A thunderous explosion echoed from the peak of the Ten Thousand Poison Sect.
The entire mountaintop looked as if it had been struck by a meteor, riddled with craters.
The grand hall at the summit was reduced to ruins, a scene of utter devastation.
The whole mountain trembled, rocks constantly rolling down and randomly crushing some unlucky souls.
The players at the foot of the mountain had no idea what had happened; a large number were inexplicably killed by the aftershock.
Only those who had kept their distance managed to escape with their lives.
Lin Jichen emerged from the wreckage atop the mountain, covered in dust and debris, looking utterly disheveled.
He glanced at his health bar—only a few hundred points left.
He had narrowly survived the self-detonation of a Golden Elixir.
Luckily, it was a human-grade Golden Elixir; if it had been an earth-grade one, he would have been dead.
It was thanks to his thick health bar.
As a tanky Sword Cultivator, Lin Jichen had pioneered a new path.
He survived, but the others on the mountaintop weren't so fortunate.
Jiang Luoyu, Ren Lan, Chen Yuan, Chu Hongling, and everyone else in the grand hall were all buried in the aftermath of the Golden Elixir's self-detonation.
His beloved pet, Panda Xiong, also perished miserably.
Lin Jichen could already foresee its loyalty dropping significantly again.
There was nothing he could do.
Who could have predicted that the old geezer would be so ruthless, choosing to self-detonate his Golden Elixir without resistance?
At least he survived (dog head emoji).
[Cultivation UP! Battle Merit UP!]
The ten thousand points of battle merit were still sweet. Previously, the death of the green-haired Grand Elder had only netted him 1,500 points.
Killing the Sect Leader was the most profitable, though the risk was immense.
Lin Jichen wouldn't have dared to confront Li Chang'an if he wasn't confident.
It was because his cultivation experience had reached a bottleneck, and he had an excellent Sinew Cleansing Pill that could break through to the later stage of Foundation Establishment at any time.
So he chose to face Li Chang'an head-on.
As the saying goes, high risk always comes with high reward.
Just the ten thousand points of battle merit were enough to sweep away Lin Jichen's frustration over Panda Xiong's loyalty drop.
If he could trade , letting Panda Xiong die a few more times wouldn't be a big deal.
The only annoying thing was that Li Chang'an self-detonated his Golden Elixir, leaving no Soul Burial Mound behind—it was obliterated in the explosion.
In fact, it was possible to stop the opponent from self-detonating by launching continuous, relentless attacks until the opponent was dead.
Or by using skills to interrupt them.
Giving the opponent no time to trigger the self-detonation.
But Lin Jichen hadn't expected Li Chang'an to be so ruthless. With thousands of health points left, he could have held on for a few more rounds, but he chose to end it early by self-detonating.
What could Lin Jichen say? If he had known, he would have bitten Li Chang'an to death with his teeth if necessary.
Li Chang'an's Soul Burial Mound was gone, but the Soul Burial Mounds of Ren Lan, Jiang Luoyu, and the others were all exposed.
Including those of Chen Yuan and Chu Hongling.
These people were innocent victims, dying in Lin Jichen's place.
Lin Jichen first checked Jiang Luoyu and Ren Lan's Soul Burial Mounds.
The two women only dropped a few pieces of Spirit Grade equipment.
Then he checked Chu Hongling's. This woman was even luckier—not a single item dropped. She had great fortune!
Finally, Lin Jichen walked to Chen Yuan's Soul Burial Mound. A touch revealed a Mysterious Grade item.
Getting a Mysterious Grade item wasn't too bad.
[Mysterious Grade Spirit Skill · Furious Heaven Punch]: Within 30 seconds, all damage received will be stored as rage. When activated, all rage will be infused into a punch, counterattacking the opponent and dealing 500~3000 base skill damage in an 8-meter fan-shaped area in front, with the ability to lock onto a single target.
Cooldown: 25 minutes, Mana Cost: 1100 points.
Requirement: Foundation Establishment Realm Body Cultivator with a root bone of 55 points or higher.
This skill is fierce!
Ren Lan, that crazy woman, hit the jackpot today with two Mysterious Grade skill books, both tailor-made for her.
But that's normal. After all, the Ten Thousand Poison Sect belonged to the Body Cultivator lineage, so most of the equipment they dropped was for Body Cultivators.
Although the skill book was found in Chen Yuan's Soul Burial Mound, Lin Jichen looked around and saw no one. He shouted, "Whose skill book is this? If no one claims it, I'll take it."
"Well, it seems to be ownerless, so it's mine."
After saying that, Lin Jichen calmly put it into his ring.
At this moment, the battle at the foot of the mountain was also coming to an end.
All the elders, including the Sect Leader, were dead. The Ten Thousand Poison Sect only had elite disciples left, who couldn't cause much trouble.
Half an hour later, all members of the Ten Thousand Poison Sect were annihilated.
[Ding! Congratulations to the players of Mu Xian Province for completing this storyline opportunity! All participating players are rewarded with +500 reputation points and +100 battle merit points!]
After the game announcement, all players still in the Ten Thousand Poison Sect, including Lin Jichen, were automatically transported back to Fengqu City.
Everyone realized they had won only after hearing the announcement three times!
"Wow, it's over so quickly? It felt so easy."
"Yeah, I just killed one elite disciple and a few regular disciples. Didn't do much else."
"Where's the BOSS? I only saw elders. Were they the strongest BOSS?"
"This storyline opportunity was so easy, haha. I bet the other three provinces also completed it successfully."
"Ugh, I was late and missed out. Can someone tell me what battle merit is and what you guys did?"
In the largest square of the city, all players were transported back, including those who had died and revived.
As soon as Lin Jichen returned, he was surrounded by two girls.
"Little Lin, why didn't I see you at the revival point? Where did you revive?" Ren Lan asked curiously, with Jiang Luoyu also looking puzzled.
Given the explosion's power, Lin Jichen shouldn't have survived.
Lin Jichen smiled awkwardly, "I didn't die."
"What! You didn't die? Are you made of iron? How could your little body take that?"
Ren Lan looked skeptical and even patted Lin Jichen's chest as if testing its hardness.
Lin Jichen smiled wryly. His real-life body was weak, but that didn't mean he couldn't be a tough guy in the game!
"Little Chen, since you didn't die, did you find our Soul Burial Mounds? I dropped two pieces of equipment, both Spirit Grade."
Jiang Luoyu, feeling a bit jealous of Ren Lan's closeness to Lin Jichen, quickly changed the subject to avoid Ren Lan taking advantage of him.
Lin Jichen nodded and handed back the equipment they had dropped.
Seeing their lost equipment returned, the two girls were quite happy.
"By the way, we got three Mysterious Grade items and five Spirit Grade items from killing the Grand Elder. Here they are."
Ren Lan took out the equipment dropped by the green-haired Grand Elder: three Mysterious Grade items, a Spirit Skill book for finger cultivators, and a pair of gloves for palm cultivators.
The gloves, similar to gauntlets, were weapons specifically for palm cultivators.
The last Mysterious Grade item was a formula.
[Mysterious Grade Formula · Poison Refining Powder]: Can be used to refine highly toxic powder, which can be applied to weapons to cause severe poison damage.
Requirement: Fifth-grade Alchemy Master.