Chapter 30, Revitalizing the Cultivation World, Progress 30%
"Ahem." 12345 put his hand to his lips and coughed lightly to cover up his embarrassment.
Who knew that you pretentious weirdos had such surprisingly similar thought processes?
She silently defended herself against her slip of the tongue.
With important business at hand, 1818 glanced at the matter casually and moved on from it.
There is only one White Shark BOSS in the Icefield dungeon. Once someone clears the dungeon, the icon immediately turns gray. If they encounter the 996 group, even without any new or old grudges, the two teams cannot coexist peacefully due to their conflicting interests.
The task takers are incredibly cunning. They might agree not to interfere one day, but the next they could betray you. Since the holographic simulation game was launched, these kinds of things happen frequently. Every few days, there are victims wailing and crying on the forum. Plus, the other side is a 996 workaholic who doesn't get along with him, so there's absolutely no way to reach an agreement.
After figuring it out, he made a thought, and two crescent-shaped spinning blades flew out from behind him.
The curved blade is as thin as paper, yet its attack power far exceeds that of a heavy blade. The double-edged blade is so fast that it cannot be seen even when it is spinning.
Knowing his opponent's characteristics, 1818 understood that even the sharpest weapon would struggle to penetrate 996's maxed-out defense in a single turn. Instead of attacking Su Xiaoyao directly, he chose to attack the ice layer.
The boomerang blade was a sacred artifact he obtained from a large-scale dungeon he opened last year. In terms of rarity, it was no less than the Ghost Banner. The moment its cross-section touched the ice, the ice surface immediately cracked open into a deep abyss, with a huge chasm pointing directly at the three mission takers walking on the ice.
"So what if you have a boat!" Su Xiaoyao, dressed in bulky clothes, was ready to dodge when she saw 1818 make a move. So when the ground shook violently, she ran faster than anyone else and had time to curse when she got to safety.
The three of them didn't have a luxurious and safe mode of transportation like an icebreaker, so they were quite clumsy trying to avoid the sudden crack. When they finally came to a stop, they were surprised to find that the crack had separated them.
They've fallen for their trap!
This is exactly what 1818 wanted to achieve.
He suffered a great loss due to the perfect teamwork of the three members of the Ghost Banner dungeon. He couldn't assemble a highly coordinated team in a short time, so this time he simply separated them and defeated them one by one.
Without any intention of cooperating with his two companions, he went alone to meet Jiang Yun, who was standing on the ice floe.
His pride only allowed him to target the strongest individual fighter on the opposing side.
Standing on the same starting line in the virtual game, Jiang Yun displayed unparalleled talent and determination to become stronger. Even Xiao Tingyuan, who was a few years older and whose cultivation path was different from ordinary people, could only barely fight him to a draw. Now, with the added benefit of the Saint-grade spiritual artifact Ghost Banner, 1818 regarded him as his only opponent and was full of fighting spirit.
12345, with his seasoned experience, flicked his wrist and sent several talismans flying straight at Su Xiaoyao's face.
Su Xiaoyao has high HP and defense, so ordinary attacks don't have much of an effect on her. Only unpredictable talismans can restrain her. 12345 made good use of this advantage.
10086 looked left and right, and met Xiao Tingyuan's stern eyes.
He was not afraid at all. Merfolk are natural warriors, and their sharp claws and teeth can easily tear apart anything. Moreover, he had royal blood flowing through his veins, making him even more bloodthirsty and brutal.
Without any advantage in combination, the two sides fought back and forth, each with only one thought in mind—to crush the other and take over the dungeon for themselves.
Just as the battle between the two teams reached its climax, a slight tremor suddenly came from the ice surface.
1818 was controlling the curved blade to press down on Jiang Yun from above, locked in a stalemate with the spiritual energy driven by the ghost banner. 1818 felt the tremors under its feet gradually increasing in intensity. After a moment's thought, it raised its head and met Jiang Yun's tightly furrowed brows.
The two men, still calm and collected despite the intense battle, exchanged a glance and almost simultaneously released their weapons and retreated.
The moment they separated, a crack suddenly appeared in the ice where they had been standing, and a huge fish tail leaped up from the dark abyss, slamming heavily onto the ice surface, causing the entire ice layer to shake.
Seeing this, the other four people stopped fighting and turned around to find a safe place to stand.
The sealed deep sea beneath the ice symbolizes unknown terror and danger; no one knows whether a gaping maw might be lurking in the sudden crack, ready to prey on something.
This time, Su Xiaoyao and the other two did not forget to stand in one place.
With their sturdy icebreakers, the 1818s leaped back to the bow, overlooking the perilous ice field.
Enraged by the failed ambush, the giant white shark, now exposed beneath the ice, charged straight at its largest target, the icebreaker.
The three-story-high ship was nothing more than a small paper boat in front of the dungeon BOSS. After just two impacts, the swaying became obvious. 1818 decisively put the ship back into the storage space, landed lightly, and headed straight for Su Xiaoyao and the other two.
"Hey, don't let the BOSS get away with this!" Seeing him rushing over, Su Xiaoyao's pupils shrank sharply. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, made an X, and shouted as she backed away.
After a rough assessment of the situation, he decisively said in 1818: "Cooperation is essential; you alone cannot take it down."
This great white shark is obviously excessively powerful, and they come with negative buffs in the icy environment. If they don't cooperate, they're doomed.
