Inertial Thinking, Falling into a Misconception!

The Bladehorn Sheep at the very front was instantly engulfed by the fire dragon, burned to ashes without a trace!

But this was just the beginning. The fire dragon's momentum didn't diminish as it rampaged wildly through the flock. The sheep, originally angrily chasing Xu Kun, were instantly plunged into a desperate situation!

Xu Kun wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, a smug look on his face.

"I've turned a 1% trigger chance into 100%! Who else can do that?"

Afraid that the Wrath of the Fire Dragon's coverage wouldn't be enough, Xu Kun threw a Wildfire towards the rear of the flock while they were being ravaged!

But clearly, he had underestimated the power of the Wrath of the Fire Dragon. The 5,000 fire damage per second was undoubtedly a devastating blow to Bladehorn Sheep, which were only Level 3 monsters!

With a coverage area of 500*500, even if the Bladehorn Sheep were larger, it would be enough to cover them all!

Familiar and pleasant notification sounds rang out incessantly. At this point, Xu Kun was as steady as an old dog, calmly watching the sheep in front of him being eliminated one by one.

[Ding, you have killed 129 Bladehorn Sheep, gaining 90% experience. Congratulations, you have leveled up to Level 3!]
[Ding, the God of Strength's...]
[...]
[Ding, you have killed 71 Bladehorn Sheep, gaining 5.68% experience. Current experience pool: Level 3, 5.68%!]

Compared to the 1% of the Level 1 Cavern Giant Rat and the 0.8% of the Level 2 Gentle Rabbit, the experience gained from the Level 3 Bladehorn Sheep was further reduced, to only 0.7%!

The same-level experience gain also dropped from 0.1% at Level 2 to around 0.08%!

"When I reach a higher level in the future, will I not get much experience from killing monsters of the same level?" Xu Kun wondered to himself.

This involved Xu Kun's blind spot, because in the past eleven years, from elementary school to high school, the knowledge taught by the teachers was all about the various aspects of the Novice Trial.

The knowledge about the Novice Trial accumulated by the Human Race over the past eight hundred years, especially the detailed map explanations, could not be learned in a day or two!

Even so, every year there were still many people participating in the Novice Trial who encountered maps that they hadn't learned about, including those not recorded in the metal bracelet!

The fact that Xu Kun's "Mist Island" map had some information was already considered very good!

Even so, the Human Race had never given up on basic education. For all the educators of the Human Race, if even 1% of what they taught their students could be used, then their years of hard work would be worth it!

It was under this kind of new and old inheritance that the Human Race had stumbled from a nearly extinct race to its current state, keeping pace with the Myriad Races!

[Ding, your Novice Trial completion +6%, current: 18%!]
[Ding, congratulations on completing the kill of 100 F-grade race monsters, Bladehorn Sheep. The [Myriad Races Bestiary] has taken effect. Congratulations, you have obtained the F-grade skill [Bleed]!]

[Bleed]

Grade: F-grade Physical Skill

Effect: Attacks will inflict 5% (Physical Attack)/S of True Damage to the target. The skill lasts for 5 seconds. The same target cannot be triggered multiple times!

A very good F-grade skill. Combined with Xu Kun's current attack power of 128 at Level 3, it could deal 32 points of true damage over five seconds!

"This is a physical skill. If I have a physical area-of-effect skill, can it inflict the Bleed effect on targets within the area?" Xu Kun guessed, stroking his chin.

Without thinking too much about it, Xu Kun took advantage of the fact that the ground in front of him, scorched by the fire dragon, was slowly cooling down, and threw himself back into the great undertaking of looting corpses!

But after picking up loot for a while, Xu Kun smiled wryly.

"It's really a mixed blessing! The destructive power of this Wrath of the Fire Dragon is too strong!"

Of the full two hundred Bladehorn Sheep, 2/3 were completely incinerated by the Wrath of the Fire Dragon, which meant that no corpses were left behind at all!

And the remaining 1/3 of the Bladehorn Sheep corpses could only provide slightly disappointing things.

[Broken Bladehorn]

Grade: F-grade

Function: A Bladehorn Sheep's horn that has been severely damaged by external forces. Ten of these materials can be used as a whole Bladehorn, as materials for crafting F-grade weapons.

[Scorched Bladehorn Sheep Meat]

Grade: F-grade

Function: After consumption, it can restore 2/S health, duration: 10S!

Xu Kun took a bite of the "charcoal" in his hand and immediately spat it out with a "ptui, ptui, ptui."

"What kind of crap is this? The smell is so strong, is this something a human can eat?"

He immediately threw away the thirty-odd pieces of mutton he had collected. This stuff, probably no one would want it even if it was given away for free!

Even with the blessing of the Favored Child of Destiny, it couldn't save these materials that had been damaged by the Wrath of the Fire Dragon. The forty-odd broken Bladehorns were also casually thrown into Xu Kun's backpack. He'd decide whether to keep them later. If the backpack was full, he'd throw them away. A hundred or so pieces of junk weren't worth caring about!

