Chapter Twelve: Nine Mountain Ridge, Completion of the Novice Main Quest

None of the group, including Nightfeather, realized that they were gradually becoming famous in the Newbie Server section of the forums at this very moment. Even some veteran players had started to pay attention to "Liangye" and his fixed team of companions.

Currently, Nightfeather and his friends were still focused on leveling up to 30, tirelessly completing both main and side quests simultaneously.

Located in the willow grove in the eastern outskirts of Hero Town, four characters rode their Abyssal Nightmares, continuously slaying mountain bandits one after another. Because these mounts attacked autonomously, their pace in defeating the bandits was somewhat slow.

In Divine Mourning, monsters killed for quest completion do not count for the whole team; each player must fulfill their own quota. In other words, collectively, the four had to defeat two hundred bandits. This design had prompted some complaints among players, but most supported it, as polls conducted by Divine Mourning indicated that such mechanics better fit the atmosphere of a martial arts world.

Nightfeather had a clear grasp of the fundamental settings and cultural backdrop of Divine Mourning, and was well aware of its experience system.

The game featured some unique experience-gain mechanisms:

1. If all team members are mutual friends with a friendship value of 500, experience gain increases by 5.
2. If the friendship value reaches 1000, experience gain increases by 10.
3. If all have a friendship value of 1000 and are sworn brothers or sisters, experience gain increases by 15.
4. If a married couple is present in the party, experience gain increases by 15.
5. If a married couple are also sworn siblings, experience gain increases by 20.

Naturally, Nightfeather had memorized these five special rules. There were also other hidden bonuses embedded in the experience system. While at first glance, Divine Mourning seemed to grant little experience, when all these conditions were met and combined with double experience periods, the gains could be astonishing.

While clearing out bandits, Nightfeather switched to auto-mode and began drafting a beginner’s guide and leveling tips for newcomers to Divine Mourning in the game's popular online forum.

On these renowned gaming forums, Nightfeather was known as "If the Cold Night Has Become a Dream." The name "Liangye" was taken from this moniker. Within just ten minutes of posting, the guide had already amassed tens of thousands of views and a rapidly climbing reply count. Yet, Nightfeather paid no attention, returning instead to the world of Divine Mourning.

Qingcheng University, Women's Dormitory, Building A, Room 9029

“Xiao Mo, look at this forum post! In the Divine Mourning Newbie section, there’s a guide that’s gotten tens of thousands of hits in less than ten minutes.”

Liu Yashi stared at her computer screen in disbelief, then turned to Xiao Mo, who was still sitting cross-legged on her chair, completely absorbed in Divine Mourning.

“It’s just another newbie guide for beginners,” Xiao Mo replied indifferently, shrugging her shoulders as though unconcerned.

“No, it’s not just that. The post was made by ‘If the Cold Night Has Become a Dream,’ and the forum gave him real-player verification. He’s that ‘Liangye’—the gaming legend on your server!”

As Liu Yashi finished speaking, there was a loud "thud"—Xiao Mo had jumped up so fast that she hit her head, then crouched back down in her chair, clutching her forehead and groaning, “Ouch, my poor head.”

Quickly recovering, Xiao Mo hurried to Liu Yashi’s side and stared wide-eyed at the post. Liu Yashi moved the mouse to highlight the real-player verification badge on the author’s forum profile.

“If the Cold Night Has Become a Dream—Divine Mourning Newbie Server, Xuantian Player, in-game name: Liangye. Verified by the forum as a real player. Appointed moderator of the Divine Mourning Newbie section, with full administrative privileges.”

“It really is him!” Xiao Mo’s heart skipped a beat. Was it truly that player—the leveling fanatic everyone on the server talked about?

“Mo Mo, why are you grinning like a fool?”

Four other girls walked over. Each of them was slim and stunningly beautiful, though still outshone by Xiao Mo’s charm.

“Ah? I’m going back to my game. You girls enjoy.” Xiao Mo snapped back to her senses, her cheeks flushed. She quickly retreated to her seat, immersed herself in the game once more, but couldn’t help but open a browser on the side to search for posts about Liangye on the renowned forum.

