167: Chapter 167 Blessed by the Gods, Using the Demon Cave as an ATM!

【Metacognitive Tactical Panel】

Current Progress: Continuation of Chapter 166 ending (entering the dungeon) -> "Bugging" attributes inside the dungeon (Satisfaction Point 1) -> Hook for the Blessing of the Gods (Plot Hook) -> Demon's Den negotiation (Game Theory Satisfaction Point) -> Fuling City war begins (Climax Teaser).

Core Conflict: The protagonist's need for infinite growth vs. dungeon monster mechanics / The protagonist's ambition for expansion vs. the rule of the Star Kingdom.

Satisfaction Anchors:

1. Mechanical Crushing: Using "healing monsters" to infinitely farm attributes.

2. Status Crushing: Negotiating with the Demon's Den leader, turning the tables to take control.

3. Combat Power Crushing: Instant kills and invincibility during the siege.

Foreshadowing: The whereabouts of Glasses (the Grave-Robbing Heavenly Official), the ownership of the Divine-Grade hidden class.

Main Text:

The sensation of weightlessness lasted only for an instant.

The moment Qin Ji's feet touched the hard ground, a chill sufficient to freeze the Soul surged from the soles of his feet straight to his crown. Before him was not a dark cave, but an ice field shrouded in aurora, the air thick with the pungent sweetness of rot mixed with permafrost.

“Roar—!!”

Without giving him any time to adapt to the environment, dozens of pale figures erupted from beneath the snow.

They were Snow Corpses.

Their bodies were draped in shattered ice armor, ghostly blue fire burning in their eye sockets. Their withered claws sliced through the air like razors, bringing with them a shrill whistle as they closed in from all directions to kill.

“Good speed, but unfortunately...”

Qin Ji stood his ground, a strange curve curling at the corner of his mouth instead. “Too fragile.”

Buzz!

A dark gold light exploded around him. It wasn't a defensive skill, but a gale formed purely from overflowing Qi and blood power.

The three Snow Corpses charging at the front, upon touching this aura, had their bodies instantly disintegrate into a shower of ice shards as if they had slammed into a high-speed grinding wheel.

【Killed elite Snow Corpse, triggered "Greedy Grasp"!】

【Strength +50!】

【Agility +50!】

Just as the golden numbers popped up, a scalp-numbing scene occurred.

Those shattered ice shards actually flowed backward and reconstructed in mid-air, defying the Laws of physics. In just two short seconds, the three perfectly intact Snow Corpses roared again, their health bars instantly filling up at a visible rate.

Dungeon Mechanic: 【Extreme Cold Reconstruction】— As long as they are on the ice field, Snow Corpses possess the ability to revive infinitely.

For ordinary players, this was a despair-inducing nightmare.

But in Qin Ji's eyes, this was practically heaven.

“As expected, they refresh infinitely.”

The greed in Qin Ji's eyes almost manifested physically. The longsword in his hand did not leave its sheath; instead, he directly swapped it for a high-attack-speed dagger. He didn't use any large-scale forbidden spells, his body turning into a streak of black lightning as he proactively charged into the corpse horde.

Since they couldn't be killed, he would farm them to death!

Thud, thud, thud—!

The dull sounds of the sharp blade cutting into rotten flesh joined together. Qin Ji didn't even bother to maneuver, letting the Snow Corpses' claws strike his body.

-0!

-0! (Forced Block)

Meanwhile, the dagger in his hand danced frantically like a harvester.

【Kill judgment successful (Target reconstructing)... Strength +50!】

【Kill judgment successful (Target reconstructing)... Agility +50!】

【Obtained passive fragment: Extreme Cold Resistance (1/100)】

How was this a battle? This was clearly a one-sided, never-ending restock!

...

Three hours later.

Qin Ji casually crushed the last Snow Corpse King, which had been farmed until it no longer provided attribute points. Watching it turn completely into a puddle of black water that could not reconstruct, he put away his weapon with lingering interest.

“Four thousand seven hundred free attribute points, plus two thousand points of Strength and Agility.”

Qin Ji glanced at his personal panel; the sense of fulfillment brought by the data expansion made every pore in his body relax.

But it still wasn't enough.

Although his current attributes already crushed the entire server, he still needed a few key puzzle pieces to face the upcoming "plan."

“Blessings of the Eastern Pantheon...”

Qin Ji stepped out of the dungeon teleportation gate and returned to the cliffside. He opened his palm, and seven marks flowing with different divine charms appeared: Houtu, heavy as a mountain; Zhurong, blazing like fire; Nezha, sharp and murderous...

He was still three short of collecting the blessings of the ten Eastern Orthodox Gods to activate that legendary 【Godhead Embryo】.

“That woman Qing Fuyun has one in her hands, but killing her now would be too much of a waste.”

Qin Ji's gaze shifted toward the area on the map shrouded in black mist—the Demon's Den.

According to his memories of his past life, the Demon's Den leader in the Star Kingdom held at least two or more prerequisite scrolls for the Blessing of the Gods.

“Since I'm going to take them, I'll take enough all at once.”

Qin Ji's figure flickered, his equipment instantly transforming into a voluminous black robe. He blended into the night like a ghost, racing toward the direction of Black Wind City.

...

Black Wind City, City Lord's Mansion.

The interior of this fortress, built entirely of obsidian, was gloomy and oppressive, with torches on the walls burning with green phosphorus fire.

In the center of the hall, a man draped in a black robe with his face hidden in shadow sat upon a throne of bone. When Qin Ji pushed the door open and entered, a sharp light flashed in the Black Robe Leader's murky eyes.

“Snow Emperor?”

