Chapter Twenty: The Sword Qi

“Damn! Another top-tier item—your luck is absolutely insane!” Yang Qi stared at Feiyan’s stats in disbelief, but she quickly pursed her lips. “What good is a blade bow if you don’t have any arrows? Without arrows, what exactly are you going to shoot at the boss?”

“...” Lin Zheng fell silent. Indeed, as a sword-fighter, he was terribly unqualified! A blade bow—he didn’t really use it; well, he did keep one in his bag just in case. But arrows? He had never even thought to buy any! After all, a sword-fighter was still a ranged class, and not preparing the essential consumables for an archer was absurd. Suddenly, Lin Zheng’s eyes brightened with realization, and he grinned proudly. “No worries, I have this!” He brandished his dagger.

Yang Qi’s expression soured immediately, a black line appearing across her forehead. She snapped, “Have you been reading too many wuxia novels? This is a game world, not some place where you can just shoot anything. Let me see you try shooting that!”

“Whoosh—” Lin Zheng responded with action rather than words. The golden energy bowstring trembled slightly as the dagger transformed into a streak of golden light, flying toward a nearby mutated ice elemental. “Bang!” The dagger struck, and a damage number of -1277 floated up instantly. Even Lin Zheng himself was stunned by the damage! It was impossible—Feiyan’s attack cap was only 160. Even with “Arrow Mastery” and “String Edge” bonuses, that would only boost attack power by about 20%. There was no way it could deal such high damage!

“Damn! How did you manage to shoot a dagger like an arrow? And what’s with this insane damage?!” Yang Qi gawked in shock.

“I have a skill called Arrow Mastery. It lets me shoot anything and adds 10% attack damage. But this damage...” Lin Zheng glanced at the dagger returning to his hand. Could it be... “Wait, let me test something!” He put the dagger back in his bag and pulled out a bronze sword. Looking at the mutated ice elemental that had just been pulled over, Lin Zheng drew the energy bowstring and shot the sword like an arrow. “Bang!” It hit again, and -825 damage appeared above the elemental’s head. Now Lin Zheng understood!

“I get it. When using Arrow Mastery, the attributes of the projectile are also added to the attack!” Lin Zheng exclaimed with delight.

“So it’s like equipping an extra weapon! Damn! This skill is broken!” Yang Qi’s disbelief was evident, then she paused thoughtfully and said, “Actually, it makes sense. Who’d be rich enough to use full weapons as arrows all the time? But combined with your dagger, this skill is completely overpowered! A weapon that automatically returns—whoever designed this skill probably never imagined this scenario!”

“So this isn’t considered a bug?” Lin Zheng asked, a bit worried.

Yang Qi shook her head. “Of course not. The arrows don’t just vanish once shot; they return to you—assuming they’re not picked up by others. Your dagger just skips the whole retrieval process, reducing the risk of losing equipment without harming anyone else’s interests. According to Phantom Spirit’s rules, that’s not a bug.”

“Well, that’s a relief!” Lin Zheng brightened, proudly brandishing the dagger. “Hehe! From now on, I’m a powerful ranged damage dealer too!”

“You definitely are!” Yang Qi didn’t dampen his enthusiasm this time. Feiyan already had a respectable attack cap, and with this broken newbie dagger, even the best archers in Frost City wouldn’t out-range him.

“Ugh—what are you guys talking about? I don’t understand a word!” Little Meng, completely out of the loop, groaned in frustration. “You should pay a little more attention to us—we’re about to become just random passersby!”

“Are you not one?” Lin Zheng looked at Little Meng, surprised.

“Ah! You stinky brother! Bad brother! Always bullying me!” Little Meng immediately went wild, throwing punches and kicks at Lin Zheng, making everyone laugh heartily.

“Hehe! Alright, jokes over, you scoundrel. What’s the battle plan?” Lin Zheng teased before getting serious.

“You’ll kite the boss and hold its aggro. To be safe, Yuxi, you should constantly use ice bombs to slow the boss down. Since it’s ice-elemental, it might have high resistance to slows, so manage it carefully. Little Meng and I will attack from behind. If the boss ever loses aggro on the Shaman, Little Meng, run away immediately. Then I’ll tank for a bit until the Shaman reclaims aggro. Your life depends on you, Lilith!”

“No problem! As long as Lilith lives, the *healing* won’t stop!” Lilith pounded her chest confidently, her ample bosom trembling so much it made Yang Qi dizzy. She’d thought she was big, but next to Lilith, she wasn’t even close. Feeling conflicted, Yang Qi looked away and added, “This boss is sizable, so kite space will be large. We need to clear the small mobs in this cave first.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s kill all the small mobs and then the boss!”

“Yeah!” They nodded in agreement, and the doom of the mutated ice elementals began.

...

