58: Chapter 58 The Gods' Hunt? Sorry, I just want to rack up a million health points.

The night wind cut like a blade, swirling with the lingering scent of burning from the ruins of Black Wind Stockade as it whistled past Qin Ji's hem.

The tower wreckage beneath his feet groaned under the burden, looking as if it might disintegrate in the wind at any moment. Qin Ji stood with one hand in his pocket, while the other lightly tossed his newly plundered loot—a Storage Ring emitting a cold, eerie aura. His gaze, however, pierced through layers of night, locking onto the distant direction of the Starry Capital.

The echoes of the Server-wide Announcement were still frantically spamming the world channel, and the center of this storm had only just begun to spread.

...

Starry Capital, Inner Palace Courtyard.

*Smash!*

An exquisite glazed cup was slammed violently onto the golden-threaded nanmu floor, shattering into countless crystalline fragments.

Second Princess Qing Fuyun's chest heaved violently, her usually well-maintained face now appearing somewhat distorted and hideous. She stared fixedly at the floating System panel before her; every word of that red Server-wide Announcement felt like a slap delivered harshly to her face.

"Dead? Grelorlinssen is actually dead?!"

Her voice was sharp and trembling, her knuckles white from excessive force as her fingers dug deep into the soft flesh of her palms.

That was the Son of the Demon King!

He was a powerful ally she had spent countless resources on, even going so far as to sell out kingdom intelligence to establish a connection! Her original plan was to use Grelorlinssen's power to purge dissidents in the upcoming 'War of Succession,' but now, this trump card had been uprooted entirely?

"Who was it? Who on earth did this?!"

Qing Fuyun spun around abruptly, her eyes scanning the maidservants kneeling below her like a venomous snake.

No one dared to court disaster at such a time; the entire hall was so deathly silent that only the crackling of the candle flames could be heard.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the palace in the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

The elderly King Abra stood on the terrace, clutching a secret letter that had just been sent back. A sharp glint flashed in his cloudy old eyes, and his originally hunched back actually straightened a bit in this moment.

"Good, a magnificent kill."

Abra looked toward the direction of Black Wind Stockade, his lips curling into a meaningful arc. "With Grelorlinssen dead, the Demon Race's deployments at the border will surely fall into chaos. That girl Fuyun's backer has fallen; the situation in the capital... is finally about to change."

He turned his head toward the shadows behind him. "Pass down the order: the royal family is to grant the highest level of courtesy to this warrior who slew the Son of the Demon King. No matter who he is, as long as he doesn't stand with Fuyun, he is our friend."

...

The Far North Ice Field, Demon God Temple.

*Rumble—!!*

The Far North, usually covered in wind and snow year-round, suddenly erupted with a heaven-shaking roar of fury.

A black ice peak thousands of feet high instantly disintegrated under the impact of some terrifying power, turning into ice shards that filled the sky.

"Ant! How dare you kill my son!!"

A pillar of Devilish Qi as black as ink shot into the sky, directly tearing through the clouds. The Devilish Qi churned frantically in the air, finally condensing into a giant, single eye burning with black flames.

The single eye rolled, instantly locking onto the far south.

"Bloodline Resonance, Ten Thousand Mile Pursuit!!"

Accompanied by this roar, the giant eye suddenly contracted, transforming into a crimson rune mark. Like a falling meteor, it tore through the Void Realm and shot at extreme speed toward Qin Ji's location!

...

Black Wind Stockade Ruins.

Qin Ji had just finished organizing the loot in his bag and was preparing to check the specific effects of [Devil King's Pressure].

Suddenly, a heart-palpitating chill instantly enveloped his entire body.

The sensation was like being targeted by some primordial Vicious Beast; even the surrounding air became viscous.

"Roar—!"

Beside him, the Abyssal Demon Dragon 'Frost' suddenly reared up, letting out an uneasy low growl from its throat. Its massive dragon wings unfurled, attempting to shield Qin Ji.

"Stand down."

Qin Ji reached out and patted Frost's hard dragon scales, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked up at the sky.

In the originally pitch-black night sky, a crimson meteor was approaching at a speed that defied physical common sense. Wherever that red light passed, space seemed to be scorched with black cracks.

"Getting impatient already?"

Qin Ji's lips curled into a cold sneer. "Hit the small one, and the old one comes out. This Demon Race family really values being 'neat and tidy'."

He showed no panic whatsoever, not even making a move to dodge.

Because he knew very well that a causality-type skill of this level could not be avoided simply by movement.

Since it couldn't be dodged, he would just take it!

*Boom!*

The red light fell, striking Qin Ji with unerring precision.

