Li Yao watched as the people of the Shengshi Dynasty began to leave, regretting a little as he jumped down from the tree, realizing he was out of Exploding Sheep.
Just as the Beast Speaker had predicted, battling in the jungle both protected and limited Li Yao.
The dense trees and shrubs required good angles for long-distance shooting, and shooting opportunities were often fleeting.
Especially since they had figured this out, finding good cover was difficult. Even though he was higher leveled, if controlled even for a bit, he would be overwhelmed by countless attacks.
"My power base is insufficient, I must speed up the process. It may be dangerous to obtain that object at level five, but the risk is worth taking." Li Yao frowned as he made a certain decision, an adventurous plan, but first he needed to secure the mine. Without the copper mine, everything would be in vain.
If he couldn't become proficient in engineering, having the mechanical blueprint wouldn't be enough without sufficient metal to build. Realizing this, he understood that he had many tasks to complete.
"Jia Jia, right? The people of Shengshi have been driven off. You can level up safely now." Li Yao sent a private message via the Children of the Stars system.
"Thank you, since you're my brother's friend, let me invite you over for a meal next time you come home." Li Jia joyfully responded.
"Alright, there will be a chance." Li Yao noted that it was already dusk in the game and said, "Leave it here?"
"Um." Li Jia hesitantly replied, "It's like this, my classmate Driplet has a mission that requires defeating a boss. Could you help us out? Of course, if you're busy you can ignore this."
Hearing Li Jia's slightly restrained request, Li Yao showed a slight smile. When his sister had an issue, even if he was out of time, he would make time.
"Kill a boss? Sure, but let me make this clear. I do not want any mission items, but any Hunter items that drop are mine. Ask her if she agrees. If so, I'll come, if not, let it be."
This was a general rule when asking for help. If he didn't mention this, it would be suspicious.
On the other hand, when Li Jia mentioned Li Yao's condition, Longyou Sihai's face darkened. He was a Hunter. If Hunter items dropped and Li Yao took them, what would he get?
"Who does he think he is? Why should he make such a demand? We in the Qionghua Club lack many things, but we are not short of experts." Longyou Sihai complained.
Li Jia's best friend Driplet whispered, "Qionghua's president Xuemei personally led a team and failed, you know."
Dragon's face changed, "Okay, even president Xuemei failed, then who does he think he is? Do you believe Xuemei is inferior to the Starfire?"
Fleeting Beauty calmly said, "There is no shame in being less skilled than others. You can learn and catch up. But if you cannot even acknowledge this and see yourself clearly, then that's the most significant problem."
Longyou Sihai's face turned red instantly. He was eager to help because he liked Fleeting Beauty. It was rumored that Fleeting Beauty's words were more valuable than the club manager's and president's, which was why he pursued her.
Fleeting Beauty had made her stance clear with her words, but he pretended not to understand and dared not object. He became silent.
"He indeed qualifies." Sighed Fleeting Beauty, "I just received the news that Starfire wiped out a team from Shengshi. The poorest few have already dropped from level four to level one. And the team was led by the Beast Speaker."
"Even a team led by the Beast Speaker was wiped out, this..." Dragon could no longer argue. He had been poached from Shengshi to Qionghua, so he was well aware of the Beast Speaker's power. Although he wasn't the leader, his words carried more weight than the leader's. The strategies for team matches, guild wars, and even the squad competition, were all credited to his brain.
"Zhao Long, if you feel aggrieved, you can level up first. After all, the threat from Shengshi's people is gone." Fleeting Beauty said. Qionghua valued honor and was always striving. Otherwise, they would not have sought external help in times of danger.
"No, I'm fine, I don't even need the equipment." Dragon couldn't leave. He had finally persuaded Fleeting Beauty's sister, i.e. Li Jia's best friend Driplet, to seek his help in times of danger. Otherwise, he wouldn't even have had the qualification to stay by Fleeting Beauty's side and practice.
