Bang!

A powerful Bone Eroding Arrow from Beiming Xue struck Leila’s chest, shattered the chest armor and spilled some black blood. However, not only did Leila not retaliate, she kept her bow lowered and faced toward me, murmuring, "You said his name… Did you meet him? You…"

The boss had stopped attacking completely. I must have accidentally triggered a story sequence or something.

So, I also lowered the Chill of the Nine Provinces and nodded. "Yes, we saw Lin Qian on a hill of bones in front of the Dragon God Cave. He was the one who asked us to seek out your bodies, collect your soul essences and return them to him. He regrets his actions deeply and wishes to rescue your souls to atone for his sins."

"Lin Qian… Lin Qian…"

Leila’s knees hit the deathly, blackened soil beneath our feet as she looked up in the sky. Tears slid down her cheeks as she said, "After Lin Qian’s mind was stolen by that sword, he… he actually killed us all..."

I nodded. "He is still guarding the Dragonslaying Sword. He is filled with guilt and self-blame…"

Leila would continue to cry for almost five minutes. Finally, she rose to her feet and pulled out the dagger hanging on her waist. She declared with grim determination, "If Lin Qian can rescue my sinful soul, then I will surrender my life to him again!"

I couldn't help but be shocked by her actions. "You…"

Leila gazed to the distance with deep grief and sorrow. "Where I’m looking is where the Warhammer Empire resides. I know because I can sense the lives there… The first time I met him was the year where maple leaves spread throughout the entire forest. Even then, I already knew that my life would be deeply connected to his. I knew I would teach him archery, tell him the secrets that lay deep within the mountains, and bathe with him beneath the moonlight. And yet all these memories will never happen again in our lives…"

Leila sobbed a bit more before wiping away her slightly murky tears. "When a soul ascends, there is a chance they may enter the cycle of reincarnation. I remained until now only so that I could meet him one more time. Now come. Take my soul essence to him, and tell him that I… love him…"

Shink! She cut open her own throat with her dagger. As blood poured out of the wound like a fountain, she slowly dropped to her knees while losing HP at a rapid rate. She looked at us one last time and said, "Thank you in advance for fulfilling my wish…"

……

Swhoosh!

Golden light surrounded us and increased our levels after Leila passed away. None of us thought that the Succubi Queen Leila would sacrifice her own life for a single man. Her body turned into a real corpse in a flash of light, and her soul essence slowly floated out of her forehead and into the air. It looked incredibly beautiful.

I knew nothing about the romantic relationship between a teacher and her student, but I did understand her unwillingness to watch her beloved be stuck in the depths of depravation. That was why she had chosen to kill herself. Was it the right choice? Maybe. Was there a better way than this? Maybe. Only the heavens could answer with certainty.

I slowly knelt on one knee and held up her soul essence with both hands. It was only after I had placed it carefully in my bag did I check the boss drops. Leila had dropped us four pieces of equipment in total. There was a pair of rather mediocre Immortal-grade boots, an Immortal-grade spear that was slightly inferior to the Spear of the Knight God, a Level 210 Immortal-grade scepter and finally, a purple red longbow. It was none other than Leila’s signature weapon, Leila's Longbow!

I looked at the girls while holding Leila's Longbow. "It’s an Ancient Immortal-grade bow. It’s still not as good as Beiming Xue’s Xuanming Bow, but it’s definitely not a bad bow by any means. Is there anyone who wants this?"

He Yi knelt down beside Leila’s body and stared at it for a moment. Then, she said as if she hadn’t heard my question, "I… I can’t believe she died like this. Is this the fate of all women…?"

Me: "..."

Lin Yixin’s eyes reddened a bit as well. "I might have done the same if I was in her position. It’s why there is the saying that women are foolish."

Beiming Xue cupped Lin Yixin’s hand and said, "You already did it during the War of Dawn City, remember? A player account is basically a player’s life, but you still gave it away without hesitation for the final victory."

Lin Yixin: "..."

I stayed silent for a couple of seconds before raising Leila's Longbow again. "Her story is sad, and I do sympathize with her situation a lot, but this bow is an ANCIENT IMMORTAL-GRADE bow with nearly 10k Attack cap, so I’m asking again. Does anyone want this? If not, then I’m going to drop it at my Air Force One later, okay? It’s gonna sell for 100k RMB at least…"

Murong Mingyue said calmly, "A bow with 10k Attack would sell for 500k RMB at least. In fact, it’s priceless considering how rare Level 220 Ancient Immortal-grade bows are right now…"

I smiled. "Such a shame that no one wants it, so—"

"No one said that."

Lin Yixin sniffed once before staring at me with reddened eyes. "Does your brain only compute equipment when you’re in the game? Hmph! Anyway, sell me the bow so I can give it to Lexi. I haven’t given her a proper gift since she came to Snowy Cathaya. Also, this’ll give her the power to finally go toe-to-toe with the likes of Transient Smoke and Clouds, Ling Xueshang and October Rain."

I smiled. "What do you mean? She’s already at their power level even without the bow. Nangong Lexi’s skill is at least as good as October Rain’s, and she has the advantage of youth and swift thoughts on her side. Once her equipment is upgraded, she’ll be strong enough to challenge even Beiming Xue. So, how much are you willing to part with for this bow, Yiyi?"

