25: Chapter 25: Max Level Skill with the [Hurricane Mark] Trait! The Mutation of the Level 20 Boss!

Crack!

Under the swarming sword energy of [Sword Qi Slash], the [Scrap Devourer] fell once again in resentment.

"You have gained 3,360 (+23,520) Experience Points."

"You have successfully used [Sword Qi Slash] to kill..."

"[I Only Hit the Elite] kill..."

"[King of Solo] kill progress has increased by 10 points."

The progress of the entry's improvement was still familiar.

[King of Solo] successfully upgraded this time, rising from excellence to legendary!

The magnitude of the bonus also reached a full 15%.

Compared to the entry, the change in experience caught Zhang Jian's eye even more.

Even though it was the same monster, the experience was over 10,000 points higher than last time, nearly doubling.

This was exactly what Zhang Jian had gained from his previous trip to the wilderness.

[I Only Hit the Elite] (Epic)

After killing monsters of a higher Rank, gain an additional 600% extra experience and a 60% increase in basic drops.

(To upgrade entry quality: Kill 0/1,000,000 monsters using this entry)

This was the first entry he had upgraded from a lower Rank, aside from the massive entries of his initial talent.

It was his first entry raised from a low Rank.

And the magnitude of the Epic-tier upgrade was much stronger than before.

This made Zhang Jian look forward to what it would be like when it reached the Mythic tier.

While he was thinking, the familiar notification sounded again.

"You have completed the tenth wave of attacks. Points +60."

"Number of team members..."

"Team members are all fighting above their Rank..."

"You have accumulated 180 points."

"You have passed the 10th wave..."

The content was the same as before, but this time Zhang Jian would not choose to exit; instead, he would continue the battle.

However, facing the upcoming monsters, he still needed to improve his strength.

Looking at the 260,000 experience points accumulated on his panel, he took a deep breath and aimed for his only defensive skill.

He began the upgrade immediately.

After consuming 14,000 experience points.

[Sword Qi Absorption] (rare) (+3)

Lv3/3

During combat, automatically grants a Sword Qi Absorption effect equal to 300% (+150%) of Health. Disappears after leaving combat or upon death.

(To upgrade entry quantity: Block 850/1,000 attacks using this entry)

(To upgrade entry quality: 2 excellence-tier defensive skill books)

Although Zhang Jian planned to get two defensive skill books as soon as possible in the coming waves to upgrade this skill again.

The experience spent on upgrading now would be wasted then.

But for his own safety, he decided to upgrade it first.

The remaining experience was focused on upgrading [Sword Qi Slash].

"You consumed 20,000 experience points. [Sword Qi Slash] has reached Rank 1."

"You consumed 40,000 experience points. [Sword Qi Slash] has reached Rank 2."

"You consumed 80,000 experience points. [Sword Qi Slash] has reached Rank 3."

Zhang Jian only stopped when he didn't have enough experience to continue upgrading.

[Sword Qi Slash] (excellence) (+6)

LV3/5 (0/160,000)

When using sword-type weapons for normal attacks, there is a 100% chance to trigger seven additional strikes, dealing 300% (+150%) of the original attack as Sword Qi True Damage.

(Upgrade Sword Qi quantity...)

(Upgrade entry quality...)

Don't be fooled by the fact that the damage bonus only increased by half.

Because there were seven additional strikes, the actual increase was quite significant.

And in the subsequent battles, Wang Fei witnessed it.

The 11th and 12th waves were both Rank 14 ordinary Thugs.

Their attack patterns were almost identical to the previous ones.

Except their Health had grown to over 4,000 points.

But one Sword Qi Slash from Zhang Jian still resulted in an instant kill.

There was even overkill damage.

Even in the 13th wave, facing Rank 16 Leader monsters.

Wang Fei still felt no pressure.

Zhang Jian resolved them with a few quick slashes in the front.

He felt completely at ease, constantly applying various buffs to Zhang Jian.

The usually foul-tasting mana recovery potions.

Now, when poured into his mouth, they could be described with one word: sweet!

Wave after wave, they pushed forward.

The monsters in between couldn't pose any obstacle to Zhang Jian.

Until the 19th wave.

Facing the significantly strengthened Rank 19 [Night Butcher].

Its overall strength was no longer inferior to the Rank 15 excellence-tier BOSS from before.