Because the mutated ice elementals had high attack, large-scale crowd control was impossible, so their kills were much slower than before. But the experience was rich, and everyone enjoyed the fight. Nearly two hours later, the mutated ice elementals on the third floor were wiped out, and their levels rose again! Yang Qi was level 32, Lilith 29, Yuxi 30, Little Meng 28, and Lin Zheng reached level 27. With all the mobs cleared, it was time to fight the boss!

“Focus up. This boss hits really hard. One mistake, and someone dies!” Yang Qi emphasized the danger. Seeing everyone nod in understanding, she took a deep breath and shouted, “Charge!” Yang Qi, Lin Zheng, and Little Meng all rushed forward.

“Low kick!” Bang! Lin Zheng struck the boss’s leg. As his foot landed, “Stomp!” Boom! -723 and -697 damage numbers appeared in quick succession. The boss roared in anger.

“Lowly invaders! You will pay for your foolishness with your lives!” The boss bellowed, raising its giant sword, which flickered with blue light—clearly a deadly strike! After hitting the boss twice, Lin Zheng was already prepared to dodge. He sprinted a few steps, but the boss’s giant sword whistled down, grazing his back and slamming into the ground. Just as Lin Zheng exhaled in relief, a tremendous force blasted him backward, and his health instantly dropped by eighty percent!

Battle report: Frost Crystal Sword Spirit used Ice Sword Qi, dealing 2500 damage!

...

“Shh—” Lin Zheng gasped sharply as he hit the ground. That move was brutal—he’d nearly been one-shot! Lilith’s healing light cascaded down, quickly restoring him to full health. Seeing the boss, still in shattered bone state, slowly advance, Lin Zheng scrambled up and drew Feiyan to start kiting. “Bang!” An arrow shot out, dealing -827 damage. At this moment, Yang Qi and Little Meng also engaged. The boss’s aggro was locked on Lin Zheng, making it hard for the others to draw attention, so they safely chopped away behind the boss.

The 10-second shattered bone debuff expired, and the boss’s speed suddenly surged, even surpassing Lin Zheng’s! This was bad. Yang Qi panicked, about to shout when Yuxi’s ice bomb “pop!” hit the boss, slowing it again. Yang Qi finally relaxed and resumed hacking alongside Little Meng. Everything was going smoothly. Lin Zheng’s kiting and Yuxi’s ice bombs kept the boss tightly controlled, its health steadily dropping, seemingly destined to be worn down to death.

But plans rarely survive contact with reality. An accident—or perhaps fate.

Lin Zheng missed his shot. His agility wasn’t high; misses were normal. The boss ignored the missed arrow and instantly aggroed on Yang Qi and Little Meng, who were still attacking. “Roar—shameless ambushers! Taste my blade!” The boss turned and swung its sword, blue light flashing ominously. Yang Qi knew the danger well—Lin Zheng’s thick health had almost been wiped out, and a critical hit here would be fatal.

Little Meng obediently dodged as the boss turned. Yang Qi struck a furious slash, drawing major aggro to protect Little Meng, who was much squishier and would be instantly killed otherwise. After her slash, Yang Qi quickly moved out of the giant sword’s range, estimating the Ice Sword Qi was a two-hit skill. The sword strike’s damage was probably huge, but the sword qi itself could be tanked.

However, Yang Qi’s shock came when the Ice Sword Qi hit her—not only did it not knock her back, it froze her solid! The Ice Sword Qi had a freezing effect! Everyone’s faces changed instantly.

“Damn! Scoundrel, hold on!” Lin Zheng shouted, rushing to the boss. Lilith quickly cast healing, restoring Yang Qi’s depleted health. But the boss stepped forward again and swung its sword at Yang Qi—-890 damage. Thankfully, it was a normal attack, but her health was critically low and couldn’t withstand a second blow. At this critical moment, Little Meng charged in.

“Flame Slash!” Little Meng shouted, striking the boss. “Bang!” A burst of flames erupted, and a massive critical damage of -1580 appeared over the boss’s head. This huge hit immediately drew the boss’s aggro away from Yang Qi, saving her from crisis.

“Well done, Little Meng!” Lin Zheng praised as he neared the boss, switching his weapon from Feiyan to the dagger. He leapt and unleashed “Explosion!” His flaming kick struck the boss’s back fiercely. “Boom!” The boss was sent flying, taking a critical -7450 damage, crashing heavily into the cave wall and losing another 1400 health. Meanwhile, Yang Qi emerged from the freeze, visibly shaken.

“Damn! Almost got wrecked in the gutter—didn’t expect Ice Sword Qi to freeze!” Yang Qi said gloomily.

“Hehe! Thank me! I drew the boss’s aggro and saved you!” Little Meng grinned proudly, basking in the credit. Yang Qi was frustrated—saved but now burdened. Oh well, a simple thank you wouldn’t hurt.

“Thanks, Little Meng!”