Divine Mourning, Xuantian Server, Hero Town, Hero Pavilion

After completing the "Peril of the Realm" quest, Nightfeather’s team received their rewards and finished the main quest within the allotted time, earning an extra 10 experience points as a bonus.

In Divine Mourning, main quests often had hidden time constraints; completing them within these limits granted significant extra rewards—specifically, 10 bonus experience points. Side quests and special quests also included similar mechanics: side quests gave an extra 5 or 10 experience, while special quests awarded an additional 10 or 20.

At this point, everyone in Nightfeather’s dorm was at nearly the same experience level, just a step away from reaching level 27.

Next, the four accepted a new main quest, which required them to venture into the next map. From Hero Town, there were three destinations: the ancient forest of Ten Thousand Woods, the mineral-rich wasteland of Jiushan Ridge, and the historic Heroic Palace. Only the Heroic Palace required players to reach level 60 and pass a trial to enter; the other two were already accessible. Their next main quest was to journey to Jiushan Ridge—a yellow, barren wilderness rich with minerals, where the real main storyline would begin to unfold.

Quest Level: 25
Quest Giver: Hero Pavilion Master
Quest Description: Travel to the mineral-rich wasteland of Jiushan Ridge and seek out the village chief, Duangan Hongda, of Jiushan Village.
Quest Objective: Find Duangan Hongda
Quest Turn-in: Duangan Hongda

After picking up the quest, the four also accepted and completed all the side quests available in Hero Town. At this moment, Nightfeather noticed a message from "Knows Warmth and Cold" in his friend list.

Knows Warmth and Cold: "Liangye, great master!"
Liangye: "Hmm, you need help with the Hidden Master Thief quest? How many people in your team now?"
Knows Warmth and Cold: "Surprised and delighted—I thought you might have forgotten! There are two of us; your four can join."

Liangye: "…"

Nightfeather told his three friends, then sent a friend request to Knows Warmth and Cold, and promptly joined the group.

Knows Warmth and Cold was startled to see the team notifications flash by:

"Liangye leveled up to 27."
"Xinai leveled up to 27."
"Great Ikkyu leveled up to 27."
"Darknight leveled up to 27."

All four joined the party at once, simultaneously reaching level 27—just as they had completed the newly unlocked side quests in Hero Town, earning the level-up bonus. Their synergy brought them smoothly to 27.

Current chat, Knows Warmth and Cold: "Hello, great masters! *waves*"
Current chat, Understand Your Joys and Sorrows: "Greetings, Liangye, great master. *shakes hands*"

Knows Warmth and Cold was now a level 23 character, and as he had discussed with Nightfeather, he intended to specialize as a magic-user in the future.

The four then set about helping Knows Warmth and Cold and his wife, Understand Your Joys and Sorrows, tackle the Hidden Master Thief quest.

Watching Liangye’s team in action, the couple was utterly amazed. The coordination among the four wasn’t exactly seamless, but their basic teamwork was flawless, and their attacks allowed Darknight, currently serving as the healer, to effortlessly chain his skills.

Liangye clearly took command, and under his direction, Knows Warmth and Cold soon joined the fray. With the team’s support, the battle was far easier than when the couple had tried on their own—they had always come close to defeat before.

Within minutes, the Hidden Master Thief shuddered, and under the combined assault of six, fell to his knees and collapsed.

Team chat, Knows Warmth and Cold: "Amazing! *thumbs up*"
Team chat, Darknight: "You’re too kind—it was nothing, really."
Team chat, Liangye: "Knows Warmth and Cold, our main quest is about to take us to the next map. If you ever need help, just ask."
Team chat, Knows Warmth and Cold: "Thank you, truly, great masters!"

With that, Nightfeather’s group left and re-formed their party to head toward Jiushan Ridge. Now at level 27, they were clearly ahead of the curve, and soon, Tan Cong and Qu Zheng, the two demon-race players, would join them at Jiushan Ridge.

Completing the main questlines in the starter zone marked the beginning of the real storyline, and from this point, the quests for both the human and demon races would be 90 percent the same, differing only in a few NPCs for quest turn-ins.