133: Chapter 133 The Sword Arrives! The Terrifying Foundation of an Ancient Eastern Kingdom

CLANG——!!

The metallic clang exploded, reverberating like a massive bell tolling right by one's ear.

The silver Flying Sword that had circled around for a sneak attack slammed viciously into the back of Qin Ji's skull, yet it did not pierce through the bone as intended. At the critical moment, an inky black Nether Shield materialized out of thin air, firmly halting the sword's tip.

But this was not without cost.

The immense kinetic force smashed Qin Ji into the ground like a cannonball. With a thunderous 'BOOM!', the scorched earth instantly collapsed. Spiderweb-like cracks crazily spread in all directions, and dust billowed into the air.

-880,000!

Another heart-stopping damage number floated up.

Qin Ji slowly stood up from the pile of rubble, shook his slightly dizzy head, but the ferocity in his eyes only intensified.

'Quite the punch.'

He spat out a mouthful of saliva mixed with blood foam, yet the longbow in his hand did not pause for even a moment.

SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH——!!

Under the cover of the billowing dust, Qin Ji's assault did not diminish but rather intensified. The effects of Multi-Shot and Split Arrow stacked, transforming the dark feathered arrows into a passing swarm of Blazing Black Dragons. With air-rending shrieks, they wildly converged upon the Young Scholar suspended in mid-air.

However, facing this terrifying firepower capable of instantly wiping out a hundred-man party, the Young Scholar did not even bat an eyelid.

He simply hovered silently in the air, nine Flying Swords continuously orbiting his body, constructing an airtight barrier of Sword Qi.

TING TING TING TING TING——

The dense sounds of impact merged into one continuous stream, sparks scattering like rain.

Qin Ji's arrows, imbued with true damage, were actually deflected and knocked aside with astonishing precision and tricky angles the instant they touched the Sword Qi barrier, all parried by those nine Flying Swords.

One minute.

Two minutes.

A full three minutes passed. Qin Ji maintained his maximum output frequency of over a hundred arrows per second, unleashing tens of thousands of arrows, yet he couldn't even make the Young Scholar take half a step back.

Not only that.

Qin Ji glanced at his status bar, his brow furrowing tightly.

Max HP Increase: +0.

Without dealing any substantial damage, his 【Greedy Grasp】 talent could not trigger, and his maximum health could not stack.

This was simply an iron tortoise!

'Is this your limit?'

The Young Scholar even put away his folding fan, placing his hands behind his back. A hint of boredom flickered in his seemingly dull eyes. 'Young man, your arrows are fast, and your damage is high. But in the face of absolute technique, brute force is the most useless thing.'

He's toying with me.

Qin Ji keenly caught that trace of amusement in the other's gaze.

This scholar clearly had the ability to counterattack, yet he deliberately only defended, like watching an ant desperately trying to shake a great tree.

'Technique?'

Qin Ji sneered coldly, the movements of his hands growing even more frenzied. 'Let's see how many hits your swords can block!'

If I can't break your defense, then I'll break your swords!

In the Ten Thousand Realms game, all weapons had durability. No matter how exquisite this scholar's sword control technique was, using the sword bodies to directly block arrows imbued with true damage would inevitably cause wear and tear.

Just grind down the durability of these nine Flying Swords, and let's see how you block then!

SWISH SWISH SWISH!!

The arrow rain grew even more violent. Qin Ji even activated Rapid Fire, transforming himself into a moving arrow tower.

At the same time, a red glow faintly appeared in the sky.

【Heavenly Fire Meteor】!

A massive meteorite once again tore through the clouds, trailing a long tail of flames as it plummeted.

However.

The Young Scholar merely waved his sleeve casually. One of the Flying Swords shot skyward, transforming into a ten-zhang-long streak of light, which actually shredded the meteorite into dust mid-air!

Again.

The sense of incongruity in Qin Ji's heart grew stronger.

In this past minute, he had fired thousands of arrows. Logically, with his current luck stat, a passive skill like 【Heavenly Fire Meteor】, triggered by probability, should have activated at least dozens of times.

Yet in reality, it had only triggered three times.

Was the probability being suppressed?

A thought flashed through Qin Ji's mind — level suppression.

In the underlying logic of 【ragnarok】, higher-tier creatures naturally suppressed lower-tier ones. This suppression wasn't directly reflected in panel stats, but rather in 'probability' and 'control effects.'

For example, a one percent critical strike rate might be one percent against monsters of the same level, but against a BOSS twenty levels higher, it might drop to one-tenth of a percent.

He was currently level 50, at the threshold of his second class advancement.

For this scholar to suppress him to this extent, his level absolutely exceeded second class advancement, perhaps even higher!

But this didn't make Qin Ji retreat. Instead, it ignited the ruthless streak deep in his bones.

Durability loss was an absolute rule. Even if you were a god, weapons weren't indestructible!

'Still calculating my weapon's durability?'

The Young Scholar seemed to have seen through Qin Ji's thoughts, a mocking curve lifting the corner of his mouth. 'Young man, your combat instincts are sharp. Pity your vision is too narrow.'

