73: Chapter 73 First Clear of Purgatory, the Desperate Blood-Eyed Dragon Turtle!

On the scorched earth, the lingering power of the thunder still made faint crackling sounds in the air.

Qi Yun stared blankly at the System logs rapidly scrolling across his retina; it was as if his Soul had been snatched away by that lightning storm just now.

"Ding! Your party has killed [Blackwater Alligator Turtle (Purgatory Elite)], gaining 35,000 Experience Points (50% level-gap bonus)."

"Ding! Your Rank has increased to LV.13..."

"Ding! Your Rank has increased to LV.14..."

"Ding! Your Rank has increased to LV.15..."

Just one wave of monsters.

Just in the blink of an eye.

The leveling threshold that had troubled ordinary players for days was pierced through like it was made of paper.

"What are you dazed for?"

Qin Ji's voice came coldly; he didn't turn around, his combat boots stepping on the charred fragments of turtle shells with a crisp cracking sound, "If you don't want to level up, get out."

Qi Yun shuddered violently and quickly scrambled up using both hands and feet, clutching that novice longbow that completely mismatched his current Rank as he stumbled to follow. Looking at the tall, slender back stretched by the dim light ahead, his throat felt dry.

Is this... the Snow Emperor?

Is this kind of monster-killing efficiency really something a human can achieve?

The two of them passed through the cavern's front hall and entered the second stage.

The space here was more open, the ground covered in slippery moss, and the air was thick with a heavy, fishy wind.

"Roar—!"

Dozens of Bloodback Mystic Turtles, each a size larger than the ones before, crawled out from the dark river. Their dorsal shells displayed an eerie dark red, as if they had been soaked in blood for a thousand years; their limbs were as thick as pillars, and every step they took made the ground tremble slightly.

[Bloodback Mystic Turtle (Purgatory Commander)]

[Rank: 20]

[HP: 150,000/150,000]

[Traits: Bloodthirsty Mystic Armor (Reflects 30% Physical Damage), Water Mastery]

"Holy crap... 150,000 HP? 30% damage reflection?!"

Qi Yun's eyelids twitched wildly; with these kinds of attributes, each one of these would be a mini-BOSS requiring a hundred-man raid outside, yet here they were just common mobs in a group?

"Swoosh!"

Driven by instinct, Qi Yun drew his bow and fired an arrow.

The feathered arrow accurately pinned itself near the eye socket of the foremost Mystic Turtle.

-1 (Forced Damage).

-350 (Reflection Damage).

Qi Yun's health bar instantly dropped a chunk, scaring him so much his face turned green.

Before he could even drink a potion, a pitch-black figure had already swept past him. At some point, a heavy sword burning with black flames had appeared in Qin Ji's hand; it was a Silver-grade weapon he had looted earlier, but with the support of his terrifying Strength attribute, this sword was currently more brutal than a Divine Artifact.

"Collapse!"

There were no fancy skills.

Just the most simple and unadorned horizontal sweep.

The sword's edge tore through the air, drawing a mournful black moon in the dim cavern.

That Bloodback Mystic Turtle, which had just been roaring, was as fragile as tofu under this sword strike, along with the hard dorsal shell it was so proud of.

-128,500! (Critical Hit)

-30,000! (True Damage · Passive Triggered)

The massive turtle shell instantly exploded, flesh and blood flying everywhere, and the enormous body was directly blown back by the monstrous force contained in this strike, knocking down a swathe of its kin behind it.

Before the golden damage numbers could dissipate, Qin Ji's figure had already turned into an afterimage, charging into the monster pack.

Raising the hand, dropping the sword.

Every swing was accompanied by the tooth-aching sound of shattering bones.

Those Commander-Rank monsters that made players at this stage feel despair were as fragile as a flock of chickens waiting to be slaughtered before him.

"Ding! Plunder successful! Strength +5."

"Ding! Plunder successful! Physique +5."

"Ding! Plunder successful! Water Resistance +1%."

A hint of pleasure flashed in Qin Ji's eyes.

This was the charm of a Purgatory-grade dungeon.

Ordinary wild monsters only provided 1 attribute point, while a Commander-Rank monster here could provide 5!

