novelraw Chapter 220: Congratulations, You Hit the Jackpot! You Rolled Five...
Chapter 220: Congratulations, You Hit the Jackpot! You Rolled Five...
Abandoned Navy Base.
With the arrival of the Flower Witch, countless blade-like rifts slowly calmed down, gradually closing like a giant mouth shutting, turning from a wide chasm into a narrow crack, then into a line—
Bang!
At the last moment, two decayed, rotten hands suddenly grabbed the edge of the rift, forcibly preventing it from closing.
Huff—
A person clad in tattered Hunter clothes bared sharp teeth and spoke in a hoarse voice:
“The tide has arrived. This abandoned place sure has seen a lot of guests recently—”
As the sea breeze blew, blue flames gently flickered beneath his mottled cloak, flowing like slow-moving ocean waves.
Then, he slightly raised his head, his blue eyes under the cloak gazing toward a man in the distance:
“Little guy from the Blackfin Crew, this is quite a nice rift. Why not go in for some fun? This rift hasn’t reached its capacity yet. It’s a pretty entertaining spot.”Azure Beast... Blood Mage rubbed his forehead. He had just arrived on this island and had already encountered all the monsters he was supposed to meet!
“Following your advice, senior! I really want to go down and catch someone!”
Blood Mage smiled faintly and descended along the rift.
Meanwhile, the Black Lantern Dragon slowly opened its huge mouth, its scales creaking.
The blue eyes beneath the cloak slowly lifted to look at the massive body of the Black Lantern Dragon, his hand trembling:
“The difficulty of the hand... with the passing years, I’m actually starting to fear even the hand’s difficulty...”
Boom!
Accompanied by a massive thunderclap in the sky, the Black Lantern Dragon’s lantern emitted a dazzling light as it began to gather scorching spiritual energy in its mouth.
...
...
[Identification in progress...]
[Identification successful]
Chen Qi glanced at the prompt before him.
[Rift Name: Last Soldier (Blade Witch’s Trial Grounds)
Rank: C
Affinity: Blade, Dice
Rift Mutation Rate: 10% (This rift is perfectly controlled by rune power, containing extremely special energy)
Rift Mode: Solo combat
Rift Rank Restriction: None
Rift Participant Limit: Up to fifteen people
Description: The Blade Witch’s trial grounds, offering more detailed inspiration enlightenment and special power.]
“Inspiration...”
Chen Qi stroked his chin, looking at the enlightenment before him.
He hadn’t entered a rift for a long time.
Moreover, this was his first time entering a battle rift that was completely ‘controlled and contained.’
“Without joining any transcendent organization, I’m entering such a rare ‘training ground’ rift so early.”
Chen Qi touched his neck.
Some transcendent professions have the power to modify rifts, like the famous fourth-tier transcendent with the Hammer affinity, the ‘Rift Remodeler,’ or the Scale affinity’s ‘Purifier.’
Thanks to these powers, theoretically, many rifts can be controlled by humans and used for their own factions.
Many rifts, after remodeling, become resource gathering grounds, such as the Flower Witch’s old home, Black Soil, or the mining fields in Damarro Town.
Remodeled rifts are safer and can even become resource production sites.
Of course, absolutely safe resource rifts like Black Soil are extremely rare; most controlled rifts still possess a certain mutation rate and threat level.
The higher the rank, the harder they are to control.
These rifts are often contained by specific organizations, who assign personnel to regularly manage them.
For example, the navy has the Blade affinity’s ‘Great Naval Battle’ rift, specially used to train navy soldiers while providing resources and large amounts of spirit points.
Another example is the White Pigeon Press, which owns the Lamp affinity exploration rift B-rank ‘Moonstone City in the Mirror.’ They send newcomers into the monster-filled Moonstone City to test their investigative abilities.
Therefore, without the Dimensional Tide, progression mostly relies on these organization-controlled rifts.
At this moment, the Flower Witch Fen reminded him:
“Qi, please be very careful. This rift might not kill your body, but it may torment your mind—”
“My mind?”
Chen Qi showed a puzzled expression, looking toward the Flower Witch in front of him.
Fen gently said once more:
“If you can’t hold on, choose to give up—give up your brain. When the rift ends, I’ll be there...”
“Give up my brain? What does that mean?”
Chen Qi asked curiously.
However, soon, a faint mist of blood appeared on the Flower Witch’s face, accompanied by the sound of whistling wind; the Flower Witch vanished into the blood mist.
No, to be exact, everyone around disappeared into the blood mist.
In the next instant, his eyes were also covered by dense blood mist.
The whistling wind roared.
The smell of burnt blood... Chen Qi gripped the long knife at his waist, staying alert as much as possible.
As the blood mist gradually dissipated, a scorched land appeared before his eyes.
