Chapter 147: First Snow

Spending all this time toiling away on the outskirts, far away from Listenwind City, Zhao Nan felt as though he had traveled back to the days of old. Back when he would pack a pile of rations and health potions, hole up in a leveling zone for a whole month without stepping outside even once, and eat and sleep in temporary open-air safe zones.

Those days were the most monotonous of all. After a grueling month, the harvest was only mediocre, leaving one truly disheartened, lost, and uncertain about the road ahead.

This time around, the tedium was identical, but the results were exceptionally rewarding.

The skills of the five elemental paths were complex and diverse. The higher the level, the more skills one could learn. Zhao Nan's own skill set had already become somewhat bloated. Some skills were rarely used, yet intuition told him they might come in handy at some point, making it a pity to discard them. As the number of skills grew, this awkward predicament became increasingly pronounced.

Therefore, now that he possessed the ability of "Fusion," to avoid such awkward dilemmas in the future, Zhao Nan naturally needed to streamline all of his skills. As for his character level, that could afford to wait a little.

Sharpening the axe does not delay the work of chopping wood.

Besides, using "Copy" was equivalent to casting a skill twice, which actually doubled the rate at which proficiency increased.

……

……

July 10th of the Monster Calendar.

There were still ten days left until the first monster siege, marking exactly half a year since it began. Ever since the Level 20 regular dungeon was cleared and the Level 30 monster map unlocked, the average level of all players in Listenwind City had been rising almost every day. Originally, the player population in Listenwind City was not very large, so when the quests available to individuals were averaged out, they naturally received many more opportunities.

Dungeons were only so large. Whether ten people ran it or a hundred people did, those who ultimately secured more experience and equipment were naturally the groups of ten plunging into the fray.

The unlocking of the Level 30 regular dungeon was likely still a long way off. However, the second monster siege was not far away.

Zhao Nan's streamlining of his learned skills had also reached its concluding stage.

Over the past few days, Zhao Nan had paid a little attention to the situation in Eastspring City. Two months ago, Ximen Yu had become the lord of Eastspring City. He walked a path that endeared him to the people, unlike Zhao Nan, who never spoke a word of his exile abilities. However, if leveling is suppressed for too long, someone is bound to level up by accident. Therefore, the opening of the Level 20 regular dungeon over in Eastspring City was hardly an unforeseen event. Since Ximen Yu had truly become the city lord, he naturally learned about the city upgrade system. As the city upgraded, it could recruit city defense guards, allowing indigenous residents to participate in monster sieges and enhance the city's defenses, among other benefits.

Ximen Yu was not a fool; he naturally understood the drawbacks of blindly relying on level suppression to evade monster sieges. Monsters could respawn, whereas players lost their lives permanently once killed. If things continued that way, there would eventually come a day when they were completely worn down and exhausted. Rather than doing that, it was far better to keep developing. Thus, the conquest of Eastspring City's Level 20 regular dungeon was also placed on the agenda, and it was successfully cleared shortly thereafter.

Eastspring City at this stage was likewise immersed in a city-wide leveling frenzy.

Furthermore, the development of the "Edge of the World" guild had exceeded even Zhou An's expectations. Today, this guild had grown into one of the top three guilds in Eastspring City, far surpassing Duan Tianlang's "Guardian Knights." Purely calculated in terms of comprehensive guild strength, it could even rival "Purgatory." Zhao Nan felt this was already immensely impressive—especially since the guild master of "Purgatory" was none other than the city lord.

Moreover, the "Purgatory" guild had already advanced to become an intermediate guild.

Gao Mingyang and the others were growing well, and their levels had rapidly surged forward.

In addition, Eastspring City had also dropped an Anti-Air Orb; defending against the next monster siege would presumably be much easier than it had been for Listenwind City.

"I'm telling you, Zhao Nan, what on earth is your situation over there? Why won't you give us an update? Other than knowing you aren't dead, we know absolutely nothing else! Are we still brothers or not?"

The email sent by Gao Mingyang yesterday was brimming with an indignant, foul-mouthed fury.

Gao Mingyang sat alone within the monster zone as he looked at that email. Close by, the Sky Dragon kept a majestic and awe-inspiring watch, and not a single monster dared to approach within half a step. At that moment, he wasn't even thinking about the issue of skill combinations. He was simply reminded of a long time ago, inside a tiny bar in Eastspring City, the exact moment the birth of "Edge of the World" was announced. That night was filled with singing, dancing, and unrestrained abandon; every single person was burning with hot-blooded passion.

Alone amidst that swarm of monsters, Zhao Nan suddenly couldn't help but chuckle aloud. Stirred by an indescribable emotion within his heart, he swiftly replied with an email, penning a single sentence in a particularly literary style:

"As long as we still remember our original dream, the day we meet again will come—probably in spring."

Afterward, he closed the notification for emails from Eastspring City, raised his Soul-Reaper Staff high toward the heavens, as if flipping a middle finger to the sky, and ruthlessly butchered the monsters that wanted to draw near yet dared not, reducing them to nothing more than morsels of tiny experience points.

……

……

"Probably in spring! What the hell, it's just barely winter now, how much longer are we supposed to wait?" Gazing at the email that had traveled from afar—the fruit of their longing and waiting—Gao Mingyang could not help but burst into a string of fierce curses.

Inside the Eastspring City guild hall, currently occupying just two floors designated for intermediate guilds, the founding veterans of the "Edge of the World" guild were all watching their guild master's exasperated, yet rather endearing, angry expression.

Regardless of whether it was spring, summer, autumn, or winter, having something to look forward to was better than nothing. Realizing that he had apparently become the butt of the joke, Gao Mingyang cleared his throat heavily: "Winter is here, can spring be far behind? This kid Zhao Nan actually knows Shelley's poetry, not bad, not bad."

Then came a soft, charming giggle. Among the guild veterans, ever since Fenina's departure, she was now the sole remaining female. Unable to hold back, she chimed in, "It's Shelley, from *Ode to the West Wind*."

"What the hell!"

Roars of laughter erupted. Only then did they realize that ever since those two people had suddenly left the guild, it had been a very long time since they had laughed like this—laughing until tears streamed down their faces.

……

……

Xu Yang laughed for a moment before stopping, rubbing her slightly aching stomach from laughing so heartily. It was rather cold today; Eastspring City had welcomed the first snowfall of winter. Through the window within the room, the entire city of Eastspring City could be seen blanketed in a hazy, gray mist.

Because of the chill, the group prepared some wine to warm themselves up. Before long, they were chatting animatedly about everything under the sun. Just half a day earlier, they had cleared a Level 20 regular dungeon with bountiful rewards, and warming themselves with wine here was also a form of celebration.

Snow drifted down, accumulating gradually into a thicker layer. Xu Yang rubbed her chilled fingers, then quietly opened the mail interface, tilting her head as she typed out a single sentence.

Afterward, she sighed, chose not to send it, and simply saved it, leaving it in a pending state.

"Better... wait until I can say it in person."