109: Chapter 109 The Perfect Skill Book: This is the True Forbidden Power!

Ice-blue light flickered in Qin Ji's palm, and the surrounding temperature plummeted to the freezing point. Even the dust in the air was frozen into fine crystal shards, suspended between the two.

The burly man in animal skins stared fixedly at the light. His eyes, which had been somewhat blurred by alcohol, cleared instantly—it was the instinctive tremor of a beast facing its natural predator. He remained silent for a full three seconds before slowly reigning in the Aura erupting from his body and sitting back down on the polished bluestone.

"Snow Emperor, put away your Divine Ability."

The burly man grabbed a wine jar and took a heavy gulp, his tone carrying a sense of helpless desolation. "We have no gods here, so naturally, there's no way anyone could give you a blessing. That scroll is just a piece of scrap paper in my hands. If you can help us solve that big problem, there's no harm in giving it to you."

Qin Ji dispersed the spiritual energy in his palm and casually pulled over an empty wine jar to sit on, his expression indifferent. "Speak. Since I'm already here, I'll definitely help if I can."

It would be suspicious if one could get an item of this level with just a few words.

The burly man wiped the wine stains from the corner of his mouth and looked through the dense canopy toward the pitch-black night sky, his voice becoming low. "We need to escape our current predicament and have a territory of our own, instead of hiding in these woods like rats."

"You want to establish a territory?" Qin Ji's brow twitched slightly.

"An ordinary territory won't do." The burly man shook his head, a spark of ambition flashing in his eyes. "We need an Advanced territory. Ideally, we want to capture a city and have an independent defense System and taxation rights."

Qin Ji's lips twitched, nearly laughing in exasperation. "Brother, your appetite is a bit too large. Although I have some strength now, I'm not arrogant enough to think I can capture a main city single-handedly."

The burly man sighed, seemingly having expected this answer, and the light in his eyes dimmed.

"However..."

Qin Ji changed his tone, his slender fingers lightly tapping his knee. "If it's a [heart of the lord], I should be able to get one."

"heart of the lord?!"

The burly man snapped his head up, a terrifying light erupting from his eyes. "The legendary city-building divine object that can manifest a Rank 1 main city out of thin air? Are you sure?"

"Give me some time." Qin Ji stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes. "When I bring the heart of the lord, we'll trade—the heart for the scroll."

"Good!" The burly man slapped his thigh heavily, making the ground tremble. "As long as you can bring that thing, besides the scroll, I'll give you an unexpected benefit!"

...

Leaving the Rebel Camp, Qin Ji unfolded his profound ice wings again, turning into a streak of light as he flew toward the outskirts of the Black Wind Mountain Range.

Trading a heart of the lord for a prerequisite scroll for the Blessing of the Gods was definitely a bargain. But the drop rate for a strategic-grade item like the heart of the lord was atrociously low.

In the memories of his past life, someone in the Star Kingdom had indeed obtained this item at this stage.

A female player with the ID [Dream Chaser in the Mist].

"A hidden big shot with high luck stats..."

As Qin Ji sped through the air, information about that woman surfaced in his mind.

In this digitized world, the luck attribute was the most metaphysical existence. While ordinary players were struggling to piece together equipment for a 1% critical hit rate, a high-luck player might land a critical hit with every casual strike.

Dream Chaser in the Mist was such a bug. She got gold equipment from a chest in the Newbie Village and obtained a heart of the lord before her second class advancement. It was said she completed a chain quest, and the trigger point for that quest was in Black Wind City.

"It seems I have to go to Black Wind City."

Just as Qin Ji was planning, his friend list suddenly flashed frantically.

Frenzied Blade: "Snow Emperor! Something big happened! Look at this!"

Immediately after, a screenshot of a System announcement was sent over.

Qin Ji clicked it open, and his flying figure nearly stumbled in mid-air.

[Kingdom Special Prohibition Order]

"Investigation: The rebel Snow Emperor, driven by madness, intended to assault Princess Princess in broad daylight. The nine Silver Generals of the Wo Family loyally protected their master and fought to the death, but were brutally murdered by Snow Emperor and left naked in the wilderness—truly an act that outrages both gods and men!"

"King Abra is furious and has issued this special order: From this day forward, Snow Emperor is banned throughout the Star Kingdom. No citizen of our kingdom shall issue quests to him or sell items to him. Violators will be treated as traitors!"

"Note: Snow Emperor and dogs are not allowed to step a single foot into the main city!"

"..."

Qin Ji looked at the last line of bold red text, the veins on his temples throbbing.

Issuing a prohibition is one thing, but what does this last sentence mean? This isn't just targeting; it's a blatant personal insult!

Also, assaulting Princess?

That woman was good-looking, but her heart was as deep and scheming as a scorpion's. How desperate would he have to be to assault her?

"Abra, your ability to turn black into white is truly masterful."

Qin Ji closed the panel, a trace of icy killing intent flashing in his eyes.

This prohibition directly cut off his possibility of obtaining quests and supplies through regular channels. If he didn't break this situation, he would find it difficult to move an inch in the Star Kingdom.

"Since you won't let me into the city, I'll fight my way in."

Qin Ji gave a cold laugh, his figure hovering over a hidden mountain hollow.

