84: Chapter 84 Divine Might Suppression? Sorry, I'm a True Damage Mage!

Inside the narrow wooden hut, the candlelight danced wildly, blown by the cold wind squeezing through the door cracks, stretching Qin Ji's shadow on the wall like a demon with bared fangs and claws.

"Dr. Liu, is it?"

Qin Ji casually pulled over a worn-out chair and sat down boldly opposite the elderly man in his fifties. A heart-palpitating eerie light flickered in his purple-gold pupils. "I heard you have something good that can counter 'Divine Might'? Don't hide it; name your price."

Dr. Liu's finger, which was pushing his Glasses, froze in mid-air.

He had originally prepared a stomach full of profound lines, like "Young adventurer, you still need more experience" or "To get my help, you must pass a test." But under the gaze of this young man's eyes, which seemed capable of piercing the Soul, those pleasantries were forced back down his throat.

It was the blood-red Killing Intent that had yet to dissipate after just slaughtering thousands of living beings.

"Cough..."

Dr. Liu cleared his throat somewhat unnaturally. His originally hunched back straightened slightly, and his tone lost its previous measured quality: "Brave... cough, powerful adventurer. Since you've fought your way here, you must have felt that sense of oppression from ancient times."

He pointed out the window toward the depths shrouded in wind and snow.

"That is 'Divine Might'. Unless one is a true deity, the power of any mortal who steps into that area will be suppressed by more than half. Although you are strong, in that state, facing the things in the depths..." Dr. Liu shook his head, a trace of dread flashing in his eyes, "You will not only die, but you will die a very ugly death."

"The point." Qin Ji's knuckles lightly tapped the tabletop, making a crisp thumping sound.

"Straightforward!"

Dr. Liu took out a yellowed parchment scroll from his robes and pushed it in front of Qin Ji. "I am currently developing a 'Barrier-Breaking Potion' that can theoretically neutralize the suppression of Divine Might. But I'm missing a primary ingredient—the gallbladder of an Ice and Snow Demon Snake. Moreover, it must be a fresh gallbladder from one that has just died, with its resentment still lingering."

[Ding! Hidden NPC Dr. Liu has issued a quest: Hunt the Ice and Snow Demon Snake!]

[Quest Requirement: Venture deep into the Divine Might area, kill an Ice and Snow Demon Snake, and bring back its gallbladder.]

[Quest Reward: Based on the number of gallbladders submitted, receive a corresponding quality of 'Barrier-Breaking Potion' or intelligence on countering Divine Might.]

"That's more like it."

Qin Ji scanned the quest panel, a satisfied curve hooking the corner of his mouth.

No nonsense, no tedious quest chains, just straight "kill monsters for rewards." This suited his appetite perfectly.

"Wait for me."

Qin Ji grabbed the parchment scroll, turned around, and pushed the door open.

The wind and snow remained biting.

Following the map's guidance, Qin Ji soon passed through the village and arrived at a massive stone tablet half-buried in the snow.

The stone tablet was ancient and weathered, with eight large characters carved on it in a powerful cursive script:

[Ancient Eastern Kingdom, rests here!]

A desolate and tragic aura rushed toward him.

Qin Ji raised an eyebrow slightly. Without much sentiment, he stepped directly over the boundary of the stone tablet.

Buzz—!

The moment his foot landed, the air seemed to suddenly become viscous. An invisible heavy pressure squeezed in from all directions, as if a great mountain had suddenly been placed on his back.

[Warning! You have entered the area covered by "Divine Might"!]

[Under the suppression of Divine Might, all your attributes are forcibly reduced by 50%!]

[Your movement speed and attack speed are reduced by 75%!]

Qin Ji glanced at his panel.

His originally explosive attributes were instantly cut in half. Especially his attack speed and movement speed; that feeling of his body becoming heavy and sluggish was like being forcibly fitted with a layer of shackles.

"Interesting."

Qin Ji cracked his neck, his bones making a popping sound.

Hiss—!

The snow ahead suddenly exploded, and an Ice and Snow Demon Snake, even thicker than the previous BOSS, burst from the ground! It seemed to sense Qin Ji's suppressed state; the red light in its eyes was full of mockery and cruelty as it opened its bloody maw and released a frigid breath.

Qin Ji instinctively wanted to dodge, but his body's reaction was half a beat slow.

Boom!

Frost exploded. Qin Ji was blown back several steps, a damage number of over two thousand floating above his head.

"This is Divine Might suppression?"

Qin Ji narrowed his eyes. Instead of fighting head-on, he pushed off with his toes and retreated rapidly, instantly exiting the stone tablet's boundary.

A miraculous scene occurred.

The originally murderous Ice and Snow Demon Snake suddenly stopped when it reached the edge of the stone tablet. It hissed angrily at Qin Ji but did not dare to cross the line, eventually burrowing back into the snow unwillingly.

At the same time, the sense of suppression on Qin Ji instantly vanished, and his attribute panel returned to its Peak state.

"Aggro reset mechanism?"

Qin Ji stroked his chin, a glint flashing in his eyes. "As long as I exit the boundary, the monster resets and the aggro disappears. That means..."

He didn't need to fight them to the death in this hellhole.

This was an excellent grinding spot!

