"So this thing drops the Windchaser set piece too…"
Lian Xin saiid while staring at the Bloodblade Ghost General"s body, "From what I read, miniboss NPCs usually aren"t unique. Should we try searching the area for more Bloodblade Ghost Generals? If possible, I would like Beiming to complete her Windchaser set first and increase our party"s DPS before we tackle the Dharan City ruins. I can already see her dealing over 100k damage to a boss with a single Freezing Arrow!"
Lin Yixin voiced her agreement. "Sounds doable. We have to pa.s.s through this field to get to the Dharan City ruins anyway, not to mention that the Bloodblade Ghost Generals give a lot of experience. Since we cleared out all the Spirit Valley Corpse Eaters already, we might as well grind these minibosses instead."
"Yeah. Let"s search around then!"
"Okay!"
……
We roamed the fields for a bit, and in less than five minutes, we found another wandering Bloodblade Ghost General on the other side of the valley. Long story short, it took us less than five minutes to take out the Level 205 Immortal Rank miniboss. Unfortunately, it only dropped two Earth-grade items this time. It looked like the drop rate of a miniboss was much lousier than a proper boss"s, and it took a lot of luck to drop a super-tier piece of equipment like the Windchaser set piece.
Thankfully Lady Luck did hear our prayers, and after an hour of searching and 7 kills later, we got the pair of leather legguards from the seventh Bloodblade Ghost Generals. They were none other than the Windchaser Legguards!
"Put them on, Beiming…" Lin Yixin threw the legguards into Beiming Xue"s hands with a smile.
Beiming Xue now had 4 pieces of the Windchaser set in total. When the dark archer equipped the legguards, she suddenly s.h.i.+vered and stared blankly at the s.p.a.ce in front of her.
"What"s wrong?" I asked.
"Big bro…"
Beiming Xue looked up and blinked once. "I just received a notice that the Windchaser equipment set is bound to me. It"s because I"ve gathered four out of five pieces. The fifth and last piece of the Windchaser equipment set, the Windchaser Helmet, can only drop from an Immortal Rank boss or above with a success rate of 25%. Also, this equipment set is literally one and only in all the servers!"
I exclaimed in pleasant surprise, "The one and only equipment set in the entire server? That"s amazing. That being said, I suppose I shouldn"t be surprised. This is a Heaven-grade equipment set after all. Congratulations, Beiming!"
Lin Yixin chuckled. "Well, let"s continue. I"m sure there are more Immortal Rank bosses up ahead, and with Lu Chen"s Luck stat, a 25% drop rate is more like 50%, or even more. It"s only a matter of time until we gather a full set!"
Beiming Xue nodded repeatedly. "Mn mn! Let"s go already! It would suck if someone got ahead of us…"
"Relax, we are in the heart of b.l.o.o.d.y s.h.i.+eld Domain. I doubt there"s any other player besides us…"
"True."
We continued forward with me acting as the point and Lin Yixin, the bodyguard. Lin Yixin"s silver cloak flapped behind her back as she rode the Moonchaser Tiger. Sword hanging low around her waist but not forgotten, she kept a constant eye on her surroundings and made sure that no threat could reach our three fragile backliners. The girls must feel like they were the most important VIPs in the world right now. After all, the Fruit Knife G.o.ddess herself was acting as their bodyguard, a privilege that only a handful in the entire world enjoyed. With her around, their protection was even better than a condom, I would say..
……
Not long after we departed, a system announcement suddenly rang across b.l.o.o.d.y s.h.i.+eld Domain—
Ding~!
System Announcement: Player "Ye Yuse (Sky City)" has successfully defeated the Immortal Rank Boss, Black Ball Wanderer, and met the requirement to learn Great Earth Transformation! They have become the seventh Divine General of China! They have gained 200/200 Divine Energy Points, Luck +2, Tactics +5, and an exclusive Divine General Skill, "Nether Curse"!
Nether Curse: Beseech the power of the Ghost G.o.d and curse all enemies within a 50x50 yard area. 25% chance to inflict Petrify, Confusion, Drunk, Stunned, Blind and other random CC status effects to all targets inside. Each use of the skill costs 10 Divine Energy Points. Skill exclusive to Ye Yuse.
……
"Another Divine General!?"
I stared incredulously at the sky as I said, "Nether Curse? It"s a very impressive skill for sure! Who is this Ye Yuse to learn such a powerful skill? Sis, can you contact her and see if she"s interested in joining Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls?"
"Of course!" Murong Mingyue nodded and went to work right away. As of now, she was still the vice leader of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls and one of the best priests in the entire China server. She was also a gorgeous beauty, which meant that her seduction—I meant recruitment skills—would always be better than mine.
However, Lin Yixin shook her head and said, "There"s no need, Sister Mingyue."
"What do you mean?" Murong Mingyue asked in surprise.
The Fruit Knife G.o.ddess looked to the distance and said, "I just investigated this Ye Yuse"s background. She was a player of Candle Dragon"s 23rd subguild until 10 seconds ago. After the announcement, Candlelight Shadow immediately moved her to the main guild and asked G.o.d"s Dance to surrender her position. Now, Ye Yuse is the new vice leader of Candle Dragon. Do you think you can persuade the vice leader of an enemy guild to switch sides?"
Murong Mingyue chuckled in resignation. "It"s pretty unlikely."
Lin Yixin nodded and added, "It looks like Candle Dragon"s fate hasn"t run out yet. The addition of a new Divine General is definitely going to bolster their strength…"
I searched Ye Yuse on the database and found an answer in no time. Ye Yuse was a Level 167 Charm Master—a hidden cla.s.s—and her Famous General Skill was Bow General. Her hidden cla.s.s was probably the reason she was able to trigger the unique Divine General Skill that was Nether Curse. Not only that, Ye Yuse was ranked 11th in the champion arena, a master of 1v1 fights. This wasn"t good news for our guild for sure.
