91: Chapter 91 Too High an Injury? The Gift from the Lord of the Mortal Palace and the Eastern Divine Genealogy

The darkness receded like a tide, replaced by a soft yet solemn cyan-gold radiance.

Qin Ji pushed open the heavy bronze door, his boot soles clicking crisply against the stone slabs worn by the erosion of time.

The space behind the door was not a gloomy tomb, but a magnificent hall suspended in a sea of stars—the Fan Hall.

In the center of the great hall, an illusory figure stood with hands behind his back.

He stood with his back to Qin Ji, his body wreathed in a righteous aura that, though tattered, remained piercingly cold, as if he were an ancient monarch watching over the long night alone.

"Only Rank 20, yet capable of slaying a god."

The figure turned slowly, his face blurred and indistinct, save for a pair of eyes like two inextinguishable sparks of fire, sizing up Qin Ji.

"Even if you borrowed external force, this battle record is enough to be recorded in the annals of the God Realm.

The young people of today are certainly more adept at... improvisation than we were in our time."

"Improvisation?"

Qin Ji casually inserted the giant sword that was still dripping with divine blood back onto the Void Realm weapon rack behind him, a playful curve tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Senior is too kind. I'm just someone who is simply afraid of trouble.

If something can be solved with items, why risk my life?"

As he spoke, he walked forward without ceremony, his gaze sweeping over the dim star totems surrounding the great hall.

This place must have once been an extremely glorious center of civilization, but now only desolation remained.

The Fan Hall Master clearly did not expect such a reaction from Qin Ji; he was slightly stunned for a moment, then let out a hearty laugh.

"What a 'fear of trouble'!

If we had possessed such a 'fear of trouble' back then, perhaps the Ancient Eastern Kingdom would not have ended up in a state of nationwide slumber."

As the laughter subsided, the Fan Hall Master raised a finger, and a pure cyan stream of light instantly vanished into the center of Qin Ji's forehead.

"Ding! The Fan Hall Master has gifted you a special skill. Do you accept?"

"Accept." Qin Ji did not hesitate in the slightest.

Only a fool would refuse a free benefit.

The next instant, a warm current flowed through his entire body, and the previously gray skill slot on his attribute panel lit up instantly.

【Congratulations on obtaining the unique hidden passive: Dual True Damage】

【Grade: Forbidden Level (Cannot be upgraded)】

【Effect 1: True Conversion—All damage (Physical/Spell/Special Effect) you deal will be forcibly converted into True Damage, ignoring all target armor, magic resistance, and shields.】

【Effect 2: Calamity Multiplication—Your final damage calculation is doubled (x200%).】

【Negative Cost: None.】

【Cooldown: None.】

Looking at the uniform "None" entries, Qin Ji raised an eyebrow.

This skill... was a bit too plain and unadorned.

No flashy visual effects, no complicated triggering mechanisms, just pure numerical violence.

"What? Are you not satisfied?" Seeing Qin Ji silent, the Fan Hall Master asked.

"It is quite strong." Qin Ji rubbed his chin, his tone carrying a hint of humble-bragging regret.

"It just slightly affects the gaming experience.

In the future, the monsters will be gone before I can even see the critical hit numbers, which takes away a lot of the fun of tormenting the prey."

If an ordinary player heard this, they would likely suffer a cerebral hemorrhage on the spot.

This was a doubling of True Damage!

It was the ultimate divine skill that every damage-dealing class dreamed of!

This guy was actually complaining that it killed too fast and wasn't fun?

The Fan Hall Master's mouth twitched slightly; he was clearly choked up by Qin Ji's bizarre line of reasoning.

He shook his head, his expression gradually becoming serious.

"Young man, this power is not for you to slaughter the weak.

The Seal set by the Western gods is far stronger than you imagine, and the Goddess of Ice and Snow... is merely an abandoned pawn guarding the gate."

Qin Ji's eyes narrowed, and he finally put away his devil-may-care attitude.

The main event was coming.

He had gone to great lengths to clear this hidden Secret Realm, even going so far as to use the 【epoch cauldron fragment】, all for the sake of the plot that was about to follow.

"Senior, just tell me straight." Qin Ji looked directly into the Fan Hall Master's eyes.

"To revive the Ancient Eastern Kingdom, what do you need me to do?

Who to kill?

What to steal?

Or should I poke a hole in the sky?"

"There is no need to poke a hole in the sky, but the difficulty is about the same."

