Arrival

"You were damaged by the Blood Demon Lord's self-detonation. You have died."

"You have killed the Blood Demon Lord, completing the mission. You have received the final mission reward. Drawing for Legendary Talent..."

As Lu Qingshan woke up, the system prompts from the intense battle still echoed in his mind.

Lu Qingshan couldn't help but curve his lips into a triumphant smile—

No matter how much prestige your major guilds held among players, no matter how much power you wielded, I, a solo player, still managed to pull off a sneak attack and obtain the final mission reward.

This fierce battle, named the God Slaying War, was a special tenth-anniversary celebration event organized by "Nine Heavens" to commemorate the game's decade-long operation.

On that day, the game issued a server-wide announcement: one of the demon race's great demon lords, the Blood Demon Lord, was trapped in the Black Abyss while carrying out a special mission and would be unable to leave for a short period.

All players on the server were called upon to head to the Black Abyss as soon as possible, surround the Blood Demon Lord, and fight for the human cultivators. The player who ultimately delivered the killing blow to the Blood Demon Lord would receive the final mission reward: [Legendary Talent].

Upon the announcement, the entire server was in an uproar, and all players went wild.

Demon Lords were among the NPCs with the highest combat power in the game.

"Nine Heavens" had been operating for ten years since its launch. Although the game's main storyline had entered its mid-phase, the Demon Lords were still considered invincible and extremely lethal bosses in the eyes of the players.

Although for players, as long as something had a health bar, they could just charge at it head-on.

Even if players could overwhelm a Demon Lord through sheer numbers, actually killing one was something impossible at the current stage.

The reason was simple: Demon Lords weren't fools. With their cultivation, if they sensed that the situation was unfavorable and decided to escape, players would have no ability to stop them.

This was also why this battle, which was a siege against a Demon Lord, was called the God Slaying War—for players at the current stage, killing a Demon Lord was no different from slaying a god in terms of difficulty.

Now, with the Demon Lord confined to the Black Abyss by the game's developers, it meant players could use their numerical advantage to grind the Blood Demon Lord to death. An opportunity to slay a god was thus presented before the players, so who wouldn't be excited?

More importantly, the final mission reward was [Legendary Talent]!

The importance of talents in "Nine Heavens" was undeniable.

Since the game's launch, players were often seen as cannon fodder in the eyes of NPCs, beings with decent cultivation but negligible combat power.

With the same cultivation realm, those renowned NPCs could kill players of the same level as if they were slaughtering dogs, and some even god-defying NPCs could kill players of higher levels.

Why?

Wasn't it because of the heaven-defying talents possessed by these "protagonist template" NPCs!

For example, a certain genius sword cultivator NPC possessed the Legendary Talent [One Sword Frosty Cold]: Sword skills deal 100% increased damage.

Yes, Legendary Talents were that simple and brutal!

When someone's sword strikes dealt double damage, wasn't it like slicing vegetables when fighting opponents of the same level?

How could anyone play like this?

Unbeatable, truly unbeatable.

Damn it, players usually assume they are the protagonists when playing a game. But upon entering the game, they find out they are merely extras, responsible for highlighting how awesome the protagonists are. In front of NPCs, apart from being able to respawn infinitely, players had no sense of superiority left.

Their mentality was shattered, wasn't it?

Now, the developers had presented an opportunity for all players on the server to turn the tables and become the protagonists. Who wouldn't be excited?

This darn developer finally started acting like a human!

The reward settlement method for the event tasks made players' blood boil—the player who delivered the final blow to the Blood Demon Lord would receive the final mission reward.

Normally, the final rewards for such server-wide events were settled based on contribution. The player with the highest contribution would receive the final mission reward.

This settlement method was theoretically the fairest, but it also resulted in the final rewards always going to those top-tier players, with ordinary players having no ability to compete for the final mission reward.

Usually, in order to compete for this so-called grand prize, every event was a battle of gods, and ordinary players could only join in the fun and get the most basic participation rewards.

But this tenth-anniversary celebration event's reward settlement method, which was completely different from the usual, made countless ordinary players' little schemes come to fruition: Hmm... isn't the developer encouraging sneak attacks?

Sneak attacks, as in, there are rules for them.

Yes, top-tier players are powerful.

But in such a large-scale server event, with so many people and so many hands involved, countless skills were being hurled at the Blood Demon Lord every moment. Who could accurately calculate that damage output?

Even if you were a top-tier player, you couldn't guarantee that you would deliver the final blow to the great boss. If you were lucky enough to deal the finishing blow yourself.

Heh heh.

Given the popularity of "Nine Heavens," the value of an account with a [Legendary Talent] was immense. Without saying anything else, selling the account immediately would definitely earn more than winning the lottery, and the money obtained would be enough to live lavishly for a lifetime.

