Level 7 Gremlin elite's HP hovered around 1,500. For Ethan right now? No threat whatsoever.
With the Mithril Staff equipped, his Magic Attack had skyrocketed to 350. Layered under every permanent buff, Level 5 Smite dealt a horrifying 1,510 true Judgment damage per cast—ignoring defense entirely.
On top of that: 315 HP regen per second, 25 mana regen, insane sustain. He could stand in place and nuke forever.
Thirty Gremlin elite patrols roamed the Thunder Ruins in six squads.
Ethan closed in on one group without a word.
Smite!
-1,240!
A white-gold beam slammed down. The Gremlin elite archer crumpled instantly.
[System: You killed Level 7 Elite Gremlin Archer! +144 EXP!]
At Level 5, he needed 8,000 EXP for Level 6. These thirty elites alone would give him over 50% of that—plus the lord boss. If lucky, straight to 6.
Leapfrogging mobs granted extra EXP: roughly +10% bonus per level difference.
Elites doubled normal mob EXP; lords gave 50×.
Ethan fired Smite every second (thanks to 90% CD reduction from Elena's Prayer). In breaths, one squad vanished—leaving Bronze gear on the ground.
Gremlin Bow (Lv.5, Bronze)
Physical Attack: +90
Range: 25m
Special Effects:
Agility +3
Range +10m
Solid pickup. Ethan slung it over his shoulder. His attack options had been limited before—low physical damage. Now, with precise aiming from his past-life Assassin skills, he could trigger weak-point crits that ignored defense and doubled damage.
In Eternal Realm, physical crits came two ways: RNG-based (1.5×, affected by defense) or weak-point hits (ignore defense, 2×). Fatal crits? 3× ignore-defense, plus debuffs—game-changers in pro scenes. Half the legendary league reversals came from fatal crits.
Ethan couldn't reliably fatal-crit yet (needed physical class skills), but weak-point crits? Easy with his technique.
He drew the bow, aimed at a Gremlin elite warrior's eye.
Whoosh!
-238! (Weak-point Crit!)
The warrior roared, pulling two more squads toward him.
Ethan smiled, kiting them into a long line. Once all entered his 6-meter AoE range—
Holy Light Burst!
A three-meter-thick golden beam erupted from the Mithril Staff, piercing the entire line!
-648! -652! -1,320! (Spell Crit!) …
Damage numbers exploded. One unlucky Gremlin triggered the 5% spell crit and died instantly. Survivors burned with Holy Flame (from Elena's Prayer bonus): 20 damage/sec continuous.
"The single-target damage is lower than Smite, but the AoE covers a huge area. Pre-Level 10, only Fire Mage matches this efficiency."
With 90% CD reduction, he could spam Holy Light Burst every 3 seconds. For mob clearing? Outpaced even maxed Smite right now.
Three seconds later—another Burst.
Corpses piled up. Two full elite squads wiped.
"Two more Bronze pieces. Nice."
Ethan looted calmly. His elite drop rate hovered at 20%—thanks to 1 Luck + Merchant Jin's Blessing. Normal elites maxed at Black Iron; Bronze was lottery-tier without the +1 drop quality.
"Lord kill means guaranteed Silver gear."
He swept the remaining elites. Lords had 100% drop rates—first-kill bonuses even bigger.
No one else would reach this boss in time.
With his stats, sub-Level 10 lords were free.
…
While Ethan methodically cleared the Thunder Ruins, SharkStrike Streaming's top former pro player, Gou God, went live.
"Hey everyone! Your boy Gou God is here!"
Millions flooded the room instantly. Barrage exploded:
"Gou God!"
"Women's clothes when? I'm begging!"
"Women's clothes +1!"
"+10086!"
Gou God ignored the spam, grinning. "Going live early today—I'm jumping into the Nova Realm Climbing Competition!"
He leaned in mysteriously. "Two main prizes: Highest Level and Fastest Leveling. Runs one week—huge rewards!"
"Server's been up a bit, so Highest Level is tough. But after morning research, I've got the perfect leveling route! With this plan, Fastest Leveling is locked!"
"Fastest is per-level speed. As a manipulation god in Eternal Realm, I'm not messing around for seven days. Goal: shatter the pre-Level 10 fastest record!"
