Chapter Twelve: Top of the Rankings

In fact, the reason why the leaders of major guilds were rushing to level up so fiercely on the first day of the new server was precisely this: no powerful guild can be built simply by throwing money at it. Instead, it requires continuously earning honor one step at a time to gain the recognition of players. Only then can top-tier players be recruited; otherwise, the guild would become nothing more than a mercenary organization—coming when paid and disappearing when the funds dry up.

The external liaisons of the major guilds began leveraging every connection to search for Lu Yang. Unfortunately, no one could find any information about him. Lu Yang had disabled friend requests, preventing anyone from adding him, and he refused all private messages. With this, everyone was completely at a loss.

Atop the concave-shaped mountain, Lu Yang was still grinding monsters. Upon reaching level 4, he allocated all his points to Intelligence. His Intelligence had already reached 34 points. Adding the 10 points from the Demon God’s Heart, 5 points from the Crispy Electric Eel Meat, and 2 points from the Hexagonal Ring, Lu Yang’s total Intelligence was now 51.

Now, with the additional 10 Intelligence provided by the Arsonist’s Staff, his total Intelligence surged to 61. Converted into magic damage, that meant 61 points. Adding the 5 extra spell damage from the Hexagonal Ring and the 24 additional spell damage from the Arsonist’s Staff, Lu Yang’s total magic damage had reached a terrifying 90 points. The Arsonist’s Staff also granted a 12-point critical hit chance, which, at this level, converted to 2.3%.

Now, when Lu Yang attacked wild bulls, each Fireball could deal over 120 damage. A wild bull had only 580 HP, meaning it took just five fireballs to kill one—twice as fast as before.

Carelessly throwing a fireball, Lu Yang happened to land a critical hit that instantly halved a bull’s health. The exhilaration was beyond words.

Just as Lu Yang was about to continue leveling, suddenly, a blinding white light burst forth from the center of the valley, forcing him to shut his eyes against the glare.

Alongside the light came a deep, furious roar from the valley’s core. Lu Yang gritted his teeth against the sting in his eyes and peered into the valley. Emerging from the white glow was a level 8 wild bull leader, its entire body pure white. The bull leader glared angrily at Lu Yang, its hooves digging furiously into the grass.

Lu Yang could hardly believe his luck. Not only had he encountered a golden hatchling dragon in this concave map, but now a wild bull boss had spawned as well. No wonder the player from the previous life, who had entered the game three days later than others, could catch up to the top tier and grow ever stronger. This place truly was special.

In the “Second World,” drop rates were so low that obtaining equipment had only two avenues: either through dungeons, which yielded low-tier gear, or by killing wild bosses.

However, every wild boss possessed immense attack power, massive HP, and formidable defense. The Wild Bull King boss, in particular, was recognized in later eras as one of the toughest early-game bosses to defeat.

According to information from later generations, the Wild Bull boss’s base attack power ranged from 106 to 150 and came equipped with three special attacks: Bloodthirsty Charge, Bull Stomp, and Bull Tail Swipe.

Bloodthirsty Charge: Physical damage. Increases physical attack power by 32 points and charges toward the enemy at an extremely high speed.

Bull Stomp: Magical damage. Adds 10 points of magic damage and stuns enemy units within a 5-yard radius for two seconds.

Bull Tail Swipe: The bull spins around and forcefully strikes the target with its hind legs, dealing physical damage. It increases physical attack power by 60 points and causes a knockback effect.

Setting aside these three skills, the Wild Bull King’s base attack alone exceeded Lu Yang’s total health. A single strike would send him back to the newbie village instantly.

If this were on flat land, Lu Yang wouldn’t dare provoke the Wild Bull King after being killed. But now, he was on a slope. Facing the massive bull boss, Lu Yang chuckled and began conjuring Fireballs.

The Wild Bull boss had 8,000 HP. Each of Lu Yang’s Fireballs dealt 129 damage.

The Wild Bull boss roared in pain and charged at Lu Yang. But like other wild bulls, it couldn’t climb the steep thirty-meter slope and was forced to endure Lu Yang’s relentless Fireball assaults.

After more than three minutes of battle, when the bull leader’s HP dropped below 5,000, Lu Yang tragically ran out of mana again.

Shrugging helplessly, Lu Yang had no choice but to rely on the Crispy Electric Eel Meat’s buff, which restored 8 mana every 5 seconds, to slowly wear the bull down.

Two hours later, the Wild Bull boss let out a mournful cry before collapsing dead. After clearing the smaller monsters, Lu Yang hurried down the cliff to collect the loot.

Focus Staff (Silver Grade)
Attack: 2-6
Constitution +1
Intelligence +2
Spell Damage +14
Spell Recovery Speed +5

This was the top-tier staff for healer classes in the newbie village. Lu Yang hadn’t expected it to drop here.

Hexagonal Ring (Black Iron Grade)
Spell Damage: 2-5
Intelligence +2
Required Level: 3

Lu Yang equipped the ring immediately. With this, he had obtained the best mage ring in the newbie village. Before level 10, he wouldn’t have to worry about rings anymore.

Bull Horn Dagger (Black Iron Grade)
Attack: 5-8
Agility +1
Constitution +1
Required Level: 3

An item for rogues. Newbie weapons typically dealt only 1-2 damage. Lu Yang was certain many would fight over this weapon.

“Blink”
Type: Spatial Magic (Shared by all three mage classes)
Mana Cost: 20
Cast Time: Instant (Cooldown 8 seconds)
Range: 20 yards
Description: Breaks through space to instantly teleport to a designated location (can be used while stunned).

Staring at this skill book, Lu Yang was stunned. He had expected the Wild Bull boss to drop one of the warrior skills, either “Savage Charge” or “War Stomp.” Both were vital skills for warriors and primary early-game attack methods. They could fetch a decent price at auction—around ten silver coins.

But unexpectedly, it dropped “Blink.” For mages, especially fire mages, this was the most crucial skill.

As a pure damage-dealing class, fire mages had few self-preservation skills early on. “Blink” was their primary escape tool. Its market value was very high; early on, few sold it, and later its price skyrocketed to two gold coins per book. Lu Yang was fortunate to obtain it here.

After quickly learning “Blink,” a pale blue spatial orb appeared in Lu Yang’s skill bar.

Since the Wild Bull boss had spawned, other bosses in Giant Town should have refreshed as well. Lu Yang glanced at the leaderboard: players ranked second through fifth were all tied at level 3. If all went as expected, by this time tomorrow, these players would all have reached level 5.