"This is bad!"
A mage shouted, "He kicked us all out of the team!"
"Kill Bai Yi!"
Li Canghai roared, "Focus fire and kill him. Once Bai Yi is dead, the ownership will be ours!"
Everyone opened fire.
"Everyone!"
Chen Xue shouted in the team channel, "Block the projectiles for Lin Zhao. We can die, but Lin Zhao cannot!"
With that, Chen Xue raised her shield and abruptly placed herself in front of Lin Zhao, absorbing a round of attacks from Li Canghai and several mages' Flame Strikes. Flame Strike was a projectile skill that could be intercepted and blocked mid-flight, as long as it was an enemy target. Ding Chi, on the other hand, stood with his sword to Lin Zhao's right, deflecting a volley of sharpshooter and storm gunner attack skills.
Roman held his shield, guarding his brother's back.
Rong Xing, Zhang Jun, and others also blocked for Lin Zhao one by one. Consequently, Lin Zhao only needed to endure AoE and Meteorite skills that descended from the sky.
The next second, he cleaved the Boss Jian Chen with a sword strike. Finally, a bell sound echoed in everyone's ears—
"Ding!"
System Announcement: Congratulations to player [Bai*] and their team for successfully defeating [Chaos Sword God·Jian Chen] (Flowing Gold tier Boss), achieving the server's first kill for a Flowing Gold tier Boss. Player [Bai*] ranked first in team combat contribution and received rewards: Level +3, Gold Coins +2000, Reputation +2000. Other team members' contribution rankings are as follows: Ren Jian Xiao Ku Gua, Lu Li, Rong Xing, Ai Chi Ren Xin De Yao Guai, Yu Jin, Xiao Lu Luan Zhuang, Qing Ning, Lin Feng, Mo Yin. All other members will receive 65% of the rewards obtained by player [Bai*]. Congratulations to everyone, and we wish all brave adventurers continued good fortune!
...
For a time, golden rain poured down from the sky, and Lin Zhao and the others leveled up and were fully healed.
"Kill!"
Lin Zhao scooped up all the Boss's dropped items and shouted, "Let's take down as many as we can!"
"Right!"
Ding Chi charged out immediately. Chen Xue shifted her body, thrusting her steel spear forward with the "Piercing Stab" skill, clearing an attack path for Lin Zhao. The moment Lin Zhao drew his sword, Li Canghai's expression turned extremely grim. He unleashed a sword qi collision and locked onto an empty space in the distance, charging out while shouting, "Kill them one by one. Kill Bai Yi last. Get everyone from the eighth floor up here. Today, our Azure Knights Guild will give up anything else, but these people must all perish!"
At the entrance to the ninth floor, swarms of players poured in.
Lin Zhao swept forward, unleashing "Sword Slash" + "Universe Toss" towards Jiu You Huang Quan, who had just killed Qing Ning.
"You!"
Jiu You Huang Quan couldn't dodge this lightning-fast sword strike, his eyes filled with despair.
"Die!"
At this moment, Lin Zhao's eyes were filled with killing intent. In fact, if Li Canghai hadn't betrayed their alliance and attacked, he would have been willing to share the first kill of this Flowing Gold tier Boss with the Azure Knights Guild. Unfortunately, these people were acting inhumanely, and there was nothing that could be done. After the Universe Toss landed, dealing over 4000 damage, Jiu You Huang Quan immediately collapsed to the ground.
"Focus fire them down!"
Li Canghai, positioned behind the dense crowd, low-voiced, "Focus fire Yu Jin! Immediately!"
Instantly, streams of spells, arrows, and projectiles flew towards Yu Jin. Combined with the charge effects of several heavy armor users, Ding Chi let out a muffled groan and fell, dropping a level and returning to town to resurrect.
"Second, Rong Xing!"
Li Canghai raised an eyebrow and sneered, "Rong Xing, I invited you to the Azure Knights Guild back then, but you refused. Then there's nothing I can do. I gave you a chance, but you didn't cherish it!"
"Cn
"Oh?"
Chen Xue raised her delicate eyebrows, a smile on her lips. She slammed her Lava Shield onto the ground, blocking in front of her and assuming a defensive stance. At the same time, she activated the Knight's Revitalization effect, her health continuously regenerating, and said with a smile, "I'll take the concentrated fire. Lin Zhao, you kill a few more!"
Instantly, countless spells, arrows, and projectiles rained down on the shield with a "crackling" sound. Chen Xue's health bar trembled violently. She held on for a full 5 seconds before her health bar was depleted and she fell, dropping a pair of Golden tier leg guards.
"A Xue..."
Lin Zhao watched, and during the 5 seconds Chen Xue held on, he had continuously used his sword and flying swords to kill enemies, eliminating five of them. The moment Chen Xue fell, he raised his long sword and unleashed a sword qi that enveloped Li Canghai's head. As he said before, the Scarlet Moon Knights Guild could be wiped out, but Li Canghai had to die!
Furthermore, this was a sword qi collision at the extreme distance of 40 yards!
"You?!"
Li Canghai was greatly alarmed and hastily used Sword Slash to retreat, shouting, "Everyone, focus fire Bai Yi and stop him!"
The next second, Lin Zhao transformed into an afterimage, crashing heavily into Li Canghai's original position. Even though the sword qi collision missed, it didn't matter. He rapidly advanced a few steps to close the distance. As sword light flared, he gave the enemy players no chance to heal, unleashing "Sweep Across the Army" + "Universe Toss" + "Using Qi to Control Sword," coupled with a frost attack from his flying sword Ming Yue, instantly depleted Li Canghai's thick health bar and instantly killed him!
At the same time, Lin Zhao fell into a state of continuous stun. There were too many enemy heavy armor users, their continuous charges giving him no chance to wake up.