"Jia Jia, please invite your brother's friend over. Tell him we agree with the rules, and he can also be the team leader." Fleeting Beauty instructed.
"Okay." Li Jia contacted Li Yao again.
After about ten minutes, Li Yao met up with a few people.
Driplet pointed at a group of small bonfires in the distance, saying, "The one sitting by the bonfire is the target of my mission, a level four boss. It's too hard to kill."
Li Yao looked in the direction she pointed at, spotting a troll roasting meat by the bonfire, a smile crossing his face.
The hatred between Trolls and the High Elves could be traced back to ancient times. The Troll Empire once defeated the Insect Empire and began to dominate most of the mainland.
The elves were originally unified, strictly speaking, they were also a branch of Trolls. These were known as the Dark Trolls, but their habitat was around the Eternal Well.
The Eternal Well was a source of energy left by the Creator God Titan on the ancient continent, continuously absorbing energy from the void of Outland and nourishing this beautiful land.
The significant energy fluctuations also changed the Dark Trolls. After a long time, they became different from the Trolls, and were later renamed Children of the Stars, that is, Dark Elves.
Latterly, the Elves defeated the Troll Empire to become the rulers of the world. After a long time, the continent shattered due to an unprecedented war and the Elves split apart.
The High Elves were exiled. The High Elves came to the East Continent to thrive, whereas the Forest Trolls barely managed to survive here.
Even so, they were not opponents for the exiled High Elves. The High Elves allied with humans to fight against the Trolls and defeated the Trolls.
That was how the High Elf Kingdom was established. As the defense system of Sunwell was put in place, the High Elf Kingdom gradually stabilized, constantly squeezing the living space of the Trolls.
Thousands of years had passed, and though there were no significant wars between the two factions, minor confrontations continued to unfurl.
The task that Little Raindrop had was to take down the low-level Priest Skakir who had trespassed on High Elf territory.
"I guess you must have already tried. Tell me about the boss's skills and the situation you encountered," Li Yao, who had already seen the boss's data, said.
In his previous life, this boss was famous, ranked as one of the top ten nightmare bosses to the lower-level players. It had a nasty reputation. Adventurers trying to level up or complete quests in this area would often end in tragedy.
This enemy was notoriously difficult to defeat. It was a nightmare for the lower level players. The boss's attributes increased along with the number of attackers, making it terrifying. This meant that quantity over quality was not useful here.
Yet, because it dropped a piece of gear, it became a punching bag years after the game was launched. Players took it down, often within half a day, every week after it refreshed.
Fleeting Time said, "Let me explain it. The Qionghua Club tried three times yesterday. The most successful attempt was when they managed to reduce its health to 60% before failing. In the first 50% of its health, the boss would summon two level four cobras every ten seconds. We could handle its Lightning Arrow attack spell. But when its health was cut in half, it transformed into a colossal cobra. It then used Toxic Breath and Poison Fog attacks, which we couldn't withstand."
"Did you try using low-level antidote potions?" Li Yao asked.
Dragon Across the Four Seas said, resented, "Things you can think of, don't you think our strategy team would have tried? If antidote potions worked, we could have handled it ourselves."
"If you could solve it by yourselves, why would you need me?" Li Yao said dryly, then turning around and spoke seriously, "Now I'm the team leader. If you want to get past this boss, listen to me. You can make suggestions. Otherwise, don't mention irrelevant things unless I ask. If you don't like the idea, I can easily step out."
"Zhao Long, don't forget the rules of Qionghua Club, there won't be a next time," Fleeting Time said harshly, glaring at her little sister. Her naive sister accepted whatever was said, even if it was Fleeting Time, the club's boss, ensuring people's cooperation. It was just wasteful to misuse club resources. Fleeting Time began to despise Zhao Long, who was exploiting her ignorant younger sister, no matter what the reason was.
"I promise there won't be a next time."
"Good, that's what a large club should look like." Li Yao pondered for a moment before saying, "We need one more healer."
