6: Chapter 6 The Treant King Descends? No, he's a walking wholesaler of divine equipment!

The night was like ink, and the air in the Burial Ground still carried the stench of the Corrupt Summoner after he dissipated.

The piles of bone powder glistened with pale phosphorescence under the moonlight, as if paved with a layer of eerie frost.

Qin Ji picked up the purple-glowing Soul Echo》 book from the ground. As his fingertips touched it, the skill book instantly turned into a stream of light and drilled into the center of his brows.

"Is this... the value of a server-first kill on a Lord-Rank BOSS?"

Futou Shield Mountain swallowed a mouthful of saliva and carefully bypassed the deep pit on the ground, edging closer to Qin Ji. He looked at the loot covering the ground, his eyes nearly popping out. "Great God, this is a Lord-Rank! That wave of skeletons just now would have wiped out a hundred-man team, and you actually... no, you actually killed it like a pig?"

"A pig?"

Qin Ji glanced at him, his purple-gold pupils devoid of ripples. "A pig is a treasure from head to toe; its meat can be eaten, and its skin can be worn. Aside from contributing a bit of Spirit attribute and this useless book, this thing didn't even leave behind a bone scrap. It's far worse than a pig."

Futou Shield Mountain: "..."

Just then, the ground suddenly trembled violently.

Deep in the deathly silent forest, countless withered trees began to sway wildly, emitting a series of ear-piercing cracking sounds. An Aura, even more oppressive than the previous skeleton BOSS, was crushing toward them at an astonishing speed.

【Warning! Due to your hunting of a large number of Twisted Treants (Elite) in a short time, you have incurred the wrath of the forest overlord!】

【Warning! The Twisted Treant King (Black Iron-Rank BOSS) will arrive on the battlefield in 30 seconds!】

Two blood-red System notifications exploded on both of their retinas simultaneously.

"Damn! There's more?!"

Futou Shield Mountain looked at the huge red dot on the radar map, his face instantly turning pale. "Twisted Treant King? Isn't this thing rumored to still be in the internal testing phase? Why did it spawn now?!"

Before he could react, the fog in the distance was torn apart by a massive wooden hand.

"Boom—"

A terrifying creature, three stories tall, smashed through the withered trees along the way and appeared before them. Its entire body was covered in pitch-black ironwood armor, and countless thick vines danced wildly behind it like poisonous snakes, with a mouth full of sharp teeth growing at the tip of each vine.

【Twisted Treant King (Black Iron-Rank BOSS)】

【Rank: LV.12】

【HP: 116,800 / 116,800】

【Physical Attack: 325】

【Spell Power: ???】

【Skills: All-encompassing, Thorn Strangulation, Life Drain, Tree World Descends】

"One... one hundred and sixteen thousand HP?!"

Futou Shield Mountain's hand holding the shield began to tremble violently, his voice changing pitch. "Great God, let's retreat! This is a magic monster! Its Spell Power is a hidden attribute, absolutely much higher than its physical attack! And with this HP, even if it stood still and let us hack at it, we'd have to hack until tomorrow morning!"

At this stage, players generally had less than a thousand HP, and their attack power was only a few dozen points. Facing a monster with over one hundred thousand HP was simply hopeless.

However, Qin Ji just watched the roaring giant beast quietly, the corners of his mouth slowly curling into an arc.

"Retreat?"

He turned his head to look at the fatty behind him, his tone as calm as if he were discussing what to eat for dinner. "Fatty, leave the party."

"Ah?"

Futou Shield Mountain was stunned, thinking he had misheard. "Gr... Great God, what did you say?"

"I said, leave the party."

Qin Ji's iron sword performed a flourish, the tip pointing directly at the Treant King in the distance. "In the upcoming battle, not only will you not be able to help, but you will also split my experience points. Furthermore... if a BOSS first kill is completed solo, the reward is doubled. Bringing you along is a loss for me."

"..."

Futou Shield Mountain felt like he had been shot in the chest.

This was too realistic!

"No, Great God, I'm the financier! That three thousand just now..."

"That was money to buy equipment, not money to buy your life." Qin Ji interrupted him, his eyes slightly cold. "Leave, or should I kick you?"

"Ding! You have been kicked from the party by the party leader 'Qin Ji'."

The System notification sounded mercilessly.

Futou Shield Mountain looked at the grayed-out party panel, wanting to cry but having no tears. But he dared not say anything more, as the strength Qin Ji had displayed was too terrifying. He could only grit his teeth, scrambling back behind a huge rock hundreds of meters away, and pulled out the recording function, preparing to record this battle that was destined to be a "slaughter".

