Chapter 168
Chapter 168
Zhou Ming followed her gesture and saw a strange beast slaughtering the villagers.
Within the ramshackle village, the beast’s body was enormous and serpentine, resembling a colossal mountain range. It had eight heads and eight tails, dragon-like faces, bloodred eyes, and a back covered in moss and trees. Its appearance was horrifying beyond words.
At that moment, its eight heads were massacring the village at will, leaving pools of blood across the ground.
[Yamata no Orochi] (God-Tier Boss)
Level: ???
HP: ???
Attack: ???
Defense: ???
Skills: ???
Description: A super beast of the Sakura Region. It is savage by nature and enjoys eating humans, but its overwhelming strength makes even the Sakura Region’s god-tier powerhouses reluctant to provoke it, leaving them no choice but to tolerate its rampages.
…
Zhou Ming was slightly surprised.
He had heard the beast’s name before. It was a creature from the Sakura Region’s mythology.
Ding!
[System Notification: Congratulations! You have triggered the emergency quest [Act of Chivalry] (Difficulty: C)!]
[Act of Chivalry] (Difficulty: C)
Description: When a terrifying beast is eating people, how could a brave adventurer not step forward and fill its belly?
Quest Objective: Use every means available to stop Yamata no Orochi.
Quest Reward: Fame +5,000
Failure Penalty: None
…
Emergency quests were not uncommon in the game.
However, this should have been an ultra-difficult quest that players only encountered in the late game. Most likely, they were expected only to stop the beast, not kill it.
Clang!
Seeing innocent civilians suffer, Cangxuan and Ye Zhibei’s faces turned cold. They drew their swords in unison and charged straight in.
Some strange beasts were good and others evil. Yamata no Orochi belonged firmly to the latter group.
“Who are you? How dare you come here to die!” Yamata no Orochi spoke in a human tongue. Crimson tongues flicked from all eight heads as each unleashed an attack of a different element.
“The ones who will take your life!”
Both Sword Saints were peak powerhouses. Every casual strike tore through Yamata no Orochi’s defenses and ripped open its flesh.
Boom, boom, boom…
Icy sword intent surged into the heavens.
Qianying, Renee, and the others did not join the attack. Instead, they guarded the perimeter, rescuing villagers to keep them from being caught in the battle while preventing Yamata no Orochi from escaping.
“Where did you monsters come from?!”
Unable to withstand the two men’s combined assault, Yamata no Orochi felt utterly aggrieved.
It had merely come out to feed and had always run rampant throughout the Sakura Region. Never had it imagined it would encounter human monsters like these.
This ambush had come far too suddenly!
Knowing that further delay would mean certain death, Yamata no Orochi opened its mouths and released a highly lethal rainbow-colored poison mist, forcing everyone to retreat.
Ding!
[System Notification: Yamata no Orochi has used [Forbidden ยท Poison Dominion], releasing a poison mist that spreads across a 1,000 x 1,000 area. Enemy units within the mist receive damage equal to 500% of its Attack per second for 2 minutes and have a high chance of suffering Weakness, Stun, Coma, and other status effects!]
“What a terrifying Poison Dominion!” Zhou Ming’s heart tightened.
The ultimate moves of god-tier powerhouses always defied imagination. Yamata no Orochi’s forbidden spell could deal up to 60,000% damage to nearby units!
Of course, that was only the theoretical maximum. No sane person would remain inside the poison mist and fight it to the death.
Two minutes later, the poison mist dispersed. Yamata no Orochi had used some unknown method to vanish without a trace.
Ding!
[System Notification: Congratulations! You have completed the emergency quest [Act of Chivalry] and received the reward: Fame +5,000!]
“It escaped?”
Cangxuan frowned deeply, thoroughly dissatisfied with his performance.
In his view, allowing such a beast to remain alive would only lead to more innocent victims.
“It won’t get away!”
Zhou Ming took the Heavenly Secrets Compass from his inventory and tossed it to Cangxuan.
“Thank you!”
Cangxuan made his decision at once and activated the Heavenly Secrets Compass without hesitation, only to be bitterly disappointed by the result.
Ding!
[System Notification: This unit is currently undetectable. The item you consumed has been returned!]
“Undetectable…”
Yun Wuyou looked surprised. “Why would that be?”
“I sensed a faint spatial fluctuation. It must be hiding within some special space to protect itself,” Qianying explained.
“What a shame!”
Zhou Ming found that deeply regrettable.
He had naturally hoped Cangxuan could kill Yamata no Orochi and recover the levels he had lost.
After bidding farewell to the endlessly grateful villagers, Zhou Ming made his way to the summit of Undying Mountain.
Hum!
At the edge of the crater, the creature inside the Crimsonflame Sacred Dragon Egg struggled as though trying to break free of its shell.
Swish, swish, swish!
Dense fire-element energy overflowed from the boiling magma and was slowly absorbed by the yet-unhatched Crimsonflame Sacred Dragon.
Ding!
[System Notification: Your item [Crimsonflame Sacred Dragon Egg] is absorbing fire-element essence and has entered the incubation stage. Current Progress: 0.01%… 0.02%…]
The progress was crawling!
“It’ll take at least three days!”
After roughly estimating how long each 0.01% increase took, Zhou Ming made his judgment. “Renee, I’ll have to trouble you to stay here and guard it. If anyone comes to cause trouble, protect the dragon egg and make enough noise to alert us. We’ll still be in the Sakura Region, so help will arrive quickly!”
“I’ll set up an array to conceal it, just in case!” Qianying raised a hand and constructed a special illusion array, preventing outsiders from spying on the area.
Caution was the parent of safety!
After finally finding a way home, Qianying did not want another accident to occur along the way.
“All right!”
Renee agreed readily. “The rocks around here look pretty good too. I’ll find myself something to eat.”
“Don’t fall asleep.”
“Tch. What do you take me for? I’m wide awake!”
…
After giving their instructions, the others prepared to set out again.
“Hiss, hiss!”
Suddenly, a fire-patterned python crept closer.
“Watch out for the python!” warned Yun Wuyou, the Windshadow Rogue who specialized in scouting.
No one was releasing the pressure of a god-tier powerhouse at the moment, so wild creatures with limited intelligence had no idea what they were provoking.
Whoosh!
Realizing it had been spotted, the fire-patterned python shot toward Zhou Ming like an arrow from a bow. Its maw opened wide as it tried to take a vicious bite.
“Courting death!”
Zhou Ming gathered the power of Heavenrend along Ask the Heavens’s edge and casually swung downward, splitting its body from head to tail.
Ding!
[System Notification: You have used [Heavenrend], dealing 10,523,648 critical damage to [Crimsonfire Python King]. Because the target is already dead, Suppression cannot be inflicted!]
Damn!
The instant Zhou Ming saw the damage number, his heart trembled with barely concealed delight.
Finally!
Now that he wielded a Sacred Weapon, he finally had the kind of damage numbers worthy of a powerhouse!
However, the system chimes were not over yet.
Ding!
[System Notification: Congratulations! You have successfully killed [Crimsonfire Python King] (War Soul-Grade Boss) and received the following rewards: Current Level EXP +103.82%, Gold Coins +20, Fame +200!]
Zhou Ming: “…”
A War Soul-grade boss had died to a single swing of his sword?
There had truly been no warning at all!
Ding!
[System Notification: Congratulations! You have successfully killed the War Soul-grade boss [Crimsonfire Python King]. As the first player in the game to defeat a War Soul-grade boss, you have received the following additional rewards: …]
…