"Bang!"
Huang Liang's sword carved a terrifying gully in the snowy ground, but Shen Xingchen was unharmed. She had already used her spatial teleportation skill to blink back 20 yards. Raising her staff, she cast both Flaming Dragon Avatar and Deep Frost Meteorite simultaneously, smashing them onto Huang Liang's forehead. Immediately after, her staff lifted, and with a "hiss," a beam of fiery laser effect erupted, causing damage numbers exceeding 3000+ to continuously pop up above Huang Liang's head. The output of a mage, when unleashed, was truly terrifying.
At this moment, Lin Zhao's health had recovered to 75%. Watching Shen Xingchen's damage output, he felt a slight happiness. When he first met Shen Xingchen, she was an opponent, and those explosive skills hitting him felt truly hateful. But now that Shen Xingchen was on his side, helping him with the quest, her damage output looked incredibly pleasing to the eye.
"Shen Xingchen, be careful!"
Lin Zhao flickered past, splitting from Shen Xingchen to go their separate ways. His sword light flashed, and he launched a series of attacks directly at Huang Liang. The damage was decent, with one combo skill taking off over 10,000 HP, and also almost refilling his own health bar.
"Seeking death?!"
Huang Liang roared in fury. He swung his long sword, unleashing a powerful strike towards Lin Zhao's shoulder. Who would have thought Lin Zhao's reaction speed would be so swift? He lowered his body, adopting a defensive stance on his horse. With a "clang," a deep blue halo swept across his blade, blocking over 80% of the Boss's attack damage, leaving him to only endure over 2000 damage.
Shen Xingchen witnessed this and secretly marveled. Lin Zhao was one of the few players who could withstand attacks while fighting high-level Bosses. Other players just took hits, but only Lin Zhao dared to try and use his skills to defend against the Boss's attacks. This ability... even Brother Shen Lingyuan didn't possess it. Leng Yan and Yi Shi Cang Liang were just starting out, while Su Xinghe was quite accomplished. It was only natural, otherwise, how could they be called quasi-heavenly kings?
...
"My sword intent is continuous and unending!"
Huang Liang roared, "Can you defend against it?!"
Saying this, he suddenly raised his long sword and unleashed a skill called "Sword Qi Cage." The sword qi dispersed into a 20x20 sword qi cage, directly locking Lin Zhao within. His movement speed was drastically reduced, and he suffered 150% of the Boss's damage per second. Huang Liang then laughed heartily and said, "Time to send you on your way!"
With a thought, a fiery red glow flew out from his Sword Lake – it was the flying sword of a Star River realm sword cultivator!
Lin Zhao's heart tightened. He retreated sharply and yelled, "Xingchen, save me!"
"En!"
Shen Xingchen instantly activated her magical artifact, the Hibiscus Hairpin. The jeweled pearl chain transformed into a rope, and she controlled Huang Liang's flying sword in mid-air. Then, several devastating spells rained down on his head. Lin Zhao seized the opportunity to turn back and unleash a Sword Qi Impact. Sword light danced, continuously dealing damage.
Qing Ning was the farthest away and the most relaxed. She only needed to maintain her healing distance from Lin Zhao, not worrying about anything else.
"You think I only have one flying sword?!"
Huang Liang sneered sinisterly. His second flying sword streaked through the air, heading straight for Lin Zhao's chest. The flying sword carried a burst of explosive sharpness, implying its damage would not be insignificant.
As Lin Zhao dodged rapidly, a thought sparked in his mind. His flying sword, Ming Yue, moved out, deciding to try his luck. He directly launched a divine ability, Shatter, at the Boss's second flying sword!
"Clang~~~"
A clash of metal on metal echoed. The two flying swords collided in the air and ricocheted apart. Although the Shatter effect didn't trigger and the opponent's second flying sword was unharmed, Lin Zhao had managed to neutralize its attack. Three seconds later, Ming Yue, carrying a frost effect, passed through Huang Liang's shoulder, coating his entire body in frost and drastically reducing his movement speed, even significantly slowing down his sword-flight speed.
"Beautiful..."
