Floor 1: The Verdant Plains. Boss Room.
The cheerful flute music had distorted into a fast-paced, panic-inducing drum beat.
In the center of the clearing stood the King Slime. It was a gelatinous mountain, three stories tall, wearing a massive golden crown. Every time it slammed down, the earth shook, and shockwaves of blue acid sprayed outward, dissolving the unfortunate disciples caught in the blast radius.
"Hold the line!" shouted a senior disciple from the Tiger Faction. "Form the Tortoise Shell Array!"
Twelve disciples linked shields, glowing with yellow Qi.
SPLAT.
The King Slime jumped and landed on them. The array shattered like glass. The disciples were crushed into the mud, their bones turning to powder.
From the shadows of a large square tree, Lin Fan watched.
He was covered in slime and blood, panting heavily. His Heaven-Devouring Art was churning. He had eaten so many small slimes that his cultivation was trembling at the peak of Qi Condensation Stage 3.
"Just a little more..." Lin Fan whispered. He stared at the King Slime's HP bar, visible only to him thanks to the System.
[Boss: King Slime]
[HP: 5%]
"Now!"
Lin Fan didn't charge in like a hero. He charged in like a vulture.
He utilized the Phantom Step (a low-grade movement technique he had stolen from a dead disciple's corpse ten minutes ago). He blurred across the battlefield, bypassing the screaming wounded.
The King Slime was preparing another jump. Its body compressed.
"Die!"
Lin Fan leaped, his right hand wreathed in the black vortex of his Devouring Art. He didn't aim for the body; he aimed for the jewel embedded in the crown—the Core.
He plunged his hand into the gelatin. It burned his skin, but the hunger in his veins was stronger.
CRUNCH.
He crushed the core.
The King Slime froze. A low, 8-bit groan echoed across the plains. Then, the massive creature exploded into a shower of harmless blue pixels.
[Boss Defeated.]
[Experience Absorbed.]
[Level Up: Qi Condensation Stage 4.]
Lin Fan landed on his feet, feeling the surge of power. He had broken through again. But he didn't care about the level.
He cared about the chest that had just materialized where the Slime died. It was ornate, glowing with golden light.
"Mine," Lin Fan hissed.
He kicked the chest open.
Inside lay a single object. It was made of cold, black steel. It had a grip, a trigger, and a sliding barrel. It was heavy, smelling of oil and death.
Lin Fan's eyes widened. As a modern human, he recognized it instantly.
"A Desert Eagle?" he whispered, his hands trembling. "A .50 caliber handgun?"
[System Appraisal: Item - "The Thunder-Fire Wand" + " 20 Decent Cores"]
[Grade: Earth Spirit Artifact]
[Description: A kinetic projectile launcher. Requires ammunition. Converts beast cores into 'Bullets'.]
[Damage: Depends on the core level.]
"Hah... Hahaha!" Lin Fan laughed maniacally. In a world of swords and spears, he had a hand cannon that ignored defense.
"Drop it!"
A roar interrupted his celebration.
Liu Ming, the cousin of Deacon Zhao, stepped forward. He was battered, his robes torn, but he was surrounded by twenty Tiger Faction disciples who had survived the boss fight.
Liu Ming's eyes were glued to the black metal object in Lin Fan's hand. He didn't know what it was, but he felt its terrifying aura.
"Lin Fan," Liu Ming sneered, leveling his sword. "You stole the kill that the Tiger Faction worked for. That artifact belongs to us. Hand it over, and I will leave your corpse intact."
Lin Fan slowly turned around. He held the Desert Eagle loosely at his side.
"You want this?" Lin Fan asked, a cruel smile playing on his lips.
"I said hand it over!" Liu Ming signaled his men. They began to circle Lin Fan.
"This is the law of the jungle, Liu Ming," Lin Fan said softly. "The strong eat. The weak are meat."
He raised the gun.
Liu Ming frowned. "What is that? A metal hammer? You think a piece of iron can stop my Flying Swallow Sword?"
Liu Ming charged. He was fast, a blur of motion, his sword aiming for Lin Fan's throat.
Lin Fan didn't move his feet. He simply channeled his Qi into the gun. The barrel hummed with blue light.
He pulled the trigger.
BANG.
The sound was thunderous. It wasn't the sound of this world.
Liu Ming's head snapped back.
There was no sword clash. No parry.
Liu Ming's body continued its forward momentum for a step, then collapsed face-first into the dirt. The back of his skull was gone.
Silence.
Absolute, terrified silence descended on the plains.
The twenty Tiger Faction disciples froze. They looked at the smoking barrel in Lin Fan's hand. They looked at the hole in their leader's head.
"Instant... kill?" one disciple whimpered. "Liu Ming was at the peak of Stage 5... and he couldn't even defend?"
Lin Fan aimed the gun at the group.
"Who else wants the treasure?" he asked.
The disciples screamed and scattered, running for their lives.
The Edge of the Boss Room.
While Lin Fan was establishing his reign of terror, Zhang Wei was kneeling beside a small, wooden crate that had spawned in the corner of the clearing—a "Participation Reward" for surviving the boss.
He opened it.
Inside was a strange metal tube. It was cylindrical, silver, with a glass circle at one end and a button on the side.
"A... club?" Zhang Wei frowned. He picked it up. It felt light.
He accidentally pressed the button.
CLICK.
A beam of blindingly pure white light shot out of the glass end, cutting through the twilight gloom. It was focused, steady, and incredibly bright.
[Item: The Sun Scepter (Tactical Flashlight)]
[Grade: Mortal Tool]
[Effect: Illuminates the dark. Can blind enemies temporarily. Reveals hidden traps.]
Zhang Wei stared at the beam. "It holds the sun... inside a tube?"
He carefully turned it off and tucked it into his belt. It wasn't a weapon. It wouldn't kill enemies like Lin Fan's thunder-wand. But Zhang Wei smiled.
"This will be useful in the dark," he murmured. "I can use this to find herbs in caves without needing a torch."
He looked over at Lin Fan, who was looting Liu Ming's corpse. The gun in Lin Fan's hand terrified Zhang Wei. It felt... wrong. It felt like death without honor.
"The path diverges," Zhang Wei thought, hoisting his sister's box. "He walks the path of slaughter. I shall walk the path of survival."
The Sovereign's Palace.
"Hah!" The Sovereign laughed, slapping his knee.
"He actually got the Deagle," the Sovereign grinned. "I forgot I put that in the loot table for Floor 1. That's a bit broken for the early game."
"The System User has killed a major NPC of the tutorial zone," Unit Alpha reported. "The balance of power in the Iron Blood Sect will shift."
"Let it shift," the Sovereign waved his hand. "But look at the Woodcutter."
The Sovereign pointed to the screen where Zhang Wei was examining the flashlight.
"He got the 'Tactical Flashlight.' Most cultivators would throw it away because it doesn't explode. But look... he's happy. He's thinking about utility."
The Sovereign picked up his controller.
"The Second Floor is the Caverns of Echoing Silence. It is pitch black. That flashlight is going to be worth more than the gun in the next zone."
He narrowed his eyes.
"Lin Fan thinks he is the hunter because he has a gun. But in the dark, the man with the light is the true king."