Night had fallen, yet the horizon burned with an ominous red glow, a strange red moon hanging in the sky.
The air was thick with the stench of blood and despair, with sobbing winds brushing past his face.
This battlefield was covered with death’s aura, a chaotic mess everywhere—broken blades and shattered armor scattered across the ground, bodies piled into mountains.
“Battlefield?”
Chen Qi questioned in his heart.
Many Blade affinity rifts are battlefields, but the current scene somewhat exceeded his expectations.
The vast emptiness combined with an unprecedented tranquility made his heart beat faster.
“What exactly is this trial...”
Chen Qi frowned, showing a confused expression.
Logically, with his inspiration identification being a great success, he should have received sufficient information.
But at present, his data was pitifully scarce.
No target, no conditions for clearance—
And this war was already over, with nothing he needed to do.
What exactly am I supposed to do? Did I enter a broken rift? Chen Qi was momentarily lost in confusion.
Clang!
Suddenly, the sound of a long knife dropping to the ground echoed.
Chen Qi quietly moved his steps, looking toward the source of the sound.
Beyond the continuously piled corpses, a crimson figure proudly sat atop the heap of bodies.
She wore dark red light armor, like flames in the night—both beautiful and dangerous. Her ink-black hair fell loosely down her back, blood droplets clinging and drifting with the wild wind.
“Huff—”
With a sigh of relief, she slowly stood up, picked up a long knife from the corpse pile, and steadily walked toward Chen Qi.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Leisurely footsteps echoed continuously.
“Who is this person—”
She must be a very important figure in this rift.
She drew closer and closer to Chen Qi—
Chen Qi held his breath and asked:
“Are you—”
Splat!
But before he could finish speaking, she casually swung the long knife in her hand and lightly stabbed forward.
Chen Qi instinctively drew his blade, but her speed was simply too fast—
Pure stat crushing—
The crimson blade pierced through his heart, his body letting out a painful wail, all the way to his brain—
Chen Qi’s eyes looked down at his stunned body.
I got one-shot... a thought flashed through Chen Qi’s mind.
In the next instant, the thick crimson mist swallowed him again—
Whistling winds sounded.
Chen Qi opened his blurry eyes once more, looking at his heart.
His heart was intact; he had returned to this place again.
At this moment, the rift prompt reappeared before his eyes.
[You died.
Evaluation: Like an ant crushed without care.]
[Rift identification in progress...]
[Identification successful...]
[Rift Name: Last Soldier.
Description: The monster on the corpse pile won the war, and your identity is the last small fry on its way home, requiring only one strike to be slain.
Reminder: The monster’s strength is determined by your rank upon entering the rift.
Clearance Condition: Defeat the enemies on the corpse pile or survive until time ends.]
One-shot small fry... Chen Qi’s mouth twitched, the coldness in his heart still lingering.
[You have successfully identified three important features of this rift.]
[Undying Blessing: The rift lasts for three days. During these three days, whenever you die, you will return to the original point of the rift.]
[Power of the Dice: In this rift, as death deepens, you can apply corresponding all-attribute reduction debuffs to your enemies (up to 100 times).]
[Trial Grounds: In this rift, your transcendent skill learning ability is greatly increased. Through combat, you can continuously refine your power, quickly digest skills, and gain extremely strong insight. In battle, there is a small chance to break through your skill limits.]
Chen Qi quickly scanned the buffs before him.
A game-like dungeon, a continuously challenging dungeon.
The first feature was exactly what had just happened to him.
As for the second, the more he died, the stronger he became.
Chen Qi soon focused on the third point.
Greatly increased transcendent learning ability and extremely strong insight!
Chen Qi was shocked.
These two were god-level buffs!
Simply put, a skill that originally required a month to master could possibly be mastered in a single day.
Even the Book affinity sanctuaries in the White Tower Federation rarely offered such powerful buffs!
It’s worth noting that even with skill cards, mastering skills takes a lot of time and spirit points, while this rift directly accelerated the process.
This is the Blade Witch’s trial grounds, truly worthy of a mainline dungeon... Chen Qi couldn’t help but sigh.
Even without mentioning the final clearance reward, this dungeon alone was a significant prize!
Chen Qi swallowed hard.
[Trial Participant, please select your difficulty! (Different difficulties yield different final rewards.)]
[You will randomly receive one trait and choose multiple traits.]
Wait!
This inspiration enlightenment!
Chen Qi smiled faintly.
Soon, a large number of traits appeared before his eyes.
These special enlightenments often appear in Dice affinity rifts.
Those who stick to the Dice affinity can gain an extra random chance in these options.
On player forums, Dice affinity rifts have always been popular among players!
The randomness of Dice affinity rifts can turn a monotonous rift into multiple difficulty levels and variations.
On player forums, the Black Blood Empire’s mainline can accommodate hundreds of thousands, and the massive Blade Dice affinity rift ‘Dungeon’ is the most popular dungeon rift!
