46: Chapter 46 Rejecting One Hundred Million, Corpse Explosion Technique and the Mystery of the Abyss

The night wind swirled with bone ash, spiraling over the scorched earth of the Land of Oblivion.

Qin Ji's footsteps did not pause for a single moment. The crisp sound of his boots crushing withered bones was exceptionally piercing in this deathly silent wasteland. The cloak behind him was like a blood-stained banner, rhythmic with the pace of his march.

The lingering sensation of that sword strike that had just insta-killed the skeletal colossus had not yet faded, but the System notification sounds once again flooded in like a tide.

It wasn't a kill notification, but a bombardment of private messages.

The establishment of [Scourge], the server's first guild, was like a giant boulder crashing into a pond full of piranhas, instantly stirring up a thousand waves.

"Beep beep beep—"

The flashing frequency of the communication bar was annoyingly fast. Qin Ji originally wanted to block it directly, but after glancing at the sender, his finger paused slightly.

Futou Shield Mountain.

That heavy-armored knight he had met once in the Newbie Village. Although this man died early in his past life, he was one of the few who had lent a helping hand when Qin Ji was at his lowest.

"Big shot! You're incredible! The server's first guild! When I saw the announcement, I almost ate my shield!"

The voice call connected, and from the other end came Futou Shield Mountain's rough and deafening roar. In the background, the noisy sounds of clashing metal could be heard; he was clearly out pioneering.

"Luck," Qin Ji replied indifferently with two words. His pace didn't stop as he casually split a ghoul pouncing from the mist in half with his sword.

-24,500 (Critical Hit!)

Instant death didn't trigger, but relying on his terrifying base attack power, it was still a one-hit kill.

"That's definitely not luck! The forums are exploding right now, and the Divine Court's faces have turned green." Futou Shield Mountain's voice lowered slightly, his tone becoming serious. "Big shot, I have to pass on a message. I have a friend here who is the Vice Leader of the 'Shadow Killer' guild; he wants to talk to you."

Shadow Killer?

Qin Ji's brows twitched slightly. This was an extreme guild composed entirely of assassins. They were a sharp blade in the Late Stage national wars, but in the Early Stage, their reputation was poor; they were entirely mercenaries who did anything for money.

"Let him speak."

A few seconds later, an unfamiliar ID joined the voice channel.

"Guild Leader Qin Ji, I've heard much about you." The other party's voice was cold and hoarse, carrying the characteristic calmness of a professional killer. "I am Night Owl of Shadow Killer. Our boss is very interested in [Scourge]. Let's be direct: transfer the guild to us, and we'll offer one hundred million."

One hundred million.

In this Early Stage where the game currency exchange rate hadn't collapsed yet, this amount of money was enough to buy an office building in the city center in reality.

If it were an ordinary player, they would likely have suffered a cardiac arrest by now and be kneeling on the ground calling him 'father'.

But not even a ripple appeared on Qin Ji's face. He even had the leisure to bend down and pick up a silver coin dropped by the ghoul.

"Not for sale."

"Guild Leader Qin, don't be in such a hurry to refuse." Night Owl seemed to have anticipated this reaction, his tone gaining a hint of inducement. "I know you're powerful, but running a guild isn't something one person can do just by killing monsters. You need capital, you need management, you need..."

"I don't need money," Qin Ji interrupted him, his voice as flat as if he were discussing what to have for dinner. "If you have special equipment or rare skill books, I might consider reserving a Vice Leader position for you. As for the ownership of the guild, it's off the table."

The other side fell silent for a full five seconds.

Clearly, Qin Ji's appetite exceeded their predictions.

"Guild Leader Qin, you must know that an ordinary man is innocent, but harboring a treasure makes him guilty. With a one-million bounty on your head and the brand of the first guild, you are now a mobile target for the entire server." Night Owl's tone carried a veiled threat. "Some things will burn your hands if you can't hold onto them."

Qin Ji stopped his footsteps.

He looked up, his purple-gold pupils seemingly piercing through the data stream across the void to stare directly at the other's Soul.

"Burn my hands?"

A cruel arc curled at the corner of Qin Ji's mouth, and the abyssal fang in his hand dragged a trail of sparks across the ground.

"Then let them come and take it. It just so happens that I'm worried my name isn't red enough. Killing one is killing, and killing ten thousand is also killing. If you Shadow Killers want to come and seek death, remember to line up. I'm in a hurry."

Beep.

The communication was disconnected directly.