"Adding another healer will transform us into a team, resulting in an increase in the boss's health," Little Raindrop mumbled.
"In a five-man team, how do you plan to win with four damage dealers?" Li Yao asked rhetorically.
Dragon Across the Four Seas cleared his throat and said, "Considering our ability to defeat the boss, I think Sweet Dreams should exit the team first and come back after we've slain the boss."
"Then I'll leave the party first," Li Jia said softly, her voice hinted at disappointment.
"Well, I came here for Li Jia's sake. Why should I help you guys if she quits the team?" Li Yao scoffed. "Although we are both Hunters, I doubt your effectiveness."
"You doubt me? I am a professional player!" Dragon Across the Four Seas became infuriated.
"So what if you're a professional player? If you don't believe me, choose to compete in DPS or PvP." Li Yao sneered. Dragging an eSport player around, the one who sideline chasing girls and worked as someone else's sidekick without realizing that the girl he was chasing was the club's boss, was simply a fool asking for death.
Dragon Across the Four Seas was seething, wanting to challenge Li Yao to a duel, but he knew it would give Fleeting Time a bad impression. Also, he doubted that he could be a match for him in a fight. After all, Li Yao had single-handedly wiped out a team. Who knew what other tricks he had up his sleeve?
"Zhao Long, you can join operation team 2 in the future. I will tell Snow Plum about this." Fleeting Time also became furious but didn't show her anger. Turning to Li Yao, she said, "I invited a Paladin who knows two healing spells, and gives King's blessing. They are hardy, stronger than a Priest. What do you think?"
Dragon Across the Four Seas turned pale, hating Li Yao even more.
"That works." Li Yao led the group around and found a small valley before saying, "Wait for me here. I will pull the boss over to this spot."
"Why here? Is there anything special about this place?" The group was doubtful. It looked just as desolate as the hillside where they had stood earlier.
"You'll see."
Seeing the female Paladin named Blue Dream arrive, Li Yao quickly ran towards the boss.
Li Yao stopped at a distance of more than 150 yards, changed to a heavy crossbow, and quickly loaded a steel arrow.
Then, he slowly aimed at Skakir, who was having his dinner. After aiming, he gently pulled the trigger.
Whirr...
A steel arrow, accompanied by a whistling sound, plunged into Skakir's back.
A scream came from Skakir's mouth as his body tumbled away unprepared.
-86
A large damage number floated up.
The troll priest who had got up saw Li Yao and roared angrily, "Damn elf, you're looking for trouble."
Li Yao put the heavy crossbow back into his bag and started running...
Having distanced himself, Li Yao stoops low and takes up his crossbow, aiming carefully.
This arrow makes its way into the chest of the troll priest Skakir. However, Skakir, prepared this time, leans back a bit to steady himself and continues advancing towards Li Yao.
Li Yao puts away the crossbow. The troll priest is now just a few dozen yards away, and Li Yao quickly runs towards the mouth of the valley.
The troll priest is fast, but Li Yao is not slow. Every time Li Yao noticed the troll priest retreating, he would fire an arrow from his homemade bow, redirecting the priest's attention towards him.
Unlike a wild beast boss, this humanoid boss tends to behave similar to adventure game bosses, with a clear aggro system, but due to its intelligence, its aggro behavior differs from the consistent aggro mechanics seen in previous games.
"Prepare to take the boss," said Li Yao as he quickly runs into the ranged DPS team.
The Avenger's Shield!
A golden shield with holy wings slaps the boss on the head.
-25
Lesser Priest・Skakir
Rank: 4th-level lower boss
Life: 10725/11000
Skills: Lightning Arrow, Lightning Chain, Summoning Poisonous Snakes, Transformation into Poisonous Snake, Toxic Breath, Poisonous Cloud, Poisonous Explosion.
Dewdrop screams, "Our five-man team has 8000 health points, together we have 11,000, this..."
