"Snow Xia!"
David Xia's voice pulled Snow Xia back to her senses.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" Snow Xia walked up to David Xia obediently, calling out softly.
At this moment, Snow Xia showed no trace of her usual pride.
David Xia's eyes were full of affection. "Let's go, we're heading back."
He had come by car, so there was no need to take the school bus back with the others.
Snow Xia got into the car with David Xia, but her eyes kept darting toward Mark Lin.
She really wanted to understand Mark Lin, to figure out how this guy had reached level 7.
David Xia noticed his daughter's gaze. "Are you competing with Mark Lin?"
Snow Xia deflated like a punctured balloon. "Yeah, I lost again. That guy is just too annoying."
David Xia laughed heartily. "Want Dad to step in and settle this...?"
"No!"
Before David Xia could finish, Snow Xia firmly rejected the idea.
"This is my own business. I'll handle it myself. I won't keep losing to that dummy."
She snorted, her eyes burning with fighting spirit.
David Xia laughed even more happily. "Alright then, Dad won't interfere. But I have to tell you, Mark Lin came out after just 10 hours, and he killed all the level 8 monsters in the Novice Dungeon."
Snow Xia was stunned again...
Killed all the level 8 monsters...?
She had only just reached the area with level 7 monsters and hadn't even seen what level 8 monsters looked like.
She thought it was already impressive to solo level 7 monsters at level 5.
But Mark Lin had wiped out all the level 8 monsters, coming out two hours earlier.
That meant if there had been more level 8 monsters, maybe he'd have directly leveled up to 8.
"Is the gap between us really that big?" Even though Snow Xia hated to admit it, she felt a bit discouraged.
David Xia said, "Every class has its own strengths. Some classes are strong at low levels, others only come into their own later. Winning or losing at one moment isn't important. Compared to him, you have the advantage."
Snow Xia understood what David Xia meant.
Her advantage was family background—enough money, enough resources.
No shortage of items, equipment, or skills.
Whereas someone like Mark Lin, with no money or connections, would later struggle for money, equipment, skills, and items.
"Anyway, I won't admit defeat. Even if you're ahead now, I'll surpass you someday."
After a brief slump, Snow Xia's fighting spirit flared up again.
David Xia was very satisfied. This was how his daughter should be.
On the school bus, Simon Gao deliberately sat next to David Xia.
"I'm already level 4, isn't that awesome? It's so fun to grind monsters with a girl, way better than soloing."
Mark Lin looked at this fool. Seriously, where wouldn't he be happy?
"I just realized you're already level 7? How did you level up so fast?"
"Did you clear all the monsters in the dungeon?"
"I worked my butt off and only made it to level 4. How did you get to level 7? Are you a god or something?"
Simon Gao's voice was loud enough for the whole bus to hear.
Only then did everyone realize Mark Lin was truly level 7.
When most were around level 3 and reaching level 4 was already impressive, Mark Lin had hit level 7.
The bus immediately became lively.
Though many were still afraid of Mark Lin, afraid of his summoned skeleton warriors, it was normal for many to want to approach a strong player.
Some wanted to talk to Mark Lin to build some classmate rapport.
But Mark Lin's silent and unsmiling demeanor, combined with the terrifying skeleton warriors, made them hesitate.
"Quiet!"
Charles Lu barked sharply, and the noisy bus immediately fell silent again.
Simon Gao scratched his head. "I got too excited just now. Boss, can you take me with you to level up?"
Mark Lin said, "If there's a chance, sure."
Simon Gao was overjoyed. "It's a deal then!"
The next morning at the school gate, Simon Gao couldn't find Mark Lin anywhere.
"Teacher Lu, where's Mark Lin?"
Charles Lu said, "He went to the outskirts of West Sea City."
Ah?
Simon Gao suddenly realized he had been played by Mark Lin. No wonder he had agreed so easily yesterday.
He couldn't help but let out a miserable scream. "Mark Lin, you tricked me!"
"I pledged my heart to the bright moon, but the bright moon shines on the ditch. We're not done—I want a duel with you!"
Mark Lin was already in a carriage heading to the southern part of West Sea City.
Tall city walls separated the humans' living area from the monster zone.
Beyond the walls lay the wild monster territory, where the weakest monsters were at level 10.
Compared to the Novice Dungeon monsters, these were much stronger.
Here, fighting monsters gave more experience and yielded various materials.
With some luck, some monsters even dropped weapons and equipment.
These items could be used personally or sold for money.
Along the streets flanking the city walls' entrance were many shops—
smithies, weapon stores, jewelry shops, armor shops, and so on.
Among them, the most important was the Divine Summer Empire Exchange.
The Exchange was officially operated by the Divine Summer Empire, found in large and small cities across the country.
Inside the Exchange, one could freely buy and sell equipment, materials, and all kinds of items.
Items could be sold directly to the Exchange or consigned for sale.
Besides buying and selling, the Exchange also handled various quest handovers.
It was Mark Lin's first time at the Exchange—he had only seen it in books before.
Inside the Divine Summer Empire Exchange stood hundreds of stone pillars, about waist-high.
At the top of each pillar was embedded a magic crystal, through which all the Exchange's functions were operated.
The Exchange was also known as the pinnacle of God-Tier alchemy craftsmanship.
Mark Lin found an empty spot and placed his hand on a magic crystal.
[Starting identity verification.]
[Verification successful. Citizen of Divine Summer Empire, Mark Lin.]
[Access to Divine Summer Empire Exchange granted.]
[Contribution Points: 0]
[Permission Level: One]
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