Chapter 423: Player of the Fourth Scourge (3)

Su Chen had no idea what thoughts occupied the mind of Xu Le, the "treasure-delivery boy."

Even if he had known, he would only have smiled indifferently and added, "Child, you are too attached to appearances."

At present, Su Chen had neither the leisure nor the interest to spare Xu Le a thought. He did not even care enough to look up who Xu Le was.

"You... how can you be this strong!"

A black-armored undead knight stared at the youth before him in utter disbelief. It had taken only a casual swing of the sword...

Su Chen casually picked up the items the black-armored knight had dropped.

This was the second boss he had found.

[Congratulations, Player Xiao Chen. You have slain the regional boss Black-Armored Knight.]

[Congratulations, Player. You have gained a large amount of experience. Cultivation has broken through to Rank Three, Level Eight.]

Killing monsters and leveling up was something Su Chen handled with practiced ease.

After dealing with the Black-Armored Knight, he glanced at the lesser monsters that had already fled far away. He did not even bother to finish them off and set out for the next location.

...

Xu Le smiled. Gripping equipment obtained from the future, he far surpassed these novice rookies. While others were still locked in cunning battles against a single chicken, he was already slaughtering entire flocks. In less than half a day, his level had reached Rank One, Level Three.

"If the Diligent Study talent were still mine, I might already be at Rank One, Level Four."

Xu Le stared at the experience bar that had frozen in place and felt deep regret. He had traded a Venerable-rank talent for a King-rank one. And such a trash King-rank talent at that. He did not even dare to use it.

Unfortunately, there was no "if."

Just as Xu Le was still mourning his lost Venerable-rank talent, a prompt sounded in his mind.

It was not only him. Every person in the region heard the same announcement.

[Player Xiao Chen of Village No. ... has successfully slain the regional boss Black-Armored Knight. Players of the Anfeng City region may now proceed to other city regions and engage in trade and communication with players from those regions.]

"Xiao Chen... is that the same Xiao Chen I'm thinking of?"

"You've got to be kidding me, big brother. I finally managed to beat a chicken, and now you're telling me someone has already soloed the regional boss?"

"I don't believe it. Oh god, I don't dare open my eyes. Please let this all be a hallucination."

"..."

The first time they heard that someone named Xiao Chen had slain the novice village boss, they might still have felt jealousy and speculation. But now, while they were still killing chickens, someone had already soloed a regional boss. The insurmountable gap left them wondering just what kind of person this was.

Bitterness filled Xu Le's heart. That person had slain the regional boss even earlier than in the previous life.

The reason was self-evident.

He felt a profound sense of powerlessness. Even with the accumulation of his past life, catching up to that person remained far too difficult. Even catching a distant glimpse of his back had become a luxury.

Xu Le knew full well how powerful a regional boss was. To newcomers like them, it was nothing short of a nightmare. Yet in less than half a day, it had been soloed.

And of that half day, the greater portion had likely been spent simply traveling.

Su Chen's approach was simple.

He farmed bosses.

Bosses from different cities.

Wherever he walked, he farmed.

As a result, players in many regions were left completely bewildered.

While they were still debating whether to team up against chickens or ducks, their regional bosses had already been cleared by someone else.

At first they assumed it was merely someone snatching bosses.

Yet they discovered that the person named Xiao Chen simply left after clearing each regional boss.

He truly was snatching bosses. There was just one problem.

They could leave the cities, yet because the novice bosses remained uncleared, they could not leave their villages.

This left countless players crying out that a cheater must exist.

Before anyone realized it, Su Chen had already reached the capital of this kingdom.

Here stood the kingdom's final boss.

Su Chen intended to clear the instance before leaving.

The soldiers on the city walls still had no idea what was happening.

A great sword unleashed a torrent of light.

The supposedly impregnable walls shattered with a deafening roar.

The experience Su Chen gained sent his experience bar surging forward by a huge margin.

Within the royal capital, powerful experts flew out one after another.

"Who dares! Such audacity, to force your way into the royal capital!"

The capital contained quite a few Rank Five experts.

Yet the moment they appeared and their words fell, the fury on their faces turned to blankness and terror.

A destructive aura that blanketed the sky descended in an instant.

[Congratulations, Player Xiao Chen. You have destroyed the Decaying Kingdom and received a large amount of experience. Cultivation has broken through to Rank Five, Level Nine.]

With a single move, the cultivators of the kingdom, along with the final boss who had yet to show himself, all transformed into warm experience points.

Aside from the vast experience, Su Chen also obtained numerous item cards and rewarded resurrection coins. He paid them little mind and casually stored them in his spatial storage.

...

At this moment, more than half a month had already passed.

Players had begun to get on the right track and no longer debated whether to kill chickens or ducks.

They gradually started hunting jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards. The top players among them could team up to hunt demonic beasts. Though they often paid a heavy price, the rewards were equally great and allowed them to pull far ahead.

Xu Le was now even further ahead. While the strongest players were still active inside the villages, teaming up to hunt Rank One demonic beasts, he had already left the village and begun hunting Rank Two demonic beasts alone. One step ahead meant every step ahead. His current strength was already enough to slaughter ordinary players as if they were chickens and ducks.

In his previous life, it had taken him more than a full month to reach this stage.

"It will soon be a month. At that time, the 'Mandate of Heaven' game will send us out of this world and back to the original one."

Their current strength was still weak. They could not remain logged into the game for long.

[Congratulations, Player Xiao Chen. You have slain the Frost Wolf Kingdom boss Frost Wolf King. The passage allowing players of the Frost Wolf Kingdom to travel to other kingdoms has been opened.]

"???"

"What did I just hear?"

"The instance boss has been cleared?"

"Damn it, I haven't even left the novice village, and you're telling me the major instance boss is gone?"

"You've got to be joking!"

"Xiao Chen, it's Xiao Chen again. Just what kind of existence is this person?"

"..."

At this point, many players had gone numb. This was no longer a matter of a large gap. This was a difference of entirely different dimensions. Even though Xu Le had long known this scene would arrive, when it truly did, he still felt an overwhelming bitterness.