Just as Bai Qiu was about to collapse from exhaustion, a radiant glow of level-up light enveloped his body, instantly restoring a quarter of his stamina.
"Ding! Due to repeated depletion of Strength and Endurance, you have comprehended a special skill: Battle Continuation (C-Rank)."
Battle Continuation (C-Rank):
– Stamina consumption reduced by 20%
– Maximum stamina increased by 20%
– Stamina recovery speed increased by 20%
Performance Maintenance: When large amounts of stamina are consumed, attribute reduction is halved, and attributes will not drop below 50% of their normal value.
Note: If you continue to fight after stamina is completely exhausted, your life force will be consumed instead.
Last Stand: When taking fatal damage, enter a special state that allows you to keep fighting at full strength. While in this state, your level will drop by one per second. When your level reaches zero, you will die completely.
He hadn't expected his first C-Rank ability wouldn't come from a Skill Card but from a skill he had awakened himself.
With his new level and the Battle Continuation skill, Bai Qiu instantly shook off his fatigue and resumed his rampage, slaughtering the endless waves of monsters that rushed toward him.
Little did he know that because of this achievement, every survivor within a ten-kilometer radius was now safe from Dragonfang Soldier attacks — all thanks to the tide of monsters being drawn entirely to him.
As the night deepened, the number of Dragonfang Soldiers surged again, and their levels rose as well.
Now, they were strong enough to damage weaker doors and windows.
Soon, the buildings outside the Sanctuary's barrier would no longer be able to hold them back.
Those who still refused to act were merely waiting for a slower death.
"Ding! Within 24 hours, you have slain a cumulative total of 10,000 Dragonfang Soldiers. Achievement Unlocked: [King of Monster Grinding]!"
– Drop rate increased by 25%
– Experience gain cap +2
– Gain +1% to all attributes for each kill, stacking up to 20% maximum
Note: Only three achievements can be active at once. Bonuses from achievements of the same type do not stack. For example, [Monster Grinder] and [King of Monster Grinding] cannot be active simultaneously.
The upgraded achievement came with a new title.
The boost wasn't huge, but every little bit mattered — even a "mosquito's leg is still meat," as the saying goes.
And for the utterly exhausted Bai Qiu, any increase in power, no matter how small, was precious.
His dark gray spear had begun to warp from constant, forceful swings.
The spearhead and blade were chipped and dulled — yet Bai Qiu still swung it with raw strength, crushing Dragonfang Soldiers into the ground with every blow.
At this moment, after once again wiping out all the Dragonfang Soldiers that had rushed toward him, Bai Qiu finally had a brief moment to catch his breath.
Seizing the short respite, he took out his Fusion Card and Enhancement Card, then threw all ten of his Precious Dragonfangs into the fusion slot as materials.
The result was a complete qualitative transformation of his Enhancement Card!
[Enhancement Card C+]
Base Attribute Boost: +36% — +85%
Growth Limit Increase: (Medium)
Sensory Enhancement: (Minor)
As soon as he upgraded the card, his entire body trembled violently inside the armor — not from excitement, but from the sheer intensity of the enhancement process.
The strengthening of his body had reached a speed and pain level that could no longer be ignored…
Bai Qiu Lv.11
Strength: C−
Magic: D+
Endurance: D+
Agility: C−
Luck: F−
Class: Lancer
Lancer's Blessing: Strength ↑ (Minor), Agility ↑ (Medium)
Noble Phantasm: Spear of Converging Mana (Unlocked)
Chant the Noble Phantasm's True Name to gather mana into a weapon (designated polearm) and unleash a single, ultimate strike!
This attack is guaranteed to hit a weak point and deal a critical hit.
There is a 5% chance of instant death for the target.
If instant death is not triggered, the inflicted wounds become irrecoverable.
Weapon Cards:
Steel Spear (Quality E−)
Dragon-Piercing Dagger (Quality D)
Equipment Cards:
Dragonslayer's Boots (Quality D)
Dragonslayer's Armor (Quality D)
Dragonslayer's Gauntlets (Quality D)
Dragonslayer's Pauldrons (Quality D)
Item Card:
Enhancement Card (Quality C+)
Skill Cards:
Berserk (Quality D)
Battle Continuation (Quality C)
Mana Manipulation (Quality D)
Bai Qiu had entered a strange state.
His body, which had already reached its limits, suddenly overflowed with power — yet the ache in his muscles remained.
His entire body felt hot, itchy, and tingled with sharp pain.
Gripping the spear by its tail end, he swung it in wide, sweeping arcs to maximize his killing range — the most stamina-consuming method, but now it felt almost effortless.
Upon closer inspection, the shaft near the end had been crushed out of shape by the sheer force of his grip.
The weapon was on the verge of breaking, but despite having slain so many elite monsters, not a single polearm had dropped — likely a result of his abysmal F− Luck.
Although he could now activate his Noble Phantasm, the Steel Spear's condition made it almost certain that using it once would destroy the weapon entirely.
Since the enemies here were just low-level mobs, Bai Qiu decided not to waste such a powerful technique on them.
As time ticked by, every monster within a ten-kilometer radius had already been drawn to his location.
Even if these weaker creatures would eventually respawn, they clearly weren't refreshing fast enough — the density of Dragonfang Soldier attacks was steadily decreasing…
Though he was a little disheveled, at the far end of the horizon, a faint ray of dawn began to appear — morning had finally come.
A gentle breeze drifted by.
Bai Qiu crouched down and touched one of the items on the ground with his fingertips.
Acquired: Common Dragon Fang ×*
All identical drops instantly vanished, leaving the ground noticeably emptier.
Acquired: Rare Dragon Fang ×54
Acquired: Enhancement Card (E-Rank) ×26
Acquired: Precision Shot (E-Rank) ×15
Acquired: Endurance Card (E-Rank) ×3
Acquired: Magic Card (E-Rank) ×2
Acquired: Agility Card (E-Rank) ×2
Acquired: Strength Card (E-Rank) ×1
Endurance Card (E-Rank)
Increases Endurance by 25%. Slightly reduces the duration of negative status effects.
Magic Card (E-Rank)
Increases Mana by 25%. Slightly improves mana regeneration speed.
Agility Card (E-Rank)
Increases Agility by 25%. Slightly enhances reflexes and responsiveness.
Strength Card (E-Rank)
Increases Strength by 25%. Slightly improves stamina, power, and resistance to impact.
Aside from Precision Shot, a special enhancement tool for archers, the five types of cards — including the Enhancement Card — all boosted base stats.
However, since each person could only equip three enhancement items at most, he didn't intend to use any of these cards for now.
First, anything that could be farmed from minor monsters definitely wasn't part of a powerful card set.
Second, his attributes were quite balanced — the Enhancement Card suited him perfectly, while the others were too specialized for his liking.
Third, he still hadn't fully figured out what each of the four main attributes specifically affected, nor which area best suited his growth.
As for Precision Shot, he saw it as a trap for new players.
Sure, it could quickly boost the combat power of inexperienced archers, but since only three item cards could be equipped — and they couldn't be removed — choosing Precision Shot meant sacrificing long-term growth in overall attributes, leaving them inherently weaker than other classes.
"Hmm…"