Chapter 8

Update Time: 2014-02-11

"Shaman! How many corners are left?" asked the Tyrant, knowing that Lin Zheng was also on a quest. They decided to help him gather food minerals after completing their tasks, of course, the key was that they felt their leveling efficiency was better when they were together. Lin Zheng opened his quest log and saw that he already had 97, "Just three more, it should be quick! What about your quests? Are they done?"

"Already completed, just waiting for you!"

"Hehe! How embarrassing!" Lin Zheng laughed, but there was no trace of embarrassment on his face. Suddenly, Lin Zheng's expression changed, and he shouted to the Tyrant: "Be careful!" Before the Tyrant could react, an arrow whizzed by and hit him squarely in the back.

"Tyrant!" Several people cried out in alarm. Quickly, Xiao Miao reacted and quickly healed the Tyrant, preventing him from being killed by the surrounding monsters and the sneak attack.

"Everyone, pay attention, it's the 'Pride Sword' guys!" the Tyrant immediately shouted. As soon as he said this, over a dozen players burst out from the nearby bushes, all with names prefixed by 'Pride Sword.' The leader was called Pride Sword China, a martial artist with a fierce look, as if he had a deep grudge against Lin Zheng and his group.

Lin Zheng and his group quickly killed the few lizards around the Tyrant, then formed a circle to face off against the Pride Sword group. Lin Zheng quietly asked Tina, who was beside him, "Who are these guys?"

"The Pride Sword family, they're quite famous in our Frost Heaven City. Yesterday, a few of them tried to steal our boss, but we killed them instead, so now we have a grudge!" Tifa said with innocent eyes.

"Oh—so they're not good guys!" Lin Zheng understood. In games, stealing a boss is a common occurrence, but if they can't steal it and then bring a large group to take revenge, that's just despicable. What made Lin Zheng even more angry was that the damn guy had registered the name he wanted! Pride Sword China, a cool name, was supposed to be his! How frustrating!

"Tyrant in heavy armor, you killed a few of our brothers yesterday, how are we going to settle this!" Pride Sword China shouted loudly.

"Pah!" the Tyrant said disdainfully, "So much talk, if you want to fight, just come on, don't look for lame excuses, don't think I'm afraid just because you have more people!"

"Insulting us, attack! Kill them!" Pride Sword China, having lost his temper, no longer wasted words, waved his sword, and the players around him shouted and charged at Lin Zheng's group.

"That Pride Sword China is mine, let's go!" Lin Zheng growled, gripping his dagger and charging forward, with the Tyrant and the others closely following. "Clang!" Lin Zheng's dagger and Pride Sword China's sword clashed. Pride Sword China looked at Lin Zheng with a dark expression and said, "Kid, you're not with them! I advise you to stay out of this, leave now, and I won't hold it against you!"

"Who says I'm not with them!" Lin Zheng grinned, and just as Pride Sword China's expression changed, Lin Zheng pushed him back and punched him with his left hand, knocking him back. Before Pride Sword China could steady himself, Lin Zheng charged forward and kicked him in the face. As soon as his foot landed, he instantly used a "Stomp," and several guys who tried to come to his aid were hit, and they were stunned! Lin Zheng was delighted! Players currently had no stun resistance, and a 5-second stun was no joke. Thus, with Pride Sword China's face turning green, Lin Zheng grinned and stabbed him several times with his dagger, each hit dealing several hundred points of damage! After a few hits, Pride Sword China roared in anger and died, falling to the ground. After falling, Pride Sword China did not immediately respawn, watching as Lin Zheng quickly killed his subordinates one by one, feeling so frustrated he almost spat blood. At the same time, Pride Sword China was surprised; his current health and defense were quite good, yet he was killed by Lin Zheng in just a few hits. When did Frost Heaven City get such a powerful player!

"Hehe, you just gave me the mana I needed!" Lin Zheng proudly picked up several small blue bottles from the ground. These were very expensive! Each bottle restored 100 mana and cost 10 silver coins, and they were kept for emergencies. As a result of Lin Zheng's attack, quite a few bottles dropped, making the Pride Sword members who hadn't respawned yet feel the pain!

Just as Lin Zheng finished picking up the items and was about to help the Tyrant and the others, a figure suddenly appeared beside him, a trap hunter who had been lurking in stealth. Since Lin Zheng was alert for enemy ambushes while picking up items, he relaxed his guard after finishing. In that instant, the trap hunter appeared and stabbed at Lin Zheng's throat!

"Damn!" The sudden appearance of the hunter made Lin Zheng break out in a cold sweat. The tip of the knife had already pierced his throat, but fortunately, he managed to block it with his dagger at the last moment. After the failed attack, the hunter immediately retreated and quickly moved out of the combat area, then went back into stealth.

Seeing the enemy disappear before his eyes, Lin Zheng cursed, "Damn!" Just as Lin Zheng was cursing, another hunter appeared beside Longya and Xiao Miao. They were both cloth-wearing classes, with low health and thin skin. Longya almost got one-shotted, and Lin Zheng was very worried. He immediately charged forward and stabbed the hunter, dealing -930 damage, a critical hit! The hunter, with a look of disbelief, died and fell to the ground. At that moment, a pleasant system message sounded! Lin Zheng checked his skill status and was delighted to see that the cooldown for "Explosion" was finally over! It was the perfect time for these guys to get unlucky!

