8: Chapter 8 Sorry, my health regeneration is calculated in milliseconds.

"Boom—!"

The dull, thunderous roar struck the heart like a heavy hammer. The bone totem, thick enough for three people to embrace, carried a fierce wind and crashed down with the momentum of wanting to smash through the earth.

Dust and smoke erupted, and gravel sprayed outward like shrapnel.

A five-meter diameter crater instantly appeared where Qin Ji had been standing, with spiderweb-like cracks spreading wildly outward. Several corpses of Venomous Wolf Spiders were crushed into pulp by this blow, and green fluid splattered everywhere, mixed with soil.

"Roar—!!"

The fog was forcibly torn apart by the sound wave, revealing the true appearance of this behemoth.

[Bone Troll (Lord Rank)]

[Rank: LV.15]

[HP: 120,000]

[Skills: War Stomp, Bone Smash, Death Roar]

Standing five meters tall, its muscles bulged like granite, and its skin had a deathly, grayish color. A necklace made of human skulls hung around its neck. Its eyes, burning with ghost fire, stared fixedly at the human who had dodged the attack like a flea, and two visible streams of white steam puffed from its nostrils.

Qin Ji's figure appeared on a protruding rock ten meters away.

Even facing such terrifying pressure, his expression remained completely calm, and he even had the leisure to glance down at his boots.

The grip of the [Brutal Boots] was excellent; his extreme sideways movement just now hadn't even left a skid mark on the ground.

"120,000 HP."

The iron sword in Qin Ji's hand drooped slightly, and the troll's hideous body was reflected in his purple-gold pupils. "The health bar is quite long; I hope it can take a few more hits."

The Bone Troll was clearly enraged by the contempt of this tiny insect. It roared and charged forward with large strides, each step causing a small earthquake. The bone totem in its hand swept across like an army, the fierce wind it generated uprooting withered trees along the way.

Too slow.

In the eyes of Qin Ji, who had stacked over thirty points of Agility, this seemingly world-destroying attack was full of flaws.

Qin Ji bent his knees slightly, and his whole body became like a cannonball fired from a chamber. Instead of retreating, he advanced, rushing straight toward the incoming totem.

Just as the totem was about to strike his skull, his waist folded backward at an incredible ninety-degree angle. The barbed bone club whistled past his nose, and the wind pressure it generated made his cheeks ache.

Sidestep!

Upward slash with the iron sword!

"Screech—!"

The sharp blade sliced across the troll's rough thigh skin, sparks flying brilliantly, immediately followed by the muffled sound of tearing flesh.

-890!

-1024 (Critical)!

At the same time, a blue-purple arc of electricity exploded from the wound.

[Thunder Arc Jump] triggered!

Zzzzz—

The violent current instantly coursed through the troll's entire body from its leg. The behemoth's intended follow-up "War Stomp" suddenly froze, and a huge paralysis symbol appeared above its head.

"Opportunity."

A cold glint flashed in Qin Ji's eyes as he stepped on the troll's knee to launch himself into the air, soaring to the height of the troll's chest like a large bird.

The iron sword in his hand turned into a violent storm.

Basic Attack! Heavy Slash! Side Kick!

-920!

-1840 (Vital Point Critical)!

-950!

Dense damage numbers poured out from the top of the troll's head like a fountain.

Each sword strike precisely cut into the same wound, and blood gushed out like a waterfall, staining half of Qin Ji's body red. But he felt nothing; only his eyes became increasingly cold and focused, as if he were performing a delicate surgery.

"Roar!!"

The Bone Troll broke free from the paralysis, and the pain drove it into a frenzy. It threw away the totem, and its huge palm slapped down hard at Qin Ji on its chest, like swatting a mosquito.

A cold sneer curled the corners of Qin Ji's mouth, and lightning surged in his left palm.

[Thunder Chain!]

A thick bolt of lightning struck the troll's face again. The troll, just preparing to exert force, was electrocuted into full-body convulsions, its eyes rolled back, and its huge palm froze in mid-air.

This is the art of connecting attack speed and crowd control.

