115: Chapter 115 Using a borrowed knife to kill! The city lord's vicious scheme

The arrowhead scraped a string of dazzling sparks against the hard carapace, appearing exceptionally piercing and cold in this pitch-black, silent underground world.

As the arrow was pulled out, the mountain-sized corpse of the Dragon Turtle King began to tremble violently, then collapsed instantly like building blocks made of countless black squares. There was no scene of flying flesh and blood, only data streams drifting across the sky and several dropped items clattering to the ground with an enticing luster.

Qin Ji gave a casual wave, sweeping all the items on the ground into his backpack without even glancing at their attributes.

To him now, these so-called "top-tier equipment" were nothing more than junk to fill the guild warehouse later; the truly valuable thing was the pleasant System notification sound from just now.

[Ding! You have slain the "Abyssal Dragon Turtle King (Hell Grade)." The talent "Blessing of the Gods" has taken effect. You have permanently gained 1,000 maximum Health Points!]

"Only a thousand points..."

Qin Ji frowned slightly, a hint of dissatisfaction flashing in his purple-gold pupils. Although this Dragon Turtle King was thick-skinned and durable, the health bonus it provided wasn't as exaggerated as he had imagined. However, the advantage lay in numbers; if he cleared all the elite monsters in this dungeon, he could stack tens of thousands of health points.

He didn't linger; his toes tapped lightly on the slippery rocks as he swept across the mess on the ground like a ghost, speeding toward the unknown darkness deeper within the cavern.

...

Meanwhile, in Black Wind City, the City Lord's Manor.

Luxurious crystal chandeliers emitted a soft glow, yet they could not dispel the suffocating low pressure within the hall.

"Crash—!"

An exquisite white porcelain teacup was slammed onto the ground, shards flying everywhere as scalding tea spread into a dark stain on the carpet.

"Bastard! Absolute bastard!"

City Lord's chest heaved violently, his usually pampered face now twisted into a knot of fury. He leaned his hands on the desk, his knuckles turning white from excessive force, as he stared gloomily at the sound-transmission talisman before him as if he wanted to swallow it whole.

Behind him, a grey-robed elderly man stood with his hands down, eyes on his nose and nose on his heart, appearing like a sculpture devoid of Life Qi.

"Has the notification been sent up? When will the Royal Capital dispatch reinforcements?" City Lord growled through gritted teeth. "That damned Snow Emperor may have retreated, but he's still nearby! Every second the City Protection Array is active, it burns through Energy Crystals! That's money! My money!"

The old man's eyelids lifted slightly, his voice raspy. "Lord City Lord, the message was sent long ago. But just now, Head Butler Kur replied."

"What did that old thing Kur say?" City Lord turned around abruptly, a spark of hope igniting in his eyes.

The old man shook his head, a helpless bitter smile curling the corner of his mouth. "The Head Butler said... the Lord Prime Minister is resting and should not be disturbed. As for the matter of the Snow Emperor..."

He paused, then imitated the Head Butler's arrogant tone. "'He is merely a single Adventurer; why make such a fuss? City Lord, the Prime Minister has high hopes for you and believes you can certainly solve this small, trivial trouble. Keep it up.'"

"Keep it up?!"

City Lord was stunned, followed by a surge of blood rushing to his head. He laughed out of sheer anger, his laughter sharp and shrill. "Hahaha! A small trouble? Trivial? Are they blind?!"

"That Snow Emperor, with just one man and one bow, slaughtered a thousand of my elites in less than fifteen minutes! He forced me to activate the City Protection Array! And this is called trivial? Do they have to wait until my head is hanging on the city gate before they consider it a problem?!"

City Lord paced frantically in the hall, his boots making "crackle crackle" sounds as he stepped on the porcelain shards.

"They want to kill with a borrowed knife... no, they want to see me make a fool of myself! The ban issued by that old fool of a King provoked the Snow Emperor, and in the end, my Black Wind City is taking all the blame!"

Just as City Lord was on the verge of losing control, the grey-robed old man suddenly took a step forward, a sharp glint flashing in his cloudy eyes.

"Lord City Lord, please calm down. Actually... this might not necessarily be a bad thing."

