The grassland map before him was not small, and Gentle Rabbits were scattered everywhere. Even though Xu Kun could instantly kill a Gentle Rabbit with one strike, once he killed one, the rest would immediately turn and run!
With Spirit of Grass restoring them, as long as these Gentle Rabbits ran far enough away, they could slowly recover to full health!
Having Xu Kun kill them one by one would be far too wasteful of time!
But Xu Kun was no fool. He had an AoE skill, so why bother killing them one at a time for such little gain?
He might as well rake the grass and catch the rabbits, killing them by the bunch!
As soon as Xu Kun finished speaking, a sea of fire clouds appeared above the heads of the clustered Gentle Rabbits!
Under the Gentle Rabbits' terrified gazes, a rain of fireballs descended!
Wildfire Scorches the Plains: Deals (Magic Attack Power + Fire Attribute Attack Power) x1.2 Fire Attribute damage per second within a range of (50x50). Skill duration: 10S. Stamina Cost: 100 Cooldown: 300S
A circle with a diameter of 50 covered roughly 20 square meters, and the layers upon layers of Gentle Rabbits huddled together in the distance occupied about that much space!
With Xu Kun's Level 1 attributes, he could deal 340 Fire Attribute damage per second!
There was no way Level 2 monsters with F-tier talents like Gentle Rabbits possessed any Fire Attribute resistance, which meant every fireball dealt true damage!
"Coo, coo, coo!"
The Gentle Rabbit herd let out terrified cries, trying to use their voices to drive away the falling fireballs, but how could that possibly work?!
The dense rain of fireballs gave every Gentle Rabbit within range a thorough fire bath. Even from far away, Xu Kun could smell the fragrance of roasted rabbit!
-340, -340...
Not a single Gentle Rabbit could withstand even one fireball. The layered rabbit herd was cremated layer by layer by the downpour of fireballs!
At the same time, endless notification chimes rang by Xu Kun's ears.
Ding! You have killed a Gentle Rabbit. EXP +0.8%. Ding! You...
Fortunately, after killing the Cavern Giant Rats earlier, Xu Kun had already grown used to the uninterrupted stream of sounds. He held his breath and focused, watching the rabbit herd that had now descended into chaos!
The Gentle Rabbits in the very center had thought themselves clever, believing that squeezing into the herd would be safest. Unfortunately, AoE damage did not reason with anyone. The deeper they were inside, the less chance they had of escaping!
On the contrary, the Gentle Rabbits that had joined the cluster the latest and stood at the edges panicked when they saw their companions die and tried to flee in all directions!
Xu Kun showed them no mercy!
He threw out an Explosive Fireball. The damage from this single-target skill was far higher than the AoE damage of Wildfire Scorches the Plains. The huge fireball not only instantly killed a Gentle Rabbit leading the escape, but also frightened the Gentle Rabbits fleeing behind it into stopping in their tracks!
In that one second of hesitation, they could no longer escape the AoE range and were swallowed by the sea of flames!
Of course, Explosive Fireball had a cooldown, so it could not stop every fleeing rabbit. Xu Kun made a split-second decision and relied on his movement speed, which far surpassed that of the Gentle Rabbits, to catch up and slash them with his sword!
-238!
Adding in the damage he had dealt while driving away the Gentle Rabbits earlier, Xu Kun was surprised to discover that every strike of his sword had been a critical hit!
This discovery delighted him, though he also knew it was another benefit brought by his maxed-out Luck and Heavenly Blessing: Child of Fortune!
With his morale soaring, he let Wildfire Scorches the Plains continue purging the rabbit herd while he killed the fleeing rabbits one by one with a single slash each, sending them all on their way!
Ding! You have killed a Gentle Rabbit. EXP +0.1%.
"Whew!" Another Explosive Fireball killed the last Gentle Rabbit hiding in the grass, and Xu Kun collapsed weakly to the ground!
Judging by the notifications, he had already killed all 200 rabbits on the grassland!
Wildfire Scorches the Plains had taken care of roughly 150 to 160 of them, while he had dealt with the rest one by one. Just like that, after spending over half an hour, not a single rabbit remained on the grassland.
His EXP had also reached around 10% at Level 2!
"When I was Level 0, each Cavern Giant Rat gave me 1% EXP. After reaching Level 1, they only gave 0.2% each. When I killed Gentle Rabbits at Level 1, each gave me 0.8%, but after reaching Level 2, they only gave 0.1%!"
That was why, after reaching Level 2, Xu Kun had accumulated only 10% EXP.
