14: Chapter 14 Wherever my sword points, a magnificent storm of critical strikes ensues!

Wang Fei's surprise stemmed from...

Even though he was only providing support from the rear, he had actually gained 45 experience points.

Compared to killing monsters of the same Rank in a full five-person team back in the Hard-level Trial Dungeon, this was several times more.

At this rate, he could level up with just a few dozen more!

Zhang Jian also took a moment to glance at the notifications.

"You have gained 96 (+230) experience points."

"You used [Sword Qi Slash] to successfully kill a Common-rank monster 6 Ranks higher than yourself; your kill progress has increased by 128 points!"

"[I Only Hit the Elite] kill progress has increased by 64 points."

Not bad.

Zhang Jian thought to himself silently.

Although the total experience increased to 110% after the two of them teamed up...

Wang Fei was guaranteed 30%, and as the primary contributor, Zhang Jian could only receive a maximum of 80% of the base experience.

However, that couldn't stop the massive bonuses from his level-suppression traits.

Furthermore...

Experience was secondary to him.

The progress increase for his two major traits was what truly invigorated him.

This level-suppression bonus was simply too amazing!

Thinking of this, his heart stirred.

He stopped focusing on hacking away at a single monster and instead distributed his damage across several Thugs.

In any case, every incoming monster attack would cause his vanished Sword Qi Body Protection to rise again.

They posed almost no threat.

Before long...

He had deliberately whittled down the Thugs in front of him to critical health, their bodies swaying unsteadily.

By now, his skill cooldowns had finished, and under the effect of [Concentration], his mana had returned to full.

[Whirlwind Sword Slash]!

Zhang Jian's eyes narrowed.

He unleashed the skill once more.

The whirlwind howled past, and five Thugs collapsed in response.

Zhang Jian felt a slight pang of regret, though.

He still hadn't managed to perfectly control the range and the critical health threshold.

Otherwise...

He could have insta-killed seven Thugs at once.

But even so...

The continuous stream of notifications was enough to make his head spin.

While this wave provided a fair amount of experience, he was still some distance away from leveling up.

Aside from the standard notifications:

"You used [Whirlwind Sword Slash] to successfully kill a monster not lower than your own Rank; your trait has leveled up!"

"You used [Whirlwind Sword Slash] to successfully kill 10 monsters not lower than your own Rank; your trait has leveled up!"

"You used [Whirlwind Sword Slash] to successfully kill 100 monsters not lower than your own Rank; your trait has leveled up!"

With just five Thugs, they contributed 640 points of kill progress, causing his skill trait to level up three times in a row!

[Whirlwind Sword Slash] (excellence) (+3)

LV0/5 (0/20000)

Consumes 80 mana to slash 6 (+8) waves of Sword Qi into a fan-shaped area in front (Range increased by 80%). Each wave deals Attack Power * 70% damage, with a 40% chance to inflict [Sword Mark] (Movement Speed reduced by 20% for 3 seconds).

Cooldown: 30 seconds.

(To upgrade skill effect: Use this trait to kill 529/1000 monsters)

(To upgrade trait quality: 3 legendary rank attack skill books required)

Although the damage of the upgraded trait skill hadn't changed...

It seemed he could only increase the damage by leveling up the base skill itself.

However, other aspects had changed significantly.

The attack range had nearly doubled.

The number of sword lights had also exploded.

Zhang Jian looked ahead.

The area covered by the sword light was now enough to completely envelop all the Thugs behind.

He did a rough count; there were 14 Thugs left.

Perfect!

He moved his body rapidly, attacking the remaining Thugs from various angles.

Under the combination of [Sword Qi Slash] and [Whirlwind Sword Slash]...

In less than three minutes, he cleared out all the monsters one by one.

[Whirlwind Sword Slash] leveled up again, and its progress reached 1263 points.

However, the next level-up would require 10,000 points.

"You have completed the first wave of attacks; Points +20."

"Team size is greater than 1 and less than 5; Points increased by an additional 100%."

"All team members are performing a level-suppression challenge; Points increased by an additional 100%."

"You have accumulated 60 points."

Zhang Jian broke into a smile.

This many points was already enough to level up the Furnace once.

