5: Chapter 5 features an encounter with an elite monster; [Sword Aura Protection] levels up continuously!

A whopping 52 points of experience. Two pieces of equipment. Affixes triggered again.

Such gains made Zhang Jian's face flush with excitement.

If anyone else were here, they would probably accuse him of hacking.

But Zhang Jian only wanted to say, "Who said that not turning them off means I'm hacking?"

With the loot in hand, he couldn't wait any longer. He found a place without monsters and hurriedly began to check them.

Among the two pieces of equipment, Zhang Jian looked at the accessory first. Although it was also a screaming ring and of Excellent quality, its attributes were a bit different.

It directly increased Strength by 7, adding a full 14 points to his Attack. Zhang Jian's eyes lit up.

Among all his equipment, anything below Extraordinary grade only increased base attributes. In this regard, only accessories could directly increase the five main attributes in the early stages, making this a small top-tier item.

The other piece of equipment made him hold his breath. [Screaming Skateboard Shoes]. Quality: Rare. Rank Requirement: None. Defense +5. Movement Speed +6.

This was actually a Rare grade piece of equipment! Being able to drop from a Boss meant he was extremely lucky.

The newly triggered affix was also quite good. [So You Call Yourself a Boss] (Rare): When fighting a Boss, Attack increases by 10%. When fighting solo, the effect is doubled. (To upgrade affix quality: Kill 0/1 Boss-level monster using this affix).

Just the current effect was comparable to the boost from a Rare grade piece of equipment or skill. And this was only the initial effect; it could continue to improve in the future.

Zhang Jian felt full of drive. After equipping the two newly dropped items, his status panel looked brand new.

Name: Zhang Jian. Rank: 1 (54/2000). Class: Swordsman. Talents: King of Affixes [Mythical], Endless Progress [Mythical], Sword Heart Twin Radiance [Epic], My Heart is the Sword [Legendary]. Achievement Affixes: [I Only Hit the Elite] (Rare), [So You Call Yourself a Boss] (Rare). Exclusive Affixes: [Sword Qi Slash] (Excellent) (+3). Strength: 11 (+7). Agility: 6. Stamina: 6. Physique: 6. Spirit: 6. Health: 120. Mana: 60. Attack: 22 (+26). Physical Defense: 6 (+10). Magic Defense: 6. Crit Rate: 1%. Crit Damage: 150%. Evasion Rate: 1%. Equipment: [Screaming Skateboard Shoes] (Rare), screaming ring (Excellent), screaming ring (Excellent), Rabbit Claw Sword (Common), Rabbit Fur Hat (Common), Trial Light Armor (Common).

After both Strength and Agility broke 10, it increased his Crit Rate by 1% and Crit Damage by 1%. Fully armed, Zhang Jian continued to sweep the dungeon.

In the Normal grade trial dungeon, there were only Rank 0 to Rank 3 monsters. The Rank 3 monster was called Big-Foot Duck, and its strength was even slightly weaker than the Rank 2 Boss Screaming Chicken, which Zhang Jian could easily handle.

Before long, he had cleared out the Rank 3 monster area. [Sword Qi Slash] leveled up again, allowing it to add five additional Sword Qi damage instances. [I Only Hit the Elite] also upgraded to Extraordinary quality. The effect was an additional 300% experience gain from killing higher-level monsters and a 30% increase in drops.

During this time, several more pieces of equipment dropped, but most were of Common quality. There was only one hat of Excellent quality. After Zhang Jian equipped it, it added an extra 3 points of Defense.

After killing a few more Bosses, the corresponding affix upgraded again, increasing Attack by as much as 20%. Under the blessing of the increased drop rate affix, not only did a Rare grade Screaming Crit Greatsword drop, adding 14 Attack and 15% Crit Damage, but there was also a skill book he could learn.

[Magic Shield] (Excellent): Consumes 50 Mana to grant a defensive shield equal to 30% of Health, lasting 1 minute. Cooldown: 10 minutes. This was a general skill, and its effect seemed very ordinary. But after being strengthened into an affix skill...

