Hundreds of equipment pieces were stacked in a pile before our eyes. True enough, all of the equipment that the Heavenstealing Tiger had stolen ended up in his stomach. Everyone looked at the pile of equipment with excitement.
While everyone was filled with excitement, He Yi remained calm and turned to her two vice leaders. "Lu Chen, Mingyue, how shall we distribute this?"
"I have no opinions on this…" Murong Mingyue shrugged her shoulders. She was a rather easy-going person after all.
I picked up a black Tiger Soul Essence from the Heavenstealing Tiger"s corpse and put it into my inventory before laughing. "Simple. We"ll have everyone come and take their pick. If they see any item that"s better, they should equip it immediately. If there isn"t, they shouldn"t take anything. Our chances of winning will increase if we have better equipment. What"s left after the selection will be put into the guild"s treasury to buy with contribution points. That should settle it!"
He Yi nodded her head in satisfaction and said, "Great idea. We"ll do just that. Everyone, come and take your pick!"
A whole group of people rushed forward to pick out equipment that satisfied them. I stood in a corner after deciding not to pick out any equipment from the pile. I had great Attack, Defense and HP stats, Tenacity of the Dead and Regeneration of the Undead. Given such great HP regeneration skills, I could solo a boss with full confidence. I had plenty of chances to grind for better equipment in the future!
……
Ten minutes later, everyone was satisfied with their selection of equipment and we could move on.
Chaos Moon entered into the tiger"s cage and pointed at the glimmering magic formation. "The Heavenstealing Tiger was the guardian boss of this floor. A teleportation formation appeared the moment it was killed. However, players transported to the second floor will appear in random spots. No one knows the exact location you will sp.a.w.n at. This means that everyone may have to fight solo from here on. Prepare yourselves! Don"t get killed by the monsters the moment you teleport from here…"
Li Chengfeng nodded his head with a cautious expression on his face. "Mn. Mages and priests activate your s.h.i.+elds. a.s.sa.s.sins, enter stealth mode and you will be fine. Melee players, if there are few monsters around you then kill it. You may not be able to outrun them even if you try to."
Gui Guzi raised his spear and shouted, "I"ll go first and pave the way!"
"Do as you please. We need to be quick, everyone else is staring at this teleportation formation like vultures…" I glanced into the distance to see Hall of Immortality and Rose of the Holy Domain looking back at us. Moreover, many Northern Alliance players are swarming into the hall in waves. If we don"t go now, we will have to engage in another b.l.o.o.d.y battle!
Swhoos.h.!.+
Gui Guzi disappeared inside the teleportation formation and I swiftly rushed forward after him. My Ice Qilin Horse let out a soft neigh as we were teleported from the first floor of Nine Tigers Soul Suppressing Tower.
I was enveloped in a bright light for a second and was greeted by similar iron walls and stone ground. The air felt dry and the place was dimly lit. I was currently on the second floor of Nine Tigers Soul Suppressing Tower.
Awoo...
My Phantom Wolf King let out a sharp howl at a giant wolf enveloped in thick rugged armor not far from us. That giant wolf was about 1.5 meters tall and looked as strong as a warhorse. It glared and bared its fangs at us, its uninvited guests. Mechanical sounds filled the air when it moved its front legs that were encased in armor. I was sure that this wolf was also an undead monster like the Bronze Beast.
Bronze Armor Wolf (Dread)
Level: 156
Attack: 6400~7750
Defense: 6700
HP: 550000
Skills: Ruthless Bite, Bloodthirsty Attack, Battle Howl
Introduction: Bronze Armor Wolf was originally a ruthless wolf whose kind ruled the forest. However, their bodies were cast in bronze by fallen necromancers, which bestowed upon them the eternity of undeath. This process also turned them even more savage and merciless. These Bronze Armor Wolves guard the first three floors of Nine Tigers Soul Suppressing Tower and they have become the nightmare of every adventurer that has ever entered the tower. The number of heroes that have fallen to their claws and fangs over the past ten millennia cannot be counted.
……
Another dread-rank monster, except that this Bronze Armor Wolf was one level higher than the Bronze Beast. Even their stats were similar, high Attack and Defense and low HP. Both monsters did not have an AoE skill either. Even so, they were not to be underestimated. From what I have experienced in previous Eternal Moon Cooperation games, undead monsters could ignore 25% of a target"s Defense while wolf monsters had a 25% attack speed buff. This meant that the Bronze Armor Wolves were both fast and powerful, making them much more terrifying than the Bronze Beasts.
"Little wolf, attack!"
I charged forward after summoning my apparition. Locking my sights on a Bronze Armor Wolf, I activated Thunderous Charge and slammed into it. After successfully stunning the monster, I swiftly unleashed Burning Blade Slash + War Crush at it. While the Bronze Armor Wolf was still stunned, my apparition also activated Charge and unleashed the same combo as I did. A string of damage numbers popped up from its head, shaving off 40% of its HP instantly. With the additional attacks of the Phantom Wolf King, the Bronze Armor Wolf was killed in no time! Grinding solo while buffed by Martial G.o.d was truly the best way to gain EXP!
Awoo!
The Bronze Armor Wolf howled before swiping its claws at me. That attack penetrated through my armor and left a deep gash on my chest. I winced in pain as a large damage number popped up from my head—11824!
G.o.ddammit! Its attack was truly powerful! However, it was not done with me yet. In less than a second, a second claw came straight at me! In the face of a dread-rank monster as quick as this, one had to be faster than it. Otherwise, I would be easily killed with no priests to heal me.
