128: Chapter 128 Omens of Calamity and the Book of Light and Darkness

The setting sun sank completely below the horizon, and the cold wind by the Black Water Lake stirred the withered reeds, making a rustling sound. Qin Ji put away his sigh, his gaze becoming sharp as a knife once more.

Sighing couldn't solve problems; only action could.

"First, let's test the actual trigger frequency and interference level of this skill."

Qin Ji's figure flickered as he touched the Dungeon Teleportation Stone again, disappearing instantly as he was submerged into the deep vortex.

His vision shifted, and a damp, rotting scent rushed toward him. Inside the Black Water Lake dungeon, dense crowds of murlocs were waving rusted harpoons, surging forward with piercing, strange cries.

Qin Ji remained expressionless as he raised his hand and drew his bow.

"Swish—"

The feathered arrow left the string, precisely piercing the throat of a Murloc Warrior.

-382,400!

Huge white true damage numbers floated up, and the murloc turned into white light before it could even let out a scream.

Then came the second arrow, the third arrow.

Qin Ji intentionally controlled his attack speed; he was testing. For the first hundred arrows, everything was calm, with each arrow taking a life, and the pleasant notification of "Health +1" constantly ringing in his ears.

However, at the very moment the 103rd arrow was fired.

Just as that arrow touched the skin of a Murloc Shaman, a heatwave so violent it was suffocating suddenly erupted from the Void Realm.

"Rumble—"

The originally dark and damp dungeon ceiling was instantly illuminated in a bright red.

Qin Ji looked up abruptly to see the Void Realm above him seemingly shattered, as countless meteors wrapped in crimson flames poured down like the wrath of a Heavenly God!

It wasn't just one or two, but a full thousand!

[Heavenly Fire Meteor] had triggered.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The earth trembled and the Black Water Lake boiled. Those murlocs, which had been baring their fangs and claws just a moment ago, couldn't even scream before being instantly vaporized by the terrifyingly high temperatures upon contact with the meteors.

Within a hundred-meter radius, the area was instantly turned into scorched earth.

A massive vacuum was created within the originally dense group of monsters.

Qin Ji stood at the edge of the falling fire rain, his brow furrowed as he watched the apocalyptic scene before him.

"As expected, it's a hassle."

Was it strong? It was outrageously strong.

But for him, this was a lethal poison to his efficiency.

The distribution of monsters in the dungeon was limited, and the respawn mechanism wasn't instantaneous. He could have used movement to pull the monsters together and then kill them one by one to ensure a continuous rhythm, maximizing his time in the dungeon.

But now, with one passive trigger, all the monsters within a hundred meters were gone.

With the monsters gone, he had to traverse the map to find the next wave. That travel time could have been used to kill monsters and stack health.

Even more fatal was that this uncontrollable screen-clearing easily disrupted the monster aggro chains, causing distant monsters that would have been lured in to lose interest, heal up, and return to their original positions because they lost their 'middleman'.

"If I face a stronger BOSS in the future and need to control its health to capture it or trigger a specific mechanism, and this thing suddenly goes off..."

Qin Ji imagined the scene and felt a headache coming on.

Besides [Heavenly Fire Meteor], his passive skill named [Death Reincarnation] had also reached three stars during this wave of frantic farming.

The trigger probability had increased from 1% to 1.5%.

Although his luck stat wasn't high, in the realm of probability, as long as the base number was large enough, it was bound to happen.

"I must get that thing."

The image of an ancient book emitting black and white light appeared in Qin Ji's mind—the [book of light and darkness].

It was a piece of special equipment that ordinary people would consider quite useless.

It added neither attack nor defense; its only special effect was: allowing the holder to manually turn passive skills on or off.

For ordinary players, who would be bored enough to turn off their passives? They wished their passives were active twenty-four-seven.

But for a freak like Qin Ji, with his abnormal attributes and pursuit of ultimate control, this was a necessity.

"With the book of light and darkness, I can turn off the AOE while farming health and then unleash full firepower during tough battles."

Having made up his mind, Qin Ji didn't continue wasting time in the dungeon. His current efficiency was too low; rather than passively enduring it, it was better to solve the tool problem first.

