Chapter 21: Troll Priest

Li Yao watched as the people of the Shengshi Dynasty began to leave, regretting a little as he jumped down from the tree, realizing he was out of Exploding Sheep.

Just as the Beast Speaker had predicted, battling in the jungle both protected and limited Li Yao.

The dense trees and shrubs required good angles for long-distance shooting, and shooting opportunities were often fleeting.

Especially since they had figured this out, finding good cover was difficult. Even though he was higher leveled, if controlled even for a bit, he would be overwhelmed by countless attacks.

"My power base is insufficient, I must speed up the process. It may be dangerous to obtain that object at level five, but the risk is worth taking." Li Yao frowned as he made a certain decision, an adventurous plan, but first he needed to secure the mine. Without the copper mine, everything would be in vain.

If he couldn't become proficient in engineering, having the mechanical blueprint wouldn't be enough without sufficient metal to build. Realizing this, he understood that he had many tasks to complete.

"Jia Jia, right? The people of Shengshi have been driven off. You can level up safely now." Li Yao sent a private message via the Children of the Stars system.

"Thank you, since you're my brother's friend, let me invite you over for a meal next time you come home." Li Jia joyfully responded.

"Alright, there will be a chance." Li Yao noted that it was already dusk in the game and said, "Leave it here?"

"Um." Li Jia hesitantly replied, "It's like this, my classmate Driplet has a mission that requires defeating a boss. Could you help us out? Of course, if you're busy you can ignore this."

Hearing Li Jia's slightly restrained request, Li Yao showed a slight smile. When his sister had an issue, even if he was out of time, he would make time.

"Kill a boss? Sure, but let me make this clear. I do not want any mission items, but any Hunter items that drop are mine. Ask her if she agrees. If so, I'll come, if not, let it be."

This was a general rule when asking for help. If he didn't mention this, it would be suspicious.

On the other hand, when Li Jia mentioned Li Yao's condition, Longyou Sihai's face darkened. He was a Hunter. If Hunter items dropped and Li Yao took them, what would he get?

"Who does he think he is? Why should he make such a demand? We in the Qionghua Club lack many things, but we are not short of experts." Longyou Sihai complained.

Li Jia's best friend Driplet whispered, "Qionghua's president Xuemei personally led a team and failed, you know."

Dragon's face changed, "Okay, even president Xuemei failed, then who does he think he is? Do you believe Xuemei is inferior to the Starfire?"

Fleeting Beauty calmly said, "There is no shame in being less skilled than others. You can learn and catch up. But if you cannot even acknowledge this and see yourself clearly, then that's the most significant problem."

Longyou Sihai's face turned red instantly. He was eager to help because he liked Fleeting Beauty. It was rumored that Fleeting Beauty's words were more valuable than the club manager's and president's, which was why he pursued her.

Fleeting Beauty had made her stance clear with her words, but he pretended not to understand and dared not object. He became silent.

"He indeed qualifies." Sighed Fleeting Beauty, "I just received the news that Starfire wiped out a team from Shengshi. The poorest few have already dropped from level four to level one. And the team was led by the Beast Speaker."

"Even a team led by the Beast Speaker was wiped out, this..." Dragon could no longer argue. He had been poached from Shengshi to Qionghua, so he was well aware of the Beast Speaker's power. Although he wasn't the leader, his words carried more weight than the leader's. The strategies for team matches, guild wars, and even the squad competition, were all credited to his brain.

"Zhao Long, if you feel aggrieved, you can level up first. After all, the threat from Shengshi's people is gone." Fleeting Beauty said. Qionghua valued honor and was always striving. Otherwise, they would not have sought external help in times of danger.

"No, I'm fine, I don't even need the equipment." Dragon couldn't leave. He had finally persuaded Fleeting Beauty's sister, i.e. Li Jia's best friend Driplet, to seek his help in times of danger. Otherwise, he wouldn't even have had the qualification to stay by Fleeting Beauty's side and practice.

"Jia Jia, please invite your brother's friend over. Tell him we agree with the rules, and he can also be the team leader." Fleeting Beauty instructed.

"Okay." Li Jia contacted Li Yao again.

After about ten minutes, Li Yao met up with a few people.

Driplet pointed at a group of small bonfires in the distance, saying, "The one sitting by the bonfire is the target of my mission, a level four boss. It's too hard to kill."

Li Yao looked in the direction she pointed at, spotting a troll roasting meat by the bonfire, a smile crossing his face.

The hatred between Trolls and the High Elves could be traced back to ancient times. The Troll Empire once defeated the Insect Empire and began to dominate most of the mainland.

The elves were originally unified, strictly speaking, they were also a branch of Trolls. These were known as the Dark Trolls, but their habitat was around the Eternal Well.

The Eternal Well was a source of energy left by the Creator God Titan on the ancient continent, continuously absorbing energy from the void of Outland and nourishing this beautiful land.

The significant energy fluctuations also changed the Dark Trolls. After a long time, they became different from the Trolls, and were later renamed Children of the Stars, that is, Dark Elves.

Latterly, the Elves defeated the Troll Empire to become the rulers of the world. After a long time, the continent shattered due to an unprecedented war and the Elves split apart.