As long as the attack speed is fast enough, the probability of triggering paralysis will infinitely approach one hundred percent. Under Qin Ji's storm-like offensive, this LV.15 Lord Rank BOSS was pinned in place like a living target, unable to even make a single effective counterattack, other than roaring in impotent rage.

Three minutes.

Only three minutes.

Accompanied by the blue light of the final [Thunder Arc Jump] explosion, the Bone Troll's massive body collapsed with a crash, kicking up dust into the sky.

[Ding! You have killed the Lord Rank creature "Bone Troll"!]

[Triggered "Greedy Grasp"! Plundered Attribute: Strength +20!]

[Triggered "Greedy Grasp"! Plundered Attribute: Physique +20!]

[Triggered "Greedy Grasp"! Plundered Hidden Talent: Troll Regeneration (Elementary).]

Golden light spots poured into Qin Ji's body like rivers returning to the sea.

The sense of fulfillment from the surge in power made him narrow his eyes. This haul not only significantly increased his Strength and Physique, but he even obtained the core talent of the Troll race!

Qin Ji opened his panel and glanced at it.

[Troll Regeneration (Elementary): Restores 1% of max HP per second while out of combat.]

"It only works out of combat?" Qin Ji curled his lip, slightly disdainful. "Barely enough to save some money on potions."

He walked over to the troll's corpse and kicked aside the heavy bone totem.

Beneath the corpse, three glowing items lay quietly. A longbow shimmering with silver lightning, an ancient-looking skill book, and a pitch-black heart.

Qin Ji picked up the bow first.

[Thunderbolt Bow (Silver Rank)]

[Equip Requirements: No Rank requirement, Strength > 50]

[Attack Power: +300]

[Effect 1 - Thunderbolt: Attacks deal 30 additional Thunder attribute damage.]

[Effect 2 - Paralysis: Attacks have 15% chance to trigger paralysis, lasting 1 second.]

[Effect 3 - Splash: Attacks have 15% chance to splash damage to enemy units within 5 meters.]

"Good stuff."

Qin Ji raised an eyebrow. The attributes of this bow were tailor-made for kiting. Although he practiced Dual Cultivation of magic and martial arts, that didn't stop him from occasionally moonlighting as an Archer. Especially that paralysis effect; combined with his own Thunder-type skills, it was a nightmare for torture-style builds.

Putting away the bow, his gaze fell on the skill book.

The moment he saw the name, Qin Ji's breathing paused slightly.

[Skill Book: Wind of Recovery (Passive)]

[Star Rating: ★★★★ (Growable)]

[Effect: Restores (Physique x 10%) HP per second. This effect is a constant passive, does not interrupt in combat, and ignores severe injury effects.]

[Proficiency: 0/10000 (Increases 1 point of proficiency for every 1 HP restored)]

Qin Ji stared fixedly at the words "Physique x 10%," and his heart skipped a beat uncontrollably.

If it were an ordinary player, even a Shield Warrior who put all points into Physique, their Physique would be at most 100 points at Rank 15. Restoring 10 HP per second was decent, but only just decent.

However...

Qin Ji glanced at his own Physique attribute, which had already broken through 500 points due to his crazy plundering.

Restoring 50 HP per second?

No, this was just the beginning.

His [Greedy Grasp] could stack attributes infinitely. If one day his Physique reached 100,000, that would be 10,000 HP restored per second!

What did this mean?

It meant that as long as they couldn't kill him in one hit, he was a perpetual motion machine!

"Learn."

Without any hesitation, the skill book turned into a green stream of light and drilled into the center of his forehead.

A cool current instantly flowed through his limbs and bones. The small wounds caused by the fierce wind during the battle healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and in the blink of an eye, they were as clean as before.

Qin Ji clenched his fist, feeling the life force gushing out from within his body.

This was the true divine skill.

By comparison, that [Troll Regeneration] from earlier was simply trash.

Just then, a server-wide announcement suddenly exploded in the sky.

[Server Announcement: Congratulations to player "Qin Ji" for successfully achieving the First Kill of the LV.15 Lord Rank BOSS "Bone Troll"! As the first player to solo a Lord Rank BOSS, rewarded with Reputation +1000, Gold Coins +100, Free Attribute Points +10!]

[Server Announcement: Congratulations to player "Qin Ji"...]

