Night.
Lin Zhao was still hunting Blazing Bees, and his level had risen to 29. He had unexpectedly completed today's quests ahead of schedule. Reaching level 29 on the second day of the game's launch was already quite an achievement. In addition to gaining a large amount of experience, he had also dropped some Xuan Tie and Bronze grade equipment, including cloth, leather, and heavy armor. The heavy armor could be given to Ding Chi and Zhang Jun, while the rest could be consigned to the auction house in the county city for sale.
"What time are you going to sleep tonight?"
Ding Chi said in the team channel, "If it's later, I'll prepare to rush to level 28. Today's leveling speed is a bit fast. Ah Zhao, are you already rushing to level 30?"
"It's not rushing, just leveling slowly."
Lin Zhao appeared quite nonchalant, but in his heart, he hoped his level would be slightly higher than Ding Chi and Zhang Jun's. After all, he would be the leader of the Scarlet Moon Knights Guild in the future, and without a level advantage, he wouldn't be able to command respect. The game had its own rules of the martial world, and those rules were that whoever had a higher level, better equipment, and stronger combat power was the boss.
Zhang Jun said, "Then... let's tentatively set the time to sleep at 2 AM? That's perfect. After 11 PM, a large number of players will get tired and log off to sleep. The next six to seven hours will be the golden period for leveling, and there will be significantly fewer people competing for monsters."
"Okay."
Lin Zhao nodded, "That makes sense."
"Then it's 2 AM."
Ding Chi laughed, "Log off precisely at 2 AM to cook noodles!"
"Sounds good!"
Lin Zhao smiled slightly and killed a Blazing Bee with a flash of his sword. At that moment, his vision flickered, and a grayish figure seemed to flash before his eyes. Instantly, a cold glint pierced through the void, carrying a trace of fiery red energy, heading straight for Lin Zhao's throat. It was a level 25 Phantom Assassin's Gouge skill, a sneak attack!
"What?!"
Lin Zhao had a premonition about half a second in advance. The moment the opponent attacked, he began to sidestep and retreat. While moving rapidly, he twisted his body, and a large "
"781!"
"422!"
The mage's attacks really hurt! Even with Golden grade armor, he couldn't withstand them!
Just then, with two thuds, Lin Zhao's chest burned with searing pain. He had just been hit by the Thunderstorm Gunner's level 20 skill, a two-shot combo, followed by a normal attack, dealing a total of over 700 damage. Although it wasn't as painful as the mage's attack, it was still extremely dangerous. Coupled with Huang Xiao Xie's attacks, Lin Zhao's health bar had dropped from over 3400 to less than 500 in an instant!
He had to retreat, to evade this wave of focused fire!
"Bang!"
He forcefully kicked Huang Xiao Xie in the lower abdomen and then thrust his sword forward. With a clang as his normal attack struck the opponent's armor, he used the rebound force to retreat into the grass behind him. Simultaneously, he downed a health potion, instantly recovering over 200 health. He then darted and hid behind a withered tree, remaining completely still, holding his breath.
...
"Hmph~~~"
Outside the grass, Huang Xiao Xie, the Holy Knight, sneered and said, "Bai Yi, the number one in Cloud City, right? Tsk, tsk, you're amazing, you even dare to kill me. Since you dare to kill me, you should also dare to bear the consequences, right? Why aren't you coming out? Hiding in the grass like a coward, what's the meaning of this? Why don't you just buy a rename card and change your name to coward instead of Bai Yi!"
Lin Zhao hid behind the tree, chuckling silently, and patiently waited for his health potion to recover.
"Don't hesitate!"
Fei Long Zai Tian walked towards the grass with his sword, frowning. "Letting him recover his health will also be troublesome. Huang Xiao Xie, you and I will split up and enter the grass to flush him out. The mage and gunner should be ready to attack at any time, and the nomad should stay further away to avoid being instantly killed."
"Okay!"
With two rustling sounds, Fei Long Zai Tian and Huang Xiao Xie stepped into the grass together, less than 10 yards away from Lin Zhao. At that very moment, the grass in front of Lin Zhao shook, and two level 27 Sword Masters charged into view. It was Ding Chi and Zhang Jun.
