Chapter 9: The Bronze Broken Blade (Heritage)

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

“Hoo-”

“Hoo-”

The Devil’s Flame was like a thick green liquid, burning on the ground in patches. Many shrubs and trees depended on it for nutrients to grow into tall black trees.

Lin Jie walked alone along the small mountain roads, which was the only walkable path available.

The Dark Summit’s shape was like the Hundred Peaks Mountain. There were more than ten peaks, with huge winds at each of those peaks. His target was the peak right in the middle…

After ascending about 300 yards, there were only pitch-black leaves and substantial strong winds. Lin Jie plucked a few leaves and threw them into the air. The leaves circled around slowly and floated up.

‘Now!’ Lin Jie activated the Feather Drop Gem and floated up like cotton wool, getting picked up by the wind.

The wind suddenly changed direction, and Lin Jie fell down with a loud thud, landing heavily.

-80!

“Darn it.” Lin Jie furrowed his brows and ate a piece of bread to restore his Health Points. Climbing the Dark Summit was fraught with difficulties. Falling so heavily over just a mere short distance was already so painful. Imagine falling from an even greater height. The current Lin Jie was only level 3. Compared to the previous life, the difference was huge – he had to tread with caution.

The peak’s wind direction changed once every 10 minutes at random. Lin Jie needed a north blowing wind. Just waiting for the wind to change direction already took up a long time. It was unlike in his previous life, where he could just tear a piece of high-level air element scroll to change the wind direction.

Wait!

Even if obtaining the Broken Blade would take up a lot of time, he had to keep waiting! It was the resource that he was proud of, and also the biggest regret of his previous life.

After three solid hours, the wind had not changed its direction into a satisfactory one. There were even a solid 30 minutes during which the wind was blowing southwards.

‘Whoosh—’

The leaves suddenly floated and ascended quite a bit.

Lin Jie’s eyes brightened, as the wind changed considerably and the leaves ascended like a rocket.

“Feather Drop Skill!”

Lin Jie became weightless and immediately flew. The wind’s strength at this time was unexpectedly immense. Lin Jie had originally planned to ascend to the lowest peak then slowly make his way up. Looking at this trend, it was even possible that he could fly directly up to the highest peak! He spread his arms out to maintain his balance, and his gaze focused on the peak that he could descend on.

In the blink of an eye, the lowest peak already went out of sight. Second, third…

“Hoo—”

The wind changed direction again. Lin Jie felt a huge wave of force coming from his right and caused his body to slant. He lost his balance and started to fall! He endured the howling winds by his ear and tore the Polymorph scroll. Casting target: himself!

A gust of smoke appeared, and Lin Jie shapeshifted into a small lamb with a maximum Health Point of 1. It could not attack, move and its status would be nullified the moment it ate any damage. He was brought crashing onto a peak by the wind and fell heavily to the ground.

-1!

Polymorph skill nullified!

Lin Jie rolled a few rounds before slowly coming to a halt. Small rocks cut his skin and also cut away a huge amount of Health Points. He adjusted his breathing and restored his calmness and observed his surroundings. Due to the many peaks in the Dark Summit, they were named according to numerical order. This should be the third mountain, which meant that this was the third highest peak.

In his previous life, Lin Jie had not arrived there when he had ascended the peak because it hadn’t been part of the arc of coverage of the winds. It was possible to arrive here only if the wind direction changed abruptly. Even then that meant death, and yet in this current stage, fate brought him to the third mountain.

A few blood-red berries fell and rolled forward to Lin Jie, who brightened. That was the [Blood-Enhancing Berry], a player could only consume two in their whole lives. Its stats were simple; it could increase permanent stats. Top-grade Blood-Enhancing Berries could be easily sold for hundreds of thousands. In his previous life, there was even an additional 2%-increasing drop rate Blood-Enhancing Berry that was sold for a hefty price of a million.

[Blood-Enhancing Berry]: Strength +10

[Blood-Enhancing Berry]: Movement speed +5

…

Lin Jie looked up along the direction of rolling of the Blood-Enhancing Berries. His pupils shrank as he realized that they came from a huge tree full of Blood-Enhancing Berries!

‘Blood-Enhancing Berries had been randomly spawning at dangerous grounds. Could there actually be a fixed tree? Should one eat all the berries…’ of course it was just a thought, but Lin Jie’s breathing accelerated uncontrollably.

