8: Chain Fireballs, Embrace of the Underworld

Out of the 50 free attribute points, he first spent 40 to increase his Casting Speed from 1.2 to 2.0.

With this Casting Speed, he could fire off two Magic Missiles in a single second, allowing him to stack health even faster. He kept the remaining ten attribute points in reserve for emergencies.

Next, he began to check the loot.

Chain Fireball (Active Skill): 1-Star.

Effect: Fires two fireballs simultaneously to attack enemies, with a 5% chance to inflict a Burning Effect.

Cooldown: 1 second.

Base Damage: 30.

Cost: 10 MP.

Proficiency: 0/1000.

Chain Fireball was a pretty good combo skill. Its cooldown was the same as Magic Missile, but it could fire in bursts. If it triggered a Spell Combo, it would be equivalent to four Fireball Spells.

With high damage paired with burst skills, ordinary monsters were basically one-shotted.

The only thing giving Lin Yue a headache was that Chain Fireball required mana. His current mana at Level 8 was 240, and it increased by 20 per level.

The mana regeneration speed was negligible.

In reality, his mana would bottom out after 24 casts of Chain Fireball, which would seriously affect his farming efficiency. He put the ten free attribute points into mana; each point added 50 MP, bringing his mana to 740.

After buying a few dozen stacks of Intermediate mana potions, it would be enough for him to farm for several hours.

Before Level 10, he was short on equipment and mana, but after Level 10, with set bonuses, he wouldn't be as lacking.

It could be considered a one-time investment.

After learning the active skill, he checked the two pieces of equipment again.

Moon-Chasing Bow: Blue Advanced.

Requirement: No level requirement, restricted to Archer class.

Effect 1: Base Damage +50.

Effect 2: Critical Hit Rate +10%.

Effect 3: Attacks have a 15% chance to trigger a bleeding.

No wonder the arrows fired by Overlord Divine Bow were dealing both critical hits and bleeding; it was all thanks to this equipment.

These attributes were already top-tier for an Archer in the early game, but they were useless to Lin Yue, so he could only sell it.

"100 silver coins, do you want it?"

Lin Yue tossed it to Feng Yun, Young Master Leng like he was throwing away trash.

"Yes, yes, yes! This is that Archer's weapon from just now, right?"

Feng Yun, Young Master Leng didn't even haggle and bought it instantly. He grinned like a blooming flower when he saw the stats. Although he couldn't use it, the Archer in his pioneering team could. With this piece of equipment, their leveling efficiency would increase significantly.

Embrace of Nether Fire: Purple Rare.

Requirement: No level requirement, restricted to Mage class.

Effect 1: Magic Damage +100.

Effect 2: Spell Accuracy +50%.

Effect 3: Spell Critical Hit +20%.

Effect 4: Spell Lifesteal +10%.

Effect 5: Magic attacks have a 5% chance to release Dark Fire. Dark Fire has Burning Effect and Magic Resistance reduction effects.

When Lin Yue saw the equipment stats, his face darkened. He suspected he had used up all his luck on his talent. There were five effects, yet not a single one increased Casting Speed.

Fortunately, there were accuracy and critical hit bonuses, otherwise Lin Yue would have really wanted to curse.

As for the Dark Fire effect, while it looked good, the probability was too low for it to be very useful.

Overall, it was just transitional equipment for the Novice Village, better than nothing.

The Shadow Cat Demon King also dropped some good items, such as the Shadow Set—two pieces for Warriors, two for Mages, and one for Priests—as well as five hundred silver coins. They were like consolation prizes.

Having been backstabbed by the System, Lin Yue expressed that he wasn't panicking; he would just kill monsters to vent his anger.

Taking Feng Yun, Young Master Leng back to the Novice Village to restock on potions, Lin Yue transformed into a monster-killing demon. He ruthlessly slaughtered the Cat Demons in the Gloomy Forest, leaving wails echoing everywhere.

