Chapter 27: Returning to Dangyang City

As soon as the announcement was made, the entire game erupted in excitement.

World Channel

"Damn, did I hear that right? Divine artifact? What is that thing?"

"Is the artifact for sale? I'll pay a million."

"A million? All you’ll buy is disappointment, forget about getting the artifact."

"Six-Bar Bodhisattva, what are the artifact’s stats? Show us, let everyone see!"

"Idiot, the rankings are open! Check the leaderboard, it's definitely listed there."

"Wow, are the artifact’s stats really that powerful? My god, a single artifact is several times better than all my gear combined!"

Zhang Shan had no time to pay attention to the commotion outside.

He equipped the artifact musket and checked the weapon's stats.

Arug's Long-Barrel Hand Cannon (Divine Artifact): Physical Attack 1000-1000, Agility +100, Equipment Level (Sealed), currently level ten. The artifact's power unseals with every ten player levels. Durability: never wears out. Bound to player Six-Bar Bodhisattva, cannot be dropped.

Special Effect 1: Power Attack, physical attack increased by ten percent.

Special Effect 2: Bloodlust, attack speed increased by ten percent.

Special Effect 3: Divine Strike, each attack has a chance to trigger Divine Strike, ignoring target defense and dealing ten times damage, one percent chance to trigger.

Special Effect 4: Suppression, suppresses targets with equipment below artifact level, reducing their defense by fifty percent.

Seeing these stats, Zhang Shan's heart soared with joy and excitement. This artifact was truly peerless.

With attack power and agility combined, he had 1100 points, utterly crushing others. The special effects were incredibly strong, amplifying explosive damage output—attack and attack speed both boosted by ten percent.

Divine Strike and Suppression: one could instantly kill if triggered, the other lowered enemy defense, effectively increasing his own damage.

Extremely powerful—after equipping Arug's hand cannon, Zhang Shan had truly gone from a mere firearm to an artillery piece, invincible.

Immersed in checking the artifact’s stats, Zhang Shan suddenly remembered Master Lu was still beside him; he hadn't thanked him yet.

"Master Lu, thank you for helping me repair the artifact. With it, I’ll surely destroy more demons and contribute to the prosperity of humanity."

"Very good, young man, you should have drive. Oh, by the way, I have something else here—a thing I acquired by accident long ago, and it happens to suit you. I’ll give it to you."

Zhang Shan accepted the item from Master Lu.

Hmm? It seemed to be a special item.

Midas’ Touch (Spirit Tool): Special item, increases attack speed by fifty percent, durability never wears out, binds on equip.

Special items were extremely rare; Zhang Shan had never heard of anyone owning one, let alone at the spirit tool level. Legendary craftsmen were indeed generous.

This Midas’ Touch was incredible. Though it had only one stat, it was overwhelmingly powerful—attack speed boosted by fifty percent.

Hunters already had high attack speed; with his weapon adding another ten percent, his attacks were nearly once per second now, twice as fast as strength classes.

When others attacked him once, he could hit them twice—pew pew pew, the mental image was beautiful.

"Thank you, Master." Zhang Shan thanked him sincerely. Master Lu not only helped him repair the artifact, but also gifted him a spirit tool—a buy-one-get-one deal, truly a good man.

"Alright, you go back now. Repairing the artifact just now deeply inspired me; I need to retreat and reflect." With those words, Master Lu turned and left.

Zhang Shan equipped Midas’ Touch and checked his character stats.

Character: Six-Bar Bodhisattva

Class: Hunter

Title: Nemesis of Demons

Merit: 1200 (Squad Leader)

Level: 11

Health: 850

Mana: 200

Physical Attack: 1427-1435

Magic Attack: 20-20

Strength: 22

Agility: 202

Intelligence: 22

Defense: 41

Luck: 9 (randomly generated between 1-10, luck is a hidden stat, never changes)

Talent: Passive King (each time a monster is killed, there is a one-in-a-million chance to randomly acquire one passive skill from the monster)

Skill 1, Headshot (Passive): Level ten. Each hunter attack has a chance to trigger headshot, dealing an extra 50 damage and stunning for 0.05 seconds, five percent trigger chance.

Skill 2, Heavy Blow (Passive): Level one (talent-acquired, cannot be upgraded). Each attack has a chance to trigger heavy blow, dealing five times damage, one percent chance.

Skill 3, Taming: Level one. Chance to tame uncorrupted animals and make them pets. After taming, pet stats are enhanced by ten percent. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Mana cost: 30. Class requirement: Hunter.

Skill 4, Power Grant (Passive): Level one (talent-acquired, cannot be upgraded). Increases character’s attack by ten percent.

Equipment: Arug's hand cannon, Midas’ Touch, Elf Leather Boots, Refined Iron Necklace, Refined Iron Ring, Refined Iron Ring, Leather Armor, Leather Cap, Leather Bracers, Leather Bracers.

He was strong, especially his attack power—over fourteen hundred. Other players didn’t even come close; it was downright monstrous.

Besides the attack bonus from his weapon, Zhang Shan got extra attack boosts from talent-acquired passive skills, Power Grant, and weapon effects—each adding ten percent. The results were remarkable.

Although other players’ attack would gradually rise with levels and gear, narrowing the gap with Zhang Shan, surpassing him in pure attack power would be impossible for a while—unless someone else acquired an artifact.

His only weakness was low health. Though he had equipped a cloak, it was just a level ten basic item, adding only 500 health. He had thought it was decent before, usable for now.

But compared to his attack, it was almost unbearable. Pity he’d sold his blue cloak to Wind Chimes; if he still had it, he’d be truly unstoppable. Even if several enemies ambushed him at once, he wouldn’t need to worry.

As long as he didn’t drop immediately, he’d recover and take them out one by one—wasn’t it just picking off kids with every shot?

Of course, it was just wishful thinking. If he hadn’t sold the cloak to Wind Chimes, he wouldn’t have reached Eastern Capital, nor could he afford the materials later.

Moreover, Zhang Shan was the first to obtain an artifact, earning ten skill points and a thousand merit—well worth it.

Thinking of skill points, Zhang Shan immediately maxed out Taming. Earlier, he hadn’t wanted to upgrade it because level one taming gave his pet enough health and defense to tank monsters during grinding.

Now, having traded up to a powerful weapon, he wouldn’t be farming level thirteen demon men anymore; he could hunt higher-level monsters for faster leveling.

After maxing out Taming, pet stats were boosted by a hundred percent—Tuanzi's health neared six thousand, with doubled attack and defense. Tanking monsters was easy; even weaker bosses were manageable.

With merit over a thousand, he automatically gained the squad leader position. He could collect weekly wages from the civil officer—only one gold coin, but every bit counts.

His trip to Eastern Capital had been immensely fruitful, and there was nothing left to explore. He activated the return scroll.

Back in the familiar Anyang City, Zhang Shan realized that his trip to Eastern Capital took most of the day. The city had changed dramatically, with a massive surge in players.

Most of the first-day players had left the newbie village. With tens of millions spread across twenty-one cities, each city had a couple million players.

No wonder there were players everywhere.