"Killing monsters of the same level gives far less EXP than fighting above my level. That also proves that leveling up gets harder and harder the higher you go!"
"But there are only two hundred monsters of each level in the beginner trial. It's unrealistic to think I can level up just by killing monsters of my own level!"
"The textbooks recorded that in a beginner trial, if one has the ability, it is best to kill every monster along the way. That way, when facing the final trial, one can reach Level 10 and not be at too much of a disadvantage in terms of attributes!"
Xu Kun sat cross-legged on the ground, muttering to himself!
With his speed, he could naturally skip the low-level monster zones and kill higher-level monsters, but that would definitely be a losing proposition. Whether it was the completion rate of the beginner trial or EXP, he had to work his way up step by step!
Ding! Your beginner trial completion rate has increased by 6%. Current: 12%! Ding! Congratulations on killing 100 F-tier racial monsters, Gentle Rabbits. The Myriad Races Bestiary has taken effect. Congratulations, you have obtained the F-tier skill Spirit of Grass! Spirit of Grass Tier: F-tier Support Skill Effect: Recovery +5% (includes potions, skills...)
The skill the Gentle Rabbits used to restore health by eating grass had also transformed into a skill suited to Xu Kun.
"This counts as a passive skill. Like the undying effect of Unyielding Starfire, it can increase recovery by 5%. Although the boost from its current F-tier rank is not significant, it will be very useful once it levels up in the future!"
Xu Kun had not expected an F-tier skill to be particularly powerful. Collecting more of them and saving them for future upgrades would bring nothing but benefits!
After resting, Xu Kun stood up. He had not forgotten that he still needed to collect his spoils!
He casually reached toward a Gentle Rabbit corpse, and a piece of snow-white fur appeared in his hand.
Ding! You have picked up F-tier material—Gentle Rabbit Fur. Heavenly Blessing: Child of Fortune has taken effect, upgrading it to E-tier material—Snow Rabbit Fur! Snow Rabbit Fur Tier: E-tier Function: Snow Rabbit Fur offers excellent resistance against wind and snow. It is an ideal material for tailoring apprentices to practice with. Ten pieces of fur can be made into one fur coat!
Xu Kun was no stranger to Snow Rabbits, an E-tier rabbit race!
As described in its function, materials from Snow Rabbits were highly sought after.
After the great changes in Blue Star's world, winter temperatures had become exceptionally cold. The fur of races like Snow Rabbits, which were accustomed to living in the Frozen Wasteland, had always been a highly popular material on the market!
"This whole piece of fur should sell for around a thousand yuan!"
A thousand yuan—that was half a month's living expenses for Xu Kun and his mother!
Besides, there was more than just one piece of fur among all these rabbit corpses!
"I'll pick up more. I can sell some of them for money, then gather enough for two more coats and make fur coats for Mom and Second Mom to keep warm!"
Xu Kun was in high spirits. Completely unlike when he had ignored the Cavern Giant Rats earlier, he tirelessly threw himself into looting corpses.
With his maxed-out Luck, Xu Kun never faced the problem ordinary people encountered of finding nothing left to pick up!
Besides material upgrades and the 100% pickup rate, Xu Kun had another advantage over others. Materials ordinary people picked up were likely to be damaged, such as Gentle Rabbit Fur with only 30% integrity. In that case, its price would be greatly reduced!
After happily collecting more than a dozen pieces of fur, Xu Kun made another gain.
Ding! You have picked up F-tier food—Cooked Gentle Rabbit Meat. Heavenly Blessing: Child of Fortune has taken effect, upgrading it to E-tier food—Cooked Snow Rabbit Meat! Cooked Snow Rabbit Meat Tier: E-tier Function: After consumption, restores 20 HP per second. Duration: 10S!
Smelling the fragrant Snow Rabbit meat still giving off steam before him, Xu Kun swallowed hard and immediately took a bite.
It melted in his mouth, its aroma exploding across his taste buds in an instant. It was a delicacy Xu Kun had never tasted before!
The fragrance of the food made Xu Kun close his eyes in satisfaction as he savored the pleasure it brought him!
Even without any seasoning, it was still a delicious dish!
"Not bad, not bad. I'll pick up more and keep some at home, then send some to Jian Jian's family too!"
To Xu Kun, recovering 20 HP per second was nothing special. What mattered was that the meat tasted good, and it was something he normally could not eat!
The flesh of every edible race on the market had been driven up to astronomical prices!
