Chapter 83 - 80: Unparalleled Leveling Mode

Chapter 83: Chapter 80: Unparalleled Leveling ModeThe game was still the same, and the forest was just as it had always been; however, as Xiao Jie walked through the eerily dark forest, he heard the distant howls of wolves and barking of dogs. Xiao Jie’s mindset was completely different from the trepidation he felt during previous adventures, as if he were walking on thin ice. At this moment, he had the feeling he was walking in his own territory. The thrilling fight that morning had given him new insights into the game world. It was as if a fierce beast had defeated another for control of a territory. Walking through the forest where he had won victory, he felt completely at ease. This relaxation was not an underestimation of danger, but rather an acceptance of all threats in the game world as a natural part of it. Since they were natural, he naturally wouldn’t be particularly tense in dealing with them. In the distance, a large group of walking corpses appeared within the two players’ line of sight. Luckily, it seemed the Corpse Chaser didn’t drive the walking corpses into the forest every day. "Come on, Cheng Xian, let’s do this." Although his mindset had changed, when it came to killing monsters, safety was still the priority. Both players bent their bows and nocked their arrows. Whoosh, whoosh! Two arrows flew out, and several soulless zombies immediately staggered towards them. The battle promptly began. Indeed, just as Xiao Jie had predicted, having reached Level 6 and being well-equipped, slaying the soulless zombies was a breeze. The blade rose and fell, and the battle axe chopped. They didn’t even need the hunting dogs to join the fight, they dispatched their enemies in just one encounter. "That simple?" Xiao Jie had never fought soulless zombies before, and although he heard from I Want to Be Immortal that they were easy to kill, he didn’t expect them to be this easy. "Yeah, it’s that simple. When I was at Level 1, I killed a lot of them." "If that’s the case, then let’s just charge at them." Xiao Jie let loose for once, mainly because the monsters seemed such an easy prey, their trembling, shaking movements making them appear very bully-able. He couldn’t help but want to try going all out for once. "Alright Feng, let’s see who can kill more." "Hmm, wait for me," Xiao Jie said as he switched the shield for the newly acquired Blood-drinking Blade, dual blades in hand, his spirit soaring. Xiao Jie had always paired a single blade with a shield, but now, with the Blade Reflection skill, he didn’t really need the Shield Block much anymore. It was better to use dual blades to increase his output. After trying out the feel of the new equipment on one of the monsters, Xiao Jie found the attack module for dual blades completely different from that of a single blade. Since both blades were swung together, the overall rhythm of the attack was half a beat slower than a single blade. The advantage was that he could strike twice per attack, although each hit only did 80% of the damage. "Ready, Cheng Xian? Attack!" The two charged straight into the midst of the advancing corpse group. Splitting Stone Slash! The giant axe fell heavily from above, flattening the lead walking corpse to the ground, never to rise again. Helical Slash! The rotating blade cut through, severing the limbs of the zombies, chopping the withered carcasses onto the ground. Sweeping Strike! The battle axe swept out amongst the corpses, slicing them in halves like swathes. One Cut, Two Pieces! The blade cleaved a walking corpse straight from the forehead into two halves... The two were like cutting vegetables as they slaughtered through the corpse group, chopping as they advanced, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. Haha, exhilarating! After the tough battle that morning, truly, slaughtering through the corpse group like unleashing a barrage of combo attacks was an incredible stress reliever. Xiao Jie still had to be careful, after all; having low defensive power, it still hurt a bit when the soulless zombies scratched him. I Want to Be Immortal didn’t care as much, charging head-on with his iron armor and giant axe, he was like a killing machine. "Don’t get carried away, these trash monsters are inherently weak." "I know, I know, ’never let your guard down,’ I get it." Though he said that, I Want to Be Immortal was obviously feeling a little overconfident. He charged towards the densest part of the corpse group. "Die!" Sweeping Strike! A swing of his axe that should have mowed down the corpses like wheat didn’t this time; the blade got stuck in the body of a walking corpse, failing to cut through. "Damn, it’s a zombie!" The creature struck by his axe was charred black, its skin lined like tree bark, its muscles not shriveled and withered like the soulless zombies but rather slightly bloated, standing out among the corpse group. Zombie: Level 8, Life Value 320. With a roar, the zombie lunged at I Want to Be Immortal, clawing fiercely; its long fingernails scratched at I Want to Be Immortal’s iron armor, producing a metallic scraping sound. -9! -8! -12! -13! Scrape, scrape, scrape! A frenzied tearing assault droped more than forty points from I Want to Be Immortal’s blood volume. "Damn, what the hell!" I Want to Be Immortal didn’t hesitate; Splitting—Stone—Slash! Axe met zombie with a thud, -33! The blow was like hitting hard wood, sending the zombie stumbling back several steps but not bringing it down; the damage dealt was minimal. "Hang in there, I’m coming!" Xiao Jie quickly circled behind and unleashed a Helical Slash at the zombie’s back! Slash, slash, slash, three full damage strikes. -11-12-14! But it was just over thirty damage. Huh, why is my Helical Slash still just three cuts with a single blade? Shouldn’t it be six cuts with dual blades? He had used dual blades to attack the walking corpse, and each attack