Chapter 45: Forced Assembly

"Whoa—! Sister Yang, this weapon of yours is way too overpowered!?" Lan Xiran exclaimed in absolute shock upon seeing the attributes of the Bixie Sword for the very first time! Let alone him, even Lin Zheng and the others, who had already seen the Bixie Sword, were thoroughly astonished! Its maximum attack cap had more than doubled, its bonus attributes had increased significantly, and the most shameless part was that it had literally pirated the swordsman's signature skill, "True Flame Slash"!

"You bandit!" Lin Zheng gritted his teeth as he glared at a deliriously ecstatic Yang琪. Such an amazing weapon made him green with envy, jealousy, and hatred! To top it all off, this very sword was actually a gift from Lin Zheng, which made it even more depressing! "I hereby declare! Anything dropped by the Boss from now on has nothing to do with you! If you're not convinced, let's settle this with a real-life solo match!"

"Crap! I despise you!" Yang琪 said with a look of dissatisfaction, though she immediately brightened up again. The Bixie Sword had been upgraded, so missing out on the Boss's loot didn't matter at all anymore! Besides, a real-life solo match? How could a weak, delicate maiden like her possibly be a match for a beast like Lin Zheng?!

After the shock brought by the Bixie Sword, the group was much more composed when facing the Boss's remaining loot. No matter how incredible it was, it was still just a Dark Gold Boss. The rare Purple-Gold weapon had already been devoured by Yang琪's Bixie Sword, so the chances of anything dropping that surpassed a Purple-Gold item were practically close to zero! Lin Zheng remained the designated looter. The pile of gold coins scattered all over the ground was temporarily ignored by everyone, and all eyes were fixed on the items dropped by the Boss, which included a sword, a pair of shoes, a cloak, and a golden skill book.

Lin Zheng picked up the sword first. It was a rapier, with a blade barely an inch wide, pristine white all over, and a hilt styled like a white-robed angel, looking extremely magnificent! Xiao Meng fell in love with it the moment she laid eyes on it and desperately wanted to snatch it right out of Lin Zheng's hands! However, the moment Lin Zheng displayed the sword's stats, Xiao Meng instantly wilted!

Liturgist's Ceremonial Rapier: Level Requirement 40, Dark Gold Weapon Appearance (Priest)
Erudite: Skill Effects +30%
Prudent: Skill Resource Consumption -30%
Discrete: Skill Channeling Time -30%
Proper Attire: Armor Effects +10%
Benevolent: Reduces Monster Aggro by 50%
Lufeng's Ceremonial Rapier — Turns out Undead Lords can be liturgists too
……

Xiao Meng whimpered a few times and complained bitterly, "Why is it just a weapon appearance? This is driving me crazy!"

"Without a doubt, this belongs to Lilith!" Lin Zheng said with an amused smile at the frustrated Xiao Meng. Lilith smiled with genuine delight and accepted the ceremonial rapier from Lin Zheng's hands, though her level wasn't high enough yet to use it immediately. To distract Xiao Meng from her disappointment, Lin Zheng picked up the second item: the shoes.

Exquisite Dance: Level Requirement 60, Dark Gold Equipment
Physical Defense 260, Magical Defense 280
Vitality: Vitality +42
Agility: Agility +40

Brisk: Movement Speed +7%
Lightweight: Physical Damage Reduction 30%
Graceful: When moving, non-boss monsters will not actively attack the wearer
Attached Skill: Exquisite Dance
Exquisite and skilled in dance, with graceful postures. When dancing, birds and beasts alike will fall under her spell
……

This was a pair of cloth armor boots with a lovely name and terrifyingly powerful stats! Even though Xiao Meng's eyes were twinkling with stars as she looked at them, she doted on Yuxi even more than herself, so she happily snatched the shoes without a single grievance and handed them over to Yuxi. As for when Yuxi would be able to wear them, that wasn't something Xiao Meng cared about—she would be able to use them eventually anyway! Besides, she had already set her mind on her next goal: that remaining gorgeous white cloak had to be hers! Seeing her eagerness, Lin Zheng chuckled and tossed the cloak to her without even looking at its stats. Xiao Meng happily caught the cloak and checked its attributes—

Moonlit Cloak: Level Requirement 55, Gold Equipment
Physical Defense 245, Magical Defense 250
Strength: Strength +29
Vitality: Vitality +35
Insight: Evasion Rate +4%
Self-Healing: Regenerates 1% of Max HP per second
……

As expected, it was a truly formidable piece of equipment! A Level 55 Gold cloak—while its grade wasn't top-tier, cloak-type equipment was extremely rare, making its value no less than that of ordinary Dark Gold gear! Xiao Meng hugged the cloak happily, though she was also quite troubled. It required Level 55 to equip, and since she had just hit Level 40, she was still way too far away from Level 55!

