âKa cha!â
With a slash, I sliced apart the body of the Vine Monster, removing the last sliver of his health. Along with 10 silver coins, it dropped an Illustration of the Vine Monster that had 4.5 stars in endurance and 3.5 in attack, quite normal stats. Letâs just leave it there; there was probably no Lv 1 Vine Monster here and also, that kind of stat growth didnât interest me at all.
Continue killing!
âChaâ¦â
The Jade City Sword pierced through the body of a Vine Monster. With a ãWind Bladeã, it was immediately shredded apart!
âDingâ¦â
A crisp sound of something dropping could be heard. I turned to see what happened, and the Vine Monster seemed to have dropped some kind of an equipment, something shiny. Previously, the equipment that had dropped were useless Green-tiers or Black Iron Tier equipment. What could it be this time?
As I stretched out my hand to grab the 10 silver coins, beside them, I saw a small shiny ring that silently laid in the grass. As I placed it in my palm, heat flew from the ring and sinked into my skin. My heart began to beat wildly as I looked at the properties of the ring, â
ãMan Luoâs Ringãï¼Silver-Rank Equipmentï¼
Strength:+27
Endurance:+25
Extra:Increases the userâs attack by 40 points
Special Effect:Life Steal, converts 1% of damage to the userâs health
Level Requirement:45
â¦â¦
Life Steal!!
My eyes widened into two big circles. A ring with 1% Life Steal, Damnit! I actually got a 1% Life Steal ring? Awesome!
1% Life Steal, although it didnât seem like much, in reality, it helped immensely. Furthermore, Life Stealâs effects could be stacked. If a player could obtain around 10% Life Steal, he would be godlike! This was how the Battle Reflux Style originated, to continuously attack the opponent while recovering oneâs own health; Jian Feng Han and Q-Sword were all grandmasters of this style.
Well, who cared, let me equip it first!
âPa ta!â
Both of my hands had a ring on them, one of them being the Green Stem Ring and the other was the Man Luoâs Ring. Both were silver-rank equipment. A player could equip only 2 rings at a time, so my ring collection was now complete. My attack damage had risen to 1138 and my health had reached the 2000 range, granting me even greater survivability!
â¦â¦
Continuing on, I looked into my bag as I headed deeper into the forest. Elite Monsters had a fixed chance of dropping a Pardon Card and I had already gotten 3 of them at that point in time. If nothing surprising happened, it was highly likely that these Pardon Cards would become a popular item in the future. After all, these kind of items allowed one to be able to kill people without accumulating sin points. To battle maniacs such as Jian Feng Han, Yan Zhao Warrior and General Li Mu, this card was a godsend.
In the blink of an eye, three hours had passed; it was already nearing 5 in the afternoon. As I killed another Vine Monster, I looked at my experience bar. Lv 45 with 97% experience. All I required was just a bit more to reach Lv 46. However, I still sent a message to Lin Wan Er, âWan Er, do you want to eat dinner?â
Lin Wan Er replied approximately 7 seconds later, âHm, Dong Cheng and I are currently clearing out Elite Monsters. Might take us awhile, weâll have dinner around 7. Iâm on a diet right nowâ
I said, âYou arenât fat, what are you dieting for?â
âI am still a little plumpâ¦â Lin Wan Er confessed.
âBe careful, perhaps your chest will end up shrinkingâ¦â
âOkay fine, I wonât go on a diet⦠So, how are you and the ãZhan Longã studio progressing?â
âSong Han and the rest are currently engaging in battles with humanoid monsters to earn money and raise their levels. While I am training at an area near the borders of Ba Huang and Jiu Li City.â
âOkay⦠Good luck⦠Donât PK anymoreâ¦â
âSureâ¦â
â¦â¦
As I closed my message window, a few human-like shadows appeared in the forest. I clenched my fist, d*mn it, they sure had caught up quickly. Even though Lin Wan Er told me not to PK, it looked like I would have to betray her expectations!
A total of 20+ people appeared in the lush green forest. They were all members of the ãWrath of the Heroesã. In their midst, I saw the Lv 41 Wind Elf Archer, Willow Shore! However, he was only Lv 40 now. There was also the Musketeer, Piggy. Piggy was one of the top players in [Wrath of the Heroes] as well as the right-hand man of the Tyrant of Western Chu. They really wanted my head.
âIs Xiao Yao Zi Zai really in this region?â Piggy frowned.