The Fan Hall Master sighed heavily and waved his sleeve to unfold a tattered star map in the air.

On the star map, ten dim stars were tightly bound by countless scarlet chains; those were the divine punishment shackles set by the Western gods working together.

"If you want to restart the national destiny of the Ancient Eastern Kingdom, you must first break these ten shackles.

And the key lies in the Origin blessings of ten Eastern gods."

"Ten?" Qin Ji frowned slightly.

"Correct, ten.

And they must be different Eastern orthodox gods." The Fan Hall Master's voice carried undeniable majesty.

"The most critical part is that you must complete this task before your 【Rank 2 Breakthrough】.

Once your life level breaks through to Rank 2, and you are tainted with too much of the current world's Law, you will never be able to enter this banished space-time again."

【Triggered Epic Chain Quest: Dawn of the Ancient Kingdom】

【Quest Objective: Collect the blessings of 10 Eastern gods before completing the second job transfer (LV.40).】

【Current Progress: 1/10 (Favor of Empress Houtu - Obtained)】

【Quest Reward: Unlock the hidden faction "Ancient Eastern Kingdom", obtain the Mythical-grade title "Human Race Sovereign", all attributes +10000.】

【Failure Penalty: Delete account and restart (crossed out)... Permanently lose the qualification to unlock the Ancient Kingdom faction.】

"Before the Rank 2 Breakthrough..." Looking at the quest panel, Qin Ji felt no pressure; instead, a flame of madness ignited in the depths of his eyes.

This was exactly right.

If the quest were too simple, it wouldn't be interesting.

Before the Rank 2 Breakthrough, ordinary players wouldn't even dare to see a god; they would even take a detour when encountering an Epic-grade BOSS.

But he was different; he was Qin Ji, a bug in this data world.

"Ten gods, huh..." Qin Ji licked his somewhat dry lips, his purple-gold pupils flashing with the greedy light of a hunter seeing top-tier prey.

"It seems that in the coming days, I'll have to take a good stroll through those so-called 'Forbidden Zones'.

I hope there are a few more gods as 'polite' as the Goddess of Ice and Snow, because right now... I am really lacking attribute points."

The Fan Hall Master looked at the murderous young man before him, and an inexplicable chill arose in his heart.

He suddenly felt that he hadn't found a savior, but had released a monster... capable of devouring gods.

"Go." The Fan Hall Master waved his hand, and a portal of light slowly opened behind Qin Ji.

"With this power, let the glory of the Human Race shine upon this God Realm once again."

Qin Ji turned around, waved his hand with his back to the Fan Hall Master, and strode into the portal.

"Rest assured, I will drag those high-and-mighty gods down from their altars, one by one."

Outside, in the main world of the God Realm.

The first ray of morning sunlight had just pierced through the clouds, but the originally calm world channel suddenly exploded.

Countless "hardcore grinders" who had been leveling all night were preparing to return to the city for supplies, habitually glancing at the level leaderboard.

Immediately, everyone froze.

The potions in their hands dropped to the ground, they forgot to chew the bread in their mouths, and even parties currently fighting monsters suffered a total wipe because their main Tank was distracted.

【Blue Star Region Level Leaderboard】

1st Place: Qin Ji, LV.20 (Experience Locked), Class: Jobless (???)

2nd Place: Thor, LV.14, Class: Thunder Warrior

3rd Place: Sakura Blade, LV.13, Class: Ghost Martial Artist

10th Place: Madman Zhang San, LV.12, Class: Berserker

A gap!

An absolute gap!

Overnight, that "Qin Ji" who dominated the leaderboard not only wasn't caught, but had left the second place behind by a full 6 Ranks!

You must know that in a game like the God Realm where experience points increase exponentially, a difference of 1 Rank is a chasm.

A 6-Rank gap meant that the total experience Qin Ji obtained was likely more than the second through tenth places combined!

"What the f***?! Rank 20?! Did the System have a bug?"

"It's confirmed! It's definitely a hack!

I spent the whole night farming Skeleton Soldiers and only gained 15% experience; how on earth did he level up 9 Ranks in one night?"

"Is there a possibility that he soloed a Secret Realm?"

"Don't kid yourself, upstairs.

Who can solo a Secret Realm of the same level at this stage?

Unless he's the GM's biological father!"

"Report! Must report! This seriously destroys the game balance!"

"Can any expert analyze what exactly the Jobless class is?