City Lord stopped abruptly, staring fiercely at the old man. "A good thing? If you can't give me a proper explanation, I'll throw you into the moat to feed the crocodiles!"

The old man was not afraid; instead, he laughed sinisterly, his laughter as eerie as a Night Owl. "My Lord, think about it. Why did the Snow Emperor attack us? Because of the King's ban. His target is essentially the Royal Family, that high-and-mighty King."

"So what? I'm the one getting beaten right now!" City Lord roared irritably.

"Therefore, we must lead this fire to where it should go." The old man walked to the desk, using his finger dipped in tea to draw a circle on the table. "We can deactivate the City Protection Array right now."

"Are you crazy?!" City Lord's eyes widened.

"Hear me out." The old man lowered his voice, his tone carrying a heart-palpitating chill. "We will not only deactivate the array but also issue a new bounty. This time, don't give too many attribute points, but... give equipment. Give the best equipment, rare Materials, and even... those two 'Saint Grade Talent Awakening Stones' you've been treasuring."

City Lord looked at the old man as if he were a lunatic. "Give equipment to the Snow Emperor? Do you think he's not killing me fast enough? This is aiding the enemy! This is treason!"

"No, this is 'raising Gu'."

The old man's eyes sparkled with the light of wisdom, the cunning unique to conspirators. "The Snow Emperor is a smart man, and a greedy one. If we continuously send him 'benefits,' will he still be in a hurry to conquer Black Wind City? No, he will treat Black Wind City as an ATM, a grinding spot."

"As long as our bounties continue, he won't be willing to destroy this place. And when he holds the equipment we've given him and his strength swells to a certain level... do you think he'll still be satisfied with bullying our tiny Black Wind City?"

City Lord was stunned. His gaze shifted from anger to confusion, finally turning into a shock of realization.

"You mean..."

"Exactly." The old man grinned, revealing a mouthful of broken yellow teeth. "When his blade is sharp enough, he will go and cut even harder bones. For example... Tianxing City."

"Once the Snow Emperor threatens the Royal Capital and that carefree King, Your Majesty, the one who will be anxious won't be us, but that Head Butler Kur."

The hall fell into a deathly silence.

City Lord stared at the gradually drying water stains on the table, an inexplicable chill rising up his spine. This move of "Diverting the disaster to the east" was incredibly malicious. It both preserved Black Wind City and ruthlessly schemed against those incompetent fools in the Royal Capital.

"Good! Good! Good!"

City Lord said "Good" three times, the gloom on his face swept away and replaced by a twisted excitement. "Since the King doesn't want to deal with it, then I'll help him create a 'monster' that can't be dealt with! Pass down my orders!"

He gave a grand wave of his hand, his voice resonant. "City-wide announcement! Add to the bounty on the Snow Emperor! This time, take out that Level 25 'Black Iron Set' from the storehouse as a reward!"

...

[Server-wide Announcement: The City Lord of Black Wind City has issued an emergency bounty!]

[Mission Objective: Slay the Red-named player "Snow Emperor"!]

[Mission Requirement: Slay the Snow Emperor 2 times (cumulative).]

[Mission Reward: 50 Free Attribute Points, Level 25 Black Iron Set (Full Set) x1, 5,000 Gold Coins!]

This golden announcement exploded in the ears of all players like a clap of thunder.

The player base, which had gone silent because of the video of the Snow Emperor's city slaughter, instantly boiled over again.

In the wilderness outside Black Wind City, where only a few scattered, bold players had been leveling, it suddenly became bustling.

"Holy crap? A Level 25 Black Iron Set? And it's the full set?!"

A warrior player who was hacking at rabbits dropped his blade in shock. "The top-tier big shots in the entire server probably only have one or two Black Iron pieces on them, right? With this full set, wouldn't their defense break a thousand?"

"Is this City Lord crazy? Going to such great lengths?" The mage nearby swallowed hard. "And you only have to kill him twice? Didn't it require ten times before?"

"You don't understand." A rogue player with the ID "Bai Xiaosheng" emerged from the shadows, looking profound. "The previous bounty was meant to kill; the current bounty is meant to 'lure.' The attribute point rewards are fewer, but the equipment rewards are higher. This shows the City Lord is desperate and wants to use the tactic of 'under a heavy reward, there must be brave men.'"

