It was finally time to examine the sword Chen Luo had once used. This time, after activating 「Appraisal」, the system directly displayed all of its detailed information:
Item Information:
- Name: Myriad Extremes Divine Sword - Damaged State
- Quality: Legendary - Growth
- Level: 4/???
- Durability: 10/188,241
Attributes:
+40% (+0.4%) Attack Damage
+5% (+4%) Critical Rate
+10% (+0.4%) ASPD
+5% CD
+20% Lifesteal
+1 Agility
Passive:
- 「Pursuit」 - Passive: Attacks that hit a target reduce the effectiveness of their healing by 40%. Depending on the weapon's current state, 「Pursuit」 will additionally grant one of the following two effects:
- 「Flay and Rend」: While in its normal state, every attack inflicts 「Bleeding」 on the target (losing 1% HP per second) for 6 seconds, while completely preventing the target from recovering in any form.
- 「Curse」: While in Split Sword state, every fragment of the sword that hits the target pierces into their body, inflicting 「Bleeding」, increasing damage taken by an additional 15%, and causing the enemy to lose an additional 0.05% HP per second.
Skills:
- 「State Shift」: Freely switch between 「Normal Sword」 and 「Split Sword」. (Unavailable: Requires the user to reach level 25 and the equipment to reach level 60.) Cooldown: 1 minute.
- 「Split Sword」: While in 「Split Sword」 state, half or the entire sword blade can be split into tens of thousands of razor-sharp fragments, dealing (15% AD) (+1% per equipment level, up to 65%) Physical Damage. (Unavailable: Requires the user to reach level 30 and the equipment to reach level 80.) Cooldown: 4 minutes.
- 「Sweep」: Can only be activated while in 「Split Sword」 state. After charging energy, unleash an ultimate sweeping slash, dealing a total of (180% AD) (+0.75% per equipment level) damage to all targets within a radius of 10m (+1m per 50 equipment levels). Allies recover 100% of the total damage dealt as HP. After activation, the equipment immediately returns to Normal Sword state. Cooldown: 150 minutes.
- 「Exchange」: When using 「State Shift」, gain the corresponding effect based on the current sword form:
- 「Split Sword」: Attack speed is reduced by half, and the Lifesteal, Attack Speed, and Agility attributes provided by this equipment cannot be obtained. In exchange, attack range is doubled and total damage dealt is increased by an additional 15%.
After carefully studying every attribute and skill of the Myriad Extremes Divine Sword, Chen Luo finally understood why such a battered and broken piece of equipment had received such an incredibly high evaluation from the system.
「Growth」 was the most special characteristic of this equipment—it possessed its own independent level and would gradually unlock its potential over time. The higher the quality of the equipment, the more astronomical the difference would become between it and other equipment once it possessed the Growth attribute. It was no exaggeration to say that Growth-type equipment was a type of weapon born specifically to grow stronger alongside its owner.
Precisely because of this, their prices were always astronomical figures far beyond the imagination of ordinary people. The higher the equipment level, the more terrifying the price required to obtain or upgrade it became.
However, the most fatal weakness of this type of equipment also lay here: they imposed extremely strict level requirements on both the user and the equipment itself. Even more extreme was the fact that some equipment could only be unsealed by using exceptionally rare special items.
Therefore, during the early stages, their actual combat power was often pitifully low, even far weaker than other equipment of the same level.
Chen Luo looked at the long list of unlocking requirements and could not help sighing repeatedly.
At present, there were only two ways to increase the level of his current equipment: first, take the sword out and kill monsters to accumulate experience through combat; second, directly consume resources to upgrade it.
The second option was clearly a bottomless game for the wealthy.
As for Chen Luo, who was completely penniless at this moment, he could only choose the first method.
Yet, ironically, although he had already grasped the sword in his hand, he simply did not dare to casually take it out and use it.
***
Several hours earlier, at the eastern edge of the forest outside the city.
When four figures hidden beneath black robes silently appeared, the air suddenly began to fluctuate.
All four had reached level 22 and were equipped with elite reconnaissance gear. At this moment, they were carrying out a thorough search of each area under orders from their superiors.
