Chapter 35: A Skyrocketing Level!

Han Xing was extremely satisfied with Coalball’s astonishing growth rate.

At this moment, Coalball seemed to sense its master’s inner delight. With a flicker, it appeared beside the corpse of the Sludge Slime, and with another flicker, it reappeared at Han Xing’s feet.

Han Xing could see it holding several spirit cores in its mouth, seemingly seeking its master’s permission. He crouched down, patted Coalball on the head, and said, "Eat them; you’ve earned them."

Coalball hopped around in joy.

After merging the Sludge Slime’s territory, Han Xing continued to explore other floating islands. He found that after reaching level 2, Coalball was like a pint-sized, high-energy boss. With monster attributes unable to suppress it, Coalball moved as if it were in an empty land.

In every battle, Coalball would charge ahead with the intensity of a blood-crazed warrior, rushing in front of Han Xing regardless of how formidable the monster was. Han Xing would see a flash of black light, and before he could even catch a glimpse of the creature, the battle would already be over. Occasionally, Han Xing would use his own high attack power to land a killing blow during the gaps in Coalball’s skirmishes, but he soon realized that for ordinary monsters, there was basically nothing for him to do. He just had to trail behind Coalball and soak up the experience.

Because its "Void Body" granted a 50% evasion rate, combined with Coalball’s own terrifying speed, very few monsters could even land a hit on it. One by one, monsters fell beneath their feet. Han Xing stood in the back with his arms crossed, watching with glee as Coalball led the charge.

[You have killed Granite Rabbit Lv 4 x3, gained 120 experience points, and pet 'Coalball' gained 84 experience points.]
[You have killed Yellow-Skin Deer Lv 5, gained 50 experience points, and pet 'Coalball' gained 40 experience points.]
[You have killed...]

An hour later, Han Xing suddenly saw a white light rise from both himself and Coalball, followed by system prompts.

[Your level has increased; current level is Lv 4.]
[Your pet 'Coalball' has level increased; current level is Lv 3.]

"Leveled up again?" Han Xing couldn't even recall how many times he had been amazed today. Coalball had just reached level 2 less than an hour ago and had already hit level 3. Even for him, it had taken a full day to go from level 2 to level 3. This little guy’s leveling speed was truly skyrocketing like a rocket.

Han Xing patted Coalball’s head. At level 3, its panel stats had completely surpassed his own. With 21 points in agility and the 200% speed bonus from its "Void Blink" skill, he suspected that even those level 5 elite monsters might not be able to keep up with it.

***

Han Xing realized that when dealing with ordinary monsters, there was absolutely nothing left for him to do. Moreover, the speed at which Coalball resolved battles was getting faster and faster.

Strings of system prompts appeared. His experience bar was surging at an unprecedented rate. In just one hour, he had reached 50% of level 4; in another hour, he would break through to level 5! More importantly, Han Xing’s territory area was growing at a terrifying pace.

456... 478... 512...

At this point, Han Xing’s territory points had reached 584! In just over two hours, he had gained over a hundred points, equivalent to over a hundred square meters of territory. On the territory leaderboard, Han Xing had fought his way back into the top twenty. However, his growth rate did not attract much attention because, on the leaderboard, the first-place user, "Whisperer," had already broken the 900-point mark, reaching 912 points—only 88 points away from securing the top spot! The second-place "Black Hawk" and third-place "Papaya Star Spirit" were also biting at his heels with 874 and 852 points, respectively.

In the chat channel, everyone began to heatedly discuss the rankings.

"I think the first place this time belongs to our boss Whisperer from 'Whispers of God,' right?"
"That’s not necessarily true. Our boss Papaya Star Spirit from the Airplane Men’s Group isn't a pushover either. The gap isn't that big, and Boss Papaya Star Spirit will catch up soon!"
"Keep dreaming. Papaya Star Spirit is a Warrior class; even Black Hawk, a Rogue class, can’t catch up, let alone Whisperer, who is a Mage."
"Bullshit! Boss Papaya Star Spirit definitely won't lose. First place will definitely be our Airplane Men’s Group!"
"Heh..."

Just as they were arguing incessantly, the three people at the top of the leaderboard were bracing themselves. At this stage, none of them dared to relax even a little. Even though their mental state had reached its limit and their eyelids felt as heavy as lead, they gritted their teeth and continued to explore.

On his floating island, Whisperer’s eyes were bloodshot, his face sallow and gaunt; he looked as if he had lost over ten pounds. Yet, he kept his teeth clenched, constantly encouraging himself.

"Persist! I must persist!"
"I’m only one step away from victory. I must take first place!"

***

Whisperer held on with his last breath, fighting the monsters before him. Even though his movements while wielding his bronze staff had become numb, he continued to cast Fireball to blast the enemies.

Black Hawk and Papaya Star Spirit were doing the same. As for Black Hawk, the Rogue, he seemed to have been a member of a special organization before coming to this world, possessing astonishing combat awareness. Since arriving and gaining extraordinary powers, he had been in his element.

At this moment, Black Hawk silently appeared behind an Dark Elf Warrior. With a flash of cold light, a bronze dagger slashed across the elf's throat. The strike was fluid, simple, and unadorned, yet pleasing to the eye, as if practiced thousands of times.

Blood sprayed. The next moment, the Dark Elf Warrior’s body collapsed limply. Strewn across the ground were five or six Dark Elf corpses. It was clear these elves had caused Black Hawk quite a bit of trouble. He had several wounds on his body, the most severe being a deep slash on his back from an elf warrior that continued to seep blood.

A flash of bloodthirsty killing intent appeared on Black Hawk’s normally stern face—the aura only someone who had walked through mountains of corpses and seas of blood could possess.

In the Twilight Mercenary discussion group, someone asked, "Captain, are you okay?"

The expression on Black Hawk’s face turned icy again. He whispered, "Not bad."

"Although it’s exhausting and painful, this feeling of nerves being stretched to the limit, where one mistake could lead to total ruin, makes me feel like I’m back on the battlefield..."

The next moment, Black Hawk suddenly caught sight of a mass of black energy coalescing before the treasure chest guarded by the Dark Elves. The mass became increasingly solid, forming a humanoid silhouette.

"A Vengeful Soul, a level 5 elite monster..."

Black Hawk closed the discussion group, squinting his eyes as a sense of danger surged in his heart. The next moment, the black shadow vanished instantly and rushed toward Black Hawk at a terrifying speed. Before Black Hawk could even react, he saw the shadow appear right in front of him.

"So fast..."

That was his final thought. The next instant, Black Hawk’s figure was sent flying backward.