C18 Miraculous Revival!(2)

Chen Ye had low expectations for the white treasure chest. Despite having once lucked out with a rare find like the Kui's Leg Guards, he knew such occurrences were few and far between. He had discerned a pattern to the chests: only the first quality chest opened was guaranteed to trigger the "9% additional item" effect. With two probability checks, the chance of snagging a higher-tier item doubled, and a rebound was highly likely. It was during an unfortunate run-in with a Kui Python that Chen Ye had managed to rebound and acquire a top-tier piece of equipment. However, since entering the Blood Mage Secret Cave, he had been doing well and wasn't counting on a rebound event.

Opening the 24 white treasure chests one by one, Chen Ye amassed 20 bottles of "Basic Skill Upgrade Potion." Once a rare commodity, these potions had lost their luster as Chen Ye's skills improved and silver-grade equipment became more common, making them a guaranteed find in the white chests. Among the loot were four items with distinctive Blood Mage Secret Cave features.

Bloody Warrior's Bracers: Grade: Blue; Type: Bracers; Requirements: Strength 3, Durability 30, Strength +1; Charge: Launch forward, dealing 1.2 times your Strength in damage and knocking the opponent down if your Strength is greater. If not, you'll be the one knocked down.

Bloody Warrior's Amulet: Grade: Blue; Type: Accessory; Requirements: None; Bloody Massacre: Killing Aura Bar +1, each enemy killed adds 10 points of fixed damage for 10 minutes. If a kill occurs during this time, the duration resets. If no kills are made, the fixed damage resets to zero.

Blood Essence (Small): Quantity: 2; Grade: White; Usage: Restores 50 HP, can be used in combat.

The Bloody Warrior's Bracers were somewhat useful to Chen Ye, providing a slight boost with an additional point in Strength. However, he had no intention of using the "Charge" skill against the Bloody Zombies. The Bloody Warrior's Amulet, on the other hand, caught his attention. If utilized effectively, it could rival the value of a silver-grade item.

The two Blood Essences were indeed a rare find. Chen Ye had never before encountered an item that could so significantly replenish health during combat. Surprisingly, they were of the white grade, and he surmised that there might also be Blood Essences of blue or even green quality.

After reviewing his basic skills and following the recent battle, Chen Ye had reached maximum proficiency in basic killing. He consumed a skill potion, elevating his basic killing to E grade.

Basic Killing (E): Increases the maximum capacity of the Killing Aura slot by one. Utilizing the energy of the Killing Aura slot grants a 20% increase in damage.

With the addition of the "Bracers of the Bloody Warrior," he now possessed three Killing Aura slots. Replenishing these slots was quite a challenge; Chen Ye estimated that it would take the defeat of about ten creatures of equal or greater strength to refill just one slot. At present, only two of his Killing Aura slots were active, as the third, which relied on equipment for replenishment, remained unfilled.

Glancing at the countdown timer, which read 19 hours and 23 minutes remaining, Chen Ye decided not to linger any longer. He pressed on, delving further into the depths of the secret cave. He frequently stumbled upon large swarms of living corpses. Using his Guard Glory to dispatch them wasn't an option; the gunfire would attract more living corpses, potentially leading to an overwhelming siege. Lacking weapons with area damage, Chen Ye would be easily overwhelmed, so he chose to withdraw and take alternative routes deeper into the cave. As he marked his progress with bullet casings, he gradually mapped out a significant portion of the cave.

Examining his map, Chen Ye noted that the central region remained uncharted and mysterious. The evidence suggested that this central area was likely an open space, with all paths eventually leading there. The surrounding maze-like passages often contained clusters of twenty to thirty zombies. Among these groups, there was bound to be a Blood Mage. The presence of Bloody Warriors and Blood Beasts varied; he even observed a horde with thirty Blood Beasts but not a single Bloody Warrior.

Chen Ye had meticulously marked the isolated Bloody Warriors on his map, drawing lines to indicate the time needed to travel from one location to the next. After committing the map to memory and making careful calculations, he nodded firmly, stowed the map, shouldered the glory of the guards, and set off toward his first target.

Encountering a Bloody Warrior at a crossroads, Chen Ye observed it standing desolately, indistinguishable from a corpse until it sensed his presence. As he drew near, the creature slowly turned its head, its hollow eyes glowing red—a sight that never failed to send shivers down Chen Ye's spine, no matter how often he witnessed it.

"Charge!" The Bloody Warrior lunged. In the nick of time, Chen Ye unleashed his Python Tail Strike.

[Python Tail Strike]: Inflicts 100+ strength-based physical damage, multiplied by 1.5, and adds an extra +2 to strength assessments when equipped. It consumes 50 stamina and has a 30-minute cooldown.

With a dull thud, both combatants staggered backward. Chen Ye was taken aback—not so much by the 13 points of damage he'd taken, but by the fact that he'd been forced to retreat. His base strength was 5 points, with an additional 4 from his equipment, plus 2 more from the skill bonus, totaling 11 points. Yet the Bloody Warrior's strength matched his, resulting in an equal impact.

The Bloody Warrior, however, stumbled and fell, thrown off balance by the skill. Even with equal strength assessments, the "knockdown" status would apply unless one's strength surpassed the other's. The outcome was slightly different from what Chen Ye had anticipated, but the effect was the same. He quickly closed the distance, sparing no expense of his Killing Aura to boost the damage by 20%. He thrust at the Bloody Warrior's throat, and the wound burst open in a small explosion—Chen Ye recognized the signs of a 50% additional critical hit. Despite this, the Bloody Warrior was not yet finished. It managed a weak counterstrike on Chen Ye's shoulder. Lacking the Python Tail Strike's strength, Chen Ye was knocked askew. As he rolled away, he braced for the worst, but instead of suffering further damage, he watched as the Bloody Warrior succumbed to the Bloodthirster's 3-second "rend" effect, bleeding out on the ground.

The Python Tail Strike inflicted 116 points of damage on the Bloody Warrior, while the Bloodthirster's sharp attack merely caused 25 points of damage. The critical hit from Throat Slash, however, dealt triple damage, and with an additional 50% critical strike bonus, it doubled the damage to 150 points. Factoring in the 20% extra damage from the Killing Aura, the total reached 180 points, culminating in 296 points of damage overall. For the Bloody Warrior, with a health pool of 300, this meant that a final blow could still be delivered. Had it not been for the bleeding, the Bloody Warrior might have even unleashed a devastating counterattack on Chen Ye, leaving him powerless to respond.

Relieved to have acquired the Bloodthirster and marveling at his good fortune, Chen Ye glanced at his dwindling health, now just over 80 points. The opponent's slap had wiped away more than 20 points of his health, surpassing the damage of a pounce skill. Without the 50% extra critical strike effect, he might have died without even realizing how. He had not anticipated the resilience of his adversary's flesh and bone, which reduced the damage of a weapon with 50 sharpness points by half. With the Bloody Massacre triggered, Chen Ye wasted no time moving swiftly to his next target, another isolated Bloody Warrior.