I Am the Poop-Throwing Sword Saint

[Congratulations, you have learned the skill: Basic Swordsmanship (Lv1) Proficiency: Apprentice (0/100)]

[Class panel unlocked: Swordsman (Apprentice) (0/100)]

Before Su Li could strike a cool sword-sheathing pose, another message popped up.

[Congratulations! You are the first player on the entire server to successfully unlock the class panel!]

[As a reward, you will receive a second class: Blacksmith (Special/Not Upgradable)]

"WTF?" Su Li was startled.

"Awesome! As expected of the treatment for being first on the whole server. I was worried about equipment durability before, but now I can hammer things out myself?"

Excited, he opened the panel, eager to experience the thrill of smithing.

[Blacksmith (Not Upgradable)]

[Currently Craftable: None]

[Currently Enhanceable: Rusty Iron Sword (Required Materials: Iron Ore x1, Copper Coin x100)]

"..."

"No money, no materials—what the hell am I supposed to play with?"

Left with no choice, Su Li temporarily put away his dream of smithing and continued exploring deeper into the cave.

"Since this is a cave in the Undead Mountain Range, there should at least be some local specialties, right?"

The farther he went, the stranger the surroundings became.

The slick moss on the rock walls gradually vanished, replaced by dark red fungal mats.

A sickly sweet, nauseating stench filled the air. The ground became muddy, with pools of red liquid gathered everywhere.

"This place... why is it looking more and more familiar?"

Su Li stopped, staring at the bubbling crimson pool ahead as his heart skipped a beat.

"Red water, a corrupted environment... and the devs still say they didn't copy anything? Isn't this fucking Crimson Corruption?!"

Crimson Corruption was a powerful debuff in a certain famous masocore game, feared by countless players. Touch it and you died; get near it and you were crippled.

"But..."

Su Li lowered his head and looked at his bare-bones self.

"Theoretically speaking, corruption erodes flesh-and-blood creatures. I'm just a pile of calcium now—can this thing even corrode me?"

As a cautious player with a scientific spirit, Su Li decided to conduct a small experiment first.

He carefully extended his left pinky finger toward the red liquid.

"If it hurts or my HP drops, cut this finger off immediately!"

"Zzz—" The finger bone entered the red water.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

"Not only am I fine, it even feels a little warm?" Su Li was overjoyed.

"This is insane! Immune to poison and corruption—is this the true value of the undead race? From now on, I can play with shit!"

"This kind of deathtrap is basically my backyard! I could even do the butterfly stroke in this shithole!"

After confirming it was safe, Su Li stepped into the Corruption Pool without hesitation.

"Splash." The red water rose past his kneecaps.

As he trudged forward through the pool, something suddenly went clunk beneath his foot, as though he had stepped on something hard.

"What the hell? A kidney stone?" Su Li bent down and reached his skeletal claw into the viscous red water, feeling around for a while.

He then pulled out a fist-sized crystal that was dark red all over.

[Obtained Material: Crimson Rot Crystal]

[Description: A highly concentrated crystal of corruption. Though disgusting, it seems to contain some kind of powerful force.]

Su Li's Soul Fire flared brightly. "Good stuff! Isn't this ready-made enhancement material?"

The system had just said blacksmithing required Iron Ore, but this thing looked far more advanced than Iron Ore.

"Let's see if I can use it to enhance my weapon!" Su Li immediately summoned the [Blacksmithing] panel.

[Equipment: Rusty Iron Sword]

[Quality: Junk (Lv1)]

[Armor Break: +1]

[Evaluation: It couldn't possibly get any worse. It will chip if it cuts anything hard, but since it is covered in rust and bacteria, perhaps violently stabbing an enemy's asshole could make them die of tetanus?]

[Note: Equipment quality is divided into Junk, Common, Excellent, Fine, Epic, Soul Artifact, Legendary, and Divine Artifact. Each major quality is further divided into 100 minor levels.]

"One hundred minor levels?" Su Li's mouth twitched, as though he could hear his liver wailing.

"The devs really know how to keep players online..."

Just then, a new prompt appeared.

[Special material detected: Crimson Rot Crystal]

[Would you like to perform an attribute fusion?]

[Hint: Every time a weapon increases in quality, it gains one opportunity to fuse an attribute.]

"Take a gamble, turn junk into a motorcycle!" Su Li slapped the crystal onto the blade without hesitation.

"Fuse for me!"

[Fusing... Ding! Fusion successful!]
[ Rusty Iron Sword → Corrupted Iron Sword ]

A dark red flash swept by, and the iron sword in Su Li's hand underwent a complete transformation.

The mottled rust vanished. In the blade's fuller, clusters of tiny red crystals grew, radiating a heart-palpitating crimson glow.

Su Li hurriedly checked its attributes.

[Weapon: Corrupted Iron Sword]

[Quality: Junk (Lv1)—Though it is still junk, it is already the best junk in the whole village.]

[Armor Break: +3 Magic Break: +1]

[Additional Attribute: Crimson Corruption]

[Effect: When attacking, there is a 30% chance to inflict the "Crimson Corruption" status on the enemy, reducing 1% of their maximum HP per second (lasts 10 seconds).]

[Cursed Passive: If an enemy dies while under the "Corruption" status, there is an extremely low chance for them to revive as a mindless corrupted servant.]

"Gasp—" After reading the attributes, Su Li sucked in a cold breath.

"Percentage-based HP drain? And it can enslave corpses?"

How was this junk? This was practically a godly tool for pioneering! Su Li lovingly swung it twice, and dark red sword light carved ominous trails through the darkness.

"Hehehe, from now on, I'll call you the Shit-Stirring Stick... no, I'll call you Crimson Queen instead."

Su Li could already see the future: himself pointing at an enemy ahead and shouting, "Look! It's shit!" before the enemy wailed and collapsed in corruption.

Now this was the kind of weapon an undead should use!

Then another prompt appeared: [Bind "Corrupted Iron Sword" as your beginner weapon? After binding, its durability will not decrease, it cannot be lost, and equipment above Common quality cannot be bound.]

"No durability loss, and it can't be lost? Do you even need to ask?" Su Li naturally chose to bind it!

Once bound, it could neither break nor drop. In Eternal Realm, aside from beginner weapons, only Divine Artifacts probably had such properties.

Filled with the joy of a bountiful haul, Su Li continued deeper into the cave.

Before long, a faint glow appeared ahead.

"Looks like this is the cave's other exit."

[Successfully explored map area: Corrupted Cave]

[Experience gained +50 (110/200)]

"Huh? Exploring the map gives experience too?"

Su Li opened the map and saw that a small, narrow section of the previously pitch-black map had lit up.

"This game really has plenty of ways to level up. Perfect for a sightseeing player like me who loves wandering around."

By then, the rain outside had stopped. Su Li walked to the cave entrance and took a deep breath of the fresh, damp air.

"I'll let those three brothers inside off for now. Once I get out and level up, I'll come back and elbow them."

Just as he stepped out with his left leg, ready to leave the cave.

"Smack!" Something that looked suspiciously like a hand suddenly reached out of the mud and tightly grabbed Su Li's lower leg bone!

"WTF! What kind of ghostly thing is this?!" Su Li's entire skeleton trembled in fright as he instinctively looked down.