Why is the leveling so fast?"

On the world channel, abuse, questioning, and exclamations in various languages flooded the screen like a waterfall.

The leaders of the major top-tier guilds were urgently calling meetings.

At the headquarters of the "Dynasty Guild" in the Shenlong Empire, Guild Leader Huangfu Longcheng stared fixedly at that glaring name on the leaderboard, the wine glass in his hand crushed into pieces.

"Rank 20... is this the so-called solo player?" Huangfu Longcheng's face was as gloomy as water.

"Investigate!

Spare no cost to find out the coordinates of this Qin Ji for me!

If he cannot be recruited, then..." He made a throat-slitting gesture.

At the same time, in the "Holy See" of the Temple Empire, the "Yamata Group" of Sakura Country, and even the "Pantheon" of the Free Federation, countless eyes were focused on this name.

Qin Ji's existence was no longer just a simple "high-level player," but had become an uncontrollable variable capable of breaking the world's balance.

Meanwhile, at the center of the storm, Qin Ji was standing leisurely in a deserted courtyard outside the Newbie Village.

This was a private plot of land he had bought with his first pot of gold, named "Silent Courtyard".

Although the location was remote, it had the advantage of being quiet, and it came with an absolutely secure private warehouse.

"Ding ding ding—" The communicator vibrated frantically, and countless friend requests and private messages poured in like a bombardment.

Qin Ji didn't even look at them, directly enabling "Reject Stranger Messages" and "Block Friend Requests".

The world instantly became quiet.

He walked to the stone table in the center of the courtyard and dumped the loot from his backpack all at once.

"Clatter—" A small mountain of gold coins glittered in the sunlight, and hundreds of pieces of equipment emitting various halos of light were scattered randomly.

If an outsider were to see this scene, they would probably commit robbery on the spot.

Qin Ji casually picked up a pair of greaves glowing with purple light.

【Frost Giant's Greaves (Epic-grade)】

【Required Rank: LV.20】

【Attributes: Physique +200, Strength +150】

【Effect: Frost Walking (Movement Speed +30%)】

"Trash." Qin Ji tossed it aside with disdain.

This item, which others considered top-tier, was just decomposition material in his eyes.

His base attributes had long since been stacked to tens of thousands of points by killing monsters; these one or two hundred points of bonus were not as practical as killing a few more elite monsters.

He rummaged through that pile of dazzling treasures for a long time, and finally, in an inconspicuous corner, picked up a dusty stone Seal.

The surface of this Seal was covered in cracks and looked like it would shatter at any moment, but the instant Qin Ji touched it, a heart-palpitating aura of death quietly permeated the air.

【Broken City God Seal (Special Item)】

【Description: A remnant of the Ancient Eastern Kingdom's Netherworld System.

Holding this Seal allows one to sense "Wraith" type creatures within a ten-kilometer radius.】

【Current Status: Dormant (Requires a large amount of Soul energy to awaken).】

"Found it." Qin Ji's mouth curled slightly, his fingertips gently stroking the rough surface of the Seal.

This was the core item for his next step in the plan.

The Fan Hall Master wanted him to collect ten divine blessings, but conventional methods would definitely not work.

Those gods were all hiding deep within Secret Realms; it was hard enough to even meet one, let alone receive a blessing.

But what if... he could create an "Underworld" in the current world?

"Soul energy..." Qin Ji looked up, his gaze passing over the courtyard wall to look at the leveling area in the distance that was gradually becoming lively.

In his eyes, those players and monsters killing each other to snatch monsters had now turned into balls of walking, delicious Soul fuel.

"Since I'm going to play, I'll play big."

Qin Ji put away the City God Seal and stood up, his black trench coat flapping in the morning breeze.

He did not choose to go back into the house to rest, but instead turned and walked toward the teleportation array in the depths of the courtyard.

Next stop, Burial Ground.

There were millions of undead creatures there, waiting for him to "harvest" them.

As the light of the teleportation array shone, Qin Ji's figure gradually blurred.

At the final moment before disappearing, he lightly snapped his fingers, and a wisp of pitch-black thunder danced on his fingertips, instantly reducing a falling withered leaf to nothingness.

Sunlight spilled into the empty courtyard, and only the residual warmth on the stone table proved that a monster who had just slain a god had stood there.

The wind swept up the dust on the ground, as if whispering about a catastrophe about to sweep across the entire God Realm, which had just only begun to unfold.