"Chichichichi!"
In an instant, Chen Xue, Ding Chi, and Rong Xing's three 'Qian Kun Yi Zhi' landed on the remaining health Boss, consecutively unleashing three damage numbers that were already terrifying—
"1522!"
"2218!"
"2284!"
Chen Xue was ultimately just a Templar Knight, with poor strength growth, so her 'Qian Kun Yi Zhi' damage was the weakest among the three. Ding Chi and Rong Xing's damage was similar. Just as the three of them unleashed their 'Qian Kun Yi Zhi', Lin Zhao's Qing Lu sword flicked. Their 'Qian Kun Yi Zhi' was level 1, while Lin Zhao unleashed a level 5 'Qian Kun Yi Zhi', with explosive damage—
"3934!"
Just a sliver away from 4000 damage, what kind of terrifying damage was this!?
"Is he even human?"
Ding Chi picked his nose. "What kind of damage is that, damn it..."
Chen Xue chuckled, raising her halberd. "Everyone retreat, let Lin Zhao finish him. His charm is high, so the drop rate will be a bit higher!"
"Mhm, mhm!"
Everyone retreated in unison. Lin Zhao followed up with a series of skills. As he launched the 'Sword Ascending Dragon Slash' and sent the chaotic beauty sorceress flying into the air, her long skirt fluttered, revealing her shapely legs. But Lin Zhao delivered a killing blow, followed by a vicious and potent 'Sweep Across the Army', directly slaying the dark gold Boss!
No system announcement was triggered, but the loot was clearly quite generous.
Lin Zhao collected all the gold coins in one go, then examined the Boss's dropped equipment. It was a golden, shimmering cloak. He unfurled it, and its stats floated before everyone's eyes—
[Sorcerer's Cloak] (Dark Gold Item)
Defense: 205
Spirit: +48
Stamina: +45
Special Effect: Dodge +6%
Special Effect: Damage Reduction +3%
Special Effect: Tenacity, increases user's HP cap by 1200
Special Effect: Blazing Flames, user's fire-based spells deal an additional 20% damage
Attribute: Increases user's defense by 11%
Required Level: 50
...
A top-tier mage's cape!
Lin Zhao took a deep breath and handed the Sorcerer's Cloak to Lu Li. "Lu, this is yours. You're the only mage, so there are no other choices."
"Mhm, mhm!"
Lu Li smiled and nodded. The moment she accepted the cloak, her pretty face was filled with joy. She wasn't too far from level 50; perhaps it would be today, or perhaps tomorrow. After all, leveling speed in the Chaos Temple was still fast—triple drop rate, triple experience!
Next, Lin Zhao began to examine the second piece of equipment, a pair of armor bracers glowing with golden light. He flicked his hand, and as expected, the stats made his heart pound—
[Chaos Blazing Bracers] (Dark Gold Item)
Type: Armor
Defense: 225
Strength: +50
Stamina: +48
Special Effect: Dodge +8%
Special Effect: Damage Reduction +3%
Special Effect: Damage Boost, increases user's attack damage by 2%
Special Effect: Tenacity, increases user's HP cap by 1200
Special Effect: Body of Flames, reduces damage taken from fire-based attacks by 25%
Attribute: Increases user's defense by 12%
Required Level: 50
...
Truly the best of the best!
At level 50, these armor bracers had a defense of 225. They boosted Strength and Stamina by nearly 100 points, with 8% Dodge and 3% Damage Reduction. Even more exaggerated was the "Damage Boost" effect, which was based on the player's final damage output, making it clearly much stronger than a 2% attack power increase based on equipment base values. And there was the "Body of Flames" effect, reducing fire-based damage by 25%. This effect was even better, as many current damages had some fire component. Mage's 'Starfield Burn Marks' and 'Flame Blast' were pure fire damage. Thunderstorm Gunners' 'Flame Barrage', Sharpshooters' 'Soulfire Arrows', Berserkers' 'Rage Flame Slash', etc., all had fire damage components. Therefore, this "Body of Flames" effect was essentially universally useful and extremely cost-effective!
Overall, if these bracers were put up for sale in a County City, they would likely fetch at least 100,000 Universal Coins, possibly even more, reaching unimaginable prices under the frenzied bidding of various big shots.
"Not bad..."
Chen Xue pursed her red lips, her beautiful eyes almost unable to move away from the Chaos Blazing Bracers. The bracers' stats were too good, so good they were almost unreal.
"Cough cough..."
Ding Chi said, "Level 50 armor type... Only Ah Zhao has reached level 50 among us. Do we need to roll?"
At this very moment, a flicker of surprise and disappointment crossed Rong Xing's expression. Ultimately, they still considered him an outsider.
"No need."
Lin Zhao said, "Since the equipment was dropped together, regardless of whether the level is sufficient, we should all roll."
"Right."
Chen Xue quickly created a small group for the Scarlet Moon Knights Guild and said in the group, "Don't let Rong Xing feel disheartened. Let's just roll. If Rong Xing gets it, lucky him. If one of us gets it, then give it to Lin Zhao. What do you guys think?"
"Agreed!"
Ding Chi and Zhang Jun nodded in unison. What else could they say in support of their good brother? If he was chasing girls, they'd provide cover. "Miss, believe me, I've never seen him treat any girl so well before." If he peeked at girls bathing, they'd stand guard. "Uncle, please listen to my explanation, my friend just happened to pass by and glance over accidentally." Sacrificing for a good brother was a small matter.
