Chapter 10: Utilization, Humiliation
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After leaving Sword Immortal City, Fu Chen and Qin Yumo did not travel very far.
On their way into the city, they had already learned roughly where the monsters in the outskirts were distributed.
After checking the quest list, they found that the monsters required for the four quests did not overlap. They needed to kill a Five-Star Longhorn Beetle King, a Gravefire, a Juvenile Spotted Scorpion, and an Earth Demon Deserter.
The Juvenile Spotted Scorpions were around the Peng City Inn, and reaching them would take half an hour, so the two decided to leave that quest for later.
The other three types of monsters were all near the southern bank of the pool beneath the waterfall outside the city.
Thus, after leaving the city, they headed west toward the pool.
About fifteen minutes later, they arrived at their destination.
Fu Chen cast a disdainful glance at the nine members of Sky Curtain’s party, who had caught up from behind. Only then did he say to Qin Yumo, “You can switch weapons now. Try out the skills we just learned.”
As soon as he finished speaking, they both equipped the magic weapons they had purchased earlier.
[Starred Green Bamboo Staff
Banner Staff
Grade: 1
Attack Speed: 1.00 attacks per second
Attack Range: 3.00
Physical Attack: 10–12
Spell Attack: 11–20
Maximum Durability: 16/16
Level Requirement: 3
Strength Requirement: 5
Spirit Requirement: 5
Price: 260]
After changing to their new weapons and equipping the gear they had received as rewards, along with the jeweled ring dropped by a monster, Fu Chen’s overall attributes were now:
[Half in Love with the Mortal World, Level 4
Cultivation: 214/880
Reputation: 2
Health: 80/80; True Qi: 80/80; Primordial Spirit: 409
Unassigned Points: 15; Remaining Talent Points: 15
Constitution: 5; Spirit: 5
Strength: 5; Agility: 5
Physical Attack: 14–16
Spell Attack: 19–28
Critical Hit Rate: 1%
Basic Attack Speed: 1.00 attacks per second
Critical Damage: 200%
Physical Defense: 14
Five-Element Defense: 39]
After closing the attribute panel, Fu Chen did not forget to remind Qin Yumo, “Remember to keep an eye on your health at all times. The moment it falls below half, heal yourself.”
Qin Yumo nodded to show that she understood, then asked, “Are we still using the same arrangement? You attack while I provide support?”
Fu Chen glanced at Sky Curtain and the others, who had already positioned themselves beside the monsters. He waved the banner staff in his hand and smiled.
“Yes, but we’ll change our method.”
Meeting Qin Yumo’s puzzled gaze, Fu Chen continued:
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“We’re using spell skills now, so our attack range is longer. That means we should steal their monsters instead.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he ignored the two monsters guarded by Sky Curtain’s party on either side. Instead, he chose a Five-Star Longhorn Beetle King directly ahead, more than ten meters away.
[Health: 260/260; Level 3, Five-Star Longhorn Beetle King; Water, 91%, 5%]
Fu Chen circulated his spirit power according to the skill he had learned, then waved the Green Bamboo Staff and summoned a [Tornado] against the monster.
The Five-Star Longhorn Beetle King’s health dropped instantly, and the red number 76 floated above its head, indicating the damage dealt.
At the same time, Qin Yumo moved exactly as he did, summoning another tornado to assist in the attack.
Sky Curtain and his teammates, who had been guarding both sides and preparing to steal the monsters, cried out in surprise at the sight.
“What the hell is that? Magic?”
“Boss Sky Curtain, are we still stealing their monsters?”
Sky Curtain had not expected the two of them to ignore the nearby monsters and choose one farther away. Even more surprising was the fact that they had learned such long-range attacks.
He froze for a moment, but quickly recovered and charged over.
He shouted furiously, “Steal them! Of course we’re stealing them! Are you saying the nine of us can’t take monsters from two people?”
But what happened next surprised and shocked him even more.
He had run only five meters when he saw Fu Chen conjure a flaming spirit talisman out of thin air and throw it at the monster.
Immediately afterward, a churning spring appeared beneath the monster’s feet. Qin Yumo had followed up with another skill.
The two skills were [Fire Talisman] and [Gushing Spring], the second spell skills they had learned.
The Five-Star Longhorn Beetle King that Sky Curtain had been rushing over to intercept collapsed and died on the spot.
“What the hell!”
The curse burst from Sky Curtain in shock, and he stood rooted to the ground.
The four teammates running behind him also stopped, each of them utterly dumbfounded.
“B-Boss Sky Curtain, how are we supposed to steal monsters like this?”
“Exactly! We didn’t even touch the monster before they killed it outright.”
Sky Curtain’s expression became horribly grim, as though he had been struck by lightning.
When the nine of them teamed up against a single monster, they generally needed four or five attacks each to kill it.
Yet Fu Chen and Qin Yumo needed only two attacks.
The difference in attack power was enormous.
Could the gap between their levels really be that great? How were they supposed to steal monsters from them?
At that thought, Sky Curtain looked around. When he saw the rest of his teammates, his eyes suddenly lit up.
He immediately smiled and said, “Once they finish the few monsters nearby, they’ll have to run farther out. We only need to pick monsters farther away, guard them, and wait for them to attack.”