There was no explosion or damage as imagined. The moment the red light touched Qin Ji's body, it transformed into countless complex runic chains that burrowed into his skin, finally forming a burning black skull mark on his forehead.

"Ding! Warning! You have been afflicted by Devil King Grelvlonte's [Revenge Mark]."

"Ding! Server-wide Announcement: Devil King Grelvlonte has issued a [Demon God Pursuit Order]! Anyone who kills the marked player 'Qin Ji' can go to the Demon God Temple to claim one Divine Artifact and one Hidden Class Change Book!"

"Ding! Server-wide Announcement: Devil King Grelvlonte has issued a [Demon God Pursuit Order]..."

The blood-red announcement repeated three times, once again setting the entire world of 'God Domain' ablaze.

If the previous First Kill only shocked the players, then the current "Divine Artifact Reward" completely ignited everyone's greed.

A Divine Artifact!

A Hidden Class!

For players who were currently fighting to the death for a single piece of Blue equipment, this was an irresistible, fatal temptation.

Qin Ji glanced at his status bar.

[Status: Devil King's Mark (Undispellable)]

[Effect 1: Your coordinates will be broadcast in real-time to all players every 10 minutes.]

[Effect 2: Aggro from all Demon Race creatures is locked to MAX, and damage dealt by them is increased by 50%.]

[Effect 3: Upon being killed by a player, all equipped gear is guaranteed to drop, and Rank -5.]

"Tsk, quite ruthless."

Qin Ji touched the burning mark on his forehead. No fear could be seen on his face; instead, he wore the excited smile of a hunter seeing prey fall into a trap. "Real-time coordinate broadcasts? Guaranteed gear drops? This isn't a pursuit order; it's clearly a navigation System opened specifically for me because they're afraid those coming to die won't find the way."

His current attributes had already been stacked to an appalling level.

In the main cities, he was limited by safe zone rules and had to restrain himself. But once in the wild...

"I was just worrying about not finding enough Advanced monsters to farm my [Greedy Grasp]. Since you're all being so polite, I won't hold back."

Qin Ji casually closed the frantically flashing private message windows.

Returning to the city was definitely out of the question now. With this massive red name and mark, the guards of Tianxing City would likely attack him from eight hundred meters away. That hidden quest in the city would have to be put on hold for now.

"Since I can't return to the city to hand in the quest, I'll go stack my health bar first."

Qin Ji opened the map and locked his gaze onto a swamp area thirty kilometers away—[Misty Swamp].

That was a Level 45 monster spawn zone.

Deep within the swamp resided a special monster called the [Bloodback Mystic Turtle]. This monster's attack power wasn't high and its movement speed was extremely slow, but it possessed abnormal physical defense and a health pool as high as a million, along with a passive that regenerated 5% HP per second.

To ordinary players, this was an unchewable rock. It took forever to kill, and the experience was only at the level of an ordinary elite monster, making its value-to-effort ratio extremely low.

But for Qin Ji...

"High health? Fast regeneration? That's simply a perfect 'Attribute ATM'."

A sharp glint flashed in Qin Ji's eyes.

His [Greedy Grasp] had a trait: as long as he secured a kill, he could plunder attributes. And if he could open that hidden dungeon mode to face swarms of Bloodback Mystic Turtles...

He could already imagine the scene of his health points breaking through the sky.

"Let's go, Frost."

Qin Ji flipped onto the dragon's back and lightly patted the coarse scales. "Taking you for a buffet."

"Roar!"

The Abyssal Demon Dragon let out an excited roar, its massive wings flapping violently to stir up a gale as it carried Qin Ji into the sky, instantly disappearing into the vast night.

Only the ruins of Black Wind Stockade remained, recounting the tragic slaughter that had just occurred under the moonlight.

...

Misty Swamp, Outer Area.

This place was shrouded year-round in gray poisonous miasma, and the air was thick with the stench of rotting vegetation.

The ground was soft silt; one would sink into it if not careful. Withered trees looked like twisted ghost hands reaching toward the dim sky.

*Sizzle—*

A Poisonous Dart Frog lurking in the mud suddenly lunged, its barbed tongue shooting like a sharp arrow toward the dark shadow in mid-air.

However, before it could even touch its target...

A golden Sword Qi descended from the sky.

*Puchi!*

The Arrow Frog's body exploded directly into a cloud of blood in mid-air, not even having time to let out a scream.

"Ding! You have killed a Poisonous Dart Frog (LV. 42), triggering [Greedy Grasp]. Plundered Attribute: Poison Resistance +5."

Standing on the dragon's back, Qin Ji casually withdrew his [frostmourne], not even sparing a glance at the pathetic mob.

