Chapter 47: The Fanged War Spear

"Do you have any ideas?" Sword of the City’s eyes lit up, looking expectantly at Ye Chen. After all their efforts, she felt unwilling to just give up.

Ye Chen pointed toward the cluttered corner on the right side of the stone chamber. "Lure the boss over there. In that area, he can't use his Life Drain skill!"

Sword of the City glanced at the cramped space, littered with debris, and frowned slightly. "Are you sure? The area is so small, it's hard to control, and there are so many obstacles. If something goes wrong, retreating won't be easy."

Ye Chen shrugged. "If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do. Otherwise, we can just give up."

"Sister, let's try it. I trust Ye Chen." Ling Yue, while fending off the Corpse Demon Leader's attacks, spoke up for Sword of the City.

Sword of the City hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, let's give it a shot. I don't want to give up either."

With her approval, Ling Yue dragged the Corpse Demon Leader toward the cluttered corner. By the time she managed to lure him in, the boss's health had already risen to 20,000. Ling Yue turned and attacked him, and, just as predicted, he didn’t retaliate with Life Drain. The sisters witnessed this and cheered quietly.

"Don't get careless. His health isn't below 10,000 yet. Wait until it drops and he doesn’t use Life Drain before we celebrate," Sword of the City cautioned, though a smile had crept onto her face. She turned to Ye Chen. "I hope you won't mind what happened earlier. It's not that I didn’t trust you, but I had to consider everyone."

Ye Chen nodded understandingly. "No worries. Let's finish off this boss first and hope nothing else goes wrong."

Sword of the City smiled. "Alright. If we take down this boss, the credit is yours."

"What’s the reward for the top contribution?"

"I’ll reward you with one of the girls," Sword of the City joked, for once.

The fact that the Corpse Demon Leader couldn’t use Life Drain in that area had been established after 2058 had searched the whole map—there would be no surprises. Though the cluttered zone was a bit restrictive, it limited everyone’s movements, but since the boss couldn’t use Life Drain, he couldn’t withstand the nine players’ relentless assaults. In mere seconds, his health dropped below 10,000.

The sisters saw that the severely wounded Corpse Demon Leader did not resort to Life Drain again and all relaxed, looking at Ye Chen with admiration and amazement. Finally, Second Sister Drunken Longing voiced what everyone was thinking: "Ye Chen, how did you know the Corpse Demon Leader couldn't use Life Drain here? That’s incredible!"

Ye Chen blinked and replied offhandedly, "It just came to me suddenly. I remembered a story I read in the Lie Mountain City library a couple of days ago about a Corpse Demon Leader being killed in a cluttered area. I guessed it might work here, and it turns out I was right."

"The library stories are so useful! Last time, Ye Chen found the secret mechanism in the Bandit Hall because of a library book," Ling Yue eagerly vouched.

"Is that so? Seems we should visit the library more often." Drunken Longing found the explanation reasonable and didn’t press further.

"Absolutely. Knowledge is power—reading more always helps," Ye Chen chuckled, having successfully dodged the question. Now, anything could be attributed to the library.

With his Life Drain skill disabled, the Corpse Demon Leader was utterly defenseless. A mere 10,000 health was nothing. In less than a minute, his health hit zero, and with a roar of unwillingness, the silver-ranked boss collapsed to the floor.

A white beam of light descended from above—Ye Chen finally leveled up from 21 to 22. Overjoyed, he eagerly equipped his golden Abyss Staff, activating its radiant effect, and the brilliant golden glow illuminated the dim stone chamber.

"Ye Chen, are you showing off to us? Careful, or we’ll rob you," Drunken Longing looked enviously at the golden staff, her tone tinged with jealousy.

"Congratulations! Upgrading from a peashooter to a cannon."

"How do you know if it was a peashooter or a cannon? Did you have some deep exchanges?"

"Get lost! I just peeked secretly—it’s a small cannon."

"Wow, you’re so crude!"

Hearing the girls’ bold banter, Ye Chen broke out in cold sweat. No wonder he’d felt odd a few times in the restroom—someone had been spying...

"Alright, alright! Girls, you should be more reserved. Let’s stop discussing this. Aren’t you curious what gear the Corpse Demon Leader dropped?" Sword of the City couldn’t take it anymore, quickly interrupting their discussion of Ye Chen’s anatomy. She stepped forward, picked up the loot, and laid it out for everyone to see.

[Corpse Demon Robe] (Bronze)
Defense: 58
Intelligence: +12
Required Level: 25
Bonus: Magic damage increases by 5%

[Deadman’s Magic Sword] (Bronze)
Attack: 153–265
Strength: +13
Required Level: 25
Bonus: Physical attack power increases by 5%

[Fang Battle Spear] (Silver)
Attack: 213–357
Strength: +15
Constitution: +12
Required Level: 23
Bonus: Threat value of aggro skills increases by 8%

"Wow, Sister, your luck is amazing! Three pieces—weapon, armor, and all! We’re rich now," Ling Yue and the other girls exclaimed in awe at the high-quality gear. Ling Yue especially couldn’t take her eyes off the sparkling silver Fang Battle Spear.

Ye Chen smiled as he examined the equipment. Not bad—two bronze items and one silver, and the silver spear was perfect for Ling Yue. Next time they teamed up, he wouldn’t have to worry about her aggro skills being too weak.

"The Corpse Demon Robe is nice. We elemental mages need to compete for it. Ye Chen, are you joining?" Second Sister Drunken Longing eyed him with a sly smile—more of a threat than an invitation.

Ye Chen grinned and shook his head. It wasn’t that he feared her threat, but he already had the Dark Mage set. Though the bronze robe had higher individual stats, breaking up his set for it wasn’t worth it, unless he found a silver item or a bronze set. For now, he wouldn’t change gear.

"Smart move," Drunken Longing said coquettishly, then went off to play rock-paper-scissors with the other elemental mage girls. So that’s how they decided who got the gear...

The other items needed no contest. Ling Yue was the only knight present, so the Fang Battle Spear naturally went to her. The Deadman’s Magic Sword was the same; Sword of the City was the only swordswoman in the studio, so she swapped her weapon directly.

The rare Gale Sword was now redundant. After switching it out, Sword of the City tossed it to Ye Chen with a smile. "Take it and sell it."

Ye Chen accepted it without hesitation, stowing it in his bag and calling out, "Let’s go turn in the quest. I still need to change my class after that."

When the Corpse Demon Leader fell, Caro’s soul restraint was lifted, and the quest log already indicated completion.

...................................

Final week on the new book rankings—please recommend, collect, and click. Xiao Jiu thanks you all!