"Plan needs four toolmen—no big guild zergs. I'll random-select four lucky viewers later. Let's break records together!"
"Pick me!"
"Choose me, Gou God!"
"You bring toolmen? Solo or gtfo!"
Gou God stayed cool, pulled up the official database. "Before we start, let's check current records!"
"Level 1→2 fastest: 1 minute 39 seconds by 'God Apollo' on Server 1. MVP legend—deserved!"
"Now Nova Realm… uh… 6 seconds? Wait—what?!"
He rubbed his eyes.
[Nova Realm Fastest Leveling — Lv.1→Lv.2]
Inner Peace — 6 seconds
Forest Wood — 1 minute 09 seconds
Cao Fei Apollo — 1 minute 15 seconds
…
Three players beat Apollo's old record. Understandable—maps differed, four years later. But 6 seconds?
The room went silent.
"Drugs? Cheating?"
"Deadass superhuman."
"6 seconds… faster than breathing."
Gou God recovered. "No hacks—database ties direct to system. Real data."
He searched "Inner Peace" full history.
[Inner Peace]
Lv.1→2: 100 EXP — 6 seconds
Lv.2→3: 1,000 EXP — 2 minutes 19 seconds
Lv.3→4: 2,000 EXP — 4 minutes 35 seconds
Lv.4→5: 4,000 EXP — 4 minutes 06 seconds
Lv.5→6: 8,000 EXP — Updating…
Gou God went numb.
Speed increasing despite EXP doubling? Level 4→5 faster than 3→4?
Viewers lost it.
"Inner Peace is cracked!"
"Apollo took 10 minutes for 2→3—this guy's 2 minutes?!"
"4→5 in 4 minutes—Apollo needed 40! Ten times faster! Numb!"
"Talent for EXP bonus? Gotta be A-grade minimum!"
Just then—the Lv.5→6 updated live.
Lv.5→6: 8,000 EXP — 1 minute 38 seconds.
"???"
"1 minute 38 seconds? Beats Apollo's 1→2 record?!"
The chat froze in collective shock.
The Nova Realm Climbing Competition news spread like wildfire.
Forums exploded.
[Nova Realm Global Forum — Hot Threads]
"Inner Peace 1→6 in under 20 minutes total? What talent is this?!" (100k+ views)
"6-second Level 1→2—script or god?" (Top pinned)
"SharkStrike Gou God reacts live—loses his mind" (clips everywhere)
"Is Inner Peace smurfing? Report button ready"
"Priest main? With that speed? Broken class or broken player"
Ethan, deep in the ruins, had no idea his anonymous rampage had just set the entire server on fire.
He smiled at the incoming lord notification.
"Time for the main event."
The Thunder Ruins were now a graveyard of Gremlin elites. All thirty lay dead at Ethan's feet, their Bronze gear scattered like candy.
His new set-up pushed him further into broken territory.
—————
HP: 1,600
Mana: 1,250
Magic Attack: 400 (Mithril Staff equipped)
Physical Attack: 120 (Gremlin Bow equipped)
Physical/Magic Defense: 60/100
HP Regen: 315/sec
Mana Regen: 25/sec
Magic Crit Chance: 5%
Physical Crit Chance: 1%
—————
With every permanent buff stacked, a single Smite now smashed for 1,840 true Judgment damage—crits pushing even higher.
[Thunder Lord Kano (Lv.7, Lord-Level Boss)]
The massive Gremlin lord spotted him from his shattered throne, roaring as he leaped down, machete crackling with lightning.
Crackle!
A bolt from the sky slammed into Ethan.
[Thunder Strike hits you! -300 HP!]
[Paralyzed! Movement speed -20% for 3 seconds!]
+315!
A massive green number floated up—full health in an instant.
Ethan smirked. "Magic damage boss with solid output. Normal players at this stage would melt—magic defense barely 20, insta-dead from one combo plus slow. But me? This guy's toast."
He tested once more. The boss charged; Ethan stood firm.
Smite!
-3,680! (Critical Hit!)
Magic crit! The boss's HP bar plunged—down to 81.6% in one shot.
"20,000 HP pool. Cute. Still nothing."
