82: Chapter 82 only has one line? Who do you think you are?!

Twang—!

The vibration of the bowstring snapping back was drawn out extremely long in the blizzard, like a rusty saw grating harshly against the eardrums.

The Ice and Snow Demon Snake in mid-air let out a shrill hiss. Its massive body currently defied all physical common sense, twitching and tumbling in the air like a ragdoll under the impact of a dense barrage of black arrows. Every time it tried to adjust its posture to land, it would be accurately pinned at its seven-inch mark, jaw, and tailbone by three following arrows, the massive kinetic energy flipping it back up once more.

-11024!

-22048 (Critical Hit)!

-11024!

The damage numbers were like a red rainstorm, appearing exceptionally eye-piercing amidst the white expanse of the snow curtain.

"Thirty million HP, it really is quite thick."

Qin Ji calculated his damage efficiency rapidly while mechanically pulling the bowstring.

Although his current Agility attribute was enough to look down on the entire server even if it were halved, this was, after all, a cross-level challenge against a level fifty-plus Bronze BOSS, and under the suppression of Divine Might. At the current rate of health loss, it would take at least forty minutes to completely grind this long worm to death.

Forty minutes of high-intensity continuous firing would consume an astronomical amount of Stamina.

Even more troublesome was that this beast had the [Frost Body] passive; if it left combat for three seconds, it would recover 5% of its HP every second. This meant Qin Ji didn't even have the chance to stop for a sip of water and had to maintain high-frequency output throughout.

"Hiss—!!!"

The Demon Snake in the air finally caught a slight gap between the arrows, its crimson vertical pupils bursting with spiteful light. Its body, covered in thick ice armor, suddenly curled into a ball in mid-air, then smashed toward the ground like a white meteorite.

Skill: [Thousand-Pound Drop]!

Super Armor state!

Qin Ji's eyebrows twitched slightly. His boots carved a staggered Z-shaped trail in the snow, and his figure instantly shifted thirty meters backward.

Boom—!

The moment the Demon Snake landed, the snow within a fifty-meter radius instantly collapsed. A terrifying shockwave mixed with crushed ice swept in all directions, snapping several dead pine trees along the way.

"Roar—!"

The Demon Snake didn't pause for a second upon landing. It didn't care about the wounds on its body at all. Its massive frame twisted frantically on the snow, pouncing toward Qin Ji at the fastest speed of its life.

It was furious.

As one of the overlords of this snowfield, it had never suffered such humiliation. Being kicked around in the sky like a toy by a tiny human was an absolute disgrace!

However, facing this "flesh and blood train" charging at full speed, Qin Ji not only didn't retreat but instead stopped in his tracks, a playful arc curling at the corner of his mouth.

"Landed? Good that you landed."

With a flick of his wrist, the purple longbow instantly disappeared, replaced by a ferocious greatsword wreathed in black mist.

Since the aerial combo was broken, it was time for a different way to play.

"Just now was to test attack speed, now..."

Qin Ji gripped the hilt with both hands, a flash of violence crossing his purple-gold pupils, "...it's time to test strength!"

Even if his Strength attribute was also halved, he had tens of thousands of Strength points accumulated from killing his way out of the Newbie Village!

Head-on?

I love head-on clashes the most!

"Get—the hell back!"

Qin Ji let out a violent shout. Instead of retreating, he advanced, meeting the Demon Snake's wide-open bloody maw. The greatsword in his hand, carrying a black wind pressure, swung upward fiercely!

Clang—!!!

A loud metallic crash echoed through the snowfield.

The scene seemed to undergo a bizarre freeze at this moment.

The Ice and Snow Demon Snake, over twenty meters long and weighing several tons, had its eyes bulge outward the moment it made contact with the greatsword. Its forward momentum came to a screeching halt. Then, a terrifying counter-shock force transmitted through its jaw to its entire body. Its proud ice-crystal scales shattered inch by inch, exploding into a sky full of crystal shards!

The next second.

The massive snake body was launched off the ground again, sent flying over ten meters high by this single sword strike!

Strength suppression!

This was the visual shock brought by pure numerical violence. No fancy techniques were needed; as long as your Strength check was higher than the opponent's, even a mountain could be overturned!

"Refreshing!"

Qin Ji laughed loudly, preparing to follow up on his advantage.

Just then—

Rumble!

The snowfield beneath his feet suddenly vibrated violently, and the snow not far away churned like boiling water.

Two equally thick and ferocious white figures burst out from the ground, accompanied by flying snow!

"Hiss—!"

"Hiss—!"

Two more Ice and Snow Demon Snakes!

And looking at their size and luster, they were actually all level fifty Bronze BOSSes!

"So it wasn't a duel, but a tag-team battle?"

