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Zhan Long (eng) 71-89

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  Chapter 71 - The Prince of Dark Dwarves
  
  This chapter was sponsored by William Wang, Lucian and Issac Kerr. Thanks!
  
  Three golden hexagons appear on my Jade City Sword, allowing me to confirm that the combo this time would consist of three attacks - the number of hexagonal stars appearing indicates the number of attacks the combo will do, a rule which I have understood with practice.
  
  "Hua!"
  
  "311!"
  
  "327!"
  
  "334!"
  
  ......
  
  
  
  The damage efficiency is still not too bad, with just a combo, I have already removed almost a thousand of his health points. The level 40 dark dwarf, originally possessing over 2000 health points plummets after getting violently stung by Baby Bobo who was dancing at his sides. Then, with a direct stab from my sword, the job is done!
  
  Hmm, the effectiveness of a surprise attack is quite good, the level 40 Dark Dwarf didn"t even get a chance to retaliate and was wiped out in just a few seconds.
  
  
  
  By ending the battle fast, my health potion and mana potion consumption was reduced. Bringing Baby Bobo along, I rushed towards the Dark Dwarf that"s sharpening the edges of the war axe. Unfortunately, at the moment when I closed the distance between him and me, the other two Dark Dwarves immediately got aggro-ed by my actions. 1V3, I guess I"ll have to go all out, otherwise I don"t a chance completing this quest!
  
  "Shua!"
  
  As usual, the combo has a short cooldown time of 6 seconds. I sent a second combo attack towards the second dwarf as soon as the cooldown came off. At the same moment, I lower my body and my iron fist crashes into the ground. Pah, ?Binding Chains? was immediately evoked and rose from the ground, chaining the feet of the third dwarf. At the same time, Baby Bobo went on the offense. I try to finish him off but I was slightly late, the Dark Dwarf had already begun his attack. His battle axe floated with crimson red flames, its the level 40 close-range skill - ?Flame Blade?
  
  "Boom!"
  
  
  
  "397!"
  
  There was a loud ringing sound on the Dawn Breastplate and I felt a surge of pain. the offensive capability of ?Flame Blade? was definitely not just for show. Now I understand why this quest is ranked A.
  
  
  
  Immediately retreating back a step, I send Baby Bobo up to attack, dealing the coup de grace on the second Dark Dwarf. The next moment, weng weng, it flew towards the the third Dark Dwarf to intercept it but got attacked by ?Flame Blade?. Ka cha, the war axe immediately tries to decapitate the head of the Overlord Bee, displaying a damage amount of 474.
  
  
  
  Controlling both my pet and myself, while Baby Bobo retreated, I immediately rush forward to take his place and positioning my sword, I lower my body position and in an instant, a flash of white light surges from my feet, activating my chain combo attack, ?Strength of a Thousand Men?!
  
  A flurry of furious attacks lands on the body of the fourth Dark Dwarf, bringing out a whole string of damage numbers-
  
  "231!"
  
  "244!"
  
  "217!"
  
  "274!"
  
  
  
  "809!"
  
  ......
  
  
  
  As expected, the Dark Dwarves are overwhelmingly powerful in their offensive power. However, their defense is extremely weak. With a 5 hit combo, I was able to remove a big chunk of his health. With another attack from me and Baby Bobo, done! However, at that point, the third Dark Dwarf managed to free himself of my ?Binding Chains? and charges towards me with yet another ?Flame Blade?.
  
  
  
  "778!"
  
  It was a critical hit!
  
  I was stunned for an instant, I had 1 point of Hp left! I had 1176 Hp, how can this be!?
  
  I immediately set my hands moving, ?Heal?!
  
  "+600!"
  
  That was alarmingly dangerous. I definitely should not underestimate the monsters here, the attack power of ?Flame Blade? is pretty powerful and not something most players can endure. Next time, I must make sure to block it or dodge it. If I were to keep taking these attacks, I could be KO-ed within two hits.
  
  
  
  While still in a panic, I coordinate with Baby Bobo to get rid of the last Dark Dwarf. Only when all of the dwarves are lying on the floor did I realize that my heart was thumping out of my chest. However, my experience bar brought me some comfort. After killing 4 of these Dark Dwarves, my experience points immediately increased by 1%. By my calculations, killing 400 of them would allow me to level up once. Looks like if I were to complete the quest by today, getting to level 38 wouldn"t be impossible!
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Picking up the silver coins from the floor, I note that level 40 human-like monsters were actually quite rich. On average, each of these Dark Dwarves drops 3 silver coins each. After killing 2000 dwarves, I would have 60 gold coins. To be honest, even if I were here only to farm for money, it would be quite profitable!
  
  While killing these Dark Dwarves, I browse through the forums and find many guilds or studios, whether big or small, recruiting new members -
  
  ?Recruiting(Posted by:Mischievious Rock)?:Mischievious Rock studio is currently recruiting new personnel, only limited to mages, swordsman and players with strong solo-ing abilities. We provide lodging and food and only request for players to farm at least 5 gold coins each day. Wages are up for discussion!
  
  
  
  ?Recruiting(Posted by:Black Flame)?:In Ba Huang City, the Black Flame Guild is currently recruiting expert players that are above level 32. We will be organizing a hundred-man party to hunt down a level 50 gold-rank boss seven days later to obtain a gold-tier equipment as well as our guild"s Guild Creation Card!
  
  
  
  ?Recruiting(Posted by:Wandering Wolf Spirit)?:The Victorious studio is currently recruiting new players. We require a high level healer possessing at least 30+ heal boosts. The job of the healer would be for treating the wounded and preparing the meals. The wage every month would be at least 5000RMB. We would prefer a female healer and if she has good looks, we can add in bonuses.
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  I frowned, I can tell that this wasn"t a poster to recruit new players, it was a poster to recruit a girlfriend. Quite creative...
  
  "Pa ta!"
  
  While deep in thoughts, suddenly, as a Dark Dwarf was killed, a round metal helmet drops. Picking it up from the grass, it was a green-rank equipment and had decent defense stats. It increases the equipper"s strength by 14 but it doesn"t have any additional effects. It could be considered as a middle-tier equip. In the 3 main cities in the China server, everyone seems to be more concerned with leveling speed and the top players in each of the main cities are going mad from training. When everyone is of high level, there would naturally be more good equipment. Currently, just counting Ba Huang city, there are already at least 20+ gold-rank equipment, 500+ silver-rank equipment and needless to say, the green-tier equipment would be countless. Especially more so, these equipment are not actual end-game equipment, smart gamers would know not to spend too much capital on these equipment. Of course, this is excluding people who are remarkably rich like Tyrant of Western Chu who would guard my corpse for an entire night for a black iron equipment; that isn"t what most people are able to do.
  
  
  
  After killing for a while, I look at my current quest progress, it was already at 87/2000. In general, the Dark Dwarves gather in fours, thus the killing speed is actually quite fast, though it could prove to be quite dangerous as well. Fortunately, I possess a LV-4?Heal?, which is equivalent to having a high level healer by my side. Also, the damage output from Baby Bobo is also quite high, otherwise I really wouldn"t be able to complete this quest.
  
  Time passes quickly and soon, it"s already 4PM. My quest progress was at 741/2000 and I have already reached level 36 with 74% experience. My leveling pace was quite rapid, far beyond my calculations. I estimate that by the end of today, I can probably reach level 38 or perhaps, if Dalin was generous and gave me good rewards, I can reach level 39!
  
  
  
  In my bag, there are 10+ black iron equipment, seven to eight green-tier equipment and five bronze equipment. My 29 charm provided me with rather abundant loots and this mission on the frontlines will definitely reward me with even more charm. I could already imagine, after completing this mission, my strength will rise rapidly! But of course, what I still value most now is still reaching level 40, the two new skills ?Ice Blade? and ?Swordsmanship Specialization? are simply too powerful!
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Accompanying the two beauties for dinner, I didn"t even bother to chat with them, I rushed through my meal and went back online!
  
  All the way until 10PM at night, I kept hammering away at my quest and finally I reached my target of 2000/2000. My level is at 38 with 52% experience, it"s still a long way from reaching level 39 but, what was most exciting is that for the first time, in a very rare case, I"m the top 10 players list in Ba Huang City!
  
  1?Yan Zhao Warrior?Level 40?Job:Swordsman
  
  
  
  2?Jian Feng Han?Level 39?Job:Swordsman
  
  
  
  3?General Li Mu?Level 39?Job:Swordsman
  
  
  
  4?Yue Qing Qian?Level 39?Job:Assassin
  
  
  
  5?General Bai Qi?Level 39?Job:Berserker
  
  
  
  6?Yue Wei Liang?Level 39?Job:Assassin
  
  
  
  7?Soaring Dragon?Level 38?Job:Mage
  
  
  
  8?General Wang Jian?Level 38?Job:Swordsman
  
  
  
  9?Fierce Tiger?Level 38?Job:Berserker
  
  
  
  10?Xiao Yao Zi Zai?Level 38?Job:Scavenger of Dragon City
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  On the top players rank board in Ba Huang City, the most magnificent person has finally appeared. Although he"s currently lagging behind in the tenth place, at least he is now on the board and on top of that, my popularity in Ba Huang City is not too bad. In any case, I"m the man became famous a few days ago after being hunted down by the Wrath of Heroes and yet still coming out alive. A person who"s able to achieve that must be exceptional!
  
  Tightly clinging onto my Jade City Sword, I looked towards the front, the Dark Dwarves" camp that has been largely cleared by me. Moving forward anymore would bring me a blood-red coloured tent on top of a large rock. By the side of the tent, there are two dwarves who are holding metal swords. There"s no doubt that the person in the tent must be one of the leaders behind the Dark Dwarves!
  
  Yup, the quest requires me to kill him!
  
  
  
  Bringing Baby Bobo along, I step on the green rock with my Silver Locked Battle Boots and rush forward. After getting my health back to full, Baby Bobo lures the two guards towards me. Both of them were level 42 guards, but currently, I"ve already reached level 38, the difference in our levels is a mere 4, thus I don"t feel much pressure facing them both. Furthermore, Baby Bobo is also level 38, and his stings are sharper than ever!
  
  In a dizzying confusion, the two guards fell to the ground dead and looking at the faint light in the tent, I grabbed my long sword tightly. Hehe. it"s time for a one-on-one!
  
  ......
  
  
  
  "Shua!"
  
  My blade fiercely cuts through the cloth of the tent. In the night, the interiors of the tent felt warm but the scene that appeared before left me shocked -
  
  
  
  On the bed, there were two female, both in their twenties, being bounded there with their arms tied behind their backs. Their arms were filled with blood red wounds. Both of them are wearing blouses and by their side, there are two magic staffs, indicating that they are probably either mages or healers. Their mouths were stuffed with cotton and upon seeing me, they began to shout agitatedly.
  
  ......
  
  
  
  My heart sunk for a moment, I was completely speechless. Why are there human women in this tent, could they be captured?
  
  Moving forward, I stretch my hand and remove the cotton from the two female NPC"s mouth, and surprisingly, they kept their cool. Looking at the signet on my arm, one of them says, "I really didn"t expect it, to think that there would actually be brave souls coming from Ba Huang City to save us!"
  
  I ask, "Who are you?"
  
  The other lady replies, "We are rangers from Ba Huang City and we were under orders to impart magical skills and healing techniques to the children from the surrounding villages. However, we didn"t expect that we would get lost and ended up getting captured by this bunch of despicable Dark Dwarves in the Fire Stone Canyon."
  
  
  
  "Hurry..." The woman on the left perks her ears and says with an anxious tone, "That demon is coming back. You... you better leave quickly, otherwise he would slaughter you!"
  
  "What demon?"
  
  I hold my sword in front my chest and while looking outside, laugh, "Watch as I get rid of that demon..."
  Chapter 72 - Killing His Highness
  
  This chapter was sponsored by William Wang and Fabio Cunha Cintra! Thanks!
  
  "Shua!"
  With a flash of the Jade City Sword, the ropes binding the two ladies are severed and fall to the ground. In the game, my perception of distance is pretty accurate.
  
  
  
  The two ladies immediately go into action, each of them grabbing their staffs. When one of the ladies grabs her staff, the tip of her staff morphs into a shape of a medicine pot. Indeed, she"s a healer, there is finally hope!
  
  ......
  
  
  
  "Hua!"
  
  The curtains of the tent are forcefully pulled apart. A man with a black skin tone, carrying a war axe, walks in. Jie jie, without even looking, he laughs and says, "And here I was wondering who it was that dared to enter my tent, and it turns out to be nothing more than a timid little mouse! You two beauties over there; your boss has finally returned. Now we can finally get started..."
  
  I look at the two beautiful NPCs, the clothes on their body are torn apart and their skin is bruised. Then I count with my fingers. I"ve been grinding here for ten hours, and in ten hours, he was actually unable to dominate two women, what kind of efficiency is this!?
  
  Holding my sword in front of my chest, while Baby Bobo dances around my shoulders, I take a closer look. The burly dwarf leader who just walked in is indeed different from the rest. He is fully dressed in shining golden armor and his long beard, perhaps afraid that it might shed, is held in place by gold band. In short, the dwarf in front of me must be some kind of royalty within the Dark Dwarves tribe. Looking at his name, it is indeed as I expected -
  
  ?Prince of Dark Dwarves - Ming Jie?(Gold-rank Boss)
  
  
  
  Level:43
  
  
  
  Attack:750-880
  
  
  
  Defense:700
  
  
  
  HP:400000
  
  
  
  Abilities:?Heavy Strike??Flame Blade??Night Dance of the Axes?
  
  
  
  Description: Ming Jie, a prince of the Dark Dwarves in the Far East, is the absolute king of the Dark Dwarves. Ming Jie is brutal and lustful nature and has a special interest towards female humans and night elves. According to legend, in the mountain caves of Prince Ming Jie, there are more than 100 beautiful moon elves hidden...
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Looking at the description, I shout with indignation, "You beast!"
  
  Ming Jie also starts roaring. Holding war axes in both of his hands, he shouts, "Gah! Damn brat, where did you pop up from? To actually dare to steal away my women, prepare to go to hell!"
  
  With a flick of my arms, the Jade City Sword carves out a flower in the air and at the same time, the golden signet on my arm emits a faint light, and on my shoulders, a line of clear words can be seen - 10th Rank in Ba Huang City!
  
  Behind me, the beautiful healer NPC looks at my back and says, "Youngster, you can put your heart at ease and focus on the fight, I will use recovery magic to soothe your wounded body..."
  
  
  
  From the looks of it, I will be able to get healed by the NPC. Good, now my odds of beating him are much higher!
  
  "Shua..."
  
  
  
  Stepping out, I make a preemptive strike. With a flash of my blade, the mark of a flower appears at the boss"s neck with fresh blood gushing out from the wound. The attack reduces the boss of 247 of his health points; the defense of this boss is really pretty impressive. Just a little less offensive power and I wouldn"t be able to break his defense to deal significant damage. In the next instant, I get into the position of a sword stance and three rays of hexagram light appear on my blade. Pah pah pah, light emits from my sword as I do a combo slash on the boss.
  
  
  
  "221!"
  
  "198!"
  
  "207!"
  
  My attacks completely enrage the prince of the Dark Dwarves. He roars and brandishes his war axes, cutting downwards. Crimson red flames appear after his axes, indicating the usage of his level 40 skill - ?Flame Blade?!
  
  
  
  I hastily retreat and try to dodge by moving out of the axe"s trajectory. But, due to my agility being much lower than the boss, there is an intense pain on the back of my shoulders and with the downward cut of the axe, I am almost beheaded-
  
  
  
  "679!"
  
  Looking at those damage numbers, my soul goes into a frenzy, I can feel my heart breaking apart. If the boss attacks me once more, I would most certainly be KO-ed. Waving my arms around, the light of recovery appears on my sword and with a glow of light on me, I recover 600 health points. At the same time, I punch the ground.
  
  "Peng!"
  
  A long metal chain emerges from the ground and entangles around the feet of Ming Jie. A LV-4 Binding Chain lasts for only 2.1 seconds against Ming Jie due to the natural resistance of boss-tier monsters; otherwise it would last for at least 3 seconds.
  
  
  
  Baby Bobo begins an attacking frenzy and continuously stings the boss. At the same time, I swiftly move to the right side of the boss. A white aura emanates from beneath from my feet, and I activate?Strength of a Thousand Men?. A flurry of a five combo hit slashes at the boss in a timeframe of 1.2 seconds. However, the fourth hit doesn"t manage to break the boss"s defense. As for the final strike, ?Wind Blade?, it only deals 409 damage. But it can"t be considered too bad, because no matter what, the monster in front of me is a gold-tier boss.
  
  After 2.1 seconds pass, Prince Ming Jie roars and once again, lifts his war axe and does a ?Heavy Strike? against Baby Bobo!
  
  "709!"
  
  Baby Bobo trembles. Fortunately, Baby Bobo is already at level 38 and his health has risen considerably. Otherwise, it would probably be a one hit KO!
  
  I start to panic and immediately move Baby Bobo backwards while I move myself up to take its place. Pah pah, with a stab and a slash from the Jade City Sword, I remove 400 health points from the boss, angering the Dark Dwarf once again. Holding the war axe, he does a horizontal sweep, causing my health to drop rapidly. Fortunately, the beautiful healer behind me is continuously waving her staff and casting one ?Heal? after another, recovering my health points by 750 each time.
  
  
  
  However, the boss"s attacks continue furiously, and in the blink of an eye, I am still unable to hold my ground.
  
  "Peng!"
  
  The light on the war axe shines brightly and in an instant, the small tent breaks apart. The moonlight scatters on all of our bodies.
  
  "Go to hell!"
  
  Prince Ming Jie, stomping on the rock, continues his flurry of attacks!
  
  "Keng!"
  
  "398!"
  
  With his blows, he knocks back my Jade City Sword and at the same time, deals out high damage. I also notice that whenever the boss does a horizontal sweep, his war axe always glows with a crimson red aura, it seems like his main method of attacking is a horizontal sweep. Maybe that"s the reason why he keeps dealing out horizontal sweeps, causing my health to barely upkeep with his damage output.
  
  
  
  What"s worse is that I have been paying attention to the mana bar of the healer and the longest she can sustain the healings is around 5 minutes or so. If this goes on, once her mana bar drops to zero, I will surely be killed.
  
  
  
  As for the mage, she has been consistently casting ?Icicle Spell?s to control Ming Jie"s attacking speed and movement speed; otherwise I would probably have been dead long ago.
  
  
  
  "Shua!"
  
  "+600!"
  
  After self-healing myself for 600 health points, I look around at my surroundings and while holding my sword, I retreat quickly. Behind me is a narrow pass between the mountains which is about a meter wide. Baiting him there, I decide that it was there that I shall exterminate this level 43 gold-tier boss!
  
  "Darn brat, I shall break all your tendons and skin you alive, and you will feel what hell on earth means!"
  
  Prince Ming Jie, carrying his war axe, rushes into the corridor and carries on with his usual horizontal sweeping attack pattern. However, the one meter long war axe immediately clashes into the mountains at both sides causing sparks to fly everywhere. Due to the lack of space, the war axe is unable to showcase its true prowess, causing his offensive power to take a huge dip, dishing out damage less than 200 with each strike. His methods of attacking with the war axe are either a vertically downwards cut or a horizontal sweep whereas with my Jade City Sword, my greatest expertise lies in stabbing, which also happens to deal the most damage. With the tides turning, my healing gradually starts keeping up with the rate I was losing my health points. To add on, Baby Bobo is flying around and from time to time and deals an excruciating blow to Ming Jie!
  
  
  
  Very soon, I begin to see hope in killing this level 43 boss. Behind the corridor, the two NPC ladies also catch up and the pretty healer begins to heal me using ?Therapy?. It is the situation I want to see, her being able to control her mana output.
  
  
  
  "Damn it. Go to hell, all of you!"
  
  When Ming Jie"s life has only around 10% of his health left, he suddenly lowers his body posture, and his body begins to be surrounded by a dense and dark smoke. He is about to use his final technique - ?Night Dance of the Axes?
  
  
  
  "Peng peng peng..."
  
  The edge of his axe brakes apart the mountain rocks at the side. Prince Ming Jie looks like a black rock rolling towards me.
  
  I don"t dare to let down my guard and immediately place the long sword horizontally in front my chest, entering a defensive state!
  
  "Keng keng keng..."
  
  As the edge of the axe clashes with the blade, it sparks off a series of sparks. It is a way of fighting that places one"s life on the line. The damage numbers continuously appear, giving me no chance to heal myself -
  
  "298!"
  
  "301!"
  
  
  
  "297!"
  
  "344!"
  
  ......
  
  
  
  In an instant, my health reaches rock bottom and in the next moment, I appear in a nearby grave as a wandering soul. Damn it, I was actually killed like that?!
  
  But within the second that I am killed, a system notice appears in front of my eyes -
  
  
  
  "Di!"
  Battle Notice: Healer Katarina used ?Revive?, would you like to revive now?
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Revive?! A level 40 healer skill!
  
  I immediately choose to revive and in a flash of light, I appear at the spot where I died with 50% health and mana. Raising my hands, I use ?Heal? and at the next moment, I am at full health once again. At the same, a white aura emanates from beneath my feet and I immediately activate ?Strength of a Thousand Men? and do a combo hit on the back of the boss!
  
  With only 10% health remaining, the boss has already entered a dying state, its roar gradually get softer and softer. At the same time, being stuck in this corridor, it is unable to use its full power. On top of that, the ?Night Dance of the Axes? has a cooldown time of at least 5 minutes and 5 minutes is sufficient for me to remove that remaining 10% health from him!
  
  
  
  The boss"s life bar gradually gets shorter and shorter, my heart is about to leap out of my throat. Looking at my arm, the "10th Rank in Ba Huang City" signet on my arm has already disappeared. Damn it, losing one level has caused me to go out of the ranking.
  
  
  
  With one slash after another, a sense of satisfaction builds up within my heart. A 43 gold-tier boss, I wonder what treasures this Dark Dwarf Prince would drop for me.
  
  The mystery is unraveled in two minutes. Along with a fierce blow from my ?Wind Blade?, Prince Ming Jie cries in agony, keng, the war axe in his hands brakes into two parts and he kneels on the floor, his eyes filling with indignation, "Brat, if you kill me, my father will definitely lead his great army to seek revenge for me. Just wait and see..."
  
  
  
  "Hua la la..."
  
  At the moment at the boss dies, a few pieces of equipment drop. At the same time, I level back up to level 38, the "10th Rank in Ba Huang City" signet reappears on my shoulders. How magnificent!
  
  Silently moving forward to see the items that Ming Jie drops, I see a crimson red necklace which resembles the movements of a burning flame and a shield that seems to be molded by cold metal. He also drops 10+ gold coins together with a mysterious gemstone. The gemstone is clear without any flaws and shines brightly. Although I have no idea what type of item it is, an item dropped by a gold-tier boss can"t possibly be anything bad!
  Chapter 73 - Shield of the Broken Army
  
  This chapter was sponsored by Zachary Tanmizi, Fnu Mahendran Siddharth, Rick Nelson, Felix Alexy and William Wang. Thanks!
  
  TL: 1 out of 1 Chap Zhan Long today and probs a chap of BTTH tmrw! Tired, sorry about the promise before, I"ll make it up tomorrow.
  
  I hold the necklace in my hand; its end was shaped like a battle axe. The necklace has a blood-red glow and killing intent saturates the air. At the same time scorching energy seeps into my palm. Mm, this necklace isn"t a bad item or else it wouldn"t have such a dense feeling!
  
  
  
  I wave my hand and the stats of the necklace appear in front of me. Indeed they don"t disappoint--
  
  
  
  ?Necklace of the Broken Army?(Gold-Tier Equipment)
  
  
  
  Strength: +27
  
  
  
  Endurance: +25
  
  
  
  Additional: Increases defense by 70 points
  
  
  
  Level Requirement: 38
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Holding this Necklace of the Broken Army I stare at it blankly for 10 seconds. Finally, I remember to breathe. 27 strength and 25 endurance, these are all stats that a swordsman needs! Those 70 points of defense are also very valuable. It can raise my defense to a whole new level! More importantly, 70 points of defense would take at least 60 points in toughness (defense) to reach that. So the real value in this necklace is much more than the 27 strength and 25 endurance!
  
  
  
  With a pop the necklace appears on my neck and replaces the original Necklace of Bravery. The equipment that the General Family "gifted" me has reached its end...
  
  
  
  ?Xiao Yao Zi Zai? (Scavenger of Dragon City)
  
  
  
  Level: 38
  
  
  
  Attack: 639-852
  
  
  
  Defense: 675
  
  
  
  HP: 1356
  
  
  
  MP: 470
  
  
  
  Charm: 29
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  The original necklace increased maximum HP by 50 points, but the new Necklace of the Broken Army increases 25 endurance, which means that my maximum HP increased by 200 points, so obviously it"s way superior. In addition to those 70 points of defense, my tenacity has increased significantly! With my 675 points of defense I can match the average monks and knights.
  
  
  
  Why? First of all my defense equipment is fairly good. My Elite Steel Wrist Guards and Silver Locked Battle Boots are both silver-rank equipment and Dawn"s Chestplate is a gold-rank equipment. With this Necklace of the Broken Army, all my defensive equipment are quite high class. With my strong attack and healing skills, my entire combat ability is at least in the top 10 in Ba Huang City. Of course if you add battle tactics, control, etc., I might not reach the top 100. I am very clear about that. I"m fairly new to these VR games and if I meet anyone on the leaderboard, killing any of them will take quite a bit of work.
  
  
  
  I continue going through my loot. Besides the necklace, the dark prince also dropped a shield for me. I struggle to raise the huge black shield. With a shake of my arms the stats appear in front of my eyes. Damn, nice!
  
  
  
  ?Shield of the Broken Army? (Gold-rank Equipment)
  
  
  
  Defense: 170
  
  
  
  Strength: +25
  
  
  
  Endurance: +20
  
  
  
  Additional: Increases defense by 0.9%
  
  
  
  Level Requirement: 38
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  The moment I laid my eyes on the stats of this shield, I froze. 170 points of defense! Damn, who in this world can take more hits than knights or monks? Out of the 9 main classes, only monks and knights can equip this shield and the defenses on a shield are way more than chest plates of the same level! By this alone, the meat tank positions of the two classes are untouchable.
  
  
  
  I put away the shield and I say no more. Time to get rich. None of my close friends need this shield, so I should sell it. A gold-rank shield will undoubtedly fetch a high price!
  
  
  
  I continue and gather up the gold coins on the ground before finally looking at that faint purple gem. I pick it up and go silent--
  
  
  
  ?Soul Gem?: Strengthens weapons or defensive equipment to improve the quality of the equipment!
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Soul Gem?!
  
