Execution!

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

After arriving at the marked teleportation point in Lone Star City, Li Xunsheng looked at the administrator lying in a chair with his hat covering his face. It was obvious he was sleeping. Li Xunsheng helplessly knocked on the window, waking the human inside the booth.

"Hm? Is there already a first challenger?"

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

"I'm the administrator responsible for explaining the rules. In other words, I introduce some basic information related to the dungeon."

"You're only... level eight? Are you sure you want to begin? This is a dungeon rated for level ten. It would be best to complete your class advancement before challenging it."

After learning some of Xuan Sheng's most basic information, the administrator was rather surprised and puzzled.

"No, I can do it now."

"But... you may have misunderstood the dungeon. The Magic Qi Cave is an extremely difficult dungeon, and death inside the dungeon is still death..."

"I know."

Seeing the young man get up and start rambling on, Xuan Sheng hurriedly raised his hand and cut him off.

"...All right, take this."

With all the words he wanted to say forced back down, the administrator angrily tossed out a transparent stone.

"Crush it to abandon the dungeon and exit directly. If you can't clear it, come out on your own."

The administrator closed his eyes and lay back down, snorting disdainfully inwardly.

Normally, according to the rules, he would tell every challenger some basic information, such as advice to watch out for traps and poisonous gas.

But this guy had gone in without even listening. He would wait for him to be kicked out of the dungeon in less than two minutes!

Heh, although he hadn't said so, forcibly exiting the dungeon didn't cause any losses, but it would result in a considerable deduction from the completion rating!

If he exited several times, he could just wait for his rating to plummet!

Ignoring the secretly smug administrator in the chair, Li Xunsheng silently equipped his sword and stepped into the teleportation portal...

"Chitter, chitter..."

A dark and deep cavern appeared before him in the blink of an eye. A faint, rotten stench lingered in the air, while strange rustling noises continued without end. He couldn't tell whether they were the muttering of bats or insects crawling through the corners.

"A solo dungeon... Then there's no need to hide anymore."

After confirming that he was the only one here, Xuan Sheng smiled slightly. Golden radiance spread out, completely filling the young man's eyes.

The mistlike darkness was all false beneath his golden eyes. Every corner of the cavern was laid bare, with nothing escaping his sight.

No monsters appeared at the entrance. There were only three different branching paths:

[Center: This is the main passage and the route required to clear the dungeon]

[Left: There is a hidden treasure chest... monster here. Be careful not to be ambushed. As long as it doesn't get the first strike, it will be easy to deal with]

[Right: There is a small key item needed to open the hidden boss's door. Be sure to bring it along... assuming you insist on making more trouble for yourself after clearing the dungeon]

Since he intended to explore everything, naturally he had to check them all out.

"Clang!"

The slightly heavy Refined Longsword slid from its sheath. Holding the sword, which was clearly somewhat weighty, an indescribable confidence surged through the young man's heart.

Here, he didn't need to worry about anything. He could use all his abilities without holding back.

The cavern was full of monsters?

Li Xunsheng's eyes burned with excitement as he curled his lips into a grin, revealing his snow-white fangs.

No. He was the monster!

He strode into the left passage. After crossing the narrow corridor, what appeared before the young man was a dead end.

Without even looking at the bats fleeing in panic, Xuan Sheng went straight to the side of the far wall and pressed down on a clearly protruding stone.

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

"Squish..."

The disgusting sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out. With everything under control, Xuan Sheng didn't even give the Treasure Chest Monster time to react. The instant the hidden door opened, he swung his sword!

[-144!]

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

[Tier-One 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 had always hunted prey through concealment and ambush, possessed terrifying attack stats as well as strength and agility. However, because it relied on camouflage, its defense was zero, and its body was far from tough.

"Gaaah!!"

After being struck head-on, the neat and adorable treasure chest instantly opened its ugly maw, exposing sharp teeth and a bizarre, elongated tongue.

The Treasure Chest Monster had barely recovered from the pain when Xuan Sheng used his shield to knock aside the obstructive tongue and viciously stabbed his sword inside!

[-143!]

After being struck repeatedly, the Treasure Chest Monster's heart filled with terror!

The moment the hidden door opened, it hadn't even had time to react before it was already wounded!

The intense pain made even this simple-minded creature understand:

The intruder was not the foolish food it had always looked down on, but a cunning and vicious demon!

An unwelcome guest had arrived!

After taking two solid blows in succession, the Treasure Chest Monster staggered to its feet, revealing four short, withered limbs like dead branches beneath the chest.

"Gah!!"

Its thin limbs erupted with astonishing strength, and its flailing arms whipped up gusts of wind!

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

Its sharp claws struck the shield, but its pitiful strength could not even make the shield tremble before it was mercilessly deflected.

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

"Gah... ah..."

Its disgusting tongue and limbs struggled and battered wildly, but the Treasure Chest Monster's respectable strength of fifty was laughable before Xuan Sheng...

The trapped beast's struggle turned into a pitiful death throe. Completely suppressed, the Treasure Chest Monster could not injure the man before it in the slightest. It could only watch helplessly as the snow-white sword slowly pierced inside...

[Execution! -227!]

Its remaining Life force kept the Treasure Chest Monster from falling, but the severely wounded monster struggled with less and less strength. The blow it finally managed to charge up was once again mercilessly deflected by the shield strapped to Xuan Sheng's arm...

"Urgh..."

A cold gleam flashed from the longsword as it sank between the Treasure Chest Monster's eyes and drove straight into its skull...

[Critical Hit! Execution! -372!]

The ugly, struggling, warm body tensed... then completely went limp, like a puddle of mud, without another trace of vitality.

The strange Treasure Chest Monster gradually turned into motes of light and dispersed, leaving Xuan Sheng with quite a few Copper Coins and experience points.

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

[Treasure Chest Monster's Tongue: B-rank ingredient. For humans or monsters who enjoy this kind of food, it is an irresistible delicacy]

"Who would eat this thing..."

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

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

[Execution! (Passive Lv.1): When your Strength is higher than the opponent's and the opponent is in an off-balance state, all weapons whose damage is modified by Strength deal additional damage equal to your Strength x1!]

"How much Strength did I have again?"

The Treasure Chest Monster's Strength of fifty was truly rather weak compared to his own... Xuan Sheng wiped away the bloodstains on his body and opened his stats panel.

[Strength: 59 (+21)]

80!