12: Chapter Twelve: First Server Clear

Meanwhile, in the Gloomy Chicken Nest instance, Lin Feng had finished clearing the first four waves of mobs.

[Ding! Fourth wave of monsters cleared!]

[Ding! Detected that you have completed all mob stages!]

[Final BOSS: Phoenix King (Bronze Lord rank) is about to spawn!]

"Boom."

The ground in the center of the instance collapsed with a roar!

A giant bird, covered in golden-red feathers, slowly spread its wings and ascended into the air. A phoenix cry shook the entire instance!

[Phoenix King (Bronze Lord BOSS)]

Level: 10

Attack: 520

HP: 40000

Defense: 80

Skills: [Phoenix Flame Breath] [Phoenix Cry Shock] [Phoenix Dance in the Nine Heavens]

Introduction: A fire-type avian king with a faint trace of Phoenix bloodline in its body. It has a ferocious temperament, specializes in strong fire-type attacks and area suppression, and is one of the very few BOSSes in the novice stage to possess a divine beast bloodline.

Good grief, a Lord-level BOSS?

According to the Divine Realm settings, BOSSes are divided into Black Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Purple Gold... and beyond.

Among them, they are further divided into 5 grades: Normal, Fine, Rare, Perfect, and Lord.

The BOSS before him had already reached the Lord level, making it the top-tier existence within its same level.

This already far exceeded the level of players at the current stage.

Lin Feng swallowed hard, his mouth twitching slightly. The planners of Divine Realm really didn't treat players like outsiders.

520 attack, 40,000 HP, and fire-based area-of-effect skills... With these stats, a small flame would probably be enough to instant-kill him.

If it were any other ordinary player, seeing a Lord-level BOSS of this caliber would probably have made them turn and run in fear.

But Lin Feng just took a deep breath, his eyes gradually becoming heated.

To challenge a divine beast with a Phoenix bloodline in a mortal body... this kind of thing was just exciting enough.

Talent was his greatest source of confidence.

The Phoenix King shook its wings, flames soaring into the sky. It locked onto him from above, and a deafening phoenix cry rang out.

"Ding!"

[You have been affected by the skill [Phoenix Cry Shock] (Perfect-grade skill) activated by [Phoenix King] (Tier 1 Lord BOSS). Defense reduced by 50% and Attack reduced by 50% for 10 minutes!]

"Heh, this just got a lot more interesting."

Attack and defense reduced by 50%?

To others, it was a desperate situation, but to him, it was completely irrelevant.

Because he was never the type to rely on brute force.

His strength never lay in attack or defense, but in his talent.

Seeing that the shock effect had taken hold, the Phoenix King spread its wings, golden-red flames igniting in its beak, clearly intending to instantly kill this tiny human.

"Here I go!"

He activated his talent skill, Ten-Step Kill. His entire body flashed like a gust of wind instantly in front of the Phoenix King.

"Swish."

"-133."

[Ding! System prompt: You triggered the talent Ten-Step Kill! You dealt massive damage to enemies within a 3x3 range and triggered a paralysis effect, lasting 3 seconds!]

"-35."

"-32."

Although he was weakened, he could still barely break through its defense.

To be safe, he only outputted two attacks before rapidly retreating from the battlefield.

A combo dealt about 200 damage.

Hmm... 40,000 divided by 200...

"One times one is one, one times two is two..."

"Holy crap, two hundred times?"

After a series of mental calculations, Lin Feng reached a conclusion.

Just as he retreated out of the BOSS's aggro range, flames rolled behind him.

The Phoenix King had just broken free from the paralysis state. It flapped its wings, let out a furious phoenix cry, and began to output wildly at its surroundings without discrimination.

Flames rained down from the sky; for a moment, smoke and fire rose everywhere, and the scene was spectacular.

Lin Feng stood at the edge of the battlefield, looking calm and relaxed on the surface, but actually panicking inside.

If he hadn't been cautious just now and hadn't been greedy for extra hits, he would probably have been burned to ashes by now.

This time, he had no confidence in himself.

It could afford to make countless mistakes, but he could only afford to make one; that was reality.

A war of attrition like this... he likely wouldn't last until the BOSS fell.

Perhaps even the person who set up this stage never considered that anyone could clear it in the early stages.

But he was unwilling; he didn't want to give up just like that.

A Lord-level BOSS meant it could drop Perfect-grade equipment.

Faced with absolute profit, extreme people often cannot resist temptation and will choose to take a risky path.

And he happened to be that kind of person.