  
  
  I pick up this purple rock and think for a while. Then I open the strengthening window and decide to put my sword in it along with the warm Soul Gem. Indeed the percentage of strengthening appeared --90%!
  
  
  
  Whatever, I"ll strengthen it first and then figure it out later. I don"t have any good defensive equipment to strengthen anyways!
  
  
  
  After pressing "Yes" and with a ding...
  
  
  
  System Notification: Congratulations! Your item [Jade City Sword] has been strengthened! Also, since you are the first player to successfully strengthen an equipment, charm +2!
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Good, I have 31 points of charm now, but that"s not the important part. What does my sword look like after it has been strengthened?!
  
  
  
  I quickly open up my bag and hold the sword. I re-equip it and scan over it. The stats really did change--
  
  
  
  ?Jade City Sword +1?(Gold-rank Equipment)
  
  
  
  Attack: 210-300(+21-30)
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Hehe, looking at the stats with +1, it raises 10% of the attack damage?!
  
  
  
  Looking at the stats it really did add 21-30 attack damage. Hehe, looking at the effects of strengthening, soul gems seem pretty good. But I"m the first player to strengthen an equipment, so perhaps it was a waste to use it on my sword...
  
  
  
  Whatever, I"ll return first and hand in the mission!
  
  
  
  I say my goodbyes to the two NPCs and sadly I don"t have any method of communication or else I would leave my Skype or something with them. The two are almost in tears while watching me leave and seem to not want to separate. I almost feel like they want to say something like, "I"m afraid that we won"t be able to meet again. So I have no other request, but only beg that I can sleep with you for one night, so I can understand and ease your pain and suffering..."
  
  
  
  Seeing as those two almost want to cry I quickly take my sword and leave. In the desolate basin I have the prince"s head in one hand. This is proof of my work!
  
  
  
  I rush straight to the Dragon City and find Beast Tamer Dalin carving away at a huge log with a small knife to create a fence to block out deer. This really moves my heart because on one side he needs to hunt and collect food for the winter and on the other side he needs to collect manure. Even the defense work for Dragon City is done by him!
  
  
  
  I walk up to him and say, "Instructor, you work way too hard. Let other people do these small tasks..."
  
  
  
  "Other people?"
  
  
  
  He sneers at me, pats my shoulders, and says, "Boy, you don"t understand. Although there are plenty of talented people in Dragon City, there aren"t many useful ones. There are 100 soldiers, 200 servants, and adding up the supply teams, there are less than 1000 people stationed in Dragon City! If I don"t do these tasks then I"m afraid no one else would."
  
  
  
  I nod and take out the bounty post, "Instructor, I already finished the mission and defeated the Dark Dwarves. Also I brought you this..."
  
  
  
  With a bang the head of the prince rolls to Dalin"s feet. Dalin seems like he got electrocuted and looks at me with a shocked expression, "This...This is the Dark Dwarves" highness...Ming Jie! Gods! What have you done boy? You killed Ming Jie?!"
  
  
  
  "Mm, is there a problem?"
  
  
  
  "No, nothing. Perhaps this is better. Maybe killing Ming Jie is a good thing. It"ll allow the Dark Dwarves to continue hiding in some faraway place and not invade our borders. Or maybe it"s a bad thing...Whatever, it doesn"t matter. Boy, you completed a near impossible mission. Come, this fame and rewards belong to you..."
  
  
  
  Ding!
  
  
  
  System Notification: Congratulations! You finished an A-rank mission?Hunting Dark Dwarves?, and receive 50000 experience points, 100 gold coins, and 3 charm. Your fame in Dragon City has also increased. Also you receive reward item ?Ice Fire Cloak?!
  
  With a ding, I level up to 39!
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  My luck is pretty good and I got an equipment reward! I immediately open my bag and see the cloak lying in the corner of the bag. It has an icy color on one side and a fiery color on the other.
  
  
  
  ?Ice Fire Cloak? (Gold-rank Equipment)
  
  
  
  Defense: 150
  
  
  
  Strength: +28
  
  
  
  Endurance: +24
  
  
  
  Additional: Increases defense by 50 points
  
  
  
  Level Requirement: 39
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Looking at the stats I almost faint. This is godly! This is absolutely godly! As a cloak it brings 150 points of defense to the table! Not only that, it still increases defense by another 50 points and even adds an extra 52 points of strength and endurance!
  
  
  
  Without hesitation, I take out the cloak and immediately wear it. Instantly I feel both warm and cold but it feels really nice as they seep into my body. My defense increased explosively once again--
  
  
  
  ?Xiao Yao Zi Zai? (Scavenger of Dragon City)
  
  
  
  Level: 39
  
  
  
  Attack: 689-916
  
  
  
  Defense: 845
  
  
  
  HP: 1558
  
  
  
  MP: 480
  
  
  
  Charm: 34
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  My attack, defense, and HP are all insanely strong. I am absolutely sure that my stats have at least surpassed Yan Zhao and maybe it even reached Feng Han"s level. Of course I"m just talking about stats. Let"s not talk about the other things...
  
  
  
  Looking at these stats happily. I look at the Necklace of Bravery and the Shield of the Broken Army in my bag. I think it"s time to return to Ba Huang City. I"ll sell these two equipment and convert them into gold coins. Then I"ll convert the gold coins into cash. In the early stages of the game, if I can earn money then I"ll earn them!
  
  
  
  I take out a city return scroll and use it.
  
  
  
  Whoosh!
  
  
  
  I appear in the northern entrance of Ba Huang City because my city return scroll is bought from the stores in the northern plaza.
  
  
  
  I immediately set up shop at the first available space I find. I put Shield of the Broken Army and Necklace of Bravery up and yell at the top of my lungs, "Selling high-class equipment!! Level 38 gold-ranked shield, 170 points of defense and adds strength on top of that. Don"t miss out on this sale! There"s also a necklace that adds 20 strength. Anyone who wants it, come and give me a price!"
  
  
  
  Good items don"t have a bad market! Quickly, my stall fills with players. The Necklace of Bravery was sold for 11 gold coins. That item is already past its prime and there aren"t a lot of players who are willing to buy that. But the stats on the Shield of the Broken Army are incredible and under the short amount of time since I set up shop, no one gave me a fair price that I wanted.
  
  
  
  After a good 10 minutes, finally an extremely well equipped player steps into my view. I know him! Guild master of [Vanguard]--Jian Feng Han!
  
  
  
  "Xiao Yao Zi Zai?!"
  
  
  
  Feng Han saw my ID and my golden leader-board crest on my shoulder. He frowns, "I never would have thought that you would be the one selling the #1 shield in Ba Huang City!"
  
  
  
  I smile, "Are you interested in the shield?"
  
  
  
  He nods, "Yep! How much?"
  
  
  
  "Give me a price!"
  
  
  
  "That"s..."
  
  
  
  Behind Feng Han I see a chain-mail wearing player. ID: Fushen Moren, level 38 monk. He"s holding a bronze-tier shield and says, "Boss, that"s too wasteful. I don"t need that high-leveled shield..."
  
  Feng Han shakes his head and laughs, "Say no more, I"ll buy it!"
  
  After saying that Feng Han looks towards me, "Brother Zi Zai, how about this. I"ll give 500 gold coins for this shield."
  
  "500 gold?" I frown, "That"s too little isn"t it?"
  
  "It"s not worth a lot of money for equipment like that..." Feng Han tries to start a psychological war.
  
  I smile and spread my arms, "We know each other well, so don"t try any tricks. When everyone rises to level 40 and enter high leveled areas on the map this is pretty much essential. Especially, if you want to go and kill level 50 gold-rank and above bosses to get the Guild Creation Tablet. This shield is one of the best to have. Also if [Vanguard] doesn"t want it, then I"m sure [Flying Dragons] or [Prague] would be very interested in it. I"m sure that you don"t want [Prague] to be first to get the tablet right?"
  
  Fang Han widens his eyes, clenches his fists, and says, "1000 gold coins!"
  
  "Deal!"
  Chapter 74 - Duels in the Dueling Ring
  
  This chapter was sponsored by Matthew Potter, Thomas Fuchs, Richard Hu, Jonathen Chim and William Wang!
  
  TL: FIXED! Sorry, bad copy/pasting! Goal for toady: 3 Zhan Long - 1 BTTH (1 Zhan Long down!)
  
  I knew that Feng Han is determined to buy this shield because anyone knows that whoever has the shield can create a top-class tank and have a much easier time against a level 50+ gold-tier boss. In a boss fight, strong monks and knights are irreplaceable. So whoever can create a strong meat shield will have a greater chance at getting the Guild Creation Tablet!
  
  
  
  To be able to create the first guild, the guild won"t possibly be weak. With a wave and a shout the top-class players of Ba Huang City would rush to join them. Feng Han knows this very clearly in his heart.
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  "Xiao Yao Zi Zai, wait a few minutes for me." Feng Han shoots a smile at me, "I"m going to go and collect the gold coins. As you know 1000 gold isn"t a small number. Wait a few minutes for me please..."
  
  
  
  I nod, "Mm, no problem."
  
  
  
  Before long, a total of 7 players came and traded with Feng Han. After finishing the trades, Feng Han turns around and sends me a trade request. I accept and open the trading window. He put in 1000 gold coins, and I put the Shield of the Broken Army in. Both of us confirm the trade and it"s a done deal!
  
  
  
  Pop!
  
  
  
  A heavy bag of coins lands in my hand, 1000 gold coins!
  
  
  
  I couldn"t help but be excited and I immediately put the 1000 gold coins in the online trading center. With a ratio of 1:10 I can earn a good 10 thousand Yuan (~$1600). I"ll just sell all the gold in one go. Currently most guilds are collecting high-level potions, equipment, skill books, etc. and the amount of money they spend on those things is unaccountable. So it is not rare for players to buy 1000 gold in one go.
  
  
  
  "Okay, thanks..."
  
  
  
  After receiving the shield, Feng Han smiles at me and says, "Xiao Yao Zi Zai, you are a pretty interesting person. Would you like to join [Vanguard]?"
  
  
  
  I shake my head, "Thanks for the offer, but I prefer going solo."
  
  
  
  "That"s alright; I"ll see you soon then!"
  
  
  
  Feng Han spins around and gives the shield to the monk called "Fushen Moren". He couldn"t contain his excitement as he equipped the shield and says, "Thank you boss!"
  
  
  
  "We"re family! Just keep on grinding while we prepare to attack a level 50+ boss. You can repay me with hard work!"
  
  
  
  "Understood!"
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Tick!
  
  
  
  A message comes from Qing Qian, "Xiao Yao, you sold off the Shield of the Broken Army?"
  
  
  
  "Mm, Feng Han bought it. Your information network is quite effective..."
  
  
  
  "We have scouts reporting in." Qing Qing opens up a call and laughs, "Yan Zhao saw that the shield was sold to [Vanguard] and he"s hitting his leg in anger. He says that you should have contacted [Prague] first and given priority to [Prague]."
  
  
  
  I purse my lips and ask, "He really said that? He kicked you out of [Prague] because of me, and then later on he killed me. Doing all those things, does he really think I would give priority to [Prague]? Qing Qian, you can tell Yan Zhao clearly, that I swear, sooner or later, I will defeat him personally!"
  
  
  
  "Eh, Xiao Yao, are you sure about that?"
  
  
  
  "Mm, yep."
  
  
  
  "That"s fine, but why?"
  
  
  
  "Because Yan Zhao caused trouble for you and you"re my friend. So I gotta return the favour."
  
  
  
  "But I really don"t want you and Yan Zhao to fight..."
  
  
  
  "Don"t worry, I only want to win in a fight and not to eliminate [Prague]...And I only have myself, it would be impossible for me to go against a huge guild like [Prague]."
  
  
  
  "Okay, then Xiao Yao, keep on level grinding, I..."
  
  
  
  In the chat box Qing Qian"s face suddenly goes red, "I will...wait for you..."
  
  
  
  I smile, "Wait for me for what?"
  
  
  
  Qing Qian bites down on her lips and seemingly made a huge decision and says, "I"ll wait until you get stronger and take me away from [Prague]..."
  
  
  
  I go silent for a few seconds and smile, "Mm, I"ll try my best!"
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  I sold a few other items and got rid of the bronze and green equipment and earned a few more gold coins. I suddenly feel like a skilled player because of the high-leveled equipment I was selling? Of course it"s related to my 30+ charm; the higher the charm, the better my luck is.
  
  
  
  I kept the stall going until 10 o"clock at night and hear anything from Wan Er. Since I have nothing more to do, I open my friend"s list and see Cang Tong"s face. I click on it and I find out she"s already level 41, so I send a message, "Wan Er, have you gone insane with level grinding? Don"t you want to have dinner?"
  
  
  
  Wan Er replies after a few seconds, "I"m killing a boss with Cheng Yue. Talk to me in 10 minutes!"
  
  
  
  "Okay..."
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  After selling all my items I take my sword and wander around the plaza. While wandering, I see a huge crowd rush towards an entrance. It seems they"re not leaving to level grind, but rather there"s something interesting there. So I follow the crowd as well.
  
  
  
  Outside of the Ba Huang City"s entrance in the forest plains, there are players crowded. Even the Vampire Bats were annihilated and in the middle of the plains a player is standing there in full chainmail armor holding a battle axe. He seems like he"s around 27 years or so and his face is full of killing intent. On his shoulder there"s an emblem that says "Ba Huang City"s #7 player" and hovering over his head is a line of words--
  
  ID: Fierce Tiger LV-40 Silver Berserker
  
  ......
  
  Damn it"s a berserker that has been promoted two times!
  
  Fierce Tiger stands in the middle of the crowd and puts his battle axe on his shoulder laughing, "My friends in Ba Huang City. I am Fierce Tiger, a core member of the [Flying Dragons] guild. Today I set up a small dueling ring here, so we can have a friendly duel and form friendships. Anyone can try this out and you are all welcome to join [Flying Dragons]. I will give 100 gold coins to whoever can defeat me. That"s all, anyone who wants to try this out just speak up!"
  
  Instantly the crowd bursts like a frying pan--
  
  "Ah, this is the Fierce Tiger of the leaderboard. Damn setting up a dueling ring here. Isn"t it a bit crazy?"
  
  "Obviously this is for recruiting new members in [Flying Dragon]!"
  
  "If he loses then that"s 100 gold coins right there!"
  
  "Gods...100 gold coins is 1000 Yuan! That"s a week"s worth of wages! Even if you lose there"s no need to be ashamed since the opponent is a player on the leaderboard!"
  
  ......
  
  Before long a mage walks up while holding a staff. It"s a level 37 mage and he says, "Then I"ll give it a try. If I win you will really give me 100 gold coins right?"
  
  Fierce Tiger thumps his chest and says, "Don"t worry, a man keeps his promises!"
  
  "Good!"
  
  The battle starts. The mage starts waving his staff and he starts moving back while casting [Icicle]. Tiger raises his axe and he plows through the icicles. The mage has good control. He casts [Chilling Wind] and [Rock Spikes]. Before half a minute, Tiger"s HP is near empty and he quickly drinks a health potion.
  
  
  
  When everyone thought that Tiger was going to die, he raises his axe and uses [Fire Axe] and with a whoosh he sweeps over the mage"s body! He sacrificed nearly his entire HP for a chance to attack!
  
  
  
  "864!"
  
  
  
  Everyone stares at it blankly, an instant kill!
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  The mage revives with full HP without any losses and looks a bit ashamed, "The leaderboard players really are different, very strong very strong..."
  
  
  
  Fierce Tiger raises his battle axe and laughs, "Anyone else?"
  
  
  
  Within the crowd a level 36 swordsman holds his longsword and walks out smiling, "Let me try!"
  
  
  
  Berserker VS Swordsman, a battle between two heavy armored classes!
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Ding!
  
  
  
  With the sharp sound of casting [Combo], sparks appear on Tiger"s chest. LV 4 [Combo], showing off his ability--
  
  
  
  "174!"
  
  
  
  "149!"
  
  
  
  "167!"
  
  
  
  Sadly the attack of this level 36 swordsman is way too low and he can"t break through Tiger"s defense!
  
  
  
  "Hehe, my turn!"
  
  
  
  Tiger bellows and uses LV 4 [Rage] which increases attack by 8%. At the same time he raises his arms and violently strikes the chest of the little swordsman. Then he uses another ability, LV 4 [Penetration]: the next strike will ignore 20% of the target"s defense!
  
  
  
  Whoosh...
  
  
  
  Flames fly and it"s [Flame Axe], the skill you get from the second promotion of a Berserker!
  
  
  
  Clang!
  
  
  
  The axe sweeps by and the swordsman"s armor breaks along with a huge damage number--
  
  
  
  "918!"
  
  
  
  Quickly afterwards Tiger keeps up his momentum and uses another [Fire Axe], dealing 400 damage and killing the little swordsman!
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  After two continuous rounds, Tiger holds his axe and stands there smiling, "Who else?"
  
  
  
  Everyone is shocked and no one else volunteers.
  
  
  
  At that time a clear voice rings, "A full-strength berserker is indeed strong and the weapon you"re holding is the level 32 gold-tier axe right? I"ll play with you..."
  
  
  
  In the crowd, a player walks out and it"s no other then the monk holding the Shield of the Broken Army--Fushen Moren!
  
  
  
  I"m confused. Although monks have high HP and defense, but they don"t have a lot of attack damage. How can he go against a full-strength berserker? Isn"t he disadvantaged?
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Fierce Tiger squints his eyes, looks at Fushen, and laughs, "Oh, it"s the chief monk of [Vanguard]! Good good, I"ll duel with you!"
  
  
  
  Fushen raises his hands along with his staff smiling, "Then, excuse me..."
  
  
  
  Tiger rapidly rushes towards him while raising his axe.
  
  
  
  The corner of Fushen"s mouth rise and he rapidly backs away. At the same time he raises his arms and casts level 4 [Taunt]!
  
  
  
  Instantly Tiger"s attack damage is lowered by 8%. At the moment before his axe falls on the monk"s head, Fushen casts other buffs like [Regen], [Golden Defense]. The effect of [Golden Defense] is to raises defense by 12%! It"s not something that you can overlook!
  
  
  
  Clang!
  
  
  
  The battle axe falls on his helmet and the clang between gold and stone can be heard. A damage number of 117 appears. [Fire Axe] only did that much damage!
  
  
  
  "Impossible!" Tiger seems shocked and with a wave of his hand he calls out his pet. In the hexagram an Ice Rat appears next to him. Mm smart, magic-based pets can ignore heavy armor defense. It"s the arch nemesis of heavy armor classes!hapter 75 - Battle of the Gold Coins
  
  This chapter was sponsored by William Wang and Hannu Hautalampi!
  
  TL: 1 more ZL and BTTH!
  
  Inside the dueling ring were core players from [Vanguard] and [Flying Dragon]. Although it was said to be just a sparring match, tensions from the two guilds could still be felt by the audience.
  
  
  
  Whoosh!
  
  An ice spear stabs directly into Fushen Moren"s shoulders, dealing 448 damage. Although the defense of those in the monk class is exceptional, their resistance against magic is slightly lacking. Fortunately, Fushen Moren added 5 stat points into endurance every level, causing his health points to reach a staggering 2500, making it impossible for him to be killed in an instant.
  "Damn..."
  
  Looking at the powerful attacks from the Ice Rat, Fushen Moren began to feel anxious and charges forward with his staff. Raising his staff up high, with a pah, he smashes his staff onto the head of the Ice Rat, dealing 229 damage. That wasn"t all, with a flick of his hand, a Killer Bee flies out with incredible speed. At the same time, a golden hexagram appears on its stinger and with a 4 hit combo, it stings the Ice Rat!
  
  Squeal...
  
  The Ice Rat cries in pain and slumps to the ground, dying just like that. The Ice Rat has high magic growth, enabling it to dish out high damage, but in exchange for that, its defense and health were way below average!
  
  Fierce Tiger looks at the carnage of his pet for a moment, then grabbing his battle axe; he makes use of the opportunity to launch an attack. Traversing along the movement of the blade were crimson red flames. [Burning Axe], his level 40, second promotion skill!
  
  
  
  Bang!
  
  "1278!"
  
  
  
  It was a fatal blow and the killer bee was seemingly cut into two halves. Despite being a level 38 pet, it was unable to take a single hit from Fierce Tiger. It wasn"t too surprising though, as berserkers had the title of possessing the greatest brute strength and damage amongst the 9 main classes!
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Fushen Moren panicked. Losing his pet, he could only attack with his staff now. What makes things worse was that with each smash of his staff, he could only deal 100+ damage on his opponents.
  
  "Die!"
  
  Fierce Tiger seemed to have gone into a frenzy and bashes his axe consecutively on Fushen Moren"s Shield of the Broken Army. Damage numbers were popping up left and right-
  
  
  
  "109!"
  
  "97!"
  
  "114!"
  
  Fierce Tiger looks in shock and couldn"t help but mumble under his breath, "Damn it, just how much defense does he have? I have an attack of 872, and yet I"m unable to break his defense?"
  
  Fushen Moren retreats a few steps and propping up his Shield of the Broken Army, he smiles, "1045 defense. I"m very sorry but I am a monk who adds 5 defense each level, with that mere 872 attack of yours, you can just go and take a break!"
  
  Fierce Tiger clenched his teeth and continued to his flurry of attacks with his battle axe. Once the 6 seconds cooldown time is over, he immediately roars and activates his other level 40 skill, [Burning Axe]!
  
  Bang!
  
  "317!"
  
  
  
  As expected, with [Burning Axe]"s greater offensive ability, he was able to break Fushen Moren"s defense.
  
  
  
  "Sha sha sha..."
  
  Fushen Moren took a couple of steps back, and his face flashed with confusion, "Damn it, are the second advancement skills really that much more powerful?!"
  
  Following right after, he continues to attack Fierce Tiger with his staff. When the health points of Fierce Tiger dropped to around 400 points, he drank a health potion and his health immediately recovered by 400 points. Once again, his axe began to flash with crimson flames.
  
  
  
  Clang!
  
  
  
  "588!"
  
  Fushen Moren"s health bar immediately drops to near bottom and he unconsciously retreats, "Damn it, the monk class really has no offensive abilities, how am I supposed to fight like this..."
  
  
  
  "Hah, then just obediently die here!"
  
  Fierce Tiger was merciless; he raises his axe and cuts down on the head of the monk!
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Whoosh!
  
  Light rose from the spot where Fushen Moren respawned. Even though he was weakly kneeling on the floor, his health points were back to full. He had indeed lost in that sparring match. Looking at the Shield of the Broken Army in his hands, he was unable to understand what just happened and mumbles, "Ha, so I really just lost like that..."
  
  
  
  Fierce Tiger, holding his battle axe, stood arrogantly in the center of the battlefield. Hehe, he laughs, "Looks like the top monk in [Vanguard] has a pretty good defense, but he isn"t able to fight over a long period of time. I heard that your shield was bought not long ago by Jian Feng Han at an exorbitant price of 1000 gold coins. I wonder if this golden equipment is being wasted..."
  
  In an instant, Fushen Moren"s face turned purple, but as his abilities were beneath Fierce Tiger"s, he could only clench his teeth and remain quiet.
  
  
  
  Fierce Tiger raises his eyebrows and continues to laugh, "My friends from Ba Huang City, is there still anyone who wants to pit their abilities against mine?"
  
  The crowd fell silent. Everyone has seen the abilities of this Berserker who has been promoted, and who would be willing to lose their dignity in front of such a crowd? Probably even Fushen Moren regrets his actions, challenging Fierce Tiger by himself and losing, causing the reputation of [Vanguard] to take a blow.
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Right at this moment, a man carrying a sword stood out from the crowd and walked leisurely in front of Fierce Tiger, smiling, "Then, let me try sparring with you..."
  
  
  
  Fierce Tiger shots a chilling look, "You... you are... Xiao Yao Zi Zai?!"
  
  Of course, under this kind of situation, if I don"t fight him then who else would still be willing to fight him...
  
  
  
  Looking at Fierce Tiger"s battle axe, I smile faintly, "Yup, that"s me. See, isn"t this proof?"
  
  Pointing to my head, there was a line of small golden words below my name, showing the words "10th Rank in Ba Huang City", identical to the golden mark above of Fierce Tiger.
  
  
  
  Fierce Tiger grinned and says, "Fine. Actually I would also like to understand the prowess of the legendary number 1 close combat healer. Oh, I see you have changed your job. Hmph, that"s also fine, at least strangers won"t say that I am bullying others now. Xiao Yao Zi Zai, I didn"t challenge you, it"s you who challenged me of your own accord. If you are to lose, don"t say that I am taking advantage of my strength to bully others."
  
  
  
  I was stunned, "What do you mean by bullying others? I am only here to claim the 100 gold coins for myself. Do you think I would feel any accomplishment from beating you? You"re wrong; in fact, I don"t even know you..."
  
  "Screw you!"
  
  
  
  Fierce Tiger clenches his fist and bubbles with unquenchable anger.
  
  I secretly laugh. Getting taunted so easily, he indeed lives up to his title as the [Flying Dragon]"s most fierce and most simple-minded player!
  
  I slowly remove my Jade City Sword from its sheath, and the crisp sound of the sword catches the attention of the crowd. At the same time, Turmoil Sword activates, boosting my attack damage by 10%. Going by my current attacking damage standards, my actual current upper limit of my attacking damage should be 1007!
  
  "I heard that you have an extremely powerful pet, having 5 stars in its attack growth and an excellence rating of 97%?" Fierce Tiger looks arrogantly at me, his face filled with disdain.
  
  
  
  I calmly laugh, "Fine, then let"s not use our pets and do a 1v1 battle between players!"
  
  "Just what I wanted!" Fierce Tiger smirks delightedly.
  
  
  
  I then ask, "So, how should we fight? Should we do a Technique Fight or a Brute Fight?"
  
  "What is a Technique Fight, and what is a Brute Fight?" Fierce Tiger asks with widened eyes.
  
  
  
  I slowly explain, "Technique Fight is a fight in which within the time of one skill"s cooldown, you can attack me with three blows and I won"t retaliate. If I were to die, then I would admit defeat. After that, I would deal you three blows and if you die, then you will have to admit defeat. As for Brute Fight, it would be just like an ordinary fight; whoever stands in the end is the winner."
  
  
  
  Fierce Tiger takes a deep breath and says, "Fine, then let"s do a Technique Fight. But, who will go first?"
  
  I smiled and extended my arms, gesturing him to go first, "You can go on the offensive first. I will give you the opportunity to attack me three times. I can dodge and defend and we"ll see whether you are able to cut me down."
  
  "Fine!"
  
  Fierce Tiger shakes his head proudly and carrying his war axes, laughs, "Xiao Yao Zi Zai, here I come!"
  
