Volume One, Chapter 43: Ranked First on the Equipment Leaderboard!

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Unaware of the impact he had caused outside, Lin Yu quietly awaited the rewards for defeating the boss.

[ Ding! Due to your level advantage in defeating the Serpent King Thord, you have gained +100 experience, +5 gold coins, and +10 skill books. ]

[ Ding! You have obtained a silver-tier equipment dropped by the Serpent King Thord: Blood Serpent Blade +1. ]

[ Ding! You have obtained a quest item dropped by the Serpent King Thord: Red Wave Crystal +1. ]

[ Ding! You have reached level 10 and gained +10 free attribute points! ]

[ Ding! Congratulations on being the 158th player in the entire server to reach level 10. You have received an additional +5 free attribute points. ]

[ Ding! Since you have reached level 10, please proceed to the main city to change your class promptly, or you will no longer gain experience. ]

As the server-wide announcement ended, a series of system alerts echoed in Lin Yu’s ears.

At the same time, his level had smoothly risen to 10.

“This Thord’s weapon really is silver-grade equipment!” Lin Yu’s eyes flashed with wild joy upon hearing the system’s notification.

Silver-grade equipment, even for level 20 players, provides tremendous benefits.

For a player at his current stage, it was nothing short of overwhelming.

Unable to contain his excitement, Lin Yu immediately checked the attributes of the Blood Serpent Blade.

[ Blood Serpent Blade (Silver-grade equipment).

Wearer requirement: Warrior class only.

Level requirement: Minimum level 10.

Effect 1: Attack +1280.

Effect 2: Critical hit rate +10%.

Effect 3: Consumes 150 energy to unleash Blood Spirit Slash dealing 288% * maximum attack damage; this skill can critically hit. Cooldown: 1 minute. ]

...

“Hiss, no wonder the Serpent King Thord’s attacks could exceed 2,000 damage.”

Seeing the terrifying attack boost of the Blood Serpent Blade, Lin Yu gasped sharply.

Even among silver equipment, this level of attack enhancement was exceptional.

Typically, ordinary silver weapons only added about 1,000 attack points.

This made the Blood Serpent Blade’s power all the more formidable.

Of all the effects, the third—Blood Spirit Slash—caught Lin Yu’s attention the most.

He nearly fell victim to it earlier.

“I didn’t expect the Blood Spirit Slash could even crit.”

Glancing at the skill description, Lin Yu felt a wave of relief.

Had Thord’s final strike landed a critical hit, his fate today might have been grim.

After all, his health was just over 10,000.

A critical hit would have left him vulnerable to being worn down by a Thord in sacrifice mode.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but pity Thord’s terrible luck—how could he not land a single critical hit throughout?

Rubbing his hands together, Lin Yu wasted no time equipping the Blood Serpent Blade.

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After swapping out the Sword of Light for the Blood Serpent Blade, Lin Yu’s attack power surged dramatically—from 1,465 to 2,425.

[ Ding! Since you have equipped the Blood Serpent Blade and reached level 10, the weapon will soon enter the equipment leaderboard. Would you like to hide your nickname? ]

The system alert sounded the moment Lin Yu equipped the blade.

“Has the equipment leaderboard already opened without me noticing?”

Lin Yu raised an eyebrow, realizing he had been in the game for three days.

“Hide.”

Without hesitation, Lin Yu chose to conceal his identity.

Having just slain the Serpent King and now topping the equipment leaderboard with the Blood Serpent Blade, he knew revealing himself would be unwise.

Curious, Lin Yu opened the equipment leaderboard to assess the current power landscape.

First place: Blood Serpent Blade (Silver-grade, owner: Hidden).

Second place: Crescent Summoning Staff (Bronze-grade, owner: Xiahou Qingqing).

Third place: Death’s Dagger (Bronze-grade, owner: Xiao Xiaoran).

Fourth place: Thorned Shoulder Armor (Bronze-grade, owner: Xiao Xiaoran).

