Chapter 7 – Enter the snake forest

Lin Jichen strolled leisurely out of the village.

At the village entrance stood a simple signpost, marking the locations of wild beasts nearby.

The territory of the Green Bamboo Snake was in the bamboo forest to the southeast.

Lin Jichen picked up his iron sword and hurried towards the bamboo forest.

The sword in his hand was particularly conspicuous in everyone's eyes.

After all, while everyone else was unarmed, this man had a weapon, naturally arousing much curiosity.

"Big brother, how did you get that weapon?"

"Little brother, can you tell me how you got that weapon? I want one too~"

"Boss, take me with you, can we team up?"

"Fellow, are you selling your sword? I'll pay for it, we can trade outside the game, I can transfer to you via Alipay, WeChat works too."

Lin Jichen, annoyed by the barrage of questions, quickly sped up to escape.

After shaking off most of the players, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But still, a small group of players followed him persistently, wanting to uncover his secrets.

Lin Jichen paid no mind to the eyes behind him, continuing on his way.

In less than two minutes, a bamboo forest appeared ahead, with a warning sign at the entrance: [Enter Snake Forest with Caution]

Lin Jichen stepped in.

The bamboo forest was serene, with only the rustling of leaves in the wind, seemingly empty.

But upon closer inspection, one could see green snakes coiled on the bamboo branches, with shadows moving along the ground.

Lin Jichen didn't rush in to fight the creatures but first brought up his combat attribute panel.

【Vitality: 100/100】

【Mana: 100/100】

【Realm: Mortal Realm】

【Cultivation: 0/100】

【Strength: 1】

【Mental Power: 1】

【Defense: 1】

【Speed: 1】

【Skills: None】

【Equipment: Iron Sword】

A very ordinary attribute panel.

Strength determined physical damage, Mental Power determined spell damage.

1 point of Strength equaled 10 points of attack, and the same went for Mental Power.

This panel was the basic combat attribute for all players when they first entered the game.

Once everyone stepped into the Qi Refining Realm, these attributes would instantly increase tenfold.

Innate attributes and combat attributes were unrelated, so although Lin Jichen had full innate attributes, his combat attributes were no different from others.

Even if you were a prodigy, without learning anything, you were still an ordinary person.

Lin Jichen closed the panel and began to tackle the task at hand.

He quickly found a Green Bamboo Snake coiled on a bamboo branch.

Its deep green body almost blended with the color of the bamboo, difficult to distinguish without close attention.

Especially the triangular head and those small crimson eyes were chilling, making one instinctively want to keep their distance.

It had to be said, the realism of the game "Tale of Immortal" was impeccably done, boasting a 100% simulation rate.

The Green Bamboo Snake, noticing Lin Jichen, an intruder, approaching, immediately hissed and slightly raised its head, a clear pre-attack posture.

Lin Jichen chose to strike first, swinging his iron sword.

Curious about the feel of the iron sword, Lin Jichen's casual slash left a clear mark on the snake's body.

"-30!"

A blood-red number floated up from the snake.

At the same time, Lin Jichen saw the snake's attribute panel.

【Wild Monster: Green Bamboo Snake】

【Vitality: 120/150】

【Strength: 2】

【Defense: 1】

【Skills: Snake Venom】

The injured snake hissed angrily, its ferocity fully aroused as it lunged at Lin Jichen.

Lin Jichen wasn't foolish enough to stand still and wait to be bitten.

For new players, encountering poisonous wild monsters was a headache because their attacks came with a toxin that caused continuous health loss.

New players, unfamiliar with the game, didn't know how to dodge and often got hit.

Once poisoned, without money to buy antidotes, it was like wearing a mask of agony.

New players would rather face thick-skinned, tough beasts than provoke poisonous creatures.

However, Lin Jichen was no novice.

He watched the snake's attack and stepped back to the right, nimbly dodging the lunge.

A snake's attack is well-known; if it misses, it quickly recoils to adjust and strike again.

The Green Bamboo Snake missed and retracted its head.

Lin Jichen seized this opportunity, gripping the hilt and twirling the sword, thrusting it towards the snake's head, seven inches down – the vital spot.

The saying "strike the snake at seven inches" is well-known because that's where its heart lies.

In "Tale of Immortal," every species has weaknesses and strengths; hitting the weak spot deals more damage.

The sword pierced the snake, skin tearing and blood gushing, a deeper wound than before appearing on its body.

The snake fell from the bamboo, writhing in pain on the ground.

"A critical hit! -60!"

The damage doubled with this strike!

The snake was left with only 60 vitality points.

Lin Jichen struck while the iron was hot, thrusting his sword precisely into the seven-inch spot again.

"-60!"

The damage perfectly depleted the health bar, instantly killing the Green Bamboo Snake.

"Just changed professions, not bad at all," Lin Jichen muttered to himself, holding the iron sword.

Although switching from a spellcaster to a weapon master was a completely different career path, his years of experience in "Tale of Immortal" meant no player could match his understanding of the game.

Lin Jichen was well-versed in all the professions, having sparred with countless players of different classes.

Familiarity bred insight; he knew their skills, strengths, and weaknesses, and could quickly master them.

If as a spellcaster Lin Jichen was the ultimate champion, then playing other professions, he was at least of diamond level.

In "Tale of Immortal," what mattered more was gameplay operation and combat talent, which had nothing to do with profession.

Some people just don't have the talent for gaming; with mediocre operation, even the most powerful classes wouldn't shine in their hands.

Lin Jichen, however, was a natural at gaming; whatever game he played, he could max out his operation, inventing all sorts of unimaginable strategies and moves.

Even in his previous life, playing the least operation-intensive spellcaster class, he could still dazzle with his play.

And he managed to reach the top ten of the leaderboard, recognized as the number one spellcaster, even though he started playing the game a year later than others.

This was Lin Jichen's innate ability; in other words, gaming was his bread and butter.

Playing the sword for the first time, Lin Jichen felt no aversion, instead, a sense of inexplicable familiarity and excitement.

Upon the snake's death, a wisp of blue light floated up and entered Lin Jichen's body.

"Cultivation +3."

Lin Jichen's cultivation panel went from 【0/100】 to 【3/100】.

Cultivation was akin to experience.

Once cultivation was full, one could break through to the next realm, and attributes would increase accordingly.

The cultivation given by the snake was quite high.

Even the toughest wild boars in the novice village only gave 5 points of cultivation.

The monsters encountered by other players probably only gave 1 or 2 points of cultivation, pitifully little.

The difficulty of leveling up in "Tale of Immortal" was particularly high, but there were many ways to increase cultivation.

Killing monsters and completing quests were the most common, along with other methods like consuming elixirs, meditating, or dual cultivation with a partner...

Having dealt with the first monster he encountered after rebirth, Lin Jichen was in a good mood.

After the snake died, it turned into a Soul Burial Mound, which Lin Jichen searched.

There were only a pair of venomous fangs.

Lin Jichen thought that was it.

Unexpectedly, inside the Soul Burial Mound, there was also a piece of white equipment.

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