Chapter 12: Reaching Qi Refining Stage
[Ding! Heaven-Defying Fate talent activated! Heaven-Defying Rebellion: All attributes doubled!]
[Ding! Heaven-Defying Fate talent activated! Born Against Heaven: Rewarding one random talent!]
[Ding! Random talent determined: Blood Qi Seed – Increases Blood Qi by 10%, can be upgraded three times!]
[Ding! In 30 minutes, a Heavenly Tribulation will descend. Please proceed with caution.]
A warm current surged into Lin Jichen's body, like long-awaited rain after a drought, instantly washing away all his fatigue.
Moreover, his entire body was filled with power.
Lin Jichen quickly checked his attributes.
[Player: Lin Jichen]
[Innate Talent: Heaven-Defying Fate]
[Sect: None]
[Reputation: 0]
[Cultivation: 0/500]
[Realm: Early Qi Refining Stage]
[Innate Attributes: Maxed Out] (Since they are always maxed out, there's no need to list them.)
[Acquired Talent: Blood Qi Seed (+10% Blood Qi)]
[Blood Qi: 1000/1000 (x2) +10%]
[Mana: 1000/1000 (x2)]
[Strength: 10 (x2) +3]
[Mental Power: 10 (x2)]
[Defense: 10 (x2)]
[Speed: 10 (x2)]
[Skills: None]
[Equipment: Iron Sword]
Stepping into the Qi Refining Realm meant officially embarking on the path of immortality, becoming a cultivator.
His overall power had surged tremendously.
Normally, battle attributes would increase tenfold upon reaching the Qi Refining stage, but with the [Heaven-Defying Fate] talent, they were doubled again.
Effectively, his stats had increased twentyfold.
This was the fundamental difference between a cultivator and a mortal.
Additionally, he had gained an extra talent—Blood Qi Seed, which increased his Blood Qi cap by 10%.
This talent could evolve with breakthroughs into higher cultivation sub-stages.
For example, upon reaching Mid Qi Refining, it would evolve into Blood Qi Bud, increasing his Blood Qi cap by 20%.
At Late Qi Refining, it would evolve to its highest form, Blood Qi Tree, increasing his Blood Qi cap by 30%.
For early-stage Lin Jichen, this talent was incredibly useful. His stats were already doubled, and now his Blood Qi had an extra 10% boost.
Other early Qi Refining cultivators only had 1000 HP, but he had 2200 HP—and the higher his realm, the greater his HP would become.
Looking at his stats, Lin Jichen felt like shouting: "Heaven-Defying Fate, Y-Y-D-S!"
Originally, he thought it would take a while to step into the Qi Refining stage. Unexpectedly, encountering the Wild Boar King had granted him a massive cultivation boost, pushing him straight into it.
[Ding! Congratulations on achieving the first-ever Boss Kill in "Eight Desolations" A global announcement is imminent. Would you like to hide your name?]
"No need."
Lin Jichen glanced behind him. The short-haired woman and her group were all watching—there was no point in hiding it.
The moment Lin Jichen made his choice, every player heard an official global announcement.
"Congratulations to player Lin Jichen for achieving the first-ever Boss Kill in "Eight Desolations"! Reward: +200 Reputation, +1 Innate Luck. We hope other players will keep striving forward!"
This announcement shocked every player.
"The game just launched—how did someone already kill a boss?!"
"Which guild expert is Lin Jichen? This is insane!"
"Never even heard of him before…"
"WTF! Our Little Elephant Guild spent so much manpower and resources, and just as the boss's HP dropped below half, someone sniped the first kill?!"
"Tell me about it—tons of guilds were racing for first kill, and this guy came out of nowhere!"
"Lin Jichen must be from some big guild. Probably just finished the job after they threw waves of players at the boss."
"Just wait, I bet Lin Jichen will soon post an announcement hyping his guild and farming fans."
While the players were buzzing with speculation…
Lin Jichen hadn't expected that killing the Wild Boar King would come with such an extra benefit—a Boss First Kill reward.
He wasn't too familiar with it, considering he had only started playing "Eight Desolations" a year after its release, by which time first kills were ancient history.
His Innate Luck was already maxed out, so the +1 didn't matter, but 200 Reputation Points—now that was valuable.
In "Eight Desolations", Reputation was incredibly useful. Players with high Reputation could easily gain managerial positions in sects.
It also granted influence in towns—if an enemy was after you, NPC guards would step in to help.
In the future, if he wanted to buy land, establish a guild, or create a faction, there would be Reputation requirements.
While Lin Jichen was celebrating, he didn't forget the drawback of [Heaven-Defying Fate].
Sure, his stats were doubled, and he got a bonus talent.
But at the same time, every major realm breakthrough would bring a Heavenly Tribulation!
He looked around—the short-haired woman and her team were still too stunned to react.
They had personally witnessed Lin Jichen take down the Wild Boar King single-handedly, and the shock left them speechless.
A single player, a total newbie, wielding only an iron sword, took down a 600 HP boss?
If they hadn't seen it themselves, they would never have believed it.
At that moment, dark clouds began gathering in the sky, and the daylight dimmed.
Lin Jichen hurriedly looted the battlefield, digging the Wild Boar King's Soul Tomb from the rubble.
Since this was likely the first boss kill in "Eight Desolations", combined with his lucky player status, the loot was insane.
- [Spirit-Grade: Crimson Cloud Sword] – Strength +15, Crit +7, 1% Armor Penetration, and every 3 consecutive attacks on the same target trigger an extra 50 damage.
Requirement: Sword Cultivator exclusive.
- [Spirit-Grade: Radiant Staff] – Mental Power +10, Skill Cooldown -10%, Mana +500.
Requirement: Mage exclusive.
- [Spirit-Grade: Phantom Step] – Speed +10, allows a 10-meter dash leaving an afterimage, consuming 100 Mana. Cooldown: 10s.
Requirement: None.
Aside from these three green-tier Spirit-Grade items, there were four white-tier Mortal-Grade items:
- [Mortal-Grade: Iron-Plated Boots] – Speed +3.
- [Mortal-Grade: Heart-Guard Leather Armor] – Defense +3.
- [Mortal-Grade: Bronze-Headed Blade] – Strength +4.
- [Mortal-Grade: Iron Fist Gloves] – Strength +3.
There was also a pile of copper coins, around several hundred, and 10 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
Lin Jichen scooped everything into his storage bag, then glanced at the short-haired woman.
Her subordinates had returned from the village, excitedly reporting something to her.
"How about it? I wasn't lying, was I?" Lin Jichen asked as he walked back.
The short-haired woman and her group now looked at him with admiration.
She nodded. "Your information was valuable—it's worth 500,000."
"That's all I needed to hear. Bye." Lin Jichen turned and bolted.
He had to leave—the Heavenly Tribulation was coming.
"Wait." The short-haired woman called after him.
Lin Jichen turned back with a playful smirk. "You're not planning to rob me, are you?"
The short-haired woman snorted. "I'm not that kind of person."
"Then what do you need?" Lin Jichen asked.
"The gear you looted from the Wild Boar King—any pieces you don't need, would you sell them to us?"
Lin Jichen thought about it—he did have some extras. The Radiant Staff, Bronze-Headed Blade, and Iron Fist Gloves were useless to him since they were meant for mages, blade users, and body cultivators.
Everything else, he could use.
He pulled out the three items. "Name your price. If I don't like it, I'll just auction them off in the village."
The short-haired woman's eyes sparkled, especially at the staff—a perfect weapon for their mage.