[Server Announcement: Congratulations to player "Qin Ji"...]

The three consecutive golden banners scrolled across the retinas of all online players.

In an instant, the previously lively World Channel experienced a brief vacuum, then completely exploded.

"WTF?? Am I seeing things? Soloing a Lord? And it's a LV.15 one?"

"Damn, I'm still in the Newbie Village getting beaten up by level 5 wild boars, and someone is already soloing a level 15 BOSS?"

"Who is Qin Ji? Never heard of this guy! Is he an alt account for some big guild?"

"Must be hacking! How could anyone withstand the damage of a Lord monster at this stage? Report! Must report!"

"The idiot above, this is holographic simulation, brain-wave bound, you try hacking for me?"

"Great God! Please let me hug your thigh! Please give me a guide! I have 36D!"

Qin Ji glanced expressionlessly at the crazily scrolling channel and casually turned off the noisy notifications.

He had never been interested in such empty fame.

Only tangible data growth could make him feel pleasure.

"Beep, beep, beep—"

The private message bar suddenly flashed crazily.

Qin Ji originally wanted to block it directly, but his finger paused when he saw the sender's ID.

Futou Shield Mountain.

That fatty he had just casually slaughtered.

[Futou Shield Mountain]: Great God!! Daddy!! I was wrong!! I didn't recognize Mount Tai!! Please just let me go like a fart!!

[Futou Shield Mountain]: [Transfer Notification: You have received Gold Coins +50,000 (equivalent to 50,000 Credits)]

[Futou Shield Mountain]: This is for your emotional damages! If you don't need those greaves that dropped earlier, can you sell them to me? I'll pay double the price! Also, if you plan to sell the equipment from your first kill, please prioritize me! I really want to follow you!

Qin Ji looked at that string of zeros, and a playful arc curled the corner of his mouth.

This fatty was interesting.

Not only did he not hold a grudge after being killed, but he came to latch onto him at the first opportunity. He could bend and stretch, and... he was indeed rich.

Killing him with one sword earlier was partly because the fatty was too noisy, and partly because Qin Ji didn't like being stuck to like a fly. But since the other party had shown enough "sincerity," that was another matter.

After all, in this world, while money isn't omnipotent, you absolutely cannot do without it.

Qin Ji casually replied.

[Qin Ji]: The greaves are 50,000, take it or leave it. A Silver bow dropped earlier, with paralysis attribute, fixed price 200,000.

Two seconds later.

[Futou Shield Mountain]: Deal!!! Where are you, Great God? I'll send someone immediately... No, I'll run my corpse over to trade personally! Please don't move, don't let the monsters tire you out!

Qin Ji closed the chat box and threw the [Thunderbolt Bow] and the previous greaves into his backpack.

Although this bow had good attributes, it didn't suit his fighting style. He preferred the feedback of a sword blade cutting into flesh. Since he could sell it for a high price and use it to exchange for nutritional fluid in reality and special Materials in the game, it was clearly more cost-effective.

After dealing with the trivial matters, Qin Ji cast his gaze toward the deeper parts of the canyon.

There, the fog was ten times denser than on the outskirts, with visibility of less than three meters. Vaguely, one could hear a certain lower, more oppressive roar coming from deep underground.

The Bone Troll from earlier was merely a security guard watching the gate.

"Just as well, my skill proficiency is still far from enough."

Qin Ji took out a [Troll Heart] that had dropped earlier from his backpack and took a bite like he was eating an apple.

"Crunch."

The black fluid exploded in his mouth, and a pungent, fishy taste rushed straight to his brain, but it was followed by a System notification that his Physique attribute had increased by +1.

He casually wiped the residue from the corner of his mouth, lifted the iron sword that was already chipped, and stepped step by step into that light-devouring fog.

The setting sun sank completely below the horizon, and darkness shrouded the Death Canyon.

On the edge of the deathly silent gray fog, Qin Ji's figure appeared exceptionally thin.

He turned his head slightly, his purple-gold pupils drawing a stream of light in the darkness. His right hand casually performed a sword flourish, the tip of the sword pointing diagonally toward the unknown abyss ahead, just like a tyrant about to attend a banquet, preparing to fill this gluttonous feast with slaughter.