Chapter 22: Attributes Comparable to a Level‑10 Player

Chen Shicheng silently weighed the strengths of both sides in his heart.

Although he is only Level 1 now, because of the Elixir his Attribute can fully compare to a Level 6 player.

But Yu Wei is already Level 11, and from yesterday's duel his Attribute at least dwarfs his by a large margin, and he also has many more Skills.

So his main task now is to raise his level and acquire Skills; even if he can't reach Yu Wei's level quickly, the pendant's ability lets him close the gap in Skills.

However, wins and losses in the game aren't that important; if you can't win you can run, and the worst you'll lose is one year of Lifespan.

In reality it's different—death is real, there's no chance to try again.

The only good news is that Yu Wei can locate himself by name, but cannot pinpoint precisely.

Yet this is only temporary; at his current pace he will eventually come before him, and how long that takes depends on how many people share his name.

"We must hurry; we can't use other people's lives to buy time for ourselves!"

Looking at the distant tower crane, Chen Shicheng silently said "sorry," then with a determined gaze pushed through the onlookers and headed toward a nearby inn.

"Hm?"

Song Bingyuan glanced in the direction Chen Shicheng left, feeling he had seen a familiar silhouette.

"Team Song? Team Song?"

Before he could confirm who it was, a police officer's voice interrupted, "Do you want to double‑check the corpse?"

"No need, just have someone send the autopsy report to the bureau later."

After Song Bingyuan finished speaking, he looked again at the familiar silhouette and found nothing, "Where did so many acquaintances come from? Seems I've been working so hard I've gone dazed."

Saying that, he brushed the incident aside, and led his squad to start canvassing the workers on the construction site.

On the other side, Chen Shicheng casually opened a room, locked the door from the inside, and lay on the bed.

Mountains and Seas Deification activated! Upon entering the game, he first checked the character's safety status, praised the diligent La Tiao, and then continued his forest maze.

This time he didn't use the random‑shoe‑throwing method to choose direction, but climbed a big tree to observe the surrounding mountains.

According to the blacksmith, Bu Xian Shan is a continuous, towering mountain range reaching the clouds, its peaks perennially frozen, and a small path off the city's official road leads directly to a town at the mountain pass.

He currently cannot find the official road, but aiming toward the nearby big mountain ensures he won't err.

With a clear goal, Chen Shicheng stopped wandering, buried himself in the march, and occasionally climbed to treetops to confirm his direction hadn't deviated.

However, the deeper he went, the more primal the forest became, keeping his speed low; the continuous mountain range visible to the naked eye seemed impossible to approach.

Two days later, 4 p. m.

Peering through the trees, Chen Shicheng saw a rough forest path ahead, took a big bite of La Tiao, and quickened his pace.

During these two days, he was practically a savage who eats raw meat and drinks blood.

When he left Huangchi County Seat he never expected to become a fugitive wandering the world, so he had no supplies.

Fortunately the forest wasn't short of animal‑type monsters; although deeper monsters' levels rose linearly, preventing instant kills as before, he could still occasionally encounter low‑level animals.

With La Tiao's help, Level‑1 rabbits, Level‑2 poisonous snakes, and Level‑3 spotted deer were basically caught with ease, allowing a man and his beast to persist, and he also made a surprising discovery.

When he first entered the game he complained about too few monsters; after meeting Yu Wei he subconsciously thought that person had cleared all nearby monsters.

However, as he trekked he observed that, aside from the sentient animal monsters that flee when outmatched, all the relentless monsters—like the soulless mountain bandits that never give up when they meet a person—were unintentionally moving toward the distant mountains. This not only reduced his risk of getting lost, but the massive increase in monster density also gave Chen Shicheng a notable level boost.

Including the experience from killing Yu Wei, he has now reached Level 4, with 33 experience points remaining in the pool; a little more effort would bring him to the brink of Level 5.

【Name: Chen Shicheng】

【Level: Lv. 4 (Bone Refining Realm)】

【Experience: 33/100】

【Technique: Sword Technique Body Refining Chapter (Complete)】

【Essence: 10.3】

【Qi: 10】

【Spirit: 8.7】

【Equipment: Stealing Heaven Pendant (Unique) x1, Tang Sword x1, Plain-colored Soaring Cloud Bat Pattern Strong Gear x1, Eye of Bai Ze x1】

【Skill: Basic Sword Technique (Limit Break)】

【Money: 394 Gold 85 Silver 95 Copper】

【Lifespan: 25/112】

【Merit Points: 114】

Merit Points haven't changed much; he can extract a bit from monster kills three times a day, only gaining six points.

However, Attributes grew enormously; besides Spirit, both Essence and Qi have each surpassed the ten‑point threshold.

He still doesn't know how much Attributes will increase after Level 5 technique upgrades, but recalling the force felt during that night's duel with Yu Wei…

At this moment his Essence might be only a hair weaker, meaning that as long as his Skills keep up, with La Tiao's aid he could unexpectedly eliminate that pervert in both reality and the game! "Skill. Skill. I'm coming!"

Chen Shicheng muttered like a madman as he burst out of the forest; ahead lay a winding, rugged forest path.

Compared with the official roads around Huangchi County Seat, this place lacks obstructing trees and the roots have been cleared, yet the abundant weeds and deep tire ruts on the road are conspicuous.

It looks more like a passage worn down by many footsteps.

In short, whether a passage or a path, as long as it leads him to the town at Bu Xian Shan's entrance, it's good.

After a quick bearing check, Chen Shicheng sprinted straight toward the mountain.

But after only about a kilometer, a chaotic sound came from a bend ahead, hidden by trees.

"Team leader, the brothers can't hold on!"

"Yeah, team leader, these ghost things are fearless; a single slash they don't fear."

"Dammit! Hold the formation, don't panic, these things are low‑IQ; front‑line blocks rear output, must not mess up!"

"Yes!"

"Understood!"

(End of Chapter)