Qin Ji casually added that ID to his blacklist, his eyes reflecting an indifferent arrogance.

A guild was more than just a name.

In the Late Stages of "God's Domain," as a guild's Rank increased, it would unlock Heaven-Defying functions such as "Attribute Buffs for All Members," "Experience Bonuses," and even "Interplanar Teleportation Formations." That was his true capital for contending against the gods.

Sell it?

Only a fool would sell a gold mine to a roadside beggar just as the first shovel of dirt was dug out.

"Roar—!!"

The surging mist ahead interrupted Qin Ji's thoughts.

Hundreds of Skeleton Warriors wielding bone blades surged forward like a tide, their pale skeletons forming a white ocean under the dim moonlight.

"Decent numbers."

Looking at this dense swarm of monsters, Qin Ji didn't retreat. Instead, he excitedly licked his lips.

Although he had the single-target insta-kill divine skill [Death Reincarnation], hacking them down one by one was indeed too inefficient against this massive sea of fodder.

His current offensive methods were too specialized.

He needed an AOE (Area of Effect) skill.

Qin Ji opened his bag, his gaze landing on the S-Rank skill book that had just dropped from Neil—[Lichs Wrath].

[Do you wish to learn the skill book: Lichs Wrath?]

"Learn."

The black book turned into a streak of light and entered his brow.

[Congratulations! You have learned the Forbidden Curse-level skill—Lichs Wrath (S-Rank)!]

[Lichs Wrath (Lv1): Detonates the death elements within a 50-meter radius, dealing (Intelligence × 500%) Shadow Damage to all hostile targets, with a 30% probability of detonating the target's corpse for secondary area damage. Cooldown: 60 seconds. Cost: 2,000 Mana.]

"Corpse explosion?"

Qin Ji's eyes lit up.

This was practically a map-clearing divine skill.

By now, the leading Skeleton Warriors were less than ten meters away from him, the stench of decay hitting him in the face.

Qin Ji did not draw his sword.

He slowly raised his left hand. In his palm, a sphere of energy as black as ink was frantically compressing and rotating. The surrounding space emitted an overburdened creaking sound, unable to withstand the terrifying energy density.

"Extinguish."

He lightly clenched his fist.

Boom—!!!

With Qin Ji as the center, a black shockwave instantly expanded.

There were no screams, no resistance.

Within a fifty-meter radius, the moment all the Skeleton Warriors touched the black ripples, their bones were vibrated directly into powder.

Immediately following that, an even more terrifying scene occurred.

Those shattered bones that had just fallen became extremely unstable bombs under the skill's chain reaction.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The chain explosions were like falling dominoes. Black flames shot into the sky, forcibly blasting a vacuum zone in the following sea of skeletons.

The ground trembled violently, soil was overturned, and scorched black marks were branded onto the wasteland like ugly scars.

[Killed Skeleton Warrior, EXP +1,200!]

[Killed Skeleton Warrior, EXP +1,200!]

...

[Plunder successful! Strength +1!]

[Plunder successful! Agility +1!]

Golden numbers filled the screen, jumping frantically.

Qin Ji stood at the center of the explosion, surrounded by black embers that had not yet dispersed, completely unscathed.

"Is this the joy of being a mage?"

Qin Ji glanced at his skyrocketing experience bar and attribute points, then satisfied, he stepped over the mess and continued deeper.

Half an hour later.

The mist thickened, and the road ahead was cut off.

Appearing before Qin Ji was a bottomless cliff.

This was the end of the Land of Oblivion and the boundary of the map. According to official settings, this should be a dead end.

But on Qin Ji's quest panel, that bright red coordinate point was pointing directly beneath the cliff.

[Quest: The Sealed Son of the Yellow Emperor]

[Description: In ancient times, Hanba assisted the Yellow Emperor in the battle against Chiyou. After the war, her mind became crazed, and she was sealed here beneath the ten-thousand-foot abyss.]

[Requirement: Break the Seal.]

"Down there?"

Qin Ji stood at the edge of the cliff and kicked down a piece of rubble.

After a long time, no echo was heard.

At this height, even with his current HP, jumping down would mean certain death. Moreover, beneath this abyss, there was not only gravity but also surging astral winds capable of corroding data.

"There must be a way."

Qin Ji narrowed his eyes, purple-gold light swirling deep within his pupils.

[Eye of Insight (Advanced Version): Activate!]

His vision instantly switched.

The originally gray mist was peeled away layer by layer in his field of vision, and the essence of the world turned into countless crisscrossing data lines.