The Haotian Pagoda would give a storage backpack to everyone who entered the tower for the first time. The capacity of the backpack was 200 slots, and the same materials could be stacked, up to 30 per group!

Snow Rabbit fur occupied 4 slots, Snow Rabbit meat occupied 3 slots, and the Bladehorns he had just picked up occupied 2 slots. The backpack was still very spacious.

This backpack could freely enter and exit the tower with the trial participant. As long as they had a thought, they could take out the things inside!

This technology alone had turned the hair of thousands of Human Race scientists white and bald. To this day, this technology had not been analyzed, and could only be given the name "Advanced Civilization's Space Application Technology"!

Okay, an ordinary space backpack was a product of advanced civilization. For the Human Race, which had just stepped into the 1.0 level of civilization, it was still a distant dream!

(PS: Thousands of years ago, that is, in our era, human technology only reached the 0.7 level of civilization!)

Holding the Flame Spirit Sword, Xu Kun continued forward, muttering to himself, "If I actually manage to get the Wrath of the Fire Dragon to trigger 100% of the time, wouldn't killing a wave of monsters every hour mean I wouldn't earn anything?"

"Sigh, having too high a trigger rate isn't good either. If only I could control it at will!"

If other races participating in the novice trial heard this kind of Versailles-esque remark, they'd probably want to slap him silly!

Xu Kun didn't advance far before his footsteps halted.

Looking at the scene not far away, a chill ran down his spine.

Eerie!

Stretching before him was a gloomy and dark forest, its canopy heavily shrouded in mist, the area below pitch black!

In the silence, he could even hear the sound of dew drops falling.

Xu Kun was certain that he had entered the Level 4 monster zone, but no matter how carefully he looked, he couldn't see a single monster!

Hesitating slightly, Xu Kun checked the Fire Dragon Barrier he had activated during the fight with the Bladehorn Sheep and, feeling the warmth of the Flame Spirit Armor, mustered his courage and walked forward.

The Flame Spirit Boots crunched on the small grass on the ground, making a "rustling" sound.

Xu Kun raised his palm, and the Myriad Races Bestiary materialized into a book.

Entering the dark and dense forest, visibility was extremely low. Xu Kun slowed his pace, gripped his long sword tightly, and prepared to face any crisis that might arise.

Hiss, hiss, hiss!

Xu Kun felt a chill on his neck and looked back at the source of the sound. A vibrant green shadow gradually magnified in his pupils.

Before Xu Kun could swing his sword, the figure spat out a cloud of black mist from afar.

Ding, you have been afflicted with the Mandala Snake's "Paralysis Venom," movement speed -5%!

A 5% movement speed reduction wasn't fatal. Just as Xu Kun breathed a sigh of relief, the sound of snakes hissing came from all directions.

Ding, you have been afflicted with...

Ding...

In just a few seconds, Xu Kun was completely enveloped in black mist. It was choking, and his own "Paralysis" debuff was stacked to ten layers, drastically reducing his movement speed!

Looking at his stats panel, his movement speed was reduced by about 40%. This meant that the slowing effect of the Paralysis Venom was stacking on top of the already reduced speed, rather than being calculated as 5% + 5%!

"Damn it! Wildfire!"

Xu Kun immediately realized their plan: to use the Paralysis Venom to severely restrict his movements, then, after he was surrounded, to kill him with a gang attack!

Firelight shone down from above, dispelling the black mist and allowing Xu Kun to see the surrounding details!

Hiss, hiss, hiss~

All Mandala Snakes within 2.5 meters of Xu Kun were selected as targets by Wildfire, their bodies instantly incinerated!

This proved that these Mandala Snakes didn't have high health!

Ding, you have killed a Mandala Snake, experience +0.6%!

Ding...

A total of five notifications indicated that Wildfire had killed five Mandala Snakes!

Most importantly, after the ground was scorched by Wildfire, the flickering flames illuminated the originally dark scene, and even the mist in the canopy was dispelled a lot by the high temperature!

Xu Kun looked up, and his scalp instantly tingled!

All around, on the tall trees, vibrant green Mandala Snakes were coiled, flicking their tongues and making piercing sounds!

They were currently stunned by Xu Kun's Wildfire and hadn't chosen to approach immediately. The five that had been killed were because they were too close and couldn't escape in time.

The Myriad Races Bestiary in his palm quickly scanned the monster's body in front of him, and a page depicting the Mandala Snake in vivid detail appeared before Xu Kun.

Mandala Snake

Talent: F-grade Venom Gland (+5% Magic Attack)

Level: 4

Magic Attack Power: 28-30

Health: 130-150

Physical Defense: 8-10

Evasion: Cannot evade "Kun's" attacks

Movement Speed: 1.5M/S

Skill: [Paralysis Venom] - Spews venomous mist, reducing the movement speed of enemy targets within a (5*5) range by 5%, lasting 10S.