Li Yao felt fortunate that they could not see the host of skills piled up behind the boss, or else they would not have the motivation to continue the fight.
Li Yao hurriedly said, "Now, follow my command. Xiao Jia, Dewdrop, and Dream, stand together and go all out in damage-dealing. Dragon, you go to the right side of the boss and take care of the vipers summoned from that side."
"You order this and that, what are you doing?" Dragon muttered discontentedly.
Li Yao frowned, "Follow the command or I will kick you out. I will explain it one last time, I will deal with the vipers on the left side of the boss. Remember to kite the vipers around the boss and keep dealing damage to the boss. If anyone questions my orders again, I'll kick them out."
Dragon gave a cold snort, but seeing no one speaking in his support, he awkwardly followed Li Yao's commands.
"The aggro is stable now, you can DPS," stated Suddenly.
"Go all-out with the DPS. When the boss throws out a Lightning Chain, don't panic, don't avoid it, just keep DPS. Healers, you okay?" asked Li Yao.
"I have fought this boss before. If it's just the damage from Lightning Chain, I can handle it," Blue Dream quickly responded.
Li Yao nodded, pulled out his heavy crossbow, and joined the others in DPS.
As a summoner, Dewdrop could offer everyone a buff that increases movement speed, the King's Blessing from the healer also increased everyone's attributes, and Li Yao's aura could provide a 10% ranged enhancement.
The fire spirits summoned by the summoner, the shadow arrows from the magician Li Jia, and the arrows from Dragon all began to deal damage to the boss.
The damage they inflicted typically ranged from 18 to 22. Thanks to the elite set gifted by Li Yao, Li Jia's output was in no way inferior to theirs.
However, Li Yao's arrow, dealing over 80 points of damage, completely dumbfounded them. This was a boss, and an arrow from him dealt over 80 points of damage. Even if he only fired one arrow every four seconds, when compared to their attack frequency of once every two seconds, their combined damage was only half of his hits.
What's more, with Li Yao's equipment and various buffs, coupled with the Platinum Badge enhancements, such damage was in no way surprising.
Suddenly, Skakir unleashed a Lightning Chain, and the three ranged players lost nearly half of their health. The healers scrambled to restore their health.
Two more minutes have passed, and the boss's health dropped below ten thousand.
"Prepare yourselves. Whoever sees a snake, pull it away. Hold the snake's aggro, do not let it break away and explode in our ranks."
Having said that, Li Yao switched to his bow and arrow.
"Obey my summons, Master of Poison."
The troll priest raised his wand and called out loudly. A green light column appeared behind him to his left, and a green cobra emerged from it.
Deadly Poison Cobra
Rank: 4th-level Normal Monster
Life: 3000
Skills: Deadly Poisonous Bite, Furious Poison Explosion
Despite knowing the snake's health in advance, Li Yao wanted to curse. This snake had nearly as much health as an elite monster, giving more truth to the idea that field bosses become relentless as more players join the fray.
Concussive Shot!
A blue ray bursts forth, followed by a Charged Arrow. The serpent's aggro is redirected to Li Yao, who begins to run while attacking the boss.
Li Yao handled it well, not consistently dealing damage to the minion but landing an arrow on the snake right before it broke off, then switched back to the boss.
As the pace escalated, Li Yao's commands became faster and faster and everyone grew increasingly tense.
After ten seconds, the troll priest hollers again, and another venomous snake is summoned. Dragon, trying to keep up with Li Yao, kites the snake around while shooting at the boss.
However, as time went by, there were already twelve snakes trailing behind Li Yao and nine behind Dragon.
But Dragon is already overwhelmed and gets hit by the minions from time to time.
"Dream, heal me."
"Dream, heal me."
"Quick, heal me. I'm running out of health."
"My health is less than a third. If I go down, we are finished."
Dragon's voice grows louder with each shout.
