"Hello, madam. Here are the wolf eyes you asked for."

  Under the crooked-neck tree, Ye Tianxie traded ten wolf eyes into the hands of the strange old woman. Immediately, the system notification for completing the quest rang in his ears... but the so-called "mysterious" quest reward nearly made him curse out loud.

  "Ding... You have completed the quest 'The Request of the Sealed Elder.' Quest reward: 10 experience points, 1 silver coin."

  Just 10 experience points and a single silver coin for ten wolf eyes? He could sell them at the store for at least 2 silver coins! Ye Tianxie had to resist the urge to blurt out, "Old lady, can you be any stingier?"

  "Thank you, young man. These wolf eyes will be of great help to me." The old woman raised her withered, bark-like face. Though her words were filled with formatted gratitude, her eyes carried no trace of appreciation—only a detached indifference. "Young man, I can see that you are both kind and courageous. Would you be willing to collect 100 more wolf eyes for me?"

  "Ding... The Sealed Elder has asked you to gather 100 wolf eyes. Quest type: Normal. Time limit: None. Reward: Unknown."

  "Accept."

  The old woman's second request actually put Ye Tianxie at ease. Clearly, this was a chain quest, and the first stage of chain quests often had ridiculously meager rewards. However, as they progressed, the rewards would become increasingly generous. If this was a multi-stage quest, would the next stage demand 200 wolf eyes? What about the stage after that? 300?

  Without wasting another word, Ye Tianxie returned to the depths of the Wolf Valley and resumed slaughtering the vicious wolves. The moment he stepped into their territory, the wolves, drawn by the scent of a living being, swarmed toward him—only to be cut down in two sweeping strikes from Eternal Fate's Hour.

  Two hits, guaranteed kills, with an attack radius of two meters. Even a well-coordinated six-player party at level 5 wouldn't be able to match Ye Tianxie's efficiency. Gradually, after just ten minutes, the wolves stopped attacking in groups and began approaching one by one. Another ten minutes passed, and he actively sought out the wandering wolves in the distance. Another ten minutes later... the surrounding area was completely devoid of wolves. The few that managed to respawn barely had time to find their footing before being instantly slain by him.

  In the end, this small valley was completely monopolized by a single person.

  "Ding... Your level has increased to Level 3. HP + X, MP + X, and 5 free attribute points gained."

  After counting the more than 300 wolf eyes in his inventory, Ye Tianxie finally stepped out of the Wolf Valley. Unfortunately for the Red Leaf Alliance—or rather, very unfortunately for them—he once again ran into the same five people.

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  Given that China had a total of 100,000 beginner villages, the fact that five members of the Red Leaf Alliance ended up in the same village was already quite rare.

  Straightening his expression, Red Leaf Ironwall stepped forward and said to Ye Tianxie, who remained as expressionless as ever, "Xietian, we've gathered the 100 gold coins. Once the trade is complete, we'll even throw in a level 3 two-handed weapon as a bonus. The Red Leaf Alliance will also recognize you as a friend."

  100 gold coins—this amount was astronomical at this stage of the game. To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, they had paid a massive price to gather the sum in the shortest time possible and then rushed straight here. Fortunately, they had found Ye Tianxie right away.

  "The Red Leaf Alliance? Is that supposed to be impressive?" Ye Tianxie grinned, his voice dripping with mockery and disdain.

  Red Leaf Ironwall's face darkened but quickly regained composure. "We may not be as powerful as Divine Domain Alliance or Heaven’s Wings, but we are not a force to be trifled with. We have over a hundred thousand brothers who stand by each other through thick and thin. We do not fear Divine Domain or Heaven’s Wings, and soon, we will trample them beneath our feet!"

  Ye Tianxie, of course, was familiar with the names of Divine Domain Alliance and Heaven’s Wings. He stepped forward, stopping right in front of Red Leaf Ironwall, and extended his right hand.

  "100 gold coins. Hand them over."

  Red Leaf Ironwall remained motionless, his expression cold. "Payment and goods should be exchanged at the same time. The Red Leaf Alliance has never made a habit of paying first."

  "Neither do I." Ye Tianxie withdrew his hand, glancing at them with half-lidded eyes. "Your alliance's credibility and conduct make me unwilling to trade simultaneously. Either hand over the money first, or get lost."

  The mocking disdain in his words made the faces of all five members of the Red Leaf Alliance darken. Throughout their gaming careers, the name "Red Leaf Alliance" had always commanded respect and even fear. Who would dare treat them with such contempt? And yet, now, they were being outright dismissed—by a single person, no less.

  The Apprentice Warrior had already raised his two-handed sword, but Red Leaf Ironwall stopped him with a gesture. Their priority was to acquire the weapon their leader, Red Leaf Gale, wanted—not to act on impulse. If it were possible, they would have long since attacked Ye Tianxie and tried to loot the weapon off his corpse. But in their previous encounter, he had single-handedly taken them all down in less than ten seconds.

  They had no choice but to endure.

  "Fine..." Red Leaf Ironwall took a deep breath, forcing his voice to remain calm. "We admit that we were in the wrong earlier. We’ll transfer the gold first. Xietian, I trust you won’t make the foolish decision of going against the entire Red Leaf Alliance. You may be strong—strong enough to take on all five of us alone—but behind us stands a hundred thousand Red Leaf brothers. Whether you want to be a friend or an enemy, I'm sure you'll make the wise choice."

  After compromising, he followed up with a not-so-subtle threat. Backed by the sheer might of 100,000 members, this was the kind of intimidation that could make most players back down.

  Unfortunately for him, Ye Tianxie was not most players.

  Some people were simply born immune to threats. In fact, for people like him, such threats often served as the perfect excuse to kill.

  Red Leaf Ironwall stepped forward and initiated the trade, transferring 100 gold coins to Ye Tianxie. The moment the system notification confirmed the successful transaction, Ye Tianxie's inventory gleamed with a hundred shiny gold coins. His expression brightened into an unmistakably delighted smile.

  Turning halfway away, he lazily said, "Alright, I’ll take the money. Now, you can all get lost."