âKill the Healers first!â
Q-Sword flicks his blade and [Hero Mound]âs army springs into action. Groups of twice promoted berserkers, knights, and Swordsmen all start pouring at the [Flying Dragon] members, catching them off guard. Large amounts of Healers are not prepared for the onslaught of the high damage spells such as [Flame Axe] and are torn to shreds.
â¦
âF*ckâ¦â
Soaring Dragon roars and lifts his staff. He fires [Pillar of Fire & Ice] at Q-sword!
âBang! Bang!â
â779!â
Q-Swordâs body trembles as a heavy armor class, he canât withstand magic attacks too well. Q-Sword raises his blade and charges at Soaring Dragon. As long as he closes the distance between him and the Mage, the Mage does not stand a chance.
His cloth boots quickly moving across the ground, Soaring Dragon sends out an [Icicle] spell. It makes a âWhooshâ sound as it hits Q-Sword and greatly slows his movement. This is a classic Mage versus Swordsman strategy: Hit and Run. If a Mageâs magic attack is high enough, he can avoid close combats through sheer range magic damage output. Soaring Dragon obviously understands this and uses it to his advantage.
âShua! Shua!â
Q-Swordâs body glows from multiple [Heal]s. With 10 or so healers, he basically cannot die. The only question is how long it will take for him to kill Soaring Dragon.
âQ-Sword, just you wait!â
Soaring Dragonâs face turns pale: âOne day. I will make you regret attacking [Flying Dragon!]â
â¦
âShua!â
The glowing tip of a blade appears out of nowhere. It was an Assassinâs [Bleed] skill. Immediately, a silhouette of a woman appears behind Soaring Dragon. It is the beautiful Lv 44 Cang Tong.
Aiming at Soaring Dragon, Lin Wan Er mercilessly stabs downward. Her dagger rips open a hole of Soaring Dragonâs Mana Shield and the poison effect on her dagger is applied to Soaring Dragon. His face turns green as the poison quickly devours his HP.
âYou want to die?!â
He waves his staff and casts [Rock Spikes].
âHaâ¦â
As Lin Wan Er side steps, the dagger in her left hand disappears. She reaches behind her and grabs onto a blood red metal umbrella. With a âPang!â, she opens it and uses it to avoid most of the [Rock Spikes]!
â344!â
Normally, [Rock Spikes] would have done over 500+ damage but because it was partially blocked, the damage changed to 344. Soaring Dragonâs complexion continues to grow greener.
âWan Er, keep up the attacks!â
In the sky, a sweet voice comes through. Dong Cheng Yue unfolds her transparent wings and waves hers staff. She casts [Pillars of Fire & Ice] and it tears at Soaring Dragonâs Mana Shield. The tenacity of his Mana Shield weakens even more.
â¦
âBang!â
Metal boots crush rocks on the ground and a fire-red colored silhouette appears atop of Soaring Dragon. In an instant, the silhouette screeches to a stop and Q-Sword slashes at the Mana Shield. Soaring Dragon grits his teeth: âQ-Sword, Youâ¦!!!!â
âGo die, you bastard!â
Q-Sword smiles and suddenly starts a skill. A glowing aura appears on the ground beneath his feet. It is the start of a custom combo!
[Thunder Universe]! S ranked custom combo!
The attacks from [Thunder Universe] are lightning fast. His blade hacks away at the Soaring Dragonâs Mana Shield. The attack is composed of 6 attacks: a horizontal slash + downward slash + downward slash + horizontal slash + horizontal slash + [Flame Blade] upward slash. The [Flame Blade] rips through Soaring Dragonâs Mana Shield like butter and causes a critical hit!.
â1984!â
The critical strike causes Soaring Dragonâs body to fly into the air. When his corpse falls back to the ground, a cloud of dust sprays up. At the same time, two equipments and a large amount of potions burst from his inventory.
