47: Chapter 47 Hidden Boss: Village Chief Wang, a Madman Who Wants to Be a Prince Consort

Shattered stones flew everywhere, and dust billowed like waves.

Qin Ji's figure turned into an afterimage the moment the giant hammer fell. The ground where he had been standing instantly collapsed into a deep pit three meters in diameter. Spiderweb-like cracks spread wildly in all directions, and the rubble was crushed directly into powder under the terrifying kinetic energy.

"Nice reaction."

The burly man slowly pulled the giant hammer out of the pit. Dark red lava dripped from the hammerhead, sizzling. His bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at Qin Ji, who had landed on a steel wire not far away. The corners of his mouth curled into a sinister arc, revealing a mouthful of uneven yellow teeth.

Qin Ji stood on one foot on that invisible steel wire spanning the abyss. His body swayed slightly with the airflow. The abyssal fang in his hand pointed diagonally downward, its blade flowing with a purple-gold glow.

"If you only have a bit of strength, then I'll gladly accept this hammer today."

Qin Ji's voice was flat, showing no fluctuation despite the power of the opponent's previous strike. His gaze swept across the other's head, where a line of bright red data was slowly emerging.

[The Exiled Tyrant · Village Chief Wang (Mutated Silver-grade Boss)]

Rank: 20

HP: 5,255,500 / 5,255,500

Attack Power: 3,999

Skills: ???

Description: The elder brother of the previous Newbie Village Chief. After losing a power struggle, he was exiled to the abyss. Eroded by endless resentment and dark power, he has fallen into an abyssal demon.

Five million HP.

At this stage, even if players formed a full hundred-man raid, they would only be able to wait for death in despair when facing such a health bar.

But there was only excitement in Qin Ji's eyes.

High health meant he was tough. Being tough meant Qin Ji could farm his passive plunder a few more times.

"That trash Blacksmith Wang isn't even fit to carry my shoes."

Village Chief Wang seemed enraged by Qin Ji's attitude. He swung the giant hammer violently, bringing a foul wind. "Who told you Blacksmith Wang didn't have a brother? That idiot had a chance to rule this place with me, but he chose to be an obedient dog!"

He walked toward the edge of the cliff step by step. With every step he took, the entire platform trembled.

"Back then, that old fogey of a former Village Chief, just to pass the position to his illegitimate son, framed me with the crime of colluding with the Demon Race. He exiled me to this godforsaken place where the sun never shines!"

Village Chief Wang pointed at the two pillars of light soaring into the sky above, a morbid fanatical expression on his face. "But my time hasn't come! Here, I found an even greater power! As long as the Seal on the Drought Demon is broken, the entire Newbie Village will be reduced to ruins!"

Qin Ji's brows twitched slightly, and he tightened his grip on his sword.

"What good does destroying the Newbie Village do for you? You want to be the Village Chief, but if the village is gone, will you be the King of Ruins?"

"How can a sparrow understand the ambitions of a swan!"

Village Chief Wang laughed towards the sky, his laughter echoing in the abyss and shaking loose rubble from the cliffs. "Who cares about being a measly Village Chief? What I want to be is the Prince Consort of the Star Empire!"

Qin Ji was stunned for a moment.

This development was truly a bit unexpected.

An abyss boss covered in muscles and looking like the Black Whirlwind Li Kui actually had the heart of someone wanting to be a live-in son-in-Law?

"Princess Leona is in the Newbie Village, and she is the sole heir to the Star Kingdom."

Village Chief Wang stuck out his scarlet tongue and licked his lips, his eyes full of lewdness and greed. "Only by destroying the Newbie Village, destroying the Resurrection Altar, and cutting off her retreat to drive her into a corner... then I will descend like a Heavenly God to save her from her plight. Tell me, would a delicate princess in distress not be utterly devoted to me?"

Qin Ji understood.

This was a typical ultimate chimera of an overconfident man and a violent maniac.

"Perfect logic."

Qin Ji nodded, a hint of mockery flashing in his purple-gold pupils. "But did you forget to look in the mirror? With your looks, even if the princess were blind, she probably wouldn't take an interest in you."

"You're looking for death!!"

Village Chief Wang, having been poked in his sore spot, instantly flew into a rage.

Boom!

His entire body shot up like a cannonball, his giant hammer wrapped in black lightning as it smashed down toward Qin Ji on the steel wire.

"Perfect timing!"

Qin Ji Advanced instead of retreating.

If he were a mage, he would definitely be kiting at a distance right now. But he was an outlier.

Since he wanted to plunder attributes, there had to be physical contact.

[Flash Step]!

Qin Ji's figure vanished into thin air, reappearing above the giant hammer.

