Shen Lu: I've Mutated into Multiple Game-Breaking Abilities

Chapter 19: Returning to the Shen Lu

Not only that. Even if they tried to spy inside using skills or items, they still wouldn’t be able to do so. Without his approval, no supernatural elements could take effect here. “Now that this is settled, next...” Glancing at the time on his phone, Ling Yi’s heart—filled with a sense of security—began to quietly anticipate what was to come. Once he entered Shen Lu, he would undoubtedly reach Level 10. And according to the data he’d researched, the current world record for reaching Level 10 was 6 days, 2 hours, and 15 minutes. By reaching Level 10 on his second day, he would undoubtedly break the existing record. What kind of reward would he receive then? [A new day has begun. You have received 3 hours of Descent Time. ] The clock struck midnight. All players received the same message. Ling Yi didn’t waste a single moment; he immediately entered Shen Lu. When he opened his eyes again he had already arrived at that campsite, bathed in bright sunlight and suffocating heat. All around him, beams of blue light were descending from the void—those were other players arriving. Ling Yi glanced at them, then turned and sprinted westward. With an Agility stat as high as 35, he moved with extraordinary speed, darting into the cypress grove in the blink of an eye. “Wow! Who’s that? He’s so fast!!” Someone spotted Ling Yi’s agile figure and exclaimed in surprise. Hearing this, others instinctively looked over but saw nothing. One minute later. After crossing the tall grassy slope, Ling Yi finally set foot within the Red Fruit Orchard. Last time, with melee combat skills no better than an average player’s, he’d dared only to lie in wait and cast skills from a great distance. Now. His extraordinary Agility gave him the confidence to venture deeper in. The moment his figure appeared before the Red Fruit Monsters, every one nearby that spotted him instantly went into combat mode, leaping toward him at breakneck speed. Ling Yi had no intention of fighting them; he simply accelerated and kept running. “Now the whole world knows there’s someone in Zone 66 who can one-shot the Wolf King. When I use ‘Starfall’ later, there’s bound to be a crowd rushing over at the sound of it.” After he returned yesterday, he saw news posts on forums and major platforms about how he’d one-shot the Wolf King. Only then did he realize just how much of a shock his actions had caused among these players. He also learned from others’ discussions that many organizations were very curious about the identity of the summoner of the “Flaming Meteor”—some conglomerates had even issued warrants to Zone 66 players to track them down. Whoever finds the user of that skill will receive a large sum of training resources! Ling Yi didn’t know what exactly they were up to. In any case, whether good or bad, it was quite a hassle. He was a lazy guy who didn’t like trouble, so he had no desire to get involved with them. “Leaving these Red Fruit Monsters behind might just slow them down.” With that thought, Ling Yi picked up his pace. A fierce wind blew straight into his face; the howling of the gale filled his ears, drowning out almost every other sound. As the scenery on both sides rushed by, he took a moment to glance back over his shoulder. Although the Red Fruit Monsters were monsters known for their Agility, they were no match for his Agility stat of 35; before he knew it, they had been left far behind and had stopped chasing him. The ones still chasing him were the ones closest to him—those who had joined the pursuit later. Seeing this, Ling Yi felt a surge of joy. He thought to himself, “This method really does work.” After running a full two to three thousand meters, Ling Yi finally stopped in front of a stretch of towering boulders that stretched for hundreds of meters. Just beyond that lay another area! He glanced back. Red Fruit Monsters, each two or three meters in size, were leaping toward him. Each one could leap seven or eight meters in a single bound, and upon landing, they produced a series of dull thuds. Thud, thud, thud, thud...! As they drew nearer, the dense rhythm of their landings grew ever more frequent! Like the iron hooves of a massive army—heavy, solemn, and clearly filled with murderous intent. These were all Level 8 or 9, or even Level 10 Red Fruit Monsters, far more powerful than the Level 3 or 4 ones on the grassy slope. However. When Ling Yi used [Starfall], these high-level Red Fruit Monsters were no different from the lower-level ones. They still crumbled at the slightest touch! Annihilated with a single strike! [You defeated a Red Berry Monster (Lv8), +1 EXP] [You defeated a Red Berry Monster (Lv9), +2 EXP] [You defeated a Red Berry Monster (Lv10), +3 EXP] [...... ] The materials and skills dropped by these Red Fruit Monsters still automatically entered his backpack under the effect of the now-mutated [Hardworking Little Bee]. From the outside, it looked as if nothing had dropped at all. With over a dozen consecutive casts of [Starfall], he wiped out all the high-level Red Fruit Monsters within several hundred meters of him. 【Congratulations! You have earned enough experience and have automatically leveled up to Level 9! 】 【You have gained 5 free attribute points! 】 Ling Yi glanced at his level bar. Lv9 (16/1000) “Whoa, it takes a thousand experience points to reach Level 10.” He furrowed his brow in slight exasperation and muttered to himself, “I thought wiping out all the high-level Red Fruit monsters here would be enough to reach Level 10. Looks like I underestimated how hard it is to level up.” It takes quite a while for monsters to respawn, and Ling Yi didn’t want to wait. He turned around and looked at the three- or four-meter-high pile of rocks in front of him, raising an eyebrow in resignation. “ “Well, in that case, I guess I’ll just have to move on to the next area.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he took a step forward and began climbing the pile of rocks. Just like the grassy slope in the Red Fruit Orchard, this pile of rocks served to block the line of sight between the two areas. This ensured that players in Area A wouldn’t be attacked by monsters from Area B. Before long, Having nearly reached the top, he paused and quietly poked his head out. What met his eyes was a vast, crimson, cracked, and parched landscape. Rising heat constantly billowed from the cracks in the ground, and clusters of top-shaped fire monsters—narrow at the bottom and wide at the top—roamed the scorching land. Every now and then, a few orange butterflies ablaze with bright yellow flames could be seen flying out of the fissures. [Current Area: Scorched Land of Blazing Flames] [Monster Information: Fire Elementals (Lv10–Lv20), Blazing Butterflies (Lv10–Lv20)] “Monsters ranging from Level 10 to 20, huh.” Ling Yi wasn’t surprised by the monsters’ levels. But as he watched the Blazing Butterflies fluttering two or three meters above the ground, he couldn’t help but think of the woman he’d seen yesterday—the one known as the “Queen of the Fire Whips.” Both of their bodies were engulfed in flames so intense that their features were indistinguishable. “Her skill was most likely derived from these Blazing Flame Butterflies.” With that, he glanced once more at the scorched earth, confirmed there was nothing else to watch out for, and immediately sprang into action. “Starfall.” He didn’t reveal himself but cast the spell directly from his current position. It was exactly the same method he’d used earlier while lying on the grassy slope to deal with the Red Fruit Monsters. Of course. This method was only effective in beginner-level maps; in intermediate and higher-level maps, players with Celestial Phenomenon skills—just like everyone else—couldn’t gain any advantage from it—something Ling Yi had specifically researched and discovered yesterday. He should count himself lucky that he’d acquired the Celestial Phenomenon skill while still in the beginner-level maps. Otherwise, farming monsters wouldn’t go this smoothly. When that ten-times-larger Flame Star crashed to the ground, all the fire elementals within a vast area were wiped out. Only a few Blazing Flame Butterflies, flapping their wings, emerged from the towering flames. “Huh!? How come almost none of the Blazing Flame Butterflies died!?”