The Winged Silver Dragon stared at me. “And how am I supposed to do that!?”
“Drink them, duh!” I answered.
And so the Winged Silver Dragon began drinking the sea water until there was a visible bulge where its stomach was. Meanwhile, I continued to stand beneath the sea water and watched Night Fury in case he tried something. It looked like he was simply going to wait until we resurfaced though, and to be honest, it was the best decision from his perspective. Although divine players could stay underwater for a very long time, one hour was our utmost limit[1]. Why would he fight me underwater when he could simply wait for me to resurface?
……
When the Winged Silver Dragon’s stomach had become as big as a massive balloon, I pointed to the sky and said, “You go first. I’ll cover you!”
The Winged Silver Dragon let out an audible groan but did as I said. It flapped its wings and burst out of the sea surface like a submarine!
I wasn’t just paying lip service when I said I would cover for the Winged Silver Dragon. It was strong, but there was no way in hell it was a match for an Ancient Divine Rank boss. In terms of power level, Night Fury wasn’t actually too far behind Lin Na himself. He just had a weakness that Lin Na didn’t have.
I sheathed my sword and gathered my Asura God divine energy with both hands. Then, I pushed downward while yelling, “Rise of the Guardian Dragon!”
Countless sealed, roaring dragons burst into the sky within a hundred yards of me, carrying countless blood-colored sea water with them. They looked like many hurricanes sucking the sea water into themselves. I knew that Night Fury might move too fast for the Winged Silver Dragon to hit it, so the only other surefire alternative I could think of was Rise of the Guardian Dragon!
While the draconic spell was ravaging the sea surface, I burst out of the water, unsheathed the Xuanyuan Sword and charged straight toward Night Fury!
Boom boom boom…
The skill was hitting Night Fury and drenching him in sea water. The water was completely harmless to the rest of us, but it caused Night Fury’s armor and body to smoke like he was drenched in acid! That’s right! Despite being the guardian of the Blood Sea, he was actually afraid of the Blood Sea itself!
Beep!
Combat Log: Affected by the spiritual energy of the Blood Sea, Night Fury’s Attack has been reduced by 35%, and movement speed by 50% for 180 seconds!
……
Perfect! His Attack and movement speed were exactly what I was afraid of! He wasn’t exactly defanged yet, but now it was actually possible for me to kick his ass!
Swhoosh!
I stabbed Night Fury through the chest and injected him with Purple Frost Concentration, lowering his Defense by 19.7%. Then, I turned my blade and cast Burning Blade Slash right inside his body—
481,812!
542,485!
712,164!
I wasn’t done yet! As I cast Universe Break, the septuple-damage effect of my Xuanyuan Sword triggered and sent him sailing across the air!
5,425,868!
Finally, the Winged Silver Dragon opened its mouth and bit the boss in the arm. At the same time, it vomited some seawater and prolonged the boss’s period of weakness even more.
……
“You dare, you insolent fools!”
Night Fury roared in fury before punching the Winged Silver Dragon hard in the skull. The blow nearly shattered the poor dragon’s skull, spilling its blood and causing it to back away with a painful scream. There was no helping it. Even in his weakened state, Night Fury was still way stronger than the Winged Silver Dragon.
After knocking back the Winged Silver Dragon in one hit, Night Fury immediately turned around, wreathed his sword in some sort of bloody energy, and struck the Dihai Shield 3 times in a row. Even after his Attack was lowered by 35%, he still hit like a truck and deleted nearly 4 million HP in a flash. I had no choice but to activate the Dihai Shield’s Fire God Barrier and Rising Cloud’s Profound Armor to tank them. For a short moment at least, he wouldn’t be able to one-shot me.
Swhoosh!
After the Ancient Seal exploded midair and dealt around 1 million damage to the boss, I sliced away with the Xuanyuan Sword until my HP had returned to 70% or so. My increased Defense ensured that the HP I absorbed was higher than the damage I received. Another Rank 14 Health Potion later, I quickly returned to full health. Thanks to my many HP restoration skills and potions, I was able to hold my ground and chip away at the boss’s health bar little by little. Ten minutes later, Night Fury had lost nearly 15% of his HP, while I remained comfortably above the 70% mark.
It was such an incredible feat that even Uldan was saying, “This sea water truly is the bane of this Night Fury. Keep it up. If we can eliminate this devil, our chances of finding Xinran in the Banished Lands will be so much higher…”
I nodded and opened my palm. I summoned a pillar of water from the sea, held it in my palm, and punched Night Fury right on the cheek, extending his weakened period some more. I couldn’t allow the weakness to wear off, or I would be the one who died here.
I disarmed his weapon with Flying Dragon Hand. Then, it was back to more fighting.
……
Everything was progressing exactly as I had planned. Although Night Fury was an Ancient Divine Rank boss and way stronger than either Coldblade or Dihai, the sea water of the Blood Sea was his fatal weakness. That was enough to tip the scales in my favor.
Over an hour later, Night Fury only had less than 10% HP left, and I had to pour a Magic Repair Oil over my weapon to restore its durability. His face looked even uglier than before because the seawater had burned away so much of his flesh and skin that his bones were peeking out from beneath. Suddenly, he said angrily and frustratedly, “Follow me if you dare, boy! I will teach you the pain of defeat!”
Swhoosh!
He abruptly flew away like a black lightning bolt.
My eyes narrowed as I gave chase. Three minutes of flight later, the sea water gave way to land, and Night Fury floated above it with an evil smile on his face. Dammit, the boss was more cunning than I thought. It was trying to trick me to leave the sea and kill me on land.
I wasn’t going to do that, of course. I needed to stay alive and save Xinran!
