The blond-haired man's equipment and watch couldn't be snatched in time; only his experience points were taken, and his body disappeared.

However, the unlucky stowaway without any distinctive features wasn't so fortunate. His face was pierced, and now his watch and weapon belonged to Yuan Zhu.

Jiang Kai collected the steel spikes as best as he could, supporting Jiang Kai and Nuannuan as they left the riverside.

They found a relatively hidden spot to wait for Nuannuan and the others to heal.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Jiang Kai finally checked his own attributes.

After killing two stowaways and plundering two hundred experience points, Jiang Kai leveled up to level three during the battle.

His four basic attributes increased to: Strength 12, Physique 16, Agility 24, Mental Strength 24.

No wonder the man with black hair couldn't even touch him.

Jiang Kai took out the spoils of war he had seized.

When he first got the dagger, he was a bit confused because the system didn't provide any attributes for it.

However, his watch dutifully displayed the data.

[Weapon, Dagger.]

"Damn... Were the big brother and Ying deceived?"

At this moment, Su Nuannuan walked over and scanned the dagger with her watch.

"It's an ordinary skinning dagger, with an additional 3 points of penetration."

The so-called "penetration" refers to the ability to penetrate a target's "defense" during an attack.

Take the Long-Necked Human-Faced Beast as an example; their skin is their defense. Without breaking through the defense, the damage from collisions and punches is greatly reduced.

Of course, natural defenses like skin are quite easy to penetrate; the steel spikes of the Venomous Wild Boar can easily pierce through.

Once the defense is breached, the damage from the same attack increases significantly.

It's said that penetration becomes a very important attribute later on, as some monsters have defenses that are almost impossible to breach, making them extremely difficult to kill.

Simply put, penetration and attack power are two different concepts, but they are closely related.

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"How much can this thing sell for?" Jiang Kai asked.

"Are you talking about Star Coins or Alliance Coins?" Su Nuannuan slowly sat down next to Jiang Kai, her injuries were severe, and she had just applied medicine, so she couldn't move too much.

"Alliance Coins."

"Let me check." Su Nuannuan connected to the exchange information through her watch, and after a while, she shook her head, "Not many people are selling Alliance Coins, the last transaction was a month ago, sold for 900 Alliance Coins."

"This kind of basic weapon isn't rare," Nuannuan added.

"Only nine hundred..." Jiang Kai frowned.

"What about this data watch? The model is... 'Stalker'." Jiang Kai looked at the label on the watch and read out the model name.

"This is a foreign player's watch, it needs a data reset, and there's a risk of being tracked by other countries, so no one would buy it."

"Huh?"

"However, our military would purchase it, as it contains foreign player information. As for the price, a level four stowaway's level is too low, and their profession isn't strong, but since it's related to obstructing China's Newcomer Trial, the price is around two thousand Alliance Coins."

"Two thousand, that's not bad, my brand new one was only 2999." Jiang Kai was quite satisfied with the watch's price.

For Jiang Kai, time was of the essence, and every little bit counted to earn more.

Su Nuannuan tilted her head and looked at Jiang Kai, curiously asking, "Are you really short on money?"

"Uh, no..." Jiang Kai quickly brushed it off, "How are your injuries?"

"I'll be fine after some time to recover."

Jiang Kai nodded, suddenly thinking of something, and awkwardly said, "Nuannuan, I'm sorry, we agreed to level up together, but now I'm level three, Zhu is level two, and you haven't leveled up yet."

Su Nuannuan smiled slightly, "What are you talking about? Do you think I'm that petty? Besides, the situation was so dangerous, Zhu was protecting me the whole time, and you didn't break your promise by coming back to save us, why would I hold it against you?"

Jiang Kai chuckled, "No, I just feel really sorry."

"But, after this encounter, I discovered a faster way to level up."

"Kill stowaways?" Su Nuannuan's eyes widened, she had already guessed Jiang Kai's idea.

Jiang Kai nodded, "My attributes have increased significantly, even in a direct confrontation, I'm confident I can kill a level five stowaway."

"Plus, with Zhu's strength greatly improved, we can definitely hunt stowaways!"

"The only problem is that stowaways often travel in groups, and each of them has a weapon, so we must be very careful."

A level four stowaway can plunder 100 experience points, which is a huge temptation.

As the two were talking, they heard an exclamation from Zhu behind them.

"Damn! That's awesome!"

Jiang Kai and Su Nuannuan exchanged a glance, both puzzled, and turned to walk towards Zhu.

"Zhu, what are you so excited about?" Jiang Kai asked.

"Kai, do you know what my professional skill is?" Zhu looked at Jiang Kai excitedly, the excitement in his eyes was evident to everyone.

"What is it?" Su Nuannuan asked curiously.

"Earth-Shaking Stomp!" Yuan Zhu said excitedly, ignoring his injuries, "I can use my professional skill to deal area damage to enemies within range!"

Jiang Kai and Su Nuannuan couldn't help but feel envious.

Is this the first skill of a combat profession? Directly related to combat, rather than some flashy throwing cards or focusing on those.

"Hehe, Kai, I'm stronger than you now!"

Looking at Zhu's smug expression, Jiang Kai curled his lip in disdain, "Damage is based on basic attributes, your basic attributes aren't higher than mine, what's the use of area attacks."

"No, if I'm in a potential activation state, my professional skill will inherit the effects of True Power."

"In other words, I can achieve group knockback, group defense break, group intimidation, True Qi attacks, etc. The only downside is that the consumption is several times higher."

Jiang Kai was speechless.

Is this what a Martial Apprentice is!

Crazy!

Zhu was now brimming with confidence, his gaze became distant and profound, and he deliberately lowered his voice, speaking in a deep tone, "Despicable hyenas can only bully a lion when it's young, but when the lion grows up, it no longer fears the hyenas!"

"Kai, Nuannuan, don't worry, with me here, you'll be safe!"

Jiang Kai held his forehead, this guy almost died earlier, and now he's putting on airs again.

What's worse is that he actually managed to pull it off!

Su Nuannuan was amused by Zhu's eccentric behavior and burst into laughter, "You should work on your cowardice first."

"But speaking of which, Kai, earlier you mentioned hunting stowaways, I thought it was too dangerous because they have numbers, weapons, and high levels, but now... with you and Zhu teaming up, it really seems feasible!"

Jiang Kai frowned, looking at Zhu, he asked, "You mean, you and Zhu act as bait, and when they get close, Zhu uses knockback, and I kill them from the shadows?"

Su Nuannuan nodded, "Yes, your accuracy in knocking back targets is high, and once they're knocked back, you can use the Venomous Sting, it's like shooting fish in a barrel!"

"Didn't the man with black hair run away? The stowaways know Zhu is a Martial Apprentice, they won't miss the chance to destroy a Martial Apprentice, they'll definitely call more people to ambush us."

"At that time, Zhu will draw their attention, use an Earth-Shaking Stomp, and you can easily kill them. Even if you don't kill them all, leaving one or two, with your current attributes, you can handle them in a direct confrontation."

Jiang Kai and Zhu exchanged a glance, and in each other's eyes, they saw... excitement!