Walking towards the Blood-Enhancing Berry Tree, Lin Jie inspected each berry one by one. One could only eat two Blood-Enhancing Berries, so he had to find the two with the best stats. He would pluck the remaining ones and sell them all!

There were those that increased damage, lock-picking chances, and even charm. The Blood-Enhancing Berries could offer almost everything.

[Blood-Enhancing Berry]: Increase critical strike chance by 2%.

[Blood-Enhancing Berry]: Increase critical strike chance by 3%.

Lin Jie looked at the berry in his hands in shock. This would be worth over a million in seven years! Little did he expect that he could live a moment of lavishness, as he ate the berry worth millions of coins. Lin Jie smiled and swallowed the two berries. A wave of warmth spread throughout his limbs and bones, as his critical strike chance was increased by 5%.

Anything could only become internalized if one consumed it!

Just as he was about to pack all the remaining berries, the entire tree suddenly decomposed and the berries melted into a blood-looking liquid and then coagulated and transformed into a muddy looking monster with a human face. It was creepy.

[Blood-Enhancing Willpower]: Level 20 Elite, Health Points: ???

Lin Jie retreated a few steps. He had not seen such a monster in the past seven years! As he was about to flee, his body suddenly lost control. He had eaten the Blood-Enhancing Berries, and hence he would be within the radius of the Blood-Enhancing Willpower’s control of 1000 yards.

Understood, understood! The Blood-Enhancing Berries in this mountain peak were meant to lure players. As long as one ate the berries, they would be consumed. As to whether they would lose their stats, it remained to be seen!

“Feather Drop Skill!” Lin Jie activated the Feather Drop Gem and floated up. He did not care about the wind direction at this moment, fleeing was more important! After he became airborne, he broke free from the restraint and could move. What was scary was that the Blood-Enhancing Willpower could fly up like a bat and it flew towards Lin Jie!

“Down!” With a javelin in his hand, a thrust pierced through the disgusting red thick liquid, and it sank into the ground. The wind changed direction and caused Lin Jie to lose balance and spin around uncontrollably.

But his position was ascending! He got caught in the air currents of the highest peak and flew up uncontrollably! The currents were like a rope tied to Lin Jie’s ankle, bringing him up violently. The peaks in sight were sharper, much like a fountain pen. When Lin Jie ascended to the peak, he could only see the Broken Blade!

In his previous life, when Lin Jie had reached this place after the wind changed direction, but he could not retrieve the blade no matter how hard he had tried. However, as a Berserker, he could increase his strength by causing damage to himself. He had immediately cut his own wrist. The blood was all absorbed by the Broken Blade, and he died. He had died for a total of three times before he could obtain it. This was the reason why Lin Jie waited until he was level 3 before coming to get the Broken Blade. Had he been under-leveled, he would be transported back to the town’s church to be revived after he died.

Lin Jie found it challenging to approach the peak as he tried hard to hurl a few hunting traps onto the Broken Blade. Two of them got blown off by the wind, and the remaining one fell onto the Broken Blade alone. Lin Jie retrieved his spear and flung it everywhere.

The Dark Summit’s winds were the scariest as their direction was uncertain and had huge strength. The moment Lin Jie hurled the spear, the wind brought it back and pierced through his own torso. He was hurled back as well towards the Broken Blade.

At that moment, the wind’s direction changed again!

“Teleporting Scroll!”

Lin Jie tore the scroll and moved towards the Broken Blade by three yards and stood precisely on the Broken Blade. But the strong winds were about to blow him off. At this time, the hunting trap was activated. It closed up and trapped Lin Jie, rooting him for two seconds and costing him 20 Health Points.

-5!

-5!

…

Lin Jie rolled his eyes and… died.

After enduring the wind and self-inflicted damage, surviving for so long before dying was an achievement in itself. His soul appeared in the cemetery while his blood was being consumed by the Broken Blade.

After players died, their souls would appear, and they would level down by one level. The souls would appear in the cemetery. Finding one’s own body would allow him to revive, but he would be in a weak state for two minutes, with all stats being reduced by 90%. If a Priest cast a revival spell, going by the familiarity of the Priest with the spell, the punishment in experience could be lightened by 50% to even 100%.

Of course, if the body could not be found, such as when one fell into magma or was surrounded by monsters, they could choose to be revived in the cemetery. The level would be reduced by two or more, the duration of the weak state would last one hour, and in addition, the equipment durability would be reduced to zero. If he was a famous person, the punishment would be heavier.