  "Feel free!"
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Holding my sword vertically in front of my chest, I hold my ground. I slowly swung the Jade City Sword down to my side. Just my standing posture alone exudes power.
  
  
  
  Fierce Tiger, holding his battle axe, rushes straight towards me. He suddenly twists his arms and did a sweeping attack with his battle axe. Rationally speaking, this attack is much harder to dodge as the range of attack is in the shape of a fan.
  
  "Pah..."
  
  With my left palm gently resting on the blade of the sword, I raise the Jade City Sword vertically on my right and used all the strength in my body to block my opponent"s attack. To make things worse, this blow of Fierce Tiger"s was a [Fire Axe]!
  
  Clang!
  
  Sparks flew and a large damage number appeared-
  
  
  
  "279!"
  
  This guy, his attacking abilities are really extraordinary!
  
  
  
  A look of consternation appears briefly in Fierce Tiger"s eyes, "What strong defensive capabilities!"
  
  Stepping hard on the grass, he leaps to my right and did an uppercut with his axe; it was a [Penetration] attack!
  
  However, I was looking at everything clearly and I slide my leg backwards!
  
  "Miss!"
  
  
  
  The Swordsman class has a high agility growth rate and this advantage was very apparent, shown by how easily I dodged his attack. However, the defense ignoring effect was still applied and with his next attack, he would be able to ignore 20% of my defense, making the next blow an extremely painful one!
  
  
  
  Coming right after the second strike was the third strike, [Burning Axe], the most powerful killing technique after the 2nd job advancement!
  I wasn"t so presumptuous as to think that I would live through that easily, I raise my hands and using [Heal], I got myself to full health while at the same time, tried to avoid his attack. But, the enemy"s battle axe, as though creating an invisible force field, suddenly made my movements very slow. This was a game restraint due to my level and techniques; I was unable to dodge the next attack!
  
  
  
  Clang!
  
  My shoulders felt a pain that seemed to dig into my heart. A large damage number appeared-
  
  "1348!"
  
  I stared in shock, [Penetration]+[Burning Axe]. It was indeed an ultimate chain combo killing technique of the Berserkers. That fatal blow almost got one hit KO-ed me. Fortunately, I obtained some equipment before and my total Health jumped to 1558, or else I might really end up kneeling there dead!
  
  "Sha sha sha..."
  
  My Silver Boots glided along the grass. I was knocked back almost a full 5 meters by the last [Burning Axe]. Looking embarrassed, Fierce Tiger opened his eyes widely, flabbergasted, "Damn it, you still won"t die with this. I"ll slaughter you!"
  
  It"s over, this guy was enraged, so he decided to ignore the rules and just kill me first...
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  "Hua!"
  
  Although it was a normal attack, the axe moved with great speed.
  
  
  
  Slightly tilting my body, I dodged his attack. With another twist of my body, I managed to move behind him. Using the opportunity when he was dazed for a moment, I activate my combo!
  
  Bangbangbang!
  
  "357!"
  
  "371!"
  
  "328!"
  
  In an instant, the Berserker who was at full force was dealt a heavy damage. Fierce Tiger"s face turns black, "Damn! What kind of attack power is that, the individual hits of [Combo] are dealing above 300?!"
  
  Quickly gulping down a health potion, Fierce Tiger does a backwards sweep towards me.
  
  Following his attack angle, I slid to his back once again and laughed beneath my breath. At the same time, a surge of white aura came from beneath my feet!
  
  Looking at the animation of my attack, the crowd surrounding us was surprised; some of the pretty ladies even covered their small mouth and widened their round eyes, "God, that is... Isn"t that the starting animation for custom combo attacks? Xiao Yao Zi Zai possesses his own combo attack!"
  
  [Strength of a Thousand Men]!
  
  Pah pah pah, I began on a series of attacks, each landing on Fierce Tiger"s shoulders!
  
  "279!"
  
  "300!"
  
  "264!"
  
  Lowering my body posture, I ram into Fierce Tiger, knocking him back. Although his health points have already reached zero, his body was still there. Before dying, he still has to eat my final [Wind Blade]!
  
  "Ka cha..."
  
  
  
  The sword"s edge tore apart his armor, and a large damage number burst out-
  
  
  
  "877!"
  
  The attack wasn"t a fatal one so it was lower compared to attacks from Fierce Tiger. Fierce Tiger slumps to the floor, blood flowing non-stop from his body. He has lost the sparring match.
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Reappearing outside the dueling ring, Fierce Tiger lowers his battle axe and his original arrogant attitude disappeared. Staring dumbfoundedly at me, he lowers his voice and mummers, "You... Just who are you?!"
  Chapter 76 - An Invitation from Vanguard
  
  This chapter was sponsored by William Wang!
  
  TL: Only BTTH left! Sorry about the double first chaps and the missing chap yesterday!
  
  Looking at Fierce Tiger"s stunned expression, I sheathed my sword and say lightly, "I am the man who is going to take away 100 gold coins from you!"
  
  Stretching out my hand, I stare at him, "You said it yourself, the man who defeats you would get 100 gold coins as reward from you. Don"t tell me that you intend to go back on your words, hurry up and give me the money..."
  
  Fierce Tiger"s face went dark. He probably never expected that the person who was able to defeat him would fuss so much over the 100 gold coins.
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Around 5 seconds later, Fierce Tiger stretches his hands into his inventory and takes out 100 gold coins, and throws them in my direction.
  
  Cling!
  
  Once I felt the heavy weight of the money reaching my hands, I was satisfied and turned around to leave.
  
  
  
  Yet, at this moment, a man carrying a long sword stepped forth from the crowd and stretches his arms to block my way. With a smile on his face, he says, "Xiao Yao Zi Zai, I have something I would like to discuss with you!"
  
  I look at him. It wasn"t anyone else, but the leader of Vanguard - Jian Feng Han. Fushen Moren was beside him. Looks like after he lost, he went to find his leader so that they could regain back Vanguard"s reputation, yet unexpectedly, I beat him to it and defeated Fierce Tiger.
  
  
  
  Licking my lips which were dry due to the intense heat from the [Burning Axe], I laugh, "For Guild Leader Jian Feng Han to find me, what do you want to discuss with me?"
  
  Jian Feng Han, crossing his arm in front of his chest, says, "This isn"t a place for us to talk, come along with me..."
  
  "Okay!"
  
  In the Ba Huang City, there is not a single place which I dare not enter. Following Jian Feng Han, a crowd of stunned and speechless Ba Huang City gamers were left behind standing there. The fight they had just seen was exceedingly exciting, with the victor being decided in a split second!
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Five minutes later, 3 kilometers away from Ba Huang City, we arrived at the Pear Blossom Forest. It was a peaceful area filled with the chirping of the birds and the fragrance of the flowers. Its main resources are herbs and Killer Bees. Currently, as the Killer Bees are the lowest level yet highest damaging pet, most players gather here waiting for Killer Bees to respawn. Once a level 1 Killer Bee appears, it means that a fortune was about to be struck. A Killer Bee with an Excellence rating above 50% was worth at least 10 gold coins.
  
  With pears all over the ground, I follow behind Jian Feng Han. Moving forward, quite a few players appeared in the Pear Blossom Forest, most of them have the title "Vanguard" in front of their names, making it evident that they were players under the Vanguard guild. Jian Feng Han, carrying his long sword, while laughing walks into the crowd and calls out loudly, "Brothers, I have brought the guy here!"
  
  Looking around, there were at least 200 players in the Vanguard guild, were they planning to surround me and get rid of me? Surely not, actually, Jian Feng Han and Fushen Moren were already sufficient to get rid of me...
  
  Lifting my hand, pah, I grab onto the hilt of my sword, keng, I unsheathe my Jade City Sword and [Turmoil Sword] activates. A green ripple appears beneath my feet. I ask, "What is this...?"
  
  Jian Feng Han turns to face me, couldn"t help but laugh, "Brother Xiao Yao, calm down. We mean you no harm... This is only a temporary meeting place for us members of Vanguard."
  
  I nod and sheath my blade. Looking around the map, I laugh, "Quite a few days ago, this Pear Blossom Forest was one of the hotspots of Ba Huang City and PKs often occurred while people competing for level 1 Killer Bees. Looking at the current situation, this map has already come under the control of Vanguard, hasn"t it?"
  
  Jian Feng Han awkwardly smiles, "Killer Bees are currently one of the best pet resources, and thus I took control of this area. Of course, I rarely expel others players from this map using force, we only use persuasion."
  
  "I don"t intend to poke in your business, let"s get back to the main topic. What did you want to ask me here?"
  
  Jian Feng Han nods, "Actually, I want to conduct business with you!"
  
  "Oh, what kind of business?" I was a little surprised.
  
  Hehe, Jian Feng Han laughed, spreading his hands out, said, "Actually, it is nothing much. We only would like to invite you to temporarily join our guild and help us create the first Guild!"
  
  "Hm?"
  
  I couldn"t help but burst into laughter. I leaned against one of the pear trees, crossing my arms and say, "Surely not? Vanguard is one of the top ten guilds of China. For something like killing bosses, I don"t think that you would require an insignificant Swordsman such as myself?"
  
  From behind Jian Feng Han, a beautiful mage walks towards us. She had fiery figure with two large mountains, as though threatening to burst out of her robes. She carries a gold-tier staff and on her head floated a line of words-
  
  ID: Simple LV-38 Mage
  
  ......
  
  
  
  I know this woman. I once checked the records of Vanguard and there was always a guild vice-leader called Simple, but I didn"t expect that Simple would be a woman, and I would grade her at least 8 points!
  
  Her real name was Murong Yun and she is Jian Feng Han"s older sister in real life, this is the only news that I knew.
  
  I look at her while she stares back at me, her eyes devoid of any emotions.
  
  A few seconds later, Simple faintly laughs, "Xiao Yao Zi Zai, I know you. I have watched your battle videos several times, but I always feel as though I don"t understand you sufficiently. Just as you said, our Vanguard is filled with many talents and we would definitely not lack another DPS or MT (Main Tank). But Jian Feng Han and I still felt that we should try to pull you into our guild, do you know why?"
  
  I smile, "Why?"
  
  "Because..." She purses her lips, muses for a moment and then looks up at me, "The reason is quite simple. You aren"t the top healer from Ba Huang City, neither are you the best tank. Even more so, you aren"t the best damage dealer. However, you are the best combination of a healer, a tank and a damage dealer. If I didn"t guess wrongly, after you changed your job, you retained one of the skills of a healer, and furthermore it is the strongest healing technique [Heal]!"
  
  Saying this, she nods and faintly smiles, "We want to try to defeat gold-tier bosses that are level 50 and above, but the main problem is that our MT would be unable to cope with its damage. Even if we could continuously heal him, the healers would then attract a large amount of aggro, causing the boss to change targets and destroying our whole formation. Thus, one of the solutions we came up with is having you, Xiao Yao Zi Zai, as a tank. You are able to deal good damage and at the same time heal yourself, allowing you to pull at least 50% of the boss"s aggro onto yourself, thus reducing the aggro towards the rest of the healers. To add on, you have superb defensive abilities. In the whole Ba Huang City, there is not a single person who is more suited to be a Tank than you!"
  
  I was relieved and losing control of myself, laughed, "So this is the case. Now that you said it, I suddenly feel that I"m more important than I thought myself to be."
  
  I thought for a moment, "However..."
  
  "However what?" Jian Feng Han sounds a little nervous, as though afraid that I would reject his offer.
  
  Thinking for a moment, I say, "I liked the freedom of going solo, and dislike being subjected to other people"s restrictions and even more so, hate being used by other people."
  
  Simple chuckles, "Actually, that isn"t a big problem. We won"t impose any restrictions upon you and in fact, we will welcome you as a VIP in Vanguard. Also, for the boss"s drops, as long as you are able to use it, we are willing to give it you. All we are hoping to accomplish is to create the first Guild."
  
  I cough and speak more directly, "I will not be joining Vanguard, this is the first point. Secondly, I refuse to do favours for free nor will I accept empty promises. So, unless we put ourselves in the relationship as an employer and an employee, I refuse to join in in your battles."
  
  Clang!
  
  Fushen Moren takes out his staff and angrily scolds, "Screw you, you arrogant brat! Our leader is already speaking politely to you; do you think that you are some hotshot? Still saying words like you will absolutely not join Vanguard, what do you take our Vanguard for? Do you think it"s something you can join just because you want to?"
  
  I glance at him and laugh, "Put back your weapons, you sore loser. I don"t want to argue with you over anything. Anyways, I have already stated my position clearly, it is up to Jian Feng Han to decide whether to accept or not."
  
  Simple was about to open her mouth, then hesitantly shut it and turns around to look at Jian Feng Han. After all, the Guild Leader was her little brother, Jian Feng Han, and not her.
  
  Jian Feng Han clenches his fist and after thinking for a moment, says, "Let"s do it this way, we shall follow your wishes and employ you. Every time you help us fight a boss, we will pay you a certain amount. As for the potions and other goods, we will provide them. After killing the boss, we will give you priority in choosing which equipment you want. Now, what I want to confirm is how much do you want every time you fight a boss for us?"
  
  I laughed while raising a finger.
  
  "1000 gold?"
  
  "No, 1000 Yuan... I am not that bad of a person..."
  
  Jian Feng Han clapped his hands and smiled, "Sure, 1000 Yuan per fight, I understand. However, we are still not done preparing and currently, we are collecting information on bosses. We need around 24 hours to prepare, so let"s do this, Zi Zai. I"ll give you 24 hours to level up to level 40 so that after your class promotion, you will have an additional 10% stat boost and you would be entitled to learn [Flame Blade] or whatever to boost your damage output."
  
  I nod my head, "Yes, I understand."
  
  ......
  
  Turning around, I leave the Pear Blossom Forest.
  
  Standing at the borders of Ba Huang City, I felt a little conflicted. Being employed for 1000 Yuan each battle, it should have been a good thing but why do I feel uneasy? Forget it; it is the fault of the 100 gold coins. If I didn"t challenge Fierce Tiger, Jian Feng Han also wouldn"t know about my defensive capabilities and my offensive capabilities and naturally, he also wouldn"t invite me. However, what is done is done; I will just help them fight the bosses. Anyway, this isn"t anything bad to me.
  
  Ding!
  
  There was message coming from the charming assassin Ling Wan Er, "Li Xiao Yao, are you joining Vanguard?"
  
  I was shocked, "Why? Wan Er how did you know about this, who said it?"
  
  "Hehe, Jian Feng Han just posted a Heroes" Notice on China"s server platform, saying [Vanguard] is currently preparing to challenge bosses that were level 50 and above and had invited the supposedly strongest Healer, Xiao Yao Zi Zai to join the alliance..."
  
  "Oh..." I tried to explain, "I was only helping him to fight the bosses, I didn"t agree to join [Vanguard]."
  
  Ling Wan Er giggles, "Okay, I am not concerned on whether you choose to join Vanguard or not, my only concerned is that Dong Cheng and I are hungry now. Come, treat us to supper?"
  
  "Okay, wait for me downstairs!"
  
  "Okay..."
  Chapter 77 - Promotion Preparation
  
  This chapter was sponsored by William Wang and Zachary Tanmizi!
  
  TL: 6 Chapters! Just realized that this was my 100th post too!
  
  We were eating congee late at night outside of the school on a snack street.
  
  Stirring the congee with her spoon, it seems like Wan Er doesn"t have much of an appetite. She raises her head, looks at me, and asks, "Have you really decided to join [Vanguard]?"
  
  
  
  I couldn"t help but laugh, "This is the fourth time I"m saying this. I"m not joining them, but rather I"m being employed and helping [Vanguard] to kill a boss. Feng Han is quite greedy, so I think he wants to get the Guild Creation Tablet as soon as possible."
  
  
  
  On the side, Cheng Yue purses her lips and says, "To get the tablet you need to kill a boss that"s over level 50 and over gold-ranked, moreover the drop rate isn"t high, and it"s not something you can do quickly. I think Feng Han is thinking too wishful, and if Xiao Yao helps [Vanguard] like this, it"s not too appropriate..."
  
  
  
  "Why?"
  
  
  
  Wan Er squints her eyes and says, "Because Cheng Yue and I have decided to join [Hero"s Mound]. The guild master of [Hero Mound] Q-sword has been said to be the #1 fighter, clashing with Feng Han, so those two don"t get along too well. I just hope that we don"t need to clash swords, that wouldn"t be too fun..."
  
  
  
  I purse my lips and say, "Don"t worry. I"m only helping [Vanguard] to kill this boss; anything else has nothing to do with me."
  
  
  
  "Mm, that"s good. Oh yeah, you accepted the employment of [Vanguard], what"s the salary?"
  
  
  
  "Killing one boss will get me 1000 Yuan (~$160), transferred directly into my bank account. Also, if it drops any equipment that can be used by heavy armored classes, then I take priority on it. Those are my conditions."
  
  
  
  "Those conditions are very attractive, what do they see in you..."
  
  
  
  "..."
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Cheng Yue smiles on the side, "Don"t tease him any more Wan Er...That"s right. Xiao Yao, your class right now is Scavenger of Dragon City, and it seems like it"s a swordsman-based hidden class right? You can equip heavy armor and you can also heal. That"s the reason why they employed you right?"
  
  
  
  I nod, "Mm. Outside of Ba Huang City, Fierce Tiger from [Flying Dragons] had a dueling ring arranged, and he said whoever can beat him gets 100 gold, so I took the duel. I used my combo to kill him, and coincidentally Feng Han saw it, so that was the start of this mess."
  
  
  
  "What?!"
  
  
  
  Wan Er suddenly stands up with her skirt fluttering around, and she stares at me in a daze. She seems to have a hard time believing what I said, "You...You already made your own combo?"
  
  
  
  "That"s right..." I smile, "Use your cellphone to look online, and check all the players that have their own combos. You should be able to find my name..."
  
  
  
  "Oh?"
  
  
  
  She sits down, looking shocked. She takes out her cellphone and searches around, then she opens her small mouth and says, "Eh...[Strength of a Thousand Men], S-rank combo, 5 strikes, total time consumed 1.2 seconds... Such a strong combo..."
  
  
  
  I raise my bowl; finish off the congee in my bowl, and smile, "Yeah!"
  
  
  
  Wan Er raises her head, looks at me and asks, "Are you really good at swordsmanship?"
  
  
  
  "What do you think?"
  
  
  
  On the side, Cheng Yue speaks up, "Oh I know. At the beginning of school Xiao Yao had a longsword covered in black cloth on his back, and I thought that he was only carrying around a sword in school to impress the women, but I never would have thought that you actually knew any swordsmanship...This...To make an S-rank combo, you need to be either proficient in reality, or you would have to have some perfect talent in the game to do that..."
  
  
  
  I think for a bit and say, "Actually, making your own combo isn"t as hard as you might think it is. The important thing is beginning from the first strike; every attack must not allow any resistance from the opponent and force the opponent to be unable to control themselves. With that, the chain of attacks won"t be interrupted. The last strike is the killing strike, and any skills that help with increasing damage would increase the strength of that strike."
  
  
  
  After saying that, I look towards Wan Er and smile, "Wan Er, you"re an outstanding, nimble assassin with fast attack speed. If you make a combo, then you can do at least 7 strikes within 2 seconds. Remember to properly find the attacking rhythm. If you can control the rhythm, then you can control the battle!"
  
  
  
  Wan Er widens her eyes, stares at me with those deep, black gem-like eyes, and nods her head, "Mm, I understand..."
  
  
  
  I smile, "That"s good..."
  
  
  
  Wan Er lowers her head to eat the congee, and doesn"t look at me anymore. Cheng Yue though is smiling on the side, "It looks like even our genius young lady has times where she needs to ask for guidance... How rare..."
  
  
  
  "That"s right Xiao Yao!" Cheng Yue asks again, "When is [Vanguard] planning to kill the boss?"
  
  
  
  "24 hours later, so they"re requesting me to get to level 40 within 24 hours. After getting skills for the second promotion, then we"ll go and challenge the level 50+ boss..."
  
  
  
  "Which means you"re not free tomorrow?"
  
  
  
  "Why? You guys are planning to do something?"
  
  
  
  "Wan Er and I were planning to go to Xixi Brook to have a stroll, but since you"re busy, then next time?"
  
  
  
  I put down my spoon, "It"s fine, I"ll go with you two to Xixi Brook tomorrow. I"m Wan Er"s bodyguard, so where she goes I need go as well, this is the requirement for my job. I"ll just rush to level 40 tonight and it"ll be fine."
  
  
  
  "Then that"s good... We"ll meet at 9 o"clock tomorrow morning, and we"ll eat lunch there."
  
  
  
  "Okay!"
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Late at night, I return to the dorms. I need to work hard and rise straight to level 40 this night, so I can go to Xixi Book tomorrow.
  
  
  
  Whoosh!
  
  
  
  I appear in the middle of Ba Huang City, and I look at my experience bar. 11% in level 39. I"m neither close nor far until level 40, so after some thinking, I decide that it"s better to level up around Dragon City. Because, the instant I level up, I can go and ask for a promotion from my instructor. I don"t even know what the second promotion of a Scavenger of Dragon City will bring; I just hope it"ll be a good skill...
  
  
  
  I prepare equipment, refill potions, and after some bits and bobs, I leave!
  
  
  
  After 1 hour of travelling, I reach Dragon City. From afar, I see smoke rising, and find Beast Tamer Dalin starting a barbeque. This guy, he eats every day, but I don"t see him getting fat, and rather his muscles are really admirable. This barbarian"s physique is not something you can easily compare to.
  
  
  
  I take my sword, walk up, and ask respectfully, "Instructor, is there anything I can do for you?"
  
  
  
  The tamer points towards the east and says, "One mile out, there"s a forest, and in there some hot red peppers are grown. Boy, if you gather some of those peppers within 20 minutes, and sprinkle them on my lunch, I would be very thankful for your help..."
  
  
  
  This guy, he wants me to help me with his barbeque?!
  
  
  
  I immediately nod with respect, "As you wish instructor!"
  
  
  
  My left foot steps on the ground, and a hexagram appears. My level 39 Baby Bobo flies out, and circles around my shoulders while flapping his wings. Although his 768 attack damage isn"t as high as mine, there"s still possible growth. Besides, pets are for assisting players, and after players gains a certain amount of levels and equipment, pets are naturally unable to catch up. But, Bobo"s stinger is still here. In the current stage, with the exception of heavy armored monks and knights, he will do quite a bit against others.
  
  
  
  The season around Dragon City is autumn, and I can feel the withering of the living things in the wild. I walk around for a minute, and in front of me, I can see dots of red in the forest ahead. It"s the peppers that Dalin wanted.
  
  
  
  As I was walking up to pick them, suddenly I hear some rustling around me, something"s here!
  
  
  
  Bang!
  
  
  
  The dirt explodes in front of me, and a porcupine that weighs at least 100 kg appears in front of me. A level 42 monster and the spikes around its body returns 20% of all damage dealt to it!
  
  
  
  I step on the soft dirt and attack. A golden hexagram starts to appear on my sword, and I use [Combo] on the porcupine. A chain of damage numbers fly up--
  
  
  
  "401!"
  
  
  
  "397!"
  
  
  
  "408!"
  
  
  
  At the same time, I receive the damage from the spikes, and my HP drops as well--
  
  
  
  "80!"
  
  
  
  "79!"
  
  
  
  "82!"
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Bobo also starts his attack, and I take the chance to rush up. I stand behind the huge porcupine, and I find its most vulnerable and defenseless area, the butt! Using my combo attack here has the best chance of success. This game"s design is so similar to reality and very logical, so every small detail can determine whether you lose or win. As I"m killing monsters, I won"t easily put down my guard. Even if I"m killing a chicken, I will use my full power to kill it!
  
  
  
  The 5 strikes go out screaming, and the porcupine cries out while being attacked. I sweep my feet, and after the 3 strikes, I start my 4th, ram!
  
  
  
  Bang!
  
  
  
  The porcupine wails and screams, but I also wail and scream. My face and chest have holes in them now, and it hurts quite a bit. I can"t ram these kinds of monsters...But, with that one ram I stun the porcupine for a short while, and I use the strongest strike out of the 5--[Wind Blade]!
  
  
  
  "878!"
  
  
  
  Looking at the damage, I get some satisfaction. The damage from [Strength of a Thousand Men] is extremely strong, and it should be the strongest combo at this point, or else Wan Er wouldn"t be that surprised. She is, after all, one of Fan Shu City"s top 3 players, and has seen quite a few battles.
  
  
  
  Blood splashes out, and the huge porcupine is killed and the porcupine drops a few silver coins.
  
  
  
  I kneel and pick up the silver coins. After that, I start picking the peppers, and before long I collected a huge pile. After walking for a bit, another huge porcupine appears, and I quickly kill it off. The 20% return damage doesn"t do much to me, plus I have [Heal]. The current me can both attack and heal, and my dueling strength is top class!
  
  
  
  After collecting quite a bit of peppers, I stand up, and hold one porcupine in one hand and the other porcupine in the other, and drag their corpses back. Porcupine meat is actually pretty tasty, back in my mission days I ate quite a bit of it. Even when we ran out of canned food, me and my 7 other comrades relied on porcupines and mountain chickens to fill our stomachs. After equipping the AWSM gun with silencers, we sniped the pheasants from afar, and the accuracy is way sharper than a hunting rifle. Thinking back, I do miss those flavours...
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Rustle...
  
  
  
  The porcupines" corpse carves a deep ditch along the dirt and sand as I walk back to camp. I arrive at the camp, throw the porcupine on the side, and say, "Instructor, I brought the items back, and two fresh porcupines."
  
  
  
  Dalin"s eyes flashes, and smiles, "Boy, your growth is something that is worth noticing; perhaps I was wrong when I first saw you. You are not the shame of Dragon City, but rather our fresh blood. Captain Frost has good insight, and your growth has proved this. How about this, peel the skin of the porcupine and cook it. I brought some wine here, and since you are my student, will you drink a cup with me?"
  Chapter 78 - Exactly the Same
  
  This chapter was sponsored by Nilesh Goutam, Adam Tracy, Estela Perez, Hannu Hautalampi and William Wang! Let"s all give our thanks!
  
  TL: Conservative estimate for today - 2 chapters.
  
  My heart drops. What does this old guy want? Usually he would tell me to go hunt, drag poop around, find people, but today, today he wants to have a drink with me? Perhaps he also knows that I"m nearing level 40 and going for a promotion soon, so "Scavenger" is no longer the appropriate job for me?
  
  Whoosh!
  
  
  
  "Experience +7000"
  
  
  
  Immediately after I put down the two porcupines, a ray of light appears, and I gained a decent amount of experience. I also take out the peppers from my bag, throw them in the sky, and unsheathe my sword. With a flash of the sword, the peppers get shattered, and the smell of the spicy peppers flood the air as they fall with other spices onto Dalin"s barbeque pig. The flavor gets absorbed, and without a doubt, the pig must be very tasty.
  
