A Huge Drop, We're Rich!

[Your territory's troop, 'Gorehowl,' unlocked his potential in battle and gained a talent ability: Blood Ignition!]

[Blood Ignition: Ignites all the blood in the body, granting a tremendous boost in power. Increases strength and speed by 35%, and gives all attacks a 30% armor penetration effect.

Duration: 30 seconds

Cooldown: 1 hour]

(Note: This skill comes at the cost of overdrawing one's strength. Once its duration ends, the user will enter a weakened state for 10-20 minutes.)

Shen Xing: "!!!"

A new talent ability, and its boost was this outrageous.

Could this be the legendary breakthrough in the heat of battle?

He was stunned. This was something only peerless geniuses got to experience.

Damn, didn't that mean Gorehowl had the potential to become a great emperor too?

"Good, good, good! Two supreme talents under one roof, two blessings at once!"

Shen Xing clapped and laughed, deeply gratified.

Meanwhile, Gorehowl, having activated Blood Ignition, had gone on a mad killing spree!

Leading the wargs, he rampaged through the village entrance, sending severed limbs flying with every charge.

Even Hellscream felt a hint of pressure and swung his double-bladed axe faster.

One of them dealt high damage, and the other dealt a lot of damage.

In the blink of an eye, the two of them had nearly wiped out all the plague believers at the village entrance.

On a pile of rubble in the distance, Xia Wanyin had her eyes closed. Sensing the commotion nearby, she looked surprised.

"Spark is so strong..."

She murmured, "It's only been a few days, and he's already raised his troops' combat power to this level."

Beside her, the light archer watched the distant battlefield, a grave expression appearing on her face.

Just then, Xia Wanyin seemed to sense something, and her pale pupils widened slightly.

"This aura... Is it that kind of creature?"

"Oh no, he's in danger!"

On the battlefield in Plague Village, Hellscream and Gorehowl, the two future great emperors, were still slaughtering their enemies.

They specifically targeted the plague priests among them.

After all, the lord had said that one plague priest was worth ten plague believers.

When Gorehowl heard that, he realized this was his chance to surpass Hellscream and immediately acted as though he'd been injected with chicken blood.

Shen Xing led four skeleton archers behind them, cleaning up the stragglers.

The battle was just about to end.

Just then, a violent tremor came from the center of the village, and the ground split open.

"Rumble..."

A pillar of eerie green fire shot into the sky!

"A bunch of lowly creatures dare to disrupt the great sacrifice!"

The raspy voice carried a bone-chilling killing intent, as though it came from the depths of hell.

Under everyone's gaze, a pitch-black figure flapped its wings and flew into the air.

It had a hunched body, tattered wings, and horns on its head, looking like a vampire after transformation.

But it was smaller and more evil than a vampire.

[Dretch]

[Level: 8]

[Potential: Elite ★★★]

[Attributes: Strength 67, spirit 74, agility 53, constitution 54]

[Skills: Hellfire Fireball, Weakening Gaze, Corrosive Claw]

[Talent: Body Burning]

[Bond: Demon Tide (inactive)]

[Note: A low-ranking Dretch from hell, but still an invincible existence to low-tier life-forms.]

A level 8, three-star elite monster!

It was almost among the strongest beings below Tier Two transcendents, equivalent to the peak of fifth grade in elementary school!

Its strength was worthy of its top-tier status. The aura it emitted alone exerted immense pressure!

The skeleton archers behind Shen Xing were already trembling!

"You're courting death!"

The Dretch flapped its tattered wings and raised its right hand high, rapidly forming an eerie green fireball.

An aura of destruction gathered, even burning the surrounding air until it warped.

"Die, insec... ah!"

The Dretch had just prepared to throw the fireball when a large net fell from the sky, crashing down over its head and face!

The net instantly tightened, and the Dretch, which hadn't been flying very high, fell from the sky like a kite with broken wings.

"Hahaha! Got him! I caught him in my net! This one's mine!"

Gorehowl shouted excitedly and charged over, blood flames burning all over his body.

In his eyes, this seemed to be not some terrifying monster from hell, but an enticing piece of meat.

But just then, a figure moved faster than he did.

"Whoosh..."

As if on a gentle breeze, a flash of green appeared out of thin air beside the fallen Dretch.

The double-bladed battleaxe rose high, all the strength in his body concentrating in his arms as his muscles swelled like inflated balloons!

"Puchi-!"

The axe blade sliced through the net and skin in an instant, its overwhelming force pouring into the target.

With an explosive "bang," the powerful Dretch burst apart on the spot.

-Slain!

For a moment, the entire village fell silent.

In the distance, Xia Wanyin sensed the Dretch's aura dissipate, and disbelief appeared on her fair face.

After all, it was a three-star elite monster, and a creature from hell at that.

To any novice player, it was a nightmarish existence.

Yet it had been killed instantly, just like that...

"That was close, that was close. Good thing I prepared 130 percent, or I would've been hurt by that Dretch that suddenly appeared."

Shen Xing breathed a sigh of relief, then pushed his wheelchair slowly toward the center of the village.

Chapter 28: A Huge Drop, We're Rich!

"Bastard, that was my prey!"

Gorehowl looked indignant. Then he turned to Shen Xing beside him. "Boss, Hellscream stole my credit. You have to stand up for me!"

"Gorehowl, you did very well this time. But..."

Shen Xing changed his tone and said seriously, "A warrior's glory doesn't lie in the number of enemies he kills, but in a heart that always strives to improve."

"So, there's no need to worry about whether you win or lose. As long as you keep improving, your lord will keep helping you grow stronger."

Gorehowl trembled all over and murmured to himself, "A warrior's glory lies in a heart that always strives to improve..."

Looking into the lord's bright eyes, he seemed to see a lighthouse in the mist.

The indignation on his face vanished instantly, leaving only heartfelt reverence!

"I understand, boss. Gorehowl will remember your teachings!"

Shen Xing smiled and nodded. Although he didn't know what Gorehowl had understood, smiling was the right thing to do.

"My lord, these are the items that monster dropped. Please take a look."

Hellscream picked up the loot dropped by the Dretch and respectfully handed it over.

[Obtained: Hellfire Fireball Skill Book (blue)]

[Obtained: Lesser Demon Essence Blood (purple)]

[Obtained: Lesser Demon Troop Nest (elite ★)]

Shen Xing: "Σ(⊙▽⊙"a!"

Looking at the loot information before him, he was somewhat stunned.

Wasn't this drop rate a little too high?

Never mind the first two items, the troop nest alone was astonishingly valuable!

On the Mist Continent, troop nests were among the most precious and important things.

They were every lord's main source of troops and the foundation of a territory's strength.

But troop nests were hard to come by. They could only be obtained in dangerous areas or by completing difficult quests.

Aside from that, there was also a chance that powerful monsters killed in the wild would drop troop nests.

But the drop rate wasn't just low; it was practically nonexistent.

That was why even an ordinary ★ troop nest could sell for tens of thousands on the trading forum.

And an elite ★ troop nest, even the most worthless goblin killer nest, was worth over a million!