4: Chapter 4, 90% experience? That's what you call professional!

The wind in the forest seemed to solidify because of that man's presence.

Qin Ji retracted his gaze from the distant horizon, the coordinates of his next prey reflected in his purple-gold pupils. He didn't move immediately, but instead tilted his head slightly, his eyes like two cold daggers, accurately piercing the seemingly empty thicket behind him.

"Been watching for so long, aren't you going to buy a ticket?"

The voice was flat, yet it carried a chilling coldness that made one's scalp tingle.

The thicket rustled, and a burly man in heavy armor, holding a tower shield, walked out with a slightly awkward expression. It was none other than Futou Shield Mountain, who had just splurged fifty thousand credit points on a ring at the auction house.

As the Vice Guild Master of the Futou Guild, one of the top ten guilds in Dragon Country, Shield Mountain now looked like a primary school student who had done something wrong. He had originally intended to track this mysterious expert based on the auction house information to see if he could recruit him, but as soon as he got close, he witnessed a scene that shattered his worldview.

Just now, he had personally seen Qin Ji cleave open the Twisted Treant BOSS that had made him despair.

That was a BOSS with fifty thousand HP!

At this stage, even if all the guild's mages were gathered to bombard it, it would still take half an hour to grind down. Yet, this person instantly killed it with one sword strike?

"Cough, cough... well, brother, don't misunderstand." Futou Shield Mountain wiped away non-existent cold sweat from his forehead, a businessman's smile appearing on his face. "I'm the Vice Guild Master of the Futou Guild. That ring just now..."

"Not selling myself, not joining a guild, not getting involved in any 'bro-mance.'"

Qin Ji interrupted him and turned to walk deeper into the forest, where a group of Level 10 elite monsters, the Berserk Treant Demons, roamed.

"Hey! Great God, wait!" Futou Shield Mountain grew anxious, his short, stout legs moving rapidly as he rushed to Qin Ji with the fastest speed of his life, spreading his arms to block the way. "I want you to power level me! Name your price!"

Qin Ji stopped, sizing up the man who looked like an iron barrel.

In his memories from his previous life, Futou Shield Mountain was a notorious 'tank' and a wealthy individual. Since he wanted to establish his own faction, relying solely on farming monsters for equipment was too slow. This kind of 'big spender' who came knocking on his door was an opportunity not to be missed.

"I'll power level you to Level 10." Qin Ji extended three fingers. "Three hundred thousand credit points. Paid now."

"How much?!"

Futou Shield Mountain's eyes almost popped out, his voice instantly rising by eight octaves. "Three hundred thousand? Brother, are you robbing me?! Even gold farming groups only charge twenty thousand for a day of power leveling!"

"You have ten seconds to consider."

Qin Ji didn't explain, simply walked around him, casually twirling the iron sword in his hand.

"Can current gold farming groups get you to Level 10 in one day?"

This sentence was like a heavy hammer, striking Futou Shield Mountain's heart.

Level 10 in one day?

That was simply a fool's dream! Currently, the server's top-ranked player, Imperial Dynasty Crown Prince, was only Level 5. If he could truly reach Level 10 in one day, it would mean he would be far ahead of everyone else, securing the first class advancement achievement, and even the first dungeon clear!

For large guilds, this kind of strategic advantage was priceless.

"Alright! Three hundred thousand it is!" Futou Shield Mountain gritted his teeth. As a wealthy man, his resolve made him decide instantly. "But I have one condition: it must be with the same efficiency you just showed!"

"Transfer the money." Qin Ji recited a string of numbers.

It must be said that the Futou Guild's efficiency was indeed high. In less than half a minute, Qin Ji's personal account had an additional three hundred thousand credit points.

Adding the proceeds from the ring sale, he now had nearly three hundred and fifty thousand in startup capital.

"The money's here." Qin Ji glanced at his account balance, a satisfied smile playing on his lips. "Join the team."

Ding!

[Player "Qin Ji" invites you to join the team.]

Futou Shield Mountain quickly clicked to agree. However, the next second, when he saw the team's distribution mode, he completely broke down.

[Team Mode: Leader Distribution (all drops belong to the leader).]

[Experience Distribution: 90% (Qin Ji) / 10% (Futou Shield Mountain).]

