“Come on, baby! Gimme an Ancient Immortal-grade equipment!”

I stabbed the boss’s poison sac with the Purple Ying Sword and gave it a twist, causing a jet of green poison to squirt against my face. I quickly wiped it away before firing another Burning Blade Slash into the poison sac, inflicting massive weak-point damage to the screeching Scorpion King.

The boss’s HP had dropped below 2% at this point, so I immediately moved to the back while ordering apparition to use Thunderous Charge on the boss. Amazingly, the skill actually managed to stun the creature. I immediately drank a Saint Spirit Potion to regain full HP and MP before plunging my sword into the ground. When the earth shook and wisps of powerful draconic energy had surrounded my blade, I pulled it out and launched a purple cyclone straight at the boss, Purple Dragon Howl engulfing it instantly!

“Roar roar roar!”

The draconic roar rocked the innermost area of the Scorpion King’s Cave, and the boss screamed one last time as Purple Dragon Howl stripped away its carapace. Finally, its head slowly turned limp, and its last sliver of HP vanished from view. Its death marked the end of my one-man sweep of the Scorpion King’s Cave.

“Ah…”

I sucked in a deep breath before falling tiredly against the Ancient Divine Dragon’s back. Purple Dragon Howl left its user Exhausted for 3 seconds, and during these 3 seconds it felt like I had run a marathon. I wasn't able to summon even an ounce of strength at all.

……

The Scorpion King erupted into a floor of equipment, magic stones and more upon dying. I planned to take everything with me because some of the loot—the magic stones for example—could be traded for gold at the supply camp. Ever since I was barred from the China server, my gold supply had been steadily decreasing. This meant that I really had to start broadening my sources of income and economizing on my expenditure.

The moment the Exhausted status had passed, I leaped down the dragon’s back and arrived at the Scorpion King’s body. The first thing I did was to put its Venomous Sting in my bag. It was the quest item I needed to trade with the hot NPC archer for a rich amount of experience and maybe even some equipment.

Next, I sat on the Scorpion King’s body and examined its equipment drops closely. There were three in total. The first item was a battle axe that was surrounded by a bloody glow. The second was an exquisite-looking metal armor cloak, and the third was a green dagger. Besides that, the boss also dropped an azure-colored skillbook and a fiery red pet egg. I couldn’t wait to check them out!

First things first, I examined the equipment. I picked up the battle axe and found it to be surprisingly heavy. A player with low Strength might not even be able to pick it up from the ground, much less equip it. I smiled in satisfaction after I checked its stats. It was good.

Soul Pardon Battle Axe (Immortal-grade, Outstanding★★★★★)

Attack: 3500~5500

Strength: +1250

Stamina: +1100

Agility: +1050

Tactics: +102

Passive: Increases user’s Attack by 125%

Passive: Increases user’s splash effect by 30%

Passive: When swinging Soul Pardon, a 2% chance to trigger Soul Pardon Strike and stun the target

Slots: 13

Outstanding Property: Burning Spirit. Upon activation, all of user’s attacks are critical hits for 120 seconds. Cooldown: 120 minutes.

Level Requirement: 200

Reputation Requirement: 300000

Class Requirement: Warrior

……

The battle axe possessed incredible offensive power for an Immortal-grade item, so I planned to sell it to High Fighting Spirits at a low price when the opportunity presented itself. Some people might wonder why I wouldn’t just give it to him for free. For starters, he wasn’t so close to me that we could straight up ignore conventional norms like Lin Yixin, He Yi or Beiming Xue. Also, most experts were prideful people, and he could very well see my gift as charity; a blow to his pride. Both of us would be happy, however, if I sold it to him for 20% of its normal price.

Next, I moved on to the bloody cloak, also my most anticipated piece of equipment of the three. The cloak was clearly old and tattered, but the hem of the cape was glossy with divine energy. It didn’t take a discerning eye to know that this cloak was anything but ordinary. Still, I almost forgot to wipe my saliva when I saw its exact stats—

Sunchaser Cloak (Hadean Immortal-grade, Outstanding★★★★★★★)

Defense: 7000

Magic Resist: 6500

Strength: +1240

Stamina: +1200

Intelligence: +1150

Tactics: +175

Passive: Increases user’s Defense and Magic Resist by 45%

Passive: Increases user’s max HP by 70000

Outstanding Property: Sunchaser’s Prayer. Increases user’s movement speed by 75%, attack speed by 40%, and HP regeneration speed by 25%

Introduction: In ancient times, a great ancient god sought the stars and planets in an attempt to master the greatest powers of the laws. However, he perished right when he was about to succeed. After the later generation discovered crystallization of his power, the divine smiths worked together to forge it into the Sunchaser Cloak. The vast power contained inside the item is not something any ordinary person can pilot.