Before the words had fully faded.

The sickly pallor on the Young Scholar's face abruptly vanished, replaced by an awe-inspiring majesty that seemed to look down upon the world.

He slowly raised his right hand, giving a light, grasping motion towards the Void Realm.

A light command left his lips:

'Sword, come!!'

Just two simple words, yet they seemed to contain a magic that made reality obey the command.

RUMBLE RUMBLE——

The entire ruins of Sunset Town began to tremble violently.

Immediately after, a scene that made Qin Ji's pupils contract sharply appeared.

Behind the Young Scholar, the Void Realm rippled like water. One, two, ten, a hundred...

Countless Flying Swords, gleaming with cold light, filed out from the Void Realm one after another!

In the blink of an eye, the originally empty sky above was densely packed with over a thousand suspended Flying Swords!

Each one emanated a chilling, murderous aura, their tips pointed directly at Qin Ji below.

They blotted out the sky, Sword Qi cold as frost!

At this moment, even the air seemed to be sliced to pieces by that terrifying sharpness. Qin Ji felt a stinging pain on his skin—it was pure Sword Intent tearing at his senses.

'This...'

Qin Ji's hand gripping the longbow tightened slightly.

Against nine swords, he could still rely on his attack speed to try and wear them down. But against over a thousand...

How was he supposed to fight this?

Was this the true strength of the hidden BOSS in the Forbidden Land?

'Well, young man?'

The Young Scholar stood beneath the myriad swords, his clothes fluttering wildly, like an emperor among swords. 'Do you think your little scheme of wearing down weapons is still useful in the face of absolute numbers?'

Qin Ji took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the shock in his heart.

He had seen big scenes before, but this level of oppressive force truly exceeded what players at this stage could handle.

Even with his millions of HP, if those thousand swords were unleashed simultaneously, he'd probably be minced into paste in an instant.

'Senior's methods are peerless. This Junior is impressed.'

Though arrogant, Qin Ji wasn't stupid.

Knowing when to back down when outmatched was also part of a true scoundrel's basic skills. He slowly lowered his longbow, and the crackling lightning surging around his body also receded.

Seeing Qin Ji yield, the sharpness in the Young Scholar's eyes diminished slightly. With a wave of his hand, the myriad Flying Swords in the sky poured into his body like a whale sucking in water, disappearing without a trace.

'Young man, remember this: beyond every man, there is a greater man; beyond every sky, a higher sky.'

The scholar reopened his folding fan, reverting to his sickly Young Master appearance, and said flatly, 'This is not the child's play of your Newbie Villages.'

Qin Ji gave a helpless smile. 'My apologies for the presumption.'

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding ruins, then tentatively asked, 'But what exactly is this place? With Senior's level of power, even placed in the entire server... no, the entire world, you would absolutely be a rarity among rarities. Why would you reside in this small frontier town?'

If he didn't figure out this scholar's background, Qin Ji wouldn't be able to rest easy.

An NPC of this caliber definitely wasn't something that could spawn from an ordinary dungeon.

'A rarity among rarities?'

Hearing this, the Young Scholar shook his head with a bitter smile, as if he'd heard a joke. 'You overestimate me too much. There is indeed a reclusive powerhouse in our Sunset Town, but it's not me.'

'My meager skills are just passable here in Sunset Town.'

The Young Scholar turned around, his gaze looking far into the east, a trace of deep reverence appearing in his eyes. 'But if you look across the Ancient Eastern Kingdom, I am like an ant, utterly insignificant.'

'The Ancient Eastern Kingdom? An ant?'

Qin Ji's heart gave a violent jolt.

A powerhouse capable of killing a million HP with one sword and summoning a thousand swords with a wave of his hand... actually called himself an ant?

Just what kind of existence was this so-called 'Ancient Eastern Kingdom'?

'The Ancient Eastern Kingdom is that terrifying?' Qin Ji couldn't help but press further.

The Young Scholar nodded, his expression solemn. 'Naturally. In the Ancient Eastern Kingdom, powerhouses who control Laws and move mountains and fill seas are a dime a dozen. My little sword control technique is merely child's play there.'

Qin Ji's brow furrowed tightly.

He didn't think the scholar was lying. A powerhouse who had reached this Realm had no need to deceive an Adventurer with such lies.

If this was true, then the worldview background of 【ragnarok】 was probably far more vast and terrifying than any player had imagined. Right now, players were still fighting to the death over a single piece of gold equipment, unaware that the true power System hadn't even opened its doors to them yet.

'Since the Ancient Eastern Kingdom is so powerful, why did it fall into slumber?'

Qin Ji seized the key point in the other's words.

If it was filled with such powerhouses, why had it fallen to a state requiring 'revival'?

The Young Scholar narrowed his eyes slightly, giving Qin Ji a deep look before shaking his head. 'I don't know. That is not a secret someone of my level can access.'

'To be precise, below the Divine-Grade, few can explain it clearly.'