Or, he could exchange them for two potions that restored health and mana.

That was equivalent to a harvest worth over 10,000 huaxia coins.

And this was only the first wave of monsters.

Grinding dungeons above one's level really did yield rich rewards!

Wang Fei was shouting and hooting, beyond excited.

"Zhang Jian, no... Brother Jian! You're too incredible!"

During this wave of monster attacks, he had originally felt his buffs were limited and wouldn't be of much help.

He thought it would be extremely difficult for the two of them to clear it.

He had even prepared himself to tank the monsters if things went south, letting Zhang Jian withdraw first.

To ensure both of them could leave the dungeon safely.

But he never expected this.

Zhang Jian was like a Heavenly God descended to earth, slaughtering his way through the Ranks and resolving so many monsters in just a few moves.

Looking at his own panel...

His experience bar for leveling up had jumped straight to over 30%; he'd probably level up after two more waves.

Zhang Jian's expression remained calm.

"What's the rush? This is just the beginning."

"Hurry up and recover, prepare for the next wave!"

Wang Fei nodded obediently, though he grumbled quietly in his heart.

You handled all the monsters by yourself; not a single one could hit me.

My health is still topped off; what is there to recover?

He had only cast his support skills twice.

In this short time, his mana was almost fully restored automatically.

The two sat cross-legged on the ground, waiting quietly.

One minute later.

The second wave of monsters arrived.

This time, it was still a group of Thugs.

But the number had increased from 20 to 25.

Zhang Jian felt a bit of interest.

The previous wave was a bit small, not even enough to fight.

Now this is more like it.

He continued his previous tactic, whittling them down to critical health one by one before using Whirlwind Slash to finish them all at once.

In a few minutes, he had killed them all and successfully cleared the wave.

He gained 60 points and a total of over 8,000 experience points.

Reaching Rank 5 was no longer far off!

And the progress for [Whirlwind Sword Slash] had pushed to 4,263 points, nearly halfway there.

He believed that after the next wave, there would be hope to level it up again.

"Notice!"

"A Leader will arrive in the next wave, please handle with care!"

The excited Wang Fei froze.

"Brother Jian, a big guy is coming!"

Zhang Jian smiled.

"It's just a Leader; just be careful yourself."

Although only three critical hits had occurred in the previous battle...

Due to the massive bonus from the monster's level suppression, combined with his previous progress, [The More Crits the Merrier] had already accumulated 100% progress.

He was just worried about not having a good opportunity to use it.

Now was the perfect time!

As the two spoke, the third wave arrived on schedule.

Not only had the number of Thugs increased to 30, looking quite menacing...

But at the back of the group, there was a uniquely tall man.

He held a chainsaw, his eyes were fierce, and he let out a cruel laugh from time to time.

[Thug Leader]

Rank: 11

Health: 9800

Damage: 168

Defense: 33

Skill: Lacerating Chainsaw

After seeing the opponent's stats, Wang Fei couldn't help but swallow hard.

"Good grief, that attack power!"

"That skill name sounds bloody; if it hits me once, wouldn't half my life be gone?"

He watched with trepidation as the group of Thugs approached step by step.

Until the sound of the Leader's chainsaw rang in his ears, Wang Fei's face turned completely pale, and he said tremulously:

"Brother Jian, aren't you going to strike yet?"

Zhang Jian's eyes were calm.

"Soon!"

The very next moment.

Zhang Jian struck boldly.

-1842!

-1842!

...

A full fourteen waves of Sword Qi poured forward like spilled mercury.

Upon contact...

The ordinary Thugs were instantly torn apart.

Insta-kill, another insta-kill!

Under Wang Fei's horrified gaze...

Magnificent critical hit numbers lit up one after another.

The fierce Thugs collapsed one by one.

In the next instant...

Except for the Thug Leader still standing in the field, all the other ordinary Thugs in the front rows had been cleared out.

Zhang Jian didn't have time to check the continuous stream of experience notifications.

Instead, he immediately looked at his panel.

Only when he saw that the critical hit trait's progress was just a hair's breadth away from being usable...

Did a smile spread across Zhang Jian's face.

His expression was one of excitement.

His suspicion had come true!