But Su Xiaoyao didn't like hearing 1818's explanation. She rolled her eyes and said, "Tsk, do you think you can take it down by yourself?"
After saying that, she immediately raised a shield and gestured to her two companions.
Jiang Yun and Xiao Tingyuan nodded in unison, knowing that this was not the time for the mission participants to fight amongst themselves.
"Damn it! Before we came, I specifically asked 007, and he confidently said that our team of three was enough to take down the BOSS." Su Xiaoyao was furious that she had been tricked.
1818 controlled the curved blade to lock onto the white shark, and sneered, "You believe 007's words? Each person only has one chance to enter each dungeon. It will only restart once if all 108 mission participants fail. 007 is definitely not happy to see others succeed after failing himself. He is waiting for everyone to fail before restarting the dungeon."
"What a dirty heart! I even exchanged information about the Sword Tomb with him! That scumbag 007 betrayed my true feelings!" Su Xiaoyao lamented bitterly.
Jiang Yun gave her a deep look.
If he remembered correctly, Su Xiaoyao told 007 that the way to quickly clear the Sword Tomb would only anger the sword spirit and double the difficulty of clearing the level.
Both of them had their own ulterior motives, and they were equally cunning.
The three large-scale dungeons that have recently opened are Ghost Tomb, Icefield, and Sword Tomb. Their team cleared Ghost Tomb and obtained the Ghost Banner. When they challenged Sword Tomb, Su Xiaoyao angered the sword spirit and they were no match for the berserk BOSS, resulting in their failure. That's when they came to Icefield.
007 appears to be a sword cultivator who has spent a great deal of effort researching the Sword Tomb and patiently inquired about information from everyone who failed to challenge it. Su Xiaoyao seized the opportunity to exchange information about the Ice Plains with him using the Sword Tomb. After exchanging information, the two teams entered the two instances one after the other.
The mutual sabotage among the task force never stops.
Large, dark clouds gradually gathered in the sky, like the calm before an impending storm.
As the icebreaker was being stored away, the great white shark submerged into the sea and remained silent for a moment before leaping out of the water. Its massive body loomed over the sea like a dark cloud, creating a suffocating pressure.
The female ghost controlled the white shark, freely whipping its tail, her heart soaring with joy.
Ever since she was recruited by the Dao Ancestor two years ago, they've infiltrated various games as NPCs, and she no longer has to drool over a spoiled bun. Not only does she receive incense offerings every few days, but yesterday she was a female ghost in a tomb, and today she's the overlord of the ocean. Her mind is sharp, her ghostly aura is abundant, and she moves freely. Her life couldn't be more carefree.
To repay the great kindness of the Dao Ancestor, she will definitely train these mission takers well!
With a roar, the great white shark unleashed its remaining minions, who then manipulated their shark minions to attack the ice.
As I regained my balance, I peered out and saw white dots rising and falling on the ice. I knew something was wrong.
She immediately tossed out a stack of talismans like a dealer, shouting, "Put them on!"
At this point, even if they didn't believe their teammates, they had to. Except for Jiang Yun, who was a step behind and half-believing, the others quickly affixed the talismans.
As the ice shattered completely, they took to the air.
The most conspicuous white shark BOSS, with its finely arranged sharp serrations, attacked them like a madman.
Faced with thousands of sharks, Su Xiaoyao coughed up blood: "Is this what 007 meant by 'three people are enough'?!"
Despite her cursing, she kept working.
She remembered the things she had created while practicing weapon crafting in the virtual game.
They put forward a one-to-one replica of the armor that was impervious to water and fire, but it was so foul that even humans found it smelly, and beasts found it even more so. However, the vastness of the sea rendered the armor's effectiveness very limited.
The six contestants survived the shark swarm's attack for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before being unfortunately eliminated.
When you log out of the dungeon and return to the game lobby, your injuries will not be carried over from the dungeon, but your stamina will still be consumed.
Su Xiaoyao rubbed her waist, which had been snapped after being struck by the tail tip of the white shark BOSS, and vaguely felt phantom pain as she recalled the battle just now.
She survived until the end thanks to her high defense. She only logged out when her armor was broken, but even if her defense hadn't been broken, she wouldn't have been able to hold on any longer, as she only had 5 stamina points left.
She sat in the bustling lobby, panting heavily.
1818 walked up to her, and if it weren't for the slight trembling of his fingertips under his long sleeves, no one would have guessed that his stamina was zero: "You've seen the situation in the Icefield dungeon. No matter which team goes in, they're no match for it. How about the forum organizes a group dungeon run?"
He would look through old posts whenever he had free time and had seen similar situations before.
Su Xiaoyao was so tired she could barely lift her eyelids: "Eight or a thousand sharks, that's all we can do. This damn system is a rip-off. If we had known about the shark swarm earlier, we wouldn't have rushed in with just a few shrimps. Of course, the most despicable one is 007 who concealed military intelligence!"
Just as she was feeling indignant, several questers fell out of the nearby instance login exit.
I looked up and saw a livid face.
Immediately afterwards, someone's furious roar was heard:
"9! 9! 6! You...%&%￥I...%#)! Is this what you call speedrunning? Huh?! Is there a single word of truth in your mouth?"
Su Xiaoyao sneered and clasped her hands in a fist salute: "Heh, likewise, you're no better than me."
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Author's Note: I'm a little late today (runs away with a pot on my head)
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