"Roar!" Lin Zheng shouted and stomped toward the Pride Sword members surrounding the Tyrant and Chunfeng. Seeing his attack, someone immediately shouted, "Be careful! It's the swordsman's Explosion! Quickly get out of the way! Damn! Too late! Priests, prepare to heal!"

"Boom!" Flames erupted, and the heads of all the surrounding Pride Sword members showed bright red damage numbers, each over 1500 points. They had guessed the beginning but not the end. The priests, who were about to heal, were stunned by the sight of the bodies on the ground. Fortunately, a skilled archer was still clear-headed and quickly shouted, "Danger! Retreat!" Otherwise, they might have all been wiped out.

"Haha! So satisfying! No wonder this is the best class for group battles!" Lin Zheng laughed loudly, standing amidst the bodies, looking like a demon king. The others rolled their eyes.

"Sorry, Shaman, for getting you involved in this! You should have just left, getting on their bad side will be troublesome!" Chunfeng said apologetically.

"What nonsense! Do I look like someone without loyalty?" Lin Zheng said irritably, "Besides, we have legs, if we can't handle them, we can always run! There are so many main cities in this game, we don't have to stay in Frost Heaven City!"

"So you were planning to run away!" Tifa said, blinking her big eyes, but the teasing in her eyes was obvious. Lin Zheng stared at her speechlessly, thinking, "Miss Tifa, when did I ever offend you?" At that moment, Xiao Miao said happily, "Running away is good! These guys are so annoying, I never want to see them again! Let's go to Moonlight City, I heard it's beautiful!"

"Thump!" Lin Zheng tapped Xiao Miao's forehead, saying irritably, "We're not going anywhere, I'm going to fight them to the death! If I run away now, how will I ever show my face again! Besides, you saw how we crushed them!"

"Alright! Let's do it, we'll deal with whatever comes our way. Besides, Frost Heaven City is so big, with countless players, I don't believe there's no guild that can handle Pride Sword! If they keep harassing us, then Pride Sword isn't as great as they think!"

"Indeed!" Chunfeng said, stroking his chin, "Although Pride Sword is despicable, they won't have the time to deliberately seek revenge. This encounter was just a coincidence, and seeing our small group, they probably thought it was a good opportunity to get back at us, but they must have had other goals as well!"

"That makes sense!" Tifa murmured, "If they were just looking for a place to level up, they wouldn't have so many people. Based on their team configuration, they must be going after a boss! So there's a boss nearby?!" Tifa's eyes lit up, and the others' eyes also lit up!

"Let's finish Shaman's three corners and find the boss!" Longya said eagerly.

"Let me do it myself, you guys go ahead and look. It's just three corners, I'll finish them quickly!" Lin Zheng said, as this would save time and avoid another PK if Pride Sword came back. Since Lin Zheng's high output was already known to Pride Sword, the next PK wouldn't be so easy, and the idea of using "Explosion" to wipe out a large group was out of the question. The others agreed with Lin Zheng and nodded, leaving him to kill lizards while they went to find the boss.

Less than 5 minutes after the others left, Lin Zheng had collected the three corners and joined the group in searching for the boss. Soon, they heard the Tyrant shouting in the team chat, "Found it! Come quick! This boss looks tough!"

Hearing the news, everyone's spirits were lifted, and they quickly opened the map to find the Tyrant's location. Lin Zheng was the last to arrive, and when he saw the boss the Tyrant had found, he couldn't help but wince! In front of them was a three-meter-tall tiger-headed humanoid, wearing a golden armor and wielding a massive double-bladed axe. Even the Tyrant, a large figure, looked like a child in comparison.

"Can't see the level! This boss must be at least level 22!" the Tyrant exclaimed. He was the highest level among them, level 16, with a detection limit of 5 levels above his own, indicating that the boss was indeed very high level. Hearing the Tyrant's words, Lin Zheng immediately took out the Black Raven Mask and put it on, then detected the boss.

Clear Wind Patrol: Level 25 Gold Boss, Physical Attack 658-825, Physical Defense 510, Magic Defense 450, Health 34000. Skills—Roar, Rampage. The ruler of Clear Wind Forest, its powerful might intimidates the surrounding area.

Damn! Lin Zheng winced and relayed the information to the group. Everyone was stunned! With an attack of up to 825, the Tyrant's health wouldn't last long, and with a physical defense of 510, only Lin Zheng could break through it. The magic defense was also high, so Longya wouldn't deal much damage. This boss was a super tough nut to crack for their small group!

To fight or not to fight? If they fight, how should they do it? As they were considering this, a battle sound came from not far away. They looked at each other, guessing that it was the Pride Sword group returning, as a boss was a rare find, and Pride Sword wouldn't give up easily.

"Let's hide and watch how the Pride Sword guys fight. If we get a chance, we can take advantage of the chaos!" Lin Zheng suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement, as they couldn't kill the boss anyway, and being the last to strike was a good strategy. They quickly hid in the nearby bushes and waited for the Pride Sword group to arrive. Soon, the Pride Sword group appeared in their field of view, and the number of people was significantly larger than before. If they got into a PK, it would be very dangerous!