Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.
Two days earlier, Chu Tian's red name had already been cleared, but he hadn't managed to obtain a high-level stealth skill book.
So he stayed in the Gray Canyon for another two days.
After killing countless Prairie Patrollers, the very last monster finally dropped:
[Skill Book: Stealth (Advanced)]
Usable Class: Rogue, Druid Leopard Form
Description: Using this will enhance your existing stealth skill.
It had taken him seven days and three levels to finally get this one book.
The drop rate was frighteningly low. He picked up the skill book and learned it immediately.
Opening his skill panel to check—
Leopard Form: Stealth.Lv1 (Experience 1/100)
Finally, his stealth skill could be leveled up. Mastering stealth was the foundational operation for playing a rogue in his previous life.
By leveling up stealth, he could significantly reduce the chance of being detected.
With his red name gone, Chu Tian took out a Town Portal Scroll and returned directly to Shengjing City.
Entering the city, he found it already swarming with people, a complete contrast to when he was the first to arrive.
Around the teleportation array, vendors were shouting their wares, and many sat on the ground, setting up stalls to sell items.
The three prime locations around the teleportation array were his. It was time to upgrade them into shops and start operations.
With over 14,000 gold coins in his pocket, he could develop his shops in the early game and build his reputation.
Chu Tian headed directly for the shop upgrade center from the home teleportation array.
As he was traveling, he suddenly heard an argument ahead. Chu Tian looked over and saw a player in novice gear standing outside the Engineering Master's Guild, wearing an engineer's badge on his chest.
The badge had one star, indicating his status as an apprentice engineer.
This person appeared to be in his thirties, with a somewhat aged face.
The other was a warrior, carrying a greatsword on his back, likely a warrior specializing in weapon mastery. He was short, to the point of being described as diminutive. The entire greatsword looked out of place on his back.
"This manufacturing failure wasn't my fault," the apprentice engineer said to the gnome warrior, head bowed.
"Damn it, if it wasn't your fault, then whose fault was it?" the gnome warrior retorted, looking up at him.
"It really wasn't my fault; someone tampered with my parts."
"Get lost. Our guild leader gave you so many materials, and you produced this garbage? You can't even earn back the cost, and you claim to be a master of the hidden profession, Demonic Engineering?
I think you're possessed. Go back and eat shit!"
The gnome warrior spewed vulgarities and even jumped up to slap the apprentice engineer.
Since attacks within the city were considered non-damaging, the apprentice engineer, being a level-one life profession player, stumbled from the blow, dropping his crafting tools on the ground.
Three days prior, the system had already opened passage to the main city for pure life profession players.
This was because the number of players heading to the main city from some novice villages had reached 5,000.
Pure life profession players in this novice village could directly proceed to the main city once their life skill level reached the novice village's skill point cap of seventy-five.
This was a benefit for pure life profession players.
Currently, most novice villages in the northern war zone had exceeded 5,000 departing players, with only a few exceptions not yet having this special channel opened.
Most life profession players who entered the main city would gather in their chosen profession's exclusive guild and use the system-provided rooms to craft items, though these rooms required a rental fee.
Therefore, to break even, most players opted to apply for jobs at guilds that were hiring.
Then, the guild would provide materials, and they would craft items to earn some income.
At this moment, the apprentice engineer silently retreated down the steps, picked up his dropped items, and glared at the gnome warrior with hatred.
"What are you looking at? Get lost! If you keep looking, I'll punch you again!" the gnome warrior growled, struggling to widen his pea-sized eyes to glare at him.
He thought he looked fierce, like a bull’s-eye, but to others, he looked like a turtle staring, still with pea-sized eyes.
The apprentice engineer took a deep breath, turned around, and walked away step by step.
"Such a coward!" the gnome warrior spat and cursed as he watched his retreating figure.
Many players watching the commotion chimed in: "This guy is too cowardly. He got slapped and didn't even dare to speak up."
"Exactly. If it were me, I would have called the guards!" another person said.
"Actually, he didn't do anything wrong. If you can't fight back, you can only endure for now, and then find a way to get back at them tenfold or a hundredfold when you can!" Chu Tian also interjected. At the same time, a glint flashed in his eyes. The apprentice engineer's tolerance made him feel a sense of dread. Such people, the more they could endure, the greater their eventual outburst and revenge would be.
The people around glanced at Chu Tian. Hearing his words, they didn't think much of it; some even scoffed.
The commotion ended, and everyone dispersed.
Only Chu Tian watched the apprentice's retreating back, deep in thought.
"I didn't expect it to be him. It really is a case of enemies crossing paths," Chu Tian muttered softly.
Chu Tian knew this apprentice, but not as a friend, rather as an enemy.
In his previous life, this person was a loyal dog of Huang Xueyi.
After Huang Xueyi secretly invested and took over the Awesight Dynasty guild, this person joined the guild.
From then on, the Awesight Dynasty was flooded with strange engineering items: Demonic Reflective Shields, Demonic Tracking Self-Detonating Bombs, Demonic Leap Boots, Demonic Splash Magic Bullets, and so on.
Among them, the Demonic Reflective Shield was the most infuriating; Chu Tian had been turned red multiple times because of it.
This item could be used by oneself or others. What was most detestable was its damage reflection. That wasn't the main issue; the crucial point was that it could block the system's damage detection.
On several occasions, Chu Tian didn't want to fight, but someone used this item on him. Then, after he was attacked, the reflected skill damage hit others, and the system wrongly judged him as the aggressor.
With his name turned gray, he was hunted by countless people. These people also had Leap Boots.
Chu Tian couldn't escape, so he could only fight back, killing the enemies obstructing him. The end result was predictable: a group of unarmed suicide squads finally got Chu Tian turned red.
Then Huang Xueyi dispatched Kill God Juesha to hunt him relentlessly.
This was only a small fraction of his creations. It was rumored that later he developed a Demonic Giant Mobile War Chariot.
This made the Awesight Dynasty invincible in siege warfare. On the final occasion of the massacre of elite Dragon Kingdom players, this giant machine also played a significant role.
All of this was the contribution of the down-and-out apprentice engineer walking ahead, 'Shang Da Hao Mei Dai Zhi' (On Main Account, Didn't Bring Toilet Paper).