After seeing Shen Xingchen and Chen Xue out of the room, Lin Zhao walked out and said, "Sister Juzi, come here for a moment, I have something to tell you."
"Ah?"
Wang Ju was slightly stunned, then walked over.
In the room, Lin Zhao gestured to a chair and said with a smile, "Please sit."
"Oh."
After Wang Ju sat down, she seemed a little uneasy and asked, "Lin Zhao, what is it?"
"Some things that should have been done long ago but have been delayed."
Lin Zhao sat opposite Wang Ju and said, "Sister Juzi, from now on, you only need to prepare late-night snacks for our group. The meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be prepared by the chefs from Feiyue Transportation. As you know, Feiyue Transportation has hired quite a few chefs. I've asked Su Wan to select two of the better ones to prepare our meals and deliver them to us for each meal."
"Ah?"
Wang Ju's eyes were full of panic. "Lin Zhao... Did I not do something well enough? Did I do something wrong..."
In fact, the thing she feared most was losing her current life, her home, and her source of income. If that happened, she and Xiao Juzi would have to return to that fiery pit.
"No, no."
Lin Zhao shook his head and said with a smile, "Don't overthink it. I just feel that it's too tiring for you to prepare meals for so many of us by yourself. Look at you, you're much more haggard than before. I am Lin Zhao, not some wicked capitalist. I never intended to exploit your value, so I've decided to lighten your load. Furthermore, starting today, your monthly salary will be increased to 50,000 universal coins, which is enough for you and Xiao Juzi to live on. Just work with peace of mind."
"But... but..."
Wang Ju frowned and said, "I'm not doing this much work, yet I'm getting paid so much... Lin Zhao, I..."
"Alright, Sister Juzi!"
Lin Zhao frowned and said, "I'm doing this because I consider you one of my own, so there's no need to think about what things are like outside. It was because I was incapable before that I could only watch you being bullied. Now that I have the ability, I naturally hope that you and Xiao Juzi can live better lives just like me."
"Lin Zhao..."
Wang Ju's eyes turned red, and tears streamed down her face.
"It's okay now..."
Lin Zhao handed her a tissue and said with a smile, "I've never had a girlfriend, so I'm not very good at comforting people. Please don't cry, or I'll become flustered too."
"Mhm."
Wang Ju's tears turned into a smile. "In short, thank you..."
"Don't be so polite."
Lin Zhao got up. "We're going online. You should get some rest after tidying up, as you still need to wake up early tomorrow to send Xiao Juzi to school."
"Okay~~"
As Lin Zhao walked out of the room, everyone else was already going upstairs one by one.
"Brother!"
Luo Man smiled gently, as if it were natural, and hooked her arm around Lin Zhao's. She lowered her voice and chuckled, "Why did you make Sister Juzi cry!?"
"Adult matters, children should mind their own business!" Da Feng Novel Network
Lin Zhao poked her forehead lightly with his fingertip and said, "Edict—Seal the Eight Trigrams Primordial Spirit!"
"Ah?!"
Luo Man stumbled, falling into Lin Zhao's arms. Her beautiful eyes were filled with confusion. "Who am I... Where am I... I don't remember anything, except that the person I love the most is my brother..."
Lin Zhao's face darkened. He grabbed her arm and tossed her into the game pod.
Luo Man chuckled and put on her equipment to go online.
...
"Swish!"
A white light scattered, and Lin Zhao appeared on the seventh-floor map. As soon as he logged in, he received a video call from Luo Man. He smiled and asked, "Brother, do you know why I was laughing just now?"
"Why?"
"Hahahaha~~~" She laughed so hard she bent over. "Just now, when you threw me into the game pod, I imagined many scenes. I even wanted to say, 'Ah brother, faster, faster, please rL me hard!'"
"..."
Lin Zhao laughed in exasperation. "If you're that desperate, find a boyfriend. You're going crazy."
"No, no..."
Luo Man swayed her hips and said, "My heart and body belong only to my brother."
"~~~"
Lin Zhao ignored her, thinking it was a waste of time.
"Drip!"
A message arrived, from Yi Shi Cang Liang: "Lin Zhao, are you on the seventh floor?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"Don't let the Feiyue Knights enter the eighth floor yet!"
Yi Shi Cang Liang frowned. "This damned perverted map is too disgusting. The Boss on the eighth floor is called Peng Huang. It's said to be a roc demon that appears and disappears without a trace, killing people invisibly. Many players who entered the eighth floor have died. Our Cang Long, Xing He, and Xun Xian guilds alone have lost over 300 people. The Boss seems to have a clone ability, killing people everywhere."
"So powerful?"
Lin Zhao frowned. "Okay, thanks for the reminder. I'll go tell the guild members right away."
"Mhm!"
After hanging up the communicator, Lin Zhao immediately spoke in the Feiyue Knights guild chat: "There's danger on the eighth floor. Everyone, don't enter the eighth floor yet. We'll discuss it after the danger is resolved!"
"Ah?"
Luo Man was stunned. "I'm already on the eighth floor... Ah!"
After a startled cry, she was instantly killed. With a wronged expression, she said, "Brother, I'm in Baidi City now... My shield also broke..."
"..."
Lin Zhao was speechless. "No one else should enter the eighth floor! I'll go see what's going on."
