164: Chapter 164 Is this all the reward? Then I guess I'll have to defect.

Heat waves above the scorched earth distorted the air, making the distant ruins and broken walls shimmer like a mirage.

Qin Ji casually waved away the smoke and dust in front of him. His gaze didn't linger on the corpses of the three legendary players, but instead fell upon an item emitting a deep black light that he had just looted from the carcass of the Dark Feather Demon Vulture.

It was a cloak, or rather, a pair of folded wings.

【star abyss dark wings (mythic rank)】

【Origin: Abyss Third Layer · Dark Feather Demon Vulture (Mutant)】

【Category: Back Accessory/Flight Vehicle】

【Effect: Main Attributes +30%, Agility +30%, Movement Speed +50%.】

【Active Skill · star abyss dark wings: Condense dark energy into physical wings, gaining the ability to fly regardless of terrain; Flight Speed +100%.】

【Passive Skill · Star Abyss Dark Feathers: Every time you land a critical hit, store one Dark Feather (limit 20). Can be released at any time to deal 200% Shadow Damage.】

【Description: The Vulture King who once gazed at the starry sky from within the Abyss transformed its lifelong yearning into these wings. Only the strong who conquer the sky are worthy of owning them.】

"Finally, I don't have to run across the map on two legs anymore."

With a thought from Qin Ji, the icon in his equipment slot instantly lit up.

*Whoosh—*

A pair of pitch-black wings with a wingspan of over four meters snapped open behind him. They weren't physical feathers, but energy flows composed of countless shadow particles compressed to the extreme. Faint starlight drifted from the edges, and every flap brought a heart-palpitating low-frequency hum.

Qin Ji's feet left the ground, and he hovered in mid-air. Looking down from above at the ruined basin he had personally created, a sense of total control welled up within him.

Just then, a streak of light flashed across the horizon.

A Royal Griffin flapped its massive wings and landed on a broken wall fifty meters away from Qin Ji. A tall woman wearing silver light armor and a star-patterned cloak jumped down from the griffin's back. She had flowing ice-blue hair and a rapier at her waist, and she was currently scanning the battlefield with an extremely complex expression.

When her eyes met Matsumoto Meiya's twisted corpse, the hand originally resting on her sword hilt visibly stiffened for a moment, and a very faint swallowing sound came from her throat.

The Second Princess of the Star Kingdom, Princess.

She was also the 'negotiation expert' sent by the new king, Leona.

"It seems Leona has become the King, and her ego has grown with the title." Qin Ji hovered in the air, his star abyss dark wings flapping gently, the resulting airflow making the gravel on the ground clatter. "Instead of coming personally to deliver the rewards at a time like this, she sent you... is she planning to welsh on the debt?"

Princess took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the fear she felt toward the man before her.

She had seen that world-destroying strike clearly even from ten kilometers away. This man was simply a walking natural disaster.

"Your Excellency Qin Ji." Princess tried her best to make her voice sound steady. "Sister Leona... no, Her Majesty Queen Leona indeed wishes to fulfill the agreement. But you must understand that the title of 'God of War' in the Star Kingdom is not just an empty name; it represents the transfer of military power."

"And so?" Qin Ji raised an eyebrow, fiddling with the blood-stained green copper block with his fingertips. "She wants to go back on her word?"

"No, it's not going back on her word." Princess frowned, weighing her words carefully. "It's just that for now, although you have slain the Dark Feather Demon Vulture, to oppose the army of Night Walkers, you still need more achievements to convince the public. The Queen's meaning is that if you can reclaim the three border cities occupied by the Night Walkers..."

"Stop."

Qin Ji interrupted her rudely, leaning forward slightly, his pitch-black eyes staring at Princess like an abyss. "I helped her take the throne, and she gives me the title. This is a transaction, not a chain quest. What, are you playing the 'final interpretation rights belong to the organizer' game with me now?"

Princess's expression froze. "The previous agreement did not have such additional conditions, but..."

"Since there weren't any, then this is a breach of contract."

Qin Ji gave a cold laugh, and the dark wings behind him shook violently. He instantly closed the distance between himself and Princess. The powerful pressure made the Princess subconsciously take a half-step back, her heel clicking against the gravel.

