Server Chat Channel:

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: What does this leaderboard mean? Is it a live stream of the Survival Trial rankings?】

【Mudslide: Over 10,000 people from our server actually participated—they’re all heroes.】

【Storm God of War: Holy crap, look! It’s updated!】

A line of golden text gradually appeared on the leaderboard.

【My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens, Round 3, Cleared.】

【Solo 6: It’s the big shot “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens”! This is just the beginning, right? So strong…】

【Zhang San: No wonder he’s the big shot who got the first kill on the entire server. I wonder if this survival trial has a reward for being the first to complete it?】

“My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens” looked down at the sea of white light and flashed a smug, triumphant smile.

He thought, by now, the entire server must be able to see his name, sitting high at the top of the leaderboard, right?

The moment he imagined everyone gazing up at his ID, a surge of pride welled up from the depths of his heart.

As the green light drew closer, Qiyu could see clearly.

It was a pack of wolves.

Counting them, there were roughly twenty.

【Wild Giant Wolf: Tier 2 Mutant. Skills: Fangs, Claw Blades.】

The survival panel provides basic information on mutants, but what “Fangs” and “Claw Blades” entail is something survival players must verify for themselves.

Qiyu soon saw for himself.

The pack of gray giant wolves, standing a head taller than the fence, approached the fence. Seemingly stimulated by the bright sunflowers, they let out a long, piercing howl to the sky and launched a direct charge.

The ground spikes slowed them down, but ordinary-grade spikes struggle to inflict effective damage on second-tier mutated creatures. Soon, the first Wild Giant Wolf made contact with the fence. 

It raised its forepaw, and Qiyu saw a crimson crescent-shaped arc of light flash beneath it.

【Fence Durability -20.】

A single swipe knocked off 20 durability points—meaning a single fence could only withstand five hits.

And right before him were no fewer than twenty Wild Giant Wolves.

Qiyu dared not watch any longer; he hurriedly restored the fence’s durability and pressed himself against it like a ghost.

The barbarian fang dagger flashed through the darkness like lightning, swiftly slicing across the Wild Giant Wolf’s neck.

Qiyu was certain that, in reality, this strike would be enough to take the life of this massive beast.

However, this was a survival game.

A blood-red “Critical Hit” appeared above the Wild Giant Wolf’s head, followed by the massive number “-278.”

It hadn’t died.

It seemed that until their health was completely depleted, mutated creatures had no “vulnerable spots.”

Without hesitation, magic surged through him. He cast a Fireball spell to deal additional damage, hurling it straight at the wolf’s head.

—Even without a fatal weakness, he was still in the habit of striking vital areas.

As the Fireball struck the first giant wilderness wolf on the head, Qiyu had already materialized beside the next one.

The Agility bonus from his jade boots and the Stealth bonus from his phantom armor allowed him to move through the frenzied pack of wolves.

Spreading his mental energy, Qiyu could precisely “see” the movement trajectories of every Wild Giant Wolf.

A string of numbers—“-198,” “-207,” “-147”—exploded above the wolves’ heads.

Qiyu soon realized that even without the concept of “vital hits”, the probability of a critical hit increases significantly when attacking the head, chest, and other vital areas.

So, in a sense, this counts as a critical hit too, doesn’t it? 

Flames erupted from the gray mist.

The last Wild Giant Wolf vanished in a flash of white light.

Qiyu exhaled, carefully sensing the magic surging within him.

Sure enough, his usual stationary practice couldn’t compare to the real-world combat against these massive beasts.

To say the least, after this battle, his accuracy with Fireball and his control over magic had clearly reached a new level.

While pondering this, Qiyu swiftly collected all the white light.

【Obtained Wolf Teeth x40.】

【Obtained Wolf Hides x20.】

【Obtained Basic Resource Pack x10.】

【Congratulations, player! You have successfully completed the third round of the Survival Trial and received a reward: 1 brass chest.】

Qiyu let out a faint smile: clearly, the previous items were drops from killing prey, while the chest was the reward for passing the third round of the trial.

Without hesitation, he chose to open them all.

The ten Basic Resource Packs yielded 2 farmlands, 3 x 50 wood, 2 Basic Stamina Potions, 1 Basic Mana Potion, and 2 Dark Energy Orbs.

The brass chest emitted a blue glow.

【Congratulations to the player on obtaining the Heart of the Great Tree Staff, 1 Basic Well, and 1 Automatic Irrigator Blueprint.】

The largest cluster of blue light was none other than the Heart of the Great Tree Staff.

【Heart of the Great Tree Staff: Fine Equipment, crafted by the Great Treefolk. Equipment Stats: Attack +15, Mana Cost Reduced by 5%, Mana Regeneration Speed Increased by 5%. Note: Due to certain special reasons, it is not favored by elegant mages.】

The staff was about as tall as Qiyu. It looked quite plain, with a dark green shaft and a coil of vines wrapped around the top, in the center of which was embedded a clear, green, diamond-shaped crystal.

Qiyu’s eyes widened at the +15 Attack stat.

As another Fine-quality item, this Heart of the Great Tree staff appeared to have stats far superior to the Jade Set.

Qiyu reached out to grab it.

Thud!

The base of the staff slammed unexpectedly onto the ground, emitting a heavy thud.

Qiyu: …

He couldn’t help but examine this staff, which was certainly no thicker than his own wrist and could barely be described as “sleek and slender,” closing his eyes in a look that defied description.

After glancing at the staff’s description, he seemed to understand why it wasn’t favored by the elegant mages.

Glancing at the staff’s description again, he also seemed to understand why a single staff could grant a 15-point attack bonus.

Exhaling softly, he steeled himself this time, gripped the Heart of the Giant Tree wand firmly, and, as magic surged through him, raised it.

Ignoring the heavy weight in his hand, he carefully sensed the difference between the flow of magic throughout his body now and before.

A 5% reduction in mana consumption and a 5% increase in regeneration speed—it might seem insignificant, but the actual difference was quite noticeable.

The personal stats panel only displayed Attack, Defense, Agility, and Spirit. However, based on his own experience and observations of other players’ comments in the zone chat, Qiyu surmised that the Attack stat was likely related to Strength and Constitution.

For the vast majority of Earth natives, individual attributes were in the single digits. His starting Attack of 13 was actually quite high.

…Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t be able to lift this Heart of the Great Tree Staff.

He couldn’t help but take another look. He had no idea what material the staff was made of, but it was incredibly heavy.

In addition to the staff, the brass chest also yielded a well and an automatic watering device.

The well was a valuable item; with it, he no longer had to worry about drinking water. Qiyu decided to wait until the survival trial was over before carefully selecting a location to set it up.

Qiyu didn’t have a use for the automatic sprinkler just yet. He currently enjoyed using various variations of the Waterball spell to water his farmland—it was one of his few daily “game sessions.”