Deathly silence.
A silence like that of a graveyard.
On the wide avenue leading to the Lord's Manor, the arrogant, overbearing shouts and the clamor created by thousands of players had all vanished without a trace.
Replacing them was air that felt almost solidified, and... corpses covering the ground!
Over a thousand members of the Mad Dragon Guild were utterly slaughtered in those brief, nightmare-like dozen seconds by twenty "Killing Gods"—elite guards from the City of Glory—who descended from the sky and decimated them with overwhelming, ruthless force.
There were no screams, no resistance, not even a decent struggle.
The warriors and mages, considered elite by ordinary players, were as fragile as paper dolls beneath the rune-flashing long spears of the Level 50 elite guards.
[-895!]
[-1024!]
[-957!]
Terrifying four-digit damage numbers cascaded over their heads like a waterfall.
Whether they were knights in heavy armor or mages with magic shields activated, they were all killed in a single strike!
When the last member of the Mad Dragon Guild vanished into a white light, the red glow on the twenty elite guards slowly receded, and they returned to their solemn, statue-like stance, as if the earth-shattering massacre they had just performed was merely an insignificant farce.
And the instigator of this farce, Lin Mo, had simply stood still the entire time, without even moving his feet an inch.
He looked at the street before him, strewn with corpses and glittering with dropped equipment, his face utterly calm, as if he had anticipated all of this long ago.
Surrounding him were thousands of onlookers frozen in stunned disbelief.
Their mouths were wide enough to fit an egg, their eyes bulged like copper bells, and their brains had completely crashed due to the overly shocking scene they had just witnessed.
"W-what did I just see? A... massacre?"
"The Mad Dragon Guild... a thousand people... just... gone?"
"It was the guards! The guards did it! But... why would the guards attack them?"
After a brief silence, the crowd erupted in a clamor of exclamations and discussion, like a mountain collapse or a tsunami!
Soon, some quick-witted players pieced together everything that had just happened.
"It was Lin Mo! Lin Mo's attack! He used a skill on one of the Mad Dragon Guild members just now!"
"I remember! Malicious PK is forbidden in the City of Glory! Actively attacking a 'white-named' player will immediately draw the guards' aggression!"
"Oh my god... So, all of this... was planned by him? He deliberately walked to the area with the most guards, intentionally used a harmless skill to provoke the enemy into attacking... and then... used their hands to kill them?!"
"Hiss—!"
When this conclusion was drawn, everyone present couldn't help but gasp sharply!
Their gazes towards Lin Mo had completely changed!
If before, Lin Mo had been a powerful, incredibly lucky "hothead" in their minds.
Now, his image had quietly transformed into a "Tactician" whose wisdom was as deep as the sea and whose plans were flawless.
What terrifying cunning!
What a calm mind!
He not only calculated that the Mad Dragon Guild would definitely attack him, but he also accurately accounted for the guards' alert range, attack patterns, and even the hidden AI mechanism of "purging same-guild members"!
This was no longer playing a game; this was manipulating human nature and playing with the rule itself!
Fear!
A fear originating from the depths of the soul quietly spread among all the onlookers.
They realized for the first time that the true terror of this man, who consistently topped the level rankings, might not just lie in his abnormal level or mysterious talent.
"A demon... this guy is absolutely a demon!" a player muttered, voicing the thoughts of everyone present.
The "demon" himself, however, completely ignored the gazes of awe and fear surrounding him.
Under the scrutiny of thousands, he stepped forward, walking unhurriedly across the corpse-strewn street like a diligent farmer inspecting his fields.
He bent down and calmly picked up the equipment and potions dropped by the deceased Mad Dragon Guild members, one piece at a time.
Mad Dragon Soaring in the Sky had mobilized all the elite backbone members of his guild for this ambush, and the equipment they wore was all top-tier for the current stage.
After this wave, Lin Mo roughly estimated that he had picked up no less than thirty Bronze items!
Among them were even two "Fine-grade" items shimmering with silver light!
If this wealth were converted entirely into gold coins, it would be enough to double his total assets!
"Thank you for the gift, Guild Leader Mad Dragon."
Lin Mo placed the last piece of armor into his backpack, looking at the capacity bar that was already straining under the weight, a faint smile playing on his lips.
