Stone Cracking Slash

Finally level three. Not easy at all.

Xiao Jie looked at the five newly acquired attribute points, feeling deeply emotional inside.

This crappy game had taken several days of play just to reach level three. In other games, gaining dozens of levels in a single day was completely casual and effortless, unlike this game where playing made one's heart race with fright every step of the way.

Yet the rewards brought by leveling up were also incomparable to other games.

Looking at these five precious attribute points, Xiao Jie already had a plan in mind for how to allocate them.

Since he was going down the agility route, agility was naturally the most primary and important attribute in the early stage.

As for the second choice, constitution also had to be increased by some. The longer the health bar, the higher the survivability—especially in the early stage, where damage could be made up for with weapons, but health was the foundation of survival and could only be supported through attribute points.

However, the main attribute was also very important. Since he was going down the agility route, this had to be increased as well; otherwise, if he encountered a skill he wanted to learn but lacked the required attribute to learn it, that would be too depressing.

Xiao Jie discovered that 15 points in an attribute seemed to be a threshold. The skills rewarded by the Weird Goat, as well as the skill book Ye Luo had given to I Want to Become Immortal, both required 15 points in an attribute to learn.

Therefore, after hesitating for a moment, Xiao Jie chose to add 2 points to constitution and 3 points to agility.

Just like that, his base attributes became:

Constitution: 12.

Strength: 10.

Endurance: 10.

Agility: 15.

An agility of 15 already far exceeded that of an ordinary person. Later on, he would definitely have to properly experience the flexibility of 15 points of agility in reality.

And although 2 points of constitution only added 20 health points, his survival capability was undoubtedly greatly enhanced—especially when facing the Flame Embrace of the Scarecrow, at least he wouldn't have to fear being instantly killed if he happened to get pounced on.

Continuing to kill monsters, after killing two more Scarecrows, I Want to Become Immortal also reached level three.

"Brother Feng, I've leveled up too," I Want to Become Immortal said excitedly.

"Mm, have you figured out how to allocate your points?"

I Want to Become Immortal was somewhat hesitant about this. He had certainly thought about it, but just hadn't made up his decision.

Ever since hearing Ye Luo's words, he had considered the option of focusing mainly on spirituality, stacking up dozens of points of spirituality, and then finding a way to trigger a serendipitous encounter to achieve immortal success.

Yet despite being young, he was not stupid. In the early stage, without the strengthening of base attributes, combat effectiveness simply could not be guaranteed. Who knew, maybe he would croak before even reaching level 10. Just like that burn from earlier, it was thanks to the 5 points of constitution added previously that he had survived.

"Brother Feng, do you have any suggestions? I want to cultivate immortality, but... you know how it is. Do you think I should take a gamble and add spirituality?"

Xiao Jie calmly said, "I wouldn't call it advice; I can only say I'll help you analyze it. If you want to become immortal, you definitely have to take the magic class route, which leaves you with two paths to choose from.

Path 1: Stack spirituality in the early stage, strive to trigger a serendipitous encounter before level 10, obtain a magic class at level 10, and then continuously advance to more powerful classes.

Path 2: Add base attributes in the early stage, settle on a physical class at level 10, obtain a serendipitous encounter before level 20, then obtain a magic class at level 20, and dual-transition at level 30.

Path 1 has high risk, but is more likely to achieve immortality. Path 2 is relatively steady in the early stage, but the possibility of becoming immortal is lower, though not entirely without a chance.

So you only need to consider whether you are willing to take that risk. Think about it: if you don't add base attributes, what is the probability of you croaking before level 10? Right now, we're only fighting Scarecrows and Lost Soul Bandits, and even with just that we've had two close calls. Later on, we will definitely face stronger enemies. Can you guarantee you won't make mistakes again? Anyway, I wouldn't dare."

Everyone was an adult. Even if the other person was a bit younger, Xiao Jie couldn't make decisions on someone else's behalf, but certain risks had to be explained clearly.

He also didn't want to watch this young man play himself to death out of a moment of impulsiveness.

Hearing the subtext in his words, I Want to Become Immortal couldn't help but sigh. "I understand, Brother Feng. I'll take the physical route after all. Besides, it's not too late to dual-class into a magic class at level 20."

As he spoke, he directly added all his attribute points into strength.