"Okay."
Shen Xingchen said, "If even you can't deal with the Boss on the eighth floor, then our national server will probably be stuck on the seventh floor."
...
Two minutes later.
Lin Zhao stepped into the eighth floor and found the entire floor shrouded in dense mist. He frowned. The perception of a Star River Sword Cultivator was much stronger than that of a Nascent Soul cultivator. He quickly sensed the crisis approaching in the clouds. He immediately summoned his flying sword, Hao Ran Ming Xing, to protect himself, and then arranged several Great Desolate Ancient Swords in front of him, forming his own sword array.
As expected, a afterimage broke through the wind from the clouds. It was a middle-aged man wearing a gray long robe. The robe was tattered, like bird feathers. He held a thin sword and, without a word, thrust his sword light straight towards Lin Zhao's throat, swift and deadly.
Peng Huang, level 188 Saint-tier Boss, the man who dominated the eighth floor!
Lin Zhao directly entered combat state. After taking a sword strike with his Golden Armor Immortal Robe, he quickly used a Rising Dragon Slash to knock it away. Then, he entered the process of fighting the Boss. Flying swords danced all over the sky, especially the 36 Mayfly Flying Swords. Controlled by the Thirty-Six Heavenly Principles, they continuously penetrated the Boss's body like a gentle rain, inflicting massive damage.
"Lin Zhao."
Chen Xue's voice came from the guild channel. "Are you already fighting the Boss?"
"Mhm, I've engaged it."
Lin Zhao said, "I've been fighting for three minutes."
"That's not right..." Bu Su Li Ren said. "A friend of mine was killed by Peng Huang on the eighth floor half an hour ago. If the Boss has been fighting you all this time... there's no reason for there to be two Peng Huangs."
"Li Ren, you don't understand," Ding Chi said solemnly. "Based on my deduction, this Peng Huang must be adept at clone techniques. Therefore, as soon as any player steps onto the eighth floor, a Peng Huang is spawned for each person. Unless someone can defeat the Peng Huang solo, this map will not be truly opened. This should be the setting."
"Makes sense."
Lin Zhao chuckled while fighting the Boss. "Lawyer Ding's deduction skills are quite good."
Ding Chi's old face turned red.
Shen Xingchen said with a smile, "Alright, then our alliance leader should clear it quickly. After you defeat Peng Huang, we can enter the eighth floor and enjoy the good food and drinks."
"Mhm, I'll do my best."
...
As a result, when Peng Huang's health dropped to 90%, it suddenly flashed and disappeared.
"Hmm?"
Lin Zhao frowned. He clearly felt that it was still there, but he couldn't see it. He then controlled countless flying swords to break through the wind. With a light flick of his palm, he gathered a lot of water essence from the clouds and condensed it into the Water Moon Observing Heaven technique. Instantly, he perceived everything nearby and, in a flash, located Peng Huang's true form and shot it out with a flying sword.
"How dare you!"
Peng Huang, who had intended to ambush, was discovered and roared, once again engaging Lin Zhao in a fierce battle. However, after its health dropped by another 10%, Peng Huang disappeared again. This back and forth made Lin Zhao extremely uncomfortable. This Boss was very tiring to fight, a lot of effort was involved, but he couldn't not fight. The entire national server was almost waiting for his solo strategy. If he didn't defeat it, everyone would be stuck on the seventh floor and unable to progress.
After nearly an hour, with a ghostly strike from Flying Sword Xin Huo, Peng Huang let out a miserable howl and fell to the ground, dying from severe injuries. It dropped a large pile of treasures.
Lin Zhao collected them all at once and quickly scanned them. There were no magic treasures, and the equipment wasn't particularly good. Only a piece of armor caught his eye. It was a brightly colored, majestic-looking armor, complete with pauldrons. It resembled a giant spiritual bird, and it exuded a strong sense of water essence. He reached out and brushed it, and its attributes were even more enticing—
[Kun Peng Armor] (Saint Artifact)
Type: Armor
Defense: 9000
Strength: +225
Stamina: +220
Agility: +218
Spirit Power: +216
Special Effect: Damage Reduction +10%
Special Effect: Dodge +18%
Special Effect: Damage Absorption +12%
Special Effect: Damage Increase, own attack damage +100%
Special Effect: Power of the Kun Peng, increases the user's base attack power by 5000
Special Effect: Tenacity, increases the user's HP cap by 60,000
Skill: [Kun Peng Spreads Its Wings], activates the power of the Kun Peng, providing all friendly targets within 500 yards with a resilience shield equal to 100% of the user's HP, lasting for 25 seconds, with a cooldown of 12 hours.
Additional: Increases the user's attack power by 95%
Additional: Increases the user's defense by 93%
Requires Strength: 5000
Requires Level: 175
...
Undoubtedly, this was an exceptionally rare piece of armor. As an armor piece, it provided an extremely high damage bonus. The 5000 base attack power increase was somewhat outrageous. Furthermore, it had a large-scale skill, Kun Peng Spreads Its Wings, which could protect friendly targets within 500 yards. Not only could it provide buffs to players, but it could also provide buffs to NPCs when necessary. For players like Lin Zhao, who had been active in the Snow Region Heavenly Pond, this type of skill was the most practical.