Volume 1, Chapter 17: The Berserk Treant King

"Lin Yu, what's the plan now?"

Seeing the suddenly appearing Raging Treant King, Xiao Xiao's expression turned noticeably grave. She darted to Lin Yu's side, frowning. The strength of this boss was far beyond what she could handle on her own.

"Plan? We kill it, of course!" Lin Yu replied with a radiant smile.

He had been able to slay the Ghost Scorpion King a day ago; although luck had played a part, his strength had increased significantly since then. Taking down this Raging Treant King would not be difficult.

"Lin Yu, do you need my help?" Seeing that Lin Yu had no intention of retreating, Xiao Xiao glanced at the Raging Treant King and asked.

Her class was an Assassin, specializing in attack power. Although she was only level nine, with various buffs and equipment, her attack exceeded 300 points. While far inferior to Lin Yu, she could still contribute some damage.

"No need. Just find a place to rest for now." Lin Yu shook his head, declining her kindness.

Killing this Treant King was not too difficult for him. With his current attack power, even without counting the reflection damage, he should be able to finish it off in about 200 hits; there was no need for Xiao Xiao's assistance. Furthermore, if Xiao Xiao were unfortunately one-shotted during the battle, he would have to spend time helping her level up again, which would undoubtedly slow down his pace. Naturally, he didn't want to engage in such a thankless task.

"Then be careful." Hearing this, Xiao Xiao did not press the matter. After all, Lin Yu had already killed the Ghost Scorpion King yesterday, so there shouldn't be any major issues.

"Hmm." Lin Yu nodded slightly. Seeing Xiao Xiao withdraw to a relatively safe position, he did not hesitate. He summoned his Sword of Light and charged directly at the Raging Treant King.

"-472!"

As the Sword of Light struck the Raging Treant King, a damage figure instantly popped up.

"This guy is truly tough as leather!" Lin Yu frowned slightly. This damage was clearly lower than he had estimated.

Even so, his composure remained completely unaffected. A second later, he activated his damage reflection and took a hit from the Raging Treant King head-on.

"Miss!"
"-134!"

"What? He can deal over a hundred damage just by reflecting?" Seeing the damage numbers suddenly appear above the Raging Treant King's head, Xiao Xiao's expression shifted, her eyes filled with shock.

In her previous life, she had never interacted with Lin Yu. Although she had heard that he possessed the ability to reflect damage, she hadn't expected it to be this exaggerated and terrifying. She knew that even with her own attacks, she probably wouldn't deal much more damage than that. If she weren't familiar with the Continent of Gods and Demons, she would have unhesitatingly believed that Lin Yu was cheating.

Despite her surprise, she felt increasingly fortunate to be collaborating with him. After all, with his strength, let alone carrying the Xiao family to success, it wouldn't be a problem for him to stand at the very pinnacle of the entire Continent of Gods and Demons.

***

Lin Yu was clearly unaware of Xiao Xiao's thoughts. He was currently locked in a fierce melee battle with the Raging Treant King.

"-471!"
"-470!"
"Miss!"
"-134!"
...

Although Lin Yu's damage felt a bit like "scraping" compared to the Raging Treant King's 120,000 HP, fortunately, the boss's attacks posed no threat to him. As long as he chipped away slowly, he would eventually wear it down.

"Roar!"

The Raging Treant King clearly realized this as well, and it let out a roar of rage. Then, a flash of crimson streaked through its hollow, black-hole-like eye sockets. The next instant, a vine quickly surged with a dark green luster and whipped toward Lin Yu like a lash.

"Lin Yu, watch out!" Seeing the sudden attack, Xiao Xiao, who was watching from the sidelines, hurriedly called out a warning.

"-108!"

However, Lin Yu was fully focused on his assault. Although he sensed the danger, he was pinned down by the Raging Treant King and couldn't dodge in time. He was struck hard, and a damage number appeared above his head. At the same time, Lin Yu felt a sharp pain, causing him to wince.

This was the first time Lin Yu had taken damage in the game since his rebirth, and the intense pain cleared his head significantly. That hit must have been the Raging Treant King's skill, "Vine Strike." What surprised him was that even with his nearly 700 points of defense, he still lost health. This suggested that the coefficient bonus of the "Vine Strike" was likely over 400%; otherwise, it would have been impossible to break his defense.

"It seems I need to be more careful." Lin Yu pulled back his Sword of Light, stepped back to stabilize himself, and furrowed his brow.

Although using skills consumed mana and had a cooldown, now that the Raging Treant King had successfully dealt damage, he had to be on high alert. He had less than 1,400 HP; he could take at most a dozen hits. Furthermore, the Raging Treant King still had skills like "Rage." If he weren't cautious, he might really capsize in the gutter.

"Lin Yu, do you need my help?" Xiao Xiao dashed to his side, frowning. After all, two heads were better than one.

"Not for now." Lin Yu declined her offer with a smile.

Although Assassins were good at stealth, if she were accidentally hit by the "Vine Strike," she would likely be one-shotted. He knew that with his nearly 700 defense, he had taken over 100 damage. Given the extreme attack-oriented build of the Assassin class, Xiao Xiao, who had less than 500 HP and barely 30 defense, would be easily finished off.

"Then be careful." Xiao Xiao reminded him with a grave expression before consciously stepping aside. She understood that with her current strength, it was hard to provide effective assistance to Lin Yu.

Lin Yu nodded slightly, said no more, and moved to launch another attack on the Raging Treant King.

Although the Raging Treant King was extremely difficult to deal with, Lin Yu had no intention of backing down. With his previous experience, he became significantly more cautious. While attacking, he kept a constant watch for the activation of the boss's skills. Compared to normal attacks, skill attacks usually had a "wind-up" or casting animation. Therefore, as long as he stayed alert and reacted in time, dodging them wasn't too difficult.

"Swish!"

After another dozen seconds of grappling, the Raging Treant King seized a moment when Lin Yu was occupied to launch "Vine Strike" again. However, this time Lin Yu was clearly prepared; he side-stepped and dodged it, leaving the attack to hit empty air.

This was the charm of the game *Continent of Gods and Demons*. As long as one's positioning was good enough, it was basically possible to grind mobs without taking damage. However, doing so was no easy feat. It tested not only a player's reaction speed but also required high-level movement techniques. Thus, while it sounded simple, it was difficult to execute. Even Lin Yu, who had lived two lifetimes, had never heard of anyone who could do it perfectly. After all, wild mobs weren't stupid; they wouldn't just wait to be kited, especially high-level ones whose intelligence was on par with humans.

Of course, against a bulky mob like the Raging Treant King, even as a Warrior, Lin Yu could dodge skills if he was careful. With precautions in place, his subsequent attacks went much more smoothly. Within a few minutes, the Raging Treant King's HP was suppressed to below 10%.

Facing an increasingly certain victory, Lin Yu did not relax; instead, his expression grew even more solemn. He knew that the Raging Treant King had yet to use its other skills, particularly "Rage" and "Recovery."

Just as this thought crossed his mind, the massive body of the Raging Treant King was suddenly enveloped in a green light. Its hollow eye sockets were now replaced by a crimson glow. At the same time, a system notification rang in Lin Yu's ears:

[Warning: The Raging Treant King has activated the "Recovery" skill, restoring 50% of its maximum HP and recovering 0.1% of its maximum HP per second for 30 minutes. If not under attack, the recovery effect will double.]

[Warning: The Raging Treant King has entered a "Rage" state; attack power increased by 50% for 3 minutes!]