"Holy crap! Great God, you must have set this wrong!" Futou Shield Mountain pointed at the panel, his fingers trembling. "Nine-to-one experience split? Me one? You nine? Is this power leveling or slave labor?!"

"It's correct."

Qin Ji couldn't be bothered with idle talk and directly charged into the group of Treant Demons ahead with his sword.

"You can choose to leave the team. The money is non-refundable."

"You..." Futou Shield Mountain felt a mouthful of old blood stuck in his throat, almost dying on the spot. He had never seen such a ruthless black market merchant in his life!

But the next moment, all his complaints were swallowed back down.

Because Qin Ji made his move.

Ahead were seven or eight Berserk Treant Demons gathered together. These monsters were smaller versions of the Twisted Treant. Although they only had 3000 HP, their attacks carried poison, and their defense was extremely high. An ordinary player team would detour if they encountered even one.

But Qin Ji was like a black lightning bolt, crashing directly into the monster horde.

"Are you looking for death? These are elite monsters!" Futou Shield Mountain instinctively raised his shield, wanting to rush up and help taunt.

However, as soon as he took a step, his feet seemed to root to the spot.

Qin Ji's figure weaved through the dense vine attacks of the Treant Demons, moving as if strolling through a downpour without getting a single corner of his clothes wet.

That wasn't a skill; it was pure, extreme positioning!

Sidestep, slide, lean back, jump.

Every movement was precise to the millimeter. A Treant Demon's vine had just grazed his nose when his iron sword, utilizing the momentum of his turn, fiercely cut into the bark texture of another Treant Demon.

-4260!

-4260!

-4260!

...

A series of crimson numbers erupted like a fountain.

That was the effect of [Splash]!

Every one of Qin Ji's basic attacks was accompanied by 10% area Splash damage. With his terrifying base attack power, even the Splash damage alone reached over four thousand points!

This wasn't just cutting monsters; this was slicing tofu!

"Boom!"

In less than five seconds.

Seven or eight Berserk Treant Demons fell almost simultaneously, turning into countless specks of experience light.

[Killed 8 Berserk Treant Demons, gained +2400 experience points.]

[Triggered "Greedy Grasp"! Gained attribute: Strength +8.]

Although Futou Shield Mountain only received one-tenth of the experience, his experience bar visibly jumped a large chunk!

"This... this is..."

Futou Shield Mountain's mouth hung open, his shield clattering to the ground.

He understood.

This was the so-called 'Walk-A' technique, but in Qin Ji's hands, it was no longer just a technique, but a violent art.

Usually, Archers needed to maintain distance to kite, also known as 'Kiting.' But this man, wielding a melee iron sword, was dancing up close within the monsters' attack range!

He utilized the 0.5-second stun before the monster's attack wind-up to execute a basic attack, then used his extremely high Agility to instantly reposition to the monster's blind spot, and basic attacked again.

Infinite backstabs! Infinite position locking!

Those clumsy Treant Demons were played around with, even getting stuck in each other's attack paths due to crowding.

"Record it... I must record it!"

Futou Shield Mountain fumbled to open the System's recording function. This level of movement technique tutorial, if shown to the arrogant elites in the guild, would definitely shut them up!

Qin Ji paid no attention to the 'hanger-on' behind him who was frantically recording.

For him, this was just tedious harvesting.

"Too slow."

Qin Ji felt the surge of power within him, his brows slightly furrowed. Although his current monster-farming speed was a hundred times faster than ordinary players, he still felt it wasn't enough.

He needed more monsters.

More densely packed monsters.

"Hey, Fatty." Qin Ji called out without turning his head.

"Huh? Great God, are you calling me?" Futou Shield Mountain scurried over, completely shedding his former Vice Guild Master demeanor, his expression more affectionate than if he'd seen his own father. "What are your orders, Great God? Do you want me to tank the monsters? My shield's defense is super high..."

"No need." Qin Ji pointed to the even darker area deeper in the forest. "Go and pull all the monsters over from there."

"Pull... pull all of them over?" Futou Shield Mountain swallowed. "There are over a hundred of them there, Great God, are you sure you can handle it?"

"Just go if I tell you to."