The Black Robe Leader's voice was hoarse and piercing, tinged with a bit of surprise. “Aren't you being wanted? What, have you come to your senses and are prepared to change classes and leave this troublesome place that is the Star Kingdom?”

Qin Ji didn't waste words, walking straight to the opposite side of the long table to sit down, his fingers lightly tapping the tabletop.

“I'm not leaving. I'm here to ask for something.”

“Oh?” The Black Robe Leader leaned forward slightly.

“The prerequisite quest scrolls for the Blessing of the Gods,” Qin Ji said, getting straight to the point. “I know you have them.”

The Black Robe Leader froze for a moment, then let out a burst of weird laughter. “Jie jie jie... We indeed have them. But these are rare treasures that even the Imperial Family covets. Snow Emperor, what makes you think I would give them to you?”

“Because I can give you what you want.”

Qin Ji leaned back against the chair, his tone as flat as if he were discussing today's weather. “Five scrolls. In exchange, I will help you tear through the Star Kingdom.”

The air instantly solidified.

The smile on the Black Robe Leader's face froze. He stared intently at Qin Ji, seemingly trying to find a trace of a joke on this madman's face.

“Tear through... the Star Kingdom?” The Black Robe Leader took a deep breath and lowered his voice. “Snow Emperor, do you know what you are saying? That is a capital city with a Divine-Grade guardian array!”

“As long as I want to, even a god would have to bleed.”

Qin Ji interrupted his doubt, his gaze as sharp as a blade. “I know your eldest and second brothers haven't shown their faces because they are preparing for a counterattack. If I help you get this done, their resources can be saved to push for higher ranks. You can do the math, right?”

The Black Robe Leader fell silent.

Qin Ji's words accurately hit his weakness. The Demon's Den had been lying low for years, indeed waiting for a chance to counterattack, but the risk was immense. If this freak were to take action...

“Five is too many.”

After a long while, the Black Robe Leader shook his head. “With my current authority, I can't bring out that many. Two—that is the limit. My eldest and second brothers each have one in their hands.”

“Too few.” Qin Ji's brow furrowed slightly, and his fingers stopped tapping.

“There really are no more,” the Black Robe Leader gritted his teeth. “However... to show my sincerity, I can add an extra Divine-Grade hidden class transfer scroll. Although it's not for your class, it's absolutely top-tier.”

“What class?”

“Shield Warrior—Nine-Layer Shield Warrior.”

Qin Ji's heart stirred.

The Nine-Layer Shield Warrior, a top-tier tank class known as "Immovable as a Mountain" in his past life, possessed a nine-layer shield stacking mechanism. In the Late Stage, it could even withstand forbidden spells.

This was practically tailor-made for Fatty Zhou.

“Deal.” Qin Ji made an immediate decision. “But I also need you to bleed a little. Prepare a one thousand free attribute point strengthening potion for each of my three brothers.”

The Black Robe Leader's mouth twitched. Three thousand attribute points—that was half a year's inventory for the Demon's Den! But at the thought of the Star Kingdom soon to be in his grasp, he gritted his teeth hard.

“Fine!”

...

Walking out of Black Wind City, Qin Ji looked at the two ancient scrolls and the golden transfer book lying in his bag, and casually opened his communication list.

“Fatty, Monkey, stop sleeping.”

Qin Ji sent a voice message in the group. “Get online. I'm taking you to do something big.”

Almost the next second, Fatty Zhou's signature raspy voice exploded: “Holy crap! Brother Hao! You finally remembered us! Monkey and I have been killing pigs until we're sick of it these past two days; we've been thirsty for action for a long time!”

“Where's Glasses?” Qin Ji asked.

“That guy lost contact again,” Fatty Zhou said helplessly. “He said he went into some 'Qinling Sacred Tree' Ancient Tomb dungeon; he probably won't crawl out for seven or eight days. But don't worry, Brother Hao, Monkey's output is crazy now. The two of us are enough!”

“Alright, meet up at Fuling City.”

Qin Ji closed the communication and cast his gaze toward the brightly lit city on the distant horizon.

Fuling City, a key border town of the Star Kingdom, and also the link where the Imperial Family's control was weakest.

Since he wanted to establish his prestige, he would start from here.

...

Below Fuling City.

The massive drawbridge had not yet been raised, and the soldiers on the city walls were patrolling lazily.

Qin Ji stood alone by the moat, the night wind blowing his black robe, making it snap. He glanced at his already overflowing attribute bar and didn't use any skills, merely slowly raising the longbow in his hand.

There was no need to aim.

At this distance, his perception had already locked onto every single ant on the city wall.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!!”

Five streaks of light tore through the night sky, their speed so fast that even the sound of breaking air was left behind.

On the gate tower, five elite City Guards who were chatting didn't even have time to make any reaction before their heads exploded like overripe watermelons.

It wasn't until the headless corpses hit the ground and blood sprayed onto their companions' faces that the shrill alarm finally sounded.

“Enemy attack!! Enemy attack!!”

“Close the city gates quickly! Activate the defensive array!!”

The city wall was in total chaos as countless Archers and mages gathered in a panic, pouring a sky full of arrow rain and magic toward the lonely figure below the city.

However.

Qin Ji didn't even lift an eyelid.

Those attacks, sufficient to instant-kill ordinary players, fell upon him without even a "-1" for forced damage floating up. They were directly judged as "Invalid Attacks" by his terrifying defense values.

Under the reflection of the firelight, Qin Ji slowly drew his bowstring to the full, a pitch-black arrow radiating an aura of destruction condensing on the string. His purple-gold pupils reflected the entire panic-stricken city, like a god or demon looking down upon ants, as he coldly released his fingers.