Server Chat Channel:
【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: What does this leaderboard mean? Is it showing the Survival Trial rankings in real time?】
【Mudslide: Over 10,000 people from our server actually participated. They're all heroes.】
【Storm God of War: Holy crap, look! The leaderboard just updated!】
A line of golden text gradually appeared on the leaderboard.
【My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens, Round 3, Cleared.】
【Solo 6: It's the big shot "My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens"! This is just the beginning, right? He's so strong…】
【Zhang San: No wonder he's the big shot who got the first kill on the entire server. I wonder if there's a reward for being the first to complete this Survival Trial?】
"My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens" looked down at the sea of white light below and flashed a smug, triumphant smile.
By now, everyone on the server must be able to see his name sitting proudly at the top of the leaderboard, right?
Just imagining everyone looking up at his ID filled his heart with an overwhelming sense of pride.
As the green lights drew closer, Qiyu finally saw what they were.
A pack of wolves.
There were roughly twenty of them.
【Wild Giant Wolf: Tier 2 Mutant. Skills: Fangs, Claw Blades.】
The survival panel provided basic information about mutants, but what exactly "Fangs" and "Claw Blades" did was something players had to discover for themselves.
Qiyu soon found out.
The pack of gray giant wolves, each standing a head taller than the fence, approached his territory. Seemingly provoked by the brilliant sunflowers, they threw back their heads and let out long, piercing howls before charging straight at the fence.
The ground spikes slowed them down, but ordinary-grade spikes were hardly effective against Tier 2 mutants. Before long, the first Wild Giant Wolf reached the fence.
It raised a forepaw, and Qiyu saw a crimson, crescent-shaped arc of light flash beneath its claws.
【Fence Durability -20.】
A single swipe had knocked off 20 durability points. That meant one section of fence could withstand only five hits.
And there were at least twenty Wild Giant Wolves right in front of him.
Qiyu didn't dare waste another moment watching. He hurriedly restored the fence's durability, then slipped along it like a ghost.
The barbarian fang dagger flashed through the darkness like lightning, slicing swiftly across a Wild Giant Wolf's throat.
Qiyu was certain that, in the real world, such a strike would have been enough to kill the massive beast.
But this was a survival game.
A blood-red "Critical Hit" appeared above the Wild Giant Wolf's head, followed by a huge damage number: "-278."
It was still alive.
Apparently, as long as a mutant had health remaining, there was no such thing as a truly fatal weak point.
Without hesitation, Qiyu channeled his magic and cast Fireball, sending it hurtling straight toward the wolf's head to deal additional damage.
—Even if striking a vital point couldn't kill it outright, old habits were hard to break.
By the time the Fireball struck the first Wild Giant Wolf's head, Qiyu had already appeared beside the next one.
The Agility bonus from his jade boots and the Stealth bonus from his phantom armor allowed him to weave through the frenzied wolf pack.
By extending his mental energy outward, Qiyu could clearly "see" the movements and trajectories of every Wild Giant Wolf.
A succession of damage numbers—"-198," "-207," "-147"—burst above the wolves' heads.
Qiyu soon discovered that although there was no concept of a guaranteed fatal strike, attacking vital areas such as the head and chest significantly increased the chance of landing a critical hit.
In a sense, that still counted as exploiting a weak point, didn't it?
Flames erupted amid the gray mist.
The last Wild Giant Wolf vanished in a flash of white light.
Qiyu exhaled and carefully sensed the magic flowing through his body.
Sure enough, his usual stationary practice couldn't compare to actual combat against these massive beasts.
If nothing else, after this battle, both his Fireball accuracy and his control over magic had clearly improved to a new level.
As he pondered this, Qiyu swiftly collected all the white light.
【Obtained Wolf Teeth x40.】
【Obtained Wolf Hides x20.】
【Obtained Basic Resource Pack x10.】
【Congratulations, player! You have successfully completed the third round of the Survival Trial and received a reward: 1 Brass Chest.】
A faint smile appeared on Qiyu's face. Clearly, the previous items were drops from killing the wolves, while the chest was his reward for clearing the third round of the trial.
Without hesitation, he chose to open everything.
The ten Basic Resource Packs yielded 2 Farmlands, 3 stacks of 50 Wood, 2 Basic Stamina Potions, 1 Basic Mana Potion, and 2 Dark Energy Orbs.
The Brass Chest emitted a blue glow.
【Congratulations! You have obtained Heart of the Great Tree Staff x1, Basic Well x1, and Automatic Irrigator Blueprint x1.】
The largest cluster of blue light contained none other than the Heart of the Great Tree Staff.
【Heart of the Great Tree Staff: Fine Equipment, crafted by the Great Treefolk. Equipment Stats: Attack +15, Mana Cost Reduced by 5%, Mana Regeneration Speed Increased by 5%. Note: For certain special reasons, it is not favored by elegant mages.】
The staff was roughly as tall as Qiyu himself. Its appearance was rather plain, with a dark green shaft and a coil of vines wrapped around its top. A clear, green, diamond-shaped crystal was embedded in the center.
Qiyu's eyes widened when he saw the +15 Attack bonus.
Although it was also a Fine-quality item, the Heart of the Great Tree Staff seemed to have stats far superior to those of the Jade Set.
Qiyu reached out and grabbed it.
THUD!
The bottom of the staff unexpectedly slammed into the ground with a heavy thud.
Qiyu: …
He couldn't help staring at the staff. It was no thicker than his wrist and could even be described as slender and elegant. He closed his eyes, his expression indescribable.
Thinking back to the staff's description, he seemed to understand why elegant mages didn't favor it.
And after another glance at its stats, he also understood why a single staff could provide a whopping 15-point Attack bonus.
Letting out a soft breath, he braced himself, gripped the Heart of the Great Tree Staff firmly, and channeled his magic through his body before finally lifting it.
Ignoring the considerable weight in his hands, he carefully sensed how the flow of magic through his body differed from before.
A 5% reduction in mana consumption and a 5% increase in regeneration speed might not sound like much, but the difference was surprisingly noticeable.
The personal stats panel displayed only Attack, Defense, Agility, and Spirit. However, judging from his own experiences and the comments other players had made in the zone chat, Qiyu suspected that the Attack stat was closely related to Strength and Constitution.
For the vast majority of people from Earth, individual attributes were only in the single digits. His starting Attack of 13 was actually quite high.
…Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have been able to lift the Heart of the Great Tree Staff at all.
He couldn't help taking another look at it. He had no idea what material the staff was made of, but it was astonishingly heavy.
Besides the staff, the Brass Chest had also yielded a well and an automatic watering device.
The well was a valuable item. With it, he would no longer need to worry about drinking water. Qiyu decided to wait until the Survival Trial was over before carefully choosing a suitable location to place it.
As for the automatic sprinkler, Qiyu had no use for it just yet. For now, he rather enjoyed using different variations of the Waterball spell to water his farmland.
After all, it was one of his few daily opportunities to "play around."