While they were talking, Fu Chen and Qin Yumo had already joined forces to kill three monsters.
After hearing Sky Curtain’s words, Qin Yumo frowned slightly and turned to ask, “Hongchen, will they really be able to steal our monsters if they do that?”
Fu Chen replied casually, “It would be best if they could.”
He glanced at Sky Curtain and secretly revealed a sinister smile.
Then he continued instructing Qin Yumo, “When we attack the monsters they’re guarding, hit each one only once, then switch targets.”
Although she did not understand why, Qin Yumo nodded without hesitation.
The two joined forces and used the spell skills they had just learned. Their attack power was several times greater than before.
Against a Level 3 Five-Star Longhorn Beetle King, each of them needed only two skill attacks on average to finish it off.
Before long, they had killed all five nearby monsters. To reach the more distant ones, they would have to move.
“Let’s pick up the loot first,” Fu Chen reminded her.
The two then split up, collecting the gold and items dropped by the monsters and storing them in their inventory spaces.
Next, Fu Chen set his sights on the Earth Demon Deserter beside one of Sky Curtain’s teammates.
[Health: 270/270; Level 3, Earth Demon Deserter; Metal, 89%, 4%]
Before attacking, he reminded Qin Yumo once more and explained their next maneuver.
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“Huang, attack the two monsters they’re guarding. I’ll take the one on the left, and you take the one on the right. Hit each one only once.”
“Got it!”
Qin Yumo answered aloud while already beginning the casting motion for [Tornado].
At the same moment, Fu Chen also sent a tornado toward his target.
Seeing this, Sky Curtain, who was standing guard nearby, was delighted. He hurriedly ordered his teammates to split up and charge in to steal the monsters.
The instant Fu Chen and Qin Yumo saw them coming, they decisively abandoned their attacks.
Instead, they ran a few steps forward and selected two fresh monsters beside them.
Because they were attacking separate monsters, the creatures still had more than half their health remaining after two consecutive skills.
By then, Sky Curtain’s nine-man party had already killed the two monsters in front of them and rushed over to steal the new targets.
“Switch!”
Fu Chen shouted without hesitation.
Together with Qin Yumo, he changed targets again and attacked two more monsters nearby.
And so the process continued. The moment one side struck a monster once or twice, the other side would rush over to steal it.
It made no difference whether the monsters Fu Chen and Qin Yumo chose were Five-Star Longhorn Beetle Kings or Earth Demon Deserters.
They repeated the same maneuver again and again, killing more than a dozen monsters in less than three minutes.
At that point, Fu Chen called Qin Yumo back along the route they had taken to collect the gold and materials dropped by the earlier monsters.
Sky Curtain and his party were focused entirely on charging ahead to steal monsters and had no time to collect any loot.
By the time Fu Chen and Qin Yumo finished gathering everything, new monsters had already spawned in the area.
Thus, another round of the monster-stealing contest began.
After seven or eight minutes, Fu Chen first switched to the public channel. Then he called out to Qin Yumo, “Huang, stop for a moment. We’re done.”
“Hm? What happened?” Qin Yumo asked, her face filled with confusion.
Fu Chen smiled brightly. “The quests for killing the Five-Star Longhorn Beetle Kings and Earth Demon Deserters are complete.”
Qin Yumo wore an expression that clearly said, Are you joking?
She had just been about to ask what was going on when someone on the other side spoke first and interrupted her.
Sky Curtain sneered mockingly. “Oh, have you realized that you can’t beat us to the monsters and decided to change tactics?”
“Check your quest list and you’ll know,” Fu Chen reminded Qin Yumo first.
Then he turned toward Sky Curtain with an enthusiastic smile and said emotionally, “Before this, I thought you were a narrow-minded, shameless scumbag who did nothing but frame and slander other people.”
Sky Curtain’s face grew darker and darker, and he was barely holding back from cursing.
Fu Chen suddenly changed his attitude completely and said sincerely, “I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
“Isn’t it too late to apologize now?” Sky Curtain said coldly, suppressing the amusement in his heart.
Ignoring the astonished looks around him, Fu Chen continued in a deeply heartfelt tone:
“Now I realize that you’re actually a warmhearted person who loves helping others. You even brought eight teammates along, willing to give up leveling just to help us complete our quests. A task that should have taken more than half an hour was completed in only ten minutes thanks to the full support of you and your teammates.”
Sky Curtain snorted. “We stole nearly all the monsters. Do you really think I’ll fall for that little trick just because you put it that way?”
The moment he finished speaking, Qin Yumo’s surprised and delighted voice came from beside him.
“Hongchen, our quests really are complete. How did that happen?”
Fu Chen smiled at her, then explained to Sky Curtain, “Who said that stealing a monster means it belongs to you? What is this, a mobile game where you steal kills? Idiot!”
“Huang, let’s go back and turn in the quests.”
Fu Chen turned and called Qin Yumo along.
After taking two steps, he looked back at Sky Curtain with a smile.
“Thanks!”
Qin Yumo could not help giving a soft laugh. “Hongchen, I suspect you’re deliberately humiliating him.”