Chapter 168: Fierce and Headless

Clutching the Martial Soul Sealing Card, Ye Chen mumbled a few hasty prayers to various deities for blessing. With a firm grip, he activated the card, and instantly, a rather intricate magic array materialized beneath the headless knight's feet.

Swish! The magic array flared briefly before shattering with a loud pop. Seal failed!

That was brisk. At least put up a struggle before breaking.

Speechless, Ye Chen turned his gaze to Jian Qingcheng, whose eyes were still shining. "Sister Qingcheng, why don't you give it a try?"

"Alright, watch me." Jian Qingcheng rolled up her sleeves and pulled out a Martial Soul Sealing Card. Unlike Ye Chen, she didn't bother with superstitious chanting and directly targeted the headless knight with the card.

Swish! The magic array's light flashed, only to shatter once again. Jian Qingcheng wore an expression of deep disappointment.

"My turn." Ye Chen drew another Martial Soul Sealing Card. Abandoning any prayers to the gods, he activated it immediately. This time, the failure was even more decisive—the magic array didn't even light up. Seeing this, Jian Qingcheng wasted no words and followed suit immediately. Another failure. Ye Chen tried again, only to fail once more. Toss after toss, card after card, the two of them rapidly exhausted their entire stock of reserves gathered along the way, yet they still could not subdue this level 1 headless knight.

Watching the level 1 headless knight continue its arrogant routine of poking Ye Chen with its spear, the two were rendered entirely speechless. After staring at each other in a blank deadlock for a long time, Jian Qingcheng finally let out a sigh of resignation. "Call Siquan and the others over. They still have some sealing cards left. Between them, they should be able to take down this headless knight."

Ye Chen nodded; that seemed to be the only option left.

Jian Qingcheng immediately broadcasted their situation to the rest of the girls in the team channel. Upon hearing that a level 1, white-named Martial Soul was waiting to be captured, the girls instantly erupted into excited chatter. Abandoning their searches entirely, they bolted toward the duo's location at rocket speed.

After a few minutes of waiting in place, Zui Siquan and Ling Yue's squad arrived first. To the utter dismay of Ye Chen and Jian Qingcheng, these girls had actually brought along a red-named headless knight trailing right behind them. Weren't they a bit too impatient...

While the group was busy surrounding and attacking the red-named headless knight, Zui Siquan rapidly burned through a dozen sealing cards in her possession. The result? Total failure. Naturally, she could only sulk off to the side to draw circles of despair.

Sister Liu Liu stepped up next, tossing a dozen sealing cards with the exact same zero-success outcome. Before the remaining girls arrived, only Ling Yue still had sealing cards left. Instantly, all four pairs of eyes converged on Ling Yue. Ye Chen lowered his voice gravely, "Ling Yue, the heavy burden of subduing the headless knight now rests upon your shoulders. You must not let our expectations down!"

Ling Yue looked intensely nervous, nodding like a pecking chick. With extreme caution, she pulled out a Martial Soul Sealing Card, raised it high, and activated it.

Swish! The magic array burst into blinding brilliance, so bright that the group had to shield their eyes. When the radiance finally faded, the headless knight was nowhere to be seen. Clearly, Ling Yue had succeeded—and on her very first try at that.

Everyone was momentarily dumbfounded. Life's ups and downs truly happened too fast; just a moment ago, all hope of sealing seemed lost, yet in the blink of an eye, the capture was complete. They always said pet-catching was a craft dependent entirely on character and luck, and it turned out to be profoundly true.

Internally, Ye Chen cast a silent, disdainful judgment on the character ratings of Jian Qingcheng, Zui Siquan, and Sister Liu Liu. Filtering out his own character from the equation, he turned his gaze back to the still-dazed Ling Yue and urged, "Quickly, link the Martial Soul's stats so we can see them!"

Still in a daze, Ling Yue snapped back to reality, letting out a cheer of delight. With a tap on the bronze-colored card, the headless knight's statistics immediately appeared in the group's shared interface.

[Headless Knight] (Bronze Martial Soul Card)
Attack: 3 Stars
Defense: 5 Stars
Health: 4 Stars
Excellence: 3 Stars
Level: 1
Skills: Copper Skin, Iron Bones

"Heavens! It actually has a 5-star defense growth rate, more than double that of the Wandering Swordsman!"
"The 4-star health is also ferocious, and it even has 3-star excellence."
"The attack is a bit on the weak side, tied with the Wandering Swordsman, but the headless knight is inherently a defense-type Martial Soul, so 3 stars isn't low at all. No wonder Ye Chen called the Wandering Swordsman trash; compared to the headless knight, it really isn't an exaggeration."

Jian Qingcheng and the others stared wide-eyed at the headless knight's stats, their faces filled with awe. The headless knight's attributes were vastly superior to the bronze-tier Wandering Swordsman—they simply weren't in the same league.

"This Martial Soul is exceptional. Ling Yue, you should claim it and train it," Ye Chen said with an approving nod. The headless knight's stats were genuinely impressive; as a bronze-tier defense-type Martial Soul, such growth potential was top-tier.

"For me? That wouldn't be right... You and Big Sister found it..." Although Ling Yue was hopelessly captivated by the stats, upon hearing that it belonged to her, she hesitatingly tried to refuse.

Before Ling Yue could finish, Ye Chen waved a hand dismissively. "What do you mean by who found it? Whoever it suits best gets it. Besides, you're the one who caught it, and since the sealing card was yours, it naturally belongs to you."