  
  
  Whoosh!
  
  
  
  "Experience +5000"
  
  
  
  Another ray of light and my experience rises by another chunk. Hehe, leveling up like this, it"s really a method that is to be liked!
  
  
  
  I give a porcupine to the army officer, and I get another thousand of experience points in return. I drag the other one to a nearby river to skin and discard the dissolving fur. After that, I find some green onions and stick it through the porcupine and return to the camp. I start another campfire and before long, the juices from the porcupine start seeping out. They crack as they fall into the fire and a pleasant aroma starts to spread as well.
  
  
  
  I sit across to Dalin, and respectfully grasp my sword.
  
  
  
  "Come boy..."
  
  
  
  Dalin throws something at me and a water bag made out of a wild goat"s stomach lands on me. Good wine is filled inside it but inside the game drinking wine doesn"t add any stats, and it"s just for taste. Just some virtual stuff.
  
  
  
  I open the cap, and raise my head to take a drink. The sweet taste of the wine spreads around in my mouth. It is indeed good.
  
  
  
  "How"s the taste?" Dalin laughs.
  
  
  
  I nod, "Mm, very strong taste, good wine..."
  
  
  
  Dalin strokes his beard, and smiles, "That"s natural, this is the fine wine brewed by the palace wine masters, and not a lot of people in the world can even drink it. Hmph, if I didn"t have to rush last time, I would have grabbed more from Fire Cloud City"s palace!"
  
  
  
  I"m shocked, "You stole this?"
  
  
  
  "Cough cough, just borrowing!"
  
  
  
  "Okay..." I raise my head to drink some more, then stand up with my sword in hand and say, "Instructor, give some more missions to me, I want to do some more things for you!"
  
  
  
  Dalin bends over, stretches, grabs a pig leg, and takes a huge bite. Drinking the wine, he laughs, "Boy, my [Binding Chains] is an original skill; I hope you won"t put it to waste. I"ve traveled around the continent for my life, but I haven"t learned a huge bunch. I"m most proficient in [Binding Chains], so I can only teach you this..."
  
  
  
  "I understand. Instructor, give me the mission..."
  
  
  
  "Okay!"
  
  
  
  Dalin stands up, looks at me, and says, "First mission, a prehistoric huge bird has taken a crap 5 miles south-west of Dragon City. The poop has a radius of 7 meters, bring it back. Second mission, there"s a small town called "Bysickle" straight south of Dragon City. In the small town, there"s a woman called Heisha that sells tofu. She lost her pet white cat, so you help her find it. Third mission, at the bottom of Dragon City there"s a blind old soldier who has a broken leg and is going to die soon from sickness. He has always been single and his only death wish is to touch a woman"s breast. You are to help him to find a woman. Fourth mission..."
  
  
  
  I quickly hold my hand out, "Wait wait, hold on instructor. 3 missions is enough, let me finish them first..."
  
  
  
  "Okay boy, I"ll be expecting good things..."
  
  
  
  "I got it..."
  
  
  
  "....."
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  After 10 minutes, I arrive at the south-west of Dragon City. It literally looks like a catastrophe happened here. The small trees are burning with flames and the ignition point is a huge pile of bird poop. It"s really huge, having a diameter of around 15 meters or so. It looks just like a meteorite...This bird poop has an abundant of fire attributes in it. Also, the bird seems like it ate something wrong, I see an over 50kg huge pea within the poop, apparently the bird was unable to digest that.
  
  
  
  I walk up and a wave of intense nastiness attacks my nose. It"s so smelly! I wave my sword around, and cut into the feces. My determination doesn"t waver and cutting it like a pizza, I cut it into ten or so pieces and drag piece by piece back. This time the pile is a bit large and trying to bring it all back in one go wouldn"t be a smart idea.
  
  
  
  I drag a piece of the bird poop, excitedly return to the camp and hand the feces to the army officer. I get plenty of experience and I joyfully run back, continuing to pick up the rest of the poop.
  
  
  
  After an hour or so, I"m finally at the last piece. This piece is especially heavy; it"s the section that had the pea!
  
  
  
  After dragging it for a while, I turn around, and unsheathe my sword. Screw it; I"ll just cut the peas off. So annoying and so tiring!
  
  
  
  Clang!
  
  
  
  When my sword contacts with the pea, sparks appear, and my arm also goes numb. Sigh, what is this. What kind of hard object can"t be cut by my sword?
  
  
  
  I go closer, and use my hand to wipe away the poop on the "pea". But this isn"t a pea! I scratch away the feces around it, and use my sword to chisel it a bit, and I find out that this is a 1 meter long stone tablet! On it there"s even small words written on it, but sadly they"re words from ancient times, and I can"t read it!
  
  
  
  "Hup!"
  
  
  
  I hold the tablet, and it"s at least 50 kg. Luckily I am a full-strength warrior, and carrying it doesn"t cause me too many problems. Also, under normal circumstances, I can easily carry 50kg in real life. I wave my hand, and try to get information on this stone tablet, but I only get a vague description--
  
  
  
  ?Ancient Tablet?: This is a tablet that recorded old martial secrets and it"ll collect experience with the player. When it collects enough experience, it will fuse with the player and become a skill. You must sign the contract to bring this around.
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Looking at these words, I don"t even know what to think. This luck. Even when I"m picking up poop I get treasure. What is this madness...?
  
  Whatever, I"ll sign the contract first!
  
  Whoosh!
  
  I slide my finger on the edge of the sword, and drip my blood from my finger onto the tablet. Instantly the area around me shimmers and the tablet suddenly shines and glows. Countless words surround me, and quickly afterwards, a ray of light stabs into my body and a system notification shows, saying that I"ve signed a contract with the tablet and it"s impossible to drop or leave behind.
  
  With a clang, a heavy, dark stone appears on my back and if you look at it, it"s looks like a stone carving of a Chinese piano. It actually makes me look refined and gentlemanly. Next to the stone is the sheath of my sword, so it wouldn"t affect my movements in battle. Although I can feel the weight of it, my moving speed won"t change by much.
  
  I continue and drag the last piece of bird feces to the army officer and hand in the mission. Instantly experience points comes in with a glow of light--
  
  "Experience +5000!"
  
  "[Ancient Tablet] experience +5000"
  
  Indeed, the tablet gets as much experience as I do. Sadly, I can"t see how much experience points the tablet needs in order for it to be completed, but there"s no rush, I can take it slow.
  
  ......
  
  I finished the first mission and my experience bar lands on 49% at level 39. Following that, it"s the second mission; help that tofu women find her cat.
  
  After two hours, at the west part of the small town, I found a barb traveling around with the small cat. I retrieve the cat and also give the barb two knocks on the head. He knows his wrongs, and reflected on it, so I let him go. I carry the white cat back to finish my mission, and happily collect the experience points.
  
  The third mission is kind of difficult. The crippled old soldier under Dragon City wants to touch a woman"s chest and such a shameless request became my mission.
  
  I sit in the forest and I"m almost tearing my hair off.
  
  Should I ask for help? That"s not too great. Although I do know quite a few good women in the game, Wan Er and Cheng Yue etc. If I asked them to let the old soldier touch them, I would probably instantly get killed... As for Qing Qian and Wei Liang those two, I don"t even know if they"re adults or not, how can I bear to do that to them...
  
  Finally, I make a painful decision; I"ll make a woman myself!
  
  I go into the forest, and kill some soft-skinned wild rabbit. I cut off their fur and they"re very soft. After that, I sew together a human-shaped thing, and I use some grasses and such to fill it up. After that, I took some mud from the riverside and drew a face. Actually, I wanted to draw the face of a Lin Zi Ling, but sadly I didn"t draw well enough. Whatever, I"ll just use it.
  
  
  
  TL: ??? If you want to Google it. For the fur, it"s probably because the rabbit isn"t a monster.
  
  Finally, in the Ba Huang City stores I bought two steaming buns, and stuffed them in the chest location. After doing that, I bring this "woman" back out. Ahh...I am just too talented... On the road, countless amounts of players shoot shocked glances at me--
  
  "Brother, your girlfriend is leaking air, run slower!"
  
  ......
  
  Under Dragon City, the old soldier"s eyes can barely be opened. Sleeping in the small wooden house and looking at the woman made by Li Xiao Yao, his old tears start to drop. He reaches and touches these two steaming buns, says to me emotionally, "Oh righteous, young warrior. You are the pride of Dragon City, letting me fill in one of my life"s regrets. This woman, it is really as beautiful as you say she is?!"
  
  I nod, "That I don"t know, who is the most beautiful woman you have ever seen?"
  
  The old soldier says while crying, "When my eyes were still clear, the most beautiful woman I"ve seen is the Leader of the Dragon City Knights-- Captain Frost. Her beauty is just like moonshine, always glowing in my heart..."
  
  I say, "Mm, this woman, she is exactly the same as Frost, trust me..."
  
  "Okay. Thank you!"
  
  Whoosh!
  
  The glow of experience falls on me, and at the same time, golden light shines over me, and I finally rose to level 40!
  
  ......
  
  Finally! As I was carrying my "girlfriend" and preparing to leave, I find Frost behind me; both of her eyes are filled with killing intent while she glares at me, seemingly being able to see through everything. She knows!
  
  I"m done, now I can"t even stay in Dragon City......
  Chapter 79 - Fierce Ice Blade
  
  This chapter was sponsored by William Wang, Joseph Gutierrez, Randall Johnson, William Wilson and Li Xiao Yao! Thanks!
  
  TL: The long awaited chapter 79!
  
  "F...Frost..."
  
  My tongue gets all twisted up, "Why are you here? It"s so warm in Dragon City, why"d you come down here..."
  
  "Dragon City is way colder than here."
  
  
  
  Frost coldly glares at me and says, "Follow me."
  
  
  
  "Okay..."
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  I follow Frost out of the small house and we go into the nearby forest.
  
  
  
  Frost turns around, looks up and says, "Your growth in strength is indeed very frightening; Dalin was right when he said that you are a person that has potential, but..."
  
  
  
  She looks at the "woman" that I"m holding and a bit of pink shows up on her solemn face, "But can you just throw away the fake person that you"re holding?"
  
  
  
  I quickly dispose of it into a nearby ditch, and feel extremely embarrassed, "This...This was just a temporary tactic..."
  
  
  
  Frost lightly hmphs, "So I look exactly that that huh?"
  
  
  
  "No no, you"re a lot more beautiful than that Frost..."
  
  
  
  "Is that so?"
  
  
  
  "It is..."
  
  
  
  "Hmph!"
  
  
  
  She then says no more about it and instead deeply stares at me, "Dragon City"s strength has to be constantly refilled. Now that you"re already strong enough, so you don"t need to follow Dalin anymore. I hereby decide that I will raise your rank to a member of Dragon City, and I"ve also arranged a new instructor for you..."
  
  
  
  "Oh? Who is it?"
  
  
  
  "Just follow me..."
  
  
  
  Frost"s body flashes, and in the next instant she appears close enough to touch me. Her beautiful face is right in front of me. She smiles, grabs my shoulders, and raises me up. Just like that I"m being hauled while facing the sky, and she quickly starts rock climbing. Damn, when can I do this?
  
  
  
  Whoosh!
  
  
  
  Suddenly we pass through the Ice Spine"s peak and the freezing wind pounds mercilessly on me. Snowflakes as big as feathers float in the air and we can see Dragon City"s interior. But we"re not going to Dragon City; rather she"s heading towards the middle of the Ice Spine! There"s a huge cave, and on the map, the area is blood-red. Frost is still hauling me during all this and with a bang, we drop thousands of meters.
  
  
  
  Tick!
  
  
  
  System Notification: You have entered the area--?Dragon Tomb?!
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  I"m pretty surprised and when I raise my head... right in front of me is an upside down enormously bony skeleton sitting in the middle of nowhere. The ribs are at least 10 meters long, and the bones are slightly glowing. The head is lying down on the ground sinisterly, separated from the body. This is the corpse of a huge dragon and an ancient one at that. Looking at the erosion of the bones, it"s at least a thousand years old...
  
  
  
  "Frost, this is..." I say in a shocked voice.
  
  
  
  Frost glances at me and smiles, "You probably guessed correctly. This is a dragon"s tomb, the place where an ancient dragon clan died. Most dragons that are near death will come here, and silently wait for their end. This area is still under our jurisdiction, so whether or not the dragons can return to here depends on us."
  
  
  
  "Okay, what do I need to do?"
  
  
  
  Frost smiles, "It"s simple. From now on, you are one of the guardians of this dragon tomb. You need to guard these precious dragon bones and protect them from bandits or monsters that want to cause trouble. Also..."
  
  
  
  Frost"s smile seemingly brings some ulterior motive, "After every dragon dies, they will leave behind their soul. In dragon"s tomb, we have no lack of dragons" souls and they are dream-like items that every warrior wants. So, you must guarantee the safety of this dragon"s tomb and guard this tomb well to allow the elder dragons to have peace. If anyone intrudes this tomb, you must immediately kill them!"
  
  
  
  I nod, "I understand...Also..."
  
  
  
  Frost appears as if she can read minds and smiles, "Follow me. I"ll show you your new instructor. He will teach new skills to you and also promote you..."
  
  
  
  "Okay! I"ll follow you!"
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  A chilling wind passes through the dragon"s tomb and within the piles of dragon bones, I notice a glow. In the skull of the huge dragon, I see a round and dense colourful spirit. Without a doubt, that"s the soul of a dragon. I wonder if you can eat it.
  
  
  
  "What are you thinking...?"
  
  
  
  Frost suddenly clenches her fists and glares at me.
  
  
  
  I"m faintly startled; does this woman know what I"m thinking?
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  "Hmph, we"re here..."
  
  
  
  In front of me, there"s a house shaped like an oval and carved in rock. It seems very cold and quiet. Next to the house, there"s a martial arts practicing area. With weapons all over the place, this place emits a strong aura. It must be a skilled person!
  
  
  
  "Karl, we"re here. Come see your new disciple!" Frost says.
  
  
  
  "Ouch..."
  
  
  
  Stone doors open, and an old geezer comes out. He"s sitting on a wheelchair since both of his legs have been cut off. A longsword is held behind the wheelchair--
  
  
  
  ?Guardian of the Dragon Tomb - Karl?
  
  
  
  Level: ???
  
  
  
  Description: Karl. An extremely talented swordmaster that has travelled throughout the continent defeating enemies but in one large battle he lost both his legs. Losing his movement he could only research deeper into swords and after becoming dragon"s tomb"s guardian, his strength has increased significantly.
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  "Ah Frost, long time no see..."
  
  
  
  The wrinkles on Karl"s face look like they could fold a person to death...He smiles, "I never would have thought that after all these years, Dragon City would still remember a half-person like me."
  
  
  
  Frost gives him a huge smile, "Karl, how could Dragon City forget you? Look, we found a talented young person to be your disciple and also join you as a guardian."
  
  
  
  I walk up, and cup my fists, "Good evening instructor..."
  
  
  
  Karl stares at me for a while then says, "This little guy doesn"t look like anyone special. Frost, you randomly gave me some trash bronze, and want me to turn him into some gold?"
  
  
  
  Frost covers her mouth while laughing, "Not at all, you just haven"t seen what he can do. How about this...You! Show us some moves!"
  
  
  
  I nod, unsheathed my sword, and perform a few moves. It"s a style where you attack while defending, and you can go forward or retreat. As long as my sword is unsheathed I will be invincible. This is a nameless style that I made myself, and under the stare of Karl I feel that my skills are shameful compared to his....
  
  
  
  "Oh?"
  
  
  
  Karl thinks for a while and says, "Looks like...It"s not bad. You aren"t too bad. Boy, from now on you are my disciple..."
  
  
  
  I proudly say, "I would like to experience your skill, or else how can I call you my master?"
  
  
  
  "Fine!"
  
  
  
  Karl smiles, raises his hand and unsheathes his sword behind him. With a bang it penetrates a huge rock! Damn, using qi to drive the sword, this old guy...That"s a stage that I could never reach, also, even about the qi, I have never seen anyone in reality that can use qi with a sword. That"s really incredible.
  
  
  
  I step up; put one knee on the ground with my sword, and say, "Instructor..."
  
  
  
  Karl puts his dried up old fingers on my shoulder and smiles, "Okay, hand over 100 gold coins, then you"ll become my disciple. Also, in the future you will be a silver-rank warrior!"
  
  
  
  "Okay..."
  
  
  
  I confirm and hand over 100 gold coins to him, and immediately after, I hear a ring--
  
  
  
  Ding!
  
  
  
  System Notification: Congratulations! You"ve been successfully promoted to the next rank and receive the title of "Tomb Guardian of Dragon City". All skills can go beyond the previous maximum level 4 and now the highest they can go up to is level 7. Hidden resistance +10%, hidden attack damage +5%, new skill ?Fencing Specialization?!
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Very nice, I got the second promotion. It was pretty easy, but that promotion fee of 100 gold coins is too high! What a ripoff!
  
  
  
  "Okay, my mission is complete now; I"ll be taking my leave."
  
  
  
  Frost lightly laughs and disappears elegantly out of the dragon"s tomb. Karl looks at Frost"s shadow and sends a cold glare, muttering, "Luo Lin"s dog, hmph..."
  
  
  
  I"m shocked but I still walk up and ask, "Instructor, do you have any new skills you can teach me?"
  
  
  
  All coldness in Karl"s eyes disappears and he smiles, "Of course, but it"ll be a bit expensive..."
  
  
  
  "Sure..."
  
  
  
  With a whoosh, a window appears, and 3 skills are available for me to learn--
  
  
  
  ?Fierce Ice Blade LV-1?(A-rank): Condenses ice on the sword to attack the target, causing large damage and also slows the target down. Level 1 raises attack damage by 2%, ignores target"s defense by 1%, and slows for 1 second. Consumes 30 MP. To learn this you must pay 300 gold coins and 3 points of charm. Cannot be learnt together with Ice Blade.
  
  
  
  ?Flame Blade LV-1?(B-rank):Condenses fire on the sword to attack the target. Level 1 raises attack by 3%. To learn this you must pay 10 gold coins. Cannot be learnt together with Ice Blade or Fierce Ice Blade.
  
  
  
  ?Ice Blade?(B-rank): Condenses ice on the sword to attack the target. Level 1 raises attack damage by 2%, and slows the target for a short amount of time. To learn this you must pay 10 gold coins. Cannot be learnt together with Flame Blade.
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  I think for a while. Even though there seems to be a chance I can learn two of the skills, in reality I can only learn one out of these three skills. [Flame Blade] and [Ice Blade] are both normal skills, you need to pay 10 gold if you want to learn them, but this [Fierce Ice Blade] should be an original by Karl, and the attack effects are quite a bit stronger than [Ice Blade] because of the defense ignoration. It is indeed good...but just a bit expensive!
  
  
  
  I look in my bag; I still have 400+ gold coins. It"s enough, so I"ll learn it. With good skills you can win anything!
  
  
  
  Whoosh!
  
  
  
  After spending 300 gold coins and 3 charm, [Fierce Ice Blade] appears in my skill window. It even consumed charm... Which means that whoever doesn"t have charm won"t be able to learn this skill.
  
  
  
  My sword trembles, and I silently cast [Fierce Ice Blade]. Instantly, ice starts gushing out of my sword, and I stab out. A simple attack but it has plenty of killing power. A level 10 [Fierce Ice Blade] would raise my attack damage by 20%, and ignore 10% defense, so it shouldn"t be too far from the level 10 [Wind Blade] which increases damage by 30%. With this, I have two attacking skills, nice!
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  I wanted to chat a bit more with Karl, but he says no more and goes back into his small house on his wheelchair. Damn, this instructor is so cold!
  
  
  
  Whatever, I"ll find some monsters, and raise [Fierce Ice Blade] to level 4 first!
  
  
  
  Outside of Ba Huang City, Vampire Bats fall one after another under my attack, it seems like with [Fierce Ice Blade], I can instantly kills them...The skill bar slowly fills, because it has a 6 second cooldown. I have plenty of patience, and I"ll slowly grind....
  Chapter 80 - Putting Away Differences
  
  This chapter was sponsored by Eko Haryanto, Piotr Mosko, Estela Perez, Garvin Guan and William Wang! Thanks!
  
  TL: NEW CHAPTER!! Have fun! Sorry about last chapter"s donors list, fixed now! Also, sorry about the messed up postings :P
  
  I stay up until 7am in the morning, and with a ringing sound, [Fierce Ice Blade] reaches level 3. The attack damage buff for [Fierce Ice Blade] increases to an 6%. The defense ignored increases to 3% and the Freeze debuff which slows the enemy down reaches 3 seconds. This is such a divine skill!
  
   ......
  
   When the task was completed, I look over at the time and decide that I should head out now.
  
  In the sunny campus morning, my body aches with each step as a result of staying up so late. After I called the two girls, I walk to their dorm where we proceed to go eat porridge together.
  
  "Beep ......"
  
  While eating, my phone started ringing. It is an unknown number. After connecting, a very deep voice appears on the other end--
  
  "Is this Xiao Yao Zi Zai?"
  
  "Ah, yes and you are?"
  
  "My name is Liu Ren, part of the Vanguard Guild, my gamer ID is Fushen Moren, you should know me."
  
  "Oh ...... it"s Vanguard"s number one monk......"
  
  Fushen Moren chuckles: "Yes, that"s me, we tried everything to find your phone number."
  
  "What"s the emergency?"
  
  
  
  "Well, it"s like this. Both Fan Shu City and Jiu Lu City are currently very chaotic, so our leader, Jian Feng Han, decided that we should try to fight the Boss today. Being that you are our primary tank, you are required to participate. This phone call is to inform you that we will be meeting at 12 o"clock [noon] today. The boss fight will start at 1 o"clock exactly, so you should start preparing....."
  
  
  
  I frown: "Didn"t we agree that the Boss fight would be tomorrow? I"m sorry. I am busy today, so I can"t come."
  
  
  
  "You...."
  
  
  
  Fushen Moren says in a cold voice: " What do you mean? Are you going back on your word? We pay you 1000 RMB for every fight you join. Other people would try desperately to find these kinds of opportunities. We at Vanguard are extending you such a courtesy, do you think what you are doing is right?"
  
  
  
  I shake my head: "This schedule doesn"t really work for me. I"m not trying to be discourteous or anything, but I actually have something to do today...."
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Just then, Lin Wan Er"s phone rings. She listens to the call, blinks a bit, and whispers in my ear: "Li Xiao Yao, today"s plans on going to XiXi Wetland have been canceled."
  
  
  
  I nod. Then on the phone, I say: "Never mind, the meeting time is 12 o"clock noon right? I"ll be sure to be there on time."
  
  
  
  "Humm, alright then, ha ha....."
  
  
  
  Foshen Moren says with a sigh of relief: "We will prepare potions for you. Also, how are you progressing with the skills you learned from your second promotion?"
  
  I say after a bit of thought: "Attack Specialization is a passive skill, so I don"t need to level that. But I already trained my active skill to level three, so it should help quite a bit."
  
  
  
  "Alright, then we will see you at noon!"
  
  "Okay!"
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Hanging up the phone, I see Lin Wan Er. She smiles at me apologetically and says: "That was .... Hero Mound suddenly deciding to assault a level 55 gold tiered boss, so we have to cancel our trip to XiXi Wetland and change it to tomorrow."
  
  
  
  I answer with a nod: "Okay, I understand."
  
  Dong Cheng Yue, a little disappointed, says: "Originally, I had thought we could relax at XiXi Wetland. I didn"t think that our guild events would cause us to cancel it. We are both DPSs classes; we shouldn"t even have to be there. What type of boss can"t Hero Mound kill when they should have about 2000 players online daily?"
  
  
  
  Lin Wan Er nods: "Maybe they are afraid that their losses will be too big, so they are asking the elite players to come? On the phone, he said to gather all the players with a second promotion and try to fighting the level 55 boss with 20 people first...."
  
  
  
  Dong Cheng Ye looks at me: "Xiao Yao, at noon you"ll also be fighting a boss right?"
  
  
  
  I smiled: "Presumably, Jian Feng Han found out that Q Sword is planning on killing a boss, so he moved the Boss fight up. Also Q Sword must have heard that Vanguard will also be moving out. It looks like the fight between Hero Mound and Vanguard is about to get interesting. Let us see who acquires the guild tablet first."
  
  
  
  As Lin Wan Er"s pair of beautiful eyes swept across me, she chuckles: "I am confident that with your bad luck, Vanguard won"t be able to get a Guild Creation Tablet."
  
  
  
  "Wait and see....."
  
  
  
  "Alright....."
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  After breakfast, the two beauties run back to the dorms to prepare. Since Jian Feng Han will have prepared everything for me and I don"t have anything else to do, I decide to take a nap. I set up my phone alarm for 11 o"clock, and proceeded to fall into a deep slumber.
  
  
  
  At 11 o"clock, I immediately wake up.
  
  
  
  After I put on my clothes, I run outside of the school gates, to where a dining truck was parked. I pull out 10 RMB. After looking at the menu, I decided: "Tofu with Cabbage, Seaweed Stipes, Garlic along with beef ribs. Three vegetables and one meat, 10 yuan (2 USD)!"
  
  
  
  The boss packages my food, smiles and says: "Young man, there"s free hot water over there. Help yourself to some."
  
  
  
  Holding the fast food, I sit down on a bench. I put my disposable cup of water aside, proceed to rip my chopsticks apart, and start to have a feast. Sometimes fast food really tastes better than five-star restaurants, especially when one is hungry.
  
  Finishing the food, I look at the time and see it is 11:30 AM. Time to get back online!
  
  
  
  The dorm was filled with the smell of food, looking again, Tang Gu sat at the desk with a dish of pickled fish, and two other dishes, he was also holding a bottle of beer, seeing me come in, he laughs: "Brat, where did you go? I wanted to drink with you!"
  
  
  
  "It"s not too late now..."
  
  
  
  I sat next to him, click off the cap of a beer bottle, grab the chopsticks and start eating with him. The 10 yuan lunchbox from before was far from enough and it"s still quite a bit before the 12 PM gathering time. Even if I went online, I wouldn"t have anything to do.
  
  
  
  Tang Gu is self-employed, his life is pretty well off. Whereas someone like me, earning money from the game, would not give me enough to spend. The reorganization of the studio is going to cost quite a bit and I can"t expect the others to find the money, so I can only rely on myself.
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Quickly, the time approached 12 PM and I put down my chopsticks and tell Tang Gu that I"m going online.
  
  
  
  Shua!
  
  
  
  As soon as I appeared in Ba Huang City, a system message pops up: Please pay attention, Player "Jian Feng Han" has requested to be your friend!
  
