Chapter 96: Earn or Lose?

“Still hesitating? Right now!”

While dodging, Li Xin grinned and lunged fiercely at the yellow ring snake. Two meters away on the ground lay a large scatter of concealed weapons—each one a creation of the Qian Kun, usable only after being claimed.

Two meters, and the yellow ring snake could flick its tail to send Li Xin flying; the danger was absolute. Yet the snake had just fired its venom arrow, and the gap until its next skill was at least half a second. Whether in the real world or this game, even the mightiest beasts or spells carried a brief casting delay. That half-second margin was the result of careful calculation drawn from the snake’s first two attacks.

Though other methods existed, nothing was faster than the venom arrow or tail whip.

The distance between them was only six meters; Li Xin stood four meters from the concealed weapons. At his present twelve meters per second, he could close the gap in 0.33 seconds. The charging skill of Quest added its own bonus, cutting the time to 0.3 seconds—more than enough.

The snake’s two failed strikes only fanned its fury higher. Its forked tongue lashed out, locking onto Li Xin with unblinking intensity. To its astonishment, this human’s speed outstripped even the guardian of the protected zone. By the moment it reacted, Li Xin had drawn the Azure Dragon Yan Yue Blade and swung with crushing force.

Positioned directly against the snake’s belly, three inches away.

Hiss—hiss hiss—the yellow ring snake roared in rage. That was its vital point!

Unable to dodge, it straightened instinctively upward. A sharp swish, and the blade carved a long wound four inches along the serpent’s flank. Scales offered no protection; the cut was clean and merciless.

Black blood welled up, coating the entire length of the blade.

The snake shrieked, though the wound had not reached its heart, it had come perilously close. Damage was severe.

Above its head, a floating number appeared: 3487. That was the exact damage dealt.

The health bar finally materialized, still a long stretch of red. Li Xin cursed under his breath. His own combat value was barely three thousand; with gear and Qian Kun’s enhancements it should hover around five thousand. This full-power strike, aimed at the snake’s most sensitive spot, had yielded only 3487. Subtracting the difference, the snake’s defense stood at roughly sixteen hundred. Scales, colossal bulk, and reinforcement leveled it up another factor of 1.5, placing the total between 2300 and 2500.

“Formidable defense,” Li Xin spat, a ruthless gleam flashing in his eyes. Even with his entire silver set and a golden bulletproof armor, his defense had reached only thirteen hundred. This serpent was nearly twice his size.

“Chance? None whatsoever! Watch me—combo strike!”

Li Xin laughed, activating the charge skill and a cross slash at once. The charge cooldown had ended exactly two seconds ago; the cross slash, unused until now, had its own five-second timer. Perfect timing.

Boom!

Li Xin slammed into the snake’s belly. His military blade flashed in a blinding cross, spraying blood in every direction.

The yellow ring snake bellowed. The collision was little more than an itch, yet the blade was razor sharp. The worst part was the weapon’s ability to shift at will. Fortunately, the human stood close enough; a violent coil would crush him instantly.

Too late. The snake’s body whipped in a rapid spiral, encircling Li Xin in coils. The impact struck like an avalanche. Li Xin felt his legs buckle. Quest’s HP dropped sharply, as did Game Spirit’s, and the blue attribute bar plummeted beneath his feet.

In moments his lower body was completely trapped. Quest’s health was replenished by blood bottles, but Game Spirit’s had already fallen to twelve points. At zero lay a forty-eight-hour cooldown.

A glance showed the blue endurance bar still at twenty-four. Body restricted, even Qian Kun’s aid was limited.

Instead of…

Possible, yes—but the noise would shake the grassland herds and summon guards.

While the upper half still moved, Qian Kun transformed twice: sword and blade struck twice more. One head remained. The lower half was already being crushed and crumbled by the serpent’s coils.

Red HP plummeted toward zero.

Blue endurance bar followed, sinking toward zero.

The snake savored victory, tongue flicking eagerly, licking at Li Xin’s scalp. Salty saliva dripped down, nearly choking him. The hateful creature would soon become his to claim.

Then Li Xin smiled. The slight curl of his lips sent an icy dread straight into the snake’s heart. No, no, it must be imagining things—it was already broken.

The ring inside its body felt utterly empty of resistance. It was about to loosen its coils and swallow its meal whole.

Suddenly, a violent blast erupted from within.

Boom!

Borrowing the last reserves of blue endurance, the Qian Kun bomb pack detonated. Li Xin himself dissolved into a shower of light. The yellow ring snake, now exposed and relaxed, was shredded apart in the blast.

Blood and flesh scattered. The cave collapsed.

Ding-ding-ding. A crisp chime rang out. The thirty-three-level reinforced monster had dropped a pile of loot.

Suddenly, Li Xin revived instantly, snatched everything up, and rushed back into the blast radius once more—dying again in a burst of light.

Ding!

Instant revive. Wait to revive. Return to city or camp. Choose.

Return to city or camp.

The screen flashed violently. Li Xin reappeared at the nearest main city or military camp. There was still one revive left—why the extra choice?

This was one of his unique privileges. Normally players revived twice before forced to return to city or camp. Li Xin possessed three revives, earned by stacking two accounts—equivalent to four lives.

The game setting remained unchanged. Others’ two- or three-life cooldown after death had been layered onto his third revive, allowing him to return on the third death or wait until the fourth.

Of course, dying twice in succession still carried a price.

He reclaimed the first death’s dropped pants, only for them to vanish in the next explosion along with his two wrist guards. Twelve pieces of equipment reduced to nine. The two wrist guards were his only golden set.

Was the task a profit or a loss?

Li Xin did not yet know. He would learn only after returning to the city to check.