Having lived two lives, both as a poor loser, he had never lived a luxurious life of debauchery and indulgence.

He was too poor, and he was afraid of being poor.

Now, entering "Divine Realm" was his chance to turn his life around.

And the BOSS in front of him was a stepping stone he had to cross.

Thinking of this, his originally restless heart suddenly calmed down.

"If I die, I die. Let's see who burns out first."

Having made up his mind, Lin Feng didn't dawdle. He walked to the edge of his maximum attack range and instantly launched a preemptive strike.

The same plot, the same operation, kiting the BOSS.

Two strikes, then immediate retreat.

Must admit, with an SSS-grade talent skill like Ten-Step Kill, as long as he didn't make a mistake, there was a real chance to grind the BOSS to death.

Just like that, back and forth.

Until ten minutes later, the BOSS's health bar had dropped by a small section, about 5%.

Ten minutes for 5%...

That meant... if no accidents occurred, he would need about three hours to kill the Phoenix King!

He took a look at the number of blue recovery potions in his backpack.

Combined with the system's automatic recovery, it was completely enough to sustain him; otherwise, he might not have been able to kill this BOSS.

Time passed bit by bit. Lin Feng was fully focused on circling the Phoenix King, his movements not faltering in the slightest.

Just then...

[Ding! Auction House prompt: The bidding time for the [swift shadow longsword] you listed has ended. The item has been successfully sold for a transaction amount of 700,000.1 Universe Coins! After deducting a 35,000 handling fee, the remaining 665,000 has been transferred to your linked virtual bank account.]

"How... how much? 700k?!" Lin Feng was stunned, his mind instantly thrown into chaos.

He never expected that a level 10 weapon could actually auction for a sky-high price of 700,000!

Lin Feng was completely dumbfounded; just this one piece of equipment was almost equivalent to his salary for an entire lifetime in reality. Who would believe that if he told them?

But it was precisely this momentary distraction that caused a mistake in his operation.

The Phoenix King's eyes gleamed with ferocity. It flapped its wings, and its sharp claws, wreathed in raging flames, swept across!

"Pfft!"

"-404!"

[You have been attacked by the Phoenix King (Tier 1 Lord BOSS)! Current HP: 1 / 405.]

A sharp pain shot through his shoulder. Lin Feng trembled violently, his entire body sent flying several meters away.

His health bar hit the bottom instantly, leaving only one last point of HP!

A little bit more, just a little bit more, and he would have been instant-killed. All his efforts would have been in vain, and the instance would have been a wasted attempt.

"Damn it, that hurts. Thank goodness it was just a normal attack, otherwise I would have been finished."

Lin Feng cast aside his distractions, hardened his heart, and focused even more on dealing with the BOSS.

The Phoenix King looked up to the sky and let out a phoenix cry, spread its wings, and its [Phoenix Flame Breath] skill was ready to go, intending to burn this remnant-HP ant to ashes completely.

[Ding! Ten-Step Kill skill cooldown finished.]

"Very good, this... is exciting enough."

He looked at the giant bird amidst the burning flames, a cold sneer slowly curling the corners of his mouth.

"Let's decide the outcome, and decide life and death."

Lin Feng kicked off the ground, his body transforming into a streak of thunder, rushing straight up into the burning fire!

"Ten-Step Kill!"

Inside the instance, it had completely become their battlefield. At this moment, it really felt like seeking wealth in danger.

In the blink of an eye, two hours had passed. The Phoenix King's HP continued to drop slowly as it was consumed: 70%, 52%... 36%.

After such a long period of intense mental concentration, Lin Feng was exhausted to the extreme, relying entirely on willpower to hold on.

Whether it was a blessing or a curse depended on whether he could last through this final hour.

Time ticked by, and the blue recovery potions in his backpack were running low, which also meant the time to kill the BOSS would take even longer.

I don't know how much time passed. In the game, the real-world time was already 4:00 AM, and this battle, which had lasted about 4 hours, had finally neared its end.

As the lonely blade sliced across the Phoenix King's back, amidst a combo of critical hits, the Phoenix King's massive body collapsed to the ground with a roar.

The flames slowly dissipated, revealing a ground full of glittering equipment and gold coins.

[Ding! You have successfully killed the Phoenix King (Bronze-rank Lord BOSS)! Obtained 25,000 experience points, Prestige +300.]

[Ding! Congratulations, you have completed the Gloomy Chicken Nest solo instance (Level 10)!]

[Ding! You are the first player in the entire server to clear the solo instance (Level 10)! A server-wide announcement will be made. Do you wish to hide your ID?]