'Back then, the slumber of the Ancient Eastern Kingdom was a matter ofGame Theory and decision among the gods, not something we Mortals could influence.'

Mortal.

That word, coming from an NPC who could kill any current player in the entire server in an instant, sounded particularly ironic.

'Then this place is...' Qin Ji pointed at the ground beneath his feet.

'Not long ago, the power of the Fan Hall's master began to revive, and our Sunset Town also regained the light of day.',

The Young Scholar explained, 'However, due to irresistible greater forces, we could only hide within this former residence of the Drought Demon, biding our time.'

'The Drought Demon's former residence?'

Qin Ji's eyes lit up.

One of his main objectives in coming here was precisely for that legendary progenitor of zombies—the Drought Demon.

'What about the Drought Demon? After I released her, I've always wanted to meet her.'

Hearing this, the Young Scholar shook his head. 'Unknown. Her whereabouts are elusive. However, her former residence lies ahead. If you wish to see her, perhaps you can proceed forward. You might gain unexpected rewards.'

Having said this, the Young Scholar seemed unwilling to speak further and turned to leave.

'Wait!'

Qin Ji quickly called out to him. The respectful expression on his face instantly transformed into a shrewd, worldly smile. He gave a slight bow. 'Senior, this Junior has always wanted to aid in the revival of the Ancient Eastern Kingdom. For this great cause, I have shed blood and sweat. I wonder if Senior could... sponsor this Junior a little?'

If I can't beat you, surely I can extort something, right?

This is called leaving no opportunity untaken.

The Young Scholar's steps halted. He turned his head, looking at Qin Ji with an amused, not-quite-smile, and raised an eyebrow:

'Want benefits?'

'It's a reasonable exchange of resources.' Qin Ji said without batting an eye or blushing. 'The stronger I become, the better I can contribute to the revival of the Ancient Eastern Kingdom. Don't you agree?'

Just as the two faced off.

A golden System announcement abruptly exploded in Qin Ji's ears, and indeed, in the ears of every player across the entire server.

【Server-wide Announcement: The Ten Thousand Realms Commerce Guild is officially established! The Ten Thousand Realms Auction House will open simultaneously today in the ten primary capital cities!】

【Server-wide Announcement: Massive quantities of Bronze, Silver, and Gold-Rank equipment available for immediate purchase! Even epic rank items will be featured as grand finale lots, awaiting the destined!】

【Server-wide Announcement: The Ten Thousand Realms Commerce Guild sincerely recruits full-time life-skill players! Accommodation and meals provided, excellent benefits!】

This sudden announcement made Qin Ji pause slightly.

Ten Thousand Realms Commerce Guild?

Gold-Rank equipment available for immediate purchase?

'Interesting...'

Qin Ji glanced at his System panel. At this stage, players were still scarce on Silver equipment. This 'Ten Thousand Realms Commerce Guild' actually dared to claim they had massive quantities of Gold equipment, even epic rank gear.

It seemed there were also extraordinary figures emerging among the player base.

However.

Qin Ji looked at the unfathomably deep Young Scholar before him, a trace of disdain curling at the corner of his mouth.

Gold equipment?

In the face of that sky full of Flying Swords, even epic rank equipment was nothing but scrap iron.

Players were still gloating over a single piece of gear, while he had already begun to touch upon the most core secrets of this world.

This was the gap.

'Senior, what do you think...' Qin Ji rubbed his hands together, his gaze burning as he stared at the scholar. 'Even just a few million gold coins, or tossing me a couple of Divine-Grade skill books would do.'

The Young Scholar was almost amused into a laugh by Qin Ji's shameless act.

With a flip of his wrist, an ancient-looking bronze token materialized in his palm.

'Wealth is external to the self; skills also depend on fate and affinity.'

The scholar casually tossed the token to Qin Ji. 'This token can protect you from the erosion of Yin Malevolent Qi within Sunset Town. As for what you can obtain in the Drought Demon's former residence, that depends on your own fortune.'

Having said that.

The Young Scholar lingered no longer. His form dissipated on the spot like mist, leaving only a faint, drifting sentence echoing in the night wind:

'The road ahead is not easy. Young man, take care.'

Qin Ji reached out and caught the token.

It felt cold to the touch, engraved with an ancient character for 'Guard'.

【Ding! Obtained special item: Sunset Town Guard Token (Temporary).】

【Effect: While holding this token, you are immune to all environmental negative effects within Sunset Town and gain friendship with some neutral NPCs.】

'Tch, so stingy.'

Qin Ji curled his lip. Though his mouth complained, his hand very honestly tucked the token into his chest pocket.

With this thing, the exploration ahead should be much easier.

He raised his head, his gaze passing over the ruins to the ancient mansion shrouded in heavy black mist at the end of the street.

That was the Drought Demon's former residence.

The night wind howled, whipping up the embers on the ground. Qin Ji held his bow with one hand, his feet treading the still-scorching, charred earth. Those amethyst-gold pupils shone brightly in the darkness, like a primeval Vicious Beast that had just feasted, coldly watching the deeper, impending night in the distance.