The boss's health is now down to 60%, and its attacks are becoming more frequent. Blue Dream is under increased pressure, and upon hearing Dragon's incessant cries for healing, he becomes annoyed, "Would you stop shouting? Do you think I can't see that you're running out of health? Your noise makes it hard for all of us to hear the commands."
Furious, Dragon roared back, "Command, command my ass! How come his health is still full? Aren't we from the same guild? Can't you see my health is nearly depleted?"
Blue Dream's cute face immediately turned bright red, while she continued to heal him and said scornfully, "Are you blind or what? When did I heal the raid leader?"
"You think I'm stupid? How else is his health always full?" Dragon Roaming Seas scorned.
"I'm tired of you!" Blue Dream, who is always considered a lady, cursed, "you keep screaming even though your skills are awful, as if you've lost me! The boss has pulled four more monsters than you. No, now it's five more, as he pulled another one from your side. What a fool you are. He's been tanking fourteen Deadly Poison Cobras and the aggro is still stable. I haven't healed him once, and his damage output isn't any less than ours."
"Look at yourself, you're panicking because of only nine cobras. Your health fluctuates up and down. Look at your damage output, do you even have any? How can there be such a huge gap between two hunters? The team manager said your father was an Olympic shooter, that's why they recruited you. You were given priority access to the hunter's gear and you have the most skills, yet this is your performance. How do you still have the nerve to complain?"
Dragon Roaming Seas used an escape move to get away from the monsters, then launched Arrow Rain, then started running again, his face turning red: "you're full of crap."
"I'm full of crap? Check the system's stats panel, it's crystal clear there." Blue Dream quickly lost interest in arguing with Dragon, apologizing quickly, "I'm sorry for the distraction."
It wasn't until they heard her complaining that everyone started checking the stat panel and gasped in surprise. The damage received by Li Yao was zero, and his damage inflicted on the boss was second only to Instant Splendor, just by a bit.
Li Yao was zipping around with fifteen monsters in tow and yet was amazingly agile. The monsters followed him like he was leading a parade, a truly impressive sight.
Meanwhile, Dragon Roaming Seas was being hounded by his pack of monsters, and some were even breaking off from the pack. He was running around in circles, and if it wasn't for the primary heals, he would have died many times over already. And looking at the total healing received, boy, Dragon Roaming Seas had received even more heals than Instant Splendor who was tanking as the main tank.
"Your brother's friend is pretty awesome, commanding us like this." Little Raindrop muttered.
Li Jia was also puzzled, "I didn't know my brother's friend was this strong."
After a while, Li Yao used a few Shadow Rolls to distance himself from the monsters. "Stay away from the cobra bosses."
"You damned elves will feel the wrath of the true master of poison!" The troll priest's staff emitted several lines of green light.
Thud thud thud...
Each line of green light drilled into the cobras' heads, causing them to explode and a green light to burst out at the same time.
Dragon Roaming Seas tragically died due to the explosion of two cobras and fell to the ground complaining, "You sabotaged me. How can I react in time when you only now tell me?"
"We've told you about this issue since the beginning. You've also fought it twice, how could you not dodge the cobra explosions?" Blue Dream casually replied.
Li Yao ignored him and merely said, "I saw the route to the graveyard earlier. It's only two minutes away. If you can't revive within two minutes, I'm going to kick you."
"You're ruthless." Dragon Roaming Seas was furious but dared not say more. He had already died twice today, losing two levels. If he got kicked out, the losses would be even greater.
As the shadows of the cobras exploded one by one, they entered the body of the troll priest who instantly transformed into a phantom cobra, towering four to five yards high, looking incredibly fierce.
"How dare these weaklings disturb my slumber, replenish my losses with your fresh flesh and blood!"
"Everyone concentrate now and pay attention to my commands." Li Yao switched his weapon to a heavy crossbow and began to deal damage. "Instant Splendor, turn the boss away from us, quick. Dream, prepare for a major healing spell. Use it on Instant Splendor in three seconds."
