Fingers gently caressed the Chilong patterns on the Blazing Armor. Instantly, a thick and mighty aura surged into his palm, leaving Lin Zhao secretly astonished. The armor's attributes were undeniably god-tier for this stage. The 6% Dodge, 4% Damage Reduction, and 5% Damage Absorption alone were enough to make anyone drool. Then, there was an additional 1500 Toughness and HP boost, which meant Lin Zhao's total HP would now surpass ten thousand. Finally, there was the Determination effect, reducing spell damage by 10%. Such attributes would undoubtedly be deeply despised by all Starry Sky Mages!
Unfortunately, this was Level 45 gear, and Lin Zhao was still a considerable distance away.
The quest awarded 65% of the experience for the current level. He still needed another 35%, which, at Lin Zhao's monster-slaying efficiency, would take about two hours. If everything went smoothly, he should be able to equip the Blazing Armor around eleven o'clock tonight.
"Buzz~~~"
Suddenly, the entire outpost and mountain range shook violently. Immediately afterward, a powerful gust of wind surged from the north.
"Everyone, be careful!"
The cavalry captain abruptly raised a shield in front of Lin Zhao and the others, and grunted, "Demonic aura incoming! Find cover, quickly!"
A group of cavalry soldiers quickly took cover behind the stone walls. The entire outpost began to sway and shake under the impact of the airflow. The warhorses tethered within the outpost struggled and whinnied, some even rearing up on their hind legs, driven to frenzy. Just then, a colossal aura rose from the north and halted in the depths of the northern forest.
"Ding!"
Map Notification: Due to the excessive number of subordinates slain, the monster [Colossal Rock Demon Spirit], lurking deep within the forest, has descended upon Azure Stone Forest!
...
"Damn it!"
The cavalry captain, Xu Yin, gritted his teeth, dropped his shield, and stared north. Feeling the immense demonic aura, he said, "The culprit has finally appeared. Is he trying to crush us in one fell swoop?"
Saying this, he looked at Lin Zhao and continued, "Young hero, you are a young sword cultivator destined for great things. There's no need to stay here and die with us. You should… leave quickly. A few miles beyond this Azure Stone Forest are human villages. We will hold him off here and await the Lord Governor to dispatch accompanying cultivators to hunt him down."
Lin Zhao frowned. "Are there no other strategies?"
"None," Xu Yin shook his head. "With such a powerful demon spirit appearing, if we confront it head-on, we will surely perish!"
"Mhm." Lin Zhao nodded. It was indeed true. The cavalry troop stationed at the Azure Stone Forest outpost had only ten soldiers in total. They were no match for the team led by the garrison commander Han Yi they had encountered earlier. He had hundreds of cavalry and accompanying cultivators; their combat strength was far superior.
"Perhaps I can try…" Lin Zhao frowned. "You guys hold on as best as you can. Maybe I can take down this demon spirit."
"Young hero, you…" The cavalry captain sighed. "If you insist on going and sacrificing yourself for the realm, it is a noble deed, and I cannot stop you. However, I will inform the Prefectural government. If you truly manage to slay the Colossal Rock Demon Spirit, I will personally hand over all the bounty rewards issued by the prefecture city to you, without the slightest bit of embezzlement!"
"Thank you!"
Just then, a bell-like sound rang in his ear. Another quest had been received—
"Ding!"
System Notification: You have accepted the main quest [Slay the Colossal Rock Demon Spirit] (SS-rank)!
Quest Objective: Travel to the depths of Azure Stone Forest, locate the Colossal Rock Demon Spirit that is prowling within the forest, and slay it. Upon successful completion, you will receive unimaginable and generous rewards!
...
This time, it was an SS-rank main quest.
Lin Zhao's brows furrowed, but he didn't feel this was sheer luck. Even S-rank boss-slaying quests were a struggle. This SS-rank would surely be even more terrifying. Could he complete it alone? It seemed difficult. This time, he would definitely need to find help. However, there was one aspect that made him extremely conflicted: this quest was non-sharable. Only he could accept and complete it. If others helped him fight the boss, they would be working for free, with no rewards.
After a few seconds of thought, he decided to go out and level up first, to Level 45. After equipping the Blazing Armor, he should be even tougher, perhaps increasing his chances of success.
Shortly after, Lin Zhao crossed the Azure Stone Forest to the north. In the distance, he saw a gigantic elder standing deep within the forest. He wore a gray robe that seemed to be fashioned from soft stone, covered in stone patterns. The elder's beard and hair were also stone-colored, his eyes fiery red, and he wielded a three-meter-long fiery red staff. His massive body, standing a full 6-7 meters tall, towered over everything like a king, looking down upon all beings.
At this moment, his general information appeared before Lin Zhao's eyes—
[Colossal Rock Demon Spirit] (Dark Gold Rank)
Level: 50
Magic Attack: ???
Defense: ???
HP: ???
Skills: ???
Lore: A monster from the depths of the Great Northern Wilderness, originally a cultivator of the Upper Five Realms of True Return. However, during the battle at the Heavenly Pool of the Northern Snow Region, he was struck by a scattered sword energy from an old sword immortal of the Great Wall of Fusang, causing him to lose his Upper Five Realms cultivation. After years of cultivation, he finally managed to cultivate a Nascent Soul realm. He is now secretly ordered to infiltrate human territory and is once again causing trouble with excitement in human lands.