Qin Ji's iron sword trembled slightly, emitting a low hum that craved blood.

"Once they enter my attack range, they won't have a chance to strike."

...

Ten minutes later.

The entire Misty Forest seemed to have suffered a natural disaster.

Futou Shield Mountain panted, dragging a long 'train' as he ran frantically, followed by a dense, sky-obscuring army of Berserk Treant Demons.

"Great God! Help! They're catching up!"

Looking at the overwhelming vines, Futou Shield Mountain felt his bladder tremble. This wasn't leveling up; this was playing with his life!

Just as the monster horde was about to engulf Futou Shield Mountain.

A figure descended from the sky.

Qin Ji held his sword with one hand, his purple-gold pupils devoid of emotion, only cold data streams wildly fluctuating.

[Strength: 5240]

[Agility: 1210]

[Passive: Basic Attack Splash (10%)]

"The feast begins."

He didn't retreat; instead, he charged towards the surging tide of monsters.

The first sword strike.

The three Treant Demons at the very front instantly exploded, their green sap not yet hitting the ground before being pulverized into nothingness by the subsequent Sword Qi.

Splash damage triggered!

Centered on these three Treant Demons, an invisible shockwave spread out in a fan shape to the rear. A sea of red numbers simultaneously floated above the heads of the back-row Treant Demons.

-4260!

-4260!

-4260!

...

The visual effect was even more stunning than a mage's forbidden spell.

Qin Ji's figure moved at high speed through the monster crowd, so fast that he left afterimages. He was like a high-explosive warhead, repeatedly jumping and detonating within the monster pile.

Wherever he passed, not a blade of grass grew.

The hard Treant Demon trunks disintegrated and shattered like brittle biscuits the moment they touched the sword's edge. The air was filled with the strong scent of wood chips and a pungent, burnt energy smell.

Futou Shield Mountain stood dumbfounded in the distance, watching his experience bar shoot up like a rocket.

LV.5...LV.6...LV.7...

This leveling speed gave him a strong sense of unreality.

"This person... who exactly is he?"

Futou Shield Mountain muttered to himself, looking at the figure dancing in the monster crowd, a deep reverence suddenly welling up in his heart. He had thought three hundred thousand was too expensive before, but now it seemed like a dirt-cheap price!

If he knew Qin Ji's true thoughts at this moment, he would probably kneel and call him 'Grandpa'.

At this time, Qin Ji didn't care about experience points at all.

What he cared about were the rows of System prompts filling the screen:

[Killed Berserk Treant Demon, triggered "Greedy Grasp"! Strength +1]

[Killed Berserk Treant Demon, triggered "Greedy Grasp"! Strength +1]

[Killed Berserk Treant Demon, triggered "Greedy Grasp"! Obtained Passive Fragment: Hardened Skin (1/100)]

His Strength attribute was stacking at a terrifying rate.

Five thousand... six thousand... seven thousand...

When the last Berserk Treant Demon fell, Qin Ji's Strength attribute had already broken through the ten thousand mark!

What did ten thousand Strength mean?

At this stage, a warrior who put all their points into Strength would only have about 50 Strength.

Qin Ji casually swung his sword.

"Whoosh!"

Just the wind pressure from the sword's edge plowed a trench half a meter deep into the ground, extending to a towering tree ten meters away.

"Crack."

The tree, thick enough for three people to embrace, snapped in half.

Futou Shield Mountain looked at the fallen tree, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty, subconsciously touching his own neck. He had no doubt that if that sword strike landed on a person, let alone a shield, even the person and their ashes would be scattered.

"Finished."

Qin Ji sheathed his sword, as if he had just done something insignificant.

He glanced at the time; there were still a few hours before he had to log off.

"Let's go, to the next leveling spot."

Qin Ji's voice was still flat, but to Futou Shield Mountain, it was the whisper of a demon.

"G-Great God, still grinding?"

"This is just the beginning."

Qin Ji turned around, the setting sun casting his shadow long, covering the ground littered with shattered wood debris. He raised his right hand, gently flexing his wrist, his eyes looking towards the dark abyss at the edge of the forest, a bloodthirsty curve playing on his lips, like an ancient Vicious Beast that had just tasted blood and was ready for the next, even more frantic feast.