He raised his head, glanced over the surrounding players who were still in a state of shock, said nothing, turned around, and swaggered away under countless complicated stares.
Long after he left, the oppressive atmosphere on the street was finally ignited by a wave of frantic shouts!
"Holy crap! Awesome! That was damn awesome!"
"This is the true style of a Great God! The enemy's fleet was wiped out in a flash of conversation!"
"From today on, if anyone dares call Great God Lin Mo a coward, I'll be the first to fight them!"
At the same time, the official forum for *epoch* completely exploded because of a video recorded by a player who risked their life to film it.
[Title: Battle of the Century! Lin Mo Solo VS Mad Dragon's Thousand-Man Legion! God-Tier Tactical Analysis!]
The entire process of Lin Mo using the guards to kill his enemies and toying with the Mad Dragon Guild was fully documented in the video.
Less than ten minutes after the post was published, it had over a million views and more than a hundred thousand replies!
The name "Mad Dragon Guild," which once represented "hegemony" and "power" in the hearts of countless players, had today been completely reduced to the laughingstock of the entire server!
... Lin Mo remained completely unconcerned about the storm raging outside.
After storing all his spoils in the warehouse, he began his second plan in the City of Glory—searching for a class mentor.
He first arrived at the magnificent Temple of War.
In the center of the temple, a dwarf NPC, holding a giant axe and as burly as a mountain, was the Warrior class mentor.
Lin Mo walked forward and respectfully handed over his class change application.
However, the dwarf mentor merely glanced at him, sniffed loudly, and said gruffly: "Young adventurer, a power flows within your body... one that makes me uneasy.
It is cold, deadly, and filled with the aura of Wither and Decay, running contrary to the glorious, bright path of the Warrior.
I cannot be your mentor."
[Ding! Class change request rejected!]
Lin Mo frowned, said nothing more, and turned to leave.
He then went to the Rogue Guild, located in the city's shadow district.
The one who received him was an elf whose figure was shrouded in a black robe.
"You have the scent of 'poison' on you," the elf mentor's voice was hoarse and ethereal, "but it is not the poison we temper onto our daggers.
It is a kind of... 'Source Poison' originating from the depths of your soul.
The path he walks is deeper and darker than ours.
There is no suitable inheritance for you here."
[Ding! Class change request rejected!]
Subsequently, whether it was Ranger, Knight, or Berserker... without exception, all of Lin Mo's class change requests were rejected!
The reasons given by all the class mentors were surprisingly consistent—the power on him was incompatible with all known conventional class systems on the *epoch* continent!
"As expected..."
Lin Mo stood in the central plaza, looking at his class panel which still read "None."
He showed no sign of frustration; instead, a look of realization crossed his face.
All of this had been within his expectations.
As the unique Divine-grade talent, the Endless Poison Source, how could it be contained by these conventional classes?
The path he must take was undoubtedly an exclusive hidden class route, one that had no predecessors and would have no successors!
But where was the clue?
Lin Mo fell into contemplation.
He quickly reviewed the information he had previously obtained from the guard captain.
"Unusual power..." "Cold and deadly aura..." "Poison..."
These keywords constantly flashed in his mind.
Suddenly, he recalled a rumor from his previous life.
It was said that in every main city of *epoch*, there were hidden, eccentric "Master-level" NPCs.
They might not be class mentors, but they held the key to certain special domains.
These individuals rarely appeared in bustling marketplaces, preferring to stay in remote, inconspicuous corners.
For example... the Slums.
A sharp light flashed in Lin Mo's eyes.
He no longer hesitated.
He immediately opened the map and strode toward the most overlooked and chaotic area of the City of Glory—the West City Slums.
Passing through the bustling commercial district, the fragrance of perfume and fine wine in the air was gradually replaced by a damp, decaying smell.
The buildings lining the road also transformed from magnificent stone towers into low, dilapidated wooden shacks.
This was the dark side of the City of Glory.
Lin Mo's arrival immediately drew many malicious glances.
But when they clearly saw the ID above Lin Mo's head—a name that had already spread throughout the city—those gazes instantly retreated as if they had seen a ghost.
Are you kidding?
Even the Mad Dragon Guild was toyed with by him alone; who would dare provoke this Killing God?
Lin Mo ignored these minor interruptions.