Before taking action, he had to take stock of his spoils.

Although those nine Silver Generals of the Wo Family were trash, their net worth should be considerable.

Qin Ji landed in the hollow and waved his hand, causing nine glowing treasure chests to appear on the ground. Without any nonsense, he directly activated "One-Click Collect."

[System Prompt: You have opened the Silver General's Relics.]

[Obtained Gold Coins x5000.]

[Obtained Silver-grade Equipment x18.]

[Obtained Special Item: Perfect Skill Book x3!]

"Hmm?"

Qin Ji's gaze was instantly drawn to the three books in his backpack that were emitting a seven-colored halo.

[Perfect Skill Book]

Grade: Special

Effect: After use, can directly upgrade a designated skill to max level (can work on up to SSS-grade skills).

Description: An extremely rare treasure containing the Origin power of the Law.

"It's actually this thing!"

Qin Ji's pupils contracted slightly, and his heart skipped a beat or two.

In his past life, he had spent ten years in the game and had only seen this thing once at a top-tier auction, where it sold for an astronomical price. He didn't expect these nine useless generals to be carrying such divine items!

"With this, the problem of skill proficiency is completely solved."

Without any hesitation, Qin Ji took out one book and mentally locked onto his core single-target burst skill—[Withered Arrow].

Although this skill was strong, it was limited by its level, and its current percentage-based health reduction effect wasn't very noticeable.

"Use!"

The seven-colored book instantly turned into countless points of light, sinking into the space between Qin Ji's eyebrows.

[System Prompt: Your skill "Withered Arrow" has been enhanced to max level (LV.MAX).]

[Withered Arrow (MAX): Fires an arrow containing the Law of Death. Upon hitting a target, forcibly deducts 3% of the target's maximum health per second for 10 seconds. This damage cannot be Purification, and cannot be resisted. Cooldown: 30 seconds.]

"3% per second for 10 seconds... that's 30% of maximum health!"

Qin Ji took a deep breath. This was simply a BOSS killer!

Two books left.

His gaze shifted, finally locking onto [profound ice Shield] and [Multi-Shot].

A few seconds later.

As the light faded, Qin Ji's attribute panel underwent a world-shaking change. The core skills that originally required long hours of AFK grinding for proficiency were now all marked with a golden MAX.

"Now, it's time to settle the score at Black Wind City."

Qin Ji closed the panel and was about to take off when his ears twitched slightly.

"Rustle..."

Extremely faint footsteps came from all directions. Although the other party tried their best to suppress their presence, in front of Qin Ji's monstrous perception attribute, these movements were as obvious as searchlights in the dark.

"It seems they're here for the bounty."

A cruel arc formed at the corner of Qin Ji's mouth. The King's prohibition order hadn't been issued for long, but these bounty hunters' noses were quite sharp.

"Since you're here, don't leave."

He didn't move, just stood quietly in place as if waiting for something.

"Do it!"

A sudden shout exploded.

Dozens of dark shadows shot out from the surrounding tree canopies. Multi-colored magical glows and sharp arrows instantly sealed off all of Qin Ji's evasion routes.

"It's the elite team from the Shadow Guild! That Snow Emperor is dead for sure!"

"Haha, the first kill is ours!"

However, in the next second.

Qin Ji's figure didn't get riddled with holes as they expected. Instead, it slowly dissipated in place—it was an afterimage left by extreme speed.

"What?!"

The leading assassin's pupils shrank. Before he could react, an extreme, terrifying chill suddenly descended from above.

"You know nothing of power."

In mid-air, Qin Ji looked down from above. His longbow was already drawn to its limit, with three arrows emitting a faint blue light notched on the string.

[Multi-Shot (MAX) · Split]!

"Twang!"

The bowstring vibrated.

The moment the three arrows were fired, they actually split into three, then three into nine, turning into a rain of arrows that completely covered the entire forest below in the blink of an eye.

Each arrow was imbued with the terrifying freezing energy of the max-level [profound ice Qi].

"Thud thud thud—"

There were no screams.

The assassins and mages who had just leaped up had their shields shattered like paper the moment they touched the rain of arrows. Immediately after, the extreme cold energy instantly penetrated their bones, freezing their bodies—still in a charging posture—directly into translucent ice sculptures.

"Crack..."

A light breeze blew.

Dozens of lifelike ice sculptures were instantly covered in cracks, then disintegrated into a flurry of ice crystal dust in a series of crisp sounds.

This wasn't a battle at all.

This was a massacre.

Even the surrounding ancient trees, rocks, and bushes were turned into dust under this strike. The originally lush mountain hollow had now become a silent, barren white land, covered with a thick layer of Frost that looked particularly jarring in this dark summer night.

Qin Ji slowly landed, his feet making a crunching sound as he stepped on the ice crystal dust.

He didn't even look at the players who had already turned into data. His gaze pierced through layers of mist, distantly locking onto the brightly lit Black Wind City in the distance.

Moonlight spilled onto his face, illuminating those purple-gold pupils. There was no trace of human emotion there, only the coldness of a deity disregarding all living beings. He lightly flicked the bowstring, producing a clear, resonant hum, as if playing a deathly prelude for the city that was about to face a storm.