Online game: Basic attacks increase strength; the greater the power, the more powerful it is!

Strength is about to break 9,000, and attack power exceeds 40,000.

This panel, looking at the current state of the entire game "Alien Descent," is absolutely overwhelming.

And the experience bar is almost full.

Of the 200,000 experience points awarded for the first kill, 100,000 were absorbed by the Crimson Dragon Egg.

The dragon egg's experience has now reached [985000/1000000].

Only 15,000 experience points are needed to enter the incubation stage.

Jun Heng closed the attribute panel, a satisfied gleam in his eyes.

The two pieces of silver-grade equipment have now been acquired.

So he planned to obtain the last material to repair the Demon God Ring while simultaneously filling up the experience points on the dragon egg.

"Hey boss, where are you headed next?"

Jun Heng closed the attribute panel, and Zhang Lie's dog head came closer.

"Go to the Misty Swamp to collect magic crystals, what about you?"

Jun Heng didn't hide anything and replied directly.

"My mandatory time is almost up, so I want to go back to town to rest for a bit before logging off and going to sleep."

"Okay, let's run dungeons together again next time we have the chance."

As they talked, the two left the underground palace.

After adding Zhang Lie as a friend and saying goodbye, Jun Heng embarked on his journey to the Misty Swamp.

During this time, the system kept sending notifications from the auction house, and all of his items were sold in succession.

It was pretty much as he expected, except for the Dragon Blood Set, which gave him a pleasant surprise.

Junheng originally thought that although the Dragon Blood Set was rare, it would only cost a maximum of 200 gold coins.

Unexpectedly, some generous boss spent 350 gold coins to bid for it.

That's equivalent to 3.5 million RMB.

With the addition of other equipment and the income from defeating the BOSS, Junheng now has over six million in his hands!

I briefly recalled my previous life; the first time the exchange rate for in-game currency dropped was a week after the game launched.

He had to make a killing before that happened.

When Jun Heng arrived at the Misty Swamp, an hour had already passed.

The process of fighting the monster was simple. Although the poison of the Crystal Core Demon Frog was a bit of a headache, Junheng bought an antidote in advance.

In less than thirty minutes, he had collected all the magic crystals.

After leveling up for a while, the Crimson Dragon Egg's experience points were filled, and he leveled up to level 12.

[Ding! The Crimson Dragon Egg has reached its experience point limit and will begin hatching...]

[Incubation Time: 23:59:59]

Twenty-four hours of incubation time is neither long nor short.

By this time tomorrow, he will have a dragon companion of his own.

He glanced at the materials in his backpack again. He had collected all the magic crystals, had enough star sand, and had more than enough soul stones.

With the addition of the Shadow Stone, all the materials needed to repair the Demon God Ring are now in place.

"It's time to go back and report."

Jun Heng crushed the return scroll, and with a flash of white light, his figure disappeared at the edge of the misty swamp.

The next second, he appeared in the center of the teleportation array in Dawn City.

The city of Dawn was even more bustling than before in the dead of night.

The shops on both sides of the street lit up, and various hawking and shouting sounds rose and fell.

There are now several times more players coming to level 2 towns than during the day.

Some were calling out to form teams, some were trading equipment, and some were entering the mercenary guild to accept missions.

Jun Heng's default system-provided attire attracted a lot of attention.

But these players didn't pay too much attention, assuming that he had gone out to grind monsters and his equipment had lost durability, which was why this happened.

Jun Heng ignored the gazes directed at him and walked straight toward Hawke's Blacksmith Workshop in the East District.

Pushing open the creaking wooden door, the scorching heat hit me again.

Hawke was sitting by the fireplace, holding a whetstone and carefully polishing a short sword that had already been completed.

Hearing the door open, he looked up, a hint of surprise flashing in his cloudy old eyes.

"Young man, you're back so soon?"

Without wasting any words, Jun Heng took all the materials out of his backpack and neatly stacked them on the wooden table.

Magic Crystal, Stardust, Soul Stone, Lava Iron Butt, Shadow Stone...

And two pieces of silver-grade equipment: the Giant Spirit Battle Blade and the General's Breastplate.

