I sprinted to Floating Ice City. There were many players teaming up outside the city. Seeing my red name, many gazes fell on me, some clearly malicious. So I revealed my name. As expected, the words “Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand” had a deterrent effect. The third-ranked expert of Floating Ice City’s Heavenly Ranking. Many people who had wanted to kill the red name shrank back.

I went to the stone bridge at the eastern gates of Floating Ice City. From a distance, Xu Yang and Murong Mingyue were waiting there. Xu Yang was still dressed in armor and holding a sword. Murong Mingyue had changed into a white robe and looked as pure as snow. However, the amused smile on her face and her astounding figure wasted this pure robe. People with clear sight could see that this woman was very strong and should not be provoked.

……

"Come here, Brother Broken Halberd!" Xu Yang came over with a smile.

I nodded slightly and said in a hoarse undead voice, "I have two fellows. Wait a few moments, they will come soon!"

"Good!"

Xu Yang's gaze swept across my equipment. He sighed. "Brother Broken Halberd, your chest armor... the light looks very unfamiliar? What grade is it? Definitely not Bronze or Steel, right?"

I smiled and said honestly, "Yes, Dark Steel–grade, Soul Turmoil Armor. 48 Defense, +11 Stamina. Not bad, right?"

Xu Yang nodded. "Haha, very impressive!"

I listed my items’ stats. This would arouse trust. The other party was Xu Yang, so I didn’t need to worry about his greed being aroused as well. He wasn’t that kind of person. In my memories, I only had two impressions of this honest big man. One was that he was an honest and forthright person. The second was that he was very loyal to He Yi. This was like me. Even until the end, he did not give up on He Yi and Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls.

At this time, Murong Mingyue walked over, and suddenly smiled mysteriously when she looked at me. She said coolly, "Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand, I heard that you fought the Domination Clan of the Gods of Destruction guild in Venomous Wasp Forest, right?"

I nodded and did not speak.

Murong Mingyue continued, "Ha, how did you have the courage to challenge five experts on the Heavenly Ranking alone?"

I smiled and said in a deep voice, "In reality, being enemies with the top-ranking experts of the Domination Clan doesn't just require courage.”

"Oh, what else is needed?" Murong Mingyue asked with a smile.

I thought for a moment and said, "Everyone… everyone has a reverse scale, a bottomline. The Domination Clan walked right over it. Even at the risk of death, I will slaughter them all.”

"Oh?"

Murong Mingyue giggled and did not pursue. She turned to her teammate and said, “Xu Yang, I remember that you had been spawncamped by Domination Clan a few days ago for an entire night. It could be said that Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand got revenge for you, right?”

Xu Yang laughed out loud. "Thank you, Brother Broken Halberd!"

I said directly, "That is not very sincere. I am one of the founders of the Bloody Mercenaries, and our aim is to make money. Rather than verbally thanking me, how about you toss me a gold coin?"

Murong Mingyue snorted in laughter, and took out a shiny gold coin. She said, "I’ll give, but are you willing to take?"

I reached out with my bone fingers, the gold coin landing in my bony palm. I smiled slightly. "If Beauty Murong is willing to give, of course I’m willing to take!"

Murong Mingyue stilled and looked dazedly at me. "I really do not understand you...”

I smiled. It was for the best that she didn’t. Else, there would be no place for me to hide.

I asked a thousand, ten thousand times in my mind: "Mingyue, He Yi... has boss joined the game?"

But I could not open my mouth. The trouble that would ensue if these words were uttered were too much for me to endure

Xu Yang suddenly said, "Mingyue, didn't Boss say that she'll be on today? When is she getting on?"

Murong Mingyue laughed softly. "Why are you in such a hurry? She has some meetings during the day. She probably will only have time to get on around 8 pm. She’s Level 0 and will be in the starting village. We have to go take her along when the time comes, and try to reach Level 10 to come to Floating Ice City!"

"Yes!"

Xu Yang put his sword on his shoulders and laughed. "I'm looking forward to it. Once Boss enters Heavenblessed, I’ll be as though I had gained a new spine, full of energy!”

Murong Mingyue's eyes darkened and she said with red eyes. "Pity that Lian Xing went overseas to study and Lu Chen... ahh, I hadn't thought that Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls would end up like this...”

As she spoke, Murong Mingyue glanced secretly at me.

I immediately turned around and looked at the water flowing below the stone bridge. I gritted my teeth. He Yi's smile in Spirit of Grief appeared in my mind as she said to the four of us, "Do you know why the guild is called the Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls? It means us having warrior’s soul, using our life to defend our dreams!”

Dreams and warrior’s soul...

