52: Chapter 52 The King of Hell Calls the Roll, the Book of Life and Death Appears!

Boom—!!!

That was no ordinary airwave, but the collapse of physical laws caused by a seemingly casual sword swing after millions of points of Strength were compressed to the extreme.

With Qin Ji as the center, the air within a hundred-meter radius seemed to be instantly sucked dry, followed by a terrifying ultra-high-pressure explosion. The hundreds of heavy armored knights in the innermost circle didn't even have time to raise their shields before they, along with their armor, were squeezed into twisted lumps of scrap metal and blood mist under this irresistible, mighty force.

The hard white stone altar was like a biscuit struck by a heavy hammer, instantly shattering into pieces. Rubble mixed with severed limbs and broken arms shot out in all directions like a torrential rain. Every piece of rubble carried enough kinetic energy to pierce through steel plates, turning the mages on the periphery—who were originally preparing to release a second round of magic—into sieves.

There were no screams.

Because the speed of sound could not even catch up with the pace of descending death.

It wasn't until two seconds later that the world-destroying shockwave slammed hard against the protective barrier on the outskirts of the respawn point, kicking up a sky full of light shards. By then, the center of the altar had turned into a massive, smoking meteorite crater.

The dust settled.

Qin Ji stood in the center of the ruins, holding his sword in one hand. That rust-covered 'Tetanus Blade' was currently dripping with non-existent blood, its blade trembling slightly from bearing too much power, emitting a tooth-aching hum.

Above his head, dense golden numbers were frantically scrolling like a waterfall:

[Killed player 'Proud World Mad Blade', Strength +1]

[Killed player 'God of Magic Descends', Intelligence +1]

[Killed player 'One Arrow Through the Heart', Agility +1]

...

In just a short moment, thousands of kill notifications flashed by.

Qin Ji casually twirled his sword, his gaze sweeping over the players in the distance who had luckily survived but were now paralyzed with fear. His expression was as calm as if he were looking at a flock of chickens and ducks waiting to be slaughtered, his lips curling into a wicked arc.

"The taste of this buffet..."

He lightly flicked the edge of the sword, the crisp sound echoing in the deathly silent square, "is not bad."

The entire field fell silent.

The Starlight City respawn point, which had been boisterous enough to shake the heavens, was now so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. Tens of thousands of people stared wide-eyed at the man standing amidst the mountain of corpses and sea of blood; their throats felt as if a piece of glowing red charcoal was stuck in them, unable to make a single sound.

One swing.

It was just a single basic attack.

Without any skill light effects, without even using magic, pure physical crushing had cleared out all the top-tier players in the core area of the respawn point.

This kind of visual impact was more heart-shaking than any Forbidden Spell.

...

Meanwhile, in the real world, in the high-level conference rooms of major top-tier factions.

On the holographic projection screens, a slow-motion replay of Qin Ji's sword swing was being played repeatedly.

"Is the data analysis out?"

At the head of the Su Corporation's conference table, a dignified middle-aged man asked in a deep voice.

"It's out..." The technical director in charge of data analysis wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his voice trembling. "Based on the destructive power at the scene and the peak energy value at that moment, this Qin Ji's attack power... is at least at the million level. And..."

"And what?"

"And based on his performance of tanking the first wave of skill rain without dying, his Health is conservatively estimated to be over four hundred thousand. At this stage, even the chief Shield Warrior of our special operations team in a full set of Bronze gear only has just over fifty thousand Health."

The sound of collective gasps filled the conference room.

Four hundred thousand Health.

Million-level attack.

Is this even a player? This is simply a humanoid Divine Beast in human skin!

"No matter the cost!" The middle-aged man slammed the table, his eyes flashing with the light of greed and ambition. "We must pull him into our camp! If he cannot be recruited..."

He paused, a trace of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes, "then find a way to uncover his real-world identity. This kind of uncontrollable nuclear weapon must be held in our hands."

Similar conversations were happening within the Dynasty Guild, the War God Hall, and even the command rooms of official special operations groups.

Qin Ji's sword swing had not only shattered the players' encirclement but also shattered the original balance between the major factions.

...

Inside the game, the ruins of Starlight City.

Qin Ji paid no mind to the terrified gazes around him. He was always a pragmatic person; since he had established his prestige and farmed his attributes, it was time to get down to business.