"A ruler of a nation, going back on her word right after taking the throne? In that case, why should I still help her? I think the Night Walkers' side would be very happy to accept me. After all, I only killed a few of their people just now; there's no deep-seated hatred. If I bring this 'tribute' to join the Night Walkers and help them slaughter their way through the Star Kingdom, I imagine the rewards I'd get would be even greater."

"Qin Ji!!"

Princess's face changed drastically, and she said sharply, "You would betray the human faction?!"

"Don't go labeling me." Qin Ji spread his hands with an indifferent look. "I am a player, or what you call a 'Chosen One.' I help whoever gives the most rewards. That's called a market economy."

Looking at Qin Ji's stubborn attitude, Princess felt a tightness in her chest. She gritted her teeth and finally dropped her royal pretense.

"The God of War title is impossible. Right now, your seniority isn't enough; forcing the conferment would only cause a backlash from the nobility. Change your conditions."

"Wouldn't it have been easier if you'd said that earlier?" The Killing Intent in Qin Ji's eyes instantly vanished. His speed of changing expressions was so fast that Princess almost couldn't react. "Since the title can't be given, then pay me in cash. Just give me ten god-tier talent awakening stones."

"Just? Ten?!"

Princess was almost moved to angry laughter, her previously maintained cold and elegant image instantly collapsing. "The entire national treasury doesn't even have that many! Not even one!"

"Princess, did you come here today without the intention of negotiating properly?"

Qin Ji's eyes narrowed slightly, and that ancient green copper block appeared in his right hand again. Although it had no light effects, Princess had seen with her own eyes how this thing had smashed that old ghost Abe Saiken into mincemeat.

"Killing you and looting some items will count as collecting interest."

Princess felt her scalp go numb, and her body instinctively took a defensive stance as layers of ice crystal shields quickly condensed in front of her. "Kill me? Have you thought of the consequences? I am the special envoy of the Star Kingdom!"

"Consequences?" Qin Ji acted as if he had heard a joke. "Those three lying over there—one was a Sakura Country Elder, and the other was an Onmyoji leader. I didn't even blink when I killed them. Do you think I care about killing one more Princess?"

The air seemed to freeze at this moment.

Princess looked into Qin Ji's eyes, which were devoid of any emotional fluctuation, and finally realized that this man wasn't joking. He really would do it, and in the very next second.

"...talent evolution flower." Princess squeezed out a term with difficulty. "We don't have god-grade Awakening stones, but the talent evolution flower can be considered."

Qin Ji's eyes lit up.

The talent evolution flower—that was a top-tier divine item that could allow an S-rank talent to advance to SS-rank, or even have a chance to touch the threshold of SSS-rank! Even for a cheater like him, it was a good thing to have as many as possible.

"Fine then, I'll reluctantly accept ten talent evolution flowers."

The corners of Princess's mouth twitched wildly. She held up one finger and forced the words out from between her teeth: "One."

"Are you treating me like a beggar?" Qin Ji's face darkened. "It was originally the position of a God of War revered by tens of thousands, and you're trying to fool me with a single flower? Princess, my patience is limited."

"At most... one god-tier talent awakening stone, plus two talent evolution flowers!" Princess felt her heart bleeding; this was already the limit of the authority she could exercise. "This is the bottom line! The prerequisite is that you must completely crush the Night Walker army!"

"Pah!"

Qin Ji spat directly on the ground. "You want the horse to run, but you don't want the horse to eat grass. Since we can't reach an agreement, then I'll just go help the Night Walkers attack the city! I believe that Night Walker leader will be very happy to open his treasury to me!"

After saying that, Qin Ji turned to leave, the dark wings behind him flapping powerfully as he made a move to fly off.

"Qin Ji!!"

Princess completely panicked. If this bringer of calamity really defected and cooperated with the Night Walker army, the newly established Leona Dynasty probably wouldn't last three days!

"The new King is powerful; she is destined to lead us to ascend in rank! This is giving you an opportunity!"

"Opportunity? I don't need this kind of stingy opportunity."

Before he finished speaking, Qin Ji performed a backhanded Void Grab.

*Boom!*

The ice walls in front of Princess shattered like paper, layer by layer. An invisible giant hand directly crushed the broken wall next to her, turning it into powder.

This was a naked display of force.

"Qin Ji! We can discuss the benefits further!!" Princess screamed.