Introduction: A gregarious, low-level snake that prefers dark and humid environments. It is good at lurking, and once a target enters its territory, it will seize the opportunity to approach and use Paralysis Venom to immobilize the enemy, then turn the helpless prey into its food!

It's actually a magic-type monster!

Its magic attack is even higher than the Bladehorn Sheep's physical attack. One can imagine that most people participating in the novice trial don't have high Determination stats. Once they encounter this kind of monster, they'll be slowed down and ganged up on, truly a dead end!

But the good thing is that these Mandala Snakes have low health and low physical defense. With Xu Kun's current stats, one sword strike is enough to kill one!

But, the immediate priority is to escape the encirclement!

Because Xu Kun had already seen that more and more Mandala Snakes were approaching him. He could handle ten stacks of Paralysis Venom, but who knew how many stacks this debuff could reach!

Hiss, hiss, hiss!

When they saw Xu Kun, who was afflicted with Paralysis Venom, was still moving swiftly, these Mandala Snakes, accustomed to driving their prey to despair and death, emitted surprised hissing sounds, as if communicating:

"This is unscientific!"

Xu Kun didn't care about what was scientific or not. Even with a 40% speed reduction, his movement speed was still over 2 meters per second. Escaping the encirclement would be a piece of cake!

On the way, some Mandala Snakes still tried to repeat their old trick, trying to block Xu Kun's path. Without a word, Xu Kun used Quick Strike, ending the life of the snake blocking his path with one sword strike, not even giving the Bleed effect time to trigger!

Without looking back, Xu Kun could hear the chilling sound of serpentine creatures slithering on the ground. He casually threw an Explosive Fireball behind him, and upon hearing the kill notification, Xu Kun smiled slightly.

Hiss!

Just as Xu Kun was leading the large army of Mandala Snakes behind him, a hidden Mandala Snake on a nearby tree trunk took the opportunity to spit a mouthful of venomous mist at him!

The Fire Dragon Barrier on his body rippled, and a white -30 value popped up.

Xu Kun casually ended the life of this nonchalant Mandala Snake with a sword, but Xu Kun's continuous actions seemed to have stirred up a hornet's nest, with more and more Mandala Snakes surrounding him from all directions.

"Damn it!" Xu Kun listened to the sounds and judged that there were at least dozens of Mandala Snakes advancing towards him from every direction!

Helpless, relying on the 20% shield provided by the Fire Dragon Barrier, Xu Kun plunged headfirst into the snake swarm, killing one with each sword strike, and occasionally throwing an Explosive Fireball with a 5-second cooldown, shocking the snakes to no end!

During the monster clearing process, Xu Kun was also surprised to discover that the slowing effect of Paralysis Venom could only stack up to ten times. Even if the Mandala Snakes beside him were spitting so much that their tongues were about to tie, they could only refresh the debuff!

This discovery made Xu Kun even more reckless. Even when slowed to the extreme, he could still stroll leisurely within the snake swarm's encirclement, and very few Mandala Snakes could actually attack him!

But few as they were, Mandala Snakes were ranged magic attackers. No matter how well Xu Kun could dodge, he couldn't dodge everything. Soon, the Fire Dragon Barrier shattered, entering a ten-minute cooldown.

Without the surrounding light shield, Xu Kun suddenly felt a cold and uncomfortable sensation!

Just then, a Mandala Snake seized the opportunity to spit a venomous mist attack at Xu Kun.

Xu Kun felt a chill on his neck and was about to retreat when he suddenly froze and stared wide-eyed at a large -1 that lit up above his head!

"Damn it, I've been tricked, I almost forgot these useless snakes can't break my defense!"

The habitual thinking he'd developed, including the misconception learned from textbooks that being surrounded would easily lead to death by accumulated damage!

Made Xu Kun overlook the extremely high stat bonuses brought by his Zenith Flame Spirit Set. Now, his 132 magic defense was enough to make these Mandala Snakes sigh in despair!

The 20% health shield provided by the Fire Dragon Barrier didn't have any defensive attributes, which led Xu Kun to fear being killed by a group attack after the barrier shattered!

Coupled with his natural fear of snakes, Xu Kun didn't want to have too much interaction with these Mandala Snakes!

He completely failed to realize that he wasn't some physically weak, rookie newbie walking on thin ice!

None of the previous three types of monsters had caused him any substantial damage. Only this time, the Mandala Snakes had successfully inflicted a high damage of -1, reminding him of his high dual defenses!

At the moment the barrier shattered, he was even prepared to use Unyielding Starfire!

But looking at the continuous -1 forced damage appearing above his head now, mixed with a small number of Misses, a cruel smile appeared on the corner of Xu Kun's mouth.

"Little snakes, here I come!"