86: Chapter 86 The Mark of the Godslayer! A Dimensional Strike from Eastern Mythology

The wind and snow stopped abruptly; all was silent.

Qin Ji stood before the dilapidated window frame of the wooden hut. His gaze pierced through the ice crystals dancing across the sky, locking firmly onto the depths of that ink-like, viscous darkness. It was not merely the source of the wind and snow, but the core of a terrifying force field that made even space tremble slightly.

"Divine Might..."

The crazed smile on Qin Ji's lips grew rather than faded. His fingertips tapped gently against the windowsill, producing a crisp, rhythmic sound. "So those immortal Ice and Snow Demon Snakes were nothing more than manifestations of a wisp of aura overflowing from this thing. No wonder they were endless, and no wonder the experience points were ridiculously high."

Village Chief Li Xuan, standing behind him, had a face etched with the weariness and sorrow of a life battered by the elements. He looked at Qin Ji's back, which stood straight as a spear, and it was as if, through this young man, he saw a figure from countless ages ago who had once made the gods tremble.

"Young man, your guess is correct."

Li Xuan's voice was low and hoarse, carrying a chill that seeped into the bone marrow. "What sleeps in the depths of that darkness is the very source of this cursed land—the corpse of the Goddess of Ice and Snow, or rather, the 'Snow Corpse' formed by her undying resentment after death."

Qin Ji turned around abruptly, a sharp glint flashing in his purple-gold pupils.

"The Snow Corpse is the God itself?"

That explained everything. It explained why the difficulty of this dungeon had plummeted and then rebounded, and why the rules here were so bizarre. It turned out the entire dungeon was a sealed land built upon the corpse of a God!

"Village Chief Li, since you know the source, why remain trapped here?" Qin Ji asked bluntly, showing no courtesy just because the other party was an NPC. "Don't tell me this is how your Ancient Eastern Kingdom treats its citizens."

Li Xuan gave a bitter smile, one that looked uglier than crying.

"It is not that we do not want to leave, but that we cannot."

He reached out a trembling hand and pointed to the gray, hazy sky above. "If not for that adventurer in the past who, as a Mortal, forcibly killed the Goddess of Ice and Snow and enraged the Western gods, leading them to join forces and impose this 'Eternal Frozen Earth' Seal, how would our Ancient Eastern Kingdom have fallen into such a state?"

"Western gods?"

Qin Ji keenly caught this keyword, his eyes narrowing slightly. "You mean, the ones who sealed you here are the Western pantheon of gods?"

"Correct."

Li Xuan's eyes flashed with deep-seated hatred. "During that great war, the Western gods took advantage of our vulnerability. And our gods..."

Here, the old man paused, a trace of confusion and awe appearing in his eyes. "It is said that a very, very long time ago, our world experienced an unprecedented civil war. It shattered the heavens and the earth, threw time and space into chaos, and extinguished the Dao. This God Realm continent we are currently on is not even one-billionth of that world at the time."

Qin Ji's heart skipped a beat, and a bold conjecture exploded in his mind.

"Village Chief, could you be talking about... the Lich Calamity of the Primordial Era?"

Li Xuan was stunned, seemingly finding the term both unfamiliar and familiar. After a moment, he said hesitantly, "I am not sure if it is called the Lich Calamity, but in the ancient scrolls passed down by our ancestors, our world was indeed once called—the Primordial World."

Boom!

Qin Ji felt his scalp tingle, a current of electricity instantly surging through his entire body.

The Primordial World!

If this game's background setting was truly linked to the Primordial worldview, then those so-called Western gods were nothing compared to the Eastern Saints who could easily destroy heaven and earth or reshape the elements of earth, water, fire, and wind!

Even a fragment of the shattered Primordial World contained enough power of rules to crush this so-called "God Realm"!

"Interesting, this is too interesting."

The fire of greed burned fiercely in Qin Ji's eyes. If he could excavate even a shred of the Primordial heritage from this dungeon, it would be enough for him to walk sideways in this digitized world!

"I understand."

Qin Ji took a deep breath, calming his surging emotions, and looked at Li Xuan with burning eyes. "Village Chief, since our predecessors could slay gods with a Mortal body, I, Qin Ji, can do the same. Give me that method to resist Divine Might."