Qin Ji stopped his movements, his gaze sweeping over this sudden turn of events.

According to a normal player's logic, one should feel despair at this time. One BOSS was already difficult enough to handle, and now there were three, all within an environment of Divine Might suppression. This was simply a certain-death situation.

This kind of dungeon mechanic was clearly designed to prevent solo clears.

The three Demon Snakes surrounded Qin Ji in a triangular formation. Six crimson eyes stared fixedly at this intruder, and the cold air they exhaled caused the surrounding temperature to drop by over ten degrees instantly.

The Demon Snake that had just been sent flying by Qin Ji also recovered. It hissed spitefully, seemingly telling its companions about what had just happened.

A trinity, killing intent locked on.

The air solidified to the extreme at this moment.

However.

Qin Ji, at the center of the encirclement, didn't show the slightest fear. Instead... he showed a greedy expression as if he were looking at a peerless beauty.

He stuck out his tongue and licked his somewhat dry lips.

"Three of them..."

Qin Ji murmured in a low voice, the purple-gold light in his eyes becoming increasingly fervent. "One gives thirty million EXP, three is ninety million. One provides about 500 points of Strength and Agility, three is 1500 points..."

"More importantly..."

Qin Ji's gaze fell on the Demon Snakes' crystal-clear scales.

In the feedback from [Eye of Insight], these Demon Snakes all had a high-concentration energy core condensed within their bodies.

[Ice Soul Spirit Crystal (Rare Material): A crystal containing the power of extreme frost. It is a core material for crafting Ice-type Epic equipment and can also be sold directly to the System Mall. Estimated market price: 500,000 gold coins each.]

Five hundred thousand each.

Three is one and a half million!

These aren't monsters; they are clearly walking armored trucks!

"I thought I'd have to spend the whole day here. I didn't expect you to be so polite, even bringing a 'buy one get two free' deal?"

The greatsword in Qin Ji's hand slowly lowered, the tip dragging a deep furrow in the snow.

"Since you're here, don't even think about leaving."

Boom!

Before his voice could fade, the three Demon Snakes attacked simultaneously.

The snake on the left spat out a beam of extreme cold breath, the one on the right swung its massive tail to sweep across the field, and the one in front directly launched a constriction, attempting to lock Qin Ji down completely.

They cooperated perfectly, sealing off all paths of retreat.

"Too slow."

Qin Ji's figure suddenly blurred in place.

This wasn't a skill but a visual afterimage brought about by pure high Agility.

The extreme cold breath froze that "afterimage" into an ice sculpture, and the massive tail followed up, smashing the ice sculpture to pieces.

But the real Qin Ji had already appeared atop the head of the Demon Snake on the left that had just spat its breath!

"I'll start with you!"

Qin Ji held the sword with both hands, his body spinning at high speed in the air like a top. Using the downward momentum, he delivered a heavy "Mount Tai Press"!

Puchi—!

The greatsword pierced into the Demon Snake's head without resistance, sinking all the way to the hilt!

-45000 (Weak Point Critical Hit)!

"Awoo—!!!"

The Demon Snake rolled in agony, trying to shake off the flea on its head.

But Qin Ji was like he had grown roots, one hand firmly gripping the gaps in its scales while the other pulled out the greatsword and stabbed it back in fiercely!

Stab! Stab! Stab!

Black blood gushed out like a fountain, splashing all over Qin Ji.

At this time, the attacks of the other two Demon Snakes arrived.

Qin Ji didn't even look behind him. He exerted force with his feet, jumping off the head of the Demon Snake beneath him, his whole body carving a bizarre arc in the air.

Whoosh—!

A thick snake tail brushed past the edge of his clothes and slammed heavily into the face of its unfortunate companion.

"Infighting? That's more like it."

While in mid-air, Qin Ji instantly switched the greatsword back to the longbow.

Previously, he might have needed to kite them. But now, facing three massive targets, there was no need to aim!

[Multi-Shot] + [Scatter Shot]!

Twang, twang, twang!

With one pull of the string, three arrows shot out in a fan shape.

Qin Ji's hand speed exploded to the limit at this moment; the bowstring was almost a blur.

Countless arrows were like a plague of locusts, indiscriminately covering the three giant beasts below.

Although the damage per shot wasn't as high as focusing on weak points, the frequency was terrifying.

The three Demon Snakes roared repeatedly in the rain of arrows. They tried to counterattack, but Qin Ji was like a slippery loach, using their massive bodies as cover and weaving back and forth between the three.

Every time a Demon Snake wanted to attack him, it would often accidentally injure its own teammate first.

This "King Qin circling the pillar" style of fighting left the three BOSSes with plenty of attributes but nowhere to vent, feeling so frustrated they wanted to hit a wall.

Finally.

