16: Chapter 16: Rare Skill Book [Strategic Planning]! A brand new entry has unexpectedly appeared!

[Sword Qi Slash] (Excellent) (+5)

LV0/5 (0/20,000)

When using sword-type weapons for normal attacks, there is a 100% chance to add six Dao of additional damage, dealing 300% of the original attack's damage as Sword Qi True Damage.

(To upgrade the number of Sword Qi: Kill 55/100,000 monsters using this affix)

(To upgrade affix quality: 3 Legendary-grade attack skill books)

As the [Sword Qi Slash] that had accompanied him from the start.

It had become difficult to upgrade after the required number of monsters gradually increased.

But in this dungeon, the monsters were easily 6 or 7 Ranks higher than him.

Each kill could increase the progress by several hundred points.

However, to upgrade again, he would need a total of 100,000 monster kills, which would likely be difficult to achieve in a short time.

The fifth wave of monsters remained the same, still Rank 11 monsters, with only an increase in their numbers.

Zhang Jian was already familiar with the patterns of these monsters.

Following his own pace, he fought steadily and cleared the stage smoothly.

In addition to the base 30 points, he accumulated a total of 90 points with the bonuses.

Besides the normal gain of over 12,000 experience points.

Another affix that hadn't moved in a long time had upgraded.

[I Only Hit the Elite] (Legendary)

After killing monsters of a higher Rank, extra experience gained is increased by 400%, and base drops are increased by 40%.

(To upgrade affix quality: Kill 0/100,000 monsters using this affix)

Like [Sword Qi Slash], the number of monsters required to upgrade this affix had also reached 100,000.

The difficulty of upgrading this affix was even double that of [Sword Qi Slash], so there was no point in thinking about it for now.

Two waves of monsters had brought him a full 22,000 experience points.

It seemed that.

He was not far from reaching Rank 6.

However, Zhang Jian hesitated.

While leveling up would certainly increase attribute points, critical rate, and critical damage.

But compared to the attributes of the Rank 10+ monsters in the dungeon, this small increase was like a drop in the bucket and wouldn't make much of a difference.

On the contrary, the base bonus for killing higher-Ranked monsters under various affixes was surprisingly effective.

It would be better to pause at this Rank for a while and enjoy these benefits a bit longer.

When he mentioned it to Wang Fei, the latter agreed completely.

The two then applied to the Heavenly Dao via their panels, choosing to disable automatic leveling.

Opening and closing this option had an 8-hour cooldown period, which didn't matter much.

They only needed to turn it back on before the College Entrance Examination and reach Rank 9.

Wang Fei had accumulated 3,240 experience points at this time; after consuming 2,000 points, he leveled up [All-Around Buff] by one Rank.

Within the effects of [Concentration], the mana recovery speed increased from 20% to 24%.

To continue upgrading, 4,000 experience points would be required.

As for Zhang Jian, he had plenty of experience points.

But if used to upgrade an Excellent-grade skill, it was only enough for one Rank.

After thinking for a moment, he prioritized [Whirlwind Sword Slash].

[Whirlwind Sword Slash] (Excellent) (+4)

LV1/5

Consumes 80 mana to slash out 6 (+10) Dao of Sword Qi in a fan-shaped area in front (range increased by 100%), each dealing 84% of attack power as damage, with a 50% chance to inflict the [Sword Mark] status (movement speed reduced by 20% for 3 seconds).

Cooldown: 30 seconds.

(To upgrade skill effect: Kill 118/10,000 monsters using this affix)

(To upgrade affix quality: 3 Legendary-grade attack skill books)

The next Rank required 40,000 experience points, so Zhang Jian stopped.

In the following sixth wave, he proved how correct his choice was.

Two Boss monsters named Sharp-toothed Flame Rats possessed a support skill that could speed up ordinary Sharp-toothed Flame Rats.

Zhang Jian had just insta-killed a wave of monsters when the enemy immediately unleashed this skill, causing the ordinary monsters to retreat quickly, away from the furnace's position.

When these monsters began to launch long-range attacks, Zhang Jian had nowhere to hide and had to step forward to engage them actively.

Without the attack power bonus from the furnace, his damage dropped significantly in an instant.

Fortunately, relying on the upgraded [Whirlwind Sword Slash], he was just barely able to insta-kill these monsters and continue his tactics.

In the end, it was a thrilling clear.

"You have gained 384 (+1075) experience points."

"You have successfully killed a Boss-level monster 7 Ranks higher than yourself using [Sword Qi Slash]; your kill progress has increased by 512 points!"

"[Whirlwind Sword Slash] kill progress increased by 512 points."

"[I Only Hit the Elite] kill progress increased by 256 points."

"[So You Call Yourself a Boss] kill progress increased by 256 points."

"You have passed the 6th wave. Normal difficulty completion is at 60%. Upon exiting, you can receive a B-Rank evaluation and an additional 3,750 experience points."

The two Bosses dropped two pieces of crafting Materials, [Flame Demon Iron].

Its effect was to increase the probability of the critical damage attribute appearing, making it a high-quality Material.

In addition, two pieces of equipment and a skill book were dropped.

The equipment was all mage-type, which neither could use, so they tucked them away to sell later.

But this skill book made Wang Fei incredibly excited.

[Strategy and Tactics] (Rare)

When used on party members within range, it can randomly trigger three attributes for enhancement; if a specific option is designated, one can be chosen for strengthening.

The fewer party members within range, the stronger the enhancement effect.

This skill was practically tailor-made for him, but Wang Fei felt he hadn't contributed much to the team and was a bit embarrassed to ask for it.

Seeing his hesitant look, Zhang Jian waved his hand dismissively.

"Why be so formal with me? Take it!"

Wang Fei was so excited he was about to start praising Zhang Jian, but he was quickly stopped.

After learning it, Wang Fei hurried to start experimenting while the monsters hadn't arrived yet.

With just the two of them in the party, Wang Fei naturally chose the designated option for strengthening.

At Zhang Jian's suggestion, he chose to reduce skill cooldown time.

After Wang Fei cast it on Zhang Jian.

As a result, a surprise appeared.

"Teammate [Wang Fei] has cast the support skill [Strategy and Tactics] on you; your next skill cooldown is reduced by 10%."

"This skill is a designated option, strengthened to 20%."

"Only one person is within the party range, strengthened to 30%."

"You have been individually buffed by a talent skill for the first time. [King of Affixes] has activated successfully! You have obtained the exclusive affix [Brothers Are Awesome]!"

[Brothers Are Awesome] (Excellent)

When you receive a buff skill from a support-class profession, the effect will be additionally increased by 25%.

(To upgrade affix effect: Successfully buffed: 0/1 time)

(To upgrade affix quality: 1 special affix of the same quality)

After the seventh wave began.

With just one more cast from Wang Fei, the affix upgraded directly.

The enhancement effect became 50%.

Zhang Jian discovered that the cooldown of [Whirlwind Sword Slash] had directly become 16.5 seconds!

This greatly improved his combat efficiency.

In just three minutes.

He easily cleared the seventh wave.

Furthermore, with Wang Fei's continued support, the affix reached Rank 3, the extra effect became 75%, and the cooldown was reduced by another 2 seconds.

The eighth wave was also cleared smoothly.

While they fought with increasing vigor inside the dungeon, the people outside were starting to worry.