22: Chapter 22: A Grade A Ring Dropped! The people camping outside were going crazy!

The Cat Demon King's gold and silver pupils lit up simultaneously, and the boost to its attack and movement speed transformed it into a golden lightning bolt!

Lin Feng only felt a blur before his eyes, and three claw shadows already enveloped his chest, abdomen, and head!

"I can't take this head-on!"

Lin Feng desperately leaned back, simultaneously holding his greatsword horizontally in front of him to block.

Clang! Clang! Pffft!

The first two claws were blocked by the greatsword, but the third claw grazed his left shoulder, drawing a spray of blood!

The Tearing effect was still active, and with his defense halved, every strike from the Cat Demon King made Lin Feng's heart pound!

"Holy Healing Ring is still active, restoring 67 health per second..." Lin Feng gritted his teeth and calculated.

He had to endure this 1 second of Tearing time!

"Light Bullet Technique!"

Lin Feng continuously cast Light Bullet Technique to harass, dodging at the same time.

Puff, puff, puff!

The Light Bullets struck the Cat Demon King, only dealing about 25 damage each time.

For the Cat Demon King with 2500 health, it was nothing more than a tickle.

But Lin Feng's goal wasn't to deal damage, but to — stall for time!

The Cat Demon King was so annoyed by the Light Bullets that its attack rhythm briefly became chaotic.

Now's the time!

Lin Feng seized the opportunity and suddenly charged forward!

Not to escape, but to actively approach the Cat Demon King!

"You're fast, right?" A hint of madness flashed in Lin Feng's eyes. "Then I'll make you unable to be fast!"

He pulled something out of his Storage Pouch — Water Curtain!

The blue curtain instantly unfurled, transforming into a massive wall of water, standing between Lin Feng and the Cat Demon King!

The Cat Demon King couldn't stop in time and crashed headfirst into the Water Curtain!

[Water Curtain activated: Absorbs 50 damage, has extra resistance to fire attribute attacks]

Although there was no fire attribute, the viscous resistance of the Water Curtain significantly slowed down the Cat Demon King's movements!

"Now!"

Lin Feng brought his hands together, and golden-red light converged frantically!

This time, he injected 15 mana — more than double the normal consumption!

"Overload: Blazing Light Slash!"

A golden-red energy blade, three times larger than before, roared out!

The air itself twisted wherever it passed!

The Cat Demon King seemed to sense a fatal threat and tried to dodge, but the slowing effect of the Water Curtain made its movements sluggish.

Boom!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The energy blade slammed into the Cat Demon King's chest!

[Overload Blazing Light Slash dealt damage: Base 57 × 2.5 = 4250]

The Cat Demon King let out a mournful shriek, a deep, bone-visible wound splitting its chest!

Its health bar dropped a large chunk, visible to the naked eye!

Lin Feng's eyes lit up.

But he didn't dare stop, taking advantage of the Cat Demon King's injured stiffness to unleash a barrage of Light Bullet Techniques!

Puff, puff, puff, puff!

All four Light Bullets hit the wound, dealing extra damage!

[Light Bullet Technique × 4 dealt damage: 285 × 4 = 114, actual damage: 1090]

The Cat Demon King's health bar had already dropped by more than half!

But the intense pain also completely ignited its ferocity.

"Meow—!!!"

The Cat Demon King let out a long howl, its dark golden fur standing on end!

Skill: Kings Pressure!

Invisible pressure enveloped the entire cave, and Lin Feng felt his strength draining away.

[Kings Pressure activated: Attack power reduced by 2%]

"This is troublesome..." Lin Feng frowned.

Reduced attack power meant his skill damage would also decrease.

But once the arrow is drawn, there's no turning back; he could only fight to the end!

The Cat Demon King pounced again, even faster than before!

Lin Feng gritted his teeth and endured, blocking with his greatsword while looking for opportunities to cast skills.

The battle entered its most brutal attrition phase.

Lin Feng's mana was rapidly decreasing.

From 85 mana, it was now less than 300.

The Cat Demon King's health was also steadily decreasing, but it still had about 1500 points.