"It looks like our next territory battle just grew harder!" I laughed.
Lin Yixin broke into a smile as she asked, "What"s wrong? Are you feeling pressured already? Rumor says that Ye Yuse is a beautiful woman, you know. Does that intimidate you?"
I raised my sword and declared confidently, "Hmph, of course not! Divine General or not, any Candle Dragon player who stands in my way will die!"
Murong Mingyue curled her lips as she teased me, "Yes, yes, you arrogant, stupid but cute fool~~~"
Beiming Xue and Lian Xin burst into giggles when they heard that.
……
Unfortunately, it looked like we had killed every single Bloodblade Ghost General on the field, so we had no choice but to graduate from the fields. There would be more mobs, minibosses and even bosses to kill on the road, not to mention that Ovia the b.l.o.o.d.y Finger was a Sovereign-level boss. He would surely have a ton of lackeys for us to kill.
The next area was a wasteland, and we spotted several sets of dragon bones lying on the ground. The place was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with phosph.o.r.escence and ghastly howls, the surrounding air growing colder as one walked deeper in, both in the literal and metaphorical sense. Soon, even the background music itself was changed into one that would fit a horror movie perfectly. The girls started looking around nervously as if afraid that a ghost would get the drop on them.
"This place sure is eerie as h.e.l.l," I started.
"Mn." Lian Xin and Beiming Xue immediately nodded in agreement.
I continued, "So, does anyone want to sing a song and liven up the atmosphere a little?"
Beiming Xue offered, "I"ll do it!"
"Okay. What would you like to sing?"
"There"s a popular song t.i.tled "Mini Skirt" lately. Is that fine?"
It was, uhh, a bold choice, let"s put it that way. "S-sure…"
Beiming walked next to me and cleared her throat. Then, she started singing in a sweet and clear voice—
The spring rain falls, I woke up in the morning
I still remember, your mini skirt
Dancing in the wind, we walk together
And all I wanted to do, was to flip your mini skirt
Flowers bloom in my dream, but I know not your heart
The sheets are white, someone is moaning
It is you and my voice, swaying in the wind
The ears of the mini skirt listen only for you
Oh my hesitant brother, how shall I figure out your heart
Do you really know, that I am waiting to drop my mini skirt, for you
……
The song ended, and no one said a thing for a very, very long time.
Beiming Xue shook my hand back and forth. "Well, big bro? Did I sing well?"
I replied expressionlessly, "It"s pretty good. You still need to work on your voice though. Keep up the hard work."
"I will!" Beiming Xue beamed.
To say that words failed to describe our current feelings would be the understatement of the century. Lin Yixin even looked at me and commented, "She truly is your dear sister…"
I wanted to cry. "What am I supposed to do??"
Thankfully, an interruption just in time to break the awkward moment. Lian Xin pointed to the distance and shouted, "Look, what is that?!"
A b.u.mp was slowly rising from the soft ground beneath a pale dragon bone. It looked like a mature carrot that was being pulled out of the ground. Clearly, a mob was hiding in that spot!
Bang!
There was a loud bang as a dark red object burst out of the ground. It was long and thin, and it floated in the air like a ghost.
"What the f.u.c.k is that!?" I exclaimed in astonishment as I grabbed the handle of my sword.
"It"s an iron stick!" Beiming Xue declared confidently.
But Lin Yixin shook her head and said, "I don"t think so…"
It was at this moment the "iron stick" spread out like an umbrella. However, the rib of the "umbrella" was craggy and made of some sort of bony substance. Its shaft reminded me of a rifle"s barrel. A b.l.o.o.d.y glow surrounded it as it slowly rotated on its own.
I gazed at the mob with Dark Pupils and captured its stats screen—
Ghost Chariot (Dread)
Level: 210
Attack: 10500~12300
Defense: 12000
HP: 1,000,000
Property: Undead Control. Ignores 15% of target"s Defense.
Property: Lifesteal. Absorbs 5% of damage dealt as HP.
Skills: Undead Stab, Double Hit, Ghost Chariot Slash
Introduction: Ghost Chariot is a strange creature of unknown origin that is commonly found in the land of the dead. Some say that it is the blessed child of the Spirit Realm, and some said that it is the emissary of the dead that walks between the worlds. But one thing is certain, no one who encountered a Ghost Chariot has ever lived to tell the tale. It is why paintings of this creature are drawn and spread by undead mages, not humans. It is said that Ghost Chariots reside within the burial grounds of dragons, and those that have absorbed the energy of the undead dragons are even stronger than normal. Moreover, these violent-natured creatures possess incredibly explosive power, and they will kill anyone who invades their domain.
……
Dark Pupils could even identify the specific characteristics of its skills. After I shared it in the party channel, I said, "Be careful, everyone. This is not a dread-rank mob we can afford to underestimate. Undead Stab is an armor penetration skill, so it deals 100% extra damage to leather armor and cloth armor cla.s.ses. The second hit of Double Hit is 50% stronger than its first hit. Ghost Chariot Slash is an AoE attack that hits everything within a 5-yard area and ignores 35% of the target"s Defense. Adding that to its property, Undead Control, that"s a total of 50% Defense ignored, so seriously, be careful. Sis, keep a close eye on Yiyi and my health bar, please. I don"t want to die here."
Murong Mingyue nodded. "Got it!"
Meanwhile, Lin Yixin murmured to herself as she stared at the Ghost Chariot, "Ohh, who would"ve thought that a little red umbrella would be this powerful. How scary…"