The Demon Snake that was injured first and then hit by its companions was the first to have its health bar bottom out.

"Almost time."

A cold light flashed in Qin Ji's eyes, and his figure suddenly came to a halt.

He no longer dodged, instead tanking the frost breath of the other two Demon Snakes as he drew his longbow to a full moon.

This arrow gathered all of his essence, energy, and spirit.

"Die!"

Shiu—!

A streak of pitch-black light instantly pierced through the blizzard, accurately entering the open mouth of the low-health Demon Snake and exiting through the back of its head!

[Killed Ice and Snow Demon Snake (Bronze BOSS), EXP +30,000,000!]

[Triggered "Greedy Grasp": Plundered Attribute—Strength +520!]

[Triggered "Greedy Grasp": Plundered Attribute—Agility +480!]

[Obtained Passive Skill Shard: Frost Body (1/10).]

Boom!

As the System notification sounded, a warm current instantly surged into Qin Ji's body.

His body, which had felt somewhat heavy due to the Divine Might suppression, suddenly felt a lot lighter the moment these nearly one thousand attribute points were injected!

Strength increased! Agility increased!

This was like a heavy truck climbing a slope suddenly being injected with a canister of high-purity nitrous oxide.

"This feeling... is wonderful."

Qin Ji cracked his neck, making a series of popping sounds.

He turned around and looked at the remaining two Demon Snakes.

Just now, he still needed to rely on positioning to compensate for the attribute reduction, but now... it seemed unnecessary.

The two Demon Snakes were also stunned.

The death of their companion made them instinctively feel a trace of fear. As data-based lives, although they didn't have complete intelligence, their perception of danger was etched into their bones.

The aura on this human in front of them had actually become even more terrifying in that instant!

"Running?"

Qin Ji watched the two Demon Snakes' slow retreating movements and sneered, "Weren't you very arrogant when you were ganging up on me just now?"

Shua!

A cloud of snow exploded in place.

Qin Ji's figure vanished instantly.

The next second, he appeared directly in front of one of the Demon Snakes.

His speed was a full thirty percent faster than before!

"Now, it's my turn."

The longbow in Qin Ji's hand had somehow turned back into that pitch-black greatsword.

No fancy techniques.

Just one sword strike!

A horizontal slash!

Puchi—!

The massive blade, carrying the additional 500 points of Strength, cut through the Demon Snake's hard ice armor like a knife through tofu, tearing a terrifying three-meter-long wound in its abdomen.

Blood sprayed wildly, and internal organs spilled out.

The rest of the battle could no longer be called a battle, but a one-sided slaughter.

As the second Demon Snake fell, another nearly one thousand attribute points were credited.

Qin Ji's combat power snowballed larger and larger.

By the time he faced the last Demon Snake, Qin Ji even directly put away his weapon and stood before it empty-handed.

That was the disdain brought by absolute confidence.

"Hiss..."

The last Demon Snake had completely lost its fighting spirit and turned to try and burrow back underground.

"Want to leave?"

Qin Ji took a step forward, his right hand forming a claw, fiercely grabbing the tip of the Demon Snake's tail.

"Get—UP!"

Accompanied by a low roar, the muscles all over Qin Ji's body bulged, and his not-so-burly frame exploded with jaw-dropping Divine Power.

On this snowfield cursed by the gods, an extremely shocking scene appeared:

A tiny human actually physically dragged a twenty-meter-long giant python, pulling it out of the ground like snapping a whip, then swung it in a semi-circle in the air, slamming it fiercely against the nearby rock wall!

Boom!!!

The rock wall collapsed, and stone fragments flew.

The Demon Snake's head was smashed deep into the rock. Its body twitched a few times and then went completely still.

[Killed Ice and Snow Demon Snake (Bronze BOSS)...]

Another familiar warm current.

Qin Ji stood amidst the ruins, casually shaking the blood off his hands.

Three crystals emitting a faint blue light floated quietly above the corpses. Those were the priceless [Ice Soul Spirit Crystals], but in Qin Ji's eyes at this moment, their light was far less enchanting than the jumping numbers on his attribute panel.

"Phew..."

Qin Ji exhaled a breath of white mist, which condensed into ice shards and fell in the extreme cold air.

He slowly looked up into the depths of the blizzard.

Since there were three guard dogs here, then going further inside, how many surprises could that so-called "Source of Divinity" bring him?

The afterglow of the setting sun pierced through the blizzard, scattering over the devastated battlefield. Qin Ji stepped one foot onto the massive head of the last Demon Snake, casually shouldering the pitch-black greatsword with his right hand. His purple-gold pupils narrowed slightly as he gazed at the faintly visible Black Altar in the distance. The greedy and arrogant arc at the corner of his mouth was like a newly awakened tyrant surveying his new hunting ground.