Therefore, Chen Qi personally liked Dice affinity rifts a lot, and he also had a lucky dice given by the Shapeshifter Palu.
Choosing traits... Chen Qi looked excitedly at the traits.
[Agility Increase: Enemy agility +20%, score +50]
[Body Enhancement: ‘Enemy’ health +20%, score +50]
[Body Enhancement II: ‘Enemy’ health +50%, score +100]
[Blade Enhancement: ‘Enemy’s’ blade is strengthened, score +50]
[Burning Power: All attacks of this ‘enemy’ will carry permanent burn effect, score +50]
[Charm Power: This ‘enemy’ becomes more attractive and causes continuous mental charm to you, score +50]
[Berserk State: When ‘enemy’ health is below 20%, enters rage state, score +100]
[Phantom Form: Enemy ‘gains’ special skill “Phantom Form,” can obtain two three-second invincibility times, score +100]
[Long-range Bow: ‘Enemy’ unlocks a special bow, score +50]
[Double Blade Form: ‘Enemy’ gains two blades, one fire blade, one ice blade, score +100!]
[Corpse Revival: Besides enemies, surrounding corpses will continuously revive and attack you, score +100]
...
More than fifty traits increasing enemy difficulty appeared before him.
Chen Qi silently scanned these special traits.
Depending on the choices, the difficulty would qualitatively change.
0 to 150 points was one difficulty level, 150 to 300 another, 300 to 400 another, 400 to 700 another, and 700 to 1000 yet another.
Scoring at least 400 would earn an A rank!
Finally, after careful consideration, Chen Qi eliminated some terrifying options and chose [Mental Pollution - Light], [Body Enhancement II], [Blade Enhancement], [Long-range Bow], [Strength Enhancement], and [Berserk State].
“50 + 100 + 50 + 50 + 50 + 100, exactly 400 points, enough for an A-rank score.”
Chen Qi himself had decent mental resistance.
Body Enhancement and Blade Enhancement were basic choices, while Long-range Bow was a low side-effect option in Chen Qi’s view.
Chen Qi specialized in melee combat; as long as he maintained close quarters, he could effectively avoid the opponent’s ranged abilities.
And with his own mental resistance, Mental Pollution - Light was almost immune.
Berserk State was a trait Chen Qi considered having some tactical potential among percentage traits.
Compared to Corpse Revival, which tested crowd-clearing ability, and pure combat-enhancing Double Blade Form, Berserk State was already a pretty good choice.
This trait tested his burst capability and blood control.
As long as he controlled his health well and executed a burst manipulation, he could minimize this trait’s power!
Should be fine... Chen Qi took a deep breath and confirmed these options, choosing a steady score.
In fact, according to the inspiration enlightenment, the ‘enemy’s’ strength was determined by his own rank upon entering.
And his strength far exceeded ordinary second-tier supernaturals now.
In other words, an A-rank difficulty was not high for him.
“Maybe I’m too conservative...”
Chen Qi pondered.
On reflection, he might have been frightened by the rift’s earlier warning.
Then he took out the lucky dice...
As expected, after the rift ends, there would be a random reward option, and this dice would play its true role.
“Hope the lucky dice blesses me...” Chen Qi silently prayed.
At this moment, the final prompt appeared.
[You will randomly receive the last trait: 5 to 100!]
Chen Qi took a deep breath.
Random traits—this was the most exciting part of Dice affinity rifts!
A random dice roll could decide the difficulty of an entire rift!
[Roll?]
Roll!
Lucky dice, assist me! God of twenty-sided dice, assist me! Heavenly Venerable, assist me! Goddess of Luck, assist me!
Chen Qi prayed wildly in his heart as five twenty-sided dice spun frantically, finally stopping one by one.
Chen Qi’s pupils contracted:
“Five, five, five—”
Five 20s!
What kind of luck was this!
[Congratulations, you rolled five 20s, total score 100, you hit the jackpot!]
A crimson prompt appeared.
[You received random trait: Blade Witch.
Your enemy will transform into the Blade Witch, score +500!!!]
“???”
Wait, score plus how much?
Before Chen Qi could react, he vaguely heard the sound of a long knife falling.
Chen Qi turned his head, mouth slightly open, gazing at the enemy atop the corpse pile.
The enemy’s figure slowly stood in the red moonlight, like an ancient statue about to collapse. She gradually removed her heavy helmet, revealing long crimson hair and a pair of witch’s red eyes.
The wind slowly blew, crimson hair fluttering with it.
She licked her lips, a slight smile curling on her mouth, and took one step, two steps toward Chen Qi—
[Trial begins! May you enjoy, traveler from afar!]
Chen Qi glanced at his lucky dice in hand, then at the crimson eyes before him—