Lin Jie looked at the pitch-black Underworld and ran towards the Dark Summit. While being in a soul state, movement speed would increase, the weight would be zero, and this would be equivalent to being in the Feather Drop status except that one could control oneself.

When Lin Jie stood by his body, an alert popped up, ‘Do you want to be revived now?’

A ray of light dawned as Lin Jie stood on the Broken Blade. His wound that had not fully healed kept spewing out blood, which once again got absorbed by the Broken Blade. After less than half a minute, he died again.

Lin Jie had already spent seven hours exploring the Dark Summit. The Broken Blade finally absorbed enough blood and let out a hum of satisfaction. Lin Jie was elated and held the Broken Blade with one hand and lifted it up forcefully…

‘Bang!’

The Dark Summit shook crazily. The strong winds converged into many devilish faces. Lin Jie gritted his teeth and used all his strength to force out the Broken Blade from the rocks. The Broken Blade spun many rounds in the air and landed in front of Lin Jie.

“We meet again, my old friend.” Lin Jie held the Broken Blade with a flurry of emotions. It was like a piece of scrap metal, looking very badly welded on the surface and was full of sticky ores and marks from the Devil’s Flame. Only the blood reservoir was intact. At the bottom of the blood reservoir, a drop of blood trickled about continuously.

[Bronze Broken Blade] (Heritage)

No job restriction

Requires: Level 0

Attack: 20-25

Strength: +5

Endurance: +5

Health Points: +120

Jump: +5

Movement Speed: +6

Block: +3%

Additional effect: Stats are sealed, cannot distinguish the weapon type.

Additional ability: Army Obliteration. You spend 10 Rage points and damage your target thrice for 130% damage.

Weight: 5 pounds

“This stat…?” Lin Jie furrowed his brows.

In his previous life, when Lin Jie had obtained the Broken Blade, even though the Broken Blade was labeled as Bronze Broken Blade, its stats were those of a Level 50 Gold Equipment. After lifting the restrictions on it, it matched that of a level 80 Dark Gold Heavy Sword. Why was it so weak this time?

As a level-zero weapon, the Broken Blade’s stats were said to defy nature. However since Lin Jie had once experienced the immense power of the Broken Blade, he felt a massive disparity between the two.

After noticing the Broken Blade’s blood reservoir, Lin Jie suddenly understood. In his previous life after obtaining the Broken Blade, the blood reservoir had absorbed almost 2% of fresh blood whereas it only absorbed half a drop now. It seemed like it was a problem of skill! In his previous life, the high leveled Berserker’s Health Points were far superior as compared to the Health Points available now.

Even then, the Broken Blade’s stats were still very strong and increased Lin Jie’s capabilities by a huge margin.

While he was reeling in delight, the ground suddenly started shaking. Lin Jie was shocked as there was none of such a scene in his previous life!

‘Boom!’

The rocks exploded as a giant, pitch-black, lizard-like palm emerged from under the rocks. It was a [Guardian of Hell]! The Guardian of Hell was a mix-breed of the Devil and Hell Hound. It had a low intelligence but had mastery of the Dark Shadow Magic and a gigantic body.

With a pair of Dark Broken Wings, the Guardian of Hell emerged from the mountains and it violently attacked Lin Jie with its huge palms!

‘Run!’

Lin Jie activated the Feather Drop Gem and held the Broken Blade tightly in his hands. Heritage equipment could not be stored in bags, even though the outlook of the Broken Blade was very ugly… under the influence of the huge winds, Lin Jie found it difficult to balance his body and fell down.

Whilst falling down, he held on a tree branch and span one round, reducing the impact of the fall before finally landing.

The Dark Summit was made up mainly of tall and huge trees. Lin Jie had nowhere to go. He could only maneuver his way through the trees. Luckily he had the Feather Drop Gem to help him advance at an altitude.

‘Roar!’

The Guardian of Hell’s skull was as big as a dinosaur. Its huge mouth growled “-swiej! (Devil’s Flame!)”

‘Boom!’

The forest suddenly erupted in the Devil’s Flames. Lin Jie drank an entire bottle of health potion and activated Wild Charge and rushed towards the apex of the huge tree! To escape from the pursuit of the Guardian of Hell, the only way was to return to the Town of Meyer! Running down the mountain would lead to death, the only way was to make a gamble!

Like a monkey, Lin Jie used all four limbs to climb up. The tree branches engulfed in scorching flames that were flung towards him and brushed past his ears got knocked onto a huge tree nearby, and the impact knocked over a huge area of the forest.