Among those chaotic air currents, Qin Ji saw "threads" as thin as gossamer yet emitting a faint glimmer.

They were some kind of transparent steel wires, or rather... chains condensed from certain rules, spanning across the abyss and extending deep into the mist.

"Hidden quite deep."

Qin Ji gave a cold laugh. If it weren't for his eyes being able to see through illusions, an ordinary player coming here ten thousand times could only sigh at the cliff.

He took half a step back, then suddenly accelerated into a run, leaping off the cliff like a giant roc.

Whoosh—!

The moment his body fell, Qin Ji accurately stepped onto the first invisible steel wire.

The wire shook violently, but he stood steady as if his feet had taken root. His Agility attribute, reaching tens of thousands of points, allowed him to walk this tightrope in a desperate situation as if on level ground.

Using the momentum, he jumped.

His figure rose and fell over the abyss, each landing accurately hitting the node of the next steel wire.

Ten minutes later.

Qin Ji passed through the final thick fog barrier and landed on a protruding giant platform.

In the center of the platform was a giant Yin and Yang Twin Fish Formation.

The Formation was already dim and lusterless, covered in cracks from the passage of time and moss. At the two eye positions of the Yin and Yang fish, there were two separate grooves.

One was an irregularly shaped crystal, and the other was a keyhole.

"ice flame demon ore, mysterious key."

Qin Ji pulled these two items from his bag.

These were unexpected gains from looting Neil's body earlier; at the time, he only thought they were rare Materials, not expecting them to be quest items for this place.

"Click."

The ice flame demon ore was embedded into the Yang pole, and the mysterious key was inserted into the Yin pole.

Hum—!

The Formation that had been silent for a thousand years was instantly activated.

One red and one blue pillar of light shot into the sky, intertwining with each other to form a massive light gate. The entire platform began to vibrate violently, as if some terrifying existence was waking up from beneath the ground.

"Who goes there?! How dare you trespass into the Forbidden Ground!"

A sudden shout came from behind the light gate.

Qin Ji's eyes narrowed, and the abyssal fang in his hand was instantly held across his chest. His muscles tensed, ready for battle.

Thud, thud, thud.

Heavy footsteps emerged from the light and shadow.

It was a burly man wearing a worn-out blacksmith's apron, his muscles knotted, and his skin showing a strange bronze hue. He held a giant hammer that was still dripping with blood, his eyes blood-red, emitting a suffocatingly violent aura.

The moment he saw this face clearly, Qin Ji's pupils contracted sharply.

He recognized this face.

The submissive Blacksmith Wang from the Newbie Village blacksmith shop who did nothing but forge iron all day?

No.

Blacksmith Wang had been slapped into a pulp by that mysterious BOSS during the Newbie Village massacre three days ago. Qin Ji was at the scene and saw his health bar hit zero and his body refresh.

NPC death is irreversible; this was an iron rule of "God's Domain."

"Who are you?"

Qin Ji stared fixedly at the other party, the tip of his sword tilting slightly upward. "Blacksmith Wang is already dead."

"Dead?"

The burly man stopped his steps, an extremely eerie and playful smile appearing on his face. His voice was no longer that honest low rumble but had become sharp and piercing, like two rusted metal plates rubbing together.

"That trash is indeed dead. To deceive the System's monitoring and cover up the aura here, there had to be a sacrifice of sufficient weight."

The man looked up, his blood-red gaze passing over Qin Ji to greedily stare at the two pillars of light shooting into the sky, as if admiring a perfect masterpiece.

"Little brother, your death was worthwhile. Thanks to your blood, and this fool delivering the key..."

He suddenly turned his head to look at Qin Ji, his gaze like that of someone looking at a lamb to be slaughtered.

"Lord Hanba's Seal is finally going to open!"

Boom!

Before his words finished, the giant hammer in the man's hand slammed into the ground.

A terrifying shockwave exploded along the ground, sending rubble flying.

Qin Ji did not retreat.

Against the backdrop of the collapsing rocks and the soaring pillars of light, he slowly raised the greatsword in his hand. There was no fear in his purple-gold pupils, only the excitement and coldness of a hunter seeing top-tier prey.

The setting sun was like blood, staining the abyss a dark red. Qin Ji held his sword in one hand, the tip pointing diagonally at the ground. Those eyes shone brightly in the gloom, just like an ancient Vicious Beast that had just bared its fangs, coldly watching the 'dead man' before him who was about to become a Soul beneath his blade.