Luo Man blinked her large, watery eyes. "I'll listen to Brother. Whatever Brother wants, I'm willing to give, even if Brother wants me, I will never..."
"Hmm?!"
Chen Xue glared at her with beautiful eyes.
Luo Man stuck out her tongue, no longer joking.
Lin Zhao nodded. "Alright, Chen Xue, start the roll. Let the tanks roll together."
"Mhm!"
Rong Xing nodded heavily. At this moment, he finally felt relieved. The members of the Scarlet Moon Knights Guild were still reasonable. Otherwise, he would have had no chance.
As a result, after several people rolled, Lin Zhao's roll of 83 was the highest. Upon seeing his victory, Lin Zhao also breathed a sigh of relief. This was the best outcome. He legitimately obtained the equipment. Otherwise, if Chen Xue or Ding Chi had gotten it and then worn it themselves, Rong Xing would have felt uncomfortable seeing it, still feeling like an outsider. But if not for this, faced with such immense benefits, how could Rong Xing be content?
In fact, Lin Zhao and Chen Xue, as the "leaders" of the Scarlet Moon Knights, had always been meticulously taking everyone's feelings into account. Rong Xing was actually a decent person, comparable in strength to Ding Chi. With a little carelessness, he could become the second most skilled swordsman in the Scarlet Moon Knights Guild. Such a person needed to be won over. After all, once they formed an alliance, Rong Xing could lead a regiment and would definitely be a major general for the Scarlet Moon Knights.
With a "clack," Lin Zhao swapped out his previous Silver-grade Berserk Bracers for the Chaos Blazing Bracers. Thus, his equipment was now at least Gold-grade. His all-white equipment shimmered with a faint golden glow, exuding a low-key yet luxurious aura. After donning the Chaos Blazing Bracers, his attributes reached a new level—
[White Robe] (Swordsman)
Level: 50
Attack: 674-1157 (+35%)
Defense: 814 (+40%)
HP: 14070
Critical Hit: 8%
Lifesteal: 24%
Damage Reduction: 18%
Wits: 99
Charm: 5
Reputation: 2980
Combat Power: 886
...
HP had changed most significantly, reaching 14,000. This Swordsman was quite tanky! Attack, defense, damage reduction, and other attributes were also steadily increasing. With these various minor improvements, Lin Zhao's combat power had reached a staggering 886 points. In an era where the common combat power of players in Cloud County was only 200-400 points, this 886 combat power was incredibly heaven-defying. Furthermore, as his strength increased, Lin Zhao would likely be the first player in Cloud County to break 1000 combat power!
The remaining few pieces of equipment were Silver-grade and Black Iron-grade, nothing remarkable. Only at the very end, Lin Zhao discovered a book among the Boss's dropped items. It was another 'Qian Kun Yi Zhi'. The Boss had also dropped this book. With this, Zhang Jun also learned 'Qian Kun Yi Zhi'. Only Luo Man was left in the entire Scarlet Moon Knights Guild who hadn't learned it.
She wasn't worried; she had her brother!! With him, she had everything~~~
"Let's go, the sixth floor."
Lin Zhao looked towards the entrance of the sixth floor not far away, thinking that they had passed the lower three floors. The next floor was the last floor of the middle three. Crossing the sixth floor would lead to the upper three floors. Then, the challenges would be greater. Undoubtedly, the upper three floors had the most lucrative rewards, but whether they could survive in the upper three floors was a question. Monsters at levels 57-59 were generally unbearable for players, making it impossible to level up, with the front-liners being cut down like vegetables.
As for the Scarlet Moon Knights, they could give it a try!
The moment they stepped onto the sixth floor, the map notification chime sounded again—
"Ding!"
System Notification: You have entered map [Chaos Temple Sixth Floor]. This map currently has 1 Boss (Dark Gold Grade), 5 copies of [Qian Kun Yi Zhi], 5 copies of [Group Healing] and 5 copies of [Strengthened Meteor Spell] skill books carried by random monsters. They will drop upon defeat!
...
"Oh? Another bonus?!"
Ding Chi narrowed his eyes and smiled. "This map starts dropping Strengthened Meteor Spell."
"Mhm."
Chen Xue said, "We've already seen it when fighting the Giant Rock Sprites. Strengthened Meteor Spell is clearly an enhanced version of Meteor Spell. Its single-target damage is explosive. With Ah Lu's Spirit Attack power, a level 5 Meteor Spell hitting a tank player of the same level, I feel it could deal 3000-5000 damage. It's terrifyingly high."
Lu Li's pretty face flushed slightly. "It's not that powerful..."
Chen Xue chuckled. "It's about the same."
Lin Zhao looked around. "Everyone spread out and find the entrance to the seventh floor."
"Ah?"
Lu Li was slightly taken aback. "Boss, aren't we going to fight the Boss?"
"Not anymore."
Lin Zhao shook his head. "We've already cleared the Boss on the fifth floor. The Azure Knights and Prosperous Peony people will go directly to the sixth floor after reaching the fifth floor. At that time, our living space will be extremely compressed. Instead of this, let's leave the dark gold Boss on the sixth floor for those two guilds to fight over, and we'll head directly to the seventh floor."
As he spoke, he smiled and comforted her, "Don't worry, Lu Li, there will definitely be Strengthened Meteor Spell drops later on."
"Mhm, mhm!"
Lu Li smiled and nodded.
...
Thus, everyone scattered, heading to find the entrance to the seventh floor.