Elite Zombie Rat Black Fang

"Damn..."

Bai Xiaowen drew a sharp breath, feeling a wave of regret. He had clearly read this passage in Malgao's journal:

"After going to some trouble, Master captured the leader of the Plague Rats..."

"I knew Farga had caught a Plague Rat leader and had likely turned it into a stronger Zombie Rat, yet I overlooked it! Greed really does lower your IQ."

Bai Xiaowen gritted his teeth, climbed to his feet, and cast Insight on it.

[Black Fang (Elite Tier Creature)]

[Race: Undead Species/Corpse Demonfolk]

[Attributes: Strength 4.5, Agility 10.4, Constitution 5.1, Spirit 2.7]

[Skill 1: Plague Fangs: Omitted.]

[Skill 2: Stiffened Skin: Omitted.]

[Skill 3: Infectious Bite: ???]

Bai Xiaowen felt dizzy. This Elite Zombie Rat called Black Fang was terrifyingly strong, enough to rival an Awakened!

Its Strength and Constitution were relatively low, but they still surpassed those of an ordinary Zombie Rat and were no weaker than Bai Xiaowen's. As for Agility, what did 10.4 Agility mean? Even Beginner Awakened were inferior to it!

Not to mention the undetected skill, Infectious Bite!

Bai Xiaowen gritted his teeth and stood up, tightly gripping the rusty iron sword. Just seeing its Agility exceed 10 points told him he could not escape. If he wanted to live, he could only fight to the death.

After missing its Pounce, Black Fang planted all four paws, arched its body in a charging stance, then lunged forward like a gust of wind!

Though Bai Xiaowen had been mentally prepared, his reaction speed and footwork could not keep up. The Elite Zombie Rat Black Fang immediately slammed him against the wall and pinned him there! Then Black Fang viciously bit down at Bai Xiaowen's neck.

Fortunately, Bai Xiaowen was not weak either. He struggled desperately and shifted half a step aside. With a crunch, the rat bit into his shoulder, pain piercing him to the bone.

Bai Xiaowen cried out in pain, shoved the Zombie Rat Black Fang away with all his strength, and staggered toward the entrance of the narrow passage. His left arm hung limply at his side; the bone had clearly been bitten through.

"So this is the skill, 'Infectious Bite'?" Bai Xiaowen's wound had gone numb. He had clearly been infected with a virus, and the injury was rapidly spreading as half his body lost feeling. Meanwhile, the Zombie Rat Black Fang continued its relentless pursuit. With one leap, it sailed over Bai Xiaowen's head and blocked the tunnel entrance!

Whether it was an illusion or not, Bai Xiaowen could sense a trace of mockery in the Zombie Rat's tiny black-bead eyes. This monster had 2.7 Spirit, while ordinary Zombie Rats only had around 0.2. It even possessed a degree of intelligence, taking time to toy with its prey before it died.

"Fuck you!"

Bai Xiaowen Roared and suddenly gulped down a bottle of potion. It was the combat potion he had prepared—Savage Bull's Might!

It was as if a fire had ignited in his heart. Astonishing strength surged through Bai Xiaowen's body, temporarily increasing his Strength by nearly 6 points! His total Strength instantly exceeded 10 points!

Like a crazed savage bull, Bai Xiaowen lowered his shoulder and rammed Black Fang. Caught off guard, Black Fang was sent crashing directly into the narrow tunnel!

This narrow tunnel was only tall enough for one person and less than a meter wide, barely allowing a single person through.

That meant Black Fang's formidable 10.4 Agility would be rendered mostly useless here! Meanwhile, Bai Xiaowen's temporarily enhanced Strength of over 10 points would give him an overwhelming advantage!

This was the chance to turn the tables that Bai Xiaowen had painstakingly waited for!

Bai Xiaowen hunched over and held Black Fang firmly in place. With one hand, he swung the rusty iron sword wildly, hacking down in a desperate frenzy!

Every strike cut into flesh, sending black blood spraying.

After the brutal chopping, the Elite Zombie Rat Black Fang had become a pile of minced meat. It was almost impossible to tell that it had once been a rat's corpse. Before Strength exceeding 10 points, even Stiffened Skin could not withstand such frenzied, butcher-knife-like chopping.

Bai Xiaowen panted heavily and put away the rusty iron sword. Luckily, he had gotten this sword from his homeroom teacher, Xiao Jinsheng. Otherwise, he might not have been able to kill this Elite Zombie Rat.

A notification arrived.

"Battle concluded. Force 10, precision 2, Continuity 4. Rating: Excellent."

"You killed the Elite Zombie Rat: Black Fang."

"Your Basic Weaponry (One-Handed Sword) proficiency has increased."

"Basic Weaponry (One-Handed Sword) has reached Level 4!"

Suddenly, a faint white light shone out from Black Fang's corpse. Then the light gathered together, condensing into a slightly illusory small chest.

"This is... a Loot Chest?"

Bai Xiaowen was startled. A Loot Chest was a chest used to draw loot rewards after killing powerful monsters. Bai Xiaowen was no stranger to them. Many Awakened had shown such Loot Chests while livestreaming their exploration experiences in the Spirit Realm.

He had not expected even killing a Zombie Rat to drop a chest. But considering that this Zombie Rat possessed strength comparable to a Beginner Awakened, it was not particularly strange.

Bai Xiaowen placed his hand on the chest and silently chose to open it.