Just then, a crisp System notification sounded in his ear, interrupting his thoughts.

"Ding! Congratulations on completing the hidden unique chain quest [Drought Demon's Chaos · First Link: Release the Drought Demon]."

"Quest Evaluation: S-rank (Perfect)."

"Quest Rewards: Free Attribute Points +50, Special God-Gifted Treasure Chest ×1."

Qin Ji raised an eyebrow.

Back in the Newbie Village, in order to farm mobs, he had conveniently released that sealed Ancestor of Zombies. He hadn't expected the quest settlement to be delayed until now.

"Open the treasure chest," Qin Ji thought to himself.

A pillar of dark red light suddenly descended from the heavens, ignoring the defensive barrier of Starlight City and enveloping Qin Ji directly. Within the light, a thread-bound book, entirely black and emitting an ancient, decaying aura, slowly emerged, finally landing in his palm.

The cover was neither paper nor leather; it felt bone-chillingly cold to the touch, as if touching ice from the depths of the Nine Netherworld. On the cover, three distorted blood-red characters slowly writhed as if they possessed life—

[book of life and death] (Incomplete Manual)

Qin Ji's pupils constricted slightly.

The book of life and death?

Isn't this thing a supreme treasure of the Underworld from myths and legends? Why would it appear here?

He quickly opened the attribute panel.

[book of life and death (God-Gifted · Unique)]

[Category]: Special Magic Treasure / Causality Weapon

[Equip Requirement]: Bound to player 'Qin Ji', cannot be dropped, cannot be traded, cannot be stolen.

[Effect]: You can write down the true name of any creature existing in the current plane on the book of life and death (Cooldown: 24 hours/use).

[Judge's Pen]: The target whose name is written down, regardless of their location, will suffer the 'King Yama's Roll Call' curse. They will be forced to lose (10,000 points + 1% of the caster's maximum Health) as True Damage every second until the target dies.

[Durability]: Indestructible.

[Note]: When King Yama decrees your death at the third watch, who dares keep you until the fifth?

Looking at this row of attribute descriptions, even though Qin Ji was accustomed to great storms, his breathing couldn't help but stop for half a second.

Insane.

Too insane.

This base damage of ten thousand per second was already an instant-kill existence for players at this stage, but that wasn't the most terrifying part.

The most terrifying part was that '1% of the caster's maximum Health' bonus!

For an ordinary mage, this bonus might just be a small extra of a few hundred damage.

But for Qin Ji...

He glanced at his health bar, which had long since broken through the heavens due to his frantic plundering of attributes.

One percent of four hundred thousand Health was four thousand points.

But this was only the beginning.

As he continued his slaughter in the future, his Health breaking through a million, ten million, or even a hundred million was only a matter of time. At that point, when he wrote a name in the book of life and death, and hundreds of thousands or even millions of True Damage popped up every second, even a god would have to kneel and sing submission!

More importantly, this thing was a long-range strike!

This meant that as long as he knew a BOSS's name, he wouldn't even need to travel. He could lie in a luxury mansion in the main city, drinking wine, and curse those world-class BOSSes tens of thousands of miles away to death!

As a Rebirth traveler, what Qin Ji had most in his head were the names and true names of those top-tier BOSSes.

"Interesting..."

Qin Ji's fingers lightly stroked the cold cover of the book of life and death, a playful smile appearing on his face. This wasn't just a book of life and death; this was clearly an automatic mob-farming ATM.

In the few minutes he took to check his rewards, the surrounding crowd finally snapped out of it.

Most players chose to quietly retreat out of fear, but there were also a few bold ones—or rather, those blinded by greed—who actually worked up the courage to approach.

"That... Great God, hello."

A warrior in silver armor rubbed his hands, his face full of flattering smiles. "I am Asura Yi Ze, the Vice-Guild Leader of the Asura Guild. That scene just now was truly shocking! I wonder if Great God is interested in joining our Asura Guild? The annual salary starts at ten million, you can pick any beauties or luxury cars you want, and I can even give you the position of Vice-Guild Leader!"

Before he could finish, a female mage wearing flashy clothes squeezed out from the side, her voice so sweet it gave people goosebumps: "Big brother~ don't listen to those smelly men, come to our Jinghong Guild. Our guild is full of beautiful young ladies. As long as you come, the Guild Leader said she can make you an Honorary Elder directly, and... we can even have offline meetups~"

"Move aside! Brother, come to our War God Hall! Only we are worthy of your strength!"