Fifth place: Ghost King Boots (Bronze-grade, owner: Xiahou Qingqing).

Sixth place: Radiant Cloak (Bronze-grade, owner: Tank Slayer).

Seventh place: Staff of Fire (Bronze-grade, owner: One Rain Jianghu).

...

Leading the board, Lin Yu’s Blood Serpent Blade stood alone as the sole silver-grade equipment by a wide margin.

This outcome did not surprise him.

In Divine Demon Continent, silver-grade gear typically only drops from silver-tier bosses or is rewarded by high-level quests.

Clearly, no other current players could obtain such equipment.

His previous Sword of Light hadn’t appeared on the leaderboard because to qualify, the equipment’s wielder must be at least level 10.

Since Lin Yu had unequipped the Sword of Light, it hadn’t ranked.

“Xiahou Qingqing truly is the chosen one awakened with the god-level summoning skill.”

Seeing two of the top five pieces belonging to Xiahou Qingqing, Lin Yu couldn’t help but admire the god-tier summoner’s early-game dominance.

They were a near-bug-like force in the beginning stages.

Next, Lin Yu opened the level rankings out of curiosity to gauge the overall player progression.

First: Xiahou Qingqing, level 11, 88%.

Second: Tank Slayer, level 10, 98%.

Third: Xiao Xiaoran, level 10, 66%.

Fourth: Bin Ge YYDS, level 10, 63%.

Fifth: Scarlet Rose, level 10, 55%.

Sixth: Endless Light, level 10, 42%.

...

As expected, Xiahou Qingqing maintained first place by a wide margin.

Xiao Xiaoran, delayed by the Abyss dungeon and missing out on bonus experience, had fallen to third.

“Just like in my previous life, the god-level summoning skill’s early-game advantage is overwhelming,” Lin Yu reflected again.

Being able to summon creatures ten levels higher for combat clearly accelerated leveling beyond what other players could match.

Through this ranking, Lin Yu gained a rough understanding of the current situation.

Those listed were not vastly different from the players of his past life.

Except for Bin Ge YYDS, who lucked into a hidden class and squeezed into the top five, the rest were from the top ten powerful families or influential figures in Huaguo.

These players knew the secret behind Divine Demon Continent and thus invested heavily, regardless of cost, into the game.

Closing the rankings, Lin Yu’s gaze returned to the loot dropped by the Serpent King Thord.

Besides the Blood Serpent Blade, his next focus was the Red Wave Crystal.

However, Lin Yu frowned as he examined the crystal.

It appeared different from the one Blacksmith Li had shown him.

Something was clearly inside it.

[ Ding! You have detected an anomaly within the Red Wave Crystal. Would you like to extract the contents? Note: Extracting will damage the crystal. ]

As Lin Yu noticed the anomaly, the system prompt sounded timely in his mind.

“Extract!”

Without hesitation, Lin Yu decided to retrieve whatever was inside.

After all, Thord had been willing to die rather than surrender this Red Wave Crystal.

If there was something hidden within, there must be a dark secret, and Lin Yu was not about to let it slip.

As for the damage to the crystal, it was not his concern.

His mission was only to retrieve the Red Wave Crystal, not necessarily intact.

Upon his command, the Red Wave Crystal immediately emitted a red glow.

Its surface cracked open, revealing a small opening, and a sealed envelope slowly fell into his hand.

“A letter?”

Lin Yu carefully stored the Red Wave Crystal and looked down at the envelope in puzzlement.

He hadn’t expected that what Thord guarded with his life was just a letter.

This could only mean one thing: the letter contained something of great importance—at least to Thord.

After pondering briefly, Lin Yu decided to open and read the letter.

Since it was so precious, there was no reason not to.

But as he finished reading, his mood grew complicated.

The letter revealed the entire truth behind the framing of Village Chief Cui Jie’s son and the mastermind’s communication with the demon clan!

In other words, with this letter, Lin Yu could clear Cui Jie’s son’s name at last.