The abyssal fang, with a piercing sound of breaking air, slashed precisely at the back of Village Chief Wang's neck.

Clang—!!!

A metallic clash loud enough to burst eardrums rang out.

Sparks flew in all directions.

A massive damage number floated above the Boss's head.

-13,358!

At the same time, Qin Ji felt a strange counter-shock force travel through the sword and instantly through his entire body. His internal organs felt as if they were being squeezed hard by an invisible giant hand.

-10,000!

A shocking white number also floated above Qin Ji's head.

His health bar dropped a chunk instantly.

"Hmm?"

Qin Ji rolled in the air and landed back on the edge of the platform, his gaze instantly turning cold.

Integer reflection damage?

This disgusting mechanism usually only appeared on Late Stage Advanced guardian beasts. It reflected damage based on the rounded-down integer of the damage received. He had just dealt thirteen thousand, and the System determined the integer to be ten thousand, returning it exactly as it was.

"Hahahaha! Does it hurt?!"

Village Chief Wang landed, smashing a large pit into the ground, and stood up unscathed with a playful look on his face. "My [Thorn Demon Armor] has been tempered by the abyssal Law! The stronger your attack, the faster you die! In this godforsaken place, I am invincible!"

Qin Ji wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, pulled a bottle of [Grandmaster-grade Life Potion] from his bag, and downed it.

His health bar was instantly full again.

"Invincible?"

Qin Ji sneered and casually tossed the empty potion bottle into the abyss. "In this game, you're the first one who dares to claim to be invincible in front of me."

"Stubborn brat, leave your life behind!"

Village Chief Wang roared and slammed his hands into the ground.

"Come forth! My servants!"

Rumble—

The stone walls on both sides of the cliff suddenly burst open.

Countless thick dark-green vines, like awakened giant pythons, crawled out from the cracks in the rocks. These vines had human-face-like sarcomas at their tips, emitting eerie cries like those of a crying infant.

[Abyssal Monster · Nine-Headed Serpent Cypress]

Next, yellow shadows darted out from between the vines. They were Mutated Weasels the size of wolves, with sharp claws and teeth, emitting a nauseating stench of corpses.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—"

Over a dozen vines tore through the air, lashing toward Qin Ji from all directions with the sound of sonic booms.

There was simply no room to dodge.

Qin Ji stood his ground, watching the vines and the swarm of beasts attacking from all over. Instead of panicking, he slowly put away his longsword.

Since single-target attacks would be reflected, he would change his approach.

He raised his left hand, aiming his palm at the leading Mutated Weasel.

The Mutated Weasel was still baring its claws and teeth in mid-air when it suddenly felt a tremor from the depths of its Soul.

[Death Gaze]!

Buzz!

An invisible ripple instantly penetrated its body.

Check passed! Life Rank Suppression!

"Die."

Qin Ji uttered a single word.

Bang!

The full-health Mutated Weasel didn't even have time to scream before its body exploded into a cloud of blood mist in mid-air.

[Plunder Successful! Agility +5!]

But this was only the beginning.

The corner of Qin Ji's mouth curled into a cruel arc, and he suddenly clenched his right fist.

In that instant, he had already locked onto the exploding blood mist.

[S-Rank Forbidden Curse · Lichs Wrath (Corpse Explosion)]!

Boom—!!!

That originally unremarkable blood mist, under the catalysis of the Forbidden Curse, instantly turned into a miniature black nuclear bomb.

A terrifying black shockwave swept out in a fan shape from the center of the explosion.

The dozen or so Mutated Weasels and several thick vines following behind were instantly vaporized upon contact with this destructive energy.

But it wasn't over yet.

The most terrifying aspect of Corpse Explosion was the chain reaction.

The corpses of the monsters killed by the explosion became new sources of bombs.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Continuous explosions echoed in the abyss, and black flames like hellish red lotuses instantly swallowed the entire beast swarm.

The monster army that had been aggressively surrounding him turned into flying experience points and attribute points in the blink of an eye.

-45,000!

-48,200!

-96,400 (Critical Hit)!

Dense damage numbers rose from the center of the explosions.

Although Village Chief Wang at the center of the explosion had a reflection shield, Corpse Explosion was considered indirect area-of-effect damage. It wasn't counted as a direct normal attack from Qin Ji, so the reflection mechanism couldn't be triggered at all!

"Aaaaaah!!"

A shrill scream came from within the flames.

Village Chief Wang's proud bronze skin was blown open, his body charred black, and his health bar dropped frantically at a rate visible to the naked eye.

"Impossible! What kind of Demonic Technique is this?!"

Village Chief Wang rushed out of the sea of fire in a pathetic state, terror finally appearing on his previously overbearing face.