Lin Yixin narrowed her eyes and smiled dangerously. "Why do I feel like you’re planning to slaughter my wallet?"

I shrugged. "Just earning a living is all. You’re well aware that in-game equipment is losing value every day, and a super-tier bow like this one drops once in a blue moon. Heck, even I haven’t seen an item this good in a while, not to mention that it’s one that fits your current needs perfectly. You get the bow, I get the cash. It’s a win-win scenario for both of us right. Also, you’re the ace of the Apple e-sports club, and you’re paid an obscene amount of money for your service. Surely you can afford it."

Lin Yixin pouted. "You always bully me!"

He Yi chuckled. "Alright, enough, you two. I’ll decide how this trade is done. Okay?"

"Okay!"

We both agreed without hesitation. Both her prestige and her trustworthiness were among the highest among all of us.

He Yi considered for a moment before suggesting, "Alright, we’ll do it this way. There are 7 of us here, so let’s pretend that the bow’s price is 350k RMB. Yiyi will transfer 50k to each of us, or a total of 300k RMB to buy this bow. Is that fine?"

Lin Yixin hurriedly nodded smilingly. "Okay! Okay! I’ll listen to Sister Eve and buy Leila's Longbow for 300k! Er, please give me a minute to complete the transfers…"

I was slightly surprised when she finished transferring 50k RMB to each of our account in exactly a minute. That was some impressive operating speed right there. After I passed Leila’s Longbow into Lin Yixin’s hands, I raised the scepter next and asked, "Eifilin Scepter is a Level 210 scepter that increases Magic Attack power by 175%. Again, it’s not as good as Lian Xin’s Thunder God’s Scepter, but it’s still pretty good overall. It’s not going to be nearly as valuable as Leila's Longbow though, so I suggest that we save it for our guild’s Yu Tong. I heard that she’s still using a Heaven-grade scepter, so this will be the perfect upgrade…"

The girls nodded, and I passed a money bag with 10k gold in it to Lin Yixin. "The Eifilin Scepter is probably worth around 50k RMB, so this is your compensation."

Lin Yixin happily accepted it and said, "I will always take your money!"

Me: "..."

I also paid Pure Love 10k gold for not claiming the scepter. Obviously, there was no need to pay the girls of the Frost Cloud workshop for this. While I was examining the rest of the loot on the ground, I noted that Leila was probably a weapons master of sorts. The reason I said this was because she had dropped 3 weapons in total. We rolled for the rest of the magic stones and enhancement gems, and I managed to win myself a Rank 17 Dragonstone Gem. I planned to use it to upgrade my new Guardian Dragon Armor later. At Rank 17, the enhancement gems would give me a total increase of 85% Defense. It was absolutely not a negligible amount for sure. Enhancements for the win!

……

After everything was taken care of, we returned to the trail and continued toward the third boss, the Holy Magus Lin Xu. He was the palace mage of the Warhammer Empire and Prince Lin Qian’s magic mentor. Once we took him out, we would be able to turn in our quest and receive a generous reward. An SS Rank quest’s reward must be pretty amazing, right?

The sky turned gray as dark clouds blocked the sunlight. Then, it started raining in just the blink of an eye. Rain reduced a player’s vision range, but thanks to our high levels, the penalty wasn’t as severe as it could’ve been.

I opened the map screen to check the last quest coordinate while walking across the wet grass. I said, "Lin Xu is right inside the valley in front of us. We should reach there in 3 minutes at most. Let’s get there quick. It will be annoying if someone is already fighting the boss when we arrive…"

Lin Yixin assured me. "Relax, the monsters at Fire Dragon Canyon and outside Dragon Domain are very powerful. No one can make it in easily."

"Yeah."

Unfortunately, our heart sank when we arrived on a hill that was covered in maple leaves. When I looked down, I was shocked to see that the valley had been occupied by a ton of players. They were fighting a boss in an organized fashion, and the boss wearing a black mage robe was none other than the Ancient Immortal Rank boss, Holy Magus Lin Xu!

……

"Watch out for the boss's Fire Dragon Sneak Attack! It has a five-yard AoE, and it’ll burn everything in a straight line! When the boss uses a skill, a dragon-shaped flame will appear at the tip of its scepter, so watch out for that as well! All magic knights are to use a Roland Bloodknight Card to buff their max HP, and everyone below 30% HP is to back away immediately. Don’t let the boss one-shot you!"

A cavalryman riding an earth dragon and wielding a sword was fighting the boss and commanding the boss fight. The emblem of Warsky Alliance floated on his arm. He was none other than the vice leader of Warsky Alliance, Lin Bing Dou Zhe.

Further behind Lin Bing Dou Zhe, October Rain was shooting a Shock Arrow and saying, "Give me the party leader position, Lin Bing! I’m going to use Heartpiercer to give us all 20% lifesteal! All cavalrymen, attack in turns using Ultimate Strength Break and Barrier Break! You’ll definitely survive with the lifesteal, so don’t worry! Priests, keep our frontliners healed as much as you can!"

……

I groaned inside my head. "Fuck, how did October Rain and Lin Bing Dou Zhe get here first?"