87: Chapter 87 The man's name is "Xuanwu," and the Heaven-Sealing Chess Game appears!

The first ray of morning sunlight pierced through the gap in the curtains, stabbing into the dim bedroom like a golden blade.

Qin Ji's eyes snapped open. There was no trace of sleepiness in his pupils; instead, they held a clarity as sharp and cold as a honed blade's edge. The post he'd seen on the forum last night before sleeping had taken root in his mind like a seed, sprouting wildly.

"Double reflect damage, ignores damage-taken values, directly reflects true damage based on a percentage of both defenses..."

Qin Ji rolled over and sat up, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the bedside table, producing crisp *tock-tock* sounds.

That guy with the ID 'Xuanwu' had been mocked in the post as a 'turtle hiding in its shell,' but in Qin Ji's eyes, he was clearly an uncut piece of jade, or rather... a top-tier weapon capable of annoying every player in the entire server to death.

"If we stack this guy's HP and pair him with that legendary [Bloodthirsty Dragon Armor]..."

A playful curve tugged at the corner of Qin Ji's mouth.

The [Bloodthirsty Dragon Armor] had a passive effect: when the wearer takes damage, restores HP equal to 30% of the damage value.

For ordinary players, this equipment was useless because in the Late Stage, damage overflowed, and the tiny amount of HP regained couldn't withstand burst damage. But 'Xuanwu' was different. His core was stacking both defenses, which meant others couldn't make him bleed, yet he could deal tons of true damage through the reflect mechanism while simultaneously sucking back that mandatory '1 point of damage' deduction via the [Bloodthirsty Dragon Armor].

A perpetual motion machine.

A true mobile fortress.

"Interesting."

Qin Ji quickly pulled up the friend panel and entered the ID mentioned in the post — 'Survive Until Eternity'.

This was 'Xuanwu's' in-game ID.

[System Prompt: Player 'Survive Until Eternity' has set 'reject friend requests from strangers.']

"Hah, quite aloof."

Qin Ji wasn't annoyed. As long as he knew the ID, in this digitized world, there was no one he, Qin Ji, couldn't find. Once he finished the beginner dungeon, he had plenty of ways to make this 'turtle' obediently serve as his meat shield. After all, there was nothing in this world that couldn't be solved by throwing a Divine Artifact at it. If one didn't work, then throw two.

After a quick wash-up, Qin Ji drank a high-concentration nutrient solution and put the game helmet back on.

...

[Welcome back to the Divine Realm.]

His vision coalesced.

The biting wind remained, but that bone-deep sense of oppression had vanished completely.

Qin Ji stood before the massive stone stele inscribed with [Ancient Eastern Kingdom, Rests Here].

Yesterday, this place had been a forbidden zone of life, where Divine Might was like a prison, each step forward incurring massive attribute penalties. But now, the [God Slayer Mark] between his brows pulsed warmly, emitting an overwhelmingly domineering heat that scattered all the encroaching Divine Might around him.

"Is this the joy of the privileged class?"

Qin Ji stepped past the stele, the snow underfoot crunching *crunch-crunch*.

The Ice and Snow Demon Snakes that once infested this area had completely vanished—their source, the 'Goddess of Ice and Snow's Grudge Manifestation,' had been chopped into an experience pack by Qin Ji last night. Now, this Forbidden Ground was as safe for him as his own backyard.

He ventured deeper.

The surrounding scenery began to change.

On the previously monotonous snowfield, a withered, towering tree appeared.

The tree was extremely bizarre, its entire body a charred black as if struck by lightning, devoid of any leaves. Only its gnarled, Dragon-like branches stabbed viciously towards the sky, as if accusing the heavens of something.

And beneath the tree, something seemed to be buried under thick snow.

Qin Ji walked over and lightly nudged it with the tip of his foot.

*Whoosh—*

Snow scattered, revealing a stone platform underneath.

The platform was carved with a grid of intersecting lines. Black and white chess pieces were frozen on the board like miniature ice sculptures.

"Go?"

