Chapter 57: Evolution, Dark Skeleton King!
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[Ding~ Congratulations! You have acquired a new pet: [Golden Skeleton King]]
Zhang Yue quickly bent down, sweeping up the mountain of loot dropped by the Skeleton King into his inventory.
As he turned around, he witnessed Su Jinyan being slain by Pei Qi, her body vanishing in a flash of white light.
In front of him, the members of Supreme Guild were being slaughtered mercilessly, desperately trying to hold back the assassin mercenaries.
At that moment, an unprecedented fury ignited in Zhang Yue's heart—rage like he had never felt before.
But he knew that now was not the time for revenge.
Despite gaining combat experience from the Skeleton King, Zhang Yue remained stuck at level 24.
As Pei Qi, having killed Su Jinyan, charged towards him with alarming speed, Zhang Yue, who had turned back to a white name after the ten-minute cooldown, clutched the return scroll Su Jinyan had handed him earlier and crushed it.
A ten-second countdown appeared above his head.
Just as Pei Qi's blade came within a step of reaching him, the countdown finished.
Whoosh!
Zhang Yue disappeared in a flash of white light.
"So close! Damn it!" Pei Qi cursed, his sword slashing through thin air.
At the same time, Pei Qi noticed something strange. "Where did the boss's corpse go?"
On the battlefield, all of Supreme Guild's professionals had been wiped out under the combined onslaught of the assassin mercenaries and Yan Yu Pavilion.
When Pei Qi returned to his team, Chen Jun immediately berated him, shouting, "Are you deaf, or just stupid? I told you not to touch that woman, and you went ahead and killed her?!"
"And not only that, you let the boss's loot get stolen, and let that guy escape! What good are you?!"
Before Chen Jun could finish his tirade, Pei Qi swiftly drew his sword and struck Chen Jun, sending him crashing to the ground. In "lock health" mode, which prevents killing blows, Chen Jun's health was instantly reduced to a single point.
Pei Qi pressed a boot onto Chen Jun's chest.
The surrounding members of Yan Yu Pavilion, watching their guild leader being trampled, dared not utter a word.
Panic filled Chen Jun's face. "Y-you kill me, and your daughter is done for!"
"I told you already," Pei Qi said coldly, "kill Zhang Yue for me, and I'll release your daughter."
Chen Jun quickly followed up, "Listen, that guy just took down a level-28, 3-star boss and got all the loot. His power must have increased a lot! If you miss this chance, it'll be even harder to kill him next time!"
Pei Qi remained indifferent. "I can kill him whenever I want. It's as easy as snapping my fingers."
"But let me remind you again—if you so much as touch my daughter, I'll tear you to pieces."
With that, the assassin mercenaries and Yan Yu Pavilion began clearing the battlefield, gathering the spoils of war.
Meanwhile, Liu Yao, hiding in a nearby crevice, was utterly dumbfounded when he saw Zhang Yue teleport away with the return scroll.
"My... my brother ran?!"
He couldn't believe it—Zhang Yue had actually abandoned everyone in Supreme Guild, leaving them to die after fighting for him, and fled on his own.
Liu Yao's emotions were like a rollercoaster, crashing from the heights of hope down into despair.
As he watched all his guildmates being killed, Liu Yao clenched his teeth in frustration, anger and sorrow flooding his heart.
But he was also filled with terror. If anyone found him now, he'd be dead for sure!
Huddled in fear, Liu Yao shakily pulled out a return scroll and quietly prepared to escape.
But, as Murphy's Law dictates, the more you fear something, the more likely it is to happen.
Just as the countdown was about to end, a hand suddenly shot into the crevice, yanking Liu Yao out by force!
"Boss! I found a straggler!"
The knight from the assassin mercenaries roughly threw Liu Yao onto the ground.
Without even looking, Pei Qi said, "Kill him."
"Wait!"
Liu Yao cried out in panic, "Spare me! I'm Liu Yao!"
"Liu Yao?" Hearing the name, Chen Jun shouted, "Hold on! Don't kill him yet!"
Chen Jun approached Liu Yao, staring at him as a plan began to form in his mind...
---
Zhang Yue returned to the Holy Light Cemetery using the teleport scroll.
The first thing he did was find the gravekeeper NPC, Galva, and turn in his quest.
Ding~ Congratulations! You have completed the hidden quest: [Hunt the Skeleton King]. You receive: 500,000 EXP, 500 defense points for the cemetery, 10 gold coins, 100 million energy, [Necromancer Set] (level 25, 2-star full set, class selectable) +1, skill book of choice +2, elite pet eggs +3!
Whoosh!
A golden light showered down on Zhang Yue as his level finally reached 25!
Zhang Yue opened his pet inventory and examined his new acquisition: the [Golden Skeleton King]. Not only had it reached elite status, but its stats were far superior to other elite pets!
Seeing how powerful the Golden Skeleton King was, Zhang Yue immediately felt that his Silver Armored Scorpion wasn't so impressive anymore.
Since a beast tamer can only deploy one pet before reaching level 30 and advancing, Zhang Yue used the [Inheritance] function to transfer all the experience from his Silver Armored Scorpion to the Golden Skeleton King, leveling it from 0 to 21 in an instant.
Ding~ Congratulations! Your pet [Golden Skeleton King] has inherited the skill [Charge] from your [Silver Armored Scorpion]!
Ding~ Congratulations! Your pet [Golden Skeleton King] has learned a new skill during leveling: [Golden Sword Array]!
Ding~ Congratulations! Your pet [Golden Skeleton King] has learned a new skill during leveling: [King's Body]!