Smite!
Another golden beam.
Smite!
Smite!
Five casts later, the boss closed the gap—health at 45%.
"ROAR!"
"Shut it."
Ethan sidestepped the wild machete swing, slung the Gremlin Bow around the boss's thick neck like a garrote, and yanked hard.
Kano toppled backward with a crash.
Smite!
Holy Light Burst!
Staff whacks—I knock! I knock! I knock!
[Holy Flame triggered! Target -20 HP/sec. Duration: ∞]
[Poison triggered! Target -20 HP/sec. Duration: ∞]
[Your actions have enraged Thunder Lord Kano!]
[Thunder Lord Kano enters Fury state! Evolves to Explosive Thunder Kano! Level rises to 10! Rank evolves to Domain Master-Level Boss!]
Ethan's eyes lit up. "Fury? Excellent."
Domain Master bosses normally spawned at Level 20+. A Lv.10 one was ultra-rare—guaranteed Silver drops at minimum.
But with Merchant Jin's Blessing (+1 drop quality permanent)... this kill meant Gold-grade gear.
Fury didn't restore HP—attributes spiked, attacks intensified, but the bar stayed low.
[Explosive Thunder Kano (Lv.10, Domain Master Boss): HP 20,000 / 200,000 (10%)]
"Twenty thousand left? Easy money."
Smite!
-3,680! (Crit!)
Smite!
-1,840!
The boss's health melted.
"ROAR! Human! You court death!!"
Explosive Thunder Kano bellowed in broken Common: "Arcane: Thunder Barrage!"
Thunder rained across a 20-meter radius—endless bolts.
Boom boom boom!
-700! +315! -700! +315! ...
Ethan tried to backpedal—too late. The boss clamped his ankle in an iron grip.
Strength gap was massive. Ethan, a squishy Priest, couldn't break free.
He was stuck "bathing" in lightning.
"Can't wait this out—who knows the duration? Time to end it!"
Eyes fierce, he channeled into the staff and hammered downward at point-blank.
Smite!
Holy Light Burst!
I knock! I knock! I knock knock knock!
-1,840! (Smite!)
-300! (Holy Light Burst!)
-80! (Weak-point Crit!) ...
Staff and bow strikes rained. The boss wailed—HP hit rock bottom.
With a final, desperate roar, Explosive Thunder Kano collapsed.
[Congratulations! You have successfully killed "Domain Master-Level Boss - Explosive Thunder Kano (Mutated)!]
[You have completed the first kill of a Domain Master boss on Nova Realm! Reward: Silver-grade Treasure Chest ×1! Temporary buff "Boss Slayer (Domain Master)" (1 hour). Full-server announcement incoming. Display name?]
[Congratulations! You have achieved the first Domain Master boss kill on Nova Realm! Reward: 10,000 EXP! Gold credits ×100! All base attributes +5! All fixed attributes +2! Full-server announcement incoming. Display name?]
"Anonymous for both."
Ethan selected hide instantly. He toggled name display off entirely.
Too early for spotlight. Wood that stands tallest catches the wind first.
Mood soaring, he checked rewards.
Level jumped—now Level 6 with <1,000 EXP to 7. A few trash mobs and done.
Base attributes +5 (like 20 free points for normals). Fixed attributes +2—Luck 3, Charisma 3. Old-server Lv.60 territory in two hours.
But the real prize?
[Boss Slayer (Domain Master): First-kill buff. When killing monsters up to Domain Master rank (inclusive), drop rate +100%, drop quality +1. Duration: ∞]
Ethan stared.
Permanent.
+100% drops. +1 quality. On everything up to Domain Master.
Combined with Merchant Jin's Blessing?
Absolute broken.
He grinned wide. "This... changes everything."
The full-server announcement boomed across Nova Realm—anonymous, of course.
[Server Announcement: Player [Anonymous] has achieved the first Domain Master boss kill on Nova Realm! Reward buffs applied server-wide for 1 hour!]
[Server Announcement: First Domain Master boss slain! Global first-kill achieved!]
Forums, streams, chats—pandemonium.
But Ethan was already looting the corpse, eyes on the glittering Silver-grade Treasure Chest.
Time to see what Gold-tier loot looked like.