Clang, clang, clang!
My Cyan Netherworld Sword flashed out, slas.h.i.+ng away at the breastplate of the Bronze Armor Wolf continuously. In less than twelve seconds, I managed to shave off every last health point of the Bronze Armor Wolf. Even though I had lost 50000HP in the process, I regained full health with Regeneration of the Undead. Regeneration of the Undead was truly handy when grinding solo!
The Bronze Armor Wolf collapsed with a loud bang and dropped a bronze card. Grinning, I picked it up to get a closer look. My 54 Luck was truly OP! I managed to get a card just by killing a single Bronze Armor Wolf!
Bronze Armor Wolf Card: Increases user"s attack speed by 65% and Attack by 20%. Duration: 120 seconds. Level Requirement: 150
……
This was a good card indeed. It increased the user"s attack speed by 65% and Attack by 20%. That was equivalent to doubling one"s damage output! Where else was one to find a card as OP as this?!
Swhoos.h.!.+
The card flew up before condensing into a ball of light over my head. As my stats increased, a warm feeling spread through my body. A 65% boost in attack speed was insanely powerful! Slaughtering Bronze Armor Wolves would be so much easier!
I looked ahead to see a dozen or so Bronze Armor Wolves pacing up and down the long hallway. They were neither far nor near each other so I had to be careful not to attract the attention of more than one at a time.
I brandished my sword and unleashed Dragon Slaying Slash at the Bronze Armor Wolf"s head. Right as the wolf leaped into the air, I activated Charge. My apparition and I sliced through the armor of the monster as we flew past it at lightning speed. In less than six seconds, the monster was left with less than 50% of its HP. In the eighth second, I unleashed another skill and followed up with a basic attack. Just like that, the second Bronze Armor Wolf collapsed.
Bang!
My luck was insane! The Bronze Armor Wolf dropped another card and a pair of boots! To no one"s surprise, it was a pair of Cyanblade War Boots. The boots were a part of the equipment set that we had been trying to a.s.semble!
……
I glanced at my EXP bar and noticed that it had increased by 2% after killing two Bronze Armor Wolves. This meant that each Bronze Armor Wolf netted me 1% EXP. Nine Tigers Soul Suppressing Tower was truly a place filled with treasures. This was a great opportunity for me to grind my way up to the Heavenly Ranking!
I had gotten quite good at aggroing and killing the Bronze Armor Wolves one by one. I would use G.o.d Binding Art to bind the monster, which allowed me to kill it without losing any health at all. However, the downside to this was that my grinding speed would become rather slow. To be honest, I didn"t even need to kill them this way. Given my 10% lifesteal, I would actually be able to tank them without any issues.
I continued to push my way forward through the long hallway.
……
Meanwhile, the guild chat was buzzing with activity.
Li Chengfeng said, "Where is everyone? I"m near the center of the map. I"ll be able to reach the boss in about thirty minutes…"
Xu Yang laughed and replied, "Go solo the boss then!"
"I don"t feel like dying just yet…" Li Chengfeng muttered.
Chaos Moon said, "I was teleported farther from the center, to some G.o.d-forsaken corner. There"s a Burning Sand City player in front of me. Mn, once I finish off these Bronze Armor Wolves, he"ll be next! Wuwu, these Bronze Armor Wolves are too powerful! It"s so hard to solo them! I have to rest for two minutes before I can move on to the next one…"
Pure Love chimed in, "You"re better off than me. I don"t even dare to move from my spot. There are Bronze Armor Wolves in front and behind me. If they notice me, I"m screwed…"
Lu Buyi laughed and said, "Pure Love, hurry up and make a vow that you"ll marry the person who gets you out of there!"
Pure Love replied, "I don"t want to! I only want Lu Chen!"
Staying silent was my best bet.
A few girls giggled at Pure Love"s response.
He Yi said, "Everyone, put your coordinates into the chat so we can find each other. My coordinates are 5782, 19981. Everyone near me should gather at my location. Gather together and form parties as soon as possible."
"Mn."
……
Everyone started to form parties immediately while I quickly opened up the map to search for players near me. To my utter dismay, there wasn"t a single orange dot within a hundred meters. Was this G.o.d"s way of telling me that I was destined to be alone? I was the only one in this entire region, besides the Northern Alliance players of course.
Rustle...
The sound of a whip being dragged across the sandy ground rang out. A familiar feeling coursed through me as a wave of energy rippled through the air.
Swhoos.h.!.+
My eyes glowed black as I activated Dark Pupils. My vision became clearer instantly and I saw a hazy figure drawing closer to me, with his back against the edge of the walls. He crouched down low with two daggers in hand and a mask on his face. He glared at me with a pair of chilly eyes as he stepped toward me with caution.
His ID was crimson red signifying that he was a Northern Alliance player. It was a Level 157 a.s.sa.s.sin from Korea"s Burning City!
……
Pretending to not notice him, I raised my hand and unleashed G.o.d Binding Art at a Bronze Armor Wolf in the distance. My Phantom Wolf King dashed toward the monster readily without even telling it to do so.
I quickly urged my Ice Qilin Horse forward and charged toward that Bronze Armor Wolf.
That a.s.sa.s.sin"s eyes lit up with joy as he slowly made his way toward me. He raised his dagger and was about to activate Ambush. If he was successful, his follow-up attacks would be absolutely terrifying. With no lucky CC resists, I would very likely be stunlocked until he killed me. An a.s.sa.s.sin who specialized in CC skills was the most terrifying opponent to face in the open world.