Although the reflection mechanism caused red damage numbers to constantly pop up over his head, his insane Lifesteal Affix instantly filled his health. His health bar rose and fell like it was dancing a waltz of death.

Qi Yun stood in the corner, clutching a red potion, completely numb.

He watched Qin Ji's leisurely slaughter amidst the monster pack, then looked at the longbow in his own hand that only dealt 1 point of damage.

They were both players, but was the species gap really larger than that between a human and a dog?

In less than three minutes.

The second stage was cleared.

The ground was covered in a thick layer of turtle shell fragments and loot glowing with various colors.

"Continue."

Qin Ji didn't even stop to catch his breath, heading directly toward the third stage.

The terrain of the third stage became narrow, with bottomless abysses on both sides and only a stone bridge about five meters wide in the middle.

This time, in addition to Bloodback Mystic Turtles, Blood-Eyed Mystic Turtles with long-range attacks also appeared.

As soon as the battle broke out, the sky was filled with water arrows covering the stone bridge like a rainstorm.

Relying on his terrifying Agility attribute, Qin Ji wove through the dense barrage with ease, every swing of his heavy sword taking a life.

However.

"Puff!"

A soft sound.

Qi Yun, who had been hiding a hundred meters behind Qin Ji, suddenly stiffened.

Just a single stray water arrow deflected by Qin Ji had grazed his shoulder.

-4,800!

Qi Yun's pitiful health bar was instantly emptied.

His eyes widened as he watched his vision turn gray, with only one thought left in his mind:

What the hell... I die just from a graze?

Is this game even playable?!

Qin Ji glanced back at the corpse on the ground, his expression showing no fluctuation.

"Full Agility build, zero defense, zero health. It's indeed the style of that extreme lunatic."

He had no intention of resurrecting Qi Yun.

In the upcoming battle, that glass-cannon Archer would only be a burden even if he were alive.

After clearing the last Blood-Eyed Mystic Turtle, Qin Ji stood at the end of the stone bridge.

Ahead was a massive underground lake.

The lake water appeared an eerie ink-green, as calm as a giant mirror.

But the moment Qin Ji stepped onto the island in the center of the lake, the entire lake boiled.

Rumble—!

The water surface exploded, and a massive dark shadow as large as a small mountain slowly rose.

It was an incredibly huge Dragon Turtle; the shell on its back was an ancient bronze color, engraved with complex magic circuits. Its head was no longer that of a turtle, but a hideous Dragon head, with eyes burning with a crimson blood-light.

[Purgatory Demon Lord · Blood-Eyed Dragon Turtle (Bronze-grade BOSS)]

[Rank: 25]

[HP: 25,000,000/25,000,000]

[Attack: 38,000]

[Skills: Nine Pillar Impact, Consecutive Water Cannons, Dragon Roar Tsunami, Super Regeneration, Absolute Super Armor]

Twenty-five million HP!

And this was the result of attributes skyrocketing by 300% under the influence of Purgatory difficulty.

If this were in the outside world, this would absolutely be an unsolvable World BOSS at this stage.

"Roar—!"

The Blood-Eyed Dragon Turtle let out an ear-splitting roar; the terrifying sound waves echoed in the enclosed cavern, causing the stalactites on the ceiling to fall one after another.

Its crimson Dragon eyes stared fixedly at the tiny human before it, and opening its mouth, it fired a high-pressure water cannon!

Thump!

The speed of the water cannon was startlingly fast; everywhere it passed, the air was torn into white vacuum zones.

Qin Ji's pupils constricted slightly, he exerted force with his feet, and his whole body instantly shifted ten meters horizontally.

Boom!

The spot where he had originally stood was instantly blasted into a deep pit several meters in diameter; the hard rock was directly turned to powder under the terrifying water pressure.

"Interesting."

A cold smile curled at the corner of Qin Ji's mouth.

This kind of destructive power finally made him feel a long-lost trace of excitement.

"Since you want to play with water, I'll let you drink your fill."

Qin Ji raised his hand, and his staff instantly switched back into his palm.