Becoming a God is difficult; slaying a God is even harder.

But he now held three million HP and possessed a rule-level bug like [Greedy Grasp]. In his eyes, this so-called "God" was nothing more than a giant, moving loot bag of attributes!

"Good! You have courage!"

Li Xuan looked at Qin Ji, his eyes full of admiration. He no longer hesitated, raising his withered right hand with two fingers pressed together. A droplet of light, crimson as blood, condensed at his fingertips, and he struck it fiercely onto the young man's forehead.

"Brave adventurer, this is the mark left by the God Slayer of the past. Once bound, it cannot be erased, and you will be hated by the Western gods because of it. But in exchange, you will gain the qualification to face the gods directly!"

Hum—!

A stream of scorching air instantly surged from his forehead into Qin Ji's limbs and bones.

The System notification exploded in his ears.

【Ding! Congratulations on obtaining the special hidden item/status: God Slayer Mark (Unique)!】

Qin Ji immediately pulled up the panel.

【God Slayer Mark】

Grade: Mythical (Growth-type)

Effect 1 (Divine Might Immunity): The wearer will be completely immune to the attribute suppression and mental fear effects caused by "Divine Might."

Effect 2 (Divine Power Plunder): Each time you kill a God (including God Corpses and Divine Clones), you can forcibly strip away one of their core authorities and convert it into a permanent passive skill.

Current Slay Record: None.

Looking at that empty record, a cruel arc curled on Qin Ji's lips.

"No record yet? Then I'll go get one right now."

He turned around, strode out, pushed open the wooden door, and plunged into the wind and snow filling the sky.

In the depths of the darkness.

There was no wind or snow here, only an absolute low temperature that seemed capable of freezing the Soul. The air was compressed to the extreme, presenting a strange, liquid-like flow.

A colossal corpse, a hundred meters high, was coiled upon the frozen earth. Its entire body was composed of translucent black ice. Although it had been dead for countless ages, the terrifying pressure it emitted still caused the surrounding space to collapse and reform continuously.

This was the Snow Corpse of the Goddess of Ice and Snow!

"Roar—!!"

Seemingly sensing the breath of the living, the massive corpse suddenly opened its eyes. Two pale beams of light instantly pierced through the darkness, shooting straight at Qin Ji!

"Well come!"

Qin Ji did not dodge or evade, letting the death ray, which could instantly kill an average max-level player, strike him.

-0!

(Divine Might Immunity activated!)

"Is this your full strength?"

Qin Ji sneered. He stomped his foot, and his entire body shot into the sky like a cannonball. The staff in his hand instantly switched to a giant sword radiating an ominous black aura—a tool for "physical persuasion" specifically prepared to match his three million HP.

"Die for me!"

There were no flashy techniques, only pure, overwhelming power. Qin Ji's figure left a blur in the air as the giant sword, carrying the sound of wind and thunder, slammed heavily onto the Snow Corpse's skull.

Boom!!

A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar.

The indestructible corpse of the God actually developed a tiny crack under this single blow!

Although the damage numbers were not exaggerated, Qin Ji's attack frequency was too fast!

Ten slashes per second!

Every slash carried the forced plundering effect of [Greedy Grasp].

The Snow Corpse roared in anger, and countless ice spears pierced out from the void like a rainstorm, turning Qin Ji into a hedgehog. But the next second, those ice spears were shattered by the overwhelming blood energy surging from Qin Ji's body.

The error tolerance brought by three million HP meant he didn't need to defend at all!

This was an unequal slaughter.

On one side was a god's corpse that had long since died and only had instinct left; on the other was a greedy demon holding a cheat, with a health bar thicker than the BOSS.

Half an hour later.

With the final, unwilling wail, the hundred-meter-tall corpse of the Goddess of Ice and Snow collapsed, turning into crystalline light points filling the sky.

【Ding! You killed "Goddess of Ice and Snow · Resentment Aggregate (Divine Creature)."】

【God Slayer Mark triggered!】

【You have gained a new Trait: Ice and Snow Dominator.】

【Ice and Snow Dominator】: You are immune to all Ice and Snow-type damage and negative effects (including all freezing, slowing, and immobilization effects below Divine-Grade), and all your attributes are increased by 20% in ice and snow environments.

