Mountain Guardian was a Level 285 Ancient Immortal Rank boss. It was the gate guardian of Dragon Domain during the Spirit of Grief Era, but after Dragon Domain fell during the great war of gods of devils, its soul was captured by the Purgatory Ruler. Feeling that it would be a waste to just kill it, Lin Na revived and refined its soul into an evil spirit. After that, he left Mountain Guardian behind to continue guarding Dragon Domain. Therefore, it would be apt to say that the one-eyed monster in front of us was a creation of Lin Na.

Pa pa pa...

While backing away quickly, I shouted, "It’s a Level 285 Ancient Immortal Rank boss, so don’t be careless! Summon all your pets and prepare for battle! Its stats are hidden even from my Dark Pupils, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that it has super high Attack! Why? Because it only has one eye just like Xiahou Dun! The one who screamed ‘I cannot waste my parents’ flesh and blood’ before swallowing his own eyeball and so on and so on…"

He Yi snarked as she rushed past me, "You’re the one who should be getting serious! Hit it with God Binding Art and see if it sticks!"

"Okay!"

I waved my arm at the boss and hoped for the best, but it resulted in a miss just like I thought it might. Mountain Guardian was almost 60 levels higher than me, so not even my new status as a Heavenly River Realm player was enough to make it work.

I dropped two Icy Cyclone Domains on the boss and prepared to fight within the zone. Then, I used Thunderous Charge on the boss!

Both my sword and I slammed against Mountain Guardian’s leg with lightning speed, but the bastard only shivered a little from the impact. He looked down on me and curled his lips into a savage grin. "The price of intrusion is death, boy!"

He brought his scythe down on my Dragon God Shield. His height and Strength advantage were so big that my feet actually sank an inch or two into the ground as I took 390765 damage. As expected of a Level 285 Ancient Immortal Rank boss, its Attack was leagues above the likes of the Two-headed Ice-and-Fire Hydra.

I activated Ghost Spirit Step Art so that most of the bosses’ attacks would miss me. At the same time, I stabbed the Chill of the Nine Provinces into Mountain Guardian’s leg and used Purple Frost Concentration, greatly lowering its Defense. Finally, I used Burning Blade Slash and dealt massive damage to it—

280877!

349772!

398164!

……

Mountain Guardian let out a scream of pain before raising its two scythes. Spinning around rapidly, it roared, "Those who’ll stand in Lord Lin Na’s way must die!"

The wind started spinning into a hurricane. I recognized this skill. It was High Fighting Spirits and Li Chengfeng’s Whirlwind Slash!

Whoosh!

Mountain Guardian spun surprisingly quick for someone its size. It struck my Dragon God Shield three times in a row and even landed a critical hit—

318287!

290388!

712662!

It was terrible. Not only did my HP drop to 25% in an instant, Whirlwind Slash dealt damage along a single line. What this meant was that both Lin Yixin and He Yi ate two hits and dropped to half health as well.

"Stop him!"

My shout just barely escaped my lips when He Yi’s pet, the Snake King Little Qing rushed forward and zigzagged between Mountain Guardian’s huge legs. She just barely managed to regain the aggro with Barrier Break and Charge.

While He Yi had the aggro, I used Tenacity of the Dead to restore my HP by 25% and chugged down a healing potion. Then, I scored a Universe Break + Pardon + basic attack combo on Mountain Guardian’s back—

476266!

MISS!

398872!

Finally, the boss's aggro was directed back at me. I used Battle Astral Wind in the meantime so I could tank a couple more hits.

"Pool of Life!"

I shouted to Murong Mingyue. The healer complied and cast multiple AoE heals on us while Beiming Xue hit the boss repeatedly with Freezing Arrows and Evil Spirit Volleys. The real MVP of this boss fight was Lian Xin, however. She both used Origin Force Fields to limit the boss's range of movement and damaged it with Touch of the Dragonkiss + Ice Spiral Matrix combo. Thanks to all the CC skills, the boss's mobility was greatly limited, and the three of us were just barely able to survive its attack.

I barely kept my HP around the 50% line as I and the Phantom Wolf King tanked the boss's attacks and body-blocked them. My apparition wasn’t going to survive more than a hit or two from the boss, so I made it attack the boss with Dragon Slaying Slash, Myriad Swords Obliteration, Summon the Storm and more ranged skills instead. I didn’t try to use Rise of the Guardian Dragon, however. For starters, it cost 1000 RMB per use. I wasn’t willing to spend the money unless it was a Nation War or a large-scale battle where I could kill many opponents at once. Also, if I went through my skills too rapidly, I would consume MP faster than I could recover it.

……

"Jie jie, you lowly humans think you can stop Lord Lin Na from conquering the continent? You are courting death!"

He swung his twin scythes again and sent both He Yi and Lin Yixin flying. I had no choice but to tank all the attacks myself, but its attack rate was even more rapid than I had expected. It had unleashed Death Strike, Whirlwind Slash, and two basic attacks in quick succession, crushed my Battle Astral Wind and dropped my HP from 80% all the way down to 15%. What a monster!

Things were getting dangerous, so I decided to risk a Cold of the Nine Provinces. Despite the odds, the skill successfully took effect and temporarily froze the boss in its tracks. I immediately used with the positive skill of the Xuanyuan Art and healed everyone for 50% HP—

+1002768!