Some wealthy families wished they could feed their children this nutrient-rich flesh at every meal, hoping that before the beginner trial, dietary supplements could raise their children's base attributes by even a little!
Xu Kun had not researched the matter too deeply, but he estimated that this piece of meat was probably worth no less than a piece of fur!
After all, food was the first necessity of the people! That had been true since ancient Huaxia a thousand years ago!
Heave-ho, heave-ho, we common folk are truly happy today!
After another busy hour, Master Xu finally stripped the grassland clean of every rabbit.
He obtained 120 intact pieces of Snow Rabbit Fur and 80 pieces of Cooked Snow Rabbit Meat.
He happily stored them in his backpack. As soon as the trial ended, he would be able to take them out of the tower!
The HP and mana he had lost had also fully recovered after leaving combat.
"Keep going, keep going!"
For others, the beginner trial was like crossing the Gate of the Underworld, but for Xu Kun, it had become a journey to get rich. How could this little sweetness from the Gentle Rabbits possibly stop him in his tracks?!
After crossing the grassland, Xu Kun hid behind a large tree and quietly observed. The Myriad Races Bestiary appeared in his palm and scanned the racial monsters not far away!
Bladehorn Sheep Talent: F-tier Horn Blade (+5% Physical Attack) Level: 3 Attack Power: 18-20 HP: 220-250 Physical Defense: 10-12 Dodge: Unable to dodge Kun's attacks Movement Speed: 1M/S Skill: Bleed—After an attack lands, deals 5 true damage per second for a total of 10S! Introduction: A low-level sheep race whose horn resembles a sharp blade. They are relatively gentle by nature, but once they spot an enemy, they will use the bladehorns on their heads to pierce the enemy's skin and let them know they are not to be trifled with!
The stats were average. Other than the blade-like horn growing from its head, they were about the same as the ordinary goats Xu Kun had seen!
He glanced at the Supreme Ember Spirit Sword in his hand. Wrath of the Fire Dragon still had two minutes left on its cooldown!
Xu Kun hesitated for a moment and muttered, "With my speed, these sheep can't catch me. If things really go wrong, I can just run back to where I was earlier..."
Xu Kun wanted to test the trigger rate of Wrath of the Fire Dragon. After all, the first time it had activated, it had been wasted on those filthy giant rats, and he had not even gotten a proper feel for it. But Level 3 Bladehorn Sheep were not comparable to Level 1 Cavern Giant Rats. If he got surrounded, he would surely die!
However, Xu Kun was not someone who hesitated endlessly. With speed far beyond that of the Bladehorn Sheep, he was confident enough to give it a try!
He acted as soon as he decided. Xu Kun stepped out from behind the tree where he had been hiding and shouted at the sheep grazing with their heads lowered, "Hey, you little bastards!"
Baa~
Not a single sheep paid Xu Kun any attention. They continued eating grass on their own.
Xu Kun: ...
"Damn it, when the tiger doesn't show its might, you think I'm some Hello KTV?"
Xu Kun's face reddened as he formed a fireball in one hand!
"Eat an Explosive Fireball!"
He threw it toward the center of the sheep herd.
Boom!
The Explosive Fireball did not hit a single sheep, but the shockwave it raised had already drawn the herd's aggro.
"Hey, you little bastards, come hit me!" Xu Kun said with his hands on his hips and an extremely punchable expression.
Baa, baa, baa~
The enraged sheep herd played along, calling their companions one after another as they charged toward Xu Kun in a massive group.
With 200 sheep running at once, Xu Kun felt the ground tremble. He swallowed, turned, and ran, keeping the herd at a safe distance behind him!
Xu Kun circled the sheep herd's habitat once, occasionally throwing an Explosive Fireball to keep provoking them. Listening to the endless bleating behind him, Xu Kun found time to glance back.
"Hey, they all followed!"
With a sudden stop, Xu Kun planted his feet, and the distance between him and the sheep herd instantly closed!
He looked at the Flame Spirit Sword in his hand and muttered, "Brother, I'm counting on you!"
His upper body was ready for battle, but his lower body was already prepared to make a run for it!
When the first Bladehorn Sheep drew close, Xu Kun gritted his teeth and drew his sword in a slash!
His palm grew hot, and Xu Kun revealed an evil grin.
"Brother, we're set. Come on, sheepies, take Grandpa's Wrath of the Fire Dragon!"
Boom!
The terrifying Fire Dragon leaped from the blade of the Flame Spirit Sword once more. The dragon entered the sheep herd as though entering an empty field!
Before you continue