Chapter 4: Power Surges Dramatically, Unlocking the First Treasure Chest!

【Congratulations, you have successfully learned "Identification."】
【Identification LV1: Active skill, allows you to identify information about monsters and items.】
Ye Chuyun successfully acquired his first skill.

The fourth item was a blue stone.
【Skill Stone: Can upgrade any skill.】
Ye Chuyun’s excitement grew once again.

Skill Stones can enhance any skill, but higher skill levels require more stones. Without hesitation, he used it to upgrade Identification!
【Congratulations, Identification LV1 has upgraded to Identification LV2.】
【Identification LV2: Active skill, can identify information about monsters, items, and terrain.】

Ye Chuyun’s face lit up with joy. He pressed his palm firmly on the ground, silently chanting,
“Identify!”

The skill activated, and immediately, a map appeared vividly in his mind!
“This is the overall terrain map of the Poisonous Swamp!!”

A surge of delight filled him. With this map, combined with memories from his previous life about the Poisonous Swamp, his efforts would be twice as effective with half the work.

The last three items were three identical long knives. Each was adorned with intricate patterns, exquisitely beautiful, resembling works of art.
【Green Claw Machete: Attack +5, Strength +2, Tier 1 equipment.】
【Detected two more identical items in storage. Combine to upgrade?】

Ye Chuyun was not surprised; identical equipment could be enhanced, with the upgrade level depending on the equipment’s rank.
“Enhance!”

【Consumed two identical items, enhancement successful.】
【Green Claw Machete +2: Attack +15, Strength +6, Tier 1 equipment.】

“Awesome, absolutely awesome!”

That feeling of continuous gain was simply marvelous.

He swapped out his beginner’s machete and equipped the Green Claw Machete +2. Ye Chuyun glanced at his final stats:

Name: Ye Chuyun
Level: 1 (28/100)
Strength: 22
Agility: 6
Constitution: 6
Spirit: 6
Skills: Identification LV2
Combat Power: 95 (80 + 15)
Divine Demon Coins: 20
Equipment: Green Claw Machete +2 (Attack +15, Strength +6, Tier 1 equipment)

His combat power surged to 95! To put this in perspective, Wang Gang, the Sanda champion, only had 93 combat power even with his equipment bonuses. Ye Chuyun had surpassed him.

“It’s about time to set off,” he thought to himself.

Counting and assessing his spoils had taken about ten minutes. Outside, the fierce battle with the beasts was likely in full swing, so he needed to move quickly.

He glanced at the square where some people still wore troubled expressions, sighed softly, and walked away without looking back.

...

Beyond the square stretched an endless forest.

The dark, damp woods were shrouded by towering trees blocking the light, while ominous clouds gathered overhead, casting a heavy atmosphere.

Ye Chuyun cautiously pressed close to the trunks, avoiding the muddy pits on the ground. Those pits contained deadly toxins—once trapped, survival was nearly impossible.

The chat channel buzzed with activity; no one seemed to have discovered any treasure chests yet, or perhaps they had but kept silent.

His current goal was not to hunt beasts for experience.

In this Poisonous Swamp, dangerous beasts were everywhere, often in packs, making even a single kill challenging, let alone solo fights. There was no shortage of targets.

His true objective was the treasure chests hidden within the swamp.

Though his combat power was now 95, he still lacked confidence facing a level 1 beast in a one-on-one fight—such beasts typically had over 200 combat power.

Previously, he had killed five Green Claw Beasts by opportunistically swooping in for the final strike amid chaos.

Reborn into this life, he could no longer afford such recklessness. Careful planning was essential, with over an 80% chance of success before any action.

To be safe, he needed to increase his combat power by opening treasure chests, making solo encounters with beasts more secure.

Beasts did not respawn after being killed; treasure chests disappeared once opened. He had to outpace others and open as many chests as possible first!

Fortunately, armed with the Poisonous Swamp’s terrain map and memories from his previous life, he pinpointed several likely chest locations around the perimeter.

If a chest was within one meter, a prompt would notify him—no fear of missing them.

Howls echoed continuously from nearby beasts. Ye Chuyun crouched low, moving stealthily to conceal himself.

“If only I had an invisibility skill… then I wouldn’t have to be so tense.”

He sighed inwardly.

...

After over ten minutes, Ye Chuyun crouched near a massive tree in the southeast of the map.

【Notice: Treasure chest detected within one meter. Please search carefully.】

Quickly circling behind the tree, he spotted a one-meter-wide hollow containing a gray treasure chest quietly resting there.

“There really is one!” Ye Chuyun’s eyes gleamed with surprise.

This spot was something he had casually noticed in the chat channel during idle conversation in his past life.

Out of curiosity, he had asked the location, and the informant had answered truthfully.

It seemed that person hadn’t deceived him.

Crawling into the hollow, Ye Chuyun used Identification on the chest.
【Gray Treasure Chest: 90% chance to obtain Divine Demon Coins, 20% chance for Tier 1 equipment, 5% chance to get a skill book or special item.】

“Probabilities? Just open it and see.”

Without hesitation, he opened the chest, triggering a guaranteed drop.

A burst of colorful light flashed. The chest vanished, and four new items appeared in Ye Chuyun’s inventory.

Used to such bountiful rewards, he began examining them:

First item: 200 Divine Demon Coins.
Second item: A simple silver ring.
Third item: A red pill.
Fourth item: A skill book.

【Agility Ring: Wearing it grants +8 Agility, Tier 1 equipment.】
【Body Tempering Pill: Increases Constitution by 10 upon consumption.】
【Stealth Technique: Tier 1 skill, consumes spirit to become invisible for 30 seconds, cooldown two minutes, no learning requirements.】

He equipped the ring and swallowed the pill. His combat power soared again, reaching 131.

Having learned Stealth Technique, Ye Chuyun’s ears twitched at the sound of approaching footsteps. Quickly, he activated the skill and left the area.

Shortly after he left, three men and a woman arrived, each bearing varying amounts of blood and injuries.

One man, wearing an electric bike helmet, stared wide-eyed at the now-empty chest location.

“Damn, I wondered what that colorful light was—turns out it was a treasure chest.”

“No idea what the person who opened it got. Must have struck it big.”

“No matter how much they earn, it’s none of our business now.”

The others shook their heads and left the spot with the helmeted man.