Several people actually started arguing on the spot for the right to speak, spit flying everywhere, completely forgetting that they were also part of the army that had just been besieging Qin Ji.

Qin Ji put away the book of life and death and looked coldly at this group of buffoons.

"You guys were smashing skills quite happily just now, weren't you?"

He spoke unhurriedly; his voice wasn't loud, but it made the arguing people shut up instantly, each of them freezing awkwardly in place.

"A misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding..." Asura Yi Ze laughed dryly. "Wasn't that a System quest? Everyone's just trying to make a living. Since you're so powerful, Great God, what does a little misunderstanding matter? As long as you join..."

"Scram."

Qin Ji lightly spat out a single word.

There was no emotional fluctuation, yet it carried an unquestionable chill.

The faces of the few changed. Although they were angry in their hearts, after seeing the still-bleeding Tetanus Blade in Qin Ji's hand, none of them dared to say another word and slunk back into the crowd to run away.

Qin Ji couldn't be bothered to waste time with these fence-sitters.

He had a more important thing to do now—help that destitute princess, Leona, take the throne.

This wasn't just for the quest rewards, but also to lay the groundwork for the future.

According to his memories of his past life, in another three versions, the [Great Cataclysm] expansion would begin, and a high-level civilization from the Arate Galaxy would invade the Divine Realm. At that time, conventional attribute attacks would be significantly weakened, and only 'Incense Power' would be able to cause effective damage to those alien creatures.

And the fastest way to obtain Incense Power was to control an ancient kingdom and use the faith of the entire nation to condense a Godhead.

Princess Leona of the Star Kingdom was the Puppet he had chosen.

...

Shaking off the tails behind him, Qin Ji passed through several complex alleys and headed toward the sparsely populated Black Wind Mountain Range outside the city.

His current PK value was too high; walking on the main road was like being a moving light bulb. Although he wasn't afraid of killing, he found it troublesome.

Half an hour later.

Level 20 mob area, deep within the Green Poison Spider Nest.

The air here was filled with a nauseatingly sweet and fishy scent, and the surrounding withered trees were covered in white spider webs.

Qin Ji stopped his pace and said plainly to the empty woods, "How much longer are you going to hide? My patience is limited."

Shasha...

A faint sound of footsteps rang out.

From behind a massive withered tree, a figure draped in a black cloak stepped out. She slowly pulled back her hood, revealing an exquisitely beautiful but slightly pale face. Her long golden hair was exceptionally dazzling in the dim light, but her sapphire-blue eyes were filled with wariness and scrutiny.

It was precisely the currently wanted exiled princess of the Star Kingdom, Leona.

"The commotion you caused was too big."

Leona stared intently at Qin Ji, her voice cold and clear. "Now the entire kingdom's guard is looking for you. I took a huge risk meeting with you."

"Risk?"

Qin Ji scoffed, leaning casually against a moss-covered rock, his gaze unscrupulously sizing up this future empress. "Was it quite satisfying watching me be besieged by hundreds of thousands of people? If I'm not mistaken, you must have been watching from the shadows for a long time."

Leona did not deny it, only giving a non-committal smile: "I needed to confirm if you were qualified to be my ally. If you couldn't even handle those adventurers, how could you possibly help me reclaim my throne?"

"Ally?"

Qin Ji shook his head, extending a finger and wagging it in front of him. "Your Highness, you've misunderstood one thing."

He stood up straight and walked step by step toward Leona. As he approached, a thick, almost tangible bloody Evil Qi rushed at her, making this noble princess subconsciously take half a step back, a trace of panic flashing in her originally haughty eyes.

Qin Ji stopped half a meter in front of her, looking down at her from above, his pitch-black eyes reflecting Leona's slightly pale face.

"We are not allies."

Qin Ji's voice was low and full of magnetism, like a demon's whisper. "I am your creditor, your only life-saving straw."

"Want to be Queen? Fine."

"But the prerequisite is, you must be obedient."

The setting sun spilled through the gaps in the withered trees onto the two of them, stretching their shadows long. Qin Ji's slender hand slowly rose, hovering in front of Leona's delicate chin. Although he didn't touch her, that invisible sense of pressure was like a great mountain, causing this destitute princess's originally straight back to tremble imperceptibly.