The repeated bloodshed and slaughter. Xu Yang and I had fought at the frontlines for more than a year and did not fail the title of “warrior’s soul”. But our dreams were ultimately crushed by Martial God Candlelight Shadow

I clenched my fists and swore inside. Candlelight Shadow brought his Candle Dragon guild to Heavenblessed. Soon, I will return all the pain and suffering many times over!

……

A few minutes later, two people arrived. It was Du Thirteen and the red-named Gui Guzi.

Xu Yang was slightly shocked and said with a smile, "Is a red name the characteristic of the Bloody Mercenaries?"

Gui Guzi smiled darkly. "Giant, your flesh must be very hard, and difficult to chew...”

Xu Yang raised his sword. "I can only apologize for the texture!"

Du Thirteen and I laughed. Murong Mingyue said, "Let's focus on the matter at hand. Come, let us leave. The boss is in a small mountain pass in Frost Forest. Let’s get there before other people arrive!"

"Yes!"

Our group of five left Floating Ice City. Xu Yang said, "We have four offensive players. We should take a tactician along. Their Encourage and Iron Wall buffs would come in handy...”

I shook my head. "No need for that. 5% attack power is not necessary. We’ll just go and kill the boss!"

"Alright!"

We entered Frost Forest. This time, the five of us formed a team, and a relatively strong one. Gui Guzi had reached Level 30, and learned Undead Knight’s Level 30 skills. He should have become much stronger. Xu Yang was a violent warrior. Murong Mingyue’s equipment was pretty complete, so her healing output wouldn’t be bad.

As we neared the mountain pass, we saw some players leveling up nearby. Xu Yang grew anxious and shouted, “Let’s go, the boss is just ahead! Don’t let someone else steal it!”

I nodded and pulled out the Weeping Fire Blade with a clang. I sprinted with Gui Guzi and Du Thirteen following behind me in a triangle formation.

"We're here!"

Hidden between the trees was a boss monster holding a spear, his red eyes fixed on our party.

Xu Yang rejoiced. "Luckily, those people haven't found the boss. Otherwise, we would have failed the quest.”

I glanced at Gui Guzi and shouted, "Start!"

Gui Guzi quickly charged forward, stabbing three times at the tree monster with his spear!

157!

176!

159!

His actions erased more than five hundred of the boss's HP. Xu Yang's eyes were wide as he murmured, "What a strong guy, this Gui Guzi!"

This was Death Combo, a skill of Undead Knight. Three successive attacks, each attack equal to 50% ordinary damage. As the skill's rank increased, the damage would increase as well.

The tree monster was a kind of plant-based monster. It possessed a vine-like body. Its arms were powerful and it could launch an endless onslaught of vine spears. It was an extremely powerful long-range monster. Also, this boss was top among the monsters in the forest. Level 32. It could threaten the lives of players under Level 40 like us.

Du Thirteen also went forward with his weapon and used a Heavy Slash to take less than 200 HP of the boss. His strength was clearly far from Gui Guzi’s.

I arrived, my sword sweeping, feinting and attacking again. Green light wrapped around the sword hilt as the Slayer Slash crashed down!

MISS!

1500!

Murong Mingyue’s mouth gaped at the first attack missing. She clearly had not expected a Top 3 expert to miss an attack. As the second attack’s 1500 damage floated up, her mouth could no longer close. She clearly had not expected a human player to deal so much damage.

Xu Yang roared, colliding with the boss. The Warrior Level 30 skill, Assault, had a certain chance of stunning the opponent!

Xu Yang's attack coincidentally stunned the boss. Gui Guzi and I took the opportunity to attack. In less than half a minute, the boss had lost half of its HP.

Murong Mingyue continued to swing her staff, holy light washing over us, replenishing our HP to full. Long time no see, but Sister Mingyue was still full of milk to feed us!

We were very smooth in our slaughter. But just as it was about to die, a group of people appeared from the woods behind us!

"Them again!"

Gui Guzi gritted his teeth. The unwelcome guests were the people from the Shadow Clan, our old enemies!

Usually, Gui Guzi and I would not even care about such shrimps. But right now, we were killing a boss. If these people interrupted our rhythm, we may be the ones killed.

Murong Mingyue was extremely nervous and asked, "What to do?"

……

I pushed the tree monster away with a blow and said, "Little Gui, Thirteen, continue to kill the boss. Leave these people to me!"

"But there’s a dozen of them...” Gui Guzi hesitated. This guy was not worried about me. He saw potential for some PvP action, and his battle thirst couldn’t be contained.

I held the Weeping Fire Blade horizontally and headed toward the members of the Shadow Clan. Behind me, the Cyanfire Cloak flapped loudly. My features turned cold, like a god of death descending onto a mortal plane.

“Hmph, how about I show you why I’m unrivaled!”

I smiled dismissively and looked at the members of the Shadow Clan ahead.