"You managed to get the Shadow Stone so quickly. No wonder my master values ​​you."

He put down the short sword in his hand, stood up and walked to the wooden table.

Rough fingers ran over the materials, checking their quality.

"Magic Crystals, Stardust, Soul Stones..."

Finally, he picked up the Shadow Stone and weighed it in his hand.

A glint flashed in his eyes, and his gaze toward Jun Heng held a hint of approval.

"Young man, you are more capable than I imagined."

[Ding! You have completed the hidden quest: Hawk's Request!]

[Rewards: 30000 Experience Points, 200 Silver Coins, Hawke's Favorability +50!]

[Ding! Hawke's favorability has reached 60 points (familiar)!]

Hawke put the materials away and turned to walk towards the workbench deep inside the blacksmith's shop.

"Repairing this ring will take some time. You can wander around the city for a while and come back to pick it up at this time tomorrow."

"Okay, thank you, Master Hawke."

"I have some extra materials here, which I'll also give to you as a gift."

[Ding! Hawke's favorability has increased by 10!]

"Then I'll have more little brothers."

Like with Hogan before, gifting him forging materials can increase his favorability.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Junheng clasped his hands in farewell and took his leave.

But just as he was about to leave the blacksmith shop...

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the handsome apprentice was nowhere to be seen in the room.

"Master Hawke, where is your apprentice?"

Jun Heng stopped and asked casually.

Hawke, who was organizing materials at his workbench, answered without looking up.

"You mean Lorne? He's been taking leave around this time every week lately, saying he's going to collect some kind of material outside the Eternal Night Fortress."

Upon hearing the name "Eternal Night Fortress," Jun Heng's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly.

Eternal Night Fortress is an abandoned military fortress located seventy miles north of Dawn City.

In the previous life, that fortress would have been an important stronghold for players in the game.

Because that place is the first line of defense against the northern beast tide.

However, for now, that fortress is still a dangerous area occupied by wild beasts and corrupted creatures.

Lorne, a blacksmith's apprentice, would take leave every evening to go to such places to collect materials.

That excuse is rather clumsy.

Jun Heng's eyes flashed with a sharp light as he firmly memorized this information.

"Eternal Night Fortress? That's not exactly a safe place."

He offered a casual reminder, his tone carrying just the right amount of concern.

Upon hearing this, Hawke paused slightly in his movements, his fingers tracing the material for a moment.

"Yes, I've tried to persuade him several times, but that kid is very stubborn and won't listen to anything I say."

"They say they've discovered a rare ore and want to collect it to improve their forging techniques."

"Young people always want to stand out, that's understandable."

Jun Heng nodded and didn't press the matter further, but he had already made up his mind.

Lost, or rather, this dragon traitor disguised as Lorne.

The reason for heading to the Eternal Night Fortress every night is definitely not for any rare ore.

It's highly likely they're making contact with the forces of the Abyss.

"Master Hawke, I'll come back to collect the ring tomorrow."

Jun Heng walked out of the blacksmith shop and logged off without lingering.

The game pod lid slowly opened, and a refreshing breeze rushed in.

Junheng sat up and stretched his limbs.

Night had fallen outside the window, and the villa area was quiet, with only the occasional chirping of insects in the distance.

I glanced at the time; it was only 3 a.m.

I went to the living room, poured myself a glass of water, and reflected on what I had accomplished that day.

The power level is about to break through nine thousand, the Crimson Dragon Egg is hatching, and the Demon God Ring is about to be repaired...

Everything is proceeding in an orderly manner.

Based on the timeline, there is still more than a month until the arrival of the second version, Beastmaster Invasion.

Before that, he must improve his strength as much as possible to prepare for the chaos to come.

The fastest way to improve one's strength, besides in-game growth, is through real-world cultivation.

He thought of Ji Yunshang's best friend, Ruan Lingshan.

The Ruan family is an ancient martial arts family in Jianghai City with a history of hundreds of years.

In his previous life, Jun Heng knew nothing about those ancient martial arts families.

All we know is that they rose rapidly after the planes merged, becoming the backbone of humanity's resistance against the alien demons.

If he could learn the ancient martial arts of the Ruan family, it would greatly benefit his strength...