With 15 points of strength, he could finally learn Stone Cracking Slash. Fighting monsters without battle skills was simply too exhausting, and he had long envied Xiao Jie's fifty-or-sixty-damage single cuts.

A white flash later, the skill was learned.

[Stone Cracking Slash (Battle Skill) Applicable weapons: Two-handed axes, two-handed broadswords, two-handed greatswords. Battle skill cost: 80 stamina. Skill effect 1: Wield the weapon to forcefully slash forward, dealing 240% weapon damage to the targeted target, and applying 50 points of toughness reduction effect. Skill effect 2: Gain 25 temporary toughness when using this battle skill. Skill description: A battle skill mastered by quarry workers during years and years of splitting mountains and chopping stones. Wielding heavy two-handed weapons with full force can inflict massive damage to the target.]

Looking at the new skill on his skill bar, I Want to Become Immortal was also thrilled and immediately wanted to test it out.

Finding a Scarecrow, I Want to Become Immortal told Xiao Jie not to step in yet; he wanted to solo it and try it out.

Swapping to the battle axe he had bought in advance, he swung the battle axe upward with all his might using both hands, chopping straight down at the head of the Scarecrow before him as if he were wielding a sledgehammer to smash stone.

Boom! -58!

With a single axe-strike, the Scarecrow was smashed flat onto the ground.

"Again!" Xiao Jie shouted.

I Want to Become Immortal swung the battle axe once more.

Stone Cracking Slash!

Before the Scarecrow could even stand up, it was smashed flat onto the ground again by another axe-strike, -57!

At that very same moment, Xiao Jie slashed out with his knife, making up for the final 5 points of damage, and the Scarecrow was instantly killed.

It dropped a dozen or so copper coins.

"This skill is not bad," Xiao Jie praised.

This toughness reduction effect was still quite fierce. Units in this game all had a concept of toughness; this value was hidden, and once toughness was reduced to zero, it would trigger a massive stagger.

Different monsters also had different toughness values. The Scarecrow in front of them obviously had low toughness, and with a skill like Stone Cracking Slash that had a toughness reduction effect, as long as one continuously chained them together, infinite combos were entirely possible.

He wondered if this move could be practiced against mountain bandits.

The only drawback was that the startup was too slow. One Cut Two Pieces had a one-second charge, but its execution was extremely fast, slashing down almost instantly.

This Stone Cracking Slash also had a charge time of about a second, and swinging the axe took another second. If the enemy reacted quickly, it would probably be very hard to hit.

Additionally, this battle skill required two hands to use, making it impossible to equip a shield, which was also a hidden risk.

Still, overall, the flaws did not outweigh the merits.

"Are you planning to go down the muscle-man strength route?"

"I haven't decided yet, but the strength attribute is directly related to physical damage, so I have to add to it anyway. Even if I switch to swords later, it won't go to waste."

"Mm, that's true. Come on, this time you're responsible for the execution, and I'll make up the damage."

The two of them continued getting busy.

This toughness reduction effect could directly smash Scarecrows flat, making combat even safer and further increasing efficiency.

Stone Cracking Slash!

Boom, another Scarecrow fell. This time, not only did it drop dozens of copper coins, but it also dropped a gleaming ring.

[Bronze Ring (Ring) Attribute: Attack +1. Item introduction: A band forged from ancient brass. Its golden color brings to mind legendary gold, thus becoming a material for lower-class people to craft jewelry, capable of faintly increasing the wearer's attack power.]

Such trash attributes, but at least it was an accessory.

"You take it," Xiao Jie said.

He had already picked up several pieces of equipment earlier. Although they were all white and gray trash gear, they were at least worth some money. Now that an item usable by I Want to Become Immortal had finally dropped, he naturally wanted to yield it.

Even though this thing only added 1 attack power, the drop rate for accessories was low, so it still had some value.

I Want to Become Immortal didn't stand on ceremony either. "Then thanks a lot, Brother Feng." He put it on happily.

As the two were about to continue, suddenly, a volley of harsh cursing startled them both.

"This is my field, this is my land! Where did you two country bumpkins come from? Get lost, all of you!"

The two turned around to see a middle-aged woman radiating ominous black Qi rushing out from the wheat field in the distance, brandishing a kitchen knife as she charged toward them.

Looking at the name of that monster:

Tian Li Shi (Demonized Human), level 5. Health bar: 240.