A notification arrived.

"The Loot Chest of Elite Zombie Rat: Black Fang is about to open. Calculating rewards..."

"The enemy-to-self strength ratio is 2.378:1."

"Combat Score: A Tier (Excellent). You have 3 chances to draw Loot Cards, and you will not draw blank cards."

The chest vanished. Within the light, six Loot Cards with a silver texture appeared before Bai Xiaowen, showing their backs.

"An A-Tier Combat Score!" Bai Xiaowen was overjoyed.

Combat Score was a comprehensive evaluation of an Awakened's performance in battle, usually determined by the difference in strength between the two sides. The higher the score, the more chances one had to draw loot.

For example, the six Loot Cards before him represented all six items that the Elite Zombie Rat Black Fang could drop.

With an A-Tier score, Bai Xiaowen could draw three times. With a B-Tier score, he could only draw twice. A C-Tier score or lower allowed only one draw.

An S-Tier score, a perfect score, would be terrifying. It allowed a full five draws! He could practically loot the Zombie Rat down to its underwear—if it had any.

However, S-Tier scores were only legends. In reality, even A-Tier Combat Scores were extremely difficult to obtain, as they meant there was an enormous disparity in strength between the two sides!

Take this Elite Zombie Rat, for example. Its overall attributes rivaled those of a Beginner Awakened, and it was more than twice as strong as Bai Xiaowen. If Bai Xiaowen had not rammed it into the narrow tunnel, he would undoubtedly have died.

The backs of the six Loot Cards flickered with silver light, each one seeming extremely tempting.

Bai Xiaowen did not overthink it. There was no way to use logic to judge something that depended on luck. He directly reached out and selected the three cards in the middle.

Streams of light flickered continuously. The three unselected cards turned into Psionic Particles and vanished, while the three cards Bai Xiaowen had chosen flipped over.

The first card bore the image of a dagger. The second bore the image of a cloak. The third showed a small vial filled with black liquid.

Seeing the blue text beneath the dagger image, Bai Xiaowen was delighted. A blue weapon was an Elite Tier weapon! This Elite Tier weapon alone made the haul worthwhile.

Psionic equipment could roughly be divided into four grades according to quality, easily distinguished by the color of the equipment's name. The four grades were: Common Tier (white), Elite Tier (blue), Heroic Tier (gold), and Lord Tier (Dark Gold).

As for Crude Tier gray equipment, no Awakened would even look twice at such inferior gear. It was worthless trash, though ordinary people might still treat it as treasure.

Above Dark Gold Equipment were even rarer pieces of higher quality, but that was already beyond Bai Xiaowen's understanding.

Bai Xiaowen refocused and checked the notifications:

"You obtained weapon: Fang Dagger."

"You obtained equipment: Dirty Cloak."

"You obtained item: Putrid Blood."

The Fang Dagger's attributes were as follows:

[Fang Dagger (Bind on Pickup)]

[Quality: Elite Tier (Blue)]

[Equipment Slot: One-Handed]

[Equipment Requirement: 4 Agility]

[Attributes: Attack Power 3–8; Agility +1]

[Durability: 31/35]

[Description: A compact and efficient bloodletting tool.]

The second piece of equipment was Common Tier white gear.

[Dirty Cloak (Bind on Pickup)]

[Quality: Common Tier (White)]

[Equipment Slot: Back]

[Equipment Requirement: None]

[Attributes: Armor +2; Evasion Rate +3% (Shared attribute of cloak-type equipment)]

[Durability: 18/20]

[Description: When wearing it, it is best not to think about how it was stripped from a rat.]

"As expected of an Elite Tier dagger. It's far stronger than my homeroom teacher's Crude Tier iron sword! Its bonus attack power is three times higher, and daggers are a whole tier faster than one-handed swords! Not to mention the precious +1 Agility attribute."

The cloak was not bad either. It had no additional attributes, but 2 Defense and 3% Evasion could still improve the wearer's ability to take hits. One could not ask for too much from a piece of white gear.

The only regrettable thing was that both pieces of equipment were Bind on Pickup, making them impossible to trade. Of course, according to Bai Xiaowen's understanding, the vast majority of equipment bound upon being picked up.

If one found a decent piece of Bind on Equip gear, one could make a small fortune. Countless Quasi-Awakened were willing to sell everything they owned to purchase equipment in order to pass the Spirit Realm Trial.

The best equipment of all had no binding restrictions. Such items could be passed down through generations as family heirlooms.

Finally, Bai Xiaowen checked the item on the third card. This item called Putrid Blood was a bottle of semi-solidified black blood, ranked Level 3 of Tier 1. When applied to a weapon, its attacks carried Corrosive Toxin, weakening the enemy's combat ability.

Bai Xiaowen put on the Dirty Cloak, but when he tried to equip the Fang Dagger, he received a notification that the +1 Agility bonus could not take effect because he was not yet an Awakened.

Bai Xiaowen was not particularly disappointed. Even without the attribute bonus, the Fang Dagger's attack speed and attack power were formidable enough when used as a basic weapon.

After placing the Putrid Blood into his tactical backpack, Bai Xiaowen was about to leave when he suddenly noticed a faint, dim light flash beneath Black Fang's corpse.

Bai Xiaowen's eyes widened. He crouched down and rummaged through the remains, and a crystal-clear gray bead emitting a dim glow rolled out.