4: Chapter 4: The Self-Destructing Chicken King! This mage's damage is unbelievable!

Heat waves hit his face, and the smell of sulfur in the air made his throat feel dry.

The Turkey King, sized like a heavy truck, stared intently at Jiang Feng, a thunderous low growl rolling in its throat.

The novice staff in Jiang Feng's hand suddenly struck the ground. Without any fancy chanting movements, the skill he had been holding in his hand erupted instantly.

"True Bursting Flame!"

The surrounding air seemed to be vacuumed instantly, and a blue-white Fireball with a diameter of over five meters condensed above his head. This thing didn't look like magic; it looked like a freaking meteorite!

Boom!

The Fireball smashed violently into its face. The Turkey King, just about to charge, looked as if it had been hit by a locomotive. Its neck let out a tooth-aching "crack," and its massive body was forced over!

-816!

A damage number, so red it was almost black, floated up.

The Turkey King fell into a "concussion" state lasting 1.5 seconds.

This was an advanced technique in "Demon Realm": if a single hit deals more than 20% of the target's HP, it forces a stagger!

"Come on! Weren't you pretty tough just now?"

Jiang Feng was expressionless. Taking advantage of its weakness to finish it off, he tapped his staff repeatedly, seamlessly connecting two instant-cast Fireballs.

Bang! Bang!

-516!

-516!

More than half of the health bar evaporated instantly! This rate of HP loss was faster than a stock market crash!

"Cluck cluck!!"

The Turkey King finally broke free from the stagger. Its eyes instantly became bloodshot, its feathers puffed up, and a layer of greasy luster covered its body—[Greasy Feather Coat]!

Defense increased by 30%!

It opened its huge beak, and deep in its throat, flames capable of melting gold and iron brewed. It was clearly desperate.

"Want to use a skill? Hold it back in!"

Jiang Feng gave it no chance at all. The [Bursting Flame], now off cooldown, smashed into its face again.

Rumble!

Even with a damage reduction shield, this hit still dealt a terrifying -585 damage!

The massive explosive force shoved the flames in the Turkey King's mouth back down its throat, sending up a puff of black smoke.

Skill interrupted!

At this moment, this nightmare lord that dominated the Beginner Village was like a clumsy punching bag in front of Jiang Feng, repeatedly ground into the dirt by ruthless stats.

Health plummeted.

800... 400...

Just as the boss's HP dropped below the 10% mark, a sudden change occurred.

The Turkey King stopped attacking. Its body inflated wildly like a balloon, the surrounding fences instantly spontaneously combusted, and the temperature became terrifyingly high.

[Warning! The BOSS has entered a near-death frenzy! "Roast Chicken's Revenge" activated!]

[A devastating explosion will be triggered in 10 seconds! Range: Map-wide!]

"Self-destruct?"

Jiang Feng narrowed his eyes.

A certain-death mechanic.

With a Mage's short legs, there was no way to run out of the explosion's range. With his fragile body, forget the core area—even brushing the edge would turn him to ash.

This was why textbooks wrote "Mage soloing = suicide." Without a Knight to raise a shield or a Priest to cast resurrection, facing a full-screen AOE meant certain death.

Unless...

Jiang Feng glanced at his experience bar: Lv4 (5/600).

Then, his eyes became both crazed and calm.

"A boss's experience points are just enough to get me to level 5!"

Before entering the dungeon and attacking the boss, Jiang Feng had already calculated his retreat.

Only if he was certain would Jiang Feng start attacking this boss.

If not, Jiang Feng naturally wouldn't choose to make a move.

At this moment...

The Turkey King's body had inflated to its limit. Devastating white light leaked through its cracked skin, like a nuclear bomb about to detonate.

3 seconds.

2 seconds.

Just a moment before the explosion's shockwave was about to swallow the tip of Jiang Feng's nose, the final Bursting Flame was accurately shoved down the BOSS's throat.

-585!

The health bar was instantly emptied!

BOOM——————!!!

An earth-shattering explosion swept through the entire farm. A mushroom cloud rose into the air, and Jiang Feng's figure was instantly swallowed by a sea of fire.

However, in that gap of one-ten-thousandth of a second.

A beam of holy golden light, even faster than the fire of the explosion, pierced down from above Jiang Feng's head!

[Congratulations! You have slain the Lv5 Lord: Bursting Turkey King!]

[Obtained EXP +500 (Talent Bonus +125)!]

[Your level has increased to Lv5!]

[HP/MP fully restored! Negative statuses cleared!]

...

The golden light of leveling up was like an absolute defense wall, a Wall of Sighs, forcibly isolating the explosion's aftershocks.

The flames dissipated.

In the center of the ruins, Jiang Feng stood unscathed, gently patting the dust off his mage robes.

"Timing the level-up to restore health—I'll give myself an 8 for this basic operation."

At the same time, the cold notification tone of the talent system rang out cheerfully in his mind.