With manual leveling enabled, Zhang Yue then poured the remaining 420,000 experience points he had into the Golden Skeleton King, pushing its level up another four levels, from 21 to 25!
Now, Zhang Yue realized that between grinding monsters, harvesting kills, and evolving his pets, along with the three elite pet eggs he'd just received from the quest, he had accumulated nine elite pet feed items!
"I only need one more to evolve the Golden Skeleton King from elite to rare!"
Muttering this to himself, Zhang Yue silently turned his gaze toward the Silver Armored Scorpion.
"Sorry, little guy."
Ding~ Your pet [Golden Skeleton King] has devoured the pet [Blazing Zombie] (elite), evolution value +1, current evolution value: 1/10.
Ding…
Ding~ Your pet [Golden Skeleton King] has devoured the pet [Silver Armored Scorpion] (elite), evolution value +1, current evolution value: 10/10! Congratulations! Your pet [Golden Skeleton King] (elite) has evolved into [Dark Skeleton King] (rare). Next evolution requires the consumption of 10 rare pets!
Whoosh!
The faint golden glow surrounding the Skeleton King was instantly shrouded in a dark aura, raising its presence to a whole new level!
Zhang Yue then opened his inventory, took out the full set of the [Necromancer Set] selection box, and chose his class: Warrior.
Ding~ Congratulations! You have obtained [Necromancer Set: Warrior] (level 25, 2-star full set) +1!
Additionally, using four more necromancer equipment selection boxes, along with previously obtained pieces, Zhang Yue completed another set: [Necromancer Set: Beast Tamer]!
Now fully equipped, both Zhang Yue and the Dark Skeleton King were geared up.
He then spent over 10 million energy refining both necromancer sets, upgrading them to golden attributes with a single click!
Whoosh!
Zhang Yue and the Dark Skeleton King now radiated the golden glow of premium equipment, instantly attracting the attention of several nearby players.
But just before anyone could get a good look, Zhang Yue quickly deactivated the visual effects.
Baffled, the onlookers murmured:
"What was that? Did something just flash by like a welding torch?"
"Maybe I'm just seeing things…"
After upgrading, Zhang Yue checked the stats of his necromancer gear (this chapter contains 1,500 extra words compared to usual, feel free to skip the stat breakdown if you're not into numbers).
---
Fully outfitted, Zhang Yue's stats skyrocketed, with magic attack surging to 909 and health reaching over 2,700!
And now, with the rare-tier Dark Skeleton King equipped with its gold-tier necromancer set, its physical attack hit 600, with defense surpassing 500 and HP skyrocketing past 6,000!
And since Zhang Yue's gear boosts his pet's attributes by 20%, the Skeleton King's attack could hit 700, with defense at 600+ and health breaking 7,000+!
As a warrior-type pet, the Dark Skeleton King was far tougher and more versatile than the Silver Armored Scorpion, excelling in both attack and defense!
Just as Zhang Yue finished equipping his new gear, the local chat in the Holy Light Cemetery zone flared up with a taunt:
[Yan Yu Pavilion, General] (Level 21 Elite Royal Archer): "Zhang Yue, why don't you come back to the City of Death and check on your brother? Liu Yao's currently licking my boots!"
[Yan Yu Pavilion, General]: "But never mind, someone as cowardly and spineless as you probably wouldn't dare come. If you had any guts, you wouldn't have run off with the boss loot just now!"
[Yan Yu Pavilion, General]: "Supreme Guild members fought tooth and nail for you, even Su Jinyan died for you, and all you did was run away? Go on, hide in the safe zone for the rest of your life, you pathetic coward!"
Zhang Yue opened his chat window and typed a short message.
[Zero] (identity hidden): "Touch Liu Yao, and I will kill you."
Just then, Su Jinyan sent Zhang Yue a direct message: "Zhang Yue, don't go!"
Zhang Yue responded, "I'm going to avenge you."
With that, Zhang Yue closed his messages, left the Holy Light Cemetery, and began heading back toward the City of Death.
Meanwhile, back at the City of Death.
Liu Yao, who was being trampled and humiliated under Chen Jun's foot, had already sunk into despair.
But seeing Zhang Yue's message pop up in the zone chat rekindled a sliver of hope. Overcome with emotion, tears streamed from his eyes as he whimpered, "Big bro...
please, save me..."
Chen Jun, seeing Zhang Yue's response, chuckled. "A little taunt, and he fell right into the trap. What an idiot."
He turned to Pei Qi and the others. "Get ready. He's coming. This time, make sure to kill him!"
Pei Qi wiped his gleaming sword and scoffed, "For a weak beast tamer like him, we don't need a trap."
Ten minutes later, Zhang Yue arrived at the City of Death.
He immediately saw a large group of Supreme Guild members, gathered outside the city, negotiating with Chen Jun and Pei Qi.
There was also a crowd of bystanders, players who had come from the nearby wild zones to watch the spectacle.
Li Xiaoyao, sitting at the front of the Supreme Guild crowd, called out to Pei Qi, "Release our guild leader. His family is loaded. Name your price-whether it's millions or tens of millions, we can pay."
Fearing that Pei Qi might be tempted, Chen Jun quickly interjected, "Think about it- what's more important to you, your daughter, or the money?"
Pei Qi then turned to the members of Supreme Guild. "Hand over the beast tamer, and I'll release your leader."
"You know full well he's not coming," Li Xiaoyao said calmly, adjusting his glasses. "Name another condition. We'll agree to it."
Just as he finished speaking, a figure cloaked in a black robe stepped out from the Supreme Guild crowd.
"I'm here," Zhang Yue said.
"Now, release him."
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