[Elemental Profound Truth · Frozen for Ten Thousand Miles (Single-target Compressed Version)]

Crack!

An extreme cold Qi gushed out from his palm, instantly hitting the Dragon Turtle's massive body.

-89,000!

The damage wasn't considered high; for a BOSS with over twenty million HP, it was practically like scratching an itch.

Moreover, a green light flashed on the Dragon Turtle's body.

+150,000!

A green healing number floated up.

Its [Super Regeneration] talent automatically restored 1% of its maximum HP every second; combined with the environmental bonus, the healing speed was simply despair-inducing.

"Healing?"

The coldness in Qin Ji's eyes deepened.

Since magic damage would be negated by resistance, he would use the most primitive method.

He put away the staff and took out a weapon from his backpack that he had never shown before others.

It was a rusty broken blade.

It looked unremarkable, and didn't even have attributes.

But this blade was a special item he had picked up in the God-Forsaken Land in his previous life—[Blade of the Ruined King (Fragment)].

It had only one effect: Attacks deal physical damage equal to 5% of the target's current HP.

"Let's see how much you can heal."

Qin Ji's figure bolted forth like a bolt of black lightning, charging directly at the mountain-like Dragon Turtle.

The Dragon Turtle roared, its massive front claw slamming down fiercely, bringing with it a fishy wind.

Qin Ji did not retreat but advanced, his body performing a fold in mid-air that defied physical common sense, narrowly avoiding this lethal strike.

Subsequently, he stepped onto the Dragon Turtle's rough forelimb and charged up its dorsal shell as if walking on level ground.

"Slash!"

The broken blade, with a mournful sound of breaking wind, stabbed fiercely into the gap between the scales at the Dragon Turtle's neck.

Puchi!

Black blood sprayed.

-1,250,000! (Effect Triggered)

One million two hundred and fifty thousand!

This single strike directly cut off a large chunk of the Dragon Turtle's health bar.

The intense pain drove the Dragon Turtle mad.

The magic circuits on its back suddenly lit up, and the surrounding water elements gathered frantically.

[Nine Pillar Impact]!

Nine blue light circles instantly lit up on the turtle shell beneath Qin Ji's feet.

"Too slow."

The moment the light circles lit up, Qin Ji had already predicted the skill's delay; a pair of profound ice wings condensed from ice suddenly unfurled behind his back.

With a flap of the wings, his whole body soared into the sky.

Boom boom boom boom!

Nine massive water pillars shot into the sky like nine angry water Dragons, yet they didn't even touch the corner of Qin Ji's clothes.

Instead, they blasted the rock layer at the top of the cavern, causing countless giant stones to crash down onto the Dragon Turtle's own back, making it howl in pain.

Qin Ji, suspended in mid-air, looked down from above at the giant beast below.

The broken blade in his hand had been put away, replaced by a dark red fireball spinning and compressing frantically in his palm.

That was the prototype of a fire-type Forbidden Spell fused with the Destruction Concept.

"It's over, big turtle."

Qin Ji's voice echoed in the cavern, as indifferent as a judging deity.

"In your next life, remember not to show off such a long health bar."

Boom—!

The dark red fireball plummeted with a long trail of flame, like a miniature meteorite, slamming fiercely into the Dragon Turtle's wide-open roaring mouth.

Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

Immediately following.

A blinding red light shot out from within the Dragon Turtle's body, and its massive frame swelled violently like an inflated balloon. Lava-like light shone through the gaps in its turtle shell, and even the surrounding lake water was instantly boiled and evaporated.

There was no earth-shattering explosion.

Only a muffled "puff" to the extreme.

That was the sound of flesh and bone instantly carbonizing and disintegrating under the extreme heat.

The sky full of blood mist and steam intertwined, dyeing the entire underground cavern into a Chaos of dark red.

Qin Ji hovered in mid-air, making a grasping motion with one hand, and a treasure chest emitting a brilliant golden light slowly rose from the rolling steam.

Behind him, that once-unbeatable Purgatory Demon Lord now remained only as a charred and broken skeleton, lying quietly on the dried-up lake bed, its hollow eye sockets facing the figure above that seemed like a god or demon.