+872665!

+775662!

I had the highest HP out of everyone in the party, followed by He Yi and Lin Yixin. That didn’t mean Lin Yixin was fragile by any means, however. Despite her class, there were only a handful of players who had more HP than the Fruit Knife Goddess. Her equipment was a product of her blood, sweat and tears and not money after all. A P2W player might be able to make it to the super tier, but they would never be able to reach the apex. After all, only the best players could grind the best equipment, and they wouldn’t sell them unless they had a very good reason to do so. Moreover, why sell a Divine or a Sacred Armament to an outsider when you could use it yourself or share it with those you could call brothers and sisters?

Crack!

The scythes glowed red, signifying that the boss was using a skill yet again. After killing He Yi’s Snake King Little Qing in one hit, it bent backward almost as if it was about to fall, pulled back its right scythe as far as it could, and sent it flying toward the Ice Dragon Kris!

BANG!

The spinning blade struck the pet like a bomb, stifling its dragon breath and dealing an insane 1.27 million damage to it. It was lucky to have survived with less than 10% HP. It wouldn’t be able to fight for a short time.

"OMG, this boss's physical attack is just too much!" Beiming Xue exclaimed in a dumbfounded tone.

Lian Xin cast Ice Spiral Matrix while teasing, "But of course! It’s a Level 285 Ancient Immortal Rank boss with higher Attack than even big brother Lu Chen! It can probably one-shot you with a single basic attack…"

Beiming Xue shot right back. "Oh yeah? If the boss knows Barrier Break, you won’t survive even if you have two lives…"

Lian Xin: "..."

……

I kept running after the boss's butt and thwacking it with my sword while shouting, "It’s too hard to face-tank this boss, so we’re going to kite it from start until the end! Yiyi, do your best to body-block it while Lian Xin, Beiming Xue and I attack it from three different directions. Make sure you keep a close eye on the aggro transfer, and Eve, use Godslaying Blade to recapture the aggro if necessary!"

It was definitely very difficult to fight the boss head-on. It could instakill even me if it managed to land a couple of lucky crits, much less He Yi or Lin Yixin. Moreover, neither my Xuanyuan Art nor Beiming Xue’s Xuanming Flame could remove 50% of the Ancient Immortal Rank boss's health. It would either remove less than the promised percentage of HP or most likely, miss completely. As a general rule of thumb, bosses usually possessed the resistance to ignore OP skills such as Candlelight Shadow’s Ghost God Prophecy.

Boom boom boom...

Mountain Guardian ran back and forth in a 100-yard-side triangle we created like a moving hill. For now at least, Lian Xin, Beiming Xue and I were able to manage the threat perfectly. Lin Yixin’s perfect body-blocking also drastically widened our margin for error.

Before we knew it, 20 minutes had passed since the start of the boss fight, and Mountain Guardian only had 11% HP left. He should be dying very, very soon.

I fired Coiling Dragon Revolution that pierced right through the boss's abdomen before spinning back to me. Then, I made a hand seal and dropped Myriad Swords Obliteration on its head. I shouted some words of encouragement, "Just a bit more, girls! If we can kill this bastard, we’ll earn the right to enter Dragon Domain! Also, this is an Ancient Immortal Rank boss, so there’s a chance it may drop an Ancient Immortal-grade item or even higher-rank stuff like Divine or Sacred Armaments!"

Unfortunately, the girls didn’t have as easy of a time as me, relatively speaking. Despite our kiting strategy, its Attack was more than powerful enough to pose a threat from time to time. My apparition and Phantom Wolf King and the girls’ pets such as the Ironwing Dragon and Kris had already been killed. Even Lin Yixin had died once during the boss fight. The good news was that the graveyard was closeby, so she managed to rejoin the fight in just half a minute.

……

Boom!

Suddenly, Mountain Guardian stabbed his scythes into the ground. As fire burst out from the earth beneath it, it let out a long, throaty roar and surrounded itself in a sheen of bloody light. "Lord Lin Na, great ruler of the Purgatory, please grant me the power of death so I may shred the powerful enemies before me into pieces!"

Ding!

Combat Log: Warning, "Mountain Guardian" has successfully evolved into a Divine Rank Boss. Its max HP and Attack have been increased by 70%, and its top-tier equipment drop rate has been increased by 100%!

……

After its evolution was complete, it executed Death Strike + Whirlwind Slash combo straight at me!

Beiming Xue exclaimed in panic, "Guard, big brother!"

However, I didn’t dare to do so. The moment I Guarded, I would lose all the threat and enable the boss to instakill He Yi or Lin Yixin. Lin Yixin had already lost a level, and I dared not imagine what she would do to me if I allowed it to happen a second time.

I gripped my shield tighter and hardened my resolve. If I couldn’t Guard, then I might as well attack!

I fired Burning Blade Slash at the boss at the same time its combo hit me. I immediately felt as if I was being shaken around like a rag doll. The boss's Attack was absolutely deadly after it was increased by 70%—

590876!

552772!

592038!

1162902!

The last hit was actually a critical hit! Murong Mingyue could be the god of breasts, and she still wouldn’t be able to save me from death! I died and was forced to use Resurrection Art to bring myself back. Damn, my luck wasn’t very good today!