Neither of us had any intention of engaging in a deep conversation, so I pretended to be in a hurry, glancing around as I slowly walked away. The Shushan server had just launched, and with the limited number of players allowed in the open beta and the vastness of the map, it was rare to see crowds of new players except in villages, big cities, or sect headquarters. In most other places, you could go an entire day without seeing a single person.

Even in the wilderness, when two players met, neither was in the mood to chat. Right now, everyone was focused on leveling up—either grinding monsters in small groups or venturing out solo to explore the map. Whoever could seize a bit of resources first would be in a much better position later on.

“Hmm! What’s this pitch-black stick-like thing?” My eyesight was pretty sharp, and as I brushed past these two Emei Disciple, I spotted something eye-catching in the grass. Shushan was full of beautiful scenery and lush vegetation, so a stray stick or branch wasn’t unusual, which was probably why the two of them hadn’t noticed anything special about the thing on the ground.

I bent down and picked it up. With a “ding-dong,” the system notification sounded: “Congratulations! You have picked up the Green Fang Ghost Arrow! Green Fang Ghost Arrow, flying sword type, can automatically fly out to attack enemies, damage 28–39, additional Yin damage 20–35.”

“Nice! This is way stronger than the Fire Talisman I got as a drop!”

Before level 20, human players have two weapon slots and four magic treasure slots. The equipment slots are divided into: headwear, earrings, necklace, bracelet, ring, belt, coat, shirt, robe, pants, and shoes—a total of twelve slots, with two rings allowed, one on each hand. As you level up, you get one more magic treasure slot every ten levels, up to a maximum of ten, but the number of weapon slots doesn’t increase with level—unless you can find the legendary immortal technique that allows you to control multiple flying swords. Only after mastering it can you increase the number of flying swords you can wield. Of course, if you’re lucky enough to find a set of flying swords, like the Nine Child Mother Yin Soul Swords, a set of nine flying swords only takes up one weapon slot.

The Green Fang Ghost Arrow is a flying sword, not a magic treasure, which made me pretty happy. Judging by the drop rates for magic treasures and flying swords in Shushan, on average, only two or three drop for every hundred monsters killed, while clothes, accessories, and potions drop much more frequently.

Equipping this rather oddly shaped flying sword, I was about to leave when I heard a shout from behind: “Don’t go! What did you just pick up? Hand it over!”

“Come on! You guys picked up my Fire Talisman and I didn’t say a word, and now you want to rob me in broad daylight?”

I ignored the Emei Male Disciple yelling behind me and was about to walk away quickly when a sudden gust of wind came at me—he actually attacked first! You know, malicious PK costs you virtue points! This guy was way too aggressive!

Silently activating the Qingcheng Sword Technique, I countered with the Green Fang Ghost Arrow, using the “Chaotic Clouds Fill the Sky” move to cover both of them in my attack range. Since they came as a pair, I couldn’t count on any sense of fairness—if I waited for the girl to join in and flank me, I’d be in trouble, so I might as well strike first.

With just the first level of the Qingcheng Sword Technique, the Green Fang Ghost Arrow was already a tier above the Fire Talisman in terms of power. One shot and both of them lost dozens of HP—nice! When I unleashed “Chaotic Clouds Fill the Sky” a second time, the guy fumbled to draw his sword and block, but ended up exposing his weak spot. The Green Fang Ghost Arrow punched six or seven holes in him, turning him into a beam of white light as he respawned.

The girl managed to cast a Fire spell in time, taking about twenty HP off me, but the Green Fang Ghost Arrow’s damage was much higher than the Fire Talisman’s, and her HP wasn’t as high as mine. After trading two spells, I finished her off as well.

These two looked impressive on the outside, but it turned out they were actually broke. All I got was a belt—nothing else dropped.

“So now I’m a villain… What a wild life!” Listening to the noisy curses coming from the public channel, it seemed those two Emei Disciple had quite a few friends. Cold sweat was running down my back—if they all came to help, I’d be dead eight times over!

I quickly turned off the public channel and immediately changed locations. The famous mountains and rivers were beautiful, but the bustling cities were where life really happened. I didn’t have time to save up for a Land God Talisman, so I just relied on my two long, skinny legs to get out of there!

The world of Shushan was vast, basically created according to the novel’s setting. The territory of Shushan was even larger than the real Earth, so getting around was a big deal.

Before you learned sword-riding or cloud-surfing, the Land God Talisman was an essential item for travel and adventure. Each talisman was marked with a place name, and no matter where you were, as long as you activated it, you’d instantly be transported to the location written on the talisman. However, these were consumables. High-level players or those who didn’t mind the small expense would buy them, but me… I was just a level 7 newbie! I didn’t have a single coin to my name.