"Ye Chen is right, Ling Yue, just accept it. Furthermore, as good as this headless knight is, it doesn't suit an attack-oriented swordsman like me. As the studio's primary tank, this headless knight fits you best," Jian Qingcheng added with a nod. Originally, this headless knight had been earmarked for the studio's tanks anyway. If she had caught it herself, she might have had to make the heavy armor wearers roll dice to determine ownership. But since Ling Yue caught it independently, no one else had any grounds to object.

Ling Yue wasn't foolish; hearing Big Sister put it that way, she nodded happily. With a gentle swipe across the bronze Martial Soul Card, the card burst into a verdant emerald glow. A miniature headless knight emerged, bowed solemnly toward Ling Yue, and then, inhaling deeply, expanded back to its normal size.

[Headless Knight] (Bronze Martial Soul)
Attack: 9
Defense: 15
Health: 120
Excellence: 3 Stars (Grants the player a 5% stat bonus upon possession)
Level: 1
Skills: Copper Skin, Iron Bones

Once a Martial Soul is bound, all its attributes become viewable. The group immediately inspected the headless knight standing before Ling Yue to check its actual combat stats.

As seasoned veterans of the game, Jian Qingcheng and the others grasped the headless knight's growth progression at a glance. Zui Siquan was already murmuring calculations in the team channel regarding its stats at higher levels: "One-star growth in attack and defense translates to 3 points per level, while health gives 30 points per star. Calculated this way, at level 40, this headless knight will have 360 attack, 600 defense, and 4800 health. Th-this guy's defense and health actually surpass those of a bronze heavy armor player! Total overkill!"

By the end of her sentence, she was shouting with wide eyes. Jian Qingcheng and the others looked at the headless knight with burning gazes, practically harboring the urge to snatch it away. It wasn't a lack of self-control on their part; the headless knight was simply too overpowered.

"It's mine, it's mine, the headless knight is mine!" Ling Yue beamed with boundless joy. Though usually yielding in nature, no one was about to snatch the meat straight out of her mouth. She quickly stepped in front of the headless knight like a tigress protecting her cub, flashing a look that warned anyone against trying to rob her.

"Relax, relax. A bound Martial Soul can't be snatched away," Ye Chen said with a reassuring laugh, gently patting Ling Yue's shoulder.

Ling Yue's spirits instantly lifted again. She began commanding the headless knight to run in circles around her like a little girl with a newly acquired favorite toy. Meanwhile, Jian Qingcheng and the others continued staring longingly at the trotting headless knight. Blinking, Zui Siquan turned to Jian Qingcheng and asked, "Big Sister, aren't you regretting it?"

Jian Qingcheng opened her mouth, desperately wanting to claim she looked down on the headless knight. Yet, being inherently terrible at lying, she ultimately sighed, "I do regret it. If I had known, I should have just snatched it..."

Sister Liu Liu cast an envious glance at the headless knight before turning to Ling Yue. "What kind of attributes do those two skills, Copper Skin and Iron Bones, have?"

"Copper Skin increases the Martial Soul's defense by 50 points, and Iron Bones increases the Martial Soul's defense by 5%. However, those two skills won't activate until level 10," Ling Yue replied happily. Both skills were purely defensive enhancements, which would allow her to push her defense-oriented stats even higher once possessed.

The moment those words fell, the eyes of Jian Qingcheng and the others grew even redder. Salivating, Sister Liu Liu chimed in, "If I had a Martial Soul like that, I could just let it tank the monsters while I stood back and spammed attacks at will. Leveling efficiency would be insanely fast! Oh, good Ling Yue, I'm hitching my wagon to you from now on."

Ling Yue immediately nodded in eager agreement.

Ye Chen smiled faintly, then turned to Jian Qingcheng, whose eyes were still fixed jealously on the headless knight. "Sister Qingcheng, since you've been so kind, why not go all the way? I think you should just give that Defense Enhancement skill book to Ling Yue as well. You're heading down the berserker path anyway; keeping it would just be a waste."

At this, Jian Qingcheng rolled her eyes dramatically. "Oh, sure, Ye Chen! Even if Ling Yue is your little favorite, you shouldn't show favoritism quite so blatantly! What's wrong with my berserker path? Does a berserker not need defense?" Despite her verbal protest, Jian Qingcheng tossed the Defense Enhancement skill book over to Ling Yue anyway. A defense-type skill truly belonged in the hands of a tank to maximize its utility. As the studio's leading figure, she possessed that much overarching perspective; her remarks were merely intended to tease Ye Chen.

Unexpectedly, the moment she finished speaking, everyone around her—including Ye Chen—froze in place. Even the skill book slipped right out of Ling Yue's hands and dropped to the ground. The group stared at Jian Qingcheng with bizarre expressions. This sounded entirely unlike the usually stern and serious big sister. After all, the big sister was supposed to be tougher than most men...

Realizing the weird looks she was receiving, Jian Qingcheng suddenly understood that she had spoken out of turn—or rather, the remark completely contradicted her usual unyielding persona, coming across as somewhat coy. Even she couldn't figure out why she had said something like that to Ye Chen. Her cheeks flushed slightly with embarrassment. Just as the awkwardness threatened to peak, the remaining eight girls came running over in a group. Seizing the opportunity, Jian Qingcheng coughed twice to feign composure, put on a straight face, and announced, "Alright, everyone is here. Let's hurry to the entrance of the underground world."

Exchanging knowing glances, Ye Chen and the others wisely dropped the subject to spare Jian Qingcheng from angry embarrassment. Though the newly arrived eight girls sensed the peculiar atmosphere, their attention was instantly hijacked by Ling Yue's headless knight, leaving no one to probe further into what had just transpired.

Led by Ye Chen, the party quickly strode deeper into the ruined city, vanishing shortly thereafter into the boundless mists.