Now, even many casual players who had always been indifferent to these events couldn't hold back and flocked to the Black Abyss.

Who couldn't daydream?

Lu Qingshan was one of these vast numbers of players harboring sneak-attack dreams. However, he was slightly different from ordinary players; he was a somewhat well-known player, ranking in the top ten of the player sword cultivator rankings, and the only solo player among the top ten without a guild.

As a top ten sword cultivator among players, Lu Qingshan naturally had some trump cards that were different from ordinary players.

[Heaven and Earth as One Sword]: At the cost of dropping one major realm of cultivation, the player's next damage skill will be imbued with special effects: True Damage, Execution Effect, and Ignore Death Immunity.

Each of these three effects, on its own, could be considered a Legendary Talent.

Not to mention all three effects stacked together, its power could only be described by one word.

Terrifyingly so!

Of course, to obtain such immense power, the price to be paid was no small matter. The cost of casting a spell that caused a drop of an entire major realm meant that Lu Qingshan had actually possessed this skill for a long time, but he had never used it.

Especially as his cultivation realm grew higher and higher, the price of dropping an entire major realm became increasingly heavy.

He had originally thought this skill would languish in his skill bar forever.

But now, an opportunity for a high-stakes gamble lay before him.

Even with the special effect of [Heaven and Earth as One Sword] bolstering him, he couldn't guarantee he could land the final blow. However, the chances would undoubtedly be much, much higher, and he was willing to take this gamble.

If he didn't obtain the final reward, at worst, he'd just have to grind hard in the following period to recover his cultivation. But if he succeeded, a Legendary Talent, and the first Legendary Talent in "Nine Heavens" to be owned by a player at that, meant that even dropping his cultivation to the Foundation Establishment stage would be a massive profit.

Therefore, as the Blood Demon Lord's massive health bar plummeted to the bottom under the players' encirclement, and it prepared to self-destruct, Lu Qingshan used Heaven and Earth as One Sword and unleashed his strongest sword technique.

What followed was a dazzling red light, and two system notification sounds.

Upon hearing the first system notification, Lu Qingshan thought he had failed.

But fortunately, the second system notification soon arrived.

He had, in the end, succeeded.

Lu Qingshan felt his body was somewhat stiff and cold, as if he were submerged in some liquid.

He couldn't help but frown. Resurrection shouldn't be like this.

Could this be a side effect of using [Heaven and Earth as One Sword]?

Lu Qingshan's first reaction was to curse internally, Damn developers, what new trick are you pulling now? I've already dropped an entire major realm of cultivation, and it's still not enough? You have to mess with the resurrection process in these weird ways.

Subconsciously, Lu Qingshan sensed the spiritual energy within his body.

Hmm, empty. Just as expected...

Wait, empty?!

As a veteran player of "Nine Heavens," hadn't I already gritted my way to the current version's cap—the Integration stage? Even if using [Heaven and Earth as One Sword] caused my cultivation to drop an entire major realm, there's no reason for there not to be a single wisp of spiritual energy left in my dantian.

Could this be a bug?

Although many thoughts flashed through his mind, in reality, only a brief moment had passed since he regained consciousness.

With a hint of confusion, Lu Qingshan slowly opened his eyes.

It was a dark and damp cave. Luminescent pearls were embedded in the cave walls, emitting a faint white glow, allowing Lu Qingshan to see his current situation clearly.

It turned out it wasn't just a feeling; he was indeed submerged in liquid at this very moment.

A not-so-large pool was filled with a dark, black liquid, and he was within this pool, just like soaking in a hot spring, with only his head exposed above the surface.

Looking around, besides himself, dozens of small, adorable heads were also exposed above the surface in this small pool, arranged neatly.

?????????

To New Readers

1. Attribute points and the book title are discussed in the "Related Works" section.

2. The book's first-day sales were 60 copies, a "heavenly" start. However, it wasn't abandoned and has continued to be written until now, with an average readership of 4400, a 70-fold increase. The results aren't particularly outstanding, but it's the kind of book that gets better as it's written. As a novice author, updates aren't particularly fast, but I have the determination to finish it and am constantly learning and improving. Investing in this book is definitely not a loss; I recommend a heavy position.

3. If the book suits your taste, I would be deeply honored. If it doesn't, that's also fine; you can exit from the top left, and we can part amicably. Everyone reads novels for leisure and relaxation; let's have less negativity~

4. To readers willing to subscribe and support the genuine version, regardless of whether you like this book or not, you are all good brothers. I bow to you in gratitude. Because without you, so many wonderful novels would certainly not have been created.

2021.07