Chapter Seventy: A Timely Rescue in the Face of Danger

Ye Chen dashed into the crowd with a few quick steps. The three tanks immediately followed his instructions, each engaging the seven stone golems. Two off-tanks held two golems each, while Dragon Soaring Wild Bull managed to pull three on his own. As soon as the three had secured aggro, the rest of the team hurriedly began their attacks. The Rogue Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed leapt from the rock and joined the assault.

-580, the rogue’s Fire Blade skill.

“Brother Rogue's attack is really high and brutal!” The team exclaimed in surprise. The Rogue Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed smiled with satisfaction, his lips curving as he prepared to respond modestly. Suddenly, a black fireball struck the monster before him.

Boom—a black fireball exploded, -1011, blood-red numbers floated above the stone golem’s head.

For a moment, the scene fell silent. The team’s eyes turned toward Ye Chen, who had unleashed the black fireball, their faces filled with astonishment. The Rogue Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed’s expression turned dark; he swallowed his words and glanced at Ye Chen as if looking at a monster, muttering, “Looks like Fierce Tiger Blood Blade’s death wasn’t undeserved. No rogue could withstand that kind of damage.”

Dragon Soaring Star grimaced painfully, thinking to himself that it wasn’t just the rogues who couldn’t handle it—such monstrous strength was unbearable even for a full-power swordsman like himself.

Left Hand Myth’s gaze flickered incessantly, his eyes locked onto the Abyss Staff in Ye Chen’s hand, unable to hide the greed on his face. He was so distracted he forgot to heal the tanks.

“Damn it, Left Hand Myth, you fool! Hurry up and heal me—I’m about to die!” Dragon Soaring Wild Bull watched his health plummet and roared. Left Hand Myth had the highest healing output and was responsible for him as the main tank, but now the holy priest was lost in thought…

“Ah!” Left Hand Myth snapped back to reality, seeing Dragon Soaring Wild Bull’s health drop below a third. He forgot to retort and quickly began chanting the healing spell.

“It’s too late—Wild Bull, fall back!” The Rogue Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed immediately noticed the timing, grabbed Dragon Soaring Wild Bull, and tried to pull him back.

-125, -105, -207—a string of damage numbers floated above Dragon Soaring Wild Bull’s head. One stone golem even landed a critical hit. With less than fifty health points left, one more hit would kill him. The nearby team members paled; if the main tank died, a wipe was almost inevitable.

“Player Night Morning has activated the Attribute Aura. All teammates within a fifty-yard radius gain fifteen points to all attributes.”

+150—a grass-green healing number floated above every team member’s head, a hidden benefit of the aura’s activation.

-137—the next attack from the stone golem landed on Dragon Soaring Wild Bull, but the sudden increase of 150 health points narrowly saved his life.

+715—Left Hand Myth’s long-awaited Holy Light Cure finally landed on Dragon Soaring Wild Bull. If not for Ye Chen’s sudden activation of the attribute aura, Wild Bull would have died.

“Left Hand Myth, what are you doing? Do you realize we almost wiped?”

“Were you doing that on purpose? Are you out of your mind?”

“If you can’t handle it, stop pretending to be so tough. Don’t think brewing a few potions makes you anything special. We don’t coddle anyone in a dungeon!”

Dragon Soaring Wild Bull had narrowly escaped death. As the team recovered, they immediately unleashed a torrent of scolding at Left Hand Myth. His face turned a deep purple; he wanted to retort, but he was clearly at fault, and he couldn’t out-argue a dozen voices. To avoid humiliating himself further, he grunted twice and let it go—but inwardly, he was seething with hatred for Ye Chen. He would have preferred Wild Bull to die rather than watch Ye Chen shine as the savior.

“Enough, enough—let’s focus on fighting, but Left Hand Myth, pay attention. If you make another mistake like this, I won’t have to kick you out—you can leave on your own.” Ye Chen waved his hand, signaling the team to concentrate on the monsters. He didn’t want to drive Left Hand Myth away just yet; the guy was still useful.

“I’m not leaving. I want to see how you clear this King’s Dungeon. This is just the beginning—don’t get too pleased with yourself.” Left Hand Myth glared, but his words made the surrounding team frown. Wasn’t he cursing everyone?

Ye Chen smiled faintly, thinking to himself that Left Hand Myth was a fool with a foul mouth. If he didn’t have some skill in potion making, he’d have been killed a hundred times already.

With the attribute aura’s help, the team’s efficiency improved significantly. The seven stone golems were soon brought down one by one. After collecting the loot, they found two pieces of excellent-quality equipment had dropped from just seven monsters—a drop rate so thrilling that everyone was excited. Ye Chen was satisfied as well, since after taking the White Tiger Pill, each stone golem gave him 8,500 experience points. Every kill moved his experience bar forward a bit.

The Rogue Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed and Dragon Soaring Star both appreciated the benefits of the White Tiger Pill. They exchanged looks, seeing excitement in each other’s eyes—especially Dragon Soaring Star, who was only level twenty-one. The White Tiger Pill was far more important to him than to the already level twenty-five rogue. If he could take three pills a day, he’d soon catch up to the leading group in levels.

“Brother Night Morning, you really are Night Skinner. Looks like all my gold coins will end up in your pocket.” Dragon Soaring Star pulled a bitter face, but his eyes were shining with excitement. As the leader of the third group, being lower level than his members was a constant pain. Now, he finally had a chance to rid himself of this misery.

“Then you’d better prepare more gold coins. I’ve got plenty more good stuff.” Ye Chen stroked his chin, thinking of the Intermediate Power Pill and Wakeful Pill—both excellent for making money.

“Brother Night Morning has more good stuff?” The Rogue Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed’s eyes lit up, asking in a low voice, “Mind sharing?”

Ye Chen smiled, “Sure.” He sent over the attributes for the Wakeful Pill and Intermediate Power Pill, and also gave one to Dragon Soaring Star.

The Rogue Who Never Leaves Empty-Handed and Dragon Soaring Star already knew about the Wakeful Pill, but the Intermediate Power Pill’s attributes startled them both: a thirty-point strength boost made them breathe faster. The rogue looked at Night Morning intently, “Star’s right—you really are Night Skinner. We should discuss business later.”

“Sure, let’s talk after the dungeon.” Ye Chen replied, then threw another black fireball at the stone golems who had returned to their positions. Seven or eight monsters rushed the team again. With their previous experience, the team fought much more steadily. Left Hand Myth, afraid of another scolding, did his job diligently, and within a few minutes, the remaining stone golems were all down.

This time, not only did two pieces of excellent equipment drop, but also a rare ascetic’s weapon. Ye Chen casually handed it to Dragon Soaring Wild Bull, the ascetic, making the bearded man beam with joy, calling Ye Chen “Brother Morning” as if he were his real brother. The other Dragon Soaring members’ opinions of Ye Chen changed dramatically. Dungeon experience and equipment were the most tangible rewards; Ye Chen had led them through the first wave of monsters in the King’s Dungeon and earned so much loot that, even if they wiped later, no one would complain. Moreover, Ye Chen’s performance won their respect—whether for his dungeon strategies or his powerful attacks, he fit the definition of a master.

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