[Sword Qi Body Protection] (Excellent): Automatically grants a Sword Qi defense effect equal to 50% of Health upon entering battle, which disappears after leaving battle or death. (To upgrade affix quantity: 0/1 attacks blocked using this affix). (To upgrade affix quality: 1 Rare grade defense-type skill book).

Not only did it no longer require Mana, but the provided shield's Health also increased. Zhang Jian was eager to test it out. As it turned out, there were no monsters left around! He circled around for a long time before finding one monster. He gritted his teeth and took a hit from it, and the affix leveled up.

[Sword Qi Body Protection] (Excellent) (+1) LV0/2 (0/1000): Automatically grants a Sword Qi defense effect equal to 100% of Health upon entering battle, which disappears after leaving battle or death. (To upgrade affix quantity: 0/10 attacks blocked using this affix). (To upgrade affix quality: 1 Rare grade defense-type skill book).

Zhang Jian's eyes lit up. The effect directly doubled—not bad! Doesn't this mean he essentially has an extra life? Just as he was thinking happily, "Quack, quack, quack!" A Big-Foot Duck emerged from the water not far away. Two Screaming Chickens followed beside it, their gazes fierce.

[Fierce Big-Foot Duck] (Elite). Rank: 3. Health: 1500. Damage: 28. Defense: 16. Skill: Cruel Slap.

Zhang Jian's eyes narrowed, and his smile vanished instantly. An Elite monster! Its attributes were significantly higher than the Boss monster, and it even possessed a skill. He needed to be careful. The other two Screaming Chicken minions were just Rank 2 Bosses; he had dealt with plenty of them, so they were nothing to worry about.

Zhang Jian held his breath, and the moment the Big-Foot Duck rushed into attack range, he struck fiercely. -35! -63! -63! -63! -63! -63! A single sword strike dealt 350 damage.

If any classmates in other trial dungeons saw this, they would probably exclaim in shock. The Elite monster's defense was extremely high; they could only barely break through its defense, and dealing 10 or so damage would be considered good. Hundreds of points of damage were simply unimaginable.

Zhang Jian, however, showed no signs of joy. Just as he attacked the opponent, the Big-Foot Duck bared its teeth and roared at him. This guy could actually perform ranged attacks; it just used a cry to knock off 22 points of Zhang Jian's Health. His Health instantly dropped by one-fifth, and his face turned pale.

Fortunately, [Sword Qi Body Protection] activated instantly. Layers of Sword Qi appeared around his body, blocking the Big-Foot Duck's subsequent attacks. To Zhang Jian's surprise, he discovered that this affix's so-called Sword Qi defense effect was actually an attribute-based resistance. The Big-Foot Duck's normal attacks were blocked one by one. Zhang Jian's Health did not drop by even a single bit anymore.

He seized the opportunity to launch consecutive attacks, making the Big-Foot Duck shriek endlessly. The other two Boss monsters also swarmed over. However, Zhang Jian was currently under the protection of [Sword Qi Body Protection] and took no damage at all. Instead, he calmly made his move and killed the two Bosses one by one.

Seeing that the situation was bad, the Big-Foot Duck stomped both its feet. -44! Zhang Jian was startled. Was this the opponent's innate skill, Cruel Slap? Moreover, this was actually an attribute-based attack, and even Sword Qi Body Protection couldn't immunize against it. The damage was extremely terrifying, reaching twice that of a normal attack, causing nearly half of the Sword Qi surrounding Zhang Jian to dissipate instantly.

Fortunately, this attack happened to trigger the affix's upgrade condition. [Sword Qi Body Protection] (Excellent) (+2): During battle, automatically grants a Sword Qi defense effect equal to 150% of Health, which disappears after leaving battle or death. (To upgrade affix quantity: 0/100 attacks blocked using this affix). (To upgrade affix quality: 1 Rare grade defense-type skill book).