Li Yao convinced them with his strength. Instant Splendor rolled over to face Li Yao and the others, causing the boss to turn around as well.
Whoosh...
A Toxic Breath sprayed out stretching dozens of yards. Instant Splendor's health was dropping fast, but Blue Dream's major healing spell had finished. A holy light descended, instantly restoring Instant Splendor's health to full. Even though it started dropping again, Blue Dream had reacted and began using smaller heal spells.
"Spread out, everyone. Keep a distance of at least ten yards. Healers, don't move around, stay alert on your feet. If you see a green light under your feet, dodge immediately. Don't get greedy on your damage output."
"Feel the wrath of the divine spirit." Skakir roared.
The ground began to show small green whirlpools, and at Li Yao's warning, several people quickly moved out of range.
Pop, pop, pop, pop...
Clouds of poisonous circles burst, but everyone was dodging quickly.
"Commander, the boss is about to release the toxin, the poison fog will cover a vast range, it spreads quickly and can't be avoided. If everyone's blood drops at the same time, the healing won't be able to keep up." Blue Dream warned.
"I know." Li Yao said, then warned, "The boss will breathe its second breath in three seconds, be careful."
With the previous experience, Timeless Beauty and Blue Dream had passed this little hurdle without Li Yao needing to say anything.
"Let the boss charge at us again, Beauty, face away from us and fight while retreating. Quick."
"You mortals have really provoked me." Skakir was generating a faint poison fog around him and Timeless Beauty, who was within his range, began to lose health continuously.
"Dream, just heal Beauty, don't worry about anything else, also continue to fight while retreating."
Everyone began to fight while retreating, the green poison fog kept at least a ten-yard distance from them.
"What's going on here, we've fought like this before, but we just can't avoid the poison fog. We can't even reach the boss without the poison fog, why aren't we affected?"
"The reason is simple, you've actually discovered it already." Li Yao breathed a sigh of relief, as long as the poison fog couldn't cover everyone, the healers would have no pressure. Nowadays healers basically lack AOE healing spells, even if they have them their cooldown is too long, they can't keep up.
Dragon Traveling the Four Seas had revived and was blocked outside the valley by the poison fog. He could only watch Li Yao and the others through the hundred-yard-wide poison fog on the other side.
"I've got it, it's the wind." Little Raindrop was the most relaxed because of her Fire Spirit's damage output. She quickly discovered that the poison fog was spreading towards the valley mouth very slowly, swaying with the gentle breeze from the valley mouth.
Although the wind wasn't strong, it was spreading the poison fog inside, but the speed was slowed down because of the wind.
"Commander, I don't have any complaints. I have to admit, I was doubtful when I watched your video, but now, I'm convinced. From now on, you're my idol." Little stars appeared in Blue Dream's eyes.
"Dream Sis is smitten, hehe." Little Raindrop teased.
Blue Dream was at a quasi-god level as a healer in her past life - so being worshipped by a big shot who had the same status as her in her previous life actually felt pretty good to Li Yao.
While the team fought and retreated, the boss's blood was steadily decreasing, and a few minutes later, he was critically injured.
Everyone retreated a few hundred yards. Under Li Yao's command, everyone had managed to narrowly escape danger, and finally, the boss fell to the ground, full of regret.
"Beauty, withdraw quickly.
As Timeless Beauty withdrew, the Cobra's phantom exploded, but thanks to her timely evasion, the boss's self-explosion didn't harm anyone, the phantom once again became a troll priest.
Everyone cheered, everyone's experience had surged a lot.
"Commander, go and loot the body." Blue Dream said.
Timeless Beauty also moved away from the boss's body and said, "Go ahead and loot the body. This is the first humanoid boss killed, right? I want to see what it dropped."
Li Yao was smiling as he said, "You guys know it's the first time killing it, don't forget, the world announcement, just watch, here it comes."
As Li Yao spoke, a line of multi-colored text shone in front of everyone...
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