â¦
âWowâ
General Wang Jian grips his blade. Dumbstruck, he says: âSuch quick attacks. How does Q-Sword do it? 6 attacks in 1.4 secondsâ¦â
General Lian Po narrows his eye and looks at me: âXiao Yao, what do you think about Q-Swordâs custom [Combo]?â
I grip my Jade City Sword and faintly say: âIt has an outstanding speed and open. Its very natural, fierce, and free. The custom [Combo] is probably evolved from Formless Fist Style. Actually, Q-Sword must be a Formless Fist Styleâs expert. Formless Fist Style is part of North Star family of martial arts. When I was in Hebei province, I sparred against a few Formless Fists experts. But the style allows for a lot freedom in variation and his attacks are completely different from what Iâve seen before.â
Lian Po mutters: âLike I thought, you are an expertâ¦â
I laugh: âNo. An expert probably wouldnât be like me. I have already died more than 10 times in this week alone⦠â
Li Mu pats my shoulder and smiles: âYou keep on fighting despite these setbacks. You have the perseverance of a expert. That ability will help you become the best martial arts expert, donât you think?â
Iâm speechless.
â¦
Finally, the dust settles from the Ferocious Demon Canyonâs battle. After the final [Flying Dragon] guild member was killed by Dong Cheng Yue, the battle finally finishes. Q-Sword raises his sword and points deeper into the mountain: âDonât bother guarding the bodies! Those who have red names, let us go deeper into Ferocious Demon Canyon and kill some monsters. We will clear our red names before we return to Fan Shu City!â
âRustle rustleâ¦â
A pair of snow white legs swish within the dry wind. Lin Wan Er twirls her umbrella as she walks over to my corpse; her small boots land lightly on the patches of the ground in the grassland. She laughs as she looks at my corpse: âLi Xiao Yao. You still havenât resurrected. What are you waiting for?â
Dong Cheng Yue lands on the ground and laughs: âXiao Yao, come out and greet us!â
âShua!â
I confirm my resurrection. With one [Heal] my HP fills up. I have to guarantee that I wonât die first because there might still be [Flying Dragon] Assassins around. I donât want to drop the items that I got from the Boss.
â¦
âThank you Wan Er!â
Lin Wan Er waves her hand: âThat wasnât sincere enough. Why donât you treat us to dinner?â
I nod: âOkay!â
At that moment Q-Sword walks over with a few [Hero Mound] members. The members are composed of a Lv44 Berserker named Jian Tan and a Lv43 Swordswoman named Sword Tears. Jian Tan is Q-Swordâs uncle. Sword Tears is a beauty and she looks somewhat similar to Q-Sword. Not surprisingly, she is Q-Swordâs real younger sister. Accompanying her older brother to play games. This really is familial love.
Seeing Q-Sword I smile and say: âThank you, [Hero Mound], for lending us a hand!â
Q-Sword modestly smiles: âItâs nothing. Lin Wan Er is the second-in-command of [Hero Mound]. She is pretty much my right hand. With just one request from Wan Er, [Hero Mound] will mobilize all ten thousand of its brethren. And also you are Wan Erâs friend. That means that you are also a friend of [Hero Mound]. You neednât be so polite. He heâ¦â
He looks at me up and down: âXiao Yao Zi Zai, you make many Ba Huang City guilds anxious and youâre the talk of the town. Seems like you are not that simple to understand. If we have a chance, letâs spar for a bit. I heard that you once defeated Jian Feng Han. I know Jian Feng Hanâs skill so you must really be quite capable!â
I calmly say: âThatâs just a rumor. Iâm not worthy enough to be Jian Feng Hanâs opponent. I know my skills. Anyway many thanks to [Hero Mound] for helping us. If someday you require my assistance, I will be there without a second thought!â
Q-Sword nods: âOk. In exchange for your word, [Hero Mound] has not gathered a thousand players in vain!â
Finished talking, Q-Sword turns toward Lin Wan Er: âWan Er, help me scout ahead. We canât bear a sneak attack right now. The red name penalty is way too high for us to take!â
Lin Wan Er nods: âOk.â
Lin Wan Er turns to me and laughs: âI am going to go scout. You stay out of danger and go back to the city, okay? Itâs very dangerous here and you look like an appetizer to the monstersâ¦â
My self respect goes down another level: âYou underestimate meâ¦â
Lin Wan Er laughs: âOkay. I understand. But you donât want to drop the spoils of war that you obtained from the Corpse Chief right? If you donât want that to happen, you should go back to the cityâ¦â
âOk, Lin Wan Er, you guysâ¦â I look at Lin Wan Erâs red name and hesitate.
