Chapter Eighteen: Fame Unnoticed

Because Tan Cong had chosen the shaman class—a support profession focused on offense—all of his enhancement skills were oriented toward attack. As he specialized further in shamanic abilities, he promptly summoned two peculiar ancient banners, each with distinct patterns. One was adorned with the image of a mandrake flower; as soon as this banner appeared, it summoned a flower spirit, which, judging by its markings, was a mandrake blossom sprite. Its appearance resembled that of a little girl, evoking an immediate fondness—utterly charming.

“Mandrake Shaman Sigil.”

The other banner bore a tiger pattern, from which a spectral tiger demon materialized. Two shamanic spirit projections emerged and launched ferocious attacks on two of the soldiers. The tiger demon raised its right paw and delivered a savage blow, sending a soldier flying. Meanwhile, the mandrake flower sprite pressed her palms together, gathering a violet halo between them, and then fired a purple beam straight at another soldier.

“Fierce Tiger Shaman Sigil.”

Of the six, Qu Zheng played the most fragile class, but the damage he could unleash was truly astonishing. Armed with a curved dagger that flickered with silver light, he moved with ghostly, elusive steps, targeting a soldier’s rib and driving his blade deep.

“Shadow Kill: Piercing Bone.”

Qu Zheng’s output was easily double that of the others. In fact, his class came with a unique special mechanic: he could ignore fifty points of armor defense and strike directly at the target. Although this was mainly effective against monsters, it was more than enough. Building on the advantage that Ye Yu had secured, Qu Zheng’s attacks became utterly unrestrained.

“Shadow Kill: Lunge.”

Qu Zheng launched himself forward, his silhouette flickering with afterimages. The silver dagger in his right hand stabbed out in a flurry, dealing shocking damage to everything in his path.

“I can’t even understand the damage our youngest is dishing out,” Huang Hong remarked, glancing at Qu Zheng’s devastating performance, and slapped his own cheek with resignation. “With him around, the rest of us seem utterly redundant.”

“Third Brother laid such a solid foundation, so our youngest doesn’t have to worry about taking damage and can go all out,” Luo Wei said, resting his right hand comfortingly on Huang Hong’s shoulder. “Assassin classes have the highest burst damage, whether among humans or demons. Later on, they even get long-lasting stealth skills. A surprise attack from behind is enough to instantly kill someone, but this class is basically crippled without a healer around.”

As Qu Zheng dispatched soldier after soldier, he couldn’t help but glower at Luo Wei’s words, turning to shoot him a look of disdain. “Stop spouting nonsense.”

“It’s the simple truth!” Luo Wei retorted.

Hearing Qu Zheng’s last three words, both Luo Wei and Huang Hong’s lips twitched faintly. This guy truly played by his own rules.

In the blink of an eye, only one of the twenty soldiers remained bound. This last one was clearly different from the others; his armor was of a much higher grade, marking him as the leader.

With a metallic clang, Qu Zheng’s dagger swept across, sparks flying, but it only left a faint white scratch on the leader’s armor. The damage indicator above his head was much lower than what Qu Zheng had dealt to the other soldiers.

“Huh? How can that be?” Qu Zheng muttered, eyes narrowing at the sight. He then turned to Ye Yu, a hint of mischief in his expression. “Third Brother, where’s his weak spot?”

The weak point mechanic was one of the unique features of the world of Divine Desolation. Every monster possessed a weak spot for players to discover, allowing for swifter kills.

Ye Yu studied the armored leader, his gaze pausing on the faint scratch left by Qu Zheng. His frown relaxed as he replied, “The weak point is the chest—the armor there has a slight crack. Use your Shadow Kill: Twin Lunge to inflict a weakened state, then finish him with Piercing Bone.”

“But that’s still armor. My armor-penetration hasn’t seemed to do much. Will it really work?”

“You have a built-in fifty-point armor-piercing mechanic. Don’t worry—the average is that after about five hits, you’ll break through.”

Nodding, Qu Zheng leapt forward, his daggers glinting with icy light. He sliced across with one blade, then spun and stabbed both daggers precisely at the weakened section of the soldier’s chest plate.

A series of sharp cracks rang out. Armor fragments clattered to the ground as both blades penetrated deep. Qu Zheng braced his legs, kicked off the soldier’s body, and somersaulted to land. With a flick of his foot, he shot forward once more, daggers crossing in a flash of cold light as he slashed down on the leader.

With a thunderous crash, the soldier let out a wretched scream, knees buckling as he collapsed. From start to finish, Qu Zheng had handled the leader alone—guided by Ye Yu’s precise calculations and careful direction—because such elite monsters possessed a berserk mechanic when near death, making it too dangerous for a group assault.

It had taken nearly twenty minutes, but they had suffered no mishaps.

Throughout the entire fight, the twenty soldiers had never landed a single attack. They were immobilized from the start by Ye Yu’s String of Stillness, endlessly running in place. When the last one fell, the first item in the six-man party’s quest log lit up green. The surrounding soldiers gradually vanished, their experience points soaring, and they even obtained some decent gear—mostly common items, but a few worthwhile pieces nonetheless.

“The loot is actually pretty decent. Lots of white gear, but still some good finds.”

At that very moment, gaming forums everywhere were flooded with posts about the Divine Desolation novice server.

All eyes were drawn to Xuantian, the top server, where a six-person leveling team had captured everyone’s attention. Some resourceful individuals even dug up reliable information.

On the renowned gaming forum SupremeTech, in the Divine Desolation Newbie section, the sole moderator—If the Cool Night Is Already a Dream—was in fact a member of Xuantian’s top leveling team.

Of course, some doubted the claims. Even so, the guides posted by this moderator were recognized as the fastest, clearest, and most concise—so much so that even complete novices could breeze through the game using them.

SupremeTech’s gaming forum was among the most famous in the country, run by the nation’s top gaming news platform, SupremeTech Gaming, which hosted forums for all the hottest games. SupremeTech Network Co. had created this information hub, which boasted an average of one billion page views daily.

As one of the world’s premier games, Divine Desolation naturally topped SupremeTech’s forum. The company had invested considerable effort in selecting a suitable moderator for the newbie section—not a grizzled veteran, but a player recommended through special channels.

Their choice proved wise; the mysterious moderator’s guides were much more attuned to the needs of new players than those of the old guard.

At that moment, in SupremeTech’s Divine Desolation Newbie section, a post with countless upvotes dominated the front page for anyone who entered.

Its title was simple: If the Cool Night Is Already a Dream—Requesting the Master to Reveal Their Server and Identity.

First floor: “Moderator, please reveal yourself! If the Cool Night Is Already a Dream, tell us your server and identity.”

Second floor: “These guides are much better than the veterans’—maybe not the absolute best, but they’re definitely written from a newbie’s perspective. Moderator, which server are you on? I want to join your server and team up with you!”

Seventieth floor: “This is amazing—I’ve become a fan. According to SupremeTech’s verification, the moderator must be the legendary Cool Night from Xuantian, a notorious leveling maniac who leads their team by a wide margin. Rumor has it their group might be the first to hit level 40 today.”

Seventy-first floor: “Agreed—I seem to recall a post confirming that the moderator is indeed Cool Night from Xuantian.”

One hundred ninety-third floor: “No matter what, I’ve bookmarked all of the moderator’s guides. These distilled gems make Divine Desolation accessible even for total beginners.”

Ye Yu was unaware of his growing fame, or that his popularity had even reached Divine Desolation’s official forum for newcomers. For now, all he cared about was clearing the Nine Mountains Mine instance in a single, flawless run.