"Seize the Initiative (2nd Ring Feat): Each battle, your first three attacks can never be dodged."
"So powerful!"
"Seize the Initiative" combined with "Ten Years One Sword"—doesn't that make me a god for the first three moves?"
Roger felt a little safer.
Although he had Nineteen Moon Bloom to increase his accuracy before, its effect was limited to the Crimson Moon Blade.
Now, his newly acquired feat guaranteed that none of his attacks could be dodged, regardless of the weapon he used! A hundred percent accuracy, plus a percentage-based power boost.
If he continued developing along these lines, would he only need to crazily stack attributes for his first three moves?
Roger thought about it.
Then he rejected this extreme development path.
Killing people in the first three moves was certainly one strategy, but he couldn't put all his eggs in the first three baskets.
Even if his attacks couldn't be dodged, his enemies could still parry them.
Even if their parries failed, they could still withstand his attacks by increasing their own defense and health.
What if some tough big brother with high defense and a huge health pool managed to survive his first three moves?
At that thought,
Roger suppressed the ill-advised notion that had just risen in his mind: I'm invincible under heaven.
"I can't get carried away."
"I've only gotten a little stronger."
He took several deep breaths, and his mind regained its calm.
"Seize the Initiative" was a feat that came with White Raven's Crown.
This strange item also carried other attributes.
"White Raven's Crown (Strange Item)"
"Feat: Seize the Initiative"
"Bonus: Insight +60"
"Special Effect: As the owner of White Raven's Crown, you can sense the flow of qi. This is a great help in comprehending qi."
The +60 Insight attached to White Raven's Crown allowed Roger to better discern hidden information in his daily life and adventures.
The special effect went without saying.
Over the past few days, Roger had faintly begun to sense the path qi took as it circulated through his body.
He believed it wouldn't be long before he could master qi in advance.
That alone made White Raven's Crown worthy of its name as a strange item.
Even more noteworthy was that
although White Raven's Crown had infused Roger with these attributes, it did not require him to wear it constantly.
In fact, Roger only needed to spend ten minutes each day performing "Qi Fate Synchronization" with this strange item.
At other times, he could wear any hat he wanted.
It would not affect his acquisition of the attributes.
From this perspective,
White Raven's Crown was indeed a rare piece of excellent equipment.
After dealing with White Raven's Crown,
Roger took one last walk around the dojo, then left with his luggage.
This departure might very well be a permanent farewell.
Roger carefully memorized the dojo's location.
If one day he mastered enough construct knowledge and obtained sufficient materials,
he would try to return and restart A Ba.
After leaving the Clear Spring Sect dojo, Roger headed straight for Sang Qi's cottage.
He had tormented her for so many days. It was time to bring things to an end.
Through Sang Qi, Roger had successfully discovered the extensive potential of Hunter's Mark.
With Hunter's Mark, he could not only see Sang Qi's exact location, but also her physical and mental condition! The data showed
that Sang Qi's condition had already fallen to rock bottom.
It was time to end her suffering.
In truth, although Hunter's Mark had caused Sang Qi to be tormented to this state,
Roger's meddling had also played a significant role.
Not to mention his crafty move on the fifth day, when he voluntarily removed the mark and caused Sang Qi to misjudge the situation.
On the night of the seventh day,
Roger captured an Underground Warthog and sent it charging into Sang Qi's cottage.
The Bear Goblins had been careless and failed to stop it.
The warthog immediately triggered several magical traps and even smashed down the fence around the cottage.
Judging from the feedback from Hunter's Mark, that warthog had scared the soul out of Sang Qi.
When the warthog crashed into the wall, she might have mistakenly thought Roger had come knocking at her door.
Then, during the day on the ninth day,
Roger repeated the same trick.
This time, he sent a small squad of Rhino Horn Monsters to the tortured Sang Qi as a congratulatory gift.
The Bear Goblins had learned their lesson and stopped the overly frightened Rhino Horn Monsters in advance.
But the enormous noise still left Sang Qi shaken and terrified.
Roger knew very well.
The unknown was the greatest source of fear.
Over these eleven days, not only Sang Qi but even the Bear Goblin brutes outside the cottage had grown noticeably dispirited.
Along the edge of the pitch-black little lake,
Roger activated Shadow Cloak and quietly reached the outside of the wall.
The Bear Goblins remained completely unaware.
The first two monster attacks had allowed Roger to thoroughly map out the locations of the magical traps around Sang Qi's cottage.
Given Sang Qi's current condition, she was completely incapable of setting them up again.
That gave Roger an opening.
He nimbly jumped onto the wall, then climbed onto the roof. From there, he crawled down the chimney and into the kitchen.
The cottage was very quiet.
Bottles and jars that gave off strange odors were scattered everywhere.
Roger used Qi Divination Technique to avoid several obvious mechanisms and made his way to the outside of Sang Qi's bedroom.
The bedroom door was open, and through the gap, he could see Sang Qi sleeping.
Roger watched for a while but noticed nothing unusual.
He gently pushed the door open and approached.
Suddenly,
a powerful magical fluctuation erupted in the air.
A bone-chilling aura rose from beneath Roger's feet. In the blink of an eye, the cold aura completely enveloped his body! On the bed in the bedroom,
Sang Qi, her eyes bloodshot, suddenly leaped up.
She threw away the "Ice Seal Spell" scroll in her hand, pulled out the staff hidden beneath the covers, and pointed it at Roger.
At that very moment, however, she witnessed a scene that completely shattered her understanding of the world: dense ice element clung to Roger's skin in great quantities, forming a faint white mist.
Yet not even a thin layer of ice had formed over Roger's body! The Ice Seal Spell had failed!
"Th-This... This is impossible..."
Sang Qi waved her staff incoherently.
The next second, the Qing Fu Sword pierced straight through her heart.
You killed Sang Qi (Underground Witch/Elite) You gained 29 XP. You gained 4 Xia Yin Value. Extermination Order rewards being acquired... You obtained the feat—Apothecary Master—from Sang Qi.
Pulling out the Qing Fu Sword, Roger breathed a sigh of relief.
Sang Qi's reaction just now had not surprised him.
Even a rabbit would bite when cornered, let alone a mage.
Roger would never underestimate his prey.
Not until he had confirmed that his opponent was completely dead.
Yes, the kind that wouldn't come back to life.
After glancing at the data panel, Roger found that the feat Sang Qi had given him was quite good.
Apothecary Master (2nd Ring Feat): When preparing basic potions, you almost never fail; when preparing high-level potions, you also have a higher success rate.
Although it was not a combat-oriented feat, combined with Roger's identity as an apothecary, it could still prove quite useful.
The battle in the bedroom had not alerted the Bear Goblins outside.
Roger took the opportunity to inventory the spoils.
From Sang Qi's body and the bedroom, he found several Magic Scrolls and magical items.
The one that attracted his attention most was a delicate silver-white bracelet.
Qi Divination Technique revealed
that its name was "Suicide Bracelet."