"Of course, if you don’t want to be tied down, you could be an Outer Circle member, or if you prefer to level up alone, I respect your choice."
"No, no, no, I don’t dare to train alone; this game is too hard. I almost got killed by a Little Monster yesterday."
Then Haoye Xinghe thought for a moment, "Can I start as an Outer Circle member and see how it goes?"
"Of course, you can." Hidden Dragon Do Not Use also breathed a sigh of relief; if the other party really didn’t join, he would have been at a loss, as it’s not right to use threats.
"We’re planning to go to Canglin State, and we can help you change your profession. Come with us."
"We’re leaving now? Shouldn’t I level up a few more levels first?" Haoye Xinghe was clearly worried. He had only been playing the game for two days and was just level 4; suddenly setting off on a long journey naturally felt unsafe.
"If you level up a few more times, you won’t be able to change professions..." Hidden Dragon Do Not Use explained the game’s profession system again, especially about attribute points.
Haoye Xinghe, being an experienced player, understood the rationale. Upon hearing that he could change to a Magic profession and learn Spells at level 10, he was obviously tempted.
But looking at the unfamiliar people in front of him, he felt torn.
"Do you have any concerns?"
"This... well, it’s ..." But Haoye Xinghe couldn’t quite articulate his concern.
Xiao Jie, observing from the side, had a clear understanding.
He stepped forward and said, "Listen, little brother, I consider myself a friend of your brother, so I’ll call you little brother and be blunt - with your rookie status as a total newbie, there’s nothing worth scheming over. If it were someone else, we’d have to think twice about letting them join our guild.
"The things our leader just gave you are worth at least a few million. If we really wanted to mess with you, we’d have just kept the goods for ourselves instead of bothering to deliver them all this way.
"We’re taking you for the profession change because we owe it to your brother. For anyone else, even if they offered us a few million, we might not be inclined to help.
"If you trust us, come with us. If not, just keep leveling up by yourself. I know you’ve just started this game and are completely clueless, but some things are really simple. If you can’t understand that, then forget it."
With that, Haoye Xinghe fell silent, thought for a moment, and finally said earnestly, "Okay, I’ll go with you guys. Since you’re friends of my brother, I trust you!"
His words were somewhat shaky, but he couldn’t demand much more.
Xiao Jie thought to himself that the kid had at least some sense of awareness.
"Then hurry up and get ready. We don’t have much time."
Five minutes later, Haoye Xinghe and a few companions set out, and the group of five hit the road again.
"Right, before we set off, learn the Riding Skill."
Hidden Dragon Do Not Use immediately handed over the Basic Riding Skill Book and a travel horse’s reins to him.
Having a horse made things much more convenient.
The group of five, riding their horses, hurried out of Newbie Village. Four of them loosely surrounded Haoye Xinghe in the middle to keep any randomly aggressive Little Monsters from taking him down.
It was fortunate that Hidden Dragon Do Not Use had talked to him beforehand, advising him to put all his attribute points into Constitution. With a Blood Volume of 240, he wasn’t overly fragile.
While walking, they explained some important aspects of the game to Haoye Xinghe.
"Don’t die above all, that’s the most important thing. If you encounter a Monster, just stay behind us. If there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask, especially when adding attribute points, because one wrong point can be disastrous..."
As Haoye Xinghe listened, he nervously observed the world outside. Any random Monster on the roadside was over ten levels, which was heart-pounding for his level-4 character. Without protection, he would likely have been killed right away.
Thankfully, with the horse, he could still run away.
They came across an abandoned village up ahead, crumbling and decrepit like many others in the game.
As they were about to detour around it, a figure by the broken village gate caught everyone’s attention.
"Hey, Feng, look, isn’t that the Mad Taoist?"
Indeed, it was him, still in his ragged Daoist robe, but it was unclear which Avatar this Mad Taoist was split from.
Hidden Dragon Do Not Use said, "Don’t bother with him; this kind is found everywhere in Nine States, nothing special."
However, Haoye Xinghe was quite curious, "Can we kill him for Equipment?"
"People have tried; he doesn’t drop anything good and you lose reputation. It’s not worth it."
They intended to bypass him, but unexpectedly, the Mad Taoist saw the group and suddenly shouted excitedly.
"Young lad, hold up, do you have any of that fine wine left? How about giving me another bottle?"
Eh, Xiao Jie was startled; this was the same Mad Taoist he had encountered in Xiaofeng City.
Xiao Jie had assumed this guy would have died in the jail of Xuanxu Palace long ago. He didn’t expect him to still be alive.
"Wait a second, I’ll go check."