As soon as they reached the edge of the forest, one of them stopped and lazily spoke, his voice filled with exhaustion:
- "Do you really believe there could be anything unusual in this godforsaken place? We've already combed through every inch of land for thousands of kilometers, and haven't found even the slightest trace of anything abnormal. Anyway, once we're done today, we can finally rest. By the way, have you three figured out why exactly the boss sent us here..."
- "You'd better stop being so curious about the intentions of those big shots above us." The second person beside him coldly interrupted. "But I heard the news from the tower suggested that the abnormal phenomenon just now was caused by the emergence of a priceless treasure, which is why our team was urgently dispatched for this mission."
- "What bullshit treasure? There hasn't been even the slightest change in the residual magic power around this land. It's practically as if that thing never existed!" The third person cursed irritably, his tone rough and impatient. After spending more than half a day traveling through dozens of large and small cities without finding anything, the veins on his forehead bulged. "Why don't we just release our magic power and scan the whole place? How long are we supposed to keep searching manually like this!"
- "Idiot! Do you want to become food for the monsters around us?" The fourth person immediately poured cold water on that reckless idea. "Don't forget, we're nothing more than people at the very bottom of the power hierarchy. If our combat strength isn't anything special, then stop doing things that attract attention. Unless you want to become dinner for those mutated monsters before we even figure out what happened, you'd better behave yourself."
Knowing that the warning was indeed reasonable, the four quickly put away their previous carefree attitudes.
They simultaneously activated their stealth skills, completely suppressing all fluctuations of magic power around their bodies before spreading out in four directions and gradually infiltrating the enormous city.
To avoid getting separated in the complicated terrain, whenever they passed through an area, they carefully left behind secret marks that only their companions could recognize.
After approximately five minutes of reconnaissance, the person responsible for scouting suddenly stopped.
He sensed a terrifying pressure, enough to make his skin crawl, suddenly shooting into the sky from the direction of the city center. He immediately sent an emergency signal to summon the other three.
When the four regrouped at the source of that abnormal fluctuation, they were all completely stunned.
What appeared before them was a devastated battlefield.
At that moment, Chen Luo was engaged in a life-or-death battle with a massive level-25 zombie.
From calm observation at the beginning, to astonishment, and finally to extreme fear, the four stood frozen in place, personally witnessing Chen Luo finally kill the ferocious elite monster.
- "Things over there look pretty chaotic, don't they? Should we take advantage of the opportunity and rush out to finish them all off?" The third shadow licked his lips, his murderous nature gradually surfacing.
- "Are you an idiot?" The second shadow turned around and cursed furiously, reaching out to grab his companion's shoulder. "Are you blind? He just personally killed a level-25 elite monster!"
- "But he's exhausted to the point that he can barely stand! And what can those little brats around him possibly do to us?" The third shadow was still unconvinced, attempting to persuade the entire team to take advantage of the situation and kill Chen Luo while he was at his weakest.
- "I already used an advanced reconnaissance skill to inspect him..." The fourth person—the one with the strongest reconnaissance ability in the entire team—said in a low voice.
The face behind his mask had already gone completely pale.
- "All of his information is completely hidden. The system only displays a single blood-red warning: Danger Level - Extremely Lethal. Are you really sure you want to gamble your life against someone like this?"
The entire team fell silent, gradually becoming engulfed by fear.
The faint killing intent emanating from Chen Luo made the fourth man's scalp tingle. An ominous premonition weighed heavily on his chest, although even he could not explain in words where exactly this feeling came from.
- "So what do we do now?"
- "Fall back and hide. Wait until nightfall before making a move." The fourth man spoke in a low voice, a cunning glint flashing in his eyes. "Wait until he's asleep before attacking. He himself may indeed be terrifying, but those little brats following him aren't. As long as we can control those brats, no matter how strong he is, he'll have no choice but to obediently wait for death."
After exchanging knowing nods, the four shadows silently withdrew into the void.
They secretly followed from above, watching with their own eyes as the children struggled to carry Chen Luo back to the temporary base.
After confirming the target's location, the group of assassins chose the highest floor of a building directly opposite them, completely concealing their presence and patiently lying in ambush, like cockroaches hiding in the darkness as they quietly waited for their prey to take the bait.