Full health is the kill threshold, no matter if you're a god or a demon!

The environment of Corruption Valley is completely different from that of Chirping Woodland.

A faint, putrid stench permeated the air, and a hazy mist swirled among the twisted, dead wood, making the ground beneath one's feet damp and sticky.

Occasionally, an unsettling low moan can be heard coming from the depths of the stream.

According to the map markers, the "Malicious Dogs" are active in this area.

Before they had gone far, a vicious dog the size of a goat, with bald patches of fur revealing dark red muscles underneath, lunged out of the mist!

Its eyes were bloodshot, saliva dripped from between its jagged, sharp teeth, and it bore the mark of LV.3 Malice Dog on its head.

-15!

The vicious dog's claws slashed a bloody gash across his arm, causing damage several times greater than that inflicted by Chicken Bro.

The heart-shaped mark lights up!

"Well done!"

Liu Nian delivered a powerful punch!

Duang!!!

-55!

A considerable number appeared; the Malicious Dog's health bar visibly dropped by a third!

[Heart of Steel activated! Maximum Health +4!]

A warm current is flowing, and the maximum health limit has been raised once again!

Soul-draining, devastating blow!

-55!

The vicious dog howled, its health bar instantly emptied, and it collapsed to the ground, turning into a white light, leaving behind a small piece of [Canine Tooth] material.

[Soul Drain Strike damage permanently increased by 1!]

"The efficiency is indeed higher!" Liu Nian was greatly encouraged.

The Malice Hound's health was enough to allow him to trigger Heart of Steel once without dying, and then finish him off with Soul Drain Strike when it was off cooldown. Perfect! Attributes increased again!

He followed suit and began efficiently farming dogs on the outskirts of Corrupted Valley.

With the pleasant sound effects of "Duang~ Duang~", his health points steadily approached 400.

During this time, he actually managed to get a ring, but unexpectedly, its attributes were completely opposite to those shown on the stall:

【Name: The Fang of Malice】

【Type: Jewelry】

[Quality: Average]

[Description: Grants the wearer maximum health equal to 99% of their attack power.]

"Could these rings be a pair?" Liu Nian wondered. After putting on the ring, he gained 14 health points, which didn't seem high, but that was because his attack power was too low.

"So here's the question: one ring converts attack power into health, and the other converts health into attack power. Wouldn't wearing them together create a bug? Like stepping on the right foot with the left and spiraling upwards?"

Thinking of this, Liu Nian couldn't help but look at the description again. The affix mentioned that it was based on oneself, so it seemed that attributes obtained from equipment or other things would not be counted.

Besides the ring, this dog also drops other weapons, such as the Malicious Dagger and the Malicious Short Sword. However, Liu Nian can't use any of them and can only keep them to sell for money.

Fortunately, the initial backpack provided by the game is not small, with 50 slots, which is definitely enough for the current stage.

Liu Nian continued to farm dogs. Just as he finished clearing out a group of three malicious dogs, a small team that was preparing to venture deeper into the valley passed by.

"Bro, that's pretty efficient at soloing!" the leading warrior player greeted him. "You've been grinding here for ages, are you planning to farm the Malice Ring?"

"Oh, yes!" Liu Nian replied.

"I bet you can take them down in two punches. With that kind of strength, why don't you try your luck in the Dog King's Cave up ahead? A level 5 boss, the [Crazy Rotten Dog King], will appear there." The warrior pointed towards the thicker fog. "The Dog King drops an epic set of rings, with even better effects!"

"An epic ring?" Liu Nian's heart skipped a beat.

(PS: Equipment quality in the game: Common, Excellent, Epic, Mythical, Legendary, Eternal.)

"That's right! I know the spawn pattern of the Dog King, which some veteran players figured out: it requires a player below level 10 to solo kill 100 dogs in the cave without a team, and then it will appear! To be honest, this condition is quite demanding. Don't underestimate a level 5 boss; soloing it is very difficult! Most people can't meet the requirements, so even though everyone knows there are good loot there, there's not much they can do. But I think you could give it a try!"

"Thank you for letting me know!" Liu Nianqiang suppressed his excitement and hurriedly expressed his gratitude.