Willow Shore nodded his head, âYeah, he is definitely still here. Iâve investigated and on our way, there were a few players that were picking herbs and saw Li Xiao Yao and his bee coming down the cliff. Also, while climbing down, we also saw the corpse of a Mysterious Cliff Snake in the cracks of the cliff. Without a doubt, he is in this region, just thatâ¦â
He looked at the 20+ people behind of him and frowned, âWith so few people, we might not be able to kill him.â
Piggy positioned his rifle on his shoulders and said, âYou still have the cheek to say that. The map wasnât accurate. Just from our way down from the cliff, there have already been near a hundred casualties from the vicious attacks by the Mysterious Cliff Snakes. Furthermore, the respawn site is a long way from here, thus they canât revive in the short-term. After that, the Dark Green Vine Monsters also got rid of several of us in an instant, leaving less than 100 of us here in the Green Qilin Valley. Then, since we were also unsure of Xiao Yao Zi Zaiâs exact location, we split into 5 groups to hunt for him. Although we know that we are scattering our forces, what other choice do we have?â
Willow Shore took a deep breath and said, âFortunately, what we have left are the elites. As long as we focus all of our attacks on him, even if it is Xiao Yao Zi Zai with his overpowered defense and health, we can still kill him in an instant. What we have here⦠are all of our 40+ second time promoted elites!â
Piggy, carrying his gun, blandly said, âContinue advancing forward while remaining in position, be careful of the Vine Monstersâ attacks. As for Wind Elf Archers and Mages, be careful of your flying heights. Be at least 15 yards away from the ground, otherwise you might be an easy target for Xiao Yao Zi Zai. Everyone, summon your pets, there is no point in keeping them tucked away.â
âOkay!â
â¦â¦
The group of the ãWrath of the Heroesãâs players slowly marched into the forest. They did not dare to be too adventurous as their levels were not as high as mine. This was to my advantage. Piggyâs group was moving very slowly and carefully within the forest which showed their lack of understanding of the terrain.
I hid myself in the bushes, completely concealed by a thick level of vegetation. This way, my blue dot on the map wouldnât be easily visible to them. Furthermore, my level surpassed theirs by at least 2 or more, making it harder for them to spot me on the map.
Counting their numbers, they had 22 players there. Among these 22 people, the ones that I feared the most were the Mages and the Archers. The magical attacks by the Mages were extremely painful to Swordsmen like me while those 2nd promotion Archers had a new skill - ãShatter Shotã. ãShatter Shotã had a high probability to stun its target, and once stunned, it would be a simple feat for the Mages to focus their attacks on me. My 2000 health wouldnât be sufficient to take all of their attacks.
First, I would clear away all the Mages, followed by the Archers and then the Healers. In this group, my main priority would be the two Wind Elf Mages. I must kill them in an instant via a sneak attack, or else it would be difficult for me to continue fighting.
Looking at the surrounding terrain, none of it was really suited for sneak attacks. I was not an Assassin so I didnât know ãSneakã like them, thus I could only make use of the surrounding objects to hide myself.
Carefully looking around once again, I found a large tree that seemed to stretch up to the heavens in front of me. It was slightly bent, the result of the wind in the region, and had dense red leaves growing all over the tree, obscuring vision of its tree branches. Furthermore, this tree was directly in the way of the players from the ãWrath of the Heroesã. It was only 500 meters away from them. Thankfully, they still couldnât see it because of the forestation.
âAlrightâ¦â
I grinned. Carrying my Jade City Sword, I stuck closely to the bushes while crawling over to the tree. Reaching the foot of the tree, I bit onto my sword and exerting all my strength in my arms, with âpah pah pahâ sounds I climbed up the tree as though I were an ape. Climbing to a height of around 50 meters, I smiled in the knowledge that even the Wind Elf players were unable to fly to such a height. Furthermore, my body was under the large tree crown, thus causing my blue dot to not appear on the map.
Carrying my Jade City Sword, I controlled my breathing and waited silently for the other party to arrive.
