68: Chapter 68 First Steps into Cross-Server Battles, Instantly Slaying an Old Acquaintance

The moment Li Taiping pressed 'Confirm,' the frost-covered card in his hand instantly transformed into a dazzling blue light, completely enveloping him.

A powerful sense of spatial distortion washed over him, ten times stronger than when he entered the beginner's island.

Li Taiping felt the scenery before his eyes rapidly receding, stretching, and reassembling.

The entire world became a blur of colors.

The next second, the feeling of solid ground underfoot returned, and a biting cold wind mixed with snowflakes fiercely lashed against his face.

He had appeared on a seemingly endless ice plain.

The sky was a gloomy gray, without a sun, only thick cloud layers pressing down, making the entire world feel incredibly oppressive.

The cold, mechanical system voice followed closely, echoing in his mind.

[Welcome to Ice Island No. 1.]

[Instance Mission: Kill the contaminated wolf.]

[Instance Introduction: The wolfhound beloved by the Ice God has been contaminated by the anomalous. Beware its sonic waves!]

[Time Limit: Half an hour.]

[Mission Reward: Unlock the entrance to the Deep Secret Realm.]

'Another kill mission?'

Li Taiping raised an eyebrow slightly.

But this time, the target sounded a bit interesting.

'Contaminated wolf,' and it involved the word 'anomalous.'

Based on his previous experience, anything related to the 'anomalous' was usually troublesome, not something that could be solved by simply overpowering it with stats.

'Beware its sonic waves...'

Li Taiping silently noted this key hint.

It seemed this BOSS likely had some form of mental attack or large-scale sonic attack skill.

This thought flashed through his mind only briefly.

Quickly, he immediately focused his attention on his surroundings.

The moment he appeared, nine beams of blue light also lit up one after another on this desolate ice plain.

As the light faded, nine figures were revealed.

Still ten people in total.

Li Taiping's gaze quickly swept over these nine people, and his heart tightened slightly.

This group was completely on a different level from the riffraff on the last beginner island!

Each person exuded a powerful and condensed aura, with excellent equipment—none were easy targets.

Li Taiping could even clearly sense that the life grades of all nine were uniformly at the good grade Mid Stage.

Four of them had even reached the Good-Grade Late Stage!

'It seems these should be the very top-tier individuals among all Survivor worldwide at this stage,'

Li Taiping thought to himself.

Those who could obtain this cross-server instance entry ticket were indeed the elites from each major region, the true chosen ones.

However, in the very next second,

when his gaze fell upon a figure wearing a gray cloak, his pupils abruptly contracted, and an icy killing intent instantly surged from the depths of his heart!

Helya?!

That vicious woman he had beheaded with a single sword strike in the beginner island instance!

How was she still alive?!

Moreover, the life aura emanating from her was significantly stronger than before, shockingly reaching the peak of the Good-Grade Late Stage!

What was going on?

Didn't she die?

He had watched her corpse fall with his own eyes, and it even dropped loot!

Was it a resurrection item?

Or... did she have some special survival Talent?

Countless thoughts flashed through Li Taiping's mind, but he had absolutely no time to ponder them.

Towards this woman who had once tried to stealth-kill him with a poisonous curse potion, Li Taiping felt only the purest killing intent.

No matter what method she used to revive, since she had crossed his path again, he would just kill her once more!

Almost an instinctive reaction, Li Taiping didn't hesitate for even a moment!

*Hum—*

A light hum sounded as that appropriately-sized Excellent Grade telescoping greatsword instantly appeared in his hand.

The next second,

the ice beneath his feet exploded into a shallow crater, and his entire body, like a fired cannonball, wrapped in the terrifying pressure unique to an Excellent Grade powerhouse, violently charged towards Helya's direction!

This sudden turn of events stunned everyone present.

They had just been teleported in, hadn't even grasped the situation yet, and this seemingly strongest man had suddenly erupted into violence?

As the target, Helya bore the brunt of it.

The scene before her eyes had just cleared from blurriness; she hadn't even had time to see clearly who was standing around.

A terrifying pressure that made her soul tremble enveloped her like a crushing mountain!