Qin Ji's figure paused in the air, and an imperceptible curve formed at the corner of his mouth.

Ask for an exorbitant price, then settle for what you can get. The ancients truly did not deceive me.

He slowly turned around and looked down at the pale-faced Princess: "That's more like it. Stop testing me. Tell me everything you can give all at once. My time is precious; there are still several BOSSes waiting for me to farm over there."

Princess took several deep breaths to calm her wildly heaving chest and gritted her teeth: "One god-tier talent awakening stone, five Saint-Grade talent Awakening stones, three talent evolution flowers, and one Eternal Scroll. This is a reward using the strength of the entire nation! The prerequisite is that you must crush the Night Walkers and slay at least one leader!"

Qin Ji frowned slightly.

To be fair, this reward was already very generous, enough to make any top guild in the entire server go crazy. But who was Qin Ji? He was the man who possessed Greedy Grasp; ordinary numerical rewards were just icing on the cake for him.

What he truly wanted were things that would allow him to stack his 'Health' attribute to the point of a qualitative change.

"These aren't enough." Qin Ji shook his head.

"What more do you want!!" Princess was almost at her breaking point.

Qin Ji smiled and held up three fingers: "First, I need three thousand free attribute points. I want to distribute them to my three brothers—Monkey, Glasses, and Fatty. Don't ask why; when the big brother eats meat, the little brothers need to have some soup."

"Second, I want the secret key to enter the [Snow Corpse's Footprints] dungeon."

"Third, I want a pre-quest scroll for the [Blessing of the Gods]."

The health increase Qin Ji gained from farming the Black Water Lake Dragon Turtle dungeon had already entered a Bottleneck. Only a dungeon with a special mechanism like [Snow Corpse's Footprints] could allow him to stack health more efficiently.

He had calculated that one node in that dungeon could refresh up to twenty-seven ice-type BOSSes. By utilizing the dungeon's unique 'low-health recovery mechanism,' he could treat those BOSSes as mobile health packs and infinitely farm his maximum health.

As for the Blessing of the Gods, that was the necessary path to the 'Demi-God Rank.'

"Three thousand free attribute points can be discussed." Princess's brow was locked in a tight frown. "But the secret key to the Snow Corpse dungeon... that is a royal Forbidden Ground... and as for the Blessing of the Gods scroll, that is a legendary item. I cannot make the decision; I need to consult the new King."

"Be my guest." Qin Ji made a casual gesture.

Princess took out a transmission talisman and walked to the side to communicate in a low voice. A moment later, she walked back with a solemn expression.

"The attribute points are no problem. The dungeon key can also be given to you, but that is the limit." Princess stared fixedly at Qin Ji. "The new King said that the Blessing of the Gods scroll involves the national destiny and can never be given to an outsider. If you don't agree, then so be it. Even if you defect, our Star Kingdom will fight to the bloody end!"

This was the bottom line.

Qin Ji keenly captured the determination in Princess's eyes. It seemed that scroll indeed touched upon the core setting red line of the NPCs; pushing further might really cause a collapse.

However, being able to get the dungeon key meant he had already made a huge profit from this wave.

"Fine, then tell your new King."

The star abyss dark wings behind Qin Ji snapped open, and he soared into the sky, his voice echoing through the clouds, bolstered by magic:

"We shall meet on the battlefield!"

Princess's pupils shrank, and her heart instantly leaped into her throat. Did he... refuse?

"Meet on the battlefield?" she subconsciously repeated.

"That's right."

In mid-air, Qin Ji turned his head. His cold face looked exceptionally wicked in the reflection of the setting sun. "Since I've taken the job, I'm not in the habit of canceling. Prepare the rewards, wash your necks... oh no, wipe the key clean and wait for me. I've accepted this battle."

Princess stood frozen on the spot, watching that black figure turn into a streak of light and disappear into the distance. Only then did she let out a long sigh of relief, realizing her back was already soaked with cold sweat.

This madman...

The setting sun was like blood, dyeing the ruins a dark red. Qin Ji's figure hovered a thousand meters in the air, one foot stepping on a floating fragment of a giant rock. He casually flicked the last drop of warm beast blood off the green copper block. Those deep pupils shone in the twilight, just like a primeval Vicious Beast that had just finished a full meal, coldly watching the approaching darkness of the night.