Light and shadow shifted, and Qin Ji's figure reappeared on the shore of Black Water Lake.

However, the moment his feet touched the ground, a faint fragrance drifted into his nostrils along with the night wind.

Qin Ji's eyes narrowed slightly, and his longbow was raised half an inch almost by instinct before he slowly lowered it again.

Under a withered tree ten meters in front of him, a graceful figure had appeared at some point.

Her golden hair shone under the moonlight, and her exquisite features carried a hint of the pride and reserve unique to royalty; it was the Second Princess of the Star Kingdom, Leona.

"Snow Emperor, I hope you have been well."

Leona looked at Qin Ji, her gaze somewhat meaningful. "Does our previous agreement still stand?"

Qin Ji raised an eyebrow and casually hung the longbow back behind him, his tone flat: "Rather than testing me here, just get to the point. My time is very expensive."

Leona seemed long accustomed to his attitude and didn't get angry, though her expression grew a bit more solemn: "My father could not hold back after all. He has already begun mobilizing the Imperial Guard, preparing to take action against us sisters. I must return to the Newbie Village for a while."

"Back to the Newbie Village?" Qin Ji's heart stirred slightly.

In this world, the Newbie Village was not just a starting point, but a safe zone protected by powerful rules. But for the native NPCs, it seemed to hide some sort of special secret.

"The current Star Kingdom is no longer what it used to be." Leona took a deep breath, her eyes fixed intently on Qin Ji. "I need to go back to retrieve something, and I might need your help."

"Sorry, I probably can't help you with this."

Qin Ji refused without hesitation. "I promised King Abra that I wouldn't interfere in the Star Kingdom's internal affairs for seven days. Only four days have passed; there are still three days left."

These were the rules.

Since he had accepted the King's quest and taken the rewards, even if just for show, he had to stay out of it for these seven days. Otherwise, he would offend both sides and his credibility would be bankrupt.

"We can negotiate the benefits," Leona said, taking a step forward urgently.

She knew this man too well. In his dictionary, there were no permanent friends, only permanent interests. As long as the price was right, there was no rule he wouldn't dare to step on.

"We'll talk in three days, not now," Qin Ji remained unyielding.

"No! Three days is too long!"

Leona's voice suddenly rose, her originally elegant demeanor showing a crack. "Father won't give us that much time! Once he has fully gained control of the National Protection Array, we will have no chance of a comeback!"

"That's your family matter."

Qin Ji shrugged, his expression cold. "At this critical juncture, perhaps only Queen Fiodingyu can help you, not me."

At the mention of the word "Queen," Leona's face instantly turned extremely ugly.

"That woman..." she said through gritted teeth. "My mother's death was related to her! If possible, I absolutely do not want to have any contact with her! And Snow Emperor, you are thinking too simply. In the struggle for the throne, even if she is the Queen, she shouldn't dream of interfering. My father is currently like an old lion guarding his food; he'll bite anyone who dares to reach out!"

"Since your father is unwilling to surrender the throne, then you all should just wait. According to the rules of the Star Kingdom, if you miss this chance, you'll just have to wait another sixty years."

Qin Ji spoke nonchalantly, as if discussing the next day's weather.

"No, we can't wait!"

Leona looked up sharply, her azure eyes flashing with a heart-pounding light—it was fear of the future, and also the desperation of a final gamble.

"I am only one step away from advancing further and obtaining the power to defeat my father. I will become the new monarch and lead the Star Kingdom to ascend!"

At this point, she lowered her voice, her tone turning icy: "My intuition tells me our time is running out. A great calamity is waiting for us... it is the revival of the Ancient Eastern Kingdom."

Qin Ji's originally nonchalant gaze froze the moment he heard the words "Ancient Eastern Kingdom."

The Ancient Eastern Kingdom.

That was the core area after the major version update in his previous life, and the source of all calamities and opportunities. Logically, given Leona's current level, it should have been impossible for her to come into contact with secrets of this magnitude.

Unless... she had awakened some kind of precognition talent, or had come into contact with a higher-dimensional existence.

This was also why Qin Ji had been frantically stacking health points like a madman these past few days. He knew better than anyone the terror that would follow when that calamity descended.

If he couldn't possess absolute dominance before then, even he might fall in that torrent.