Although the rewards were enticing, most players, after a brief moment of excitement, rationally chose to wait and see.

You've got to be kidding; that's the Snow Emperor.

The Gatling-like hundred arrows per second in the video was still fresh in their minds. Who would want to die early?

But in certain dark corners, the seeds of greed were frantically taking root and sprouting.

Dominator Guild Headquarters.

Dominator of All Under Heaven looked at the bounty panel, a wolf-like glint flashing in his eyes. He turned his head, his gaze falling on a man and a woman beside him. Those two were well-equipped, and their bodies faintly emitted a pressure that did not belong to ordinary players.

"The Black Iron Set... If we can get this equipment, we'll hold an absolute advantage in the upcoming 'Guild Championship.'" Dominator of All Under Heaven's voice was low. "You two, how confident are you?"

The man gave a cold smile, playing with a green-glowing dagger in his hand. "If it were a direct confrontation, no one is a match for that monster. But if it's a sneak attack... I'm confident I can make it so he can't even draw an arrow."

...

Black Water Lake, deep within the underground dungeon.

Qin Ji didn't know what kind of waves had been stirred up again because of him; even if he did, he would only snort in disdain.

At this moment, he was standing before a massive underground lake.

The lake water was as black as ink, with countless bleached white skeletons floating on the surface. On an isolated island in the center of the lake, a giant beast several times larger than the previous Dragon Turtle King lay there sleeping.

That was the final BOSS of this dungeon—the [Ancient Black Tortoise Descendant].

Qin Ji was in no hurry to start the fight; instead, he opened his attribute panel.

After clearing his way through like a bulldozer, his maximum health had stacked to a terrifying number. But he wasn't satisfied; instead, his gaze fell on a skill book in the corner of his backpack.

That was an item that had accidentally dropped while he was clearing common monsters earlier.

[Soul Link (Special Skill Book)]

[Effect: Upon learning, you can establish a Soul channel with a contracted or friendly unit, sharing vision and remotely issuing commands via the Soul. If the target dies, the caster can consume 10% of their own health to instantly resurrect them (24-hour cooldown).]

"It's truly like someone bringing a pillow just when I wanted to sleep."

The corner of Qin Ji's mouth curled up slightly. He had been worried about not knowing the situation with the Monkey; with this skill, the final piece of the "God-Making Project" was complete.

He clicked to learn without hesitation.

In the next second, a semi-transparent floating window appeared in his vision. On the other side of the window was a dense jungle where the Monkey was wielding a long blade, harvesting the lives of a pack of wild wolves at a dazzling speed.

That attack speed was so fast that even the afterimages merged into a single line.

"It seems he's adapting well."

Qin Ji closed the window and turned his gaze back to the giant beast in the center of the lake.

"Since Black Wind City is being so polite and insists on sending me equipment and resources, I can't let Lord City Lord's kind intentions go to waste."

Qin Ji muttered to himself, slowly raising the jiu he long bow in his hand. His purple-gold pupils shone brightly in the darkness, like two ghost fires about to devour everything.

This time, he didn't plan on using normal attacks.

He pulled a black crystal emitting an eerie aura from his backpack—it was the rare material [Abyssal Magic Core] dropped from killing the Dragon Turtle King earlier.

"Let's try this new way of playing."

Qin Ji pressed the magic core onto the tip of the arrow, and a violent energy instantly spread through his entire body along the bowstring.

Twang—!

The moment the bowstring vibrated, the entire underground space seemed to be torn apart by this arrow. The air let out a piercing shriek as the arrow transformed into a black dragon of fury, kicking up a colossal wave of air and slamming violently into the sleeping behemoth.

Rumble—!

Amidst the violent explosion, the lake water surged backward, and shattered rocks flew everywhere. That Ancient Descendant let out a shrill roar, its massive body blasted back dozens of meters by the arrow, smashing heavily against the rock wall and shaking down countless stalactites.

Amidst the swirling dust, Qin Ji maintained his archery stance, his gaze as cold as ice. The worn cloak behind him flapped in the chaotic airflow, making him look like a demon god of destruction who had just descended upon the mortal realm, silently surveying his masterpiece.