"You're too kind. We're all human beings from Earth, so let's look out for each other!" This player named Wang Mian was a level 35 warrior. After adding Liu Nian as a friend, he led the group to continue walking into the forest.

Following the direction Wang Mian pointed out, Liu began to cautiously venture deeper.

The deeper into the valley, the thicker the fog became, and the fewer malicious dogs there were.

As Liu Nian walked and killed, he finally saw the dark entrance to the cave after passing through a dense forest of dead trees.

At this point, he had just reached level 4. He put his skill points into Soul Drain Strike. The level 2 Soul Drain Strike's cooldown was reduced from 20 to 18, its mana cost was increased to 20, its damage was increased to 120% of his attack power, and the attack power gained after a kill increased to 2.

Fortunately, he had upgraded the skill to include lifesteal, otherwise, supplies would have been a problem.

The cave is quite spacious, and it's like a maze with many passages. Occasionally, you'll encounter a few other players there.

It looks like everyone's farming for rings.

Accessory items are not easy to obtain, and there aren't many available on the market.

Moreover, the affixes provided by the Malice Ring are very good and are highly sought after by human players.

This item is not affected by level. Even if you reach a higher level later, it will still provide good attribute conversion, which is very popular with both warrior and assassin players.

An epic-level ring can easily sell for several hundred silver coins.

A pair of wedding rings would be even more valuable!

Liu Nian was already quite lucky; he got one after killing the fifth dog.

Some players might spend a whole day grinding and still not get a single drop.

In addition, the respawn pattern of the Dog King also requires a certain level of personal strength from the player, which means that although this pair of rings is very famous and in high demand, it is extremely rare to be able to collect a complete pair of epic rings.

The main problem is that farming this stuff is a waste of time, and even players below level 10 aren't guaranteed a solo victory against the Dog King. So, many people know that good items drop here, but not many actually try it. They'd rather spend that time leveling up and farming for treasure in maps above level 10.

However, Liu Nian is different. Firstly, the rings greatly enhance his abilities, and secondly, even if he doesn't level up, it won't hinder his ability to improve his attributes.

So Liu Nian plunged into the cave and began his frenzied slaughter of dogs...

However, after leveling up to level 4, the experience given by level 3 dogs becomes insufficient.

In this game, high-level players will experience a penalty when fighting low-level monsters. Originally, a dog would give 30 experience points, but now it only gives 15.

As the level difference increases, the experience penalty becomes more severe, until the level difference exceeds 10 levels, at which point no more experience points will be awarded.

Of course, this refers to the player's level being higher than the monster's. If it's the other way around, with the player's level being lower than the monster's, it's considered killing a monster above their level, and they will receive an experience bonus. However, once the level difference exceeds 10 levels, the experience bonus will no longer increase.

After Liu Nian killed more than seventy dogs, a white light flashed around him, and he leveled up to level 5.

The channel feature is now available to you!

A notification sounded suddenly.

Upon hearing this, Liu Nian immediately opened the channel to check.

There are many channels, including world channels, regional channels, faction channels, and private chat channels.

Speaking in the world channel requires consuming an item called "Word Orb," which has a chance to drop when killing a level 100 Raven.

The highest level of humans on Earth is currently below level 60, so naturally they don't have such a thing.

The world chat was quite lively at the moment, with many powerful beings from different races speaking up: the Heavenly Demon Clan, the Demon God Clan, the Sea Clan, the Titans, the Dragon Clan, and so on. Some were buying equipment and supplies, some were challenging others to duels, some were exchanging insults, and some were looking for teammates…

Looking at those guys' levels, they were all above level 200. Any one of them could easily dominate the human camp on Blue Star if they came here...

Of course, due to the limitations of the game rules, high-level players cannot enter the territory of other races that are 10 levels or more below them.

Unless it is a declaration of war.

Moreover, for players above level 200, there's nothing in the lower-level areas that can interest them at all.

This is why the orcs Liu Nian encountered when he first arrived here were only levels 1-7.

On the one hand, high-level orcs cannot enter due to the rules, and on the other hand, the rewards are too low!

Liu Nian was browsing the chat when suddenly a message flashing with iridescent light appeared in the world chat—