Nearby, there were tens of huge tree branches flying over!

“Darn it.” Lin Jie took a deep breath and tried his best to climb up. Every time he climbed up one body length, a scorching branch would fly past his feet. The forest behind him was in ruins.

“Hell’s Notice: Town of Meyer is under attack by the Devils’ Overlord. Villagers please evacuate immediately!”

“Hell’s Notice: Town of Meyer is under attack by the Devils’ Overlord. Villagers please evacuate immediately!”

The Town of Meyer’s players looked at the mountains far away as the Devil’s Flames engulfed the sky. The huge Devil Guardian hovered around near the mountaintop, as it seemed like it was searching for something.

“Quick, inform the chief, the Town of Meyer has spawned a super boss.”

“Town of Meyer is attacked by a monster, we need reinforcements immediately!”

Players who had just entered the game naturally did not know the power of the Guardian of Hell. In a mere ten minutes, a large group of people assembled in the Town of Meyer. There were even strong figures that were rarely seen – The Heavenly Shield of the Ironwall Empire, the Dumb Fox of the Triumphant Midnight and Sand Eagle of the Murderer Workshop.

NPC defense team had also gotten activated. Paladins clad in heavy silver armor sternly stood in front of the gates and shouted, “Activate the defense shield!”

‘Hum-‘

The Town of Meyer got enclosed by a sturdy shield connecting every Paladin. That was the Shield of Life. As long as the Paladins guarding the town remained alive, the shield would not break!

The Guardian of Hell arrived, and the sky got shrouded in darkness. At this moment, an inconspicuous figure fell to the ground and headed towards the crowd. The Guardian of Hell lost sight of Lin Jie and screamed crazily, unleashing its rage on these humans!

“Prepare for battle!” The Paladin Captain shouted. Chanting runes of the Holy Light surrounded the people.

“-hdiej (Sound of Confusion!)” The Guardian of Hell let out a screeching wave, preventing the Holy Light from converging. It madly tore apart the land in front of it and searched for the brat who had stolen the Heritage equipment.

The Captain raised his Holy Sword, and the Holy Strength converged into the Cross of Judgement. He loudly sang, “Those who have fallen to Darkness, accept the redemption and judgment of the Holy Light. In the name of me, Aries, Light prevails!”

The Cross of Judgment heavily fell on the head of the Guardian of Hell and brought with it a great deal of critical damage.

– 293844!

Lin Jie saw this scene and couldn’t help but think, ‘Fortunately I ran fast and had the Feather Drop Gem. It’s undoubtedly one of the most special equipment. If not for it, I’d probably be dead even with nine more lives.’

The body of the Guardian of Hell almost exploded as it flapped its wings and decided to retreat to the Dark Summit. The Paladins flaunted their prowess as the Holy Light converged into a ray of scary light cannon, which killed the Guardian of Hell mid-flight!

The huge body got disintegrated into smoke and dust. A piece of armor like object dropped down.

“Equipment!”

“Equipment! Quick!”

Some unknown person shouted, and many players started running forward towards the dropped equipment. The Guardian of Hell was a level 100 monster, how could its dropped equipment be anything bad?

“This is the Ironwall Empire’s territory!” The Heavenly Shield’s level was the highest and had the best equipment. He sprinted and maintained his lead and reached his arms out to grab hold of the armor.

“Hehe, get down.” The Triumphant Midnight’s Ice Magic Thearch Dumb Fox teleported onto The Heavenly Shield and mercilessly kicked him aside. But it got shot down by a Hunter at the back.

This Hunter was the Chairman of the Hunter’s Guild and was known as Ghost “The Sniper” Eyes. It was said that this guy was a sniper in reality and had never ever missed a shot. He smiled coldly, “Fox, I wouldn’t want you to get your hands on this equipment.”

“Darn it!” Dumb Fox pointed his middle finger at him. Dumb Fox and Ghost Eyes were old friends and old foes. This guy had never resorted to underhand tactics, he openly dealt with people, and this caused the Fox to feel helpless.

At this moment, a group of players rushed over. Due to the skill limitations in the early levels, what actually happened were – brawl fights! I’d beat you to death if you grabbed it. I’d get beaten to death if I held it. This piece of equipment came along with countless innocent lives.

