"Brother Jiang Yuan, our Wen Ding is willing to offer 20 million, plus after the guild dungeon tomorrow night, we'll give you a legendary piece of equipment!"
After Hamster Pudding stated the price, Wen Ding Cangsheng, the guild leader of Wen Ding, also laid out his terms.
"Oh? An extra legendary piece of equipment for me?"
Jiang Yuan was indeed tempted by the conditions Wen Ding Cangsheng had proposed.
"Ah! Why didn't I think of that?"
Hamster Pudding suddenly realized, looking annoyed, and quickly said to Jiang Yuan, "Our Chuang Shi is also willing to give you a legendary piece of equipment!"
"Little Hamster, you've already named your price. Can you just change it like that?"
Wen Ding Cangsheng looked at the frustrated Hamster Pudding and chuckled.
"Of course I can change it! Hmph! ╭(╯^╰)╮"
Hamster Pudding pouted his cute little mouth, speaking defiantly.
"Jiang Yuan, it's your call. Who are you selling this guild token to?"
Perhaps knowing Hamster Pudding could be a handful, Wen Ding Cangsheng directly asked Jiang Yuan.
Jiang Yuan glanced at the two guild leaders ranked in the top three across the entire server and had already made up his mind.
"Guild Leader Wen Ding, I'll sell this guild token to you for now. As for Guild Leader Hamster, I'll take you to farm another one later!"
After hearing Jiang Yuan's decision, Wen Ding Cangsheng and Hamster Pudding had very different reactions. Wen Ding Cangsheng was overjoyed, while Hamster Pudding looked disappointed and skeptical.
"You're lying! Guild tokens only drop from epic-level bosses and above. Besides the Zombie King, who can beat any other epic boss right now?"
Hamster Pudding stomped his foot, pouting with a pitiful expression as he spoke to Jiang Yuan.
"Trust me, I, Jiang Yuan, mean what I say, and I guarantee it'll be before tomorrow night."
For Jiang Yuan, the hard part wasn't beating an epic-level boss—it was not knowing where to find one!
"Jiang Yuan, give me a card number. I'll have someone transfer the money to your account right now."
Wen Ding Cangsheng, afraid that Hamster Pudding's persistence might change Jiang Yuan's mind, quickly spoke up to seal the deal.
After Wen Ding Cangsheng finished, Jiang Yuan immediately gave him a card number.
"Your Songjiang Cooperative Credit Union card has received a transfer of 20 million!"
Not long after, Jiang Yuan heard the text message alert from his phone by the bed.
Hearing the notification, Jiang Yuan felt a bit dazed. He hadn't even left the university gates yet, and he'd already earned his first pot of gold—a full 20 million!
Seeing that the other party was so straightforward, paying him first, Jiang Yuan didn't dawdle. He hit the trade button and sent the guild token to Wen Ding Cangsheng!
"Have you guys done the level 25 dungeon yet? I'm about to organize a team to pioneer it. If we succeed, I'll hit level 30 and can establish the guild!"
Wen Ding Cangsheng was thrilled to have the guild token. He was already at level 28, so he immediately invited Jiang Yuan and Hamster Pudding to pioneer the new dungeon together.
Once players reached level 25, they could take on the first dungeon quest, "Red Cloud Exterminates the Demon Monk." Earlier, Jiang Yuan had just hit level 25 but hadn't had time to run the dungeon before he was hunted by the Ao Shi guild, delaying him until now.
"Ah! I've tried pioneering that dungeon. The early mobs are easy, but the final boss, the Bloodthirsty Zen Master, is incredibly tough! Our guild wiped at the last 20% health."
Hearing that Wen Ding Cangsheng was going to pioneer the new dungeon, Hamster Pudding immediately shared his guild's experience.
"Let's go. There's no boss a summon can't take down. If there is, just summon a few more!"
Jiang Yuan nodded in agreement and uttered the catchphrase he would later hold as his motto!
"Yuanzi!"
Just as Jiang Yuan was about to head into the dungeon with Wen Ding Cangsheng and Hamster Pudding, his best buddy Ding Ye came running over, panting heavily.
"Where the hell have you been? Why are you only showing up now?"
Jiang Yuan looked at his tardy friend. It had been over an hour since he'd messaged him!
"Ugh! Don't even get me started. I just joined a random team to pioneer the level 25 dungeon. What a disaster!"
Ding Ye rolled his eyes at Jiang Yuan and immediately started ranting about the noobs he'd encountered.
"That priest was a total idiot. I'm the main tank, but he kept spamming heals on the mage! And that mage—a fragile mage who dies in one hit—kept positioning ahead of me..."
Ding Ye gestured wildly, making Jiang Yuan and the other two burst out laughing.
"Alright, follow me, and I'll show you what a speedrun feels like!"
Jiang Yuan sent a party invite to his buddy, whose ID was "DingDaShuaiBi." Once Ding Ye joined, Jiang Yuan introduced him to Wen Ding Cangsheng and Hamster Pudding.
"Let's move!"
With everyone together, Jiang Yuan waved his hand and strode out of the newbie village.
"Wait!"
Chuang Shi's guild leader, Hamster Pudding, quickly called out, stopping Jiang Yuan in his tracks.
"What's up?"
Jiang Yuan asked, puzzled.
"Our guild had a full raid of thirty people and couldn't clear it. You're telling me we're going in with just four? Are you kidding me?"
Hamster Pudding grabbed Jiang Yuan's clothes, looking at him like he was an idiot.
"Relax. I've got a pig that can match a thousand troops!"
Jiang Yuan gave Hamster Pudding an "OK" gesture and strode toward the path leading to Yin Feng Valley.
Since Jiang Yuan had taken down the newbie village's biggest boss, the Zombie King, all players who reached level 25 could pass through Yin Feng Valley to the wider world beyond.
Once players hit level 25, they could take the first dungeon quest, "Red Cloud Exterminates the Demon Monk." A few kilometers south of Yin Feng Valley stood a temple called Red Cloud Temple. An NPC at the temple's entrance would let them enter the dungeon upon speaking to him.
After about twenty minutes of walking, the four finally crossed the narrow Yin Feng Valley and arrived at Red Cloud Temple.
"Honorable warriors, have you come to challenge the Bloodthirsty Zen Master?"
The NPC at the entrance was a gaunt old monk draped in a kasaya. Seeing Jiang Yuan, he immediately asked.
"Yes, please let us in quickly!"
Jiang Yuan, entering a dungeon for the first time, seemed a bit impatient.
"Honorable warriors, you must convert to a raid group to enter the dungeon."
The frail old monk reminded him.
"Oh, right, got it."
Jiang Yuan quickly switched the party to raid mode and said to the monk, "Done."
The monk nodded, raised his withered arm, and pointed at Jiang Yuan and the others!
A flash of white light, and Jiang Yuan felt a shimmering ripple, like waves spreading across a lake. In the blink of an eye, they were standing inside an ancient, weathered temple!