"Poison resistance isn't bad. If I encounter a poison expert in the future, I can just stand there and let them try to poison me to death."

He commanded Frost to lower its altitude, flying close above the swamp.

According to his memories from his past life, the key to opening the Bloodback Mystic Turtle hidden dungeon was in an abandoned temple in the center of this swamp.

The deeper they went, the thicker the fog became, until visibility was less than ten meters.

Just then.

The sound of intense fighting suddenly came from the mist ahead, accompanied by the light effects of magical explosions and the roars of beasts.

"Hmm? There are actually people leveling in this godforsaken place?"

Qin Ji's brow quirked slightly. He signaled Frost to hover in mid-air, cast [Shadow Veil] on himself, and noiselessly approached.

Through the thin mist, he could see a five-person party on the open ground below besieging a massive crocodile BOSS.

[Iron-Armored Giant Crocodile (Lord-Rank BOSS)]

[Level: LV. 45]

[HP: 850,000 / 1,500,000]

The party's composition was quite luxurious.

A heavy-armored warrior holding a tower shield was holding the line at the front. Although his health bar fluctuated wildly, his positioning was extremely agile, allowing him to block critical damage with his shield every time the giant crocodile snapped at him.

A fire mage in the backline was outputting violently, every fireball taking away several thousand HP from the BOSS.

But the most eye-catching one was a young girl standing in the middle of the team.

She wore slightly bulky Alchemist robes and held not a staff, but a giant... soup ladle?

"Da Zhuang, open wide!"

The girl gave a soft shout, her soup ladle swinging fiercely as a glob of green, viscous liquid flew precisely into the heavy warrior's mouth.

"Blegh—!"

The warrior named Da Zhuang nearly vomited on the spot, his face turning green. "Xiao Liu! Why does your healing potion taste like canned herring?! I'd rather be bitten to death by the crocodile than drink this stuff!"

Despite his complaints, his nearly empty health bar surged upward by a large margin at a visible rate.

[Xiao Liu's Special Dish (Failed Product)]

[Effect: Instantly restores 30% HP, but causes a 3-second 'Nausea' state.]

"Stop complaining! You're lucky to have anything to drink!"

The girl named Xiao Liu waved her soup ladle huffily. "One more word and next time I'll add a lethal amount of wasabi!"

Watching this from mid-air, Qin Ji couldn't help but want to laugh.

This team was interesting.

That Alchemist was clearly a lifestyle class player, yet she could actually make such high-grade potions that restored 30% HP instantly. Although the side effects were a bit of a mental struggle, it was definitely a life-saving divine skill at critical moments.

If this kind of talent could be recruited into a guild as a logistics chief...

Just as Qin Ji was considering whether to go down and "stage a robbery" while picking up a subordinate...

A sudden change occurred!

The Iron-Armored Giant Crocodile, which had been fighting the players, suddenly stopped its attacks. Its cloudy yellow vertical pupils snapped toward the sky, as if sensing some extremely terrifying existence.

It wasn't just the crocodile.

The swamp water for miles around suddenly began to boil violently.

Countless crocodiles, snakes, and toads lurking beneath the water surface frantically scrambled out. They didn't attack the players; instead, as if on a pilgrimage, they all turned their heads in unison toward Qin Ji's direction.

The black skull mark on Qin Ji's forehead was now emitting a visible red light, piercing through the concealment of the [Shadow Veil] and shining in the dim swamp like a thousand-watt lightbulb.

"Roar—!!"

All the monsters roared simultaneously, their originally murky eyes turning blood-red in an instant.

Devil King's Mark · Effect 2 Triggered!

Aggro Locked!

The five-person party below was completely stunned.

"Holy crap? What's going on? Why did the BOSS go berserk?"

"No! Look at the sky! What is that?!"

The fire mage pointed toward the sky in horror.

The mist dispersed, revealing a terrifying black dragon over thirty meters long hovering above them. Atop the dragon's head, a man with black flames burning on his forehead looked down upon it all.

The cloak behind him snapped in the wind, and his indifferent eyes were even colder than the surrounding miasma.

Qin Ji sighed helplessly and reached up to touch the mark on his forehead.

"This broken lightbulb really is a bit too bright."

He drew the greatsword from his back, the blade pointing down at the dense, tide-like swarm of monsters rushing toward him, his lips slowly splitting into a wild arc.

"Since you've all delivered yourselves to my door... let's eat."

The last glimmer of the setting sun was swallowed whole. Qin Ji leaped from the dragon's back, frostmourne drawing a mournful ice-blue arc in mid-air like the reaper's scythe as it slammed violently into the center of the boiling beast tide. The resulting splash of mud mixed with monster limbs bloomed like a crimson flower of death in the night.