Looking at the giant sword in front of him, Torres found its size was even more exaggerated than his own shield.
"From now on, you'll be using this sword for your training and combat," Ye Chuan said.
"Yes..." Torres instinctively went to lift the greatsword, but its extreme weight made his eyes widen in shock. As a Paladin, his physical constitution was undoubtedly robust.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to haul that massive shield around to protect others all day. Yet, with this greatsword, he found that a casual tug wouldn't even budge it!
"What's wrong? Can't pick it up?" Ye Chuan asked.
"N-No, that's not it." Torres took a deep breath, gripped the hilt with both hands, and heaved with all his might. He finally managed to hoist the greatsword, though the exertion turned his face beet red.
"Alright, use this sword to kill monsters in a bit," Ye Chuan said.
"Lord Xi Xi, this sword is too heavy. I don't think I can actually kill magical beasts with it," Torres forced a bitter smile. The weight of the weapon was simply terrifying.
"Is it heavy?"
"Yes..."
Hearing this, Ye Chuan nudged Torres aside. He then grabbed the greatsword with one hand and lifted it. He looked as relaxed as if he were holding a piece of Styrofoam, showing absolutely no sign of strain.
Torres was dumbfounded. Wasn't Lord Xi Xi a mage? Why did he possess such terrifying physical strength?
Ye Chuan set the greatsword down, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
"This sword possesses the power of attribute amplification. That means the more times you swing it, the more your stats will increase."
"Such a divine artifact exists?!" Torres hadn't expected Ye Chuan to possess such a treasure.
Gaining power just by training?
"Something like that." After all, it was just a gadget Ye Chuan had forged on a whim. Each swing provided a bonus of 1 Strength attribute point.
To Ye Chuan, a 1-point strength increase was too low—it didn't even count as a crumb. He'd be better off using the Human Emperor Banner to refine some soul attributes. So, this was just a throwaway weapon he could forge with ease.
Furthermore, there was a cap to this power increase.
"Alright!" The muscles on Torres's arms bulged as he finally managed to swing the sword with great effort.
*Clang!* The greatsword smashed into the ground, kicking up dust once more.
Torres panted heavily, his face covered in sweat.
Seeing this, Ye Chuan snapped his fingers. A dispel magic spell landed on Torres, instantly washing away all his fatigue.
"Thank you, Lord Xi Xi."
"You're welcome. It's all going on your tab."
"Uh..."
Whether it was psychological or not, Torres found the greatsword in his hands seemed a little lighter. This boosted his confidence significantly. "Lord Xi Xi! I feel like I've gotten stronger!"
"Oh, really? Keep it up then." Ye Chuan scanned the area, his gaze finally landing on a slime not far away. It was currently attached to a rotting corpse, wobbling as it moved.
Compared to goblins, this kind of weak slime should be easy to deal with.
"Go get it."
"Understood!" Torres dragged the greatsword and walked toward the slime-infested corpse.
*Gurgle gurgle.* The slime corpse sensed Torres's presence—or rather, the ear-piercing sound of the dragging metal was so loud that even a near-mindless monster like a slime could perceive it.
The slime squirmed its mud-like body, manipulating the corpse to walk straight toward Torres.
"Hah!" Seizing the moment, Torres mustered all his strength to hoist the greatsword and brought it crashing down on the corpse!
The massive blade crushed the corpse, splattering the slime's body everywhere. Its magic core shattered, resulting in an instant kill.
After all, Torres was at the third tier. Dealing with a first-tier monster was naturally a stomp. Even so, seeing that he could kill a monster with such a weapon brought an excited smile to his face.
"Yes!"
"Lord Xi Xi, I did it!" Torres exclaimed.
"Congrats, congrats," Ye Chuan said in a monotone voice. "You keep working at it. I'm going back to rest."
"L-Lord Xi Xi, you're going back?"
"What else?" Ye Chuan replied lazily. "You don't expect me to stay here with you forever, do you? Come on, this is only the first floor of the dungeon."
"I understand." Torres nodded. "Please, go back and rest!"
"Mhm."
However, just before leaving, Ye Chuan looked at Torres in the distance. After a moment's thought, he cast a blessing on him. "A gift for you."
Torres noticed a golden glow radiating from his body. His wounds healed, and not only that, he felt his strength increase significantly!
"A blessing?!"
"Something like that. It boosts your healing ability and increases your strength," Ye Chuan explained.
"How long does it last?!" Torres asked excitedly.
"How long?" Ye Chuan pondered. "Hmm... probably forever."
"Forever?!"
"You can think of it as a type of curse. By simply reversing the spell formula for blood-draining and weakening curses, you can create an effect similar to a blessing." Ye Chuan waved his hand dismissively.
"Just a boring parlor trick."
Ye Chuan's words left Torres stunned.
A... a boring parlor trick?
He increasingly felt that Lord Xi Xi's magic defied all logic. Not only did he require absolutely no chanting, but he also mastered so many elemental attributes. It was as if he wasn't from the continent of Aether at all.
"Alright, good luck." Ye Chuan couldn't be bothered to explain further and vanished from the spot the very next second.
"Lord Xi... Xi?"
Ye Chuan's aura was gone from the dungeon. Torres had wanted to ask how he was supposed to get back himself, but he quickly calmed down.
It's fine. Lord Xi Xi surely has a plan.
He definitely wouldn't just abandon me. He'll probably be back tomorrow, right?
Probably...
"Time to get to work!"
...
...
The next day, inside Count Kan Gong's manor.
During a peaceful afternoon tea, Irena learned from Ye Chuan that Torres had gone to a nearby dungeon for special training.
"Torres is just a Paladin. Is it really okay to leave him alone in the dungeon? Lord Xi Xi."
"What problem could there be?" Ye Chuan ate the pastries Irena had prepared. "The first floor of that dungeon is full of tier-one and tier-two monsters. Torres is a big boy; surely he won't get mobbed to death?"
"That is true..." Even so, Irena was still a bit worried.
"If you're worried, shall I send you over there too?"
"T-That won't be necessary. I'd only be a burden to him." Irena waved her hands frantically.
Speaking of Torres...
Has he eaten?
...
...
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
end. Thus one must continue to cultivate, and become a saint or great emperor, in order to prolong one's life. Chen Xia, however, completely reversed this. Since his transmigration, he has gained immortality, and also a system that awards him with attribute points for every year he lives. Thus between the myriad worlds, the legend of an unparalleled senior appeared. "A gentleman takes revenge; it is never too late even after ten thousand years." "When you were at your peak I yielded, now in your old age I shall trample on you." - Chen Xia
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