Qin Ji raised an eyebrow. His understanding of Go was limited to knowing the rules, but that didn't stop him from sensing the desolation and murderous aura emanating from this board.

On one side of the board, two lines of wild, cursive script were carved. The strokes were like blades, exuding an arrogance that seemed to want to pierce the heavens:

"Heaven as the board, stars as the pieces, Seal the heavens to become a God!"

Qin Ji's fingers lightly rested on the cold edge of the board. A sharp sting transmitted from his fingertips.

"Quite the boast."

Seal the heavens to become a God.

In the memories of his past life, there were only three paths to godhood: faith, Karma, and enlightenment of the Dao.

Faith-based godhood was the easiest, but also the most constrained by others—if the believers died, the godhood crumbled. Karma-based godhood was the hardest; the Heavenly Dao was unpredictable, good and evil undefined. Enlightenment-based godhood was the strongest, but also the most perilous; the slightest misstep meant death and Dao dissipation.

But these two words, 'Seal the Heavens,' leaped outside these three paths.

"Using heaven and earth as the board, all living beings as the pieces, forcibly sealing the rules of the Heavenly Dao to achieve one's own godhood?"

A flash of sharp light gleamed in Qin Ji's violet-gold pupils.

This wasn't just audacity. This was practically... treasonous!

However, he liked it.

"It seems the fall of this Ancient Eastern Kingdom wasn't just due to deicide, but also because these maniacs wanted to overturn the entire Divine Realm's rules."

Qin Ji gently rubbed his chin, the fire of greed rekindling in his eyes.

If he could comprehend the secrets of this 'Heaven-Sealing' method and combine it with his [Greedy Grasp]... the picture that painted was simply too beautiful.

Just as he was deep in thought.

A faint tremor suddenly came from the ground.

The tremor was extremely rhythmic, as if some colossal creature was taking steps underground, each footfall synchronized with the beating of a heart.

*BOOM!*

Without any warning, the snowy ground beneath Qin Ji's feet instantly exploded!

Amidst the flying snow, a cyan-colored giant fist the size of a millstone erupted from the earth, wrapped in a shrill whistling sound, heading straight for Qin Ji's face.

The punch was incredibly fast, its power even more astonishing. Where the fist wind passed, the air compressed into white shockwaves. The surrounding withered tree branches shattered into dust under this pressure wave.

A sneak attack!

And such an utterly dishonorable underground ambush!

But not a trace of panic showed on Qin Ji's face. He didn't even blink.

From the very first second the ground trembled, he had already made his judgment.

"Too slow."

Qin Ji's body shifted slightly to the side, the movement fluid as if rehearsed countless times.

The terrifying giant fist brushed past the tip of his nose. The fist wind whipped the stray hairs on his forehead into a frenzy.

*BOOM—!!*

The fist missed, slamming heavily into the snowfield behind Qin Ji.

The earth shook violently. Snow surged outwards like a tsunami. The ground was blasted into a crater ten meters in diameter, churned earth revealing the black permafrost beneath.

Missing its strike, the underground monster seemed momentarily stunned.

And this momentary freeze was more than enough for Qin Ji.

"When you're out in the world, you need to have manners."

Qin Ji's voice was cold as iron.

The staff in his hand vanished instantly, replaced by that two-handed greatsword emitting an ominous black aura.

The terrifying arm strength granted by three million HP erupted completely in this moment.

Qin Ji gripped the sword with both hands, power surging from his core. His entire body was like a fully drawn bow. The greatsword carved a black full moon in the air, whistling as it tore through the atmosphere, and slammed down heavily on the giant arm that hadn't yet retracted.

*CRACK!!!*

A teeth-grating sound of bone shattering echoed across the snowfield.

That thick, pillar-like arm was actually severed clean through by this single slash!

Blue blood gushed out like a fountain, instantly dyeing the pristine white snow a bizarre, deep blue.

*ROAR—!!*

A roar of extreme pain came from underground.

Immediately after, the snow churned. A massive figure, ten meters tall, struggled to climb out from beneath the earth.