Lin Wan Er and Dong Cheng Yue follow after Q-Sword.
I stand there foolishly watching as they walks away. A disappointed feeling appears in my chest.
âDing!â
A message appears from the person who was approximately 100 yards from me. Lin Wan Er says: âIdiot, why are you not going back to the city? Iâm going to clear my red name. In 1 hour lets go eatâ¦â
âHmm⦠Okayâ
Closing the messenger I stand there expressionless. Mixed feelings pass over my chest. I donât know why I hesitated.
â¦â¦
âCough cough. A falling flower intentionally follows the flowing water but the flowing water doesnât long for the fallen flowerâ¦â Li Mu says in a low voice.
I shoot him a glance: âGet lost! An uneducated fellow like you should not try such an artsy poemâ¦Go to the Guild Creation Association! Go and establish your guild!â
Li Mu takes the Guild Creation Tablet from me and laughs: âFine then. The jealousy is strong in you, Xiao Yao Zi Zaiâ
âGo away!â
My face is burning red as I pull out a city return scroll and use it
âShua!â
Appearing at Ba Huang City, I rush to the warehouse to store my items. I place the Fire Beacon Helmet into the warehouse because I canât wear the level 45 equipment yet. If I die and drop it, I would be sour for a very long time.
With that done I carry my [Proud Heaven Axe] out to the North entranceâs market. In a big loud voice, I yell: âLevel 45 Berserker Gold tier weapon [Proud Heaven Axe]. It has an attack with an upper bound of 590. This is the serverâs 2nd ranked weapon. Yell out your bids here. Any bids less than 1000 gold coins will be ignored!â
â¦
Once I display the 2nd ranked weapon, many people come swarming over. There is no rest between bids. The highest bid quickly goes up to 1300 gold but I donât sell yet. I know I can earn some more from this axe. After all, this opportunity rarely comes. I canât kill a Purple Ranked Boss alone so I donât know where the next amazing drop will come from.
â1500 G!â
A loud voice comes over all the people bidding. In the crowd, a high level player appear. Atop of his head in a line of gold words are ââ
Title: Ba Huang Cityâs Number 1
â¦
Itâs Jian Feng Han. He unexpectedly reached level 45 and temporary surpassed Yan Zhao to occupy the top spot in Ba Huang Cityâs Leaderboard!
Everyone turns to look and sees that Jian Feng Han is not alone. Simple and Fushen Moren of the [Vanguard] guild are there too. They escort Jian Feng Han as if he was the king of Ba Huang City!
Jian Feng Han walks forward. On his back is a glowing purple sword. It is the Purple ranked Heavenly Plan sword. A smile appears on his face: âBrother Xiao Yao, long time no see⦠â
I see him and calmly smile: âDidnât you kill me yesterday? How can you say âlong time no seeââ¦â
He wrinkles his nose and continues smiling: âThis is the [Proud Heaven Axe] right? How much are you selling it?â
I think for a second: âIf [Vanguard] wants to buy it. It costs 4000G and not a copper coin less!â
âYouâ¦â
Jian Feng Han hesitates as he tries to restrain his anger.
Behind him, Simple walks up while carrying her staff. She laughs and says: âOkay. 4000G it is then. I will go to [Treasure Grove] to buy some gold coins. You wait here for a bit!â
I nod: âOk!â