Lin Yixin blinked at me. "You killed Ziyu alone, didn’t you? Are you sure you want to give this Bloodboil to me?"

I nodded. "Sure, but you participated in the fight too, didn’t you? Just think of it as a participation reward or something…"

Lin Yixin covered her mouth and giggled. "Just surprised that my participation reward is this great, that’s all. Alright then!"

She accepted the skill book and used it immediately, the item turning into a ray of light and entered her body. With this, Lin Yixin’s survivability had greatly increased. When we reached the late game where everyone’s HP numbered in the tens of thousands, this skill would surely show its true worth!

I yawned and said, "Alright, you can get back to your grinding now. I’m going to finish my fourth promotion quest and go to bed immediately afterward. I haven’t slept a wink since yesterday…"

"Mn!" Lin Yixin shot me a long look before smiling. "Thanks!"

"We’re well past the stage of pleasantries already, don’t you think?"

"..."

Before she left, Lin Yixin entrusted me the rest of the Frozen Earth set pieces. After that, I sent He Yi a message: "Where are you, Eve? I have a skill book for you. If sis is with you, tell her to come over as well…"

He Yi replied quickly, "Okay, we’re coming back right now!"

A few seconds later, my beautiful leader, busty priest, and dark archer appeared at the teleportation formation and walked up to me.

I passed He Yi the Green Wave Slash skill book and told her to learn it. She accepted it and used it without a word. The next moment, she swung her arm diagonally and fired a long, bluish sword aura at the city walls!

Boom!

The attack didn’t do any damage, but the city walls still vibrated a little from the impact. The commotion immediately caused a couple of stall owners to look over in surprise.

"What a powerful skill, hehe…" He Yi said dazedly. "Lu Chen, is this one of the loots of the boss you fought for god knows how long earlier?"

"Yep. It’s pretty good, isn’t it?"

"Mn mn!"

With that done, I passed Murong Mingyue the Scepter of Snow Region’s Heart. "Sis, this here is a Level 105 Purple Gold–grade scepter. It’s very powerful, so grind hard and get to Level 105 as soon as possible, okay?"

"Ah?"

Murong Mingyue’s mouth fell open as she stared at the scepter in her hands. She was so shocked and excited that her breasts were moving up and down according to her breathing and causing saliva to drip off the mouths of the surrounding players.

Suddenly, she pounced on me and gave me a bear hug. Then, she started dragging me by the neck toward the direction of the inn. "What should I even say to you, really? You know that it’s terrible for your health to stay up the entire night, right? Come on, it’s time for you to log off, drink some water and get some food. You really should take better care of yourself!"

He Yi giggled at her antics.

Beiming Xue said, "What are you two planning to do when you reach the inn? Oh well, don’t forget your room cards…"

Murong Mingyue and I vomited blood at the same time.

……

I decided to obey Murong Mingyue’s whim after a moment of consideration. It was a fact that I was about to run out of steam very soon, and I could certainly afford the time to eat before completing my fourth promotion quest. I definitely couldn’t go to bed just yet though. Candlelight Shadow was still at Level 99, but he couldn’t be too far behind. If I wanted to maximize his displeasure, then I had to become the first fourth-promotion player!

After logging off the game and getting out of my room, I saw Murong Mingyue and Beiming Xue exiting their rooms as well. I asked, "What are we eating?"

Murong Mingyue immediately took out some frozen food from the fridge and left to reheat them. Meanwhile, Beiming Xue passed me a glass of warm water before smiling. "Big bro, how do you feel after being online for so long?"

I thought for a moment before answering, "I feel a bit weak, and I really need to go to the toilet…"

Beiming Xue: "You’re so strong…"

……

The food Murong Mingyue brought me was pretty good. After gulping down two big glasses of water, I spent ten minutes annihilating everything on the table before wiping away the oil on my mouth in satisfaction. "Damn, that was good. Anyway, I’m going to do my fourth promotion quest now. You two should grind hard as well. I’ll party you both and take you on a leveling trip after I’m finished. I’m very strong right now!"

"Okay!" both girls answered with a smile on their faces.

The first thing I did after returning online was to head to the auction house and turn in all the equipment sets Lin Yixin and I had collected so far. The Level 95 Silver-grade Frozen Earth set wasn’t especially good, so it failed to trigger a system announcement. The Blood Maddened Lion set though was unquestionably an auction item that deserved a free advertisement from the system itself—

Ding~!

System Announcement: All players, please be informed that player XXXX has put up the Blood Maddened Lion Equipment Set (LV-115, Gold-grade, 1-star Outstanding. Overall Stats: 1175 Defense, 908 Magic Resist, Strength +240, Stamina +185, Agility +114, Attack +24%. Set Bonuses: Level Requirement -20, Strength +125, Attack +10%, HP +25%, Bloodthirst: The user burns Blood Maddened Lion’s bloodline and gains 45% attack speed and 10% movement speed) for auction. The item will enter the bidding phase at 20:00 today. All interested players, please proceed to the auction house and take your numbers before the auction starts!

……

The Blood Maddened Lion set was without a doubt the strongest available equipment set in Heavenblessed right now. Equipment sets were rare in the first place, and high-grade equipment sets even more so. I was certain that today’s auction would be one for the history books of Sky City!

I also put up the Chest Armor of Barbaric Strength for auction, but the Level 95 Dark Gold–grade equipment failed to trigger any system announcement. Damn, the system doesn’t like promoting any equipment that isn’t Outstanding!

I also dumped every other equipment else I had gotten from the grind on the auction house as well. I priced the best ones myself and let the system decide the rest. So far, the system hadn’t disappointed me yet.

After leaving the auction house and repairing my equipment completely, I finally set off to meet my trainer, Rinser, and undergo my fourth promotion quest!