Her very thoughts froze briefly.

What... what kind of power was this?!

Why was it so strong?!

She looked up, only seeing a blurry afterimage and a sword light of extreme speed rapidly enlarging in her pupils.

And then... there was no 'and then.'

*Thud!*

A soft sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh.

Helya didn't even have time to react, not even to think a final thought, before she felt her body become weightless, and the world before her eyes began to spin wildly.

She saw a familiar, headless body clad in a gray cloak, powerlessly falling backward.

She also saw the man who had beheaded her with one sword strike. On that handsome face she envied, the same calm, indifferent expression remained.

Ex... Excellent Grade?

What... what kind of monster was that?

This thought was her last in this world.

This time, she didn't even have time to mentally utter a vengeful 'You just wait!'

For her, the world lost all sound, and her vision plunged into eternal darkness.

Dead...

Killed by the same person again...

And this death was even more swift, even more humiliating than the last.

*Thump.*

Helya's head, which had flown high into the air, landed on the snowy ground, rolled twice. Her eyes, still filled with shock and confusion, stared fixedly at the gloomy gray sky.

At the same time, a series of crisp system notification sounds rang out one after another in Li Taiping's mind.

[Obtained: Weakness Potion (good grade) x2! Using it on an enemy applies a weakness effect. Only effective on good grade and lower lifeforms.]

[Obtained: Jumping Potion (good grade) x1! Using it greatly increases jumping ability for ten minutes.]

[Obtained: Invisibility Potion (good grade) x1! Using it puts yourself in an invisible state. good grade and lower lifeforms cannot see through your invisibility.]

...

Hearing this series of system notifications, Li Taiping slowly sheathed his sword, but his brows furrowed tightly.

This woman...

Did she die, or did she die?

He walked over to Helya's corpse and examined it carefully.

[Helya: Player Corpse (Decomposition Countdown: 59 seconds)]

That's right, it was a player corpse, and it was counting down to decomposition. This meant she was truly dead this time.

But it was the same last time. How could she have come back to life?

This bizarre method made Li Taiping feel a trace of gravity for the first time.

It seemed the world was vast, with talented individuals emerging everywhere. He absolutely could not let his guard down because of a temporary lead.

Could it be that all these top players have hacks?

His gaze slowly swept over the remaining eight people present.

This group were the ones truly standing at the pyramid's peak. Each one might be hiding unknown trump cards.

Just as his gaze swept over the crowd, a familiar figure caught his eye.

A girl with dazzling golden hair tied in a high ponytail, her face still wearing that frosty expression.

It was Anna!

She was actually here too!

At this moment, everyone, including Anna, was looking at Li Taiping with tense expressions.

Everyone had their weapons glowing, bodies taut, in a highly alert combat stance.

A few of them had even subconsciously moved closer together, faintly forming an alliance.

There was no helping it. Li Taiping's action just now was simply too terrifying.

That undisguised, terrifying pressure belonging to an Excellent Grade lifeform enveloped the entire area like a tangible force,

pressing down on these good grade experts, making it somewhat hard to breathe.

One glance, not a single word spoken, and he unleashed a lethal burst attack out of nowhere?

Was this man insane?

Seeing everyone's extremely tense expressions, Li Taiping slowly retracted his killing intent, let out a light laugh, and calmly explained:

'That woman had a grudge with me.'

He could feel that his strength was still a cliff-like lead, even when looking at this group of the world's top players.

This feeling was exhilarating.

However, once he said this, the expressions on everyone's faces grew even more peculiar.

A lean man closest to him, carrying a huge longbow on his back, frowned and asked warily:

'What woman? Who are you talking to?'

Li Taiping was taken aback upon hearing this.

What did he mean?

Just then, Anna also spoke up.

Her voice was still cool, but her blue eyes held a trace of obvious confusion.

'What are you doing? Why did you attack suddenly?'

The expression on Li Taiping's face completely turned to astonishment.

He instinctively looked down at the ground, at Helya's corpse whose head had been separated from its body.

The corpse was still there, the decomposition countdown still ticking down second by second.

They... couldn't see it?

...