Chapter 56: Heroic Weapons and the Woman in Red

"Ooo!~~"
"Awwooo!~ Awwooo!~"
The Wolf King was dead.
The surviving snow wolves, now leaderless, grew restless and anxious, unable to muster even a semblance of an organized charge.
Lu Bu, still savoring the lingering thrill of battle atop Red Hare, wore a face brimming with satisfaction.
Every so often, his halberd would descend, slaying the snow wolves that strayed within reach.
At the foot of the mountain, Ying Zheng commanded four Terracotta Warriors, who pressed in from all corners of the peak, relentlessly slaughtering the snow wolves fleeing down from above.
With the blessing of "Sweep Across the Six Realms," all attributes of the four Terracotta Warriors surpassed three thousand!
This granted them an overwhelming advantage, crushing the snow wolves with sheer strength.
Moreover, the Terracotta Warriors knew no concept of injury and had no need to defend themselves.
For a time, the snow wolves were hemmed in atop the mountain, unable to escape the encirclement of the four warriors.
On the summit, Lu Bu rampaged, killing at will.
At the base, the Terracotta Warriors barred all paths.
The entire region was transformed into a vast slaughterhouse for snow wolves.
[Experience +46871]
[Experience +44913]
[Experience +45419]
....
Swish!
Another golden beam descended. Song Qi, whose experience was just shy of leveling up, advanced directly to level twenty-three.
Level twenty-one required two million experience, level twenty-two three million—five million in total.
A hundred snow wolves could grant Song Qi four and a half million experience.
And here, nearly two hundred wolves had fallen!
Which meant, after this wave, he could nearly level up again!
"Three levels in one afternoon!?"
"This pace of leveling is simply exquisite."
Song Qi couldn't help but revel in it.
Recalling the dreary days in the city, grinding dungeons over and over in monotonous repetition, he felt a surge of happiness.
"Happiness, after all, is born of contrast."
"Dungeon grinding never suited a genius like me."
"I belong in the wild."
"This leveling speed... tsk tsk tsk... absolutely exhilarating!"
Song Qi strolled to the base of the peak.
By now, the wolves that once covered the slopes had been nearly wiped out.
Only a handful remained at the summit, stubbornly resisting.
But with Lu Bu and the Terracotta Warriors working in concert, it was only a matter of time before they too fell.
"Next..."
Song Qi rubbed his hands together in excitement.
"It's time for the thrilling and nerve-wracking loot collection!"
Loot collection, in essence, meant gathering equipment.

Wild monsters also dropped gear and skill books, but whether in dungeons or in the wild, the drop rate for valuable items was exceedingly low.
Most of what dropped were ordinary or rare-quality items—little better than junk, except for bulk selling.
Hence, players mockingly referred to it as "collecting garbage."
Song Qi stepped into the mound of snow wolf corpses, rummaging through them.
Soon, he unearthed a pair of bloodstained iron greaves.
"Ordinary-grade equipment, unfortunately..."
"But it's level forty-five gear—should fetch at least a thousand credits."
He stowed it away, continuing his search.
Not long after...
Clang!
Another iron sword was kicked out.
"A rare-grade two-handed sword—usable by Warrior, Knight, and Paladin classes?"
"Excellent! This one could easily sell for tens of thousands of credits."
Song Qi happily placed it in his pack, a tidy profit.
A little later, he found a suit of armor amid the bodies.
Unfortunately, it too was ordinary-grade.
Song Qi wasn't disheartened—he simply grumbled and tucked it away before resuming his hunt.
With the effects of three bottles of Origin Water, his hands and feet moved swiftly.
One piece of equipment after another surfaced.
Most were ordinary-grade.
Rare-grade items were pitifully few—even after scouring the entire mountain, he found just four.
As for extraordinary-grade, not a single one appeared.
Ultimately, Song Qi set his sights on the shattered summit.
There lay the corpse of the Wolf King, still unsearched.
"Wolf King, please don't let me down."
He approached, face full of anticipation, reaching into the Wolf King's belly.
As soon as his hand slipped inside...
"Hmm?!"
Song Qi's face lit up with delight—he touched something hard and long.
It felt like a staff-type weapon.
"There's equipment after all!"
He hurriedly pulled it out.
"A staff."
"And that sheen... Hero-grade?"
"Such luck?!"
Song Qi eagerly opened the information panel.
[Weapon: Snow Wolf King’s Staff]

[Quality: Hero]
[Usable by: Mage, Summoner]
[Required Level: 30+]
[Required Attribute: Spirit 300]
[Strength: +0]
[Agility: +0]
[Constitution: +10]
[Spirit: +150]
[Effect 1: Increases the user’s Spirit by an additional 10%.]
[Effect 2: Draws upon the power of ice and snow to enhance all summoned creatures’ attributes by 20%; if in a snowy field, the effect rises to 30%.]
[Effect 3: Increases the power of all ice magic or combat skills by 50%.]
[Description: To break through the limits of its race, the Snow Wolf King spent its life absorbing the power of ice and snow to strengthen its heart. In the end, it succeeded in transforming its heart into a prime material for forging.]
Song Qi paused, then grew even more excited.
"Never expected a hero-grade weapon usable by a Summoner!"
"It's as if the pillow appeared just as I needed one for my nap."
"Although it requires level thirty to equip, at my current leveling speed, I’ll have it on in no more than three days."
"Perfect, I’ll keep it for now."
He cheerfully stowed it away.
This was the thrill of looting—you never knew what quality the next item would be.
The more junk you collected, the greater the rush when you finally found something good.
"Still about two tenths short, six hundred thousand experience to level up."
"So there were only about a hundred and eighty snow wolves? I had such high hopes for you all."
He glanced at the summit, where all the wolves lay dead. Lu Bu and Ying Zheng wandered back and forth, bored.
His experience bar was still a sliver from full.
The triple experience card’s effect had long since ended.
He scratched his head, gazing from the mountaintop at the endless white expanse.
"No other monster groups nearby..."
"Looks like I’ll have to search elsewhere."
With that, Song Qi picked a direction at random, preparing to seek out another pack of snow wolves.
But just as he was about to set off, he suddenly felt a weight press down on him—something had abruptly landed atop him...
"Handsome boy..."
"I’ve been looking for you so very hard..."
Song Qi felt a sudden warmth on his ear, a fragrant breeze caressing him.
A figure in red appeared beside him, her voluptuous form draped across his back, gently biting his right ear.
What should have been a suggestive gesture now filled Song Qi with terror, his hair standing on end!
"Who?!"