It was a giant composed entirely of solid ice and rock, radiating suffocating cold. Its remaining hand clutched the stump of its severed arm. Those crimson eyes were fixed on Qin Ji, filled with brutality and... a trace of fear not easily detected.

Qin Ji casually flicked the blue blood off the blade of his sword, his gaze sweeping over the top of the monster's head.

[Ice Snow Giant (Silver Rank BOSS)]

[Rank: 50]

[HP: 84,900,000 / 85,000,000]

"Eighty million HP?"

Qin Ji scoffed, his disdain unconcealed. "A nice long health bar. Pity it's so fragile."

That previous slash, though just a normal attack, had triggered the 'true damage conversion' effect of [Greedy Grasp], directly shaving off nearly a hundred thousand of this thing's HP.

For ordinary players, that might be like scratching an itch.

But for Qin Ji, whose attack speed had been stacked to an inhuman degree, this was just a matter of a few seconds.

"Since you're here, leave your attributes behind."

Qin Ji stomped down. The ground instantly cracked. His whole body shot towards the Ice Snow Giant like an arrow from a bow.

The Ice Snow Giant was clearly enraged.

It roared at the sky. The surrounding air instantly solidified. Countless sharp icicles materialized in the Void Realm, shooting towards Qin Ji like a storm of pear blossoms.

"Pathetic tricks."

Qin Ji didn't dodge or evade, letting the icicles crash against his body.

*Ting ting ting ting!*

A series of crisp impact sounds rang out.

-0!

-0!

-0!

Possessing the [Dominator of Ice and Snow] trait, Qin Ji was completely immune to ice magic of this level!

He charged through the icy downpour, instantly closing the distance to the giant.

Greatsword raised high.

No fancy techniques, only the purest release of power.

Slash!

The black sword light was like a scythe of death, weaving into an impenetrable net of demise in the air.

The Ice Snow Giant tried to block with its remaining arm, but under that storm of slashes, the hard rock arm was sliced and shattered like tofu.

Stone fragments flew, ice shards danced chaotically.

Every slash that landed carried away chunks of flesh and high damage numbers.

The Ice Snow Giant's shrieks went from high-pitched to shrill, finally becoming weak whimpers. Its massive body, subjected to Qin Ji's unreasonable, violent dismantling, gradually fell apart.

*BOOM—!!*

With the final sword piercing the giant's heart, the colossal body could no longer hold on, collapsing heavily into the snow, kicking up a cloud of snow dust.

[Ding! Killed Lv.50 Silver BOSS 'Ice Snow Giant'. Plunder successful!]

[Strength +500!]

[Obtained Passive Skill: Mighty Swing (Normal attacks gain a splash damage effect).]

Qin Ji glanced at the System prompt and nodded in satisfaction.

"Splash effect? Not bad. Grinding efficiency just went up again."

He sheathed his greatsword. His gaze passed over the giant's corpse, looking deeper in.

The shockwaves from the earlier battle had shattered the surrounding snow, revealing a deep, dark passage leading underground. The entrance was sealed by some ancient Formation, but under the intense tremors, a crack seemed to have appeared in the Seal.

An aura, more ancient and weathered than the ice and snow, was slowly seeping out from that crack.

It belonged to the true legacy of the 'Ancient Eastern Kingdom'.

Qin Ji walked to the edge of the passage entrance, looking down into the bottomless darkness.

The cold wind howled, whipping his black coat. He slowly raised his right hand. A sphere of violet-gold energy was violently compressing and spinning in his palm—his prepared 'greeting gift' for violently breaking down the door.

The setting sun was like blood, dyeing the ravaged battlefield a dark crimson. Qin Ji stood with one foot planted on the Ice Snow Giant's massive head. The energy sphere at his fingertips emitted a heart-palpitating aura of destruction. Those violet-gold pupils shone brilliantly in the twilight, just like a primeval Vicious Beast that had just feasted, gazing coldly and greedily at the dark abyss he was about to completely tear apart.