...
Confirmed. A Level 50 Dark Gold Boss, and a Nascent Soul realm cultivator at that.
Lin Zhao's brows furrowed. He recalled the time he led the ten members of Mountain Peak Villa to the Northern Region to slay a Nascent Soul demonic cultivator. That battle was a spectacular display of victory against overwhelming odds, making the ten members of Mountain Peak Villa famous within the Heavenly Pool Army. Alas… in the end, the Desperate Corps all perished, and the ten members of Mountain Peak Villa had long since turned to dust, a cause for regret.
This boss would be far from easy to deal with, but it was worth a slight attempt.
Therefore, while grinding stone monsters to level up, Lin Zhao sent the boss's attributes and the quest log description to Chen Xue, saying, "Chen Xue, take a look at these."
"Oh?" Chen Xue was slightly taken aback. After carefully reading it, she said, "This quest…"
"Right!" Lin Zhao replied. "This quest cannot be shared, but with my strength alone, I'm not very confident. So, I wanted to ask for your advice. Do you think it's feasible to gather everyone to help? Would that make me seem too selfish?"
"Selfish?" Chen Xue's beautiful eyes widened, and she chuckled, "You are our alliance leader. What are you kidding about? The few of us from our studio have already treated you as our superior. As for the others, they are contracted with our Scarlet Moon Knights, it's a contractual relationship. Having them help fight the boss and complete the quest is only natural. At most, after the quest is done, if anyone dies or suffers any losses, we'll allocate some funds from the studio as compensation."
Lin Zhao's eyes lit up. "You mean… you think this is feasible!?"
"Of course, it's feasible!" Chen Xue smiled, dimples appearing on her cheeks. "When are we starting? Give me a time, and I'll bring everyone over. You just need to make the decision; leave the rest to me."
"In two hours."
"Alright!"
"By the way…" Lin Zhao frowned. "It will be late night in two hours. Are Lu Li, Rong Xing, Yao Guai, and the others already asleep? Will it affect their rest?"
"My dear alliance leader…" Chen Xue looked at him with a helpless expression and chuckled, "Thinking of others everywhere is a good thing, and it's a good character trait. But you're going too far. There's no need to spoil them so much. You should see who is contracted with our Scarlet Moon Knights. Ding Chi, a third-rate lawyer on the verge of failing; Zhang Jun, who kills chickens at Bai Run Fa every day, living a difficult life; Lu Li and Qing Ning, these two are saving up tuition for university; Rong Xing and Yao Guai, they are also earning their living expenses. Luo Man and I have had no income since quitting our bar jobs, so we can only strive in the game. The people in our Scarlet Moon Knights are all people struggling for a living. We are trying to make a living! Let alone staying up a little late, even if we don't sleep, so what? In the face of life, there's no room for so much fussiness!"
"Got it." Lin Zhao smiled slightly. "Thank you, Teacher Chen, for the lecture."
"Hmph~~~" Chen Xue pursed her red lips. "Then that's settled. You get busy first, and I'll bring everyone over to fight the boss in two hours. We'll also hurry and level up on our end. Let's aim to get the first Alliance Building Token for Cloud County from this boss, killing two birds with one stone. By then, our Scarlet Moon Knights will truly have risen!"
"Okay, let's work hard!"
...
Lin Zhao closed the communicator and continued to level up diligently.
The grinding was arduous but filled with anticipation.
At half-past eleven, with a burst of light, Lin Zhao finally reached Level 45. He immediately equipped the Blazing Armor, replacing the previous Flowing Clouds Chestguard. Instantly, his overall combat power surged significantly—
[White Robe] (Apprentice Swordmaster)
Level: 45
Attack: 642-1102 (+35%)
Defense: 661 (+18%)
HP: 10890
Critical Hit: 8%
Lifesteal: 24%
Damage Reduction: 11%
Intelligence: 99
Charm: 3
Reputation: 1480
Combat Power: 662
...
He was now a heavily armored swordmaster with nearly 11,000 HP, an 8% critical hit rate, 24% lifesteal, and 11% damage reduction. His actual defense had reached 780 points. His survivability had been elevated to a new level. Even facing a Level 50 Dark Gold Boss in battle now, he wouldn't be as disheveled as last time.
Shortly after, the rustling of footsteps echoed through Azure Stone Forest. Chen Xue had arrived with the members of the Scarlet Moon Knights. From afar, they gazed at the majestic Colossal Rock Demon Spirit, disbelief evident in their eyes. Is this the target our Scarlet Moon Knights are about to tackle? They must be joking…
Luo Man stepped forward, her sword hanging low, gazing up at the Colossal Rock Demon Spirit. Her pretty face flushed red. "So robust…"
Lin Zhao and Chen Xue both felt a pang of awkwardness.
...
"Prepare to begin!" Lin Zhao stepped forward, drawing the Azure Pavilion Sword from behind his back. "I'll be the main attacker for now, and everyone else will support me. We'll fight as much as we can, just to test the waters and see the boss's skills first, and then we'll figure out the specific strategy."
"Mhm!" The group nodded in unison.
On this day, the ten-person squad of the Scarlet Moon Knights would be challenging a Level 50 boss ahead of the two major guilds, Azure Knights and Prosperous Peony!