Seeing the string of system notifications, Shi Feng was mildly surprised.
Ten thousand experience points weren't much for him at Level 4. It only brought him to 27% of Level 4, still a fair distance from Level 5.
What truly caught his eye was everything else.
Just killing one foolish Elite demon had netted him such a generous reputation reward — it was almost hard to believe.
Reputation was an extremely precious commodity in the Divine Realm. Very few quests offered reputation gains, and those that did provided pitiful amounts.
With high enough reputation, a player could take on advanced quests that would otherwise be unavailable, and gain access to items normally impossible to purchase — such as Bronze Equipment, special potions, and more. On top of that, high reputation came with shopping discounts and boosted NPC affinity, offering all manner of conveniences.
Not to mention reaching a certain threshold to become a noble.
In the Divine Realm, the noble privileged class enjoyed an enormous number of perks. It was also a symbol of status. If a commoner offended a noble, the consequences were severe — imprisonment at best, execution at worst. No player dared provoke a noble. Nobles could even beat commoners in safe zones without the guards lifting a finger. That was the gap in status.
This was exactly why Shi Feng was so surprised.
Holding the title of noble in Red Leaf Town would make all sorts of future endeavors far easier. Shi Feng immediately thought of several high-level quests that only nobles could accept.
"I wonder what this Demon Hunter title does?" Shi Feng opened the system panel and examined the Demon Hunter title.
Demon Hunter — a fearsome warrior, a respected exorcist, a figure who commands noble-level standing in every region. A god of death feared by all dark creatures. Within a 100-yard radius, all dark-type monsters suffer a 10% reduction to their stats, while damage dealt to dark-type monsters is increased by 10%.
"Damn, this title is insane." Shi Feng felt a jolt of excitement after reading the description.
Anyone who didn't have a deep understanding of the Divine Realm would have no idea what this title truly represented — like a stray dog unable to recognize the value of a gemstone.
He had needed 100 reputation points in Red Leaf Town to become a noble, but that noble status was limited to Red Leaf Town itself. Leave the town, and nobody would acknowledge it.
Of course, a noble of White River City would be recognized throughout White River City's jurisdiction — far more broadly applicable. Compared to a town-level noble, the difference was night and day.
The Demon Hunter title, however, granted noble standing in every region. That meant even outside the Star Moon Kingdom, his noble status would be recognized in other countries. Going to another nation to take on quests was no easy feat — players were easily targeted, and the nations weren't exactly on friendly terms; some were outright hostile. With this title, he wouldn't face NPC discrimination. That was the true value of the Demon Hunter title. Compared to it, the Red Leaf Town noble title was nothing.
Shi Feng picked up the equipment dropped by the demon doppelganger.
The Demon Mask. A special item that, when worn, allowed the wearer to disguise themselves as another person. Only someone with high-level observation skills could see through the disguise.
"Now that's a real treasure. The six gold coins were well spent." Shi Feng happily stowed the Demon Mask away. It was practically an artifact for pulling off heists — though he had no intention of doing anything like that. Still, that didn't stop him from putting it to other uses.
"Adventurer, the ritual is complete. It has left me quite weakened. I need to rest and recover in White River City for a while. If you wish to learn more about the Dark Bible, bring the payment and find me there. I will be waiting." Xia Lian appeared frail and delicate, stripped of all her usual shrewdness. The moment she finished speaking, she opened a magic teleportation portal and departed for White River City to recuperate.
Watching Xia Lian's graceful figure vanish, Shi Feng silently marveled.
This Moon Drop ritual was far more complicated than he had imagined. Otherwise, a Tier 3 Priest wouldn't have been reduced to such a weakened state. Even Shi Feng could sense that he would be able to defeat Xia Lian in her current condition — just how weakened she truly was spoke for itself.