Chapter Ninety-Six: Slaying Feng Wuxue

Feng Wuxue waited where he stood for five minutes, yet Ye Chen still did not reveal himself. Though a little impatient, he was certain Ye Chen had not left. Just as his stealth was about to run out, he darted a few steps into the woods and crouched amid a patch of weeds. This was his tried-and-true method for ambushing enemies. No opponent would notice so many inconspicuous clumps of grass; with only an instant, he could vanish into stealth again.

Ye Chen, hot on Feng Wuxue’s heels, had followed him to the very weeds where he crouched. Seeing the grass shake, how could he not guess what the man was thinking? A cold sneer rose in his heart. Feng Wuxue was simply unlucky. Using such petty tricks in front of him was no different from asking for a beating.

Stealth was about to be解除. Feng Wuxue fixed his eyes on the countdown: three, two, one. The effect ended, and he was already preparing to vanish again. But before he could even begin, a purplish-red beam struck his body.

"Ding. Player Night Morning has used Confusion on you. This player is under free retaliation status against you, and no sin value will be incurred."

"Damn it!" Feng Wuxue’s body sprang involuntarily out of the weeds, and he happened to see Ye Chen behind him, smiling coldly. His expression changed at once; his face went deathly pale. He had always believed Fierce Tiger Blood Blade said Ye Chen could break stealth only to cover up his own failure. Especially after he successfully ambushed Cold Blade for the first time, he had become even more convinced of his opinion. Of course, he did not know the first time had merely been because Ye Chen had failed to mark him.

Seeing Feng Wuxue hit, Ye Chen felt a surge of delight, but with only three seconds, he did not dare waste a moment. Once those three seconds passed, Feng Wuxue would surely flee in stealth if the tide turned against him. At once, Ye Chen began chanting the spell for Black Dragon Break.

Two seconds later, as a black magic dragon coalesced before Ye Chen, Feng Wuxue’s face went as white as ash. He only had time to leave behind one sentence: "Kid, I’ll be back again!" Then he was blown into flying cinders by the roaring miniature black dragon.

Watching Feng Wuxue dissolve into white light and disappear, Ye Chen let out a deep breath of relief. The first thief of Flame Mountain City was the strongest enemy he had encountered since entering the game. If not for 2058’s help, he would long since have died beneath Feng Wuxue’s blade. Most shocking of all was that this fellow could actually dodge his Black Fireball.

He stepped forward and picked up the silver necklace Feng Wuxue had dropped. Seeing the full thirty-five points of vitality it added, Ye Chen was overjoyed. He could already clearly feel that his health was no longer enough; against strong foes, that was far too dangerous. With this necklace, his health would finally break through seven hundred points. From now on, whether fighting or dueling, he would be much safer.

Speaking of killing Feng Wuxue, the first thief of Flame Mountain City, besides 2058’s assistance, there was also an element of luck. If Feng Wuxue had not abandoned close-range combat, Ye Chen would already be a corpse by now. 2058’s tactical guidance was indeed miraculous, but it consumed far too much energy. It was like dancing on a tightrope; one wrong step meant death. When Feng Wuxue retreated, Ye Chen had already begun to falter. Unfortunately, the man had had his confidence shattered by Ye Chen and died with grievances unavenged.

After calming his emotions a little, Ye Chen looked at the backpack full of top-tier equipment and began trembling with excitement again. Nineteen pieces—an entire nineteen pieces of bronze-grade equipment or above. Two sets of bronze mage gear, four bronze rings, two bronze necklaces, a bronze staff, a silver staff, and Feng Wuxue’s dropped silver necklace on top of that. My heavens, what an enormous fortune. He could hardly breathe. No, he had to hurry back to the city; if Rainless Blood or Thunderless Blood appeared next, that would be troublesome.

At once, he tore open a city-return scroll. White light flashed, and he returned directly to Flame Mountain City.

After walking out of the teleportation array, it was already past two in the morning, yet Ye Chen felt no sleepiness at all. Staring at the equipment in his backpack, he stood by the roadside grinning stupidly, so much so that the players passing by all thought he was insane. Only when a communication prompt sounded by his ear did Ye Chen finally return to normal.

"Brother Night Morning, have you returned to the city? The little brothers have been waiting so long that the flowers have all withered." It was Hate Heaven High’s voice. These dwarfs still had not received their chance for revenge, and one by one they had been glaring at each other in the city for more than half an hour. If not for Worthy Monk vouching for them, they would have gone mad from not getting their money.

"Come to the South City Warehouse. I’ll wait for you there." Ye Chen ended the communication and headed for the warehouse not far away. With a backpack full of good gear, he certainly could not keep wearing it around or carry it on his person.

Hate Heaven High and the others had not arrived yet, so Ye Chen carefully examined the bronze set pieces dropped by Left Hand Myth and Spirit Fox God Moon. Left Hand Myth’s set was called Radiant Aria. As for its defense, there was no need to mention it; the full set was nearly a hundred points higher than Ye Chen’s rare Dark Demon Set. Its attributes were intelligence plus vitality, which explained why that fellow had so much health. The bonus attribute was excellent as well: holy-light magic power increased by ten percent. That was no ordinary property; it meant a holy priest’s attack skills and healing skills were both ten percent stronger than normal. If this equipment were sold, it would definitely fetch a great price. Priests and tanks were the cornerstones of a team, and good gear for these two classes was always in short supply. However, Ye Chen did not intend to sell it. If this sort of thing were equipped on the priest girls in the studio, the team’s survivability would surely rise by a large margin, helping make up for his own absence from the group.

The set dropped by Spirit Fox God Moon was called Paradise Solanka. At first, Ye Chen had pinned great hopes on it, wishing it would be a bronze set suitable for his own use. But after looking it over, he could not help feeling depressed. Though Paradise Solanka was not exclusive to a hidden class, its bonus attribute was specifically for boosting the healing output of a holy priest. Healing magic power increased by ten percent. It was even less useful than Left Hand Myth’s Radiant Aria. Presumably this equipment had been obtained before Spirit Fox God Moon changed to a hidden class.

After all that effort, both of the two impressive bronze sets turned out to be useless to him. That left Ye Chen feeling rather dejected. Looking at the four bronze rings, their attributes were all quite good, but none were as good as the ones he was currently wearing. As for necklaces, with Feng Wuxue’s silver-grade Sagittarius Vitality Necklace in hand, the remaining bronze pieces had become all but useless. As for weapons, Spirit Fox God Moon’s bronze staff was not even worth a glance from Ye Chen. Left Hand Myth’s silver staff was decent enough, but even if one ran a horse after it, it still could not catch up with his golden Abyss Staff.

After looking everything over, he found that aside from Feng Wuxue’s silver necklace, not a single item was of any use to him. After thinking it through, the two bronze sets had overlapping attributes, so keeping one for the studio would be enough. The other could be sold for money. As for the bronze rings and necklaces, he would ask the ladies tomorrow for their opinions; if the studio did not need them, he would simply sell them for cash. The silver staff would be the same.

He threw every piece of equipment in his backpack into the warehouse. Although it was a little regrettable that he could not use them himself, Left Hand Myth and Spirit Fox God Moon were probably crying their hearts out by now. The pain of one’s enemies is one’s own happiness. Building joy upon an enemy’s misery left Ye Chen very pleased indeed.