74: Chapter 74: First Server-Wide Clear, Dead Players Don't Receive Profits

Upon the scorched earth, that massive charred skeleton lay prone and silent, with dark red steam still hissing. The golden treasure chest suspended in mid-air emitted an enticing luster, as if silently proclaiming the end of the battle.

Qin Ji walked through the air, and at the very moment his fingertips were about to touch the cold metal surface of the treasure chest—

"Crack."

A faint but ear-piercing crisp sound caused his movements to stop abruptly in mid-air.

The dried-up lake bed below suddenly trembled violently. From deep within the already carbonized Dragon Turtle skeleton, a burst of blinding emerald green light erupted. That was not the luster of life, but a sort of frenzied terminal lucidity that overextended its foundation.

[Warning: Target has triggered the near-death Talent 'Life Regression'!]

"Roar—!!"

A shrill roar mixed with a Soul shockwave swept across the field. On that broken skeleton, countless granulation tissues wriggled frantically like wild grass. The charred dead skin peeled away, and brand-new flesh reorganized at a nauseating speed.

In the blink of an eye, the health bar that had been emptied was actually jumping frantically.

+1,000,000!

+5,000,000!

+6,000,000!

"Truly f*cking perverted."

Qin Ji hung in mid-air, his brows furrowing slightly as a flash of impatience flickered in his eyes.

It wasn't that this beast was particularly strong, but rather that Purgatory-difficulty monsters had vitality as tenacious as chewing gum stuck to the bottom of a shoe. Even after being blasted into dregs, it could actually rely on a single breath of Origin Qi to forcibly reorganize.

After the Blood-Eyed Dragon Turtle reshaped its body, its crimson pupils no longer held their previous contempt, replaced instead by a madness bordering on collapse. Without the slightest pause, its massive body turned into a streak of dark red light—not to flee, but to launch a death-defying charge.

Boom!

The water surface exploded, and pitch-black dead water actually gushed out of thin air from the originally dried-up lake bottom.

[Black Water Vortex]!

A massive gravitational field instantly formed beneath Qin Ji's feet, like the devouring maw of a deep-sea behemoth. Immediately after, the shell on the Dragon Turtle's back split open, and countless water arrows compressed to the extreme formed an airtight killing formation, sealing off all space for Qin Ji to dodge.

The control chain was maxed out, followed by a burst of damage.

If this set of combos were faced by a regular hundred-man top-tier raid team, there would be no possibility other than a total wipeout at this moment.

"A deathbed struggle."

Qin Ji gave a cold snort. His figure did not pull back like a conventional mage; instead, he gripped that rust-stained broken blade with a reverse hand. His entire being was like a black meteorite, advancing rather than retreating, falling straight toward the center of that terrifying Black Water Vortex.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—

The protective Dharma shield rubbed violently against the black water, emitting a tooth-aching corrosive sound.

Just as he was about to be pierced by the water arrow formation, Qin Ji's left hand made a grasping motion, and an ancient green copper block appeared out of thin air.

There were no light or shadow special effects, only a sense of weight that was ancient to the extreme.

"Suppress."

A single word was softly uttered.

Buzz!

With Qin Ji as the center, the space within a hundred-meter radius seemed to be injected with hundreds of millions of tons of mercury. That wildly rotating Black Water Vortex was like being held down firmly by an invisible giant hand, solidifying instantly. The sky full of water arrows disintegrated inch by inch in mid-air, returning to their most primitive water molecules.

This was absolute power suppression.

In this digitized world, as long as the judgment weight was high enough, there were no rules that couldn't be trampled underfoot.

Qin Ji's figure pierced through the disintegrating water mist, instantly appearing above the Dragon Turtle's newly grown head.

The broken blade slashed down.

Simple, direct, and brutal.

Puff!

This time, there was no explosion, no firelight.

Only the soft sound of a sharp blade cutting into butter.

The Dragon Turtle's newly recovered health of over ten million was instantly emptied under this single strike like a phantom. The massive head soared into the sky, frozen in mid-air with a look of unbelievable terror.

[Plunder successful! Obtained Physique +800!]

[Plunder successful! Obtained Passive Skill Fragment: High-Speed Regeneration (1/10)!]

Golden data streams, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, flooded frantically into Qin Ji's body.

Now it was considered completely and utterly dead.

Qin Ji casually flicked the thick beast blood off the blade's edge. His gaze indifferently swept over the giant beast that had once again turned into a corpse at his feet, and he turned to grab that golden treasure chest which had finally stopped flickering.

Ding!

The crisp System notification sound echoed through the entire God Domain world at this moment.

[Server-Wide Announcement: Congratulations to player 'Snow Emperor' for successfully completing the first kill of 'Black Water Lake: Purgatory Level'! Reward: Free Attribute Points +80, Reputation +5000!]

[Server-Wide Announcement: Congratulations to player 'Snow Emperor' for successfully completing the first kill of 'Black Water Lake: Purgatory Level'! Reward: Free Attribute Points +80, Reputation +5000!]

...

The blood-red, bolded announcement repeated three times was like a depth charge dropped into a calm lake.

