Chapter 105: To Get Rich, First Cut Down the Trees

Chen Qi gripped the hilt of his blade, delivering a swift sideways slash.
The Shadow Fox mirrored its master’s move, raising its sharp paw and striking fiercely at the Red Ant Moss Giant Tree:
“Eighty!”
The little Shadow Fox struck with delight.
Two fresh, crimson wounds appeared on the giant tree’s trunk.
By now, Chen Qi had reduced the tree’s massive health to 261 points!
He could have been quicker, but although the tree was no weakling in battle, it absorbed the spreading red moss to regenerate.
The red moss crawled along the ground, reaching the wounds and helping the giant tree mend itself, recovering a fair amount of health.
Chen Qi used black fire to suppress some of the moss’s healing effect.
Overall, his damage output was still fairly rapid.
Exhaling deeply, Chen Qi’s rapid, consecutive slashes left him drenched in sweat; he panted heavily, using his breath to steady his nerves.
A few more strikes...
Suddenly, within the dove’s vision, a figure in white robes appeared.
As Chen Qi swung his blade down, a cold bead of sweat trickled down his forehead.
To react promptly, he had stationed the dove outside the cavern to keep watch.
He bit his lower lip, tightening his grip on the sword.
Had he still been a moment too slow...?
To avoid being overwhelmed, Chen Qi had messaged his group, instructing other players to hold off the Kin Eaters.
They had recognized the Kin Eaters’ attempt to flee and courageously engaged, managing to hold them back.
Yet, so far, none had stopped the leader of the Kin Eater faction—the white-robed figure.
The white-robed person moved like a fleeting shadow, arriving swiftly; beneath his robes, slender, cold fingers clicked ominously.
In the dove’s vision, deep beneath the earth, he resembled a slender underground specter radiating a chilling aura.
Though Chen Qi wielded the Blade Stance, he still measured his attacks carefully against his enemy’s power.
The white-robed figure’s strength, speed, and agility far surpassed his own; his prowess in this chaotic battle was terrifying.
This monster was formidable; a direct confrontation was unwise.
Taking a deep breath, Chen Qi swung his blade once more.
Rather than fight head-on, it was better to focus on chopping the tree.
As expected, the white-robed figure had also consumed the red moss, which explained his urgency.
If they could fell the tree, it would significantly weaken his condition.
Now, Chen Qi had to find a way to stop the white-robed man.
The white-robed figure’s body trembled; his rapid movement skills placed a terrifying strain on him.
But he had no time to care about this burden.
Who was hacking at his tree?
The little Shadow Fox, oblivious to the white-robed man, swiped its paw and barked:
“Eighty!”
Pain!
That simple number made the white-robed man shudder; he understood its meaning instantly.
This wasn’t merely chopping a tree—it was an attack on him!
If those “eighty” strikes continued, the damage would land squarely on him.

Muttering incantations, the white-robed figure unleashed his high-speed movement skill.
At that moment, Chen Qi held his blade in his left hand and an aged piece of paper in the other.
The script was in the New Capital language, telling a story.
A king had, to protect his people from monsters during snowy days, commissioned a learned scholar and card maker to build an immense ice wall that blocked the huge creatures.
This was the Ice Wall Scroll, obtained previously by trading a Tombstone Page with the bespectacled scholar statue during the Mist City Lord’s trial.
Its power was to summon an ice wall with 300 to 500 damage resistance, without consuming any spiritual energy.
The tree cavern had only one entrance—the spot by the old bookshelf.
If Chen Qi could block that entrance with the ice wall, he could temporarily prevent the enemy from entering.
Clenching the ice wall scroll, he hurled it toward the entrance.
Ice rose!
The white-robed figure moved like a phantom toward the exit, but in front of him on the ground, crystalline letters rapidly spread.
As one of the server’s early players, he recognized these symbols.
Such spreading characters often signified the prelude to a powerful spell.
Boom!
In the blink of an eye, the words climbed upward like a giant tree, congealing into a massive ice wall that sealed the cavern’s entrance completely!
The white-robed man stared at the wall, shivering uncontrollably.
Between them stood a thick ice barrier.
The tree was on the other side, and he was trapped here...
“...”
Surprised by the sudden ice wall, the white-robed man lost his composure briefly and instinctively demanded:
“Let me in!”
Chen Qi heard the words and, after a moment’s thought, replied politely:
“Fine, open the door yourself.”
The white-robed man felt a chill freeze his heart. He slammed his fist heavily against the ice wall—it was incredibly thick.
His focus was on phantom and speed techniques; his raw strength was lacking.
Reluctantly, he resorted to a long-unused skill—Blood Fury Form.
Fortunately, as a top-tier player, he had learned many abilities early on!
He drew a rarely used massive wolf-head hammer, muscles tensed, scales on his body steaming with heat, and smashed the ice wall fiercely.
Where was that big guy, the prisoner? He had the strength! Where had he gone?
The white-robed man gathered his power and struck the ice wall with a heavy blow.
Boom!
A distinct crack appeared in the ice wall!
It would take two more hits to break through!
That blow was powerful enough to crush a car.
At any other time, he might boast to his comrades about being a well-rounded player with few weaknesses.
But at this life-or-death moment, it was simply too slow.
He wished he could just pour all his agility into strength.
With no other options, he could only rely on brute force—and his voice.
Clinging to a shred of hope, the white-robed man yelled hoarsely as he hammered the wall:
“Players on the other side, stop! We can talk this through—I’m willing to offer a thousand Daylight Coins for a divine artifact! Anything you want—houses, cars, people!”

Chen Qi slashed the tree again, glancing at the cracked ice wall, hearing the white-robed man’s muffled voice from behind it.
These seemingly tempting offers were nothing but boring stalling tactics.
This guy was desperate...
Chen Qi smirked and teased:
“Alright then, bring me a diamond axe.”
The white-robed man froze, tightening his grip on the hammer.
Boom!
He drank a volatile strength potion, sacrificing his inspiration points to temporarily boost his power.
He swung the great hammer with all his might!
After all, as a faction leader and peer to top-tier players, he had accumulated plenty of items.
The white-robed man shattered the ice wall with a mighty blow!
Shards of ice slashed across his robes.
At last, the white-robed man saw clearly the detestable intruder.
Impossible—it was just a player about the same level as the prisoner!
He had thought it was a top-tier player skilled in tracking.
And the stats looked familiar...
Blade Stance and Shadow Stance—wasn’t this the same herbalist from before?
To encounter him here was unexpected.
His thoughts tangled as he had been trying to track this opponent, yet now the foe was breaking into his domain.
But he had no time to calm down.
The moment he took a step forward, beneath the shattered ice wall, crystalline letters appeared anew.
Boom!
The ice wall reformed instantly before him!
The white-robed man gripped his wolf-tooth hammer with difficulty—he had to keep smashing...
Chen Qi exhaled steadily; he could not read the opponent’s stats, but he had two copies of the ice wall scroll.
Glancing at the tree’s health, only 22 points remained.
One more heavy strike, and the tree would be utterly destroyed.
According to the text, the enemy would fall into a severe corruption state and suffer immense mental damage.
Yet since the opponent had consumed the moss, he might have countermeasures.
Whether Chen Qi could seize the treasure within the tree and escape now depended on how events unfolded.
If, at that moment, the white-robed man remained sane—or crazed and stronger...
Chen Qi tightened his grip on the longsword.
Then he would have to rely on the remaining flames and black fire to fight his way out.
Escaping from a top-tier player...
What happened next was beyond his control.
Chen Qi exhaled once more and delivered the final, decisive slash.

(End of chapter)