Ignoring the troubled Xiao Meng, Lin Zheng picked up the final item dropped by the Boss—the skill book. Glancing at the skill book casually, Lin Zheng instantly froze!

Forced Assembly: A skill comprehended exclusively by Swordfighters. It forcibly assembles an additional sword- or blade-type weapon with the currently equipped sword- or blade-type weapon into a Blade Bow. The resulting Blade Bow will possess a portion of the additional weapon's attributes. The weapons can be reverted using a dismantling skill.

When Yang琪 saw this skill, she was utterly shocked! She couldn't help but scream out, "Are you kidding me!? This skill is way too absurd! Forcibly assembling two pieces into one—doesn't that mean having one more weapon equipped than everyone else?!"

"Look closely, it's a portion of the attributes! A portion!" Lin Zheng emphasized. "It's not as exaggerated as you're making it sound!"

"That's still ridiculous enough!" Yang琪 shouted. "Hurry up and learn it so we can see what the actual effect is!"

"Hold on! There's another Swordfighter right here!" Lin Zheng pointed at Lan Xiran. According to team principles, quietly hogging the skill book for himself at this moment wouldn't be playing by the rules. Yang琪 paused and looked at Lan Xiran. This kid had been leeching XP the whole time, causing her to almost forget that such a person existed. Indeed, according to game party rules, Lan Xiran had every right to roll for this book!

Lan Xiran blinked innocently and said, "Why are you looking at me? I'm already super happy that you guys are carrying me to level up, so you don't need to count me in for the loot! Besides, I'm definitely not going to snatch something my big brother can use!"

"Such a good boy!" Lilith happily hugged the sensible Xiran. This was what a truly harmonious party should look like!

Since there were no competitors left, Lin Zheng no longer stood on ceremony. He opened the skill book, learned it, and then checked the skill description—

Forced Assembly: Un-upgradable. Forcibly assembles an additional sword- or blade-type weapon with the currently equipped sword- or blade-type weapon into a Blade Bow. The resulting Blade Bow will possess all bonus attributes and 10% of the base attack of the additional weapon. The weapons can be reverted using a dismantling skill. (The weapon used for assembly must meet the wearer's level requirement.)

When Lin Zheng announced the skill effects, everyone clicked their tongues in awe. This skill was simply too overpowered!

"Looks like you'll have to hunt for sword- and blade-type weapons from now on, otherwise this skill would go to waste!" Yang琪 remarked with a sigh.

"Yeah!" Lin Zheng nodded, then stared at Yang琪 with a mischievous glint in his eye. "I was thinking the same thing!"

"Crap!" Yang琪 immediately hugged the Bixie Sword tightly. Lin Zheng figured she probably wouldn't protect her own child with that much urgency! "You are not allowed to plot against it!"

"Hehe—" Lin Zheng didn't reply, just offered a string of evil grins that scared Yang琪 so much she almost unequipped the Bixie Sword and shoved it back into her inventory!

"Alright, stop clowning around! Be careful not to accidentally unequip the Bixie Sword just like that, because then you'll have to wait until level 50 to equip it again, and you'll be kicking yourself!" Lin Zheng scolded Yang琪 with a glare.

"Are you really not plotting against it?" Yang琪 asked suspiciously. Lin Zheng rolled his eyes directly—this girl was actually taking it seriously. "If you say another word, I really *will* plot against it!"

"I despise you, you can't play like this!" Yang琪 said with a sigh of relief, which sent Lilith and Xiao Meng into fits of laughter. Yang琪, this beauty, was truly something else; sometimes she was as sharp as a spirit, and other times she was as clueless as a pig! Lin Zheng was left completely speechless—this woman was an absolute rare specimen!