  
  
  After saying yes, Jian Feng Han appeared in my friend"s list.
  
  
  
  Ti!
  
  
  
  Jian Feng Han quickly sends a message: "Brother Xiao Yao, come to the place (12282, 98773) outside of the North Gate. We"re all gathered here, come quickly!"
  
  
  
  "Alright!"
  
  
  
  Carrying the ancient tablet and my jade city sword, I run with Baby Bobo to his position. The coordinations that he gave me leads me towards the Pear Blossom Forest. When I got there, I see a lot of players. Looks like Vanguard is going all out today.
  
  
  
  "Xiao Yao Zi Zai"s coming!"
  
  
  
  Simple holds her staff and smiles: "Then we"re all set. All we need to do is just distribute some potions and other things. Oh... someone give Xiao Yao Zi Zai his share of potions."
  
  
  
  "Yes, Vice-guild leader."
  
  
  
  A twenty year old beauty walks up to me and requests to trade. Quickly, the trade window includes 100 Indigo Sea Pills and 50 level 5 health potions, which recovers 600 health instantly. These potions are selling for 1 gold each in Ba Huang City! For this boss, Vanguard is paying a huge price.
  
  
  
  After taking the potions, I look at everyone and smile: "How many players are going? Where do we find the boss?"
  
  
  
  Jian Feng Han sneakily smiles: "200 players. We can"t let the killing of a boss affect the leveling speed of others. These 200 players are our elite and the lowest leveled player here is level 38. As for the boss" location, you"ll know when you get there. Oh right, sister, why aren"t the people from the General"s family here yet?"
  
  
  
  Simple smiles: "15 seconds!"
  
  
  
  With the rustling of a nearby bush, four players suddenly appear within the Li Hua Forest. Its General Li Mu, General Wang Jian, General Lian Po and General Bai Chi! They"re all people on Ba Huang City"s leaderboard. What are they doing at a Vanguard event?
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Zheng!
  
  
  
  I raise my hand and pull out Jade City Sword. Baby Bobo also sticks out his stinger and goes into attack mode.
  
  
  
  "Xiao Yao Zi Zai!"
  
  
  
  General Wang Jian instinctively jumps back half a step and pulls out his sword: "What do you want?!"
  
  
  
  General Li Mu furrows his brow: "It"s a small world..."
  
  
  
  Jian Feng Han quickly walks up and stands between me and the four from the Generals Family, saying: "Since we"re all here to kill the boss, we"re all friends right now. Let"s put away our differences temporarily. Think of it as a favor for me. After we kill the boss and a Guild Creation Tablet drops, you guys can go back to killing each other and I won"t stop you guys."
  
  
  
  Since Jian Feng Han says it so clearly, the Generals Family could not argue.
  
  
  
  I stick the Jade City Sword into the ground and lightly smile: "Actually, killing me twice is a thing in the past. All I want to do right now is to emphasize that even if a Guild Creation Tablet doesn"t drop with this boss, I"ll be taking any strength adding armor or sword type weapons. As for the other equipments, I won"t be needing them. If you don"t agree, then I"ll be leaving right now!"
  
  
  
  Jian Feng Han nods: "Sure, no problem!"
  
  
  
  The generals family faces turn sullen at the mention of my arrangement. Li Mu says: "This... that"s not too fair. After all, our general family is also helping out with this, so why do swords go to Xiao Yao? If we die and a sword drops, we would have died for nothing?"
  
  
  
  Feng Hans smiles and says: "Brother Li Mu, I don"t think that you understand. I am only paying Xiao Yao 1000 yuan (160 USD) whereas for the generals family, each one of you requested 3000 yuan (480 USD) for your services. Therefore, equipment goes to Xiao Yao first..."
  
  
  
  Li Mu pauses: "What? Only 1000 yuan?"
  
  
  
  I nods: "Mm, was that stupid?"
  
  
  
  "Pretty stupid..."
  
  
  
  "Screw you!"
  
  
  
  "Haha..."
  
  
  
  ......
  
  And thus, we noisily started on our journey. There were a total of 200 players, grouping up into 20, 10 player groups. All that was left was to see if we could defeat the legendary high-level boss.
  
  
  
  My goal isn"t the Guild Creation Tablet , whether or not it drops doesn"t matter to me. But if a Warrior class equipment or skill books drops, it would be great! I can"t work for free!
  Chapter 81 - Challenging a Purple Rank
  
  This chapter was sponsored by Timo Flegel and William Wang!
  
  TL: Most likely last chapter of the day.
  
  Our group of 200 passes through forests, and after about an hour, we finally reach a blood-red area on the map. But what made me light up is that I had been to this area before. This is to the east of The Dragon City, an extremely vast area with high-level monsters - Fire Stone Canyon!
  
  
  
  According to official sources, the Fire Stone Canyon has monsters from Level 39 to Level 90, and the deeper you venture, the higher the monster"s level is. This will be the number one leveling area for players from Ba Huang City in 2 to 3 months. This vast area can accommodate 100,000 players leveling since the monsters have a fast respawn rate at about 20 minutes per respawn, so the players won"t run out of monsters to kill.
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Standing at the edge of the Fire Stone Canyon, I muse to myself.
  
  
  
  Beside me, Jian Feng Han carries his blade and smiles: "Hey, Xiao Yao does this area feel familiar?"
  
  
  
  I nod: "Of course, I was PK-ed by you here before."
  
  
  
  Jian Feng Han: "I got killed by you too......"
  
  
  
  General Li Mu holding onto his longsword says: "Both of you can stop the reminiscing, let us know where the Boss is, I"m sure you can tell us now?"
  
  
  
  Jian Feng Han: "Yeah, the Boss"s location was found by our assassin. The Level 55 Purple Rank Boss is just up ahead after we pass over a small hill. It"s in a place called "Valley of the Everlasting Wind", and the Boss is called "General of the Everlasting Wind". It"s said to be the spirit of an ancient general. As long as we can kill him, our chances of getting the Guild Creation Tablet are at least 25%!"
  
  
  
  General Li Mu trembles and with confusion in his eyes: "Jian Feng Han, when you told me that we"re going to kill a Boss, I thought it was a Gold Rank one, you... you actually choose to fight against a Purple Rank Boss. Are you trying to lead 200 people to their death?"
  
  
  
  Jian Feng Han chuckles with a domineering look in his eyes: "Hero Mound"s Q Sword has chosen to fight a Level 55 Gold Rank Boss. As such, I, Jian Feng Han, will take on an even stronger Boss. I believe that if we all work together, even a Purple Rank Boss can be killed. What"s more, a Purple Rank Boss can drop extremely rare Purple Tier equipment that surpasses Gold Tier equipment. Don"t you all think that this is a huge opportunity? Relax, if there are weapon loots, swords belong to Xiao Yao, axes to Bai Qi, you and Wang Jian get priority on spears, and longbows go to Lian Po. What do you think?"
  
  
  
  Li Mu takes a deep breath and with a deep hunger for war in his eyes, he says: "Alright, let"s do it......"
  
  
  
  Jian Feng Han draws his blade, and points straight and true towards Fire Stone Canyon: "Brothers, forward! We will reach the Boss in 10 minutes!"
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  As the mass of players swarm over the hill, a Level 45 monster gets in the way and is focus-killed by a group of mages and musketeers. Flying above in groups, there are at least 30 Wind Elves who are mages, archers and musketeers. Even a Level 55 Purple Rank Boss shouldn"t stand for long if all of us attack it together.
  
  
  
  "Rustle......"
  
  
  
  My Silver Locked Battle Boots tread lightly on the sandy ground as I reach the top edge of the valley first. Leaning over, I see a valley about 50 metres deep; it"s the Valley of Everlasting Wind. All around, there are many soldiers carrying long halberds; Level 49 monsters with pretty normal attack and defense. Looks like we will have to clear these monsters before we can approach the Boss!
  
  
  
  "Healers, add buffs to Xiao Yao Zi Zai !" Jian Feng Han commands.
  
  
  
  Immediately, a ray of white light descends, it"s Level 4 [Encourage], and it raises my attack by 4%. Jian Feng Han looks at me and chuckles: "Xiao Yao will you go ahead and kill one Level 49 Soldier of the Everlasting Wind first? Show us the power of your DPS and defense!"
  
  
  
  "Sure!"
  
  
  
  I lift my sword and rush down the slope. A golden hexagram appears underneath my boots as rocks concurrently explode due to my speed down the slope. Three consecutive strikes leap from the edge of my blade as I launch a Level 4 Combo and loudly strike the shoulder of a Soldier of the Everlasting Wind, bringing out a string of damage numbers -
  
  
  
  "398!"
  
  
  
  "377!"
  
  
  
  "802!"
  
  
  
  The third hit was a critical strike. Next, as my blade flashes, an aura surges out from under my feet before I land on the ground. Without waiting for the monster to regain his strength, [Strength of a Thousand Men] gives off a repeated thrashing as it connects with the monster"s rotten face. A stream of damage numbers jump out and [Wind Blade] abruptly hacks it"s arm off, releasing a damage number of 700+. Baby Bobo does a combo and the Soldier of the Everlasting Wind falls to the ground. All settled within 1.5 seconds!
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  On the hillside, a group of [Vanguard] players are dumbstruck. Jian Feng Han clenches his teeth: "Damn...his firepower......"
  
  
  
  Jian Feng Han looks closely at me and says softly: "This Xiao Yao Zi Zai is indeed not a simple person, a pity he isn"t willing to join my [Vanguard]......"
  
  
  
  Li Mu grips his longsword tightly, in a low voice: "This guy, his strength has grown so much since the last time we met, it"s scary!"
  
  
  
  Wang Jian raises an eyebrow: "Hmph, I"d like to duel with him!"
  
  
  
  Lian Po runs his hand down his beard: "Don"t bother, your current equipment is a level below his and he has a combo. You definitely aren"t a match for him. But the most important thing is...... Xiao Yao Zi Zai"s moves are really exquisite, his movements are exceptional even though his gaming skills are only 70 points max. He must be a rare expert in real life!"
  
  
  
  Wang Jian: "......"
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  20 minutes later, we kill our way into the depths of Valley of the Everlasting Wind.
  
  
  
  In the distance, 12 antique totem pillars stand proudly at the heart of the valley. Every totem is linked at the top by a thick metal chain. The 12 glowing chains are all tied to the center, where a heavily armored war general with disheveled hair kneels, holding the shaft of a long blade. The chains penetrate his chest, as black blood drips along them.
  
  
  
  "We have reached the Boss......"
  
  
  
  Jian Feng Han raises an arm: "Let"s not be anxious to start attacking the Boss, take a look at his skills and attributes before we make a move......"
  
  
  
  I take a step forward and realize that my level is too low to see the Boss"s attributes. It"s same for the rest of the players. For a Level 55 Purple Rank Boss, it"s reasonable to say that a minimum of Level 49 is needed to see its stats. The current information is hardly complete, and though we can see the tip of the iceberg, all we can gather is that this Boss won"t be easy to kill -
  
  
  
  [General of the Everlasting Wind] (Purple Rank Boss)
  
  
  
  Level: 55
  
  
  
  Attack: ???
  
  
  
  Defense: ???
  
  
  
  HP: ???
  
  
  
  Skills: ???
  
  
  
  Introduction: General of the Everlasting Wind was a general in a distant empire about 2000 years ago. Disagreeing with the cruel and atrocious emperor, he betrayed his country. Later, he was chased by the Imperial army to the East Coast where he used his long blade to massacre a thousand soldiers. In the end, he was imprisoned by a crafty black magician. His soul was broken into pieces and his body imprisoned within the Valley of the Everlasting Wind. After being imprisoned for such a long time, his natural temperament has changed and has been reduced to that of a murderous devil.
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  I smile: "We can"t see his attributes and skills, only that he is a Level 55 Purple Rank Boss. How do we fight him?"
  
  
  
  Li Mu ponders aloud: "Kill him with brute force? We can use Monks to surround the Boss, then kill him using ranged attacks, this tactic should be feasible and may reduce our losses."
  
  
  
  Everyone looks at Jian Feng Han. After all, he is the Guildmaster of [Vanguard] and also the man behind the plan to take down this Boss.
  
  
  
  Jian Feng Han appears to understand what everyone is thinking. He sticks his longsword into the ground and looks towards the Boss: "I think that we should split into 3 squads. Squad 1 will be Xiao Yao Zi Zai, with the General Family assisting him, as well as 20 Healers to focus on keeping their HP up. If Xiao Yao Zi Zai cannot hold up and it leads to Squad 1 to be exterminated, Squad 2 will engage the Boss. Squad 2 will be led by Fushen Moren and assisted by sufficient DPS and Healers. If Squad 2 cannot hold up as well, then Squad 3, led by myself, will attack the Boss. If Squad 3 also perishes, then that means we have failed."
  
  
  
  I frown but do not say anything.
  
  
  
  General Li Mu narrows his eyes: "Bad idea?"
  
  
  
  Wang Jian grips his longsword: "Yeah, not smart."
  
  
  
  Jian Feng Han looks surprised: "Why not? Is there anything that you all disagree with?"
  
  
  
  Li Mu nods: "Doesn"t it seem a bit inappropriate that you invited the 4 of us from the General Family and Xiao Yao to assist and are now placing us in the main battle force; Asking us to engage the boss first? After all, we have no idea what the Boss"s skills, HP, attacks and defense are at the moment. To attack hastily would mean an easy death. I think we should be Squad 2, while you can form Squad 1 and attack the Boss first to test out it"s skills."
  
  
  
  Jian Feng Han licks his lips and raises the corner of his mouth: "Alright, Brother Li Mu has a point. Let"s do as he suggested! [Vanguard] will organize a squad to attack first, to test the Boss"s skills and stats. Who"s willing to go first?"
  
  
  
  Fushen Moren raises his staff and shield: "I will!"
  
  
  
  Jian Feng Han shakes his head: "No, you are [Vanguard]"s main tank, you shouldn"t be in the advanced party. How about...... Monk, why don"t you go first?"
  
  
  
  From the crowd, a Level 39 Monk from [Vanguard] steps forward. In his right hand, he holds an iron rod, in this left, a shield. His bald head shines as he grins: "No blood relations means being relegated to cannon fodder. Just joined the guild and I"m already given a nice errand......"
  
  
  
  ID: Goodbye Tears Level 39 Monk
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Goodbye Tears quickly chooses 7 healers, more than a dozen mages, archers and musketeers, as well as 2 assassins as the main DPS dealers.
  
  
  
  "Guildmaster, shall we start?"
  
  
  
  "Yeah!" Jian Feng Han seems to chuckle: "You can only blame yourself for ridiculing me on the forums......"
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  "Brothers, stay strong, let"s roll!"
  
  
  
  Goodbye Tears raises his iron rod and roars as he rushes towards the Boss. As he raises his arm, a golden ray shines down, [Put Down Your Sword] reduces the Boss"s attack by 10% and draws a large amount of aggro!
  
  
  
  "Clang clang clang ......"
  
  
  
  Right after getting hit by [Put Down Your Sword], the General of the Everlasting Wind is immediately agitated and angry. Emitting wrath as he struggles to stand up, he bellows: "Damn it, you lowly adventurers dare to violate my territory, die!"
  
  
  
  "Bang bang bang ......"
  
  
  
  The irons chains break apart as the General of the Everlasting Wind struggles free from the chains and regains his freedom. Raising his longsword, he rushes toward Goodbye Tears and snarls: "Baldy, your life is mine!"
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  "Crash!"
  
  
  
  Bloody bristles appear on the edge of his blade as it slams into Goodbye Tears"s shield, sending countless sparks flying!
  
  
  
  "741!"
  
  
  
  "What kind of attack is this......"
  
  
  
  Goodbye Tears retreats several steps and wielding his iron rod he lunges forward, "Bang", the strike connects straight onto the Boss"s forehead as he shouts: "Healers, focus on me. Mages use Ice Wind and Ice Cones to reduce his attack!"
  
  
  
  Author Note: One of "s controls allows the setting of the skill level to be used to be decided by the player. For example, if a players can execute a Level 10 Combo, he or she can choose to use a Level 1 Combo or a Level 7 Combo etc. When activating the skill, the Level of use will appear in the box below.
  Chapter 82 - Reasonable Tactics
  
  This chapter was sponsored by Laura Lai Tong, Bakari Gaynor, Jason Chen, Vesa Kivisto and William Wang!
  
  Whooshwhooshwhoosh...
  
  In the glow of the three continuous [Heals], the monk"s HP is pulled back up. With tears, he raises his steel rod and aims for the boss, but it barely does anything with an attack damage of under 100.
  
  Lime coloured air swirls around General of the Everlasting Wind and suddenly his sword trembles with 4 golden hexagrams sweeping across his sword. Damn, it"s a [Combo] LV-6! 4 strikes!
  
  
  
  "690!"
  
  
  
  "674!"
  
  
  
  "710!"
  
  
  
  "704!"
  
  
  
  Luckily, the monk"s total HP is at least 2000, and with a close heal, he withstood it. He holds his shield, slowly backs away, and yells loudly, "Quickly, use [Hemostasis] and [Heal], get my HP back to full!"
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  The battle continues ferociously while the Generals and I watch from a distance. I clench my fists and frown, "This isn"t too good. The boss"s attack is too high. Even if the monk has enough defense, he can"t dish out enough damage. Once he receives a large amount of damage, he can"t guarantee that the aggro will be on him.The aggro might switch to the higher priority healers."
  
  
  
  Li Mu nods and mutters, "Yeah, this isn"t going too well..."
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Whoooooosh!
  
  
  
  Under the ray of healing, his HP returns to full once again. But at the same time, the General gives up on attacking the monk. He raises his sword, spreads his arms, and bellows, "Die!"
  
  
  
  With a whoosh, he uses [Biting Cold Blade], and the leaf-like skill lands in the middle of the 4 healers! It"s an AOE attack!
  
  
  
  The healers let out multiple large cries as a chains of damage numbers fly up. The 4 healers receive over a thousand points of damage. They fall one after another and become the boss"s first victims.
  
  
  
  I look at the battle and quietly say, "The General"s [Combo] is a Level 6 skill so it can strike 3-4 times. The healing has to be very tight, or else I won"t able to tank through it. Also, his [Biting Cold Blade] is an AOE attack, so if there are over 2 players standing together, they can very easily attract the aggro. We will need to be careful as well."
  
  
  
  Wang Jian clenches his teeth and asks, "Xiao Yao, is it possible that you can take on a boss like that?"
  
  
  
  I smile, "Give me 10 healers that will continuously heal me non stop, then I can!"
  
  
  
  "Mm, then that"s good...."
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  In the battlefield, the General already started to ignore Goodbye Tear"s aggro control and he was raising his sword and causing destruction everywhere. Each of his attacks are in the form of an arc and spread death everywhere. Mages, musketeers, and archers all fell under the attack range of the General. Our first attacking group is almost annihilated.
  
  
  
  "Damn..."
  
  
  
  Feng Han clenches his fists and teeth while looking at the boss"s direction. He yells, "The first group can"t take it anymore. Xiao Yao Zi Zai, Generals, you guys prepare to go, and continue attacking the boss!"
  
  
  
  I nod, "Feng Han, I"ll be the leader. Give me 9 healers, and concentrate their healing on me. Bring your best healers, and they need to heal one after another, or else I won"t be able to take on the boss"s attack!"
  
  
  
  Feng Han"s gaze lands on Simple, "Sister?"
  
  
  
  Simple raises her staff and says, "Duck, take 8 healers and join Xiao Yao"s party, concentrate all of the healing on him. I"ll make two mage and archer teams and we will control the boss. This is the second battle, we need to kill the boss in one go. If we leave it to the third group, then we might not have a chance to win!"
  
  
  
  Very quickly, a Level 40 healer stands up, ID: Darling Duck. She should be the best healer in [Vanguard]. I"d give her a 7!
  
  
  
  Tick!
  
  
  
  System Notification: Player Darling Duck wants to join your party!
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  I immediately accept and very soon, another 8 healers join in the party one after another. They are really some top class healers, the lowest leveled one is already at level 39. Duck is the only healer in my party that"s Level 40 with the second promotion. She has [Healer Advent], [Revive], and [Group Heal], the three second promotion skills. With her, the success rate should increase quite a bit.
  
  
  
  "Duck?" I ask.
  
  
  
  Duck widens her eyes, "Mm, what"s the matter, Xiao Yao?"
  
  
  
  I say, "When the boss uses [Combo], after his first strike, use [Heal] and then use [Hemostasis] to keep me alive. If I ever get killed, then use [Revive] on me as fast as possible, or else I won"t be able to control his aggro."
  
  
  
  Duck smiles and nods, "Mm, I understand!"
  
  
  
  On the side, the vice-Guildmaster raises her staff, and organizes a 20-man group. She yells, "Do not stand together, everyone spread apart, or else [Biting Cold Blade] will land on you!"
  
  
  
  I look to my right and see General Li Mu raising his longsword. He gathers a 10-man party together with 3 healers and yells, "Xiao Yao is the front line. If he ever gets too low, then we will immediately go take on the boss to buy him some time. Be sharp healers, I might need to tank some damage. Remember to do some tight healing or else I"m just going to meet the grim reaper..."
  
  
  
  The healers look at each other, understanding that the pressure is on them. Tight healing. Easy to say but hard to do. To do tight healing, you need to anticipate the attacking time of the boss, because all healing spells have a bit of lag time. [Hemostasis] has 0.1 seconds of lag time, which is near instant, but [Heal] has a lag time of 0.5 seconds, which is quite a bit confusing.
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  We finish preparing and Goodbye Tears is already kneeling in front of the General. Feng Han gets agitated and says, "Xiao Yao Zi Zai. If you don"t go now, when will you go?!"
  
  
  
  I bite my lip, grab my sword and run over there. I need to instantly grab the boss"s aggro!
  
  
  
  A clear sharp sound comes from the sword and 3 golden hexagrams sweep along the blade. Without any hesitation, I attack the General. The sword cuts through the air and it strikes the General"s hip. With 3 clangs, 3 damage numbers also fly up--
  
  
  
  "311!"
  
  
  
  "287!"
  
  
  
  "325!"
  
  
  
  Of course, the boss"s level is too high, to the point where even with [Turmoil Sword], [Encourage], and other buffs, I can"t penetrate its defense by a large amount. However, dealing 900+ damage with a single [Combo] is pretty good.
  
  
  
  Growl....
  
  
  
  The General glares at 3 mages from afar with his blood-red eyes and seems to be planning to charge at them. My aggro isn"t high enough, this won"t do!
  
  
  
  With a circle of white light, Baby Bobo"s [Combo] attacks 3 times. The boss hesitates for an second before his body tilts slightly. This is the chance that I was waiting for!
  
  
  
  Whoosh!
  
  
  
  A white-glow appears under my legs, it"s the activation of [Strength of a Thousand Men]!
  
  
  
  "147!"
  
  
  
  "172!"
  
  
  
  "155!"
  
  
  
  "74!"
  
  
  
  With those attacks, it"s obvious that my attack damage and strength doesn"t match my opponent"s. My head became purple from the ramming. Nevertheless, my sword collects the wind and after 0.2 of preparation, I use my strongest attack--[Wind Blade]!
  
  
  
  Bang!
  
  
  
  The sword"s edge sparks blue as it slashes the boss"s heavy armor and a huge damage number pops up--
  
  
  
  "1544!"
  
  
  
  A Critical hit! Not bad!
  
  
  
  But the thing that breaks my heart is that I still don"t have the boss"s aggro. The ranged attacks from behind are way too strong and I immediately chase after the boss who"s charging towards the backline. I check my skills" cooldowns and my sword starts to emit a glow. Ice starts to swirl around my sword and I strike powerfully at the General"s back--[Fierce Ice Blade]!
  
  
  
  "679!"
  
  
  
  Indeed, the skills gained from the second promotion are strong. Frost starts to form on the boss"s armor and his speed is greatly decreased. The slowing effects from it are stronger than the ice spells from mages!
  
  
  
  .......
  
  
  
  Growl...
  
  
  
  The General finally turns around and with blood-red eyes, he stares at me. The corners of his mouth rise and he says, "Brat, are you looking for death? I"ll bring you into the depths of Hell!"
  
  
  
  He raises his sword, and a blood-like glow appears on it!
  
  
  
  I instinctively step back but my body feels like it"s attracted to a magnet and it"s hard to move. I feel a wave of pain on my shoulder. The boss"s attack landed on me!
  
  
  
  "987!"
  
  
  
  Of course, I"m no monk. I haven"t put any points in endurance, so my defense is a bit weaker!
  
  
  
  I had already casted a skill right when the boss was striking and with a flick of my wrist, I heal myself. [Heal] recovered 600 HP, and at the same time,
  
  
  
  Ding!
  
  
  
  LV+1.
  
  
  
  [Heal] rose to level 5 in the middle of a battle! Last night, when I kept on using this skill. I had forgotten to look at the skill proficiency!
  
  
  
  The boss" killing intent instantly rose since my [Heal] gathered a large amount of aggro. The guy sweeps his blade and starts a Level 6 [Combo]! 4 strikes!
  
  
  
  I see through it instantly and jump to the side to dodge it!
  
  
  
  "MISS!"
  
  
  
  I successfully dodge the first one, but I can"t do the same for the next 3!
  
  
  
  "847!"
  
  
  
  "+870!"
  
  
  
  "821!"
  
  
  
  "+614!"
  
  
  
  "+434!"
  
  
  
  "811!"
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  A chain of damage numbers and healing numbers blend together. Duck"s healing effect is quite good, she has a 750 base heal and with equipment and stat points, the heal effect rises to 870. She also healed me the instant I took damage. There aren"t many healers like this and in all of Ba Huang City"s healers, her skills are at least in the top 5!
  
  
  
  Right when my skill cooldown ends, I immediately use [Wind Blade] and [Fierce Ice Blade]. The two skills provide explosive damage and with the slow from [Fierce Ice Blade], the General bellows in frustration. He tries to kill me but can"t. Even though he has a level 6 [Combo], he"s a bit slow when it comes to using it and I can usually dodge the first strike. With that, a lot of my pressure is reduced.
  
  
  
  In the air, many high-leveled mages including Simple continuously cast freezing spells. On the tip of her staff, a curiously dangerous combination of fire and ice appear. In the next instant, the Level 40 skill [Pillar of Fire and Ice] casts!
  
  
  
  "774!"
  
  
  
  [Pillar of Fire and Ice] is a 5?5 meter AOE magic spell. Combined with such a high damage, it is really amazing.
  
  
  
  "Careful, don"t go too close!" Feng Han warns from afar.
  
  
  
  Sadly the mages were a bit too slow. With a sweep of the boss"s blade, a leaf-like glow appears between two mages and they are instantly killed!
  
  
  
  "Damn..."
  