Shen Xingchen continued to cast spells while Lin Zhao constantly sought opportunities to unleash his combos, all while ensuring he wouldn't be instantly killed. This was incredibly difficult, like walking on a razor's edge every second, as the burst damage of a Star River realm sword cultivator was too high; one combo could almost instantly kill Lin Zhao. Fortunately, Lin Zhao always managed to...
"Again!"
The ghost cultivator Huang Liang was unwilling to accept defeat so easily and still wanted to taunt-kill. With a thought, his first flying sword shot out, heading straight for Shen Xingchen, aiming to kill her before her Starry Sky Shield recovered.
However, the flying sword had barely traveled halfway when a silver glint flashed. The flying sword Ming Yue, like an intercepting missile, accurately struck the middle of the opponent's flying sword. With a "clang," sparks flew. Ming Yue's multiple "Shatter" attempts had failed before, but this time was different. Huang Liang's good luck had run out. The flying sword in his first Sword Lake instantly shattered, actually being shattered by Ming Yue!
The subsequent chain reaction astonished Lin Zhao and Shen Xingchen even more.
"Beep!"
Battle notification: Please note, [Sword Cultivator Huang Liang] has officially fallen from the Star River realm to the Nascent Soul realm due to the destruction of his innate flying sword in his first Sword Lake. All attributes reduced by 25%!
...
There was such a thing?
Shen Xingchen almost burst out laughing.
From then on, things became very simple. Huang Liang, now in the Nascent Soul realm, was no longer as aggressive. He also didn't dare to deploy his second flying sword carelessly. Firstly, he feared it would be sealed by Shen Xingchen's Hibiscus Hairpin, and secondly, he feared Lin Zhao's flying sword, Ming Yue, which was even more terrifying, capable of shattering other flying swords. If his second innate flying sword were also destroyed, Huang Liang might directly fall out of the middle five realms.
Huang Liang wanted to flee, but there was a sense of heavenly suppression in the darkness, preventing him from escaping. It was either victory or death; he had no third option.
Ten minutes later.
The ghost cultivator Huang Liang's health bar was below 1%. Shen Xingchen directly stopped attacking, letting Lin Zhao finish him off. This was because Lin Zhao's charm value was as high as 11, while Shen Xingchen's was 7, a significant difference. It was better to let Lin Zhao kill him. Individuals with high charm values had higher monster drop rates and better rare item drop rates, these were unwritten potential rules.
"Hiss!"
With a single "Sword of the Universe" throw, the ghost cultivator Huang Liang let out a miserable cry, his body disintegrating like mud and sand. At the same time, a pile of gold coins, along with some equipment and items, burst out. Amidst the rolling gold coins, Lin Zhao and Shen Xingchen's eyes sharpened. They seemed to see a golden token rolling among the coins.
"Is that...?" Shen Xingchen asked, a mix of surprise and joy in her voice.
"It seems so!"
Lin Zhao's hands were quick. With a "swish," he fished the token out of the gold coins and immediately shared it in the team channel. Instantly, Shen Xingchen and Qing Ning squinted their beautiful eyes. Today was destined to be a lucky day for the Scarlet Moon Knights Guild – Da Feng Novel.
[Alliance Token]: Submit to the City Lord in the main city to establish a War Alliance.
...
"It really is an Alliance Token!"
Shen Xingchen smiled, her dimples shallowly appearing. She felt genuinely happy, even more so than when she had obtained the first Alliance Token in the Star River realm. As for why, she couldn't quite explain it herself. If she had to give a reason, it was probably her own feelings. In the Star River realm, every step was taken according to plan. She would also discuss important matters with Su Xinghe and make arrangements step by step. All of this gradually made Shen Xingchen feel weary and lose her patience.
Su Xinghe was indeed strong, and he treated her well, but from beginning to end, there was no sincerity.
Conversely, the person in front of her, wiping the Alliance Token repeatedly, felt different to Shen Xingchen. Lin Zhao was also calculating; the Lin Baiyi of Snow Domain Heavenly Pond was certainly capable of scheming. But Shen Xingchen felt that he was sincere in his dealings with people, which was entirely different from Su Xinghe.