Only half an hour passed before a light flashed on Lin Yue's body, and he reached Level 9. He saved the five free attribute points for now.

Feng Yun, Young Master Leng was also set to level up in another half hour.

Considering that Feng Yun, Young Master Leng had bought so much equipment, Lin Yue mercifully allocated an extra 0.5 share of the experience to him. Lin Yue took 8.5, and Feng Yun, Young Master Leng took 1.5.

After all, the other party had bought nearly a gold coin's worth of equipment from him; he had to show some appreciation.

To his surprise, this move nearly had Feng Yun, Young Master Leng hugging Lin Yue's leg and crying. He was simply too moved.

Lin Yue decided that he would definitely not power-level this idiot again unless he paid more.

Equipped with the Embrace of Nether Fire, Lin Yue's damage was now explosive. A single Chain Fireball hit an elite Shadow Cat Demon: -2278 (Critical), -1138.

One skill took out more than half of the elite monster's health.

The Shadow Cat Demon didn't even have time to dodge before it was killed by Lin Yue.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

Fireballs fell like cannonballs, truly giving off the visual of a human turret... The effect of Embrace of Nether Fire added 20% critical hit, and combined with Lin Yue's attacks on weak points, basically one out of every Chain Fireball cast would deal critical damage.

elite monsters that originally required 67 Magic Missiles to kill could now be finished off with just two Chain Fireballs.

His efficiency more than doubled. Although the experience bonus was smaller, he was actually leveling up faster than before.

"White Emperor Boss, you're really too strong!"

The massive damage and farming efficiency left Feng Yun, Young Master Leng shocked, and a faint sense of worship began to grow. Perhaps this was what a true boss looked like.

When the White Emperor first said he would take him to Level 10 within 12 hours, he had some doubts. Now, 12 hours?

He would probably reach Level 10 in eight hours. From the start of their training until now, including the boss battle, only four hours had passed.

Level 9 to 10 was a threshold, requiring ten times the experience of Level 9. Even so, with such mechanically efficient leveling speed, four hours was enough.

Lin Yue's Casting Speed was now 2.0. Coupled with Chain Fireball and the occasional Spell Combo, farming was incredibly satisfying.

Twenty minutes later, Feng Yun, Young Master Leng reached Level 9. In less than two hours total...

Lin Yue was the first to reach Level 10.

"Ding! Congratulations to player White Emperor for being the first player on the entire server to reach Level 10. The System will make a server-wide announcement. Would you like to hide your name?"

"No."

Lin Yue decisively chose to show his name.

"System: Congratulations to player White Emperor for being the first player on the entire server to reach Level 10. Reward: +50 free attribute points, +5 gold coins. This server-wide announcement is made to encourage all players to continue their efforts."

"System: Congratulations to player White Emperor for being the first player on the entire server to reach Level 10. Reward: +50 free attribute points, +5 gold coins. This server-wide announcement is made to encourage all players to continue their efforts."

...After an interval of over two hours, the another server-wide announcement left ordinary players numb. A boss was a boss; he was first in everything.

The name White Emperor was now thoroughly etched into the hearts of the players, sparking heated discussions.

Currently, the third place on the leaderboard had only just reached Level 9, and everyone behind was a uniform Level 8.

And the one in second place was Feng Yun, Young Master Leng.

Since Lin Yue could no longer gain experience, he allocated all of it to Young Master Leng. An hour later, Young Master Leng also successfully reached Level 10, receiving the second-place reward of +30 free attribute points and one gold coin.

Feng Yun, Young Master Leng was so happy that without a word, he directly transferred one gold coin to Lin Yue.

Regardless of anything else, the value of those thirty free attribute points far exceeded one gold coin.

Furthermore, Feng Yun, Young Master Leng had the intention of befriending the boss. Even if he couldn't recruit him, at least he could stay on good terms.

"Pleasure doing business!"