Chương 9: Level 100 Is Just the Beginning

With one successful hunt under his belt, Xiao Chen stopped camping a single spot. He grinded mobs while scouting his next target, occasionally joining high-level boss kills. Life was pretty good. Xiao Chen was finally starting to feel like things were turning around.

"Listen up, everyone -- high-level mob numbers are climbing again. Pull back toward the wall a bit. We don't want a Lv50+ boss showing up out of nowhere." Xiao Chen had spotted a few Lv40 monsters from a distance. He didn't dare engage -- steered well clear of them. The mobs were probably recovering their strength. The recent attack intensity had ramped up noticeably. Which Xiao Chen was actually happy about. Because it meant he could take down higher-level mobs now and then. The occasional Lv30 elite kill?

Chef's kiss. Of course, he messed up sometimes too. Today, he'd accidentally pulled a Lv40 Demonspider and had to spam the guild channel screaming for help. With the guild's backup, they managed to kill a Lv45 Demonspider. As the puller, Xiao Chen got a fat chunk of EXP. Thanks to that, about twenty days after leaving the city, he hit Lv30. This time, Sun Jian had grabbed the mob's aggro and saved his life. When Sun Jian saw Xiao Chen again, he barely recognized him.

"Bro, you don't gotta go that hard. An Archer pulling bosses? You got a death wish or something!" After all this time, Sun Jian was still the same humble guy. Seeing an old friend, he was clearly happy too. In this era, reuniting with someone you knew was a rare thing.

"I was just trying to contribute to the guild, that's all." Xiao Chen would never admit he'd screwed up. If anyone asked, he was "contributing to the guild."

"Can't rush everything. Once your power's up, you'll contribute even more. Whoa, your DPS is solid -- over 5, 000. You level slow, but you're building an incredible foundation."

"All those stacked bonuses add up, you know?"

"Still impressive. Top tier for your level range."

"Compared to you, I'm nothing." Before they could chat more, a beast's roar echoed from the distance.

"Crap, emergency pull. Gotta go." Mid-sentence, Sun Jian bolted.

"Lv50 big boy today. We're eating good." Xiao Chen jogged after him. His movement speed was so high he actually outpaced Sun Jian the tank. Another Undead Skeleton. Xiao Chen pocketed some EXP and dipped out. Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

【Level Up: Lv30 | All Stats +1 | Free Attribute Points +5 ATK +50 | ATK SPD +0. 1 | Attack Range +5m | Base Inventory +10】 Every ten levels, the gains were dramatic. The bonus seemed somewhat random each time -- Xiao Chen hadn't figured out the pattern yet. 45-meter attack range. The thought alone filled him with confidence. Higher attack speed meant soloing bosses got easier too. The day after hitting Lv30, Xiao Chen saw some unusual announcements.

"Chuan Mufeng has joined the raid."

"Wang Ling has joined the raid."

"---- has joined the raid." Within minutes, fifteen or sixteen people had joined the raid. All of them were Lv60 or higher! Over a month, they'd gained ten levels. How the hell? Xiao Chen had busted his ass and only gained five.

"Hahahaha, I'm back! Check my level. That's right -- Lv68!"

"Chuan Mufeng, can you not flex for once? Though actually, everyone check my level -- Lv66."

"Missed you all, brothers. No more talking -- time for benefits!" Xiao Chen had been tuning out their chatter, but the moment he heard "benefits," his attitude did a complete 180. Oh yes. He loved this part.

"Chuan Mufeng's team distributes 2 Gold!"

"Wang Ling distributes 1 Gold!" Every Lv60 powerhouse chipped in, and Xiao Chen's total gold hit 120. The 5 gold he'd lent out? All of it came back. With the big guns back, everyone felt secure. Even if a powerful boss showed up, they had the firepower to fight back. Compared to six months ago, their situation was dramatically better. Casualties had dropped every single day this month. Storm Squad hadn't lost a single member.

In one month, Xiao Chen had ground his way to 6, 000 Contribution Points -- worth about 6 gold. He wasn't planning to spend them.

"Save up to 200, 000 points, then exchange for a basic skill book." With defensive pressure easing, Tianxing Guild made several adjustments.

"Starting today, high-level Awakened will rotate daily to carry runs of Lv40+ dungeons. Farm more gear, push toward Lv50 as fast as possible."

"The challenges ahead will be even tougher. Nobody lets their guard down. Not for a second."

"We're forming an Assassin squad with several other guilds to push deep into the wilds and pick off raid targets. All Lv50+ Assassins can volunteer."

"Guild is 900, 000+ Contribution Points away from leveling up. Everyone needs to step up."

"The guild has trained its first batch of Black Iron-grade Artificers. Guild Black Iron gear prices drop by 20%. From now on, all materials go to the guild vault -- they'll auto-convert to Contribution Points."

"The guild has compiled attribute-boosting guides for everyone. Start with the cheapest items and work your way up."

"Achievement rewards are generous. Every known achievement on Blue Star has been compiled and distributed -- try to complete as many as you can."

"If you see someone in trouble in the wilds, guild member or not, help if you can. We've lost too many people. We can't afford those losses anymore."

"Based on internal Star Pact intelligence, things are going to get harder. I have one request for all of you: keep faith, keep fighting."

"Finally, I'm passing along a message from Boss Xiao Yan."

"Level 100 is just the beginning." Humanity had spent centuries reaching Lv100+. Level 100 was "just the beginning"? Then what had all those centuries of effort been for? Billions of lives lost, and they'd only just touched the threshold?

"Is this road... endless?" He'd been pretty happy about hitting Lv30. Hearing that, he realized he had absolutely no reason to be happy.

"I need to hit Lv100 and see what the world looks like beyond it." With so many guild veterans returning, the front line naturally pushed forward. Xiao Chen personally took down a few more Lv30 elite mobs. The strongest players started organizing Lv50-60 boss raids, while the Storm Squad members headed back to the city. They spent a day clearing Tier-3 Normal and Tier-3 Heroic dungeons, picking up two achievements along the way. After the dungeon run, Little Strong hit Lv30 too.

Xiao Chen held off on upgrading his other Bronze gear and swapped his weapon to Lv30 instead. He sold his old Bronze Bow for 60 gold, added 40 gold, and upgraded to a Lv30 Bronze Bow.

【Bronze Bow | Bronze Grade | Equip Level 30 STR +35 | AGI +35 | SPI +35 | ATK +121 | Attack Range +15m Effect 1: 10% chance to trigger【Critical Strike】, Damage +300】 Upgrading his weapon was like getting +5 to all stats. More importantly, another 5 meters of attack range. Attack range was survivability. That was everything to Xiao Chen.

【Xiao Chen: Lv30 (270, 000/510, 000) | 240, 000 EXP to next level Total Stats: 2, 760 | HP: 6, 719 | ATK: 3, 126 | Defense: 421 ATK SPD: 0. 4 | Attack Range: 50m】 【Undead Skeleton | Grade: Common | Lv30 | ATK: 151 | HP: 2, 100 | Defense: 60】 Little Strong's stats were still basically useless.

"Wang Zhen, you're Lv30 now too. What's your total stat count?"

"Leader, I'm at 2, 016 total stats." Wang Zhen was also E-Rank. Those numbers tracked. Xiao Chen had about 700 more stat points. Part of it was his full Bronze set adding an extra hundred or two. The rest came mainly from 【One in Ten Thousand】 bonuses, plus all the low-tier herbs he'd consumed.

"Hmm, not too far off."

"Leader, stop being modest. I can guess -- your total stats have gotta be around 2, 500."

"Alright, close enough."