Of course, it would be a slaughter of them.

He didn't believe Qin Ji could solo such a monster.

In the center of the battlefield.

The Twisted Treant King let out a deafening roar, its ghostly green eyes locked onto Qin Ji. As the overlord of the forest, it could not tolerate an ant being so arrogant in its territory.

"Whoosh—"

Dozens of wrist-thick vines instantly pierced the air, carrying a sharp whistling sound as they strangled toward Qin Ji from all directions.

This wasn't an attack; it was a net of inescapable doom!

"It's over." Futou Shield Mountain in the distance closed his eyes instinctively.

However, the expected scene of flesh flying everywhere did not happen.

The moment the vines were about to touch the hem of Qin Ji's clothes, he moved.

Not retreating, but charging forward!

Qin Ji's figure was like a swallow darting through a storm, his footwork bizarre to the extreme. He merely tilted his body slightly, and a vine grazed his nose; immediately followed by a slide, he avoided the sweeping thorns.

Miss!

Miss!

Miss!

A series of dodge notifications floated above Qin Ji's head.

"Is this the dynamic vision brought by high Agility?"

Qin Ji analyzed calmly while weaving through the dense attack net. "The speed is okay, but the attack wind-up is too long. The lifting motion is about 0.5 seconds, enough for me to kill you three times."

Close combat!

Qin Ji instantly cut into the Treant King's blind spot, the iron sword in his hand carrying an indomitable Aura, slashing fiercely into the Treant King's rough bark.

"Clang!"

A crisp sound of metal clashing rang out.

-158!

-158! (Soul Echo triggered)

Two damage numbers jumped out.

"Defense is a bit high." Qin Ji frowned. The Treant King was a Black Iron-Rank BOSS, after all, with astonishing physical defense. Even though his current Strength attribute far exceeded that of ordinary people, his basic attack damage was reduced quite a bit.

"Roar!"

The pained Treant King was completely enraged. It violently raised its huge right arm, the entire arm instantly transforming into a giant wooden spear, shimmering with rich green light.

This was the skill wind-up!

Futou Shield Mountain in the distance saw it clearly; that was the Treant King's signature skill—【Poison Sting Spray】!

"Can't dodge it! This is an area-locked skill!" Futou Shield Mountain couldn't help but exclaim.

But Qin Ji had no intention of dodging.

The moment the green light on the Treant King's arm condensed to its peak, the sword in Qin Ji's hand suddenly changed moves. He did not attack the Treant King's torso, but flicked his wrist, the blade precisely stabbing into an inconspicuous tree burl at the joint of the Treant King's right arm.

Weak point hit!

"Pfft!"

The iron sword sank deep into the tree burl, bringing out a stream of dark green juice.

【Skill Interrupted!】

The green light on the Treant King's arm instantly dissipated. The skill that was ready to fire was forcibly stifled, and the huge backlash made its massive body stiffen, with a stun icon floating above its head.

"Beautiful!"

Futou Shield Mountain couldn't help but slap his thigh and jump up. "What kind of god-tier operation is this? Interrupting a Spell? This is a BOSS! Isn't its tenacity bar hard to interrupt?"

Taking advantage of the BOSS's stun gap, the sword in Qin Ji's hand completely turned into an afterimage.

Basic attack, side-step to cancel the backswing, basic attack, side-step again...

He was like a tireless perpetual motion machine, outputting crazily around the Treant King's massive body. Every sword swing fell precisely on the weak joints of the Treant King, and every movement was perfectly positioned in the Treant King's blind spot.

In the short five seconds of stun time, Qin Ji swung his sword eighteen times!

-2800!

-3100!

...

The Treant King's HP bar dropped a small chunk visibly.

The stun ended, and the Treant King roared, its whole body erupting with blinding green light.

【Tree World Descends!】

The ground instantly cracked, and countless huge spikes shot up from the ground, covering the entire area within fifty meters. This was a full-screen, no-blind-spot AOE ultimate move!

"Can't dodge this, right?" Futou Shield Mountain's heart rose to his throat.

Qin Ji didn't dodge.

Or rather, he couldn't be bothered to dodge.

Having killed hundreds of skeleton monsters just now, his Spirit attribute (Magic Resistance) had already stacked to a perverted level.

"Boom, boom, boom—"

Countless spikes hit Qin Ji, making muffled impact sounds. Dust rose, completely swallowing his figure.

The Treant King let out a triumphant hiss, thinking this annoying bug had been crushed into meat paste.

However, when the dust dissipated.

That black figure was still standing in place, not even his hairstyle was messed up.

-1

-1

-1

A series of forced damage numbers, like the greatest mockery, floated slowly above Qin Ji's head.