Looking at this newly acquired entry, Qin Ji was stunned for a moment, then burst into wild laughter.

"Hahahaha! Ice-type immunity?"

A name instantly appeared in his mind—Leona.

That mage, known as the number one Genius of the Western Divine Court and possessor of the Goddess of Ice and Snow's Legacy, had always been regarded as Qin Ji's biggest competitor at this stage.

Even with Qin Ji's current monstrous attributes, wanting to completely defeat that woman who possessed countless life-saving means in PVP would still take some effort.

But now?

Qin Ji could even imagine what an amazing expression would appear on that arrogant face when Leona unleashed a heaven-destroying forbidden Spell, only for it to result in a "-0" floating above his head.

"I originally thought fighting you would be Hard Mode, but now it seems... it doesn't even count as a tutorial."

Qin Ji waved his hand, collecting all the loot on the ground with a single click, then, without even glancing at it, chose to log off on the spot.

This tedious process of god-slaying was simply too draining.

The real world.

Qin Ji took off his game helmet and lay comfortably on his soft bed. It was already late at night outside the window, and the city's neon lights spilled onto the walls through the gaps in the curtains, appearing exceptionally quiet.

But he did not fall asleep immediately; instead, he habitually opened the official forum for "ragnarok."

By now, the forum had already exploded.

The number of global players had surpassed 2.5 billion. This was not just a number; it meant a complete restructuring of human social structures. One-third of the population was fighting and gambling in that virtual world, and the real-world currency System was rapidly becoming pegged to game gold coins.

Although the heat of the discussion about Qin Ji had declined slightly, it still occupied a corner of the homepage. However, more players were currently immersed in discussions about class advancement and talents.

"What a scam! After advancing, the Summoner can only summon a Level 20 skeleton? These attributes are barely better than wild monsters; I'd be better off going up and hacking at them myself!"

"Don't be ungrateful, buddy above. The Shield Warrior I advanced to is the real blockhead; the damage is ridiculously low, solo grinding efficiency is super slow, and it's useless for anything but taking hits."

Qin Ji casually scrolled past these complaint posts, his gaze lingering on a highlighted, popular post.

"Shocking! Saint-Grade Talent appears in the Great Rice Empire, attack speed doubles with no upper limit?"

"Saint-Grade Talent, huh..." Qin Ji rubbed his chin.

The post mentioned that American player; the talent effect was that attack speed doubled every time they leveled up a star. This was indeed a monstrous talent. If it grew up, it would definitely be a Gatling-like existence in the Late Stage.

"However, compared to me, it's still lacking."

Qin Ji continued scrolling down. Suddenly, an inconspicuous reply caught his attention.

"Hehe, is no one discussing the damage reflection build? I awakened the Divine-Grade talent [Double Damage Reflection]. Whether physical or magical, it can reflect 10% of armor and magic resistance as true damage. And every time I kill a monster, I can permanently add dual resistances..."

Seeing this, Qin Ji's pupils constricted slightly.

Double Damage Reflection.

Permanently adding dual resistances.

This was simply a defensive version of [Greedy Grasp]!

"If I remember correctly, there was indeed a guy named 'Xuanwu' in my previous life who possessed this monstrous talent." Qin Ji recalled fragments of his past life's memories. "This guy was extremely bizarre; he possessed god-tier skills but was an ultimate camper."

In this era of pursuing levels and equipment, that guy actually hid in the Newbie Village for a whole year without coming out!

Even if the outside world turned upside down, even if the main city opened and national wars began, he still remained unmoved, killing Level 1 wild boars in the Newbie Village.

Just to grind that tiny bit of armor and magic resistance.

"He's a ruthless man."

A playful smile curled on Qin Ji's lips. "This behavioral pattern of accumulating quantitative changes to cause qualitative changes through repetitive labor is actually quite similar to mine. However..."

He turned off the holographic screen and turned to look out the window.

"A year is too long; I only seize the day."

The night was like water, enveloping the entire city in gentle darkness. Qin Ji closed his eyes, his breathing gradually becoming long and steady. And beneath that seemingly calm sleeping face, an ambition capable of overturning the entire world was growing wildly in his dreams, along with the massive data flow within him.