A few minutes later, not betraying my expectations, Piggy and his group got here after killing a few more Vine Monsters. The two Wind Elf Mages were flying in the sky, the staves in their hand glowing with a slight hue. From the ground, Piggy suddenly felt as though something was amiss and said, âMages, all of you activate your ãMana Shieldã, I feel a little uneasyâ¦â
Willow Shore frowned and said, âBrother Piggy, isnât activating our ãMana Shieldã now a little too early? The mana cost of activating ãMana Shieldã is pretty high. At this rate, even before we see Xiao Yao Zi Zai, our Mages would run out of mana to cast their spells. A Level 5 ãPillar of Ice and Fireã already costs 500 mana to cast. A mage that pumps all their stats to magic only has around 4100 mana at Lv 40, we canât afford to waste our manaâ¦â
A fierce glint appeared in Piggyâs eyes, âCut the crap, all the Mages activate your ãMana Shieldã, now!â
In the sky, two golden lights appeared, forming the ãMana Shieldãs. Furthermore, it was a Lv 5 ãMana Shieldã, thus its durability would be on the high end, making it hard to break. Of course, with an offensive ability like mine, the durability didnât make much of a difference to me.
â¦â¦
Sure, activate your ãMana Shieldãs, you were still going to die!
I held my breath and my heart started beating wildly. 1 Vs 22 was going to be a huge challenge for me. Although, I could ignore the short-range classes for now. After all, my 1022 defense wasnât just for show. I would get rid of the magic classes and the classes that had crowd control skills first!
(Note: Crowd Control = Slows, stuns etc.)
âPata⦠Pataâ¦â
The wings of the Wind Elves fluttered rapidly as they approached my location. One of them, a Lv 42 Wind Elf Mage girl, looked up at the tree crown and laughed, âPiggy, is Xiao Yao Zi Zai really that amazing? To require such an army just to get rid of him? Although, my older sister said that Xiao Yao Zi Zai is quite good lookingâ¦â
Piggy replied, âSurely you wonât show him mercy just because he is handsome?â
The lady covered her mouth as she laughed, âWhy would I? If it is for [Wrath of the Heroes], I would be willing to do anything. If Xiao Yao Zi Zai really appears right in front of me, Iâll send a ãPillar of Fire and Iceã to freeze and roast him, just wait and see!â
The Lv 43 Mage girl beside her also chuckled, âYup, an enemy of the ãWrath of the Heroesã is an enemy to us. There are no emotions, weâll just slaughter him!â
â¦â¦
âKeng!â
Taking the Jade City Sword out from the sheath, I activated a Pardon Card. With a leap of my Battle Boots off of the tree branch, I rushed towards them. This was the moment. Die!
âHua huaâ¦â
With my Ice Fire Cloak fluttering behind me, my estimation was extremely accurate. As my body dropped down like a sharp blade, I directly free-fell towards the Level 43 Mage. Her equipment was decent, thus her ãMana Shieldã should be more durable!
The flying Wind Elf Mage, hearing the sound from the fluttering of my cloak, looked up and received a surprise, âWatch out, thereâs someone in the tree!â
Together with the sound of my swordâs cry, four golden hexagram started to appear on my Jade City Sword. My heart felt a tinge of happiness. Excellent, with 4 hits I should be able to rip her shield apart. After all, her Ability Power couldnât be above that of Soaring Dragon, and naturally her ãMana Shieldã wouldnât be as strong as his!
âPeng peng pengâ¦â
With the intense sound of my sword clashing against her shield, sparks flew from her ãMana Shieldã. The Wind Elf Mage was shocked beyond words looking at her rapidly disintegrating shield. After I finished my combo, I sent in a fifth strike - ãFierce Ice Bladeã!
âPu fu!â
1107!
My sword slashed through her cloth armor, causing a one hit KO, without a single chance for her to heal. At the same time, I pressed down on her shoulders directly before she disappeared, leaping towards the other Mage. The other Mage was flabbergasted, âShe⦠she⦠she was killed in an instant! So this is Xiao Yao Zi Zai!!â
Baby Bobo, who was flying around the other Mage, sent a LV-5 Combo stabbing directly to the Mageâs ãMana Shieldã, breaking it in a second. As for me, as my body descended, I swept my sword vertically downward in an arc, sending a slash directed towards the Mage. It was a normal attack, but with a pufu, her robe was cut through in an instant, causing yet another one hit KO.
âSou!â
As my body fell straight downwards, I gripped my sword with my both hands tightly. The figure of Willow Shore who was standing on the ground enlarged in my eyes.
â¦â¦
âGu dongâ¦â
Willow Shore gulped, and with a wail, âCrap, he really is hereâ¦â