"This can't go on..." Lin Feng panted.

His health, under the recovery of the Holy Healing Ring, barely stayed around 10 points.

But once his mana was exhausted, he would be at its mercy.

"I must end this quickly!"

Lin Feng's eyes hardened, and he made a risky decision.

He no longer dodged, but instead actively charged towards the Cat Demon King!

"Come on! Let's hurt each other!"

The Cat Demon King was enraged, its claws furiously slashing, leaving wounds on Lin Feng's body.

[Damage taken: 38]

[Damage taken: 4]

[Damage taken: 35]

His health instantly dropped below 3 points!

But this was the opportunity Lin Feng was waiting for!

The distance between him and the Cat Demon King was already less than three meters!

"Blasting Light Flame Technique!"

Lin Feng didn't throw the energy orb, but instead—pressed it against his chest!

"Explode for me!!!"

Boom!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The violent explosion engulfed both the man and the cat simultaneously!

[Blasting Light Flame Technique (close-range release) dealt damage: 475 × 1.5 = 7125]

Lin Feng flew backward like a ragdoll, crashing heavily against the rock wall.

All his bones felt dislocated, and his chest was scorched black.

[Health: 1/22]

He almost died!

But the Cat Demon King was even worse!

It was hit head-on by the close-range explosion, half its head was blown off, and its health bar instantly dropped to zero!

[Killed Cat Demon King, Golden Pupil, Experience +1300]

[Rank Up! Rank 7!]

Golden light enveloped him!

A warm current surged through his body, and his injuries rapidly recovered.

[All Attributes +3, Free Attribute Points +15]

Lin Feng didn't hesitate, putting all of them into Spirit!

[Spirit: 118 (↑18)]

"Awesome!" Lin Feng lay on the ground, grinning.

Although it was a narrow victory, he won!

And he leveled up to Rank 7, one step closer to Rank 1!

He struggled to get up and walked to the Cat Demon King's corpse.

The corpse was dissolving into specks of light, leaving behind several shimmering items.

The most eye-catching was a dark golden ring!

The ring had an ancient design, inlaid with two gems, one gold and one silver, precisely matching the Cat Demon King's gold and silver pupils.

[Gold and Silver Pupils Ring]

[Quality: Purple]

[Effect 1: Spirit +3]

[Effect 2: mana Cap +50]

[Effect 3: mana Recovery Speed +5%]

[Effect 4: All Skill Cooldowns -1%]

[Rank Requirement: Rank 7]

[Description: Formed from the Cat Demon King's life essence, containing the mysterious power of its gold and silver pupils]

"A Purple Ring!!" Lin Feng's eyes widened.

Spirit +3! mana +500! mana recovery speed +50%! Cooldown -10%!

These attributes made it practically a Divine Artifact tailor-made for mages!

He trembled as he put on the ring.

[Spirit: 158 (↑3)]

[Spell Attack: 79 (↑150)]

[mana: 188 (↑500)]

"Too strong..." Lin Feng felt the surging magic power within him, his hands trembling with excitement.

This ring would be worth at least hundreds of thousands of points on the market!

And it was priceless!

Besides the ring, there were a few blue Materials and a blue equipment item.

[Cat Demon King's Claws (Blue Material) × 2]

[Cat Demon King's Eyeballs (Blue Material) × 2]

[Shadow Cloak (Blue Equipment)]

[Effect: Agility +1, Stealth Effect +20%]

[Rank Requirement: Rank 6]

"The cloak is good too, but unfortunately not very suitable for me." Lin Feng put away all the items.

He was in a great mood now.

Although the process was dangerous, the rewards were well worth it!

However, he wasn't carried away by victory.

"Two consecutive major battles have left him a bit fatigued..."

"I need to rest and recover my condition."

Lin Feng found a relatively safe corner and sat down to rest.

He took out the Materials he had obtained from grinding monsters earlier from his Storage Pouch.

White Materials: Rotten Wood × 15, Treant Sap × 5, cat demon claw × 15.

