008 Hand Over the Toll!

After reaching level 10 and changing classes, Morning Wind no longer needed to devote most of his time to the game. The next day, he began his morning exercises, working to get his body back in shape. Restoring himself to his former peak physical condition would take a long time, especially the most troublesome part: integrating the soul-splitting technique that strengthened his mind with his physical form. Back when he relied on the Cobra Organization as his support, it had taken over a year of in-game slaughter to achieve initial results. Now, without that backing, Morning Wind could only rely on himself to hone his abilities.

Since Morning Wind had brazenly killed three players from the Divine War Guild and warned Zhang Tianyi to watch his step outside the city, he had become the guild’s top target. There was now a bounty of ten gold coins for every player who killed him. Morning Wind had become a celebrity; there wasn’t a single player in the main city who didn’t know his name.

This situation suited Morning Wind perfectly—if it was just the Scourge Patrols hunting him, he wouldn’t be forced into such high alert. As for the Divine War Guild, he barely gave them a thought; antagonizing them was just another consequence of his actions. His true goal was to train his abilities by making enemies of players all over the world. He would have to wait until level 30 to access the world map, so for now, he chose the Green Forest Valley in the China region as his training ground.

Green Forest Valley, a basin surrounded by three mountains, teemed with monsters. They weren’t particularly strong and could be killed in groups, and most daily quests clustered in this area, making it ideal for players between levels 10 and 18 to grind. Beyond being a prime training spot, the thick forests made it easy to avoid the Scourge Patrols, increasing survival odds.

When Morning Wind logged in, he was perched in a giant tree in Green Forest Valley—a hidden spot unlikely to be discovered. He then put on the Bloodthirst Dragon Ring and activated the Blood Dragon’s Body skill. His armor seemed to melt into his flesh, replaced by thick crimson scales, and a massive tail extended from his back.

With a heavy thud, Morning Wind—now transformed into a blood dragon—leapt from the tree and landed on the ground, his powerful tail lashing the earth and sending clumps of soil flying. He had become a true blood dragon, his once-elven slender form now more robust than a barbarian’s, covered head to toe in red scales that gave him an intimidating and fearsome appearance.

Bloodthirst Dragon Sword

Dark Gold, Bound, Switchable, Two-Handed Sword

Requirement: Blood Dragon

(Temporary Level 10)

Damage: 138–277

+40 Strength

+40 Constitution

Skill: Endless Rage

Effect: Ignores 40% of enemy defense while attacking, critical hits deal an additional 50% damage

Additional Effect: When attacking three or more targets, critical hit chance increases by 20%, damage increases by 40%

Description: Ever forward, for I am the Blood Dragon alone!

Switching: Freely alternate between sword, axe, hammer, and polearm forms.

Endless Rage: Burst skill. You become a berserker filled with endless fury. None of your skills consume rage, but you continue to generate it. Lasts 8 seconds. Cooldown: 2 minutes. Cost: None.

Besides becoming a mighty blood dragon, Morning Wind discovered a new weapon—a two-handed sword exclusive to the blood dragon form. This dark gold weapon dealt twice the damage of the level-10 Giant Fang Greatsword. The skill Endless Rage completely compensated for the warrior's typical lack of rage, and with its defense-ignoring and damage-boosting effects, it was a true killing tool.

Morning Wind possessed the passive skill "Titan’s Grip," allowing him to wield two-handed weapons in one hand. With the Bloodthirst Dragon Sword in his main hand and the Ivory Greatsword in his off-hand, his damage output soared thanks to the blood dragon form and weapon bonuses. Normally, two-handed weapons were heavy and slow, but transformed, Morning Wind could swing two as if they were one-handed, the dragon’s strength easily increasing his attack speed.

After ten minutes familiarizing himself with the blood dragon body, Morning Wind sat in the middle of a path, waiting for players to pass by and meet their end. As a neutral-alignment player, killing others wouldn’t flag him with a red name or any penalties.

“Scourge Patrol?” A five-player team appeared at the edge of the path and saw Morning Wind—transformed into a blood dragon—blocking their way, immediately becoming wary. If not for his name showing in dark gold instead of red, and the fact that he was alone, they might have fled on sight.

“Is that a field boss?” one player wondered. It was their first time seeing a dragonborn with a dark gold name, and their minds immediately jumped to “boss.”

Morning Wind stood, planted the Bloodthirst Dragon Sword in the ground, and pointed down the path. “This road is mine, this tree I planted. If you want to pass, leave a toll!”

The leader, amused, started to ask, “A dark gold weapon? Is it an artifact? You’re—” But before he could finish, Morning Wind charged, unleashing Giant’s Strike, followed by Bloodthirst, then flowing seamlessly into Cleaving Slash and Whirlwind.