At this moment, the world channel outside instantly exploded.

"Holy crap?! Purgatory level first kill? Am I seeing this right?"

"It's only been a few days since the server opened, right? I'm still out here fighting wits and courage with the wild dogs at the village entrance, and someone has already cleared a Purgatory dungeon?"

"Snow Emperor? I haven't heard of this ID. Which large guild's hidden big shot is this?"

"The Dynasty Guild is still raiding the Hard difficulty, right? This is a real slap to the face!"

Countless messages flooded the screen, but all this noise had nothing to do with Qin Ji inside the dungeon.

He was looking down at another settlement message popping up on his retina.

[Party settlement in progress...]

[Detected that party member 'Qi Yun' died before the battle ended.]

[According to the contribution distribution principle, party member 'Qi Yun' receives Free Attribute Points +10 (only 1/8 of the leader's).]

[Because party member 'Qi Yun' is in a Soul state, he cannot pick up any dropped items.]

The corner of Qin Ji's mouth curled into a playful arc.

He turned around and looked at the corpse that had long since gone cold at the dungeon entrance.

Qi Yun was floating above his corpse in Soul form. Looking at the settlement information on the System panel, his whole being was about to shatter.

"Ten... ten attribute points?"

Qi Yun wanted to cry but had no tears. Looking at the glittering golden treasure chest in Qin Ji's hand, then at his own pitifully small reward, his mentality completely collapsed. "Big shot, if you're carrying someone, can't you carry them to the end! What am I? An accessory? No, I'm not even an accessory; I'm just a sacrifice used to make up the numbers!"

"Be content."

Qin Ji casually tossed the treasure chest into his backpack, having no interest in opening it on the spot. "Getting 10 free attribute points just by lying down—if it were those people outside working themselves to death doing quests, they would have knelt down and kowtowed long ago."

In this world, attribute points were life.

Ordinary players only get 5 attribute points per level. Qi Yun died once and gained the stats of two levels by riding coattails; no matter how you calculated it, this deal was a massive profit.

"Let's go."

Qin Ji didn't waste words. With a thought, he chose to exit the dungeon.

Light flickered.

The figures of the two disappeared from the cavern filled with the smell of blood.

...

Outside the dungeon, by the shore of Black Water Lake.

Just as the light of the teleportation array lit up, the noisy sound of people surged in like a tide.

"They're out! Someone came out!"

"Quick, look! Is it that Snow Emperor?"

Hundreds of players had gathered around, most of whom were scouts from various large guilds, along with many solo players waiting to scavenge. Seeing the two figures walking out of the teleportation array, everyone's gaze focused on them instantly.

Qin Ji wore a pitch-black trench coat, his face obscured by the shadow of his hood, his entire body emitting a cold aura that warned others not to approach. Meanwhile, Qi Yun beside him had a look of weakness after just being resurrected, his eyes dull, clearly still questioning life after that world-view-shattering battle.

"Hey, buddy!"

A warrior wearing bright silver armor squeezed out of the crowd, with a 'Dynasty Guild' badge pinned to his chest and a few hints of arrogance on his face. "You heard the server-wide announcement just now, right? Was that Snow Emperor you? Or did you see anything inside?"

Qin Ji did not stop his pace, as if this group of people before him were just air by the roadside.

"Hold it!"

Seeing he was being ignored, the warrior's face darkened. He reached out to grab Qin Ji's shoulder. "I'm talking to you! Don't you know the rules..."

Smack.

The warrior's hand froze three inches away from Qin Ji's shoulder.

It wasn't that he didn't want to move.

But rather, his wrist was lightly pinched by two slender fingers.

Qin Ji tilted his head slightly, revealing a section of his pale jawline under the hood. His voice was so flat that not a trace of emotion could be heard:

"This hand of yours—do you not want it anymore?"

"You—"

The warrior was about to get angry when he suddenly felt a bone-chilling coldness rush from his wrist straight to the crown of his head. That wasn't ordinary cold, but a suffocating feeling as if being stared down by a primordial Vicious Beast.

Crack.

The crisp sound of bone fracturing rang out.

The warrior didn't even have time to scream before his entire person was like being hit head-on by a high-speed truck. He instantly flew back a dozen meters, smashing hard into the crowd behind him and knocking over a group of players watching the spectacle.

-5800! (Normal Attack)

A blood-red damage number drifted up from the warrior's head.

Insta-kill.

A full-health insta-kill.

The originally noisy lakeshore instantly fell into a dead silence.

Everyone's eyes widened as they looked at that black-clothed figure who hadn't even drawn a weapon. Their throats seemed to be stuck by something, unable to make a sound.

One hit to insta-kill a guild elite in a full set of excellent equipment?

Is this a f*cking player?!

Qin Ji released his fingers as if he had done a trivial little thing, not even bothering to spare a glance at the warrior who had turned into white light.

He raised his head, his gaze passing through the terrified crowd to look at that blood-colored setting sun high in the distant firmament.

The wind rose, blowing his coat hems with a hunting sound.

Behind him, Qi Yun followed tremblingly. Looking at that back, a sudden realization rose in his heart:

The sky of this world is about to change.