  
  
  My heart sinks, but I continue slicing at the boss with my sword. After a few seconds, I use [Strength of a Thousand Men] again. The boss can only keep slashing at me. But with 9 healers healing me continuously and 1558 HP, it"ll be hard for me to die, even if I want to!
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  "Hehe, looks like Xiao Yao can tank everything on his own..." Li Mu smiles.
  
  
  
  Wang Jian frowns, "Boss, we need to be careful. If he makes any mistakes then we need to save Xiao Yao instantly..."
  
  
  
  Li Mu nods and doesn"t say anymore.
  Chapter 83 - The Proclaimed Fairness
  
  This chapter was sponsored by William Wang and Estela Perez! Thanks!
  
  TL: I"ll try to get the next chap out but don"t count on it :(
  
  "Keng!"
  
  The long blade strikes my Dawn Breastplate, leaving behind a dent and forcing me to fall back a few meters. My Silver Locked Battle Boots fiercely slide to a stop against the grassy plain. Using both of my legs to send force towards my sword-hand, I activate [Strength of a Thousand Men] and attack the General of the Everlasting Wind"s forehead.
  
  "Keng! Keng! Keng!"
  
  A string of damage numbers fly out.
  
  Behind me, Simple leads the group of archers and musketeers to attack the boss using long range attacks. The Boss"s health drops quickly; a meagre 17% remains after 10 minutes of battle, even though the durability of my items are falling down at an astonishing rate; my Dawn Breastplate already lost 74% of its durability. But, I would"ve already paid the Grim Reaper a visit if not for the 9 healers continuously healing me.
  
  .......
  
  Jian Feng Han stands behind the fight as steady as a mountain, the corner of his mouth slightly raised and with his hand firmly grasping his sword, he smiles: "As expected, it was a good call for Xiao Yao Zi Zai to be the tank, over 97% of the Boss"s aggro has been on him. He has surprisingly high defence even though he belongs to the swordsman class, so his equipment is not bad at all; he can even hold his own against a Level 55 Purple Rank Boss"s attacks.
  
  Fushen Moren stands beside Feng Han while carrying the Broken Army Shield, his eyebrows tense up: "Apparently, I, [Vanguard]"s number 1 tank am not of any use right now. Guild Master, if the Boss drops gold equipment, will you actually give it to Xiao Yao Zi Zai, even though our [Vanguard] provided the potions and healers? The equipment should be rolled to a more deserving person ......"
  
  Jian Feng Han smiles slightly: "No, look at it in the long term, 1 or 2 pieces of equipment aren"t anything. If [Vanguard] wishes to sit at the top of Ba Huang City, then we must recruit many talented players. This is the first cooperation between Xiao Yao Zi Zai, the General Family, and us. After this, we should be somewhat familiar with each other, and then we can possibly recruit them to join [Vanguard]. Ahh, these fellows have talent but each and every one of them is not easy to deal with. It requires patience to subdue them......"
  
  Fushen Moren nods: "Ahh, hopefully this Boss will drop a Guild Creation Tablet. Hehe, once we get the Guild Creation Tablet, we"d be a huge step closer to becoming Ba Huang City"s number 1 Guild..."
  
  Simple waves her staff while shouting loudly: "Xiao Yao, pay attention to your mana, without your [Heal] you won"t be able to control aggro....."
  
  I take a quick look at my mana and immediately take out a Chilling Wind Pill to refill it: "Relax, my mana is sufficient, I"m using Level 1 [Wind Blades] and [Fierce Ice Blades], so they only need to consume a little mana, my main mana consumption is [Heal]."
  
  "Ahh, hehe, smart guy!"
  
  "Thanks!"
  
  ......
  
  Countless Ice Cones go straight at the Boss"s chest creating different explosions. General of the Everlasting Wind"s health is dropping steadily and he howls and brandishes his blade randomly. But against me, he has no chance.
  
  General Li Mu rubs his hands together and says excitedly: "Hehe, the first Purple Rank Boss will soon be overthrown, and I"m here to witness the historic moment. What will it drop?"
  
  Wang Jian replies: "I don"t know but I hope it is a golden axe. Bai Qi has been wielding a bronze axe for a long time and it"s embarrassing for us."
  
  "If a breastplate drops, does Xiao Yao Zi Zai get it?" General Bai Qi asks.
  
  I use [Wind Blade] and take the time to reply: "No, if a breast plate drops, we will roll for it. If a sword drops, it"s mine."
  
  "Alright, such a nice person....." Ba Qi says with chuckle.
  
  ....
  
  Suddenly, the General of the Everlasting Wind lets out a huge roar. He kneels to the ground and pounds the ground with his left land, angrily shouting: "Spirits from hell, heed my cry, come to me! Let us destroy these enemies in front of us! Let us show them that the General of the Everlasting Wind is indestructible!"
  
  The earth trembles as many dark shadows rise. They fly around the general as he absorbs them into his body; it looks just like black magic.
  
  "Finish him , the boss is evolving!?" Jian Feng Han grips his sword and shouts: "Xiao Yao, be careful! Do not get killed!"
  
  I clench my teeth and say: "Don"t worry, I will not die so easily!"
  
  ....
  
  Ding!
  
  System Notification: Please note that the [General of the Everlasting Wind] successfully absorbed nearby souls. The General is now a Level 60 Purple Boss, his attack power increases by 10% and his HP recovers by 15%!
  
  Damn, his health has recovered!
  
  I raise my head and see the Boss"s blade coming down on me!
  
  "1198!"
  
  That really hurts! It feels like I almost died!
  
  I swing my Jade City Sword and stab the Boss"s body with [Fierce Ice Blade]. A huge damage number of 1344 appears. In addition, Darling Duck quickly uses her [Heal] and I recover another 870 HP and I"m almost at full health!
  
  The pressure on the healers and me is huge. All of the attacks of the Boss are biting into me. I would rather die than keep fighting this Boss. Now I truly understand the pains of a Main Tank. A good Main Tanks resists violent strikes and feels the pains of weapons cutting into his flesh, and I"m starting to walk down that path....
  
  ....
  
  "Full power! No mercy!" Jian Feng Han pulls out his sword. With a burning passion in his eyes, he shouts: "As long as we kill it within the next 3 minutes, we will be the first players to have killed a Purple Rank Boss. No more going in as groups! All together now! Full power! Everyone join in!"
  
  "Ok...."
  
  My heart leaps in surprise. I quickly shout: "Jian Feng Han, calm down. Think rationally, don"t be impulsive..."
  
  Jian Feng Han replies: "Don"t worry!"
  
  As a result, berserkers, swordsmen, assassins flood over to the boss. Soon, I was fighting side by side with them and we were producing an amazing amount of damage!
  
  "Go to hell!"
  
  The General of Everlasting Wind raises his sword and swings it down into the large group. I suffer huge blow and my HP drops by 1100+. Several berserkers and assassins fall to the ground and die immediately!
  
  I reach behind me and grab a health pot. I quickly shout into my party channel: "Darling Duck, focus on healing me and don"t pay attention to the others!"
  
  Darling Duck nods: "Ah, Chief ordered everyone to fight together? This is chaos!"
  
  Standing not far in the distance, General Li Mu frowned, "Fuck... it looks like a frenzy trying to get the drops of the boss..."
  
  General Wang Jian clutches his sword: "Be carefully guys."
  
  ...
  
  Strike by strike, the General of Everlasting Wind killed over a 100 players, but our damage output is too strong and his hp has reached 1%!
  
  I count 5 seconds and then put my strength into my arms, this is my chance!
  
  "Peng!"
  
  Without stopping for a second, I use [Strength of a Thousand Men].
  
  With my custom combo, the Boss"s HP continues dropping. When the Level 4 [Wind Blade] hits, all of his Hp disappears!
  
  "Ow, ow......"
  
  With a ringing noise and the death of the Boss, I am bathed in two columns of light. I receive a lot of experience and reach level 42. I finally enter into the ranks of the top 5 in Ba Huang City leader boards!
  
  ...
  
  "Pata......"
  
  As the General of Everlasting Wind kneels forward, a large bounty bursts forth. I look and see at least 100 gold coins laying in the grass. But I don"t pick it up because they are promised to the Vanguard guild. Three other items drop: a golden leather helm, a golden necklace and a double edged blade with a faint purple glow.
  
  A purple-tiered sword!!!!
  
  At that moment, everyone"s heart stopped. Right now, golden equipment is still very rare. For a boss to drop a purple item, this is a super rare drop!
  
  (AU: The tier system: Black -> Green -> Bronze -> Silver -> Gold -> Purple -> Emperor -> Sacred -> Saint -> Divine -> God -> Epic )...
  
  Nobody makes a sound. A silence falls over the entire area. Floating above the purple tiered sword are enticing purple glowing words-- [Heavenly Plan Sword] (Purple Tier) !!!!!
  
  ...
  
  Really, a purple-tiered weapon!
  
  I quickly sheathe my sword and reach out for the purple sword.
  
  "Shua!"
  
  All I see is a shadow speed past me. Before I know it, a man reaches the purple sword and looks at me as he picks it up. It"s Jian Feng Han! Who else could it be, others don"t have that kind of sprinting speed.
  
  ...
  
  "Unfortunately, the boss did not drop the Guild Creation Tablet." Jian Feng Han chuckles, as he hold the Heavenly Plan Sword. "But still, this purple blade that dropped isn"t bad. A god-like sword, a purple tier..."
  
  I clutch my Jade City Sword and turning to face him, I whisper, "Jian Feng Han, we already agreed beforehand that all sword type weapons would belong to me. I only had this one requirement. This Heavenly Plan Sword is mine!"
  
  Jian Feng Han looks at me and smiles, "Xiao Yao, I think you"ve misunderstood. I told you before that if it was a gold sword or lower, I"d have no problem just giving it to you, but this is a purple sword. We, [Vanguard], had 100+ brothers sacrifice 1 level in exchange to acquire it. How could I just give it to you? How about this? I"ll pay you... I"ll pay you 1,000 gold. Okay?"
  
  ......
  
  "Ugh..."
  
  My mind goes blank. I have been duped! This time, I really got cheated!
  
  Trembling, I raise my head and stare bloody-eyed at Jian Feng Han. I whisper, "Is this how one of China"s top ten guilds gets its edge? Jian Feng Han, in front of your hundred plus guild members here, you plan to openly steal my loot? How do you hope to face the hundreds of thousands of players in Ba Huang City?"
  
  Jian Feng Han purses his lips: "Xiao Yao, don"t get too excited. You are my friend... I couldn"t possible steal what belongs to you, but following our previous agreement, this purple sword definitely cannot go to you. How about this? Let"s have all the players here roll for it. That way, it"s fair."
  
  "Fair my ass!" General Li Mu cries, as he draws his sword and backstabs Jian Feng Han.
  
  Shua!
  
  Likewise, I pierce at Jian Feng Han"s neck with my Jade City Sword.
  
  This will be a bloodbath. Even if Feng Han has hundreds of guild members around him, even if I die and lose all my equipment, I will kill him! I"ll show them that I am not afraid when I say -
  
  From now on, I am your enemy!
  Chapter 84 - Honesty
  
  This chapter was sponsored by Timothy Cheung, John Saoit, Tyler Terra and William Wang! Thanks!
  
  TL: Definitely final chapter of the day! Enjoy!
  
  "Pu!"
  
  "384!"
  
  A large damage number appears as the sword glances off Jian Feng Han"s shoulder. I dash forward and use my shoulder to ram straight into Jian Feng Han"s chest.
  
  "Peng!"
  
  
  
  He retreats swiftly as my Jade City Sword flashes and 3 golden hexagrams appear on it, unleashing a Level 4 Combo with a bang!
  
  
  
  Behind Jian Feng Han, General Li Mu growls as an aura surges from under his feet. This is the custom combo he is proud of - [Wuan Xuanwei]!
  
  
  
  "Bang bang bang... ..."
  
  
  
  With a concentrated stream of attacks, [Wuan Xuanwei]"s first 4 strikes take out 600+ HP from Jian Feng Han. Then, Li Mu lowers his body and thrusts suddenly. There will be a high probability of hitting Jian Feng Han so hard that he gets knocked off his feet, so that the final revolving strike can deal the most damage. What a pity, Jian Feng Han is too agile and just as [Wuan Xuanwei]"s fourth stroke ends, he quickly moves between some nearby rocks. Lowering his body, he rolls onto the grass behind him and succeeds in escaping from the last 2 strokes of [Wuan Xuanwei] as well as my combo.
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  "Shua......"
  
  
  
  Rolling into the open several metres away, Jian Feng Han readies his sword in front of his chest as the healers around him heal him and exclaim: "You guys...... what are you trying to do!? We are friends, not enemies!"
  
  
  
  I raise my sword and point at Jian Feng Han: "A friend would not steal equipment, Jian Feng Han; you are our enemy from today and forever more. You must die today!"
  
  
  
  Jian Feng Han gazes coldly at me: "With more than 100 [Vanguard] players here, do you guys think you can kill me?"
  
  
  
  "Crash!"
  
  
  
  General Wang Jian suddenly attacks from the rear, piercing Jian Feng Han"s chest with the tip of his sword as he fumes: "It doesn"t matter what people think, Jian Feng Han, you"re not fit to be our friend!"
  
  
  
  "Pa!"
  
  
  
  General Lian Po"s arrow lands on Jian Feng Han"s arm. As his white beard floats in the wind, he says: "May the gods be our witness, the Heavenly Plan Sword belongs to Xiao Yao Zi Zai, and everyone knows this to be true! Die! Even if I have to sacrifice myself to get rid of you Jian Feng Han, I will make sure you die and drop the Heavenly Plan Sword so that it can be returned to its rightful owner!"
  
  
  
  I"m greatly moved and while holding the Jade City Sword, I yell: "Even if I lose the Heavenly Plan Sword today, I, Li Xiao Yao will have no regrets. To exchange one sword for 4 friends, it"s worth it!"
  
  
  
  Nearby, the beauty Simple shivers and has a complicated look in her eyes: "You...you guys please stop this..."
  
  
  
  Jian Feng Han draws his sword and shouts: "All [Vanguard] members listen to my command, kill Xiao Yao Zi Zai and the 4 members of the General family. Kill them right this instant!"
  
  
  
  ...
  
  
  
  Ice Cones, Rock Spikes, arrows, musket rounds and other attacks fly through the air at us. Our time to live is numbered with the dozens of long range attacks flying at us. How can we resist when we are pure attack classes? Since death is inevitable, we better take some of them down with us....
  
  
  
  "Go, fight!"
  
  
  
  General Bai Qi yells, raising his axe, and rushes into the crowd of [Vanguard] members. Swinging his large axe, he kills several mages in an instant. But multiple Rock Spikes appear underneath his feet. In the blink of an eye, he kneels in a pool of blood and dies. The [Vanguard]"s mages are all elite class. Their attack damage is inconceivable!
  
  
  
  General Li Mu looks around and quickly adds me to his party. In his party channel, he shouts: "Xiao Yao, Wang Jian and I will cut off his retreat. You focus on killing Jian Feng Han. Don"t worry about us, we will fight to our last breath!"
  
  
  
  "Okay!"
  
  
  
  I quickly nod as Li Mu and Wang Jian part ways and fight through the crowd. General Lian Po continues to fire arrows from afar, but he cannot match the firepower of the [Vanguard] musketeers. The general slowly falls to the grass and dies.
  
  
  
  "Ah!"
  
  
  
  Wang Jian uses his combo. But Jian Feng Han moves slightly to the right and by kicking a rock he avoids the blade and a large "MISS" appears. At the same time, he retaliates by swinging his blade to cut down Li Mu!
  
  
  
  "Keng keng keng...."
  
  
  
  A chain of sparks appears on Li Mu"s armor. It"s Jian Feng Han"s Twelve Hammer Combo [1]! Li Mu falls to the ground from the shock of the attack.
  
  
  
  "Ohhh...."
  
  
  
  I rush forward while summoning Baby Bobo to kill Jian Feng Han"s Hellhound. With my Jade City Sword raised, I slash down on Jian Feng Han"s back.
  
  
  
  "You"re dreaming!"
  
  
  
  As if Jian Feng Han could see in 360 degrees, he predicts my attack. With a turn of his blade, his sword clashes with the Jade City sword. However, behind Jian Feng Han, Li Mu lets out a huge roar and uses [Flame Blade] to pierce through Jian Feng Han"s arm!
  
  
  
  "415!"
  
  
  
  At the same time, I activate [Fierce Ice Blade] and stab at Jian Feng Han"s neck!
  
  
  
  "554!"
  
  
  
  Unfortunately, [Heal] and [Homeostasis]"s glow fall from the sky and Jian Feng Han"s HP stays above 50%. This is not good. Li Mu sees this, clenches his teeth and says, "We must kill Jian Feng Han with one hit or we will die instead!"
  
  
  
  Without any hesitation, I grab Jian Feng Han"s throat, lean forward and thrust my Silver Locked Battle Boots into his stomach. At the same time, I feel a burning yet freezing sensation on my back; it"s the effect of [Pillar of Fire and Ice]. Finally, Simple decided to help her brother.
  
  
  
  "Bang!"
  
  
  
  Eating a punch to the face, Jian Feng Han"s head flings back. He, then, looks back at me with eyes full of anger, saying: "Xiao Yao Zi Zai! Do you understand what you are doing?!"
  
  
  
  "I"m killing you!"
  
  
  
  I slide forward. Under my feet, a faint glowing aura appears. I launch my S Level Combo, [Strength of a Thousand Men]!
  
  
  
  "211!"
  
  
  
  "234!"
  
  
  
  "241!"
  
  
  
  ...
  
  Stamping on to the ground, I ram my shoulder into Jian Feng Han"s chest, causing him to lose his balance! Light gathers at my blade for 0.2 seconds as I prepare to launch [Wind Blade]!
  
  
  
  "Kacha!"
  
  
  
  The Jade City sword almost completely slices open Jian Feng Han"s chestplate. A large number appears--
  
  
  
  "899!"
  
  
  
  Instantly, Jian Feng Han"s HP falls very low. At the same time, my Combo comes off its 6 second cooldown!
  
  
  
  With a hint of desperation in his eyes, Jian Feng Han shouts, "Darling Duck,[Revive] me immediately after I die!"
  
  
  
  Not too far away, Darling Duck stands carrying some health potions and her staff. She looks at us with her beautiful eyes and says: "Why did this happen? Why did Guild leader and Xiao Yao have to become enemies?"
  
  
  
  ...
  
  
  
  "Keng Keng Keng..."
  
  
  
  Sparks fly as I continue my fast attacks. I don"t give Jian Feng Han any time to heal as I hack away at the rest of his health. Meanwhile, Wang Jian kneels over with his chestplate full of arrows, musket fire, and smoke.
  
  
  
  The corners of Wang Jian"s mouth turn up. As he dies, he smiles and says: "Xiao Yao is amazing. He really got rid of that trash...."
  
  
  
  I glance and see that as Jian Feng Han died, a few equipment dropped. In them is a glowing sword, Heavenly Plan Sword!
  
  
  
  "Pa!"
  
  
  
  I reach out and grab Heavenly Plan Sword. To my side, Li Mu laughs: "Great, you got it!?"
  
  
  
  But, at that moment, Darling Duck uses revive and Jian Feng Han"s corpse jumps up with 50% of his health and mana. Flames flicker on his sword and [Flame Blade] along with a Combo land on my chest. With dense arrows and spells flying at me, my [Heal] won"t be enough!
  
  
  
  A violent pain erupts from my chest, I"ve died!
  
  
  
  The instant that I fall, I glance at Li Mu. He has a helpless expression watching his final 10% of health be destroyed by a barbarian who, using an axe, splits Li Mu"s shoulder apart.
  
  
  
  ....
  
  
  
  "Shua!"
  
  
  
  I appear in the nearby graveyard. In my soul state, I still clutch my Jade City Sword but because I killed Jian Feng Han, I had a red name and lost two levels. In addition, the glowing ring on my hand also dropped. Finally, my inventory is empty; the just acquired Heavenly Plan Sword also dropped.
  
  
  
  General Li Mu looks at me: "Are you okay?"
  
  
  
  "Sorry, Heavenly Plan Sword dropped..."
  
  
  
  "That"s expected..." General Li Mu nods: "It"s part of <>"s rules. Newly acquired equipment has a high chance of dropping. But, to be able to kill Jian Feng Han in the middle of over a hundred [Vanguard] players, that"s enough."
  
  
  
  On side, Wang Jian furiously clenches his fist: "It can"t end like this. Jian Feng Han is trash, complete trash."
  
  
  
  General Lian Po smiles and meaningfully says: "You can"t say that Jian Feng Han is trash, it"s just that Purple-tier swords are too expensive. Heavenly Plan Sword is a priceless treasure right now. If it were any other weapon, Jian Feng Han might have given it to us, but he also is dreaming for an upgrade on his old sword and Heavenly Plan Sword is perfect. So Jian Feng Han could only sacrifice us."
  
  
  
  Bai Chi holds his axe: "Damn, he"s shameless!"
  
  
  
  Li Mu pauses: "We lost quite a few levels this time, Xiao Yao, what are your plans?"
  
  
  
  I thought about it before saying: "I would like to thank you guys for your support today. I, Li Xiao Yao, will remember this day for the rest of my life. But to attack [Vanguard] right now is kind of dumb. We"re only 5 players and can at most kill 20 players. Our opponent is [Vanguard], 20 players is nothing to them, and they have thousands of players. We can"t fight that."
  
  
  
  Bai Chi nods: "Yup, your right, we can"t go and fight them now."
  
  
  
  Wang Jian asks: "Then... Then what should we do now?"
  
  
  
  Liao Pao asks: "Xiao Yao, do you really want the Heavenly Plan Sword?"
  
  
  
  I firmly shake my head: "Of course not. To make you guys lose another level over a single weapon, I"m not that kind of person. But thankfully, [Vanguard] didn"t get a Guild Creation Tablet this time, so let"s try to get one ourselves. How"s that?"
  
  
  
  Liao Pao smiles: "Great! I was also thinking that. With Xiao Yao"s DPS and survivability, all we need to do is get some good healers and we"ll be able to defeat level 50+ gold-tier bosses. If we could get a Guild Creation Tablet before [Vanguard], that"d be the greatest blow to them!"
  
  
  
  Li Mu also smiles: "I feel that the most important thing right now is to get the video for the battle just now and our conversations with Jian Feng Han. Jian Feng Han would want to keep his "honorable" appearance and if we don"t have any solid evidence, he would definitely say that we"re lying!"
  
  
  
  I nod: "Yup, I have the videos for the past 24 hours."
  
  
  
  "Great!"
  
  
  
  .....
  Chapter 85 - Mind Reading
  
  This chapter was sponsored by Estela Perez and William Wang!
  
  In the Valley of the Everlasting Wing, a chilling wind sweeps through everything.
  
  Under a huge tree, the General of Everlasting Wind"s corpse still hasn"t refreshed yet but the [Vanguard] players have already left. On the equipment ranking, a new weapon took the top spot, it was the sole Purple-Tier weapon - Heavenly Plan Sword. It"s overall stats are about 4 times the stats of the next best weapon. Most infuriating, the owner of Heavenly Plan Sword has put his name next to the equipment, its Jian Feng Han.
  
  Shua!
  
  
  
  I revive and with my Jade City Sword, I appear next to the General of Everlasting Wind"s corpse. Li Mu, Wang Jian and the other four also revive. There shouldn"t be any danger here anymore; Jian Feng Han is someone who tries to keep up a good appearance so he wouldn"t camp or try to kill us. He"s a joker, even when I killed him, he had an innocent appearance and it was this innocent appearance that made those [Vanguard] players turn on us.
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Sitting on a huge rock, I say: "Let"s discuss what we"re going to do from now on..."
  
  
  
  Li Mu sits in front of me and says: "Xiao Yao, you should probably know this. Me, Wang Jian and Bai Chi were high school and college classmates. We just graduated for two years so we still keep in contact. Lian Po is a friend that I know and he"s been involved in virtual reality games for a long time so he decided to join the General family..."
  
  
  
  I smile: "I"m envious of you guys!"
  
  
  
  Li Mu continues: "Since we"ve decided to play this game, we might as well do it with a bang. We want to realize a dream, a dream of being respected by everyone. It might seem a little silly but we want to create a guild, even if it isn"t the best guild in the game, it should at least be one of the top guilds. For our four helmets, we saved money for three entire months, our studio"s rents are backed up pretty far too...."
  
  
  
  Wang Jian: "Boss, stop..."
  
  
  
  Li Mu smiles: "It"s fine, Xiao Yao is one of us."
  
  
  
  "..."
  
  
  
  Li Mu: "Therefore, what I want to say....since it"s like this, Xiao Yao, why don"t you join our Generals family and fight with us, wouldn"t that be better for you?"
  
  
  
  I pause before raising my head: "For now, I"m not considering in joining any guild."
  
  
  
  "Mm, we won"t force you." Li Mu laughs: "Let"s talk about what going to happen next. I looked at our fight with the General of Everlasting Wind and I feel like with you, Xiao Yao, killing bosses shouldn"t be too hard. All we need are some high leveled healers and mages. I plan to fight a boss within the next three days. We"ll invite you to be the tank, we"ll use an employer-employee system. We only want the Guild Creation Tablet, the other equipment that the Boss drops will go to you."
  
  
  
  I couldn"t hold back a smile: "It"s fine..."
  
  
  
  Lian Po sits up, startled: "Xiao Yao, you don"t plan to help us?"
  
  
  
  I shake my head: "No no no, as long as you guys ask, I"ll definitely come. But, I don"t need any compensation when I help with the boss. I"ll just take the equipments that I need and the rest go to you guys."
  
  
  
  "Alright, it"s a deal?" Li Mu excitedly says.
  
  
  
  I look at his level and smile: "Yup, we should hurry and level. When Wang Jian and Liao Po"s level get to 40, we can start fighting the bosses."
  
  
  
  "Sure, we"ll get there tonight!"
  
  
  
  "Alright! Let"s friend each other to keep in contact!"
  
  
  
  "Sure!"
  
  
  
  ..........
  
  
  
  I watch Li Mu and his group leave and then look at my own equipment and level. I"m at level 40 with 47% experience. It"s not bad since even though I lost two levels, I am somewhat close to level 41. All I lost was a Glowing Ring but to trade that for four friends, it"s definitely worth it. Equipment, as I long as I"m still alive, I can find more equipment."
  
  
  
  What should I do next? Continue leveling or....
  
  
  
  I pause and think about it for a second before I decide to go to Dragon City.
  
  
  
  Out of the Fire Stone Canyon, I head straight to Dragon City. At the edge of Dragon City, I stop by to say hi to Beast Trainer Dalin. Afterwards, when I began to leave, he closes eyes and falls asleep immediately, I wish I could be like him.
  