Green Materials: Mutated Wood × 12, tree demon essence × 8, Cat Demon Eyeballs × 8.

Blue Materials: Heart of the Tree Demon × 1, Cat Demon King's Claws × 2, Cat Demon King's Eyeballs × 2.

"First, fuse the white Materials."

Lin Feng took out all the white Materials and grouped them by type.

Rotten Wood × 1, consuming 50 mana to fuse.

[Obtained: Refined Wood (Green)]

[Usage: Weapon/Armor Crafting Material]

Treant Sap × 5, consuming 5 mana to fuse.

[Obtained: Concentrated Life Essence (Green)]

[Effect: Restores 10 health upon consumption]

cat demon claw × 1, consuming 50 mana to fuse.

[Obtained: Sharp Claw Blade (Green)]

[Attack Power: 12-18]

"Not bad."

Lin Feng continued to fuse the green Materials.

Mutated Wood × 1, consuming 100 mana to fuse.

[Obtained: Tough Wood Heart (Blue)]

[Usage: Advanced Equipment Core Material]

tree demon essence × 8, consuming 10 mana to fuse.

[Obtained: Natural Essence Liquid (Blue)]

[Effect: Restores 20 mana upon consumption, and continuously restores a total of 100 mana over 30 seconds]

Cat Demon Eyeballs × 8, consuming 10 mana to fuse.

[Obtained: Night Vision Goggles (Blue)]

[Effect: Night Vision +5%, detects low-level invisibility]

Finally, the blue Materials.

Heart of the Tree Demon + Cat Demon King's Claws × 2, consuming 30 mana to fuse.

[Obtained: totem of natures power (Blue)]

[Effect: When placed, friendly units within 2 meters restore 10 health per second for 5 minutes]

Cat Demon King's Eyeballs × 2, consuming 30 mana to fuse.

[Obtained: Gold and Silver Pupils Amulet (Blue)]

[Effect: When worn, attacks have a 1% chance to trigger "Insight" (ignores 20% of target's defense)]

"A huge haul!" Lin Feng beamed.

Although the quality of these fused items wasn't top-tier, they were fully functional.

Health recovery, mana recovery, night vision, healing totem, armor-piercing amulet...

Coupled with the ring's mana recovery bonus, he was practically a perpetual motion machine now!

"Fed and rested, time to move on!"

Lin Feng drank a bottle of Natural Essence Liquid, and his mana instantly refilled.

He also ate a concentrated meat block, restoring his health to 15 points.

Full condition!

He stood up and looked into the depths of the cave.

There was a dark passage there, leading to an unknown place.

"Let's go deeper."

"Since I'm already here, how can I not explore the core of the mutated dungeon and make this equipment worthwhile?"

Lin Feng gripped his staff and strode towards the passage.

...

At the same time, outside the bushes.

Five members of the Blood Wolf Group had been waiting for over three hours.

The Skinny Tall Guy paced anxiously: "Damn it, why hasn't he come out yet? Did that kid die in there?"

The Fatty leaned against a tree, yawning: "Possibly... The mutated dungeon is so dangerous, how long can he survive alone?"

Scarface frowned: "No. If the person inside died, the mutated area should dissipate automatically. The bushes are still wriggling, which means he's still alive."

"Still alive?" The Skinny Tall Guy's eyes widened. "It's been over three hours! He's been alive in the mutated dungeon alone for over three hours?"

"Either he's an expert, or he found a place to hide," Scarface analyzed.

"Stop arguing." Scarface interrupted them. "The Captain told us to wait, so we wait. Whether the person inside is dead or alive, we just wait for the result."

The Skinny Tall Guy complained: "But how long do we have to wait? The five of us are just sitting here, while others are grinding monsters and leveling up..."

Scarface glared at him: "Don't you want the ten thousand points reward anymore?"

The Skinny Tall Guy immediately shut up.

The five continued to wait, but their eyes were filled with impatience.

What they didn't know was—

Lin Feng was not only still alive but had already slain two boss-level monsters and leveled up to Rank 7.

Now, he was heading towards the core area of the mutated dungeon.

This long wait had just begun.