[Talent "Pangu Plunder" triggered!]

[Due to killing a Lord-class unit, the plunder effect has landed a critical hit!]

[Plunder successful! Obtained Free Attribute Points: 80*2!]

Adding the 5 points from leveling up, this wave directly netted him 165 attribute points!

This wasn't killing monsters; it was practically robbing a bank!

Jiang Feng took a deep breath, feeling incredibly satisfied!

Then...

Jiang Feng saw the loot dropped after killing the boss ahead.

Jiang Feng stepped on the still-hot ashes and jogged over.

Jiang Feng bent over and snatched up the staff.

[System Notification: Obtained crimson flame magic staff *1!]

This was a staff with magma patterns flowing throughout. The crimson crystal core at the tip was still slightly pulsing, like a freshly gouged-out demon eye, emitting an alluring luster.

Beside it, a large pile of golden currency was scattered, nearly blinding in the dim light.

The moment his fingertips touched it, warm energy rushed up his arm to the top of his head, a feeling more refreshing than drinking an ice-cold cola in summer.

[crimson flame magic staff (Epic)]

Requirement: Lv5 Mage

Magic Attack: +98

Special Effect: [Deflagration] Fire skill damage increased by 20%.

Durability: 280/280

Description: A staff bathed in the blood of the Turkey King, it comes with a burnt aroma of roasted meat... Carrying it, you are a walking arsonist.

...

"Nearly a hundred points of Magic Attack? And a 20% damage boost?"

The corners of Jiang Feng's mouth curled up wildly, harder to suppress than an AK-47's recoil.

You know, that broken wooden novice staff only added 18 Magic Attack, no different from a fire poker. This one? This wasn't just an upgrade; it was like swapping a pellet gun for an intercontinental ballistic missile!

Without any hesitation, he equipped it.

[Equipment equipped!]

[Magic Attack: 498 → 578]

Looking at his soaring stats, Jiang Feng swept up the gold coins on the ground with terrifyingly practiced movements.

[Obtained Gold Coins: 5,000]

"Hiss—"

Jiang Feng took a deep breath; even the smell of sulfur in the air became sweet.

According to the current black market exchange rate, 1 gold coin = 1 Huaxia coin.

He'd been in the dungeon for less than two hours, and he'd already made 5,000 bucks?

You should know that in this world, an ordinary worker only earns this much after a month of hard work.

"Is this the world of the strong? Killing monsters is like having a money-printing machine. As long as my liver holds out, becoming the richest man is just around the corner."

Jiang Feng sighed. Just as he was about to organize his backpack, a deafening thunderclap suddenly erupted from the heavens.

Then, golden text, like a divine oracle, forced its way into the retinas of all players exploring "Demon Realm"—no matter where you were in the world or what you were doing, you were forced to watch!

[World Announcement! World Announcement!]

[Congratulations to the anonymous player "**Feng" from the Dragon Country East China Region for successfully slaying the Lv5 Lord BOSS: Bursting Turkey King with astounding strength!]

[As the player who cleared this dungeon solo, special rewards are hereby granted!]

[Reward: Assignable Free Skill Points +3!]

[Reward: Reputation +1,500!]

[Reward: Unlocked Purgatory difficulty for the Lv5 dungeon "Dark Forest"!]

[Reward: Unlocked Lv10 Hidden Class Advancement Clue—"Melee Mage: War Titan (Unique)"!]

...

Boom—!

The announcement flashed three times, full of prestige.

The chat channels of the entire Dragon Country region instantly fell into a deathly silence, as if everyone had disconnected.

Three seconds later, the bullet chat erupted like an avalanche, instantly flooding the screen with 999+ messages!

"Holy crap?!! Am I seeing things? Solo clear?!"

"Damn, that's the Bursting Turkey King! That perverted BOSS with the full-screen self-destruct mechanic? Yesterday, three teams from our guild went in and just delivered themselves as snacks!"

"I'm also grinding this dungeon. Just now, our full five-man team had two shield warriors in front, but when the BOSS self-destructed, the whole team ascended to heaven! Is this big shot with 'Feng' in his ID an immortal? How did he survive it?"

"A Mage... look clearly at the class, the announcement said Mage! A squishy Mage soloed a self-destructing BOSS? Is that scientific? Newton's coffin lid won't be able to stay down!"

"There's only one possibility: he one-shotted the BOSS a second before it self-destructed! What kind of terrifying DPS (Damage Per Second) is that?!"

"I want to play a Mage too! Nobody stop me! I want to be a Grand Mage!"

"Wake up, guy above. He's a god-tier Mage, while you're just a mobile honor point. Go back to sleep."

"What the hell is that hidden class 'War Titan'? It sounds so violent! Is this the strength of a big shot? That's just too freaking awesome!"

"Begging for the big shot's ID! Will pay heavily for a carry! I have a soft and delicate loli voice, can tank, can heal, and can warm the bed!"

..."}],