I withdrew back to the sea surface. For a time, neither of us could do anything against one another.
……
I checked the time. It was past 11 pm, and my body wouldn’t allow me to drag out this stalemate any longer. So, I took out my tent, set it up as close to the sea as I could manage, and logged out. Not even a boss could do anything against me if I was offline. Uldan and even the shameless Winged Silver Dragon had squeezed into my tent to hide from the boss as well.
I summoned the system fairy and logged out of the game.
Swhoosh!
My vision darkened, and I took off my gaming helmet. I walked out of the room and saw a couple of dishes on the dining table. He Yi had left them behind for me. After I warmed them and finished dinner, I went to check out the girls only to discover that they were all sound asleep already. After I entered He Yi’s room and gave her a kiss, I returned to my room and went to bed as well. I thought I could figure out how to defeat Night Fury tomorrow.
……
The next day early in the morning, I returned to the game after I finished breakfast with the girls.
When I went back online though, I discovered that Night Fury was no longer around the Blood Sea. I had no choice but to venture deeper into the Banished Lands even though the threat wasn’t eliminated yet.
We arrived at a Gobi desert that was infested by a kind of Level 340 deity-rank mobs called Imps. There was nothing worth mentioning about them except that they gave a ton of experience. I spent the whole day grinding Imps.
On the fifth day, while we were searching around the edges of the Sea of Death, we took out two Ancient Immortal Rank Sirens, conquered their palace, and took out all the threats in the area. However, we still found no sign of Xinran anywhere.
On the sixth day, we entered a place called the Devil God Cave, and I had to stay online for 24 hours straight to clear it completely. In the end, I was able to defeat a Quasi-Divine Rank Devil God[2] and got two pieces of Ancient Immortal-grade equipment for my efforts. I also took out all of his lackeys and increased my experience to Level 270, 21%. Xinran was still nowhere to be seen though.
On the seventh day, we exited the Devil God Cave and went to the Lionheart Coast and fought the devilized Ancient Lion Devils. Once again, we were able to defeat the Lion Devil King and clear the entire map. However, I was growing despondent because Xinran was still nowhere to be found. I even spent nearly an hour just sitting by the seashore and collecting myself before venturing toward a new map once more. I was growing lost, to be honest. Where on earth was Xinran?
……
Past 9 pm on the seventh day, at a certain coffee shop.
“Du du du…”
My phone suddenly rang, and Lin Yixin immediately shot away from my chest. She looked around nervously while saying, “Sister Eve didn’t find us out, did she?’
I laughed. “What are you even talking about? I’m just eating dinner with you, not to mention that she has known about our relationship since forever.”
“Who is the caller then?”
“I don’t know…”
I took out my phone and glanced at the screen. The phone number belonged to Tang Feng. Was it about what we discussed last time…?
I was right. The moment I connected the call, he skipped the greetings and started talking. “Lu Chen, remember what we talked about last time? I’ve already booked an 8 am high-speed rail ticket to Beijing for you. I’ll send someone to receive you when you get there.”
I asked, “What is this matter really about, Chief Tang? Can’t you tell me anything at all?”
Tang Feng fell silent for a moment before answering, “I know what you’re doing as of late…”
I was confused. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve been fighting in the Purgatory alone and facing life-or-death battles for an entire week just to find a virtual person, right?”
“Mn!”
Tang Feng hummed for a moment before saying, “Let’s just say that this NPC of yours is extremely important to the entire framework of the game. We have encountered a technical problem in our attempt to repair her data, which is why we need you to come to Beijing and speak with us face-to-face.”
He then added, “The severity and secrecy of this matter is S class, so again, you mustn’t tell anyone about your visit to Beijing.”
I told him directly, “Yeah, uhh, Lin Yixin already knows about it. She’s here now too.”
Tang Feng replied in an exasperated voice, “I guess it’s fine if it’s just her. She is the guild leader of Snowy Cathaya, and she understands her position well. I’m sure she can keep a secret.”
I added, “Actually, He Yi knows about this too…”
“She’s fine as well. Why don’t you save me the pain and just tell me everyone who knows about this in one go?”
“Nah, it’s just the two of them. Are you planning to silence them or something?”
“Haha! What are you talking about? That being said, I would ask you to bring them to Beijing with you. Just treat it as a vacation or something.”
“Are you serious? Beijing’s transport is utter shit, and there are so many tourists on the Great Wall I’m surprised people don’t fall off daily. It’s also plagued with foreign visits, leader inspections, traffic control and more. Who would ever want to go to Beijing for a vacation?”
Tang Feng finally couldn’t take it any longer and slammed the table. “Would it kill you not to contradict me, you brat? Anyway, just get your ass over to Beijing tomorrow! Whether you want to bring your girls with you is your choice, but I’m not going to book their tickets for you! I’ve given your number to the person who’ll receive you, so see you tomorrow!”
That was the end of the phone call.
……
I stayed silent for a moment before putting down my phone. “Pooh, chief of the VR department my ass, he can’t even take a bit of ribbing…”
Lin Yixin shook her head beside me. “I’ll book the ticket tonight and come with you. You should head back soon and prepare your luggage as well. Who knows, we may have to stay there longer than expected…”
I put a comforting arm across her shoulders and said, “It’s fine, let’s just treat it as a tour around the capital…”
Lin Yixin rolled her eyes at me and said, “Don’t make me roast you…”
Me: “…”
1. T/N: you can cleave a mountain but you can’t stay underwater for more than an hour? The power level’s all over the place… ☜
2. T/N: the raw says miniboss, but that makes no sense so I just assume that the author left out a word because he typed too fast or something ☜