Cleaving Slash: Technical skill. Sweeping attack—deals 120% weapon damage to the main target and 85% to up to four nearby targets. The number of extra attacks depends on the technique. Cooldown: 1.5 seconds. Cost: 20 rage.

Whirlwind: Area skill. Spin like a whirlwind, striking all enemies within an 8-meter radius for 150% weapon damage. Cooldown: 6 seconds. Cost: 20 rage.

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The team’s leader was a shield warrior, while the rest were fragile cloth-wearers. Focusing his main attacks on the shield warrior, Morning Wind relied on Cleaving Slash and Whirlwind to finish off the other four. With his current firepower, killing these soft targets was effortless.

The five never even knew what hit them—everything went black, and they were forcibly disconnected. Their team, featuring a shield warrior for tanking, two frost mages for slows, a fire mage for burst, and a discipline priest for healing, could normally grind monsters with ease. But they were wiped in an instant by a single player.

“This road is mine, this tree I planted. If you want to pass, leave a toll!”

Morning Wind guarded the path leading to the Redleaf Dragonfly quest zone, repeating this line to each group that approached, then cutting them down in a flash. He camped the road for two hours, slaying over forty teams and collecting a trove of gear and items. Afterward, he kept moving, ambushing players in new spots. Soon enough, the forums were abuzz with talk of the road-blocking blood dragon in Green Forest Valley.

“Damn that Blood Dragon bastard. If I ever see him again, I’ll show him what it means to be one-shot!” raged a player who couldn’t figure out what happened and vented his frustration on the forums after being killed. For those who’d been wiped out so quickly, sharing their misery was only natural, and many could only laugh wryly.

“That bastard Blood Dragon—don’t you dare leave that path! If you kill any more members of Celestial Moon Dynasty, don’t come crying when you die!” The Twentieth-ranked guild in the China region, Celestial Moon Dynasty, had already lost twelve parties to Morning Wind, and their warnings had gone unheeded—now they were thoroughly provoked.

“Insane! Blood Dragon just charged straight into Divine War Guild’s grind zone, killed thirty-four people, and walked out like nothing happened! That was epic!” A video showing Blood Dragon storming Divine War’s exclusive grinding area, opening with Endless Rage, spamming his skills to slaughter everyone, then using Intercept and Heroic Leap to escape, was posted to the forums, thrilling anyone who looked down on Divine War Guild.

From noon until nightfall, Morning Wind killed over four thousand players, collecting a mountain of loot. Guilds tried to surround and ambush him, but Morning Wind’s assassin’s instincts, honed through years of sneak attacks and counterattacks, made evading them simple. Moreover, as an elf, he possessed the Stealth skill, allowing him to vanish quickly when necessary.

Stealth: Racial skill. Enter invisibility, reducing the chance of being detected by enemies. Lasts until canceled or until moving. Upon canceling, any threat generated against enemies still in combat will be restored. Cooldown: 2 minutes. Cost: None.

“Good thing I brought three storage bags!” After killing over four thousand players, Morning Wind’s loot overflowed. He tossed all the white gear aside, stashed the bronze items in his bags, and was glad he’d prepared three storage kits beforehand, each capable of holding a hundred items.

The equipment haul was a lucrative windfall, but what truly shocked Morning Wind was the discovery that for every hundred players he killed within three levels of his own, he gained an additional five percent experience. By the end of the day, he’d gained two levels. At first, he’d tried to grind experience as a blood dragon, but found he gained nothing—he’d thought it impossible to level up in that form and that he’d have to split his time between grinding and killing players. Now that worry was gone.

The entire China region’s forums were buzzing about Blood Dragon. Since no one could inspect any information about him, his identity remained a mystery. Some players reported the issue to the game company, but the official response was that Blood Dragon’s behavior was permissible for now—they would consider intervention, but it posed no threat to the system’s normal operation.

“Within three days, Blood Dragon will surely fall! He dares to make enemies of all China’s players alone—does he think he’s Death incarnate?” Already, anti-Blood Dragon groups were forming on the forums, pledging to rally and hunt him down whenever he appeared.

“There’s actually someone this arrogant? Let me have a go!” Some top players, after seeing Morning Wind’s performance, realized that beyond his gear, his skill was extraordinary—he could execute his abilities at over eighty-five percent efficiency, and that was against players, not monsters. His equipment only gave him the means to fight many at once, but only a true master would dare press the advantage so hard. After all, even the strongest fighter can be overwhelmed; if he ever got crowd-controlled, his fate would be sealed.

…