Wang Zhifan then walked to the side of the large wild boar that had collapsed on the ground and plunged almost the entire blade of the Wolf-Slaying Blade he was holding into its body, piercing its heart with the tip.
During this process, the large wild boar in front of him showed no signs of struggle, not even letting out a single grunt, clearly having its soul severely damaged before being physiologically killed by him and turned into a fool.
In less than two seconds, the large wild boar before Wang Zhifan began dissipating across the vast prairie like smoke, while two light screen messages flashed in front of Wang Zhifan.
[You have leveled up to Lv2, Strength attribute increased by 1 point, personal space capacity increased by 1 cubic meter.]
[Please independently choose your instance rewards (up to 3 items)]
[Common Level (98% drop rate):]
[Short Axe (Common) X0~3...]
...
[Fine Level (1% drop rate):]
[Short Axe (Fine) X0~2, Pistol (Fine) X0~2, Short Knife (Fine) X0~2...]
[Wild Boar Armor (Fine) X0~2, Wild Boar Mask (Fine) X0~2, Pigskin Kneepads (Fine) X0~2...]
[Pistol Ammo Box (Fine) X0~2, Submachine Gun Ammo Box (Fine) X0~2, Rifle Ammo Box (Fine) X0~2...]
[Unyielding Ring (Fine) X0~2, Ring of Fury (Fine) X0~2, Tusk Ring (Fine) X0~2...]
[Warrior Skill Upgrade Scroll (Fine) X0~2, Mage Skill Upgrade Scroll (Fine) X0~2, Summoner Skill Upgrade Scroll (Fine) X0~2...]
...
[Rare Level (0.01% drop rate):]
[Iron Mountain Belt (Rare) X0~1]
"The level up added 1 point to Strength and space capacity, not much different from what I predicted."
At this point, Wang Zhifan first confirmed the improvement effects after his level up, feeling no ripple of emotion in his heart, because it was not far from what he had expected, then he closed this light screen message using his mind and opened his personal panel for a look.
[Name: Wang Zhifan.]
[Status: Normal, Tiger Slaughter.]
[Level: Lv2.]
[Experience: 29/100.]
[Profession: Knife Wielder.]
[Physique: 18.]
[Strength: 20.]
[Agility: 17.]
[Spirit: 16.]
[Skill: Basic Knife Technique Lv3.]
[Equipped: Wolf-Slaying Blade (Rare), Wolfskin Armor (Fine), Chapter of Obscurity (Rare).]
[Personal Space: Pistol (Common), Pistol Ammo (Fine) X10.]
From the panel, it can be seen that Wang Zhifan's current level has indeed increased to Lv2, and his Strength attribute has reached 20 points, already more than twice the average strength of a normal young adult male. In his personal space, there's also a Common level pistol from the deceased trench coat young man. As for the 10 Fine level pistol bullets, they were leftover after selling some bullets at the player market on Tianhua Street in Dongjiang City yesterday, just right for use with his newly acquired pistol.
"Not bad, not bad, next, I'll carefully see what good rewards are available."
This instance had unexpected gains, and Wang Zhifan felt good, ready to carefully choose his instance rewards next.
However, just as his eyes were skimming over the Common-level rewards section on the reward panel, which he was too lazy to look at in detail, a new light screen message suddenly emerged from the reward panel before him, occupying the center of his vision.
[You are about to enter the punishment stage, please prepare for combat, countdown: three, two, one… Teleportation begins…]
"Hm? Punishment stage? Must be a mistake, right?"
Upon seeing this light screen message, Wang Zhifan could hardly believe his eyes, thinking that cutting off the trench coat young man's hand was purely in self-defense and did not constitute a violation, and it wasn't he who later killed the trench coat young man, but the instance boss, the large wild boar, so he shouldn't be pulled into the punishment stage.
But at this moment, no matter how Wang Zhifan thought about it, it was of no avail, because the unknown great existence that created these instances never communicated with the players, and there was no player appeal channel. The message presented before him was merely a notification, not a negotiation.
So, just three seconds later, feeling a bit bewildered and without even fully understanding the instance reward list, Wang Zhifan suddenly found that his surroundings had changed.
Originally standing in a place with blue skies and white clouds plus vast grasslands, in the blink of an eye, he was now on a mountain peak with a bright moon hanging high.
Beneath his feet were stones bathed in moonlight, overhead was a nearly full moon, before him was a mountain top with a narrow area but visible edges that were all cliffs, and a figure standing at the opposite cliff edge.
Before Wang Zhifan could see clearly whether the figure standing opposite was male or female, the person suddenly charged at him at high speed, drawing a long knife from their waist, executing the whole set of swift movements while exuding strong killing intent.
"The opponent seems to be an expert."
As a Knife Wielder, Wang Zhifan immediately assessed that the enemy charging at him was not to be underestimated, indicating that this punishment stage was not going to be easy, requiring him to go all out.
At the moment before the enemy approached, he instantly considered whether to switch to using the pistol for attack, but he immediately abandoned this thought, instead raising the Wolf-Slaying Blade he held towards the opponent and charging.
But don't think he forgoes using the pistol out of some sense of chivalry; in reality, it was because he judged that using a gun under these circumstances might miss the enemy, posing a greater risk than using a knife.
Clang~
The two Knife Wielders collided with their weapons in the blink of an eye at the moonlit mountain top, with tremendous knife-wielding force creating a string of sparks in the air, along with the peculiar sound of a long blade's edge shattering.
"This masked man's strength is inferior to mine, and his knife isn't as good as mine."
Through this initial clash, not only did Wang Zhifan see that the opponent was a masked man, but he also gathered some valuable information; the masked Knife Wielder before him was weaker in strength and weaponry, which meant he had a considerable advantage in this battle.
But it seemed the enemy in front of Wang Zhifan didn't care about the lament of his weapon. Seeing that he was losing out in terms of strength and weapons, the masked man suddenly shifted the direction of his knife force usage, starting to employ techniques for twisting and entangling knives to counter Wang Zhifan.
Wang Zhifan countered every move, not yielding even half a step. His knife skills were at least at the level of a Lv3 adept, not so easily disrupted by the opponent's technical maneuvers.
Soon, the air atop the moonlit mountain was filled with grating sounds of steel clashing.
The two Knife Wielders first engaged in intense combat at the central area of the mountain top for a short while, then the masked man abruptly retreated with his broken knife to the edge of the cliff. Wang Zhifan pursued closely with the Wolf-Slaying Blade in hand, pressing tightly.
But upon reaching the cliff's edge, the masked man with the broken knife suddenly launched a desperate counter-attack against Wang Zhifan. As the masked man's chest was pierced through by the Wolf-Slaying Blade in Wang Zhifan's hand, the masked man also managed to stab Wang Zhifan in the waist and abdomen with his broken knife.