A smile played on his lips. It was fine to fall. It wasn't like he hadn't died before.
This battle, securing the Flowing Gold tier server first kill and killing Li Canghai, was enough.
...
"Boom!"
A sharp sword light descended, from Bu Su Li Ren.
"I'm sorry, Alliance Leader Bai Yi."
Before killing Lin Zhao, Bu Su Li Ren's gaze was exceptionally complex. He actually didn't want to be enemies with someone like Lin Zhao because he intuitively felt Lin Zhao was a good person. However, the Azure Knights Guild had unanimously claimed that Lin Zhao initiated the internal conflict and that the Azure Knights Guild was forced to retaliate. Bu Su Li Ren had signed a contract with the Azure Knights Guild and had to fulfill his obligations, so he could only go all out.
"Swish!"
Lin Zhao's vision blurred, and he heard the long-lost sound—
"Beep!"
Combat Notification: You have been killed by player [Bu Su Li Ren], incurring the following losses: Level -1, Gold Coins -348. Additionally, lost items: [Chaos Temple Armor] (Flowing Gold tier), [Cold Wind Cloak] (Silver tier), [Gray Wolf Battle Axe] (Silver tier), and a portion of potions, miscellaneous items, etc.!
...
A Flowing Gold tier item!
Seeing this line, Lin Zhao couldn't help but feel his heart ache.
The next second, they gathered at the East City Gate Plaza in Yun Shang County. Lin Zhao was somewhat silent. He stepped into the Great Cathedral beside them and said, "Let's go inside and talk!"
"Okay!"
The other nine followed and stepped into the Great Cathedral.
Lin Zhao frowned, a heavy burden weighing on his mind. "First, some bad news. When I died just now, the Chaos Temple Armor dropped. It was an item dropped by the Boss, a Flowing Gold tier item."
"Damn it..."
Ding Chi clenched his fist. "What a huge loss. Damn it... it's so infuriating..."
"Indeed."
Chen Xue frowned. "Lin Zhao, first check if the Boss dropped anything else?"
"Mm."
Lin Zhao took out the dropped items from Chaos Sword God Jian Chen one by one from his inventory. Among them was a level 50 Golden tier leg guard. Without a second thought, Lin Zhao threw it to Chen Xue and said, "Chen Xue just dropped a pair of knee guards. Does anyone have any objections to this compensation?"
Everyone nodded in unison, indicating no objections.
Lin Zhao looked at everyone and asked, "Rong Xing, Yao Guai, Lu Li, Qing Ning, and Mo Yin, did any of you lose equipment?"
"No."
Everyone shook their heads. The only things lost were some miscellaneous items from their inventory.
"That's good then."
Lin Zhao spread out all the remaining equipment dropped by the Boss on the ground. A few had been lost, and a few remained. The only valuable item was a sparkling, golden ring. The ornament on the ring was a sword-shaped gem. He waved his hand, and the attributes surprised everyone. This was incredible—
[Chaos Temple Ring] (Flowing Gold tier)
Strength: +80
Stamina: +78
Agility: +75
Special Effect: Lifesteal +11%
Special Effect: Critical Hit +5%
Special Effect: Chaos Energy, melee attacks deal an additional 5% Chaos damage.
Special Effect: Chaos Strike, melee attacks have a 30% chance to trigger an attack damage of 300%.
Special Skill: [Chaos Sword Rain], summons a rain of chaos swords upon targets within a 40x40 yard area, dealing a total of 1200% of user's attack damage over 3 seconds.
Additional: Increases user's attack power by 15%.
Additional: Increases user's defense by 15%.
Required Level: 50
...
Absolutely top-tier!
The second Flowing Gold tier item, and it was the hardest to obtain ring slot!
"Awesome..."
Ding Chi and Zhang Jun both gave a thumbs-up.
"A ring for melee classes."
Lin Zhao said, "The heavy armor users, plus Mo Yin, let's roll for it."
"Okay!"
Everyone nodded in unison, finally feeling a bit of anticipation.
After a round of rolling, everyone was somewhat surprised. Rong Xing actually rolled a legendary 100, defeating everyone!
"Well done, Rong Xing!"
Lin Zhao smiled and said, "The ring is yours."
"Thanks!"
Rong Xing accepted the ring, filled with surprise. In reality, Lin Zhao could have kept this ring for himself, but he didn't. This somewhat surprised Rong Xing.
"Everyone worked hard today!"
Lin Zhao glanced at the time and said, "Overall, although we were wiped out, we gained a lot. Everyone get some rest soon, and let's try our best again tomorrow!"
"Mm-hmm!"
Everyone nodded with a smile.
...
Logging off.
Around eleven o'clock at night.
Lin Zhao went downstairs alone and sat lazily on the living room sofa.
Beside him, Chen Xue's slender body slowly sat down, turned to look at him, and asked with a smile, "Unhappy?!"
"Unhappy."
Lin Zhao frowned and said, "Too disgusting..."
"That's just how the world is..."
Chen Xue said softly, "Everyone is trying to make a living in the game, so they'll go to any lengths. Li Canghai is just more hypocritical and ugly. You'll get used to it."
"Mm."
Lin Zhao nodded. He lay on the sofa, closing his eyes to rest. At this moment, he missed his teacher, Qin Sui Han, a little. The world that Mr. Qin wanted was one where everyone knew propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame, where everyone was kind, respectful, frugal, and humble. Yet, the world he found himself in seemed to have no connection with the principles of these scholars.
Mr. Qin, through his own efforts, left behind the World Tree's spiritual root, saving the world from impending ice and extinction. Could he do something for his own world? As his disciple, it seemed inexcusable not to do anything...
He suddenly smiled. If that was the case, there were truly a lot of things he needed to do in the future!