"Just this?"

Qin Ji patted the wood chips on his shoulder and looked up at the dumbfounded Treant King, his purple-gold pupils full of mockery. "Is your Spell damage scratching an itch for me? Since you're out of moves, it's my turn."

The next second, the identities of hunter and prey were completely reversed.

Was this a balanced BOSS fight?

This was clearly a one-sided slow torture!

The Treant King's pride-and-joy vine attacks were easily dodged by Qin Ji, and its world-destroying magic skills dealt only forced damage when hitting Qin Ji. Meanwhile, every counterattack from Qin Ji was mercilessly whittling down its HP.

50%... 30%... 10%...

Futou Shield Mountain in the distance was already numb.

He stared blankly at the recording screen, muttering to himself: "Is this f*cking a hack? This is definitely a hack, right? I must pull him into the guild... No, I want to recognize him as my foster father!"

Finally, as Qin Ji leaped high for the last time, the iron sword in his hand carried the momentum of thunder, stabbing fiercely into the tree core at the center of the Treant King's brows.

"Crack!"

A crisp shattering sound echoed throughout the forest.

The Treant King's massive body twitched violently, then collapsed with a crash, turning into green light spots that dissipated.

【Killed Twisted Treant King (Black Iron-Rank), gained 45,000 EXP!】

【Congratulations to player "Qin Ji" for reaching LV.11!】

【Triggered "Greedy Grasp"! Plundered core talent: Nature Affinity → Converted to passive attribute: Life Recovery + 50 points/second (Combat state not interrupted).】

【Triggered "Greedy Grasp"! Obtained extra drop: Treant King's Heart (Unique Materials).】

"Clatter—"

Big drop!

The ground was covered with a thick layer of loot, the brilliance of the gold coins almost blinding one's eyes.

And at the very top of the pile of loot, three pieces of equipment emanating a deep green luster were placed.

【Nature's Guardian · Thorn Breastplate (Set 1/5)】

【Nature's Guardian · Vine Leggings (Set 2/5)】

【Nature's Guardian · Bark Bracers (Set 3/5)】

"Tr... Treant Set?!"

Futou Shield Mountain, who had just run over, looked at the equipment on the ground, his drool almost dripping to the ground. As a veteran tank, he knew the value of this set of equipment all too well.

Collect the three-piece set, increase max HP by 20%.

Collect the five-piece set, activate special effect 【Thorn Armor】: Reflect 15% of physical damage received.

This was simply a tank's ultimate dream!

"Great God..." Futou Shield Mountain rubbed his hands and approached fawningly. "This set..."

"Want it?"

Qin Ji picked up the breastplate casually and weighed it in his hand.

"Want it! I dream about it!" Futou Shield Mountain nodded like a pounding garlic. "Great God, name your price. As long as I have it, I won't bargain!"

Qin Ji looked at his pathetic appearance, the corners of his mouth rising slightly.

In that battle just now, not only did he level up, but he also plundered the most critical 【Life Recovery】 attribute. 50 HP recovery per second meant that as long as he wasn't killed instantly, he was a perpetual motion machine. As for these few pieces of equipment that added defense and damage reflection, they were actually useless to him.

His defense relied on infinitely stacked attributes, not these pieces of rotten wood.

"These three pieces, one million as a package."

Qin Ji quoted a number that would suffocate ordinary players but was worth more than the price for a tycoon. "Plus all the gold coins in your backpack."

"Deal!"

Futou Shield Mountain didn't hesitate for even a second, fearing Qin Ji would go back on his word, and initiated the trade request directly.

One million?

If this set of equipment were taken to the auction house, the starting price would be at least two million! And it would be priceless!

Transaction completed.

Looking at the extra string of zeros in his account, Qin Ji nodded with satisfaction.

Killing monsters, gaining attributes, exploding equipment, selling for money.

This was the correct way to open the game.

He turned around, ignoring Futou Shield Mountain who was hugging the equipment and kissing it wildly, and cast his gaze toward the end of the forest.

There, it was a canyon shrouded in fog.

According to the map fragments that exploded from the Treant King just now, passing through this forest was the only way to the main city "City of Origin"—the Death Canyon.

I heard that there... the monsters are more numerous and denser.

"Let's go."

Qin Ji sheathed his iron sword, stuffed one hand in his pocket, and stepped into the depths of the darkness.

The night wind blew, rolling up the corner of his black windbreaker. In the forest ruins behind him, the huge remains of the Treant King were slowly disintegrating, turning into countless firefly-like light spots, dancing around the receding back, as if seeing off this newly promoted forest butcher.