base leveled up, these low-level items were rapidly depreciating. With this, Jiang Bai's total assets reached 35 Gold Coins, in other words, 350,000 RMB! The [Plunder] skill also didn't disappoint. Including the previously gained Agility points, nearly five hundred monsters triggered it a total of 7 times, yielding: 2 Constitution, 1 Strength, and 2 more Agility (for a total of 4 Agility from Plunder so far, plus the 2 CON and 1 STR from this batch of kills). Seeing this, all the hard work felt worthwhile.

Just as Jiang Bai was sprawled out on the ground resting, a messy cacophony of fighting sounds and shouts from the distant forest suddenly caught his attention. “Could there be other people here?” Jiang Bai paused. "Few people should be capable of grinding here at this time; this is a Level 8 monster zone." Thinking this, Jiang Bai tiptoed over stealthily.

Through a gap in the leaves, not far ahead, a battle with a somewhat disparate power balance was underway. One side was a complete five-person party. They looked like professional players: a standard composition of 1 Knight, 1 Warrior, 1 Mage, 1 Assassin, and 1 Priest. Their coordination was tight, and their combat skills were adept; they were clearly not ordinary. Moreover, their levels were not something average players could reach at this point—all of them were Level 6. The other side was an Elite Demonized Snow Wolf, currently at half health. The power disparity was because five Level 6 players were indeed struggling against a Level 8 Elite monster. The Elite Demonized Snow Wolf had a full 2200 HP, not something average players could handle. It was clear this party's gear was decent, and combined with their skilled coordination, it allowed them to face this higher-level Elite snow wolf. However, the fight was by no means easy. The Priest was constantly heal-spamming at maximum capacity; if she were a moment late, the Knight might go down. The Warrior was chugging potions non-stop. Meanwhile, the Mage and Assassin, their highest damage dealers, were only doing 30-40 damage per hit, so they were just slowly whittling it down.

“This Priest is good.” Jiang Bai's gaze rested on the graceful figure. The female Priest's healing technique was impeccable. Although it looked risky, each heal was enough to ensure the tank wouldn't fall, and she could precisely manage her mana. “A Priest who can manage mana is a good Priest.”

“Mage, stop attacking! You're about to pull aggro! Give the Knight time to build threat!” “Rogue, use your CC...” “Mage, Rogue, full DPS...” The player giving commands was named "Xiao Yao Qing Feng"; his leadership skills were clearly quite good. Although the fight was tough, it wasn't hopeless. As they ground the Elite's health down below 20%, the fatigue on the party members' faces gradually gave way to excitement.

Jiang Bai had no intention of kill-stealing. Although the thought was there, he generally wouldn't do something that pricked his conscience. But just then, the Elite snow wolf unexpectedly mutated again! The "Bloodthirsty" prefix was now joined by a "Rabid" prefix. The situation instantly took a nosedive. The Knight, whose health they had been carefully managing, didn't expect the Rabid wolf's attack to suddenly skyrocket, and was killed in a single bite. With the tank down, the situation was immediately reversed. The snow wolf turned on the Assassin, who was going all out on DPS, and bit again. The already low-health Assassin couldn't take it and also became a corpse. The 5-person party was instantly broken through, on the verge of a total wipe. As the leader, the Warrior Xiao Yao Qing Feng gritted his teeth and stepped up to tank. “Mu Mu, full heals on me! Xiao Hei, full DPS! Ignore everything else, it only has 17% health left! See if we can burn it down!” But they had clearly underestimated the Rabid wolf's power. The Priest's mana was depleted within half a minute, Xiao Yao Qing Feng's health bar was down to its last sliver, and the Mage was near death. At this point, the snow wolf only needed a few effortless swipes to wipe out the party.

“Sigh... What a pity.” Now, the party leader Xiao Yao Qing Feng had closed his eyes in resignation, his face etched with unwillingness. And the cute, gentle little Priest's eyes were already red; half a day's effort was about to turn into nothing. Just as everyone was in despair, the Rabid Elite snow wolf's fangs were about to pierce Xiao Yao Qing Feng's skull.

Sōo! Suddenly, a sharp sound of something cutting through the air altered the original trajectory of their fate.