"Snow Emperor, can you really not take action?" Leona stared intently into Qin Ji's eyes, trying to see a hint of wavering.

Qin Ji was silent for a moment and slowly nodded: "I indeed cannot directly take action. However..."

He changed the subject, his lips curling into a playful arc, "I can tell you how to break the deadlock."

"Oh?" Leona's eyes lit up. "How?"

"Give me your [Blessing of the Gods] prerequisite quest scroll."

Qin Ji reached out his hand, palm up.

He was gambling.

The Eldest Princess, Princess, had the quest scroll for the Blessing of the Gods; as the Second Princess who stood on equal footing with her, Leona definitely had a similar trump card. And rewards for quests of this level were often accompanied by clues to special items—like the [book of light and darkness] he desperately needed.

Hearing this, Leona's expression changed, and she refused almost instinctively: "That won't work! That is a secret treasure of the royal family..."

"Then there's nothing to talk about."

Qin Ji shrugged and turned to leave, stepping forward to touch the teleportation stone.

Since Leona was unwilling to pay the price, there was no need for him to waste time here. For him, every second represented an increase in health points.

With a flash of light, Qin Ji entered the dungeon again.

Another ten minutes of slaughter.

When Qin Ji emerged from the dungeon again, Leona was surprisingly still there.

Not only was she there, but another figure had appeared by the lakeside.

Clad in a set of silver-white armor with her long hair tied high, her aura was as cold as frost.

The Eldest Princess, Princess.

"The two princesses of the Star Kingdom coming to find me at the same time, I'm truly flattered."

Qin Ji glanced at the two of them, a trace of mock lingering on his lips.

Princess looked at Qin Ji's nonchalant expression, her fist tightening under her armor, clearly extremely displeased by his attitude.

"Snow Emperor, you don't take us seriously at all."

"Given our current situation, he has the right to look down on us," Leona sighed from the side, stopping her sister who was about to lash out.

She knew very well that they were the ones asking for help, not the other way around.

Qin Ji ignored Princess's anger and turned to enter the dungeon again.

"Snow Emperor, can we talk?" Leona immediately called out, a hint of pleading in her voice.

"You aren't even willing to offer chips, so what is there to talk about?" Qin Ji didn't even look back.

"I'll give it!"

Leona bit her teeth as if she had made an extremely difficult decision. "As long as you can provide a way to topple my father, and it's something we can achieve, I will give you the scroll!"

With that, she flipped her wrist, and an ancient parchment scroll emitting an old aura was tossed over.

Qin Ji caught it and scanned the scroll.

[Quest Name: Choice of Light and Dark (Prerequisite for Blessing of the Gods)]

[Quest Description: Find the lost Divine Artifact of balance—the book of light and darkness...]

As expected!

Qin Ji was delighted inwardly, but his expression remained unchanged. His deduction was correct; the quest reward for Leona's line was indeed the clue to the book of light and darkness.

"Very well."

Qin Ji put away the scroll and turned around, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the two princesses before settling on the shimmering surface of the Black Water Lake.

"Breaking the deadlock is actually quite simple."

He spoke slowly, his voice exceptionally clear in the night wind. "The reason your father is in such a hurry to act is because he is afraid. He fears the coming calamity, and even more, he fears losing control of the kingdom. In that case..."

Qin Ji's voice paused, a cold, sharp glint flashing in his eyes. "Then let him see what true despair looks like."

Before his voice could fade, he drew his longbow to its full extent, aiming an ordinary feathered arrow with no special effects toward the void of darkness in the center of the Black Water Lake.

"Twang—"

The bowstring vibrated.

The feathered arrow pierced through the air, and the moment it flew a hundred meters, the passive [Heavenly Fire Meteor] triggered once more.

This time, it was no longer a projection within the dungeon, but a real-world manifestation.

A thousand meteors carrying the aura of destruction crashed into the heart of the Black Water Lake.

The massive explosion was deafening, and the soaring flames reflected the shocked faces of the two princesses in a pale light. Against the backdrop of the falling fire rain, Qin Ji slowly lowered his bow, his violet-gold pupils reflecting the burning lake water like an Asura reborn in fire, coldly watching this land that was about to be swallowed by chaos.