Chapter 20: A Chance Encounter with a Powerful Team

The top trending posts on the homepage were more or less related to him. Jiang Bai didn't expect that someone had recorded his fierce battle with the Cloud City Guild and uploaded it to the forum, which directly ignited the entire forum.

Mysterious Master "Deserted City Dream" Fights Cloud City Guild, Taking Down 33 Cloud City Warriors Alone!

The title was quite sensational, and the textual description was top-notch. The majority of the comments were speculating about his identity.

"This Deserted City Dream must be a core member of some super awesome big guild, right? Otherwise, how could he develop so fast?"

"I think he's more like a solo player. Look at how he comes and goes alone."

"What an international joke! Have you ever seen a solo player develop this fast?"

"Anyway, as long as he's not a foreigner. I heard that those players from Cherry Blossom Country are eager to fight a war with us!"

"Humph! Let's hurry up and fight. I'll kill them all down to level 5!"

"War? When will the war start? So exciting..."

The topic eventually got sidetracked.

The following posts were all about offering rewards for information on the player "Deserted City Dream."

"Hehe, it seems quite a few people are interested in me..."

However, one post caught Deserted City Dream's attention.

"Searching for 'Deserted City Dream' Worldwide, to Level Up with Me, 100k RMB per Hour!"

"Wow, this person is really rich?"

Jiang Bai clicked into the post, and the poster even revealed their in-game ID: "Vivienne."

"Looks like a female player?"

The replies in the thread were quite interesting.

"Hey, OP, I'll do it for just 50k. How about that?"

"I'll do it for fifty thousand, and I'll be at your beck and call..."

"Floor M, this is malicious competition. Are you serious?"

"I'll even pay fifty thousand extra, just to keep OP happy..."

Jiang Bai quietly noted down this ID, planning to add her in the game. After all, wasn't his initial reason for playing the game to make money? Earning 100k per hour was simply too delightful...

After finishing his takeout, Jiang Bai logged back into the game and continued his endless grinding.

As Jiang Bai became more proficient at grinding, his efficiency also increased. The number of monsters he killed grew from 200 to 300. After killing the 477th snow wolf, Jiang Bai collected the 98th portion of enchanted wolf blood, almost completing his quest.

The snow wolves in this area had already been cleared, so he could only sit on the ground and wait for the next wave of monsters to respawn.

"Damn it!"

At this point, Jiang Bai was already sweating profusely and panting heavily, his eyes glazed over, feeling like he had become a heartless grinding machine.

"This quest is really outrageous!"

By now, Jiang Bai had reached level 8. He felt that leveling up had become quite difficult, but if other players knew, they would probably go insane.

What does leveling up two levels in an afternoon mean? It means something like a godlike pace, something ordinary players wouldn't even dare to dream of.

As for the rewards, they couldn't be described as abundant, but they were definitely not insignificant.

A level E mage skill book, Lightning Bolt, a priest skill book, Lesser Heal, three pieces of white equipment, and a green dagger. From these alone, Jiang Bai earned eight gold coins.

If this had been five hours ago, these items would have sold for at least ten gold coins or more. However, as the majority of players' levels continued to rise, these low-level items were rapidly depreciating.

Jiang Bai's total assets also reached 35 gold coins, which is to say, 350,000 RMB! The Plunder skill did not disappoint Jiang Bai either. Including the two agility points he had gained earlier, out of nearly five hundred monsters, the skill had triggered a total of seven times, adding two points to Constitution, one point to Strength, and two points to Agility.

Seeing all this, all the hard work seemed worthwhile.

Just as Jiang Bai was lying sprawled on the ground, resting, a sudden burst of chaotic fighting and shouting from the distant jungle caught his attention.

"Could there be other people here?"

Jiang Bai was taken aback. "At this point, there aren't many who have the ability to come here and grind monsters. This is an area with level 8 monsters."

Thinking this, Jiang Bai tiptoed over.

Through the gaps in the leaves, not far ahead of Jiang Bai, an uneven battle was taking place.

On one side was a complete five-person team. Judging from their appearance, this team was likely composed of professional players, with the standard configuration of one knight, one warrior, one mage, one rogue, and one priest. Their coordination was tight, and their combat skills were proficient; they were clearly not amateurs.

Moreover, their levels were not something ordinary players could reach at this point; all of them were level 6.

On the other side was an elite Enraged Snow Wolf, which still had half of its health remaining.

The reason for the uneven match was that five level-6 players facing an elite level-8 monster was indeed quite challenging. The elite Enraged Snow Wolf had 2200 health points, which was not something ordinary players could handle.

It was evident that the team's equipment configuration was quite good, and their proficient coordination indeed allowed them to face this elite snow wolf, albeit not easily.

The priest was constantly healing at the limit; if the healing was just a moment late, the knight might collapse directly. The warrior's potions never stopped, and the highest damage output from the mage and rogue was only between 30-40. Thus, they were only able to whittle it down bit by bit.

"This priest is pretty good," Jiang Bai thought, his gaze fixed on the graceful figure. The female priest's healing skills were impeccable. Although it looked risky, each healing was enough to ensure the tank wouldn't fall, and she could precisely control her mana.

"A priest who can control mana is a good priest."

"Mage, stop attacking; you're about to overtake the knight in threat. Give the knight time to build up aggro!"

"Rogue, use your crowd control..."

"Mage and rogue, go all out with your damage..."

The player in command was named "Xiaoyao Qingfeng," and it was clear that his leadership skills were quite impressive.

Although the battle was tough, there was still hope. As the elite's health was ground down below 20%, the fatigue on the team's faces gradually gave way to excitement.

Jiang Bai had no intention of stepping in to steal the kill. Although he was tempted, he generally didn't like to do things that would hurt his conscience.

However, at that moment, the elite snow wolf underwent another mutation, gaining an additional "Frenzied" prefix to its "Bloodthirsty" one.

The situation took a sudden turn for the worse. The knight, who had calculated his health just right, didn't expect the frenzied snow wolf's attack to surge, and was bitten to death in one bite.

With the tank down, the situation was immediately reversed. The snow wolf took another bite at the rogue, who was already low on health and couldn't withstand the attack, turning him into a corpse as well.

The five-person team was instantly shattered, on the verge of being wiped out.

The warrior in command, Xiaoyao Qingfeng, gritted his teeth and stepped up.

"Mumu, heal me with all your might. Xiaohei, go all out with your damage. Ignore everything else; we've only got 17% health left. Let's see if we can kill it directly!"

However, they had clearly underestimated the frenzied snow wolf's capabilities. The priest's mana was drained in half a minute, Xiaoyao Qingfeng's health bar was down to the last sliver, the mage was in a near-death state, and at this point, the snow wolf only needed a few casual swipes to wipe out the team.

"Ah..." What a pity.

At that moment, the team leader, Xiaoyao Qingfeng, had already closed his eyes in resignation, his face etched with unwillingness.

The adorable and soft priest had tears welling up in her eyes. All their efforts of the past half-day were about to be in vain.

Just as everyone was utterly despairing, and the frenzied elite snow wolf's fangs were about to pierce through Xiaoyao Qingfeng's skull,

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, a sharp sound pierced the air, altering the trajectory of their fates.