Brothers had arrived, and it was time for revenge!
Lin Zhao directly said in the team channel, "Ding Chi, use Sword Qi Impact on Fei Long Zai Tian. We'll kill Fei Long Zai Tian first. Don't worry about Huang Xiao Xie. After killing Fei Long Zai Tian, we'll rush out of the grass. Zhang Jun, use Sword Qi Impact on the mage. I'll rush up to add damage, aiming to instantly kill the mage. After that, I'll use Sword Qi Impact on the Thunderstorm Gunner, and you'll each find your opponents."
"Alright!"
In the next second, Ding Chi, the eighth-ranked expert in Cloud City's level rankings, unleashed a streak of sword light that enveloped Fei Long Zai Tian, the fifth-ranked expert in Cloud City. Instantly, Lin Zhao also moved out from behind the tree and smiled at Fei Long Zai Tian, "You thought you were the only ones with numbers?"
"Huh?!"
Fei Long Zai Tian was slightly taken aback by Lin Zhao's words and was immediately locked onto by Ding Chi's Sword Qi Impact. Lin Zhao also charged forward with his long sword. Just as Ding Chi unleashed a combo of normal attack + heavy strike + normal attack, Lin Zhao also delivered a combo of normal attack + Qian Kun Yi Zhi + normal attack. In an instant, Fei Long Zai Tian, despite his higher level and better equipment, let out a pained groan and fell to the ground, even dropping his silver-white long sword.
Lin Zhao, with his quick reflexes, grabbed the dropped sword from the air and threw it into his inventory, shouting, "Get out of the grass, Zhang Jun, go!"
"Coming!"
The moment Zhang Jun rushed out of the grass, he saw the opponent's level 26 Starry Sky Mage and unhesitatingly threw a Sword Qi Impact, enveloping the mage's head. In the next instant, he charged forward, and Lin Zhao followed. The moment Zhang Jun's combo failed to instantly kill the opponent, Lin Zhao seized the opportunity and thrust his sword in a normal attack, piercing the Starry Sky Mage's chest and dealing over 800 damage. The attack power of Golden grade equipment was truly extraordinary!
In the grass, only Huang Xiao Xie was left. In the previous moment, three burly men had charged through. Fei Long Zai Tian, who usually acted arrogantly in the guild chat, considered himself an expert, had his health bar instantly disappear. What was even more infuriating was that these three burly men didn't even glance at Huang Xiao Xie, as if he were a pile of cow dung in the grass. They directly left the grass to kill the Starry Sky Mage, Thunderstorm Gunner, and Nomad, leaving Huang Xiao Xie, a Knight, alone in the grass, on the verge of collapse. What could a Holy Knight with little attack power and his charge skill on cooldown do?
"Thunderstorm Gunner!"
The moment Lin Zhao's Sword Qi Impact cooled down, he directly targeted the Thunderstorm Gunner who was desperately trying to focus fire on him. In the next moment, Lin Zhao, with only 12% of his health remaining, turned into an afterimage and closed in. His five-hit combo of Sword Qi Impact + normal attack + heavy strike + normal attack was enough to kill the opponent. In the next moment, the Thunderstorm Gunner was also gone.
Not far away, the young Nomad girl watched in stunned silence, holding her staff, on the verge of tears. From beginning to end, she hadn't even had a chance to heal anyone. The opponent always focused fire on one person and killed them instantly, never giving them an opportunity. She held a hand full of healing spells but was powerless.
For a moment, she stood there, unsure whether to stay or leave.
If she left, her boss would scold her, and she might even be docked her wages.
If she stayed, was she waiting to be killed?
...
"Little girl."
Lin Zhao looked at her and said, "Do you know why you came here?"
"..."
The Nomad girl gritted her silver teeth, not knowing how to answer.
"You came here to bully people."
Lin Zhao smiled slightly, his expression quite gentle. "Drop your staff, and I'll give you a chance to return to town. Otherwise, I'll kill you."
Ding Chi and Zhang Jun behind Lin Zhao both gave him a thumbs-up.
Damn, amazing! No wonder he could be the boss. This kind of shameless composure and calmness was something they probably wouldn't be able to learn in this lifetime.