Execution!

"Hello, is this the portal to the Magic Qi Cave?"

Upon arriving at the designated teleportation point within Lone Star City, Li Xunsheng saw the administrator slumped in a chair, his hat pulled low, clearly asleep. He helplessly tapped on the window to wake the person in the booth.

"Huh? The first challenger is already here?"

The man on the chair took off his hat and exclaimed in surprise.

"I'm the administrator responsible for explaining the rules, basically introducing some basic information about the instance."

"You're... only level eight? Are you sure you want to start? This is a standard level ten instance. It's best to challenge it after you've transferred classes."

After getting some very basic information from Xuan Sheng, the administrator was quite surprised and confused.

"No, I can do it now."

"But... you might have misunderstood the instance. The Magic Qi Cave is a very difficult instance, and death within the instance is also death..."

"I know all that."

Seeing the young man stand up and then start rambling, Xuan Sheng quickly interrupted him.

"...Alright, here, take this."

With all his words stuck in his throat, the administrator angrily tossed out a transparent stone.

"Crush it to give up the instance and exit directly. If you can't clear it, just get out on your own."

Closing his eyes and lying back, the administrator scoffed inwardly.

Originally, according to the rules, he would have informed all challengers of some basic intelligence, like warnings about traps or poison gas.

But this guy just went in without even listening. He was waiting to see this guy get kicked out of the instance in less than two minutes!

Heh, although he didn't say it, forcibly exiting the instance had no penalty, but it would significantly deduct from the clear rating!

Exit a few more times, and just wait for the rating to plummet!

Ignoring the administrator who was secretly gloating in his chair, Li Xunsheng silently equipped his longsword and stepped into the portal...

"Squeak squeak..."

The dark and deep cave appeared before his eyes in an instant. A faint, rotten stench lingered, and strange rustling sounds could be heard incessantly, it was impossible to tell if it was the murmuring of bats or the movement of insects in the corners.

"Solo instance... then there's no need to hold back anymore."

Confirming he was alone, Xuan Sheng smiled slightly, golden light spreading and completely occupying the young man's eye sockets.

The misty darkness was all an illusion under his golden eyes; every corner of the cave was clearly visible, in minute detail.

At the entrance, no monsters appeared, only three different forks in the road:

[Center: This is the main passage, the route required to clear the instance]

[Left: There's a hidden treasure chest... monster here. Be careful of ambushes. As long as you're not hit first, it will be quite easy to fight]

[Right: This is where you'll find the item needed to open the way to the hidden final boss. Be sure to remember to bring it... assuming you want to give yourself more trouble after clearing the instance]

Since he was aiming for full exploration, he naturally had to check them all out.

"Clang!"

The slightly heavy refined longsword was drawn. Holding this sword, which clearly had some weight to it, an indescribable confidence surged in the young man's heart.

Here, he didn't have to hold back anything; he could use all his abilities without concealment.

The cave was full of monsters?

Li Xunsheng's eyes burned with fervor, and the corners of his mouth curled into a grin, revealing his pearly white teeth.

No, he was the monster!

Striding into the left cave entrance and passing through the narrow passage, what appeared before the young man was a dead end.

Without even looking at the bats scattering in panic, Xuan Sheng walked directly to the side at the end and pressed a visibly protruding stone.

The stone wall before him slowly rose, revealing a hidden door containing a treasure chest.

"Ch-ch..."

The sound of a sharp sword piercing flesh rang out. Xuan Sheng, with all information under his control, didn't even give the Treasure Chest Monster time to react. The moment the hidden door opened, he swung his longsword!

[-144!]

[Refined Longsword: Advanced (Blue) Attack Power +100 Strength +8 Required Level: Lv.7 Durability: 90/90]

[Tier 1 Treasure Chest Monster (Lv.10): HP 800/800 MP 0/0 Attack: 180! Defense: 0 Strength: 50 Agility: 30 Intelligence: 9 ...]

The Treasure Chest Monster, which usually hunted prey through lurking and ambushes, possessed terrifying attack stats and strength/agility, but because of its disguise, its defense was zero, and its physique wasn't exactly tanky.

"Gahhh!!"

Hit by a powerful blow, the originally neat and cute treasure chest instantly opened its ugly mouth, revealing sharp teeth and a bizarrely long tongue.

Still reeling from the pain, the Treasure Chest Monster hadn't even recovered when Xuan Sheng used his shield to push away the obstructing tongue and fiercely thrust his sword inside!

[-143!]

The Treasure Chest Monster was filled with terror after being continuously struck!

The instant the hidden door opened, it was already injured before it could even react!

This intense pain made even its simple mind understand:

The one who came was not the foolish food it had always disdained, but a cunning and ferocious demon!

A hostile guest had arrived!

After taking two solid hits from the continuous onslaught, the Treasure Chest Monster finally staggered to its feet, revealing four short, withered, stick-like limbs beneath its chest.

"Gaa!!"

Its small limbs unleashed astonishing power, and the arms it swung stirred up gusts of wind!

Unfortunately, in front of Li Xunsheng now, this Treasure Chest Monster was no different from a fragile infant.

Its sharp claws struck the shield, but its pathetic strength couldn't even shake the shield slightly before being ruthlessly repelled.

Xuan Sheng, unharmed, let out a sinister laugh. With overwhelming strength, he directly pushed open the Treasure Chest Monster's ugly maw and thrust his longsword straight into its heart!

"Gaa... Aaa..."

Its disgusting long tongue and limbs thrashed and struggled, but the Treasure Chest Monster's commendable Strength of fifty was so laughable before Xuan Sheng...

The trapped beast's struggle turned into a pathetic death throe... The completely suppressed Treasure Chest Monster couldn't harm the man before it in the slightest, only able to watch as the snow-white longsword slowly pierced in...

[Execution! -227!]

Its remaining life force kept the Treasure Chest Monster from falling, but the severely wounded monster's struggling strength grew weaker. A strike it managed to muster after much effort was once again ruthlessly repelled by the shield bound to its hand...

"Uuu..."

The longsword flashed with cold light, piercing between the Treasure Chest Monster's eyes and driving straight into its skull...

[Critical Hit! Execution! -372!]

Its ugly, struggling, warm body tensed... then completely went limp, like a puddle of mud, devoid of any vitality.

The strange Treasure Chest Monster gradually dissipated into light dust, leaving behind quite a few Copper Coins and experience for Xuan Sheng.

The only thing left on the ground was an ugly long tongue:

[Treasure Chest Monster's Tongue: Grade B ingredient. For humans or monsters who enjoy such food, it is an irresistible delicacy.]

"Who would eat this thing..."

After putting away the Treasure Chest Monster's sole, sinister legacy, a prompt sounded in Xuan Sheng's mind:

[Congratulations on learning the passive skill 'Execution!']

[Execution! (Passive Lv.1): When your Strength is higher than the opponent's, and the opponent is in a staggered state, all damage dealt by Strength-corrected weapons will be increased by your Strength value x1!]

"How much Strength did I reach again?"

This Treasure Chest Monster's fifty Strength was truly a bit weak for him... Xuan Sheng wiped the blood from his body and opened his stats panel.

[Strength: 59 (+21)]

80!