I am the Arcane Archer, and all my skills are self-created.

Li Wu spent a full five days exploring the Swamp of Sorrows.

During those five days, he barely rested, relying on energy potions to restore his energy, and spending all his time leveling up.

The high intensity of repetitive operations is enough to make any normal player feel bored and tired.

But Li Wu found joy in it.

He enjoyed the satisfaction of watching his experience bar slowly rise, and the thrill of his strength being permanently enhanced every time his talent was triggered.

More importantly, during this solitary leveling process, he gradually developed his own combat system for solo battles.

He no longer relied solely on a barrage of skills, but began to learn to rhythmically control his mana consumption, to use [Siphon Arrow] to recover his status during lulls in combat, and to use terrain and positioning to avoid unnecessary damage.

His fighting skills were becoming more mature and sophisticated at an astonishing rate.

On this day, as a swamp corpse fell to the ground with a mournful cry, a golden light rose from Li Wu's body.

He reached level 26.

Five days, five levels.

If word got out about this speed, it would be enough to make all the players feel hopeless.

However, Li Wu was not satisfied.

"It's still too slow."

He glanced at his experience bar; it would take a full 26,000 experience points to go from level 26 to level 27.

After reaching level 26, the experience gained from monsters in the Swamp of Sorrows is greatly reduced. At the current rate, it will probably take three days to reach level 27.

His goal is to reach level 30 before Hua Zitong returns.

"The monsters here are a bit too low-level!"

Li Wu made a decision.

He wanted to leave the Swamp of Sorrows and go to a more dangerous but also more rewarding place.

He opened the map Hua Zitong had left him and focused his gaze on the next leveling spot.

Blackwind Valley is a spawning zone for monsters ranging from level 28 to 30.

However, before heading to the new leveling spot, he needed to return to Ironforge to replenish his consumables.

After five days of intense monster grinding, he had almost used up all the stamina potions he bought from the shop.

……

Upon returning to Ironforge, Li Wu could clearly sense that the atmosphere in the city had changed from what it had been two days prior.

There were even more players on the streets, hurrying along, each with a hint of tension and excitement on their face.

The air was thick with a tense atmosphere, as if a storm was brewing.

Li Wu, still wearing his cloak, walked discreetly through the crowd and quickly figured out the situation.

It turns out that just yesterday, the first level 25 five-player dungeon to be cleared independently by players, Wailing Caverns, was successfully cleared by the Sword and Rose Guild.

This news completely ignited the enthusiasm of all players.

This means that the main force's level has officially caught up to level 25.

In order to compete for the subsequent rankings and equipment in the dungeons, the major guilds have begun to frantically recruit members and expand their strength.

The arms race in Area 21 has quietly begun.

"Have you heard? Sword and Rose spent almost ten gold coins just on equipment and potions to get the first kill!"

"Ten gold coins are nothing! I heard the Iron Blood Alliance is even more ruthless. They put twenty gold coins directly in the guild warehouse, and whoever makes it into the top ten in the dungeon progress will get a gold coin as a reward!"

"Damn it, this is a game for the rich. We just don't understand it."

"The one happiest right now must be the 'Seeing Through the Fog' master, right? He sold an epic hammer at the auction house a few days ago and made 45 gold coins straight up! That's 450 million yuan! I could never earn that much money in my entire life!"

"Who can argue with that? Now the whole district is guessing what he'll do with this money."

Li Wu listened to the surrounding discussions and walked into the pharmacy with a blank expression.

He is now a true tycoon.

He no longer calculated as carefully as before, and simply swept up all the intermediate and advanced recovery potions in the store.

He spent a full three gold coins just on medicine.

This feeling of spending money like water made Li Wu feel a little unreal.

From a poor boy struggling to pay for his mother's surgery to a gaming tycoon who can casually produce hundreds of thousands of yuan, the transformation took less than a month.

The Realm of Origin is indeed a place that can change one's destiny.

After replenishing his potion, Li Wu did not leave immediately. Instead, as if possessed, he headed towards the auction house.

He wanted to see if there was any equipment that suited him.

Most of his current equipment consists of a mix of level 20 rare and level 25 fine equipment.

Although the stats are good, it's already starting to struggle against monsters level 25 and above.

Especially weapons; although the Arcane Bow has been upgraded to the rare level, its base attack power of 50 points is gradually becoming insufficient to keep up with its level.

However, when he entered the auction house, he was stunned by what he saw.

The huge auction hall was packed with people, with no seats available.

Moreover, it wasn't just players who came; there were also a large number of NPCs dressed in fancy clothes.

The white-robed elder of the Mage Tower, the armored instructor of the Warriors Guild, and even the captain of the guards of the City Lord's Mansion all appeared here.

All eyes were focused on the auction stage in the center of the hall.

A fierce auction is taking place there.

"VIP number one bids 2 gold coins! Any higher bids? This is a level 25 rare mage robe with fire damage bonus! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!" the auctioneer shouted hoarsely.

"3 gold coins!" A player sitting in the front row gritted his teeth and raised his sign.

His equipment shimmered faintly, clearly indicating that he was an elite member of a major guild.

However, as soon as he finished speaking, an NPC sitting in the VIP section slowly raised his sign.

"4 gold coins".

The calm voice instantly silenced the entire hall.

The player who bid 3 gold coins instantly turned extremely ugly.

Stealing items from NPCs?

Isn't that just courting death?

Ultimately, this rare robe was successfully auctioned off by an NPC in the Mage Tower for 4 gold coins.

Li Wu was dumbfounded.

"What exactly is going on?" Li Wu grabbed a guy next to him who looked like a casual player and asked curiously.

"Hey bro, you just got here, right?" The guy glanced at him and explained, "There's big news at the auction house today! I heard a mysterious seller consigned over a dozen level 25 items for auction, including... three rare ones!"

"This rare mage robe is one of them."

Upon hearing this, Li Wu immediately understood.

Without a doubt, the so-called mysterious seller was the Sword and Rose Guild.

They auctioned off all the equipment they didn't need from the Wailing Caverns dungeon, partly to recoup funds and partly to show off their strength to players across the server.

"This next item is really amazing!"

Just then, the auctioneer on the stage shouted in an extremely exaggerated tone.

Two guards carried a frame covered with a red cloth and slowly walked onto the stage.

"This is the grand finale of the auction!"

The auctioneer suddenly ripped open the red cloth.