The final match began.
The map was still the familiar abandoned city plaza.
As the countdown to the start of battle reached zero beside his ear, a playful smile hung at the corner of Zhou Kai’s lips. Over the past two-plus hours, he had indeed experienced the thrill of endlessly crushing a noob.
However, this time, something seemed different.
The punching bag with the ID [Goblin Grunt] above his head was merely standing there quietly, but the aura and feeling he gave off were completely different.
It was the terrifying expression of someone facing an opponent he had to defeat, making his final gamble.
Zhou Kai’s expression changed.
“You…”
The word had only just left his mouth.
Lin Ye’s figure vanished.
There were no flashy footwork techniques, no strange movement arts—only the purest, most primitive straight-line charge!
Lin Ye’s entire body turned into a black afterimage, wrapped in a wave of air that seemed to tear through everything, instantly crossing more than ten meters and appearing before Zhou Kai!
So fast!
An afterimage had appeared before his eyes, yet the fierce wind was already upon him.
It was so fast that even Zhou Kai’s thoughts could not keep up with that extreme speed!
He had no time to make any reaction. He could only rely on the most basic combat instinct for responding to danger and raise his blade horizontally in front of his chest.
Lin Ye smashed his staff down.
Heavy Staff Form, full power!
Within this strike, there was only pure strength and release!
Clang——!!!
A tremendous metallic boom, as if it would tear eardrums apart, exploded above the clash of their weapons!
Zhou Kai felt as though what he was blocking was not a staff, but a collapsing mountain!
An indescribable, irresistible, terrifying force surged madly into his body along the blade.
He could no longer hold the battle blade in his hand. It flew from his grip, spinning into the air.
His entire body was like someone struck head-on by a speeding truck. His feet left the ground, and he was sent flying backward, smashing viciously into an abandoned armored vehicle dozens of meters away!
With a thunderous crash, the sturdy armored vehicle’s hull was dented inward by him, leaving behind a huge human-shaped imprint!
“Pfft——”
Zhou Kai opened his mouth and spat out a spray of blood. The pain of his virtual body made his vision go black, and his mind went blank.
How… was this possible?
What was going on?!
Today’s Zhou Kai had not taken any drugs.
Lin Ye was also somewhat shocked that when he went all out, he actually possessed such terrifying combat strength.
It seemed he had been limiting himself.
He had underestimated the attributes that had been steadily increasing every day during this period.
The qualitative change from quantitative accumulation that he had been hoping for, as well as the crushing advantage of raw stats, had finally arrived!
Zhou Kai’s pride and confidence were smashed to pieces under this one strike.
At the same time, he also completely understood.
These two hours…
No, it should be said that for most of the past half month, Lin Ye had been toying with him.
And now, at this final round.
He had already lost his value.
The dagger was revealed.
Lin Ye did not give Zhou Kai any more time to think.
His figure vanished once again.
It was time to end this.
All the pent-up frustration in Lin Ye’s heart was released to his heart’s content at this moment.
Over these three weeks, because of his cultivation method, his leveling efficiency had been restricted.
Scheming against a single LV8 elite monster had nearly cost him his life on the spot.
He had also fought countless times against this “genius” before him, whose strength had once far surpassed his own.
Lose, lose, lose.
He had never won.
But at this moment, strong and weak had switched places.
He raised his long staff and smashed it down fiercely at Zhou Kai’s head!
This strike was Lin Ye’s final release!
The staff wind rushed toward his face, and an emotion called fear began to grow in Zhou Kai’s heart.
For the first time, he felt cold killing intent, as well as the murderous aura within Lin Ye’s techniques.
He wanted to dodge, but his body would not obey him.
He wanted to use his backup cheat again, but there was simply no time.
Bang!
The staff fell.
The world sank into darkness.
[Battle ended!]
[You have won!]
[Detected that the host has completed the second stage of the advancement mission!]
[Mission completion: 2/2!]
[Congratulations, host. You have completed the racial advancement mission: Goblin Warrior!]
[Your racial template has advanced from Goblin Grunt to Goblin Warrior!]
[Your all-attribute growth rate has increased to 1.25!]
[You have unlocked a new racial skill: Charged Smash!]
[The level cap of all your P1 stage skills has increased to LV10!]
A series of system notification sounds rang out in Lin Ye’s mind.
The next second, a torrent of life far more majestic and vast than any previous level-up erupted from the depths of his soul!
Lin Ye left the virtual space.
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
Pain!
Pain that came from the soul!
He felt as though his body was undergoing an earth-shattering transformation!
Every inch of muscle fiber was being forcibly torn apart, then reorganized in a tougher, more powerful form!
The density and hardness of his bones were rising wildly!
His blood was like surging magma, rushing turbulently through his veins. Every heartbeat was like the pounding of a war drum!
This was almost a leap in the very level of life itself!
Fortunately, this change came quickly and left quickly as well.
After a short minute.
When everything calmed down, Lin Ye slowly opened his palm, then clenched his fist.
An explosive sense of power filled every part of his body.
He could clearly feel that he had become stronger—and not just a little stronger, but stronger to a world-shaking degree!
Lin Ye opened his personal panel.
[Host: Lin Ye]
[Race: Goblin Warrior]
[Level: LV8 (132/2500)]
[HP: 1012/1012]
[Energy: 288/288]
[Stamina: 551/551]
[BOSS Mechanics: Out-of-Combat Regeneration (White), Soul Furnace (Green), Overwhelm (Green)]
[Current Phase: P1. Other phases not yet unlocked]
[Strength: 40.2]
[Agility: 39.1]
[Endurance: 45.2]
[Spirit: 26.5]
[Free Attribute Points: 0]
[Skill Points: 0]
[Skills: Normal Attack (LV5), Thick Hide (LV4), Staff Momentum (LV5), Charged Smash (LV1)]
Because of his racial advancement, his growth had changed from 1 to 1.25, causing all the points Lin Ye had allocated before to similarly receive a 25% increase. All his attributes surged sharply once again.
In particular, his Endurance and HP, under the stacked 1.4-times growth rate bonus from [Thick Hide], had directly broken through to a new level!
Lin Ye suddenly froze.
He discovered a blind spot among the BOSS mechanics.
[Overwhelm]!
This was the hidden achievement reward he had obtained after killing that LV8 elite black panther.
At the time, he had wanted to sleep too much and had actually forgotten to check it.
Lin Ye opened the detailed introduction for [Overwhelm].
[Overwhelm (Green): You are an irresistible tyrant in the eyes of low-tier creatures. A BOSS’s majesty permits no challenge. When facing the weak, you possess absolute dominance.]
[Effect: Against monsters and adventurers whose level is lower than yours, the final damage you deal is increased by 20%, and the final damage they deal to you is reduced by 20%.]
[Monsters and adventurers whose level is lower than yours will feel continuous pressure checks when facing you. If their psychological defenses are broken, there is a chance they will suffer negative statuses, or even directly lose their will to fight.]
Lin Ye looked at these two effects, and his breathing paused slightly.
He remembered countless nights when he had been tortured to death by BOSSes.
In the end, this mechanic was also the concept of [level suppression] that existed in most games.
If my level is higher than yours, I can crush you in every aspect!