In the midst of the chaos, Lin Jie clearly saw that the captain “Dustless” of the most famous mercenary workshop, one well known as a murderer organization with the name “Shadow Devil Workshop”, get badly beaten up by a group of unknown players and died. The equipment flew up.

“Haha, it’s mine!” The Heavenly Shield laughed as he was the closest to the equipment and had the best stats. It was perfectly logical for him to get hold of it! Dumb Fox, Ghost Eyes and the other people did not give up and continued to pursue.

The equipment fell lightly as The Heavenly Shield reached out to touch it. However, a leg suddenly tapped on his knee and caused his body to lose balance. The equipment fell off from his fingertips and landed straight in the hands of Dumb Fox.

Dumb Fox blanked out for a while, and he carried the equipment in his hands as he looked earnestly at Lin Jie. It was Lin Jie who had made the kick. Body movements such as somersaulting, jumping, tripping and punching, etc. were the basic abilities of humans. They required a high level of mastery to be used masterfully. Yet this guy… was only level 1?

“The equipment is mine, stop!” Dumb Fox commanded, and the scene quietened down. Ghost Eyes was aiming his arrow at the brains of the Dumb Fox as he resentfully said, “What a pity.”

Dumb Fox: “…”

“Darn it! It was you?” The Heavenly Shield angrily grabbed Lin Jie’s chest, as his face seemed to be that of an angry bull. If it had not been for Lin Jie, he would have gotten that piece of equipment!

Lin Jie shrugged his shoulders and said, “Sorry but not sorry.”

The crowd went silent, this guy seemed really calm.

Dumb Fox pressed on the shoulders of The Heavenly Shield and laughed, “Sorry Old Shield, this is my cousin, let go of your stinky hands.”

“Hmph, your cousin?” The Heavenly Shield laughed coldly and said, “If that is the case, I will write an order to kill him, and you can send your men to protect him. How does this sound?”

Lin Jie was alarmed. The reason for controlling the equipment for Dumb Fox was purely because this guy was loyal. In his previous life for seven years, Dumb Fox had made a name for himself. His organization, the Extreme Ice Magic Army, had infiltrated the Catastrophic Campsite and obtained the Legendary Equipment Shards. Yet he had handed over the shards to his men. His reason was simple – if he had no use for it, he would give it to someone else.

Would this sort of person go against the Ironwall Empire for him?

If they were to talk about value, Lin Jie felt that the kick’s worth was nothing more than owing a small favor.

“Sure, allow me to write a death order for you too,” said Dumb Fox as he walked in front of Lin Jie. “I am after the Ironwall Empire’s Chairman, and yet you, the mighty Chairman, are after a mere level 1. I am sure this would make for good news.”

The Heavenly Shield angrily said, “You!”

“It ends here. Whoever gets it gets it. If you can get it we will not interfere anymore,” Ghost Eyes added, “Old Shield, what you are doing now does indeed seem very ungentlemanly.”

“Hmph!” The Heavenly Shield hatefully left with his men and stared at Lin Jie as his pupils shrank ever so slightly. ‘This guy is kind of familiar!’

Ghost Eyes then said to Dumb Fox, “Seems like a good catch.”

“Ha, you can have it if you want.” Dumb Fox handed the armor to Ghost Eyes and smiled bitterly, “100,000 in cash. Pay me when we return.”

[Guardian’s Armor] (Gold)

Requires: Level 100, Armor

Defense: 849 – 930

Endurance: +100

Damage reduction: 20%

Damage reflect: 10%

Additional Effect: Hellfire Armor. All targeted attacks on you have a 2% chance of getting deflected.

Additional Effect: Guardian Halo Skill level +1, King’s Blessing skill level +1.

Weight: 30 pounds

Dumb Fox turned around and asked Lin Jie, “Brother, you seem like a rich guy. Why don’t you give me 200,000 in exchange for the armor?”

Lin Jie snorted and thought to himself, ‘So quick to con someone else? What a shrewd guy.’ He waved his hands and said, “Forget it. You’d better leave it for yourself to pass it on to your next generation.”

Dumb Fox laughed and rubbed his hands, “I am called Dumb Fox from the Triumphant Midnight. If you’re interested, you can join our guild. Let’s be friends, we welcome you anytime.”

Lin Jie smiled and nodded and added Ghost Eyes as his friend too. Many onlooking players were green with envy. Hooking up with two guild heads? Well worth it.

Truth be told, having two guild heads in one’s friend list was kind of flattering. But in the near future, who in the friend list would be the one offering him lots of face?