  
  
  Standing at the end of the Ice Spine, I look up and see thousands of miles of snowy mountains and my goal, the Dragon"s Tomb, is on the other side of this mountain. This is going to be tough, dammit!
  
  
  
  Step by step, I start climbing the mountain. My level 40 strength isn"t too shabby so as my Jade City Sword plunges into the side of the mountain, I get to the top of the mountain in 15 minutes.
  
  
  
  Standing at the top of the mountain, I look down and find the Dragon"s Tomb shrouded in a dull glow. In addition, above the Dragon"s Tomb seems to be an invisible dome which prevents snowflakes from falling through and also makes the Dragon"s Tomb seem like its in the fall. Where does this dome comes from? Maybe it"s the legendary dragon"s spirit....
  
  I jump down the mountain and slide down into the dragon"s tomb. Far away, the stone door entering into the tomb is shut tightly and my teacher - Dragon Tomb"s guardian Karl is resting within the tomb. Even when I knock, no one answers...
  
  
  
  .....
  
  
  
  At this time, a Ti! sound appears and a message comes from Cang Tong who is Lin Wan Er: "Li Xiao Yao, how did your Boss fight go?"
  
  
  
  "We defeated it...but there wasn"t a Guild Creation Tablet, you guys?"
  
  
  
  Looks like Lin Wan Er doesn"t know what happened after we killed the Boss.
  
  
  
  "We also defeated the boss, the level 55 Gold Tier Boss isn"t too scary. We finished the job after 40+ players died..."
  
  
  
  "Then I"ll congratulate Hero"s Mound..."
  
  
  
  "Congratulations? We didn"t get the Guild Creation Tablet...." In Wan Er"s icon, she purses her lips and smiles: "It"s already 3 pm and me and Dong Cheng are both tired after fighting that boss. Let"s go to the school"s cafe and relax. We"ll be having a lot of Boss fights from now on and the atmosphere in the game is so heavy now..."
  
  
  
  "Sure, wait for me downstairs."
  
  
  
  "Sure, come quickly..."
  
  
  
  "Yup!"
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  I raise my head and looked at the stone door, dammit ... If that old geezer doesn"t want to see me, then I"ll go to Wan Er. Near Wan Er I can always look at her, which is a pretty good luxury and after Wan Er and I have been together for some time, she"s slowly beginning to become nicer to me instead of being savage like the first time we met. Is her scar of me seeing her in the company slowly disappearing?
  
  
  
  After lunch, at about 3 pm, the warm autumn sun shines into the schoolyard and filters through the scattered trees. Stepping through the trees" shadows, I arrive at the girl"s dorm and find Lin Wan Er and Dong Cheng Yue already waiting for me. The girls are wearing such refreshing clothes. Lin Wan Er is wearing a short skirt and high heeled sandals. Her snow white legs causes the surrounding male student"s imagination to run wild. Even the female students can not help but glance at them.
  
  
  
  "Xiao Yao!"
  
  
  
  Dong Cheng Yue walks over while laughing and says: "You really are the most famous person in Ba Huang City right now...."
  
  
  
  My heart skips a beat. Damn it. I did not know that the news of what happened at the Valley of Everlasting Wind and Jian Feng Han becoming my enemy would spread so quickly. These two girls must already know.
  
  
  
  Lin Wan Er"s eyes sweeps up and down my body while she smiles and says: "No need to guess. Before Dong Cheng and I went offline, we looked at the forums. It"s really a shame. The Purple-Rank Heavenly Plan Sword just brushed by, or else you would"ve be one of the top combat players in the heavy armor classes in the China server."
  
  
  
  I purse my lips: "If I got it, I would be happy, if I don"t have it, I wouldn"t die. I"ve gotten over it..."
  
  
  
  "Haha, Let"s go. I want to go to a cafe"
  
  
  
  "Ok"
  
  
  
  A few minutes later, we sit down at the newly open cafe. It was relatively quiet with soft music playing.
  
  
  
  Lin Wan Er sips her coffee and pushes her phone in front of me. Smiling, she says: "See this? It"s Jian Feng Han"s post. I feel that you should leave Ba Huang City for a while."
  
  
  
  I look at the cell phone. On it was one of Destiny"s website forums. In a large red post, it says:
  
  
  
  [Ba Huang City] Apologizing to Xiao Yao Zi Zai and the four members of the General"s family! (Post Owner: Jian Feng Ha)
  
  
  
  Content: Today, in the fight at the Valley of Everlasting Wind, with the help of Xiao Yao Zi Zai and four members from the General"s family, we, [Vanguard], defeated a level 55 Purple-Tier Boss. Even though a Guild Creation Tablet did not drop, the first Purple-Tier equipment in the entire server dropped. It was a level 55 Heavenly Plan Sword with an upper attack of 775 and increases attack damage by 4.5%. Maybe it was a misunderstanding but Xiao Yao Zi Zai thought that the sword belonged to him and thus PKed [Vanguard] members. Xiao Yao Zi Zai and the four generals died after killing dozens of [Vanguard] players. I, Jian Feng Han, am not one to hide things, moreover, I don"t like to pick on weaker players, let alone friends. So I"d like to apologize to Xiao Yao Zi Zai and the four generals here. Hopefully you can forgive the [Vanguard] players who retaliated after you killed our [Vanguard] friends. We"re still friends and hopefully, after you calm down, we can get together. A cup of wine resolves thousands of grudges, so friends don"t leave any scars between each other. Hopefully you guys can contact me and [Vanguard] will always be your friend!
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Peng!
  
  
  
  I smash the table and Lin Wan Er and Dong Cheng Yue"s drinks shake violent. I struggle to keep control my anger. Keeping the corners of my mouth lifted, I smile and say: "Haha, how interesting...."
  
  
  
  Actually, in my mind, I"ve already cursed Jian Feng Han to hell, man, screw you and your whole family...One of these days, I"m going to get my revenge! Just wait and see!
  
  
  
  Lin Wan Wan stares at me, as if she had a mysterious power that could make people intoxicated, She laughs and says: "Experienced the vicious side of people? If you want to curse then you should just curse, there"s no need to curse his whole family..."
  
  
  
  Stunned, I raise my head and look at Lin Wan Er. How did 34D know exactly what I was thinking?
  
  
  
  Lin Wan Er sees me looking at her and her cheeks turn a shade of pink. She bit her lip: "What are you thinking?"
  
  
  
  "I...."
  
  
  
  I didn"t know what to say, so I gulp down a big mouthful of coffee. Again, I look over at Lin Er Wan. What a scary girl. Can she really see what I am thinking?
  
  
  
  Dong Cheng Yue glares at me with her beautiful eyes, smiles and says: "Xiao Yao, Have you ever heard of a kind of inherent ability called Mind reading?"
  
  
  
  My body trembles. "Wan Er, you couldn"t possibly...?"
  
  
  
  ....
  
  
  
  Lin Wan Er giggles. Her laughter sounds like the spring wind blowing over a frozen pond. Smiling, she says: "I was only guessing. Do you really believe there is such thing as mind reading?"
  
  
  
  I stare at her in disbelief.
  
  
  
  Lin Wan Er looks at her phone, "You should post your side of things. Or are you not planning to fight back?"
  Chapter 86 - North Star Style
  
  This chapter was sponsored by William Wang, Kilian Fa and Jordan Garmatter! Thanks!
  
  TL: Last chapter!
  
  "You can"t leave this alone, you need to strike back right now..." Cheng Yue clenches her fists and looks at me with a determined gaze.
  
  Wang Er looks at me with hope and also nods.
  
  
  
  I think for a while and silently take out my cellphone. I find the two-part video that I had prepared. The first section is Feng Han"s promise to me that I will have priority over the equipment that I can use. The second part is the video where Feng Han kills me and the 4 Generals for that one purple-rank sword. Combined the two, there should be nothing left for Jian Feng Han to say.
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Tick!
  
  
  
  Cell phone Prompt: Upload this game video?
  
  
  
  I quickly confirm and name the video: ?About the Battle of the Sword and its Origin, the TRUTH is in this Video! ?
  
  
  
  After that, I also add a description to the video: I am Xiao Yao Zi Zai. Everyone should know the truth of what happened after watching this video. Although Jian Feng Han is the guildmaster of [Vanguard] and a top-class player in the China server, he is a dishonest person. Would an honest person sell out his friends for one purple-rank sword? I don"t want to explain too much because this video will explain it all.
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  It takes approximately half a minute to upload and the video is on the forums.
  
  
  
  Wan Er refreshes her page and smiles, "I"ll bump it up for you..."
  
  
  
  Cheng Yue uses her phone, "Mm, me too..."
  
  
  
  "Thank you!"
  
  
  
  After a few minutes, Cheng Yue raises her head and smiles, "Xiao Yao, look at this, your post is already a sticky post! Hehe, this"ll be interesting, I would really like to see what Feng Han has to say about this!"
  
  
  
  I open the post up and it really is sticky. After just a few minutes, there are over a thousand replies--
  
  
  
  ?Post 1 (Player Cang Tong)?: First, hello people...
  
  
  
  ?Post 2 (Player Color Pond)?: Wha, I"m not mistaken, am I? The previous post is by the #1 beauty of Fan Shu City?!!
  
  
  
  ?Post 3 (Player Color Pond)?: Yep, I"m right! The rumours are true, Cang Tong really knows Xiao Yao in reality...
  
  
  
  ?Post 4 (Player Cang Yue)?: Support Xiao Yao and defeat Jian Feng Han!
  
  
  
  ?Post 5 (Player Exiled)?: Look at the video first. This afternoon is so crazy and the truth is finally revealed!
  
  
  
  ?Post 6 (Player Piggy)?: So that"s where the purple-rank sword came from...
  
  
  
  ?Post 7 (Player Yue Qing Qian)?: Oh, Xiao Yao"s post...Support Xiao Yao without question!
  
  
  
  ?Post 8 (Player Vanguard Pioneer Camp)?: Xiao Yao Zi Zai, you can"t trick anyone with that tongue of yours! We saw everything today, you were the person who attacked the guildmaster first and now you"re accusing us?
  
  
  
  ?Post 9 (Player Feels)?: I want post 1, 4, 7...
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  The corners of my mouth turn up and I smile, "Posts 1-10, so many beauties...."
  
  
  
  Wan Er sips a bit of coffee and smiles, "Of course, Qing Qian has completely fallen for you...Just a beauty saving a bear..."
  
  
  
  I glare at her, "Who said that? My relationship with Qing Qian isn"t what you think it is!"
  
  
  
  "To explain it is to cover it!"
  
  
  
  "Sigh..."
  
  
  
  Cheng Yue leans on the table, tilts her head and looks at me, "Xiao Yao, what are you planning to do next? You and the Generals won"t have an easy time in Ba Huang City after irritating Feng Han and [Vanguard]. I know that you"re not scared of Feng Han, but think clearly. With a small flick of his finger, he can call over 1000 people to go after you to stop you from leveling. He can constantly keep your level below 40. He can even kill you till you reach level 1 if he wants. He can basically do whatever he wishes to you. How about you come to Fan Shu City and join us at [Hero Mounds]. To be completely honest, Q-sword isn"t a bad person. He and Feng Han are said to both be the top-class players, but his character is way better than Feng Han..."
  
  
  
  I look at her with conflicting thoughts, "I have never thought of joining other people"s guilds. I had originally thought of creating my own guild or for you two to create one and we would be fighting against the world or something, but now if I join in other people"s guild, that would just be me relying on others..."
  
  
  
  Wan Er"s delicate shoulders tremble, as she sits there blankly and says nothing.
  
  
  
  Cheng Yue, on the other hand, seems to be in deep thought. After a while, she says, "I also want that, but our influence isn"t high enough. Also, Wan Er and I have never created a guild before and our friend lists aren"t too full either. If we create a guild, then I"m afraid that it"ll only be us three. Getting the Guild Creation Tablet by itself is a huge task. We need dozens of top-class healers; where would we get any?"
  
  
  
  I nod, "I know this is very difficult, but I won"t give up."
  
  
  
  Wan Er lowers her head, daydreamingly staring at the desk. After a few seconds, she raises her head, looks at me and says, "You really want to create your own guild?"
  
  
  
  I clench my fist, "Mm, when I get the chance, I will reconstruct the Zhan Long team. After gathering my former members, I will create my own guild. Wan Er, will you and Cheng Yue join it?"
  
  
  
  "What are the benefits?" Wan Er asks with a smile.
  
  
  
  "Benefits..." I pause for a moment, "What if I gave you my heart?"
  
  
  
  "You wish..."
  
  
  
  Cheng Yue laughs on the side, "I think Wan Er and I would join, but only if your guild is strong enough, right?"
  
  
  
  Wan Er goes with the flow and nods and with seriousness in her voice, says, "Li Xiao Yao, I support you in creating a guild. If...Mm, if your guild is on the top 10 in China, then me and Cheng Yue will join it instantly, how about it?"
  
  
  
  I clench my fist and say, "Mm, I understand. I will work hard..."
  
  
  
  Wan Er laughs lightly, "Mm, you should try to survive in Ba Huang City first... Say, how did you anger so many people? At first, it was Tyrant of Western Chu/Liu Ying chasing you, but now the entire [Vanguard] guild is after you. I don"t even know what to say..."
  
  
  
  "......" I stay silent.
  
  
  
  Dong Cheng purses her lips, "It"s very simple; Xiao Yao is probably the strongest healer, he can both heal and deal damage. His battle strength and recovery power are already enough to challenge Jian Feng Han, a top-class player. I"m guessing that Feng Han doesn"t want him in the running for the top seat, so this is jealousy, I think?"
  
  
  
  I smile, "I doubt it. I"m not that powerful yet. I think it"s just that I have bad luck. The first Purple-Rank Boss dropped a purple-rank sword when it died. Feng Han may not be that selfish, but he couldn"t resist the temptation of a purple-rank sword. In this case, I can probably understand why he did it..."
  
  
  
  "That"s fine. What are your next plans then?" Wan Er smiles.
  
  
  
  "Actually, I don"t have any big plans but my class instructor is in the freezing wastelands. The monsters over there have really high levels and the environment is hard to traverse in as well. The distance from there to Ba Huang City is about an hour by foot; most players aren"t willing to venture that far, so leveling around Dragon City is safe. I do plan to help the Generals kill a boss and get the first Guild Creation Tablet. Of course, my priority right now is to reach level 41 and level my main battle skills, [Combo], [Fierce Ice Blade] and [Wind Blade], to level 5 With that, my strength will increase quite a bit..."
  
  
  
  "Mm, good luck!"
  
  
  
  "Thanks..."
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  "That"s right..." Wan Er suddenly pauses and looks at me, "There"s still an hour till the dinner at 6, how about we go to a more interesting place, mm?"
  
  
  
  "Huh? Interesting place?" I"m stunned.
  
  
  
  "The Swordplay department..."
  
  
  
  "Swordplay department?" I"m even more stunned.
  
  
  
  Dong Cheng smiles, "I know the Swordplay department. It combines both foreign sword styles and Chinese sword styles together. According to rumours, it"s being controlled by a violent force..."
  
  
  
  I purse my lips, "Wan Er, what are we going to the Swordplay department for?"
  
  
  
  Wan Er"s dimples indent slightly, "I know a senior at the Swordplay department. Wang Ran, do you know her?"
  
  
  
  "Fifth in Liu Hua University"s top 10 beauties..." I smile, "Of course I know her!"
  
  
  
  "She invited me to go check out the Swordplay department but I"ve been putting it off for a long time. Now I have time, why don"t we and take a look? We"ll go online and continue to grind our levels after dinner. How about that?"
  
  
  
  "That"s fine. Cheng Yue, you"re coming too?"
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  In the brightly coloured autumn day, we leave the cafe. Stepping on the fallen leaves, we go towards the eastern-section of the school. Around here, there are gyms, piano rooms, public rooms and other recreational rooms. The basketball court is filled with passion with countless boys" bare arms dribbling while they sweat like it"s raining. Of course, there are groups of girls on the side checking out the boys" bodies. Their eyes are drawn towards them; they may even be having dirty thoughts... That rings a bell: If you want to pick up girls, then play a sport. It has to be basketball though, soccer won"t do...
  
  
  
  In the fencing department, I can hear the clashing of swords from far away. After entering, there are indeed dozens of people facing each other and attacking with bamboo swords. They are all practicing Japanese sword styles. Among the people, a woman wearing white sportswear is holding a bamboo sword. Looking at her, without a doubt she is the legendary Wang Ran.
  
  
  
  "Senior~~" Wan Er yells from afar.
  
  
  
  Wang Ran quickly spins around and instantly her face is filled with smiles, "Oh, our guest is here! Wan Er, you finally came to visit my department..."
  
  
  
  Wan Er smiles, "Mm, but I brought two friends too. Is that okay?"
  
  
  
  "It"s fine..."
  
  
  
  Wang Ran smiles politely. At the same time, she looks at the male students behind her and yells, "Stop staring at the beauties and continue practicing! Get your act together!"
  
  
  
  With bangs and clangs, the group of males fight with even more effort as they see the legendary #1 beauty of Liu Hua University. Wan Er comes in wearing the latest fashion and although she is lacking a bit of fighting spirit compared to Wang Ran, she makes up for it with her charm. Wan Er"s looks also win by a chunk, so she, of course, grabs quite a bit of attention.
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  I stand next to Wan Er and say nothing as I look at the male students putting effort into their training.
  
  
  
  Bang!
  
  
  
  The bamboo sword strikes and it slices through the air in an arc. I couldn"t help but exclaim, "Kasaya strike..."
  
  
  
  Kasaya strike, one of the 9 battle strikes in Japanese Kendo.
  
  
  
  Wang Ran says surprisingly, "This student, you also know swordplay?"
  
  
  
  I"m caught off guard, "Uh...I know a bit..."
  
  
  
  Cheng Yue looks at me, "I think that Xiao Yao is quite good with a sword..."
  
  
  
  Instantly, a male student behind Wang Ran speaks up. He picks up his bamboo sword, walks towards me and arrogantly says, "What are you called?"
  
  
  
  "Li Xiao Yao, what do you want..."
  
  
  
  That student proudly raises his bamboo sword and says, "I"m called Zhao Mu, Mu with 3 dots. I am the vice leader of the Swordplay department and my style is the North Star Style, how about we spar a bit?!"
  
  
  
  I hold my cup of tea and say, "I"ve only heard of Zhao Mu, with "herd" as the Mu..."
  
  TL: In Chinese, there can be different words of the same pronunciation. The Mu in Zhao Mu means to cleanse but Mu can also mean to graze or herd and a lot of other meanings.
  Chapter 87 - Dual Sword Style
  
  This chapter is sponsored by Joakim Dreier and William Wang! Thanks!
  
  TL: Two things, first, please, please do not just take our translations. If you would like to post our translations on your website, either contact gravitytranslations@gmail.com or reblog the post!
  
  Second, please no spoilers in the comments, there"s a room for spoilers found under the Zhan Long page and you should post spoilers there!
  
  How very despicable!
  
  In front of the beauties, this Zhou Mu wants to use me as a stepping stone to show off? This behavior is so despicable. Even if he wanted to attract Lin Wan Er"s attention, he did not need to challenge me to a spar. And also.... after the incident at the company, her beautiful arcs keep me up every night. I cannot lose face in front of Lin Wan Er....
  
  At that moment, I glance over at Lin Wan Er. I"m surprised when I see her looking back at me. Her cheeks turn slightly pink as she looks at me with eyes filled with resentment. In a low angry voice, she says: "Xiao Yao, you pervert...."
  
  
  
  My heart sinks, as it becomes clearer and clearer; Lin Wan Er seems to be able to sense what people are thinking.... Could this be mind reading?!
  
  
  
  ...
  
  
  
  This won"t do. I can"t lose face anymore, not in front of Lin Wan Er. To Dong Cheng Yue, I seem strong; Today, I will win!
  
  
  
  I stand up and put down my milk tea, smiling: "Okay. Since Zhao Mu invited me so kindly, I will join you in a spar. Let"s be careful and not injure each other..."
  
  
  
  Zhao Mu laughs: "Don"t worry, I won"t injure you."
  
  
  
  I furrow my brow. These people are really egotistical. No wonder the swordplay club is just one big violent group!
  
  
  
  Wang Ran"s eyes grow wide: "Li Xiao Yao, can you do it? Zhao Mu"s North Star Style is unrivaled among the swordplay club. Even I can"t beat him."
  
  
  
  I nod: "Don"t worry!"
  
  
  
  "Then... which weapon would you like? A bamboo sword?"
  
  
  
  "Okay, Give me two!"
  
  
  
  "Two?"
  
  
  
  "Yes, two bamboo swords!"
  
  
  
  "Ah, ok..."
  
  
  
  ...
  
  
  
  Wang Ran personally hands me two bamboo swords. Holding them in my hand, they seem so light compared to my Xiao Hei; they"re as light as toys.
  
  TL: Xiao Hei is Xiao Yao"s sword in real life
  
  
  
  Zhao Mu grips his bamboo sword with both hands. His eyes are filled with confusion: "Two swords? Did you think that having another sword will make you stronger?"
  
  
  
  I laugh a little: "It is not like that. These bamboo swords are too light. With two, I can control the speed much better. However, it does hit harder."
  
  
  
  "Ba!" Zhao Mu says angrily: "Then I will give you a taste of the North Star Style"s most fearsome strike!"
  
  
  
  Holding one bamboo sword in each hand, the blades become an extension of myself. With a faint smile, I say: "You only know that North Star Style"s most fearsome strike is the strike: Killing Intentions. You probably don"t know that the North Star Style came from Japan learning China"s Tang dynasty"s swordsmanship. You also probably do not know China"s Han dynasty"s borderland warriors use a dual swords style!
  
  
  
  Zhao Mu coldly says: "Dual sword style? Okay, let us see if this Dual sword style is as impressive as it sounds...."
  
  
  
  ...
  
  
  
  At the same time, a loud noise sounds from outside of the swordplay club. Many of the girls that were watching the basketball competition decided to come over. All of them have their eyes wide open like curious little babies.
  
  
  
  "Wow, Isn"t that guy "Maniac Killer" Zhao Mu? Who is he dueling?"
  
  
  
  "A student that I don"t know, dual swords though.... wow, he looks very handsome holding two swords...."
  
  
  
  "Its gonna be a good show."
  
  
  
  ...
  
  
  
  I wrinkle my brow and whisper: "Wang Ran, could you please close the club door?"
  
  
  
  Wang Ran nods. She quickly runs to the door but there are so many girls outside that Wan Ran can"t close the door. On the other hand, after they see showdown here, everyone will probably leave.
  
  
  
  "Can we start? Come!" I impatiently say.
  
  
  
  Zhao Mu takes a deep breathe and charges toward me while roaring loudly. Holding the blade with both hands, he rushes towards me with small steps. Suddenly, he quickly thrusts the blade at a weird angle, aiming at my underarm. This is the North Star Style!
  
  
  
  Twisting my wrist, I turn over my right hand. "Pah!" I block his blade with mine. Then I lean forward and strike!
  
  
  
  "Pah!"
  
  
  
  Zhao Mu retreats a few steps and his complexion turns purple.
  
  
  
  On the sidelines, the students stare on with dumbstruck eyes: "Wow, Zhao Mu"s attack was blocked? What kind of reaction speed does he have?"
  
  
  
  I spread my two swords. With a slight laugh, I say: "Good, a blitz attack!"
  
  
  
  "Pah!"
  
  
  
  My sports shoes stamp on the ground and I spring forward as fast as lightning. Afterwards, the dual blades begin to dance!
  
  
  
  "Oh...."
  
  
  
  Zhao Mu immediately yells out. He carelessly tries to block my attacks by placing his bamboo sword horizontally in front of his chest but he could not block my attacks. The dexterity of dual blades is incomparable to a single sword and I use almost every skill I know from the Dual sword style to harass Zhao Mu.
  
  
  
  "Pah! Pah! Pah!"
  
  
  
  I leave behind marks on Zhao Mu"s clothes as I swing my swords. Within 3 seconds, my swords hit him at least 29 times!
  
  
  
  ...
  
  
  
  3 minutes later...
  
  
  
  "Pah!"
  
  
  
  I throw both swords on the ground and turn around to look at Lin Wan Er. Smiling, I say: "Miss, let"s walk around the garden once and then go to the cafeteria for food. It doesn"t seem like we have time to go to the library."
  
  
  
  Lin Wan Er and Dong Cheng Yue both stare at me with their mouths wide open with amazement. Apparently, this is the first time these two girls have seen me show off my swordsmanship.
  
  
  
  Wang Ran is more amazed by me than the two girls. She understands the basics of Dual Sword Style but what I displayed was beyond the basics. Every second, I executed 10 different attacks which is almost at the human limits. It is only natural that I had to train and train until I reached this state.
  
  
  
  "Li Xiao Yao...."
  
  
  
  Wang Ran runs up and grabs my wrist. A pair of beautiful eyes look up at me: "Would... would you please join the swordplay club?"
  
  
  
  "I can"t. I just met you."
  
  
  
  Zhao Mu stands there disappointedly, with a hurt expression.
  
  
  
  Slowly pulling out my hand, I give Wang Ran an apologetic look: "Sorry, I am already in a club. That is why I cannot join the swordplay club."
  
  
  
  Wang Ren"s jaw drops: "What club are you in?"
  
  
  
  I say forcefully: "Table tennis!"
  
  
  
  "Ah?" Many expressions cross Wang Ran"s face: "Such an amazing swordsman. How can you be in the table tennis club?"
  
  
  
  Lin Wan Er starts to laugh.
  
  
  
  Dong Cheng Yue narrows her eyes. Looks like someone is a rising star in table tennis.
  
  
  
  ...
  
  
  
  As we leave the swordplay club, a fall wind blows through and the two beauties" short skirts flutter lightly in the wind. I thoughtfully, place my palm on Lin Wan Er"s back.
  
  
  
  "Li Xiao Yao, what do you want to do?" Lin Wan Er suddenly turns and looks at me.
  
  
  
  "Hiccup.."
  
  
  
  I raise my head and smile: "I want to help the Generals get the first Guild Creation tablet. I wonder how they will thank me."
  
  
  
  Lin Wan Er purses her lips. With a small laugh, she says: "You want something too far out of your reach. Level 50+ Gold bosses do not fall so easily. I heard that from all three of the big cities, Niu Lu City, Fan Shu City, and Ba Huang City, teams were sent to kill the boss. More than 100 divisions were wiped out. One guild suffered incredible damages; they sent 500+ people to fight a level 57 purple ranked Boss. After 5 rounds, everyone fell below level 40. While they were trying to gather people to fight the boss again, the Boss just flew away...."
  
  
  
  "Pfff..." Dong Cheng Yue stifles a laugh.
  