The High Elves were exiled. The High Elves came to the East Continent to thrive, whereas the Forest Trolls barely managed to survive here.

Even so, they were not opponents for the exiled High Elves. The High Elves allied with humans to fight against the Trolls and defeated the Trolls.

That was how the High Elf Kingdom was established. As the defense system of Sunwell was put in place, the High Elf Kingdom gradually stabilized, constantly squeezing the living space of the Trolls.

Thousands of years had passed, and though there were no significant wars between the two factions, minor confrontations continued to unfurl.

The task that Little Raindrop had was to take down the low-level Priest Skakir who had trespassed on High Elf territory.

"I guess you must have already tried. Tell me about the boss's skills and the situation you encountered," Li Yao, who had already seen the boss's data, said.

In his previous life, this boss was famous, ranked as one of the top ten nightmare bosses to the lower-level players. It had a nasty reputation. Adventurers trying to level up or complete quests in this area would often end in tragedy.

This enemy was notoriously difficult to defeat. It was a nightmare for the lower level players. The boss's attributes increased along with the number of attackers, making it terrifying. This meant that quantity over quality was not useful here.

Yet, because it dropped a piece of gear, it became a punching bag years after the game was launched. Players took it down, often within half a day, every week after it refreshed.

Fleeting Time said, "Let me explain it. The Qionghua Club tried three times yesterday. The most successful attempt was when they managed to reduce its health to 60% before failing. In the first 50% of its health, the boss would summon two level four cobras every ten seconds. We could handle its Lightning Arrow attack spell. But when its health was cut in half, it transformed into a colossal cobra. It then used Toxic Breath and Poison Fog attacks, which we couldn't withstand."

"Did you try using low-level antidote potions?" Li Yao asked.

Dragon Across the Four Seas said, resented, "Things you can think of, don't you think our strategy team would have tried? If antidote potions worked, we could have handled it ourselves."

"If you could solve it by yourselves, why would you need me?" Li Yao said dryly, then turning around and spoke seriously, "Now I'm the team leader. If you want to get past this boss, listen to me. You can make suggestions. Otherwise, don't mention irrelevant things unless I ask. If you don't like the idea, I can easily step out."

"Zhao Long, don't forget the rules of Qionghua Club, there won't be a next time," Fleeting Time said harshly, glaring at her little sister. Her naive sister accepted whatever was said, even if it was Fleeting Time, the club's boss, ensuring people's cooperation. It was just wasteful to misuse club resources. Fleeting Time began to despise Zhao Long, who was exploiting her ignorant younger sister, no matter what the reason was.

"I promise there won't be a next time."

"Good, that's what a large club should look like." Li Yao pondered for a moment before saying, "We need one more healer."

"Adding another healer will transform us into a team, resulting in an increase in the boss's health," Little Raindrop mumbled.

"In a five-man team, how do you plan to win with four damage dealers?" Li Yao asked rhetorically.

Dragon Across the Four Seas cleared his throat and said, "Considering our ability to defeat the boss, I think Sweet Dreams should exit the team first and come back after we've slain the boss."

"Then I'll leave the party first," Li Jia said softly, her voice hinted at disappointment.

"Well, I came here for Li Jia's sake. Why should I help you guys if she quits the team?" Li Yao scoffed. "Although we are both Hunters, I doubt your effectiveness."

"You doubt me? I am a professional player!" Dragon Across the Four Seas became infuriated.

"So what if you're a professional player? If you don't believe me, choose to compete in DPS or PvP." Li Yao sneered. Dragging an eSport player around, the one who sideline chasing girls and worked as someone else's sidekick without realizing that the girl he was chasing was the club's boss, was simply a fool asking for death.

Dragon Across the Four Seas was seething, wanting to challenge Li Yao to a duel, but he knew it would give Fleeting Time a bad impression. Also, he doubted that he could be a match for him in a fight. After all, Li Yao had single-handedly wiped out a team. Who knew what other tricks he had up his sleeve?

"Zhao Long, you can join operation team 2 in the future. I will tell Snow Plum about this." Fleeting Time also became furious but didn't show her anger. Turning to Li Yao, she said, "I invited a Paladin who knows two healing spells, and gives King's blessing. They are hardy, stronger than a Priest. What do you think?"

Dragon Across the Four Seas turned pale, hating Li Yao even more.

"That works." Li Yao led the group around and found a small valley before saying, "Wait for me here. I will pull the boss over to this spot."

"Why here? Is there anything special about this place?" The group was doubtful. It looked just as desolate as the hillside where they had stood earlier.

"You'll see."

Seeing the female Paladin named Blue Dream arrive, Li Yao quickly ran towards the boss.

Li Yao stopped at a distance of more than 150 yards, changed to a heavy crossbow, and quickly loaded a steel arrow.

Then, he slowly aimed at Skakir, who was having his dinner. After aiming, he gently pulled the trigger.

Whirr...

A steel arrow, accompanied by a whistling sound, plunged into Skakir's back.

A scream came from Skakir's mouth as his body tumbled away unprepared.

-86

A large damage number floated up.

The troll priest who had got up saw Li Yao and roared angrily, "Damn elf, you're looking for trouble."

Li Yao put the heavy crossbow back into his bag and started running...