His proud army of servants had actually become the powder keg that blew him up.

"Demonic Technique?"

Qin Ji stood outside the aftershocks of the explosion, his black hair tousled by the gale. His purple-gold pupils looked exceptionally eerie against the backdrop of the flames.

He casually caught an attribute light orb falling from the sky, feeling the pleasure of power surging into his body.

"This is art."

"Scoundrel!!"

Village Chief Wang had completely lost it.

He hadn't expected his carefully planned death trap to be so effortlessly dismantled by this human.

"Since you want to die, then let's die together!"

He suddenly pulled a blue crystal emitting an extremely cold Aura from his breast—it was another fragment of the ice flame demon ore.

Crack!

He crushed the crystal directly.

Whoosh—

The temperature at the bottom of the originally hot abyss plummeted.

White Frost instantly covered the entire platform, and even the dust in the air was frozen.

Snow began to fall from thin air, each snowflake as sharp as a blade.

[System Notification: You are affected by the "Extreme Cold Domain." Movement speed decreased by 30%, attack speed decreased by 30%, and 500 HP deducted per second!]

Qin Ji felt his body become heavy, and a stiff, awkward sensation came from his joints.

And that wasn't all.

Village Chief Wang's massive body began to swell in the cold air. His charred skin peeled off, and a thick layer of ice-crystal armor grew. The giant hammer in his hand doubled in size, turning into a Frost War Hammer.

[Boss enters Phase 2: Frost Tyrant Form!]

"In this frozen Hell, let's see how you run!"

Village Chief Wang roared like thunder. He held the war hammer high, and the surrounding cold air gathered frantically, forming a massive Frost storm.

If this strike landed solidly, not only Qin Ji but even this cliff platform would completely collapse.

Qin Ji exhaled a puff of white air, which turned into ice shards half an inch from his mouth.

Movement speed reduced, attack speed reduced.

It seemed like a dead end.

But he laughed.

He laughed even more wantonly than before.

"Run?"

Qin Ji slowly raised his right hand. In his palm, an ancient-looking black broken sword emitting a heart-palpitating Aura appeared out of thin air.

That was the unique Divine Artifact fragment he had obtained from the hidden quest in the Newbie Village—[Demon Sword · Apophis (Fragment)].

Although it was only a fragment and the active skill could only be used once...

...it was enough to deal with a mere Rank 20 mutated Boss.

"I'm here to stock up on supplies; why would I run?"

Qin Ji ignored the Frost storm howling down from above. He simply and calmly plunged the broken sword into the rock beneath his feet.

His movement was as gentle as if he were planting a flower.

[Divine Artifact Skill Activated: Abyss Descent!]

Buzz—

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

The originally raging Frost storm suddenly froze in mid-air.

With the broken sword as the center, the ground instantly turned into a pitch-black swamp. Countless pale arms reached out from the swamp, tightly grabbing Village Chief Wang's ankles. Before this abyssal power from a higher dimension, the so-called Extreme Cold Domain melted away like snow under a scorching sun.

Village Chief Wang discovered to his horror that he could no longer move.

Not just his body, but even the magic power within him and even his thoughts were being suppressed by a terrifying will.

"This... what kind of power is this..."

He looked tremblingly at the youth standing in the center of the black swamp.

At this moment, Qin Ji was surrounded by a substantial black mist. His purple-gold pupils had turned completely black, like two black holes devouring everything.

Qin Ji pulled out the abyssal fang he originally wore and walked step by step toward the imprisoned Village Chief Wang.

With every step, the Aura on his body surged.

The attributes stacked from killing those hundreds of Mutated Weasels and Nine-Headed Serpent Cypresses just now were finally fully digested.

Strength +320!

Agility +280!

Critical Rate +5%!

"In your next life, remember not to dream."

Qin Ji gripped the sword with both hands. There were no fancy techniques, only the venting of pure, ultimate power.

Slash!

The sword light was like a wash, tearing through the darkness, the Frost, and Village Chief Wang's indestructible ice-crystal armor.

Pfft—

A massive head soared into the sky.

In those eyes that were still bulging even in death, there remained a final trace of unbelievable fear.

The massive headless corpse swayed and crashed to the ground.

The falling snow came to an abrupt halt.

Qin Ji flicked his sword with one hand, shaking off the smear of uncongealed blood from the blade. His purple-gold pupils gradually regained their clarity. He stepped on Village Chief Wang's massive head and looked past the darkness of the abyss toward the two pillars of light still intertwining in the distance. The corner of his mouth curled into a faint arc, like a demon god who had just finished a hunt, quietly waiting for the next feast of slaughter in the dead silence.