"You adventurers don't feel pain yet, so of course you don't know what it feels like to be hit by a monster."

Seeing Jiang Hao's disdainful look, the city lord of Jinling City could only offer a helpless explanation.

Jiang Hao was somewhat suspicious, but seeing that the city lord of Jinling City didn't seem to be lying, he had no choice but to give up.

"Then I'll pull the monsters to speed things up, and you should try to keep up."

"Okay, okay."

The city lord of Jinling readily agreed.

“All of you come back. We’ll follow behind our young friend.”

The guards fought and retreated until they were far enough away that the energy crystal beasts stopped chasing them. Only then did they put away their shields, raise their broadswords, and stand behind Jiang Hao.

"You're in charge of picking up the fallen crystal fragments, and the rest of you and I will finish them off."

After the city lord of Jinling City made the arrangements, Jiang Hao shook his head, sighed, and raised his staff. With another swing of the staff, a bronze-level energy crystal beast instantly appeared beneath it. The stars above his head, displaying a dizzying effect, spun rapidly.

-

White damage numbers floated up above the Energy Crystal Beast's head, representing its true damage from its innate abilities.

After all, although Jiang Hao's physical attack power was as high as 230.5, he still couldn't break through the defense of the Energy Crystal Beast with 288 defense. Even so, more than half of the Energy Crystal Beast's health bar was still depleted.

This scene made the guards standing nearby all shrink back in shock.

Not only were they astonished by Jiang Hao's ability to pull monsters, but even the accompanying damage was beyond their reach. One of the guards, remembering the city lord's instructions, was the first to react, and his broadsword was already slashing at the energy crystal beast.

-

The greatsword struck the Energy Crystal Beast, and white damage numbers floated above its head, startling the guard who had attacked. As a physical attacker, he couldn't fathom how 35,000 damage had been inflicted.

Could it be a critical hit?

The other guards, seeing this injury, all looked completely bewildered.

"What are you standing there for? Finish him off! You're this guy's teammates now, so you can benefit from his damage buff!"

The city lord of Jinling's casual remark brought the still-stunned guards to their senses.

So they all swung their large swords and slashed at the energy crystal beast.

-

White damage numbers floated up from the Energy Crystal Beast once more, its health bar instantly emptied, and its body began to shatter into particles, dissipating into the air. A white energy crystal fragment fell to the ground. The guard appointed by the City Lord of Jinling City picked up the energy crystal fragment and put it into his backpack.

He had a big smile on his face.

The guards then all realized what was happening.

A bronze-level energy crystal beast was instantly killed by them? Looking at the energy crystal beast horde in the distance, their faces were filled with deep shock.

Just moments ago, they had to do everything in their power to protect themselves and endure the pain of being attacked by a group of Crystal Beasts before they dared to get close to them. Only through close cooperation could they manage to kill one or two Crystal Beasts in an instant.

If even these Gold-level guards are this cautious, imagine how much more cautious the Iron-level and Bronze-level guards who are stationed here year-round. Every time they try to lure out a single Crystal Beast, they risk attracting a whole horde of other beasts. Without thorough preparation, who would dare to easily attack a Crystal Beast?

But now, they only need to make two casual slashes to easily kill a Crystal Beast. If they are too slow, they won't even get a chance!

Upon comparing the two, they realized that the helpers the city lord had brought were practically the nemesis of the crystal beasts. Immediately, they were all eager to fight, ready to make a big splash.

Jiang Hao swung his staff again, pulling another bronze-level energy crystal beast towards him from afar. His guards swiftly struck, instantly emptying the beast's health bar. Jiang Hao couldn't resist the urge to deal with the beast himself to increase the damage of his talent. However, he then realized that doing so would only slow down the monster-pulling speed, so he gave up.

Jiang Hao could no longer tolerate the God-Slaying Curse above his head. Now, all he wanted was to get enough energy crystals as soon as possible to break this damned curse.

Once again, only two guards managed to get a chance to make a move.

"You two will split up around Xiaoyou in pairs."

The city lord of Jinling City quickly made further arrangements.

"Young friend, could you please be more equitable and ensure that everyone has a chance to make a move?"

Looking at this cheap helper, Jiang Hao nodded.

He raised his staff and tapped it between the first two people, pulling a bronze-level monster towards them, which was instantly killed by the two. Jiang Hao slightly turned his body and tapped it between the second group, then the third group, the fourth group...

It must be said that these guards were highly trained, able to instantly kill the monster the moment Jiang Hao lured it. However, the fact that Jiang Hao had to turn around repeatedly, like playing a drum set, was somewhat annoying.

The city lord of Jinling noticed Jiang Hao's expression and quickly gave another order.

"No, no, you guys form a circle around the young friend. Remember, no stealing monsters, and only two people can attack at a time. Line up in order yourselves."

Several guards quickly formed a new formation.

In this way, Jiang Hao no longer needed to turn his body. He could keep his eyes on the energy crystal beast in the distance and just keep waving his staff.

The first crystalline beast was pulled over, and the two guards closest to Jiang Hao made their move. Then came the next two guards who were closest to Jiang Hao, then the next two who were closest to Jiang Hao, and then the one furthest from Jiang Hao. This cycle repeated several times, and the guards all found their rhythm.

Watching the group of people efficiently pulling monsters, killing them, and obtaining crystal cores like an assembly line, the City Lord of Jinling City nodded in satisfaction. He then pulled a large square cloth from his robes and spread it beneath Jiang Hao's staff. The fragments of energy crystals that had been dropped fell onto it in a flurry. The City Lord nodded in satisfaction again, then sat cross-legged on the ground, his face beaming like a wealthy landowner's foolish son.

Jiang Hao instantly felt like he had become a beast of burden.

And sitting on the ground are the evil capitalists who exploit him.

Jiang Hao angrily drank a few mouthfuls of the healing potion.

After holding out for a while, Jiang Hao couldn't take it anymore.

"Get lost, don't let me see you. You're annoying!"

"Okay, okay, I'll get out of here, I'll get out of here."

The city lord of Jinling City scrambled to his feet and crouched low as he ran behind Jiang Hao. Jiang Hao felt much better now that he couldn't see him anymore.

He mainly felt good because he yelled at the evil capitalists like he was yelling at his grandson.

After pulling all the monsters in front of him, Jiang Hao led a few guards forward a short distance, then stopped again and began using his long-range monster-pulling technique. At Jiang Hao's rate of pulling two monsters per second, all the bronze-level monsters in the mine were pulled away in an hour and a half. Ahead lay the silver-level monsters.

The city lord of Jinling City put away a small bag full of energy crystal fragments, his mouth stretching to the back of his ears in a wide grin.

"Are these enough energy crystals?"

Jiang Hao drank a few sips of the healing potion, swung his slightly sore arm, and casually asked a question.

"Not enough, of course not enough. The energy crystals needed to break the curse for you must be at least gold-grade. How can these fragments be used?"

Looking at the densely packed Silver-level energy crystal beasts before him, even more numerous than Bronze-level beasts, Jiang Hao felt he had been deceived.

"Damn it, you old codger, that's not what you said before we came!"