inflicted double damage, although the attack speed of the dual blades was significantly slower than that of the single blade. Overall, however, damage had increased. But once Combat Skills were used, the weakness was revealed, huh? It seems that Double Blade Style also requires specialized skills to be effective. Plus, this thing is really tough! An attack of 24 slash damage could only deliver about half the output; I’m afraid its defensive power is on par with the iron armor of I Want to Be Immortal. After Xiao Jie finished a Helical Slash, the zombie spun towards him like a top, lunging at Xiao Jie. Xiao Jie didn’t dare resist like I Want to Be Immortal would. With his opponent losing over forty Blood Volume due to being clad in iron armor, if he got hit and clawed wildly, likely a third of his Blood Volume would be gone. With a Hawk Roll, he dodged backward, thankful that the zombie’s movements were stiff, making it not too difficult to evade. I Want to Be Immortal took the opportunity to strike from behind. The two of them went back and forth, pulling and struggling until they finally wore down the zombie. "Haha, is that all it’s got?" I Want to Be Immortal said, finally over the scare from before. "Don’t let your guard down, it’s manageable with just one, but it’ll be dangerous if more show up." Although he said this, Xiao Jie’s tone wasn’t heavy. After all, no matter how threatening monsters are, they can’t quite match up to players. Even if the monsters are clever, their actions still have patterns to follow. In comparison, it’s players who are the truly unpredictable and unfathomable enemies. I Want to Be Immortal patted down the corpse, but it only dropped a little over sixty coins, so it seemed this creature wasn’t an Elite or a Boss, just a slightly tougher Normal little monster. The two didn’t stop fighting because of this zombie incident. They continued slaughtering walking corpses. Piercing through the forest where the walking corpses roamed, the broken-down carriage suddenly came into view. A pack of wild dogs was gnawing on a corpse on the ground, and upon seeing the two men, they immediately raised their heads and charged over, barking fiercely. "Bring it on!" I Want to Be Immortal was eager, having almost been killed by these creatures at the start. Today was the day for vengeance. But Xiao Jie couldn’t afford to be careless. Those five dogs were still something of a threat. "Attack!" Two hunting dogs charged out, each facing off against a wild dog. The remaining three wild dogs saw one slashed down by I Want to Be Immortal’s axe and another killed by Xiao Jie’s Helical Slash. The last one, frightened, let out a howl and turned to flee. After dealing with the last two wild dogs, both men felt satisfied with their increased strength. The five wild dogs that were once a fatal threat now took less than a minute to be killed. This is the power of strength. No longer were they easy targets, the novice players to be bullied. The two took a moment to recover, then turned back and went on a killing spree again. Xiao Jie kept adjusting to the rhythm of attacking with dual blades. When facing a monster with low health, he’d finish it with a single blade; when there was a safe opportunity to deal damage, he’d use both blades to kill. Initially, he was worried about the Corpse Chaser passing by. However, after killing a circle around the carriage, Xiao Jie noticed an abundance of soulless zombies in the area. It must have been quite a long time since they last spawned; it looked like the Corpse Chaser hadn’t come out recently. That was reassuring. Continue the slaughter! Fortunately, there weren’t many mutated zombies, and they only encountered one occasionally. As long as they coordinated their efforts, attacking from front and back, it was relatively easy to handle. But Xiao Jie remained cautious when encountering multiple monsters, aiming to avoid facing two or more zombies at once. They fought until after four in the afternoon. Xiao Jie was enveloped in a flash of white light and leveled up to 7. Awesome! With the five new attribute points, Xiao Jie still focused on Agility, adding two points, yet he also added three points to Endurance. His capacity for carrying was too low at the moment; equipping two blades meant he had to take off the shield, otherwise, he couldn’t maintain a light load. As equipment continued to improve, the need for load capacity was bound to increase; it was essential to boost Endurance. And Physical Strength was truly important, especially during prolonged battles. Once locked in a fight, there was no chance to take potions, and restoring energy could only come from one’s own Stamina Bar, so added Endurance was definitely not wasteful. Thus, Xiao Jie’s attributes became— Constitution: 15. Endurance: 15. Strength: 15. Agility: 22+3. Xiao Jie glanced at the time; it was already four o’clock. "Alright, let’s call it a day." "Aw, come on Feng, let’s train a bit more. It’s rare to be undisturbed," I Want to Be Immortal said, currently pondering how to allocate his level-up points. "No, let’s rest up. Go back and take a break, and we’ll continue tomorrow," Xiao Jie insisted, needing to digest today’s gains. Whether it was the benefits of leveling up or the experience gained from a victorious PK. "Alright, your call." The two returned to the village and found places to log off. Exiting the game, Xiao Jie sat in front of the computer, leaning back in his chair, recalling the feeling of the morning’s battle. At that moment, it didn’t feel like much. But now, as he calmed down, a sense of apprehension suddenly surged. Had there been any slight mistake at the time, he might have been the one to die. Yet alongside that fear, there was a subtle pleasure. To personally take a life was indeed a completely different feeling from PKing in past games. Staring at his pale hands, the corners of his mouth lifted ever so slightly.