Although his attributes were suppressed, the monster density here was extremely high, and the respawn mechanism seemed very fast. The only trouble was that this high-intensity kiting battle would be very draining, and once he started grinding, it definitely wouldn't end anytime soon.

"Looks like I need to get serious."

Qin Ji opened his friend list and sent a message to his best friend who was specifically in charge of logistics.

"Fatty, get my 'Deep Sea Nutrient Pod' ready. I'm going into seclusion."

"Holy crap? Brother Ji, are you going to risk your life? Although that thing can keep you going for half a month without eating or drinking, it puts a huge load on the brain!"

"Cut the crap. I'll be online in half an hour."

Qin Ji logged off directly.

In the real world, inside a luxury villa.

Qin Ji climbed out of the ordinary gaming pod and walked straight toward the sci-fi-looking silver streamlined device in the basement.

This was a limited-edition top-tier nutrient pod sold by "God Domain" officials. It used life-support technology similar to the hibernation pods in The Wandering Earth. Although it couldn't actually induce hibernation, it was enough to support a player being online for 15 consecutive days without needing to log off to eat or excrete.

"Half a month..."

Qin Ji lay down in the nutrient fluid. Watching the pod door slowly close, a fanatical smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "If I don't grind this entire map clean, I'll be doing a disservice to these millions in electricity bills."

...

Logged back in.

Qin Ji stood before the stone tablet boundary once again.

This time, his condition had been adjusted to its Peak. Although he didn't have items like a "purification jade pendant" to offset the Divine Might, he had something even more unreasonable.

He stepped in.

His attributes plummeted again.

That Ice and Snow Demon Snake seemed to have been camping there. As soon as Qin Ji showed his head, it roared and charged over again.

"What are you howling for?"

Qin Ji stood still, only slightly lifting his eyelids. Those purple-gold pupils instantly turned into a dead, pure black.

[Skill activated: Death Gaze!]

No projectile, no wind-up.

The body of the Ice and Snow Demon Snake, still in mid-air, suddenly stiffened. A blood-red skull mark instantly appeared above its head.

[Lock-on successful!]

[Target has entered the "Death Judgment" state!]

In the next second, the staff in Qin Ji's hand... no, to be precise, it was an ancient book emitting black mist that he had materialized in his hand—that was the manifestation of the [Death Gaze] skill, resembling the legendary book of life and death.

"Die."

Qin Ji uttered a single word.

Pfft!

-23,000! (True Damage)

A white true damage number floated up from the demon snake's head.

This was only the beginning.

Although Qin Ji's panel attack power was halved, [Death Gaze] carried true damage based on Spell intensity! Furthermore, the terrifying attributes he had stacked during that monster wave earlier, even if cut in half, were still an astronomical figure that would make ordinary players despair.

"It's not over yet."

Qin Ji held out one hand, lightning jumping at his fingertips.

Although his attack speed was reduced by 75%, with his originally overflowing Agility attribute, his casting speed was still startlingly fast.

Basic attack! Basic attack! Basic attack again!

Every attack was accompanied by the extra damage calculation granted by [Greedy Grasp].

-42,000!

-41,500!

-43,000!

If any other player saw this scene now, they would probably kneel on the ground in terror and scream "cheater."

In this "Hell-level" environment where all attributes were reduced by 50%, Qin Ji's damage per second actually Breakthrough 140,000!

What kind of concept was that?

A Level 50 Elite-grade Ice and Snow Demon Snake had only a few million health points.

Before Qin Ji's unreasonable output, it couldn't even last a minute!

"Hiss-aow—!!!"

In less than fifty seconds, that overbearing Ice and Snow Demon Snake let out a shrill wail. Its massive body crashed heavily onto the snow, kicking up a cloud of snow dust.

[Killed Ice and Snow Demon Snake, Experience +5,000,000!]

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

A warm current surged into his body.

Qin Ji glanced at his health bar; the upper limit jumped up a bit more.

"As expected."

The light in Qin Ji's eyes grew brighter and brighter. "Although the monsters here are hard to kill, the attribute points they give are all the rare 'Physique'!"

Outside, trying to grind for the Physique attribute was as difficult as reaching the heavens; most monsters gave Strength or Agility. But this Ice and Snow Demon Snake was actually a top-tier monster that consistently produced Physique attributes!

What did Physique mean?

It meant health points, it meant defense, it meant room for error!

"How is this Divine Might suppression?"

Qin Ji looked at the densely packed snake swarms respawning ahead. He lightly licked his somewhat dry lips, his expression both greedy and crazed.

"This is clearly a buffet restaurant serving me health bars!"

He was in no hurry to pick up the loot, instead turning his gaze toward the second demon snake that had just respawned.

[Death Gaze] locked on again.

Since this "Divine Might" wants to suppress me, then I'll kill until you can't suppress me anymore!

When I can still one-shot monsters after you've weakened my attributes by 50%, what does this so-called "god" even count for?

The cold wind howled, making Qin Ji's robes flutter loudly. He didn't rush to charge; instead, he stood in place like a conductor composing a symphony of death. Every movement of his fingers was accompanied by the fading of a life in the distance.

On the snow plain, black blood began to spread, gradually staining the base of the stone tablet carved with "Ancient Eastern Kingdom." Qin Ji casually crushed a mana potion. His purple-gold pupils shone brightly in the wind and snow, coldly watching the approaching night as if he were a Vicious Beast from ancient times.