Zhang Jian clearly felt a bit of a struggle.

In the end, he had to consume a large portion of his accumulated experience to upgrade [Whirlwind Sword Slash] to max Rank before he could successfully kill it.

[Whirlwind Sword Slash] (excellence) (+5)

LV5/5

Consumes 80 Mana to slash out 6 (+12) strands of Sword Qi in a forward fan-shaped area (range increased by 120%). Each strand deals Attack Power * 140% damage and has a 60% chance to apply the [Sword Mark] status (Movement Speed reduced by 20% for 3 seconds).

Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Max Rank Trait:

[Hurricane Mark]: Each Sword Qi hit generates a small Sword Qi hurricane that continuously pulls targets within a 1-meter radius. If a target is affected by more than 3 Sword Qi hurricanes, it triggers the 'Mark Rupture' effect (takes additional damage equal to 20% of skill attack power per second for 5 seconds).

(To upgrade skill effect: Kill 19,528/100,000 monsters using this entry)

(To upgrade entry quality: 3 legendary-tier attack skill books)

With this [Hurricane Mark] max Rank trait, it was difficult for the [Night Butcher] to hide using its [Night Force Field] skill.

Within the range of Zhang Jian's skill, it could be easily pulled out and trigger the 'Mark Rupture' effect.

Most crucially.

This effect was also influenced by the critical hit entry.

This meant taking additional damage equal to 20% of the total damage of 18 strands of Sword Qi every second.

Absolutely terrifying!

After successfully clearing the 19th wave, Zhang Jian also began to prepare for the next BOSS.

He first checked the exchangeable items in the furnace.

In addition to the previous ones, two new items were added.

Random rare-excellence Tier Skill Book (800 points)

Random excellence Tier Skill Book (1,500 points)

These things looked good, but in reality, they weren't easy to exchange for.

An ordinary team clearing the 19th wave would only accumulate 1,200 points per person.

They could only try their luck and exchange for a skill book of random quality.

Wanting a guaranteed excellence-tier one was still a bit short.

They would need to clear at least two or three more stages.

And during these waves.

If they wanted to exchange for anything else or upgrade the furnace.

They might not even have 800 points left.

However.

Zhang Jian was different.

The two of them were fighting above their Rank, and the team wasn't full.

With the extra bonuses, both of their points had reached 3,600!

Just exchanging for an excellence-tier skill book was more than affordable.

But.

He wasn't satisfied with just that.

The next wave was the true test.

Among the crowded heap of monsters, the massive mechanical monster remained the most conspicuous.

[Scrap Devourer] (excellence-tier BOSS)

Rank: 20

Health: 98,000

Damage: 388

Defense: 275

Skills: Acid Spit, Scrap Toss, Mechanical Bite

After reaching Rank 20, the BOSS's stats had reached a terrifying level.

If not for Zhang Jian's powerful weapon, even breaking its defense would be difficult.

To prevent insufficient attack power, he first gave [Sword Qi Slash] an upgrade.

He raised it to Rank 5 in one go.

He was only 60,000 experience points away from reaching max Rank.

So this time he didn't rashly rush in front of the BOSS, but instead quickly cleared the Leaders and Elites on the periphery.

With the max Rank trait of [Whirlwind Sword Slash], the [Night Butcher] was no longer a problem.

He killed it quickly.

Only some non-threatening ordinary monsters were left to be used as health packs.

After clearing the threatening monsters.

He had accumulated enough progress for the critical hit entry.

Zhang Jian stepped forward with confidence and slashed at the BOSS.

-19!

-20,374!

-20,374!

...

It seemed.

Under the high bonus of guaranteed critical hits, this single [Sword Qi Slash] could directly kill it.

But just as the BOSS's health bar had only a sliver left, it stopped moving.

The BOSS let out a violent roar toward the sky.

Its entire body instantly expanded and grew larger.

Layers of flowing liquid metal ripples circulated on its surface.

Furthermore.

Several retractable alloy tentacles grew out of its back one after another, flailing incessantly.

Zhang Jian was startled.

At that moment.

A piercing alarm sounded within the dungeon.

"Because your single attack caused the BOSS's health to drop below 10%, the BOSS's Overload Protection Mechanism has been triggered."

"Hidden condition met, [Scrap Devourer] has evolved into its second form."