  
  
  I remain silent for a second. "Okay, if the Generals can not find another healer like Darling Duck that will come then it might be hard. I require a 2nd promoted healer to cast a level 5 heals in addition to my own level 5 heal to be able to tank it. Killing a gold rank Boss ought to be a bit more easier but they rarely spawn."
  
  
  
  Lin Wan Er nods: "Ok. As of today, the number of dead Gold level bosses among the three cities have reached 9 but no one has found a Guild Creation Tablet yet. It is said that Gold level Bosses drop chance is at 0.7% and Purple level Bosses drop chance is around 3%. For Bosses, it seems higher rarity has higher drop chances. However, higher rarity also means tougher bosses; many players have died to them. So, you shouldn"t think about it too much."
  
  
  
  "Ok, I will burn an incense before confronting the Boss"
  
  TL: In chinese culture, you usually burn incense as an offering to accompany a prayer of good health or luck.
  
  
  
  "Huh?...."
  
  
  
  "....."
  
  
  
  ....
  
  
  
  After eating dinner, I shoo away a wave of boys from the two girls. After at the girls dorms, I help Lin Wan Er send away a large male student holding a bouquet of roses. I wait until they go upstairs and check that it is clear before I leave. Every boy in Liu Hua University views me as an enemy. I have a bad feeling about this....
  
  
  
  At my dormitory, Glasses is wiggling on his bed. I know that he must be doing something intense in Destiny but in reality, he isn"t really moving that much in real life. It is the game that is making him move, that is the only way to explain his lack of coordination. I guess this is good for him. For example, lets say Glasses keeps on using his skills in game and in real life, he would wiggle, wiggle and boom he"s in the bathroom. Then, he can have an exceptional endurance because he doesn"t have to log off to take care of bodily needs.
  
  
  
  "Shua!"
  
  
  
  I go online and appear within the Dragon Tomb. Beside me is the guardian Karl"s house but it seems like he doesn"t really welcome me with the stone door shut tight. But I need to get a mission so I will knock until this door opens.
  
  
  
  "Pa pa pa......."
  
  
  
  As I knock on the stone door, I ask: "KARL?"
  
  
  
  "Squeak......."
  
  
  
  The stone door finally opens and Karl comes out in his wooden wheelchair. He raises his head to look at me and with a smile of arrogance he says: "Kid, do you know why that brat Frost left you here?"
  
  I pause: "Why?"
  
  
  
  "To make you undergo various hardships. Maybe you can"t take them so you should get out of Dragon City."
  
  
  
  "It"s fine..." I proudly stick out my chest: "Teacher, give me your assignments, I"ll be able to handle them..."
  
  
  
  "Alright, then let"s start the first phase of your training in Dragon"s Tomb!"
  
  
  
  Karl says: "Within Dragon"s Tomb, every dragon bone has an abundance of residual spiritual power. So, a lot of forces come and try to steal these dragon bones. Even though Dragon City has a few hundred soldiers, they are at least 20 minutes away so we must use our own power to protect Dragon"s Tomb. Recently, a bunch of tomb imps have appeared within Dragon"s Tomb and are stealing small dragon bones. We can"t allow them to disrespect the remains of the dragons so brat, your mission today is to kill 1000 tomb imps!"
  
  "Ding!"
  
  
  
  System Notification: You accepted a quest to [Hunting Tomb Imps] (The current quest difficulty: A grade)
  
  
  
  Quest Description: Enter the Dragon"s Tomb and kill 1,000 Tomb Imps and bring 100 imp skulls to the tomb"s guardian, Karl. Upon completion, you will gain a huge experience reward. But you must be careful of these cruel and murderous imps. Perhaps, you"ll be one of the corpses stolen by these demons.
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Okay, looking at the task, it must be rich in experience. My goal today is to reach level 42 and help the General family kill high level bosses.Chapter 88 - Dragon"s Tomb Shin Guards
  
  This chapter was sponsored by William Wang and Joakim Dreier! Thanks!
  
  "Woosh... ..."
  
  As the chilling wind whistled inside the dragon"s tomb, I wrap the [Ice Fire Cloak] tighter around my body. Carrying the Jade City Sword and with Baby Bobo by my side, I slowly advance. Before me, as far as the eye could see, were countless dragon bones. The dragon"s skeleton glows with a faint luster. This must be the dragon soul Karl mentioned. Before their deaths, the dragons must have swallowed everything, including gold and gems. Presumably, the bones have inherited some of that wealth.
  Growing underneath every dragon bone, tall unknown weeds with black leaves emit a faint aroma.
  "Sha sha......"
  
  
  
  Suddenly, the weeds rustle, and a small green dot shows up on the mini-map. Ah, a monster has appeared.
  "Baby Bobo!"
  Hearing my order, Baby Bobo rushes out, and fires a level 4 combo at the underbrush.
  "Shua shua shua... ... "
  
  
  
  Before the combo could finish, an ugly hunchbacked demon around half a meter high jumps out. It has six legs, four of which it uses to run. The other two legs it uses as arms. It clutches a dragon"s bone between its sole two arms and begins to flee.
  
  
  
  I quickly rush after it, firing [Fierce Ice Blade]!
  
  "698!"
  
  After the strike, the monster"s attributes appear-
  
  [Tomb Imp] (Elite-rank Monster)
  
  Level: 45
  
  Attack: 450-700
  
  Defense: 400
  
  HP: 3000
  
  Abilities: [Steal bones] [Cut] [Penetrating Strike]
  
  
  
  Description: Tomb Imps, small demons that live most of their lives underground. The species is on the fringe of extinction and because of their desire for shiny treasures rich in souls; they will often excavate graves, attracting a lot of hatred.
  
  ......
  
  I blink. Elite ranked?! Great, in addition to normal monsters, elite monsters also appear here. Compared to normal monsters, elite monsters are on a whole new field and of course, their rewards are also on a whole new field.
  "Pi pi..."
  A layer of frost forms under the Tomb Imp"s feet. With a hit from [Fierce Ice Blade], its movement speed steeply drops. Already unable to escape, it immediately turns to attack me with a [Cut] from its sharp claws.
  "272!"
  
  
  
  Fortunately, my 845 defense isn"t just for show. This level 45 monster"s attack has a ceiling of 700 points, plus the +20% elite monster bonus. Its attack isn"t even 900 points. It"s not enough to break my defense.
  "Ding!"
  With a humming sound, the golden hexagram floats on the edge of my sword and I use my combo, hitting the target twice. A lvl 4 Combo hits 2-3 times. So it just got the unlucky end of the stick, hitting twice. I really need to rise it to lvl 5. A lvl 5 Combo hits 3-4 times. Although the chance of 4 hits is relatively low, it will be devastating once it happens.
  
  
  
  I look at my skill proficiency--
  
  [Combo LV-4]:764/2000
  
  ......
  
  It"s still early. Every time I use my combo, the proficiency raises by 1-2 points. I still need to use my combo 1000+ more times to raise to level 5. Fortunately, inside my bag are a sufficient amount of potions to rush my skills without fear of a lack of mana. While rushing lvl 5 [Combo] is easy, leveling [Wind Blade] and [Fierce Ice Blade] is a pain. Lvl 4 [Wind Blade]s consumes 80 MP and Lvl 4 [Fierce Ice Blade]s consumes 120 MP. It"s extremely brutal. Perhaps, that is the reason why most players" melee skills stay at lvl 3. The potions are just too expensive!
  "Jie jie......"
  
  
  
  Under force of my combo, the Tomb Imp screams and falls to the ground. 7 silver coins burst out. How generous. Elite ranked monsters definitely are special. In addition, with +1 imp exterminated and a imp skull as bonus, this is going well!
  
  
  
  Picking up the coins, I continue forward, and more Tomb Imps appear. Sometimes as many as 3 appear together, but fortunately, my defense is so high, it"s impossible for them to kill me. I can come back here to milk this place without too much pressure of getting killed. A different class swordsman, even a top fighter like Jian Feng Han, would need to bring several healers into the map. Drinking HP potions alone certainly wouldn"t be enough. Drinking a potion has a cooldown of 60 seconds. That is to say, for 60 seconds, the most I can add is 600HP. But since my [Heal] has a cooldown of 6 seconds, my recovery power surpasses potions by as much as 900%.
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  The experience from these elite monsters is exceptional. For every 5 Tomb Imps killed, my experience bar jumps around 1%. At this pace, ah, after I complete this time-consuming quest, I should have leveled to 42. These Tomb Imps" respawn rate is pretty good, and the silver coins dropped is about 150% greater than what normal monsters drop. Soon, a few green tiered equipment drop too. Practically all of them are leather armors but it"s still good.
  
  
  
  Before I know it, 5 hours pass by and it"s nighttime: 11:00 PM. I"ve jumped to lvl 41, while [Combo], [Wind Blade], and [Fierce Ice Blade] are all at lvl 5. Inside my bag are considerably fewer potions, but it is worth it. Especially for lvl 5 [Combo]. When I tested it 50 times, the chances of hitting 4 times was around 50%. While the official number given is 30%, out of 50 tries, I got 4 hits 27 times. There could only be one explanation -- charm!
  
  
  
  Yes, the effects of charm to increase the success rate of skills is starting to show, especially for improving my [Combo]"s probability. My 31 charm is like a treasure.
  
  ......
  
  
  
  "Gu gu......."
  
  
  
  My stomach growls. A little hungry, I go offline. But after eating a bowl of noodles, I return back online. Today"s mission is to level up to 42.
  
  
  
  "Kacha!"
  
  
  
  [Wind Blade] cleaves off an imp"s head while it gives off a horrible death shriek. And at the same time, three things burst out: silver coins, gems, and a ring. Looking at the ring"s bright shine, my heart bursts; something amazing just dropped.
  
  
  
  Hastily reaching down to pick it up, sure enough, it was an excellent ring. For elite monsters to drop such equipment. Great!
  
  
  
  ?Green Stem Ring?(Silver-Tiered Equipment)
  
  
  
  Strength: +27
  
  
  
  Magic Power: +22
  
  
  
  Extra: Increases attack by 20 points
  
  
  
  Level Requirement: 40
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Looking at +27 Strength and +22 Magic Power, these additional attributes makes me smile. While ordinary swordsmen have no use for extra MP, for me it"s extremely important. At lvl 41, I"m capped at 480 mana and my usage is far greater than the amount an Indigo Sea Pill recover. Now adding this +22 Magic Power, along with a swordsman"s 0.8 magic power growth, I have a 176 mana bonus. This is like a gift from god!
  
  
  
  Immediately equipping the ring, I feel the mana surge. The extra mana means I can use [Fierce Ice Sword] one extra time.
  
  
  
  ?Xiao Yao Zi Zai?(Tomb Guardian of Dragon City)
  
  
  
  Level:41
  
  
  
  Attack:726-983
  
  
  
  Defense:846
  
  
  
  HP:1473
  
  
  
  MP:656
  
  
  
  Charm:31
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  I look down at the dropped gem with delight. Ohhh, my luck"s too good--
  
  
  
  ?Soul Gem?:Strengthens weapons or defensive equipment to improve the quality of the equipment!
  
  
  
  To my surprise, it"s a soul gem! Not saying anything more, I open up the strengthening window and see the 80% success rate in strengthening the Jade City Sword.
  
  
  
  "Ding!"
  
  
  
  Strengthening successful!
  
  
  
  ?Jade City Sword +2?(Gold Tier Weapon)
  
  
  
  Attack:210-300(+42-60)
  
  It"s peerlessly sharp! Another addition of 21-30 hidden attack points.....
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  "Di!"
  
  
  
  A message from Lin Wan Er: "Yue Er and I are going offline. You should go to sleep too!"
  
  
  
  This is the first time Lin Wan Er has taken the initiative of telling me goodnight. I excitedly reply: "Ah, sweet dreams!"
  
  
  
  She sends a smiley face emoticon. The name goes dim and she goes offline.
  
  
  
  After a few seconds, I hear another "Di" sound. It"s a message from General Li Mu: "Xiao Yao, are you still busy?"
  
  
  
  "Ah, I"m in the middle of leveling, shooting for lvl 42 by tonight!" I look at his rank and find General Li Mu at lvl 43. His leveling speed is insane!
  
  
  
  Ba Huang City"s golden emblem on my head was already gone, meaning that my rank at lvl 41, dropped to be top 10. Now I"m ranked No. 300+. It"s really depressing.
  
  
  
  Li Mu replies: "Ah, you"re nearly lvl 42. Just to let you know, we"ve been busy as well. We"ve already found eleven lvl 37 healers willing to join us. We haven"t been about to find any at lvl 40; healers with second promotion are too scarce. But if we fight 50+ gold tier bosses, we should have no problems. I"m trying to start the operation tomorrow afternoon. Xiao Yao, you need to be online then!"
  
  
  
  "I understand. No problem! But my only request is that I have the killing blow on the boss. I want to get more experience, or I won"t be able to re-enter the top ten."
  
  
  
  "Okay, we"ll let you get it......"
  
  
  
  "Okay......."
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Continuing the leveling, I sweep through the Dragon"s Tomb once more. Already 2:00AM at night, practically all of the elite Tomb Imps have been killed off by me but I"ve also killed the 1000 Imps required and found 100 Imp skulls. There"s still 11% until lvl 42. Ah, finishing my quest should be enough for me to level up. Cherishing every elite monster found, I search through the tomb once again and kill off the dozen or so that slipped through the net the first time. Carrying my Jade City Sword, I walk back, ready to complete my quest.
  
  
  
  Inside my bag, there are a heap of black and green tier equipment, but no bronze tiers. The best drop was the Green Stem Ring but a second silver tiered item never turned up.
  
  The small stone house is quiet. I use the hilt of my sword to knock on the stone door, yelling: "Teacher, I"ve finished your quest!"
  
  
  
  Rolling out in his wheelchair, Karl looks at the 100 imp skulls and a smile finally shows on his hardened face: "Haha, kid, you really don"t disappoint. Those imps weren"t even slightly difficult for you. Come here, this is your reward!"
  
  
  
  "Ding!"
  
  
  
  System Notification: Congratulations. You"ve completed the A-level mission [Hunting Tomb Imps], Experience +32,000 points, +10 Gold coins, and your reputation in Dragon City has improved. You"ve acquired the quest item: [Dragon"s Tomb Shin Guards]!
  
  ......
  
  
  
  I hastily open my bag. I actually obtained equipment from the quest! --
  
  
  
  ?Dragon"s Tomb Shin Guards?(Silver-Tiered Equipment)
  
  
  
  Category:Armor
  
  
  
  Defense:110
  
  
  
  Strength:+28
  
  
  
  Endurance:+25
  
  
  
  Extra:Increases attack damage by 0.7%
  
  
  
  Level Requirement:40
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Great. This is just what I need. Replacing the bronze leggings, my defense and HP both increase considerably; it"s just in time for the raid on the boss tomorrow.
  
  
  
  ?Xiao Yao Zi Zai?(Tomb Guardian of Dragon City)
  
  Level:42
  
  
  
  Attack:744-1006
  
  
  
  Defense:872
  
  
  
  HP:1683
  
  
  
  MP:656
  
  
  
  Charm:31
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  I have nearly 1,700 HP and my base attack broke a thousand, with [Turmoil Sword], my actual damage reaches 1100+! It"s more than enough to break the defenses of level 50+ bosses.
  
  
  
  After tidying up my bag, I return to Ba Huang City to replenish my potions and repair my equipment. Afterwards, I log out and go to sleep in order to save my stamina. Tomorrow, when I go online, I"ll go and raid the boss. Before I fall asleep, I think: Just wait till I get that Guild Creation Tablet, [Vanguard]!
  Chapter 89 - Skeleton General
  
  This chapter was sponsored by William Wang! Thanks!
  
  On the morning of the next day, I painfully sit through the morning classes and accompany Wan Er and Cheng Yue to lunch, then we all hurry up and connect online. All sorts of major guilds are planning to attack bosses, and all of them don"t want to fall behind others.
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Whoosh!
  
  
  
  1 o"clock in the afternoon, I appear in the middle of Ba Huang City. With a tick, General Li Mu sends a message, "Xiao Yao, you"ve finally came online! Hurry up and prepare, we"ll meet up in the northern plaza of Ba Huang City. We"ve found a boss!"
  
  
  
  "Okay!"
  
  
  
  I take my sword and get over there. I notice the Generals surrounded by a dozen of players. Including me, there are exactly 20 players in this group and there are ton of healers; There are 9 healers,but without this many to heal me, I probably can"t take all the damage up.
  
  
  
  "Here comes Xiao Yao Zi Zai!"
  
  
  
  Wang Jian smiles, "Damn, already level 42 now. His leveling speed is something!"
  
  
  
  I shoot a glance at my shoulder and a golden Ba Huang City emblems appears on it. My ranking is same as usual--Ba Huang City"s #10 player. Lowest ranking again... I look towards the ground, smile and ask, "Is everyone ready?"
  
  
  
  "Mm!"
  
  
  
  General Li Mu nods and says, "I didn"t even dare drink any beer today to avoid affecting my game reaction speed. Everyone had already gathered around here at 12:20 and we were waiting on you!"
  
  
  
  "Okay..."
  
  
  
  I walk up, and I scan over our team--4 mages, all male, the highest is already level 40, 1 level 39 musketeer, 1 wind spirit assassin, pretty similar to Wan Er in class and race, but this person pales in comparison... As for the the healer group, the healer lowest level is 37, the rest are level 38-39, and sadly there"s only one level 40 promoted healer--
  
  
  
  ID: Who"s Blue LV-40 Silver Healer
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Her age is probably less than 20, and beside her, there"s a level 39 female healer as well, called "Not Red Yet" and I"m guessing that they"re playing together. To get to this level is already pretty good since there aren"t many healers in Ba Huang City that have had their second promotion, maybe at most 100 players. To have their second promotion is already very good by itself...
  
  
  
  "You should have [Healer Advent] and [Revive] right?" I ask.
  
  
  
  Who"s Blue nods, "Mm, I have it and I spent a lot of money on it, so I accepted this job...You"re that Xiao Yao Zi Zai? Looking at you...you don"t seem that powerful...Why are Tyrant of Western Chu and Jian Feng Han so scared of you and hate you?"
  
  
  
  I put my sword on my shoulder and smile, "You"ve got it wrong. They aren"t scared at me at all but rather they really want to kill me. Since we"re prepared, then let"s go. When we are killing the boss, everyone spread their healing times apart. 6 second cooldown, so everyone should heal me every second. You and Red, you two should have pretty good healing control right? Try to do some tight healing, right after the boss attacks me for the first time, heal me, so it will almost nullify the damage."
  
  
  
  "Mm, I understand."
  
  
  
  "Let"s go! Lead the way Li Mu!"
  
  
  
  "Okay, let"s go!"
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Our group majestically leaves Ba Huang City. General Li Mu leads a group of DPSs and I lead a group of healers. All 9 healers are in my party. Since I am probably the main tank, it"ll be better for them to all be in the same party so there won"t be anytime when I won"t get healed causing the attack group to collapse.
  
  
  
  As we walk deeper and deeper, Li Mu carefully looks around us, squints his eyes and smiles, "There aren"t any assassins following us right?"
  
  
  
  I blink my eyes, "I think you"re overestimating yourself guy. [Vanguard], [Prague], [Flying Dragons] and [Wrath of the Heroes] all went and found bosses to kill; where would they find the time to follow us? Also, we are only 20 people here, who do you think we are..."
  
  
  
  "Although you are correct, it does hurt our pride a bit..."
  
  
  
  "Oh yeah, to create this group, how much did you spend?"
  
  
  
  Li Mu coughs, moves closer to me and mutters, "The most expensive ones were those healers, Blue and Red those two. I spent 50 gold coins on them both, buy one get one free type of thing. The rest are the 7 healers, I spend 5 gold for battle costs, and the other mages are 10 gold per day. This is already pretty cheap, and the rest are people I know so they"re free."
  
  
  
  I"m shocked, "Did you promise them anything?"
  
  
  
  "Mm, cloth type armor, or magic type equipment are given to mages, healing type equipment is given to Blue, and the rest we decided within ourselves. So that"s how it is..."
  
  
  
  I nod, "Yep, that"s the best way to prevent any arguments. This time...Even if a purple-rank equipment is dropped, we need to give it to them. We only have one life, and trust is very important."
  
  
  
  Li Mu smiles like he understands everything, "Mm, that"s how it should be!"
  
  
  
  "So who"s our target for this afternoon"s battle?"
  
  
  
  "Level 52 gold-rank boss, [Skeleton General]. It"s in a hidden place in the Ba Huang Forest so we should hurry up and get there. It was just discovered barely an hour ago, so there shouldn"t be anyone there yet. According to the Ba Huang City player contract, whoever sees the boss gets rights over the boss. Only until the first group of players get extinguished can the other players follow up and attack. So...we should get there as soon as possible."
  
  
  
  "Mm, but I don"t have a good feeling about this. Level 52 gold-rank boss, the drop chance for the Guild Creation Tablet is less than 1%. With our luck, I"m afraid...coughcough"
  
  
  
  "Don"t jinx it, hurry up ...."
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Ba Huang Forest, the main forest surrounding Ba Huang City, also the main level training area for players. There are countless maps in Ba Huang Forest and over 80% of Ba Huang City"s currently online players are scattered in Ba Huang Forest.
  
  
  
  "It"s ahead, no one"s found it out yet!" General Wang Jian yells, "My assassin friends told me its here, hehe..."
  
  
  
  The whole group rushes forward and goes through the shrubs. Indeed, in the dark and wet forest, a blood-red named boss stands there with a battle axe in his hand. A full body of red armor with a body of white bones. Also, long white hair extends from his helmet. Perhaps in his previous life, he was some good looking guy...
  
  
  
  ?Skeleton General - Wang Lin?(Gold-rank Boss)
  
  
  
  Level: 52
  
  
  
  Attack: ???
  
  
  
  Defense: ???
  
  
  
  HP: ???
  
  
  
  Skills: ???
  
  
  
  Description: The death king hidden deep in the forest, he has a battle axe sharpened from a pile of dried up bones...
  
  
  
  .......
  
  
  
  "Skeleton General..." I mutter.
  
  
  
  General Li Mu raises his sword and stands next to me, "Xiao Yao, what"s the plan? You can direct us, against bosses you should be much more familiar than me. "
  
  
  
  I nod and smile, "Hm. This level 52 gold-rank boss wouldn"t be able to instantly kill me with my 1683 HP; this much is certain. But the only thing is the boss"s high cooldown skills. If it uses some explosive damage skill then there"s a chance that I might be killed, so Blue has to prepare the [Revive] skill. If I get killed, then you have to revive me within 2 seconds. If I revive within 2 seconds, then the aggro will still stay on me, or else the boss will rampage all over and everyone will get trampled by it. Remember, reviving me is very important..."
  
  
  
  Blue nods, "Mm, Xiao Yao don"t worry, I will remember!"
  
  
  
  "Then that"s good..." I grasp my sword and say, "Then I"ll prepare to go now. When my HP reaches 40% then heal me. I"ll do the first heal myself to lock in the boss"s aggro then after that just don"t let me die. Doing all that, we"re pretty much guaranteed that we can finish this boss off."
  
  
  
  Li Mu pats my shoulder, "Mm, you be careful and good luck on getting the Guild Creation Tablet drop!"
  
  
  
  "Okay!"
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  I summon Baby Bobo, take my sword and enter the shrubbery. My sword shines, and with a whoosh I use [Fierce Ice Blade] on the Skeleton General. This although this Skeleton General is a boss, it doesn"t have too good of an AI. It waves its axe and starts to retaliate, but its body is already been stabbed by the [Fierce Ice Blade] and as frost was forming on its body, a huge damage number also pops up--
  
  
  
  "651!"
  
  
  
  Very good, my attack damage is good enough to break through its defense. Just as I finished the previous strike, I lean down, and punch the ground with my left fist. With a clang steel chains break through from the ground, and it latches onto the General"s ankles. At the same time a glow appears from my feet, my S-rank combo is coming--[Strength of a Thousand Men]!
  
  
  
  A chain of damage numbers appear, and the first 3 strikes knocked the boss"s battle axe away, and my [Wind Blade] dealt over 800 damage in one strike!
  
  
  
  "Die..."
  
  
  
  The Skeleton General bellows, and raises its battle axe again with flames on it. Damn, it"s the second promotion skill for players, [Flame Axe]!
  
  
  
  Clang!
  
  
  
  I feel a wave of pain on my shoulder and my entire body feels like it got compressed for half a meter. My body sinks down, and a damage number flies up--
  
  
  
  "474!"
  
  
  
  That"s good, since this is a gold-rank boss, the damage is far less scary than General of the Everlasting Wind, which could easily require thousands. My 872 defense isn"t just for show; many top-class monks and knights at this stage also have around this amount of defense.
  
  
  
  I eat another axe, and my HP reaches 50%. I immediately wave my hand and cast a level 5 [Heal]!
  
  
  
  Whoosh!
  
  
  
  "+750!"
  
  
  
  The instant the [Heal] was casted, a blood-red glow rose from the Skeleton General. It enters an angered state and the battleaxe focuses on me. Indeed, because of my healing, 90% of all aggro is on me.
  
  
  
  .......
  
  
  
  Under rays of light, the 9 healers behind me continuously recover my health. Li Mu also took his longsword and yells, "Start the ranged attacks!"
  
  
  
  Mages start to chant their spell and at the same time, I also yell, "Mages watch your MP, don"t use it up!"
  
  
  
  The group of people nod.
  
  
  
  I also pay attention to my own MP. I need to make sure that I can still use [Heal], so out of all my attacking skills, I only use level 5 [Combo] and only use level 1 skills for the rest of them. My 656 total MP can only allow for 4 level 5 [Fierce Ice Blade]s, so use level 1 [Fierce Ice Blade]s. Although the slowing effect is a bit worse, that"s not a huge problem.
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  In less than 5 minutes, the Skeleton General"s HP is already 70% gone and cries and whines come from it. My HP hasn"t even gone under 30%, while I fought very safely. Even if the General uses all its skills, I can still hang on.
  
  
  
  After 7 minutes, the boss only has less than 5% HP remaining, and we start the final battle!
  
  
  
  ......
  
  
  
  Blue smiles lightly, "0 Aggro changes, 0 overheals, 27 missed boss attacks, waa, Xiao Yao Zi Zai is strong as the rumours say, the gold-rank boss doesn"t even know what to do..."
  
  
  
  General Wang Jian holds his long sword and laughs, "Of course, or how else could Xiao Yao kill the purple-rank boss without dying?"
  
  
  
  I look at the boss"s HP bar and don"t say anything. I only hope that when he dies he drops a Guild Creation Tablet, so we can pro ve that we are not the "losers"!
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