I spoke to the attendant at the teleportation formation. After I paid the appropriate price, the powerful magic tore at my body and transported me to the Dragonbone Mountain Range’s Snow Domain. Not far away, I saw Rinser sitting atop a rock, hugging his robes and barbecuing a Snow Rabbit above a small bonfire. Occasionally, droplets of oil would drip into the bonfire and cause some sizzling noises.

I walked up to him and asked, "I’m back, trainer. What are you doing, by the way?"

Rinser let out a cough before replying, "I’m studying the workings of the element of ice…"

"You have to barbecue meat to do that?"

"This is a study on how the elements of ice and fire function together."

"My trainer is wise!"

I pulled out the Heaven-stealing Sword after I got close to him. A single look at the intimidating blade of the weapon was enough to make anyone realize that the 4-star Outstanding Spirit-grade weapon was no ordinary weapon. As expected, Rinser broke into a smile after his mild surprise had passed. "Boy, I didn’t think you would grow this powerful in just a short time. The Wind Singer was right about you!"

I smiled back. "Trainer, I would like to undergo my fourth promotion quest!"

"Very well!" Rinser rose to his feet before declaring, "I happen to have just the quest you’re looking for. Recently, a bunch of Snow Rabbits have taken up residence at the central region of Dragonbone Mountain Range. The feces of these rabbits can cause a plague and threaten the lives of the people of Sky City. Therefore, I command you to head there, kill 200 Snow Rabbits and bring their corpses to me as proof. If you succeed, I will conduct the fourth promotion ceremony for you!"

"Okay!"

I nodded, accepted the fourth promotion quest and ran toward the icy plains where the Snow Rabbits were. It was a pretty easy quest considering everything that had happened so far. Still, I couldn’t help but glance back at Rinser. I was certain that the old man had sent me to kill 200 Snow Rabbits because he wanted a taste of rabbit meat, not because their feces could cause a plague that threatened the people of Sky City. So shameless!

But there was no reason for me to turn down the quest anyway. With my current Attack and Defense, it shouldn’t be a problem for me to kill the Level 115 shadow-rank Snow Rabbits anymore.

But I couldn’t know until I actually fought one myself. To the icy plains!

I ran all the way to the place where Lin Yixin and I had been grinding the Snow Rabbits earlier. Little Piglet, Dominating Heaven Blade, and the rest of the bastards who ganged up on us were nowhere to be seen. Luckily, there were still plenty of Snow Rabbits in the area, so I didn’t need to worry about running out of Snow Rabbits to kill. Moreover, I now had the Barbaric War Boots of Heaven and the Heaven-stealing Sword, and the level gap between us had been lessened to just 10. Was there any reason for me not to fight them head-on knowing that the Heaven-stealing Sword had 14% lifesteal? No!

I ran rings around the Snow Rabbits and aggroed almost 300 of them. Then, I summoned the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf to occupy the space next to me and began the battle. No, I didn’t use a choke point. With 1950 Attack, I saw no reason to fear the Snow Rabbits even though the wolf and I were neck deep in them!

I swung my new sword and used Thousand Mirage Slash!

Boom!

The damage numbers that popped above the mobs’ head were absolutely pleasing to look at—

6743!

6653!

6894!

……

It was incredible. The base damage of the skill plus the 30% splash damage from my sword deleted more than half of the Snow Rabbits’ health in just an instant. It was a lot better than even the time Lin Yixin and I were grinding together!

The Snow Rabbits were surrounding me and gnawing at the Obsidian Dragonscale Armor with their sharp fangs, deleting my HP at a swift rate. Despite my newfound power, they were shadow-rank mobs with amazing attack power.

It was at this moment I used a War Crush on all the Snow Rabbits that were surrounding me. At the same time, my body warmed as if their life force flowed into my body. It was the 14% lifesteal from the Heaven-stealing Sword. Earlier, the Snow Rabbits had taken almost 3000 HP from my health pool. A bunch of 643s, 665s and 674s later, I was back to full health again!

Hahaha, this is awesome! This 14% lifesteal is so amazing that I can practically annihilate these mobs without ever downing a single potion!

……

The grind went very smoothly, and all 300 or so Snow Rabbits died in less than an hour. I didn’t forget to pick up exactly 200 Snow Rabbit corpses and throw them into my bag because that was what Rinser had demanded. Finally, I extracted as much Snow Rabbit Meat as I could from the remaining Snow Rabbits in preparation for the Rank 8 Magic Consumables I was going to make in the future!

My quest completed, I went back to receive my reward.

I excitedly ran back to Rinser’s place and dumped the truckload of Snow Rabbit corpses on the ground. Then, I put on a devout expression and said, "Trainer, I’ve killed those damned Snow Rabbits like you commanded me to! They will never be able to shit all over the place and cause a terrible plague again!"

"Very good, boy. Now pay me 50k gold, and I’ll promote you to a fourth-promotion swordsman as promised!" Rinser laughed.

He looked incredibly proud of himself, unaware that I was wishing for the power to remove his head from his body. 50k gold for one simple promotion quest? What is this, a robbery?!

In the end though, I had no choice but to select the "Accept" option. He was my trainer, so I had to obey his rules!

Ding~!

System Notice: Congratulations, you have completed the fourth promotion quest and gained the title "Dark Gold Swordsman." You are awarded 1 Luck for becoming the first player to complete the fourth promotion quest!

……

At the same time, a system announcement dinged across the cities—

Ding~!

System Announcement: Player "Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand" has completed their fourth promotion quest and is the first player in China to become a fourth-promotion player. Reward obtained: Luck +1, Cyanfire Gem II x1, Cyanfire Gem III x1!