He patiently navigated the maze-like alleys, carefully observing every shop.
Finally, at the end of a dead-end alley piled high with garbage, he saw a rickety wooden sign.
Written on the sign in crooked handwriting were the words—"Master Potions and Weird Wonders Workshop."
Found it!
Lin Mo pushed open the creaking, broken wooden door and stepped inside.
A strong, pungent, strange odor, mixed with hundreds of herbs, assaulted him.
The room was dimly lit and cluttered with bottles, jars, and rusty alchemy equipment everywhere.
A short, middle-aged man with hair like a bird's nest, a scruffy beard, and sunken eyes was slumped over a desk piled high with experimental gear, seemingly asleep.
[Alchemist: Pete (Master-level)] [Level: ???]
Lin Mo walked up and gently knocked on the table.
"Hello, I..."
"Get out!"
Pete suddenly lifted his head, revealing a pair of bloodshot eyes, and shouted impatiently: "Can't you see I'm busy researching the ultimate human problem of 'How to turn Troll snot into gold'?
Don't disturb me!
If you're not buying anything, beat it!"
Lin Mo looked at his destitute appearance and understood.
This was clearly an alchemy fanatic who had hit a research bottleneck and become somewhat deranged.
Dealing with this kind of person, conventional methods of communication were clearly useless.
Lin Mo said nothing more, but slowly released a trace of his aura.
That was the purest, most fundamental "poison" aura, originating from the Endless Poison Source talent.
Pete the Alchemist, who was impatiently waving his hand to dismiss him, suddenly twitched his nose sharply.
His originally murky eyes instantly lit up with an unprecedented brilliance!
Like a hunting dog, he suddenly darted out from behind the table, circled Lin Mo several times, sniffing him all over, muttering under his breath.
"No... it's not the stench of corpse grass... nor the venom of a Black Widow... This... what is this smell?
So pure... so ancient... This... this is the aura of Source Poison!"
Pete suddenly looked up, staring intently at Lin Mo with a fanatical gaze, as if looking at a peerless treasure, his voice trembling with excitement.
"You!
Who exactly are you?!
How do you have the scent of Source Poison on you?!"
Lin Mo's heart stirred.
It worked!
He calmly looked at the alchemist before him and slowly said: "I am an adventurer... who has been turned away by every class mentor.
They say my power does not belong to this era."
"Nonsense!
Of course it doesn't belong!"
Pete rubbed his hands excitedly, pacing back and forth.
"Source Poison is a power only possessed during the Age of Gods!
It is the cornerstone that forms the two great rules of Wither and Decay!
You... you are practically a walking 'Divine Material'!"
Lin Mo's heart gave a sudden leap.
This was the first time he realized his talent had such an astonishing origin!
"Master," Lin Mo seized the opportunity and asked, "Do you know where I can find an inheritance that can guide this kind of power?"
Pete's frenzy gradually cooled down.
He re-examined Lin Mo, a hint of cunning flashing in his eyes.
"Want to know?"
"Fine," he chuckled, revealing a set of yellow teeth.
"But there's no such thing as a free lunch.
My recent research has hit a bottleneck, and I need an extremely rare material to neutralize my potion."
[Ding! Alchemist 'Pete' has issued you a quest—[Pete's Trouble]!]
[Quest Content: Head to the Level 15 five-person dungeon, the Valley of the Dead, and collect a stalk of nether grass that has absorbed enough Death Aura from the deepest part of the valley.]
[Quest Difficulty: A-rank] [Quest Reward: ???]
Lin Mo looked at the quest panel, his gaze hardening.
A Level 15 five-person dungeon!
With his current strength, clearing it alone was absolutely impossible!
"Well, kid?" Pete looked at him smugly.
"As long as you can bring me back the nether grass, I will tell you a secret about the Thorn of Shadow.
They are a group of forgotten artists who truly know how to utilize 'poison.'
Perhaps they can give you the answers you seek."
"I accept."
Lin Mo accepted the quest without the slightest hesitation, cleanly and decisively.
He knew that from this moment on, his first and most crucial main quest in the City of Glory had officially begun!
He turned and walked out of the alchemy workshop, glanced up at the sky, and then opened his map, locating the Valley of the Dead.
It was located outside the City of Glory, a cursed land.
It seems... it's time to find some reliable teammates.