Level: 205

Reputation Requirement: 500000

Class Requirement: Warrior

……

I was overjoyed because I had been stuck with my Earth-grade Soul Suppressing Cloak for too long already. While its Shield of Evening was very useful, the Dragon God Shield’s Divine Dragon Protection already gave me a better, 25 seconds long, invincibility. There was also no point having two invincibility actives because I didn’t have enough Active Points to activate 2 of them within the same battle anyway. In a sense, this Sunchaser Cloak couldn’t have come at a better time!

Swhoosh!

I immediately equipped the Sunchaser Cloak, and it immediately appeared behind my Heaven-burning Armor. Most of the cloak was bloody red in color, but its hem glowed like it was painted with a sheen of silver moonlight. The sharp but beautiful contrast did wonders to to accentuate its age and desolation. Anyone with a handsome enough face could equip this cloak, go for a spin in Sky City, and bedazzle countless girls without even trying. After all, what kind of girl wouldn’t like a handsome youngster who looked like they had seen everything there was to be seen in life?

On a side note, even thoughI thought I was good-looking enough to wear this cloak, albeit just barely, Chaos Moon did say that I had no chance of joining the ranks of the tall, rich and handsome. Unfortunately, I myself was inclined to agree with her assessment...

A vast power flowed into my body slowly after I had equipped the Sunchaser Cloak, and my stats jumped noticeably—

ID: Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand (Title: Martial God of the Abyss)

Class: Undead Swordsman (Great Earth Swordsman)

Level: 207

HP: 505820

Attack: 19920-23170

Defense: 27715

Magic Resist: 24420

Reputation: 749400

Tactics: 1225 (+1122)

Luck: 74

……

I knew that equipment was the royal road in this game, and one that buffed Strength, Stamina and max HP was even more amazing. The Sunchaser Cloak alone had increased my base Defense by a ridiculous 6000+ and my max HP by 70k+. I now had a base HP of 500k, a stat that was absolutely critical considering that I was adventuring alone in Iron Skull Wilderness, an unfamiliar place filled with unknown danger. I couldn’t always use an HP-buffing card because I needed to maintain a certain level of DPS, so the higher my base HP was, the better!

Brimming with happiness, I checked out the third and final equipment drop of the Scorpion King, the green dagger. It was a Level 200, 8-star Outstanding Heaven-grade weapon, and it was good enough to sell to Cute Little Naughty for a super cheap price. She had been growing stronger and stronger under Li Chengfeng and Chaos Moon’s guidance. In the future, she might just be able to defeat Moonkiss or Farewell Song and become the greatest assassin in China!

Next, I picked up the azure-colored skill book and flipped it open. A line of text immediately entered my eyes—

Purple Frost Concentration: Stab your opponent with unstoppable force and poison them, lowering their Defense by40% for 60 seconds. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Class Requirement: None. Level Requirement: 200. Learning Cost: 50000 Reputation and 1 Luck.

……

I was stunned. A skill that lowers the target’s Defense by 40%? This skill was a must-have against any top-tier expert! Finally, the heavens had blessed me with an armor break skill!

Not only that, Purple Frost Concentration hardly applied to opposing players only. If I had this skill before my fight against the Scorpion King, I would’ve been able to end it as soon as thirty minutes, not struggle with it for an entire hour. Armor break skills were just that useful. I was so happy that I actually faced toward the sky and laughed like a madman.

I raised my arm, and the skill book turned into a ray of light before entering my body. Before I knew it, there was a new purple-colored skill button in my skill window. It looked incredibly pretty. Metaphorically speaking, the prettier the rose, the sharper its thorns. So far, this rule hadn’t been proven wrong in this game just yet.

An idea entered my mind, and I side-eyed the Phantom Wolf King with a sinister smile on my face.

As if sensing my malicious intention, the little wolf trapped its tail between its legs and whined pitifully at me.

“Don’t you dare escape, boy!”

After I changed my attack mode to free-for-all, I abruptly stabbed the little wolf in the butt and activated Purple Frost Concentration, delivering a jet of venomous poison straight into its body. The Phantom Wolf King immediately turned purple in the face and barked at me with an expression of deep betrayal. That didn’t matter though. What mattered was that it had lost exactly 40% of its Defense.

I smirked. This skill is so good! King of the hill, here I come!

……

The Scorpion King also dropped a ton of magic stones, and there were even Purple Crystals and Divine Crystals. Most normal players would never see them for as long as they played the game because one of these stones could sell for 10000 RMB or higher at an NPC store. Naturally, they couldn’t be too common.

After I took everything, I climbed back up the Ancient Divine Dragon and exited the cave. Then, I took to the sky and flew toward the Black Wind Scout Battalion’s camp at full speed. Turning in a quest and being rewarded for it never gets old. I checked my experience bar and noted that it was Level 207, 89%. By the time I finished, I should hit Level 208 and become one step closer to Level 210 and my eighth class promotion!

……

I looked down on the ground as I flew and saw all kinds of mobs, but no players. So far, the forum claim that Iron Skull Wilderness was crawling with deadly players hadn’t yet been proven to be true, although of course I could’ve just missed them. It didn’t matter though. With my current stats, who could possibly be deadlier than myself?