[Ding! Congratulations to player Jiang Yuan for obtaining the equipment: Kan·Luotian Biye Miao Luo Armor]
The boss of the first level, the Mutant Ant Queen, only dropped one piece of equipment, with the rest being materials and items. After the final roll point result, it landed in Jiang Yuan's backpack.
"Jiang Yuan, this seems like a warrior-class piece of equipment, right?"
Wending Cangsheng asked. Jiang Yuan nodded and immediately sent a trade request to him.
Wending Cangsheng took the equipment and, as usual, gave each team member a 50,000 dividend. Everyone received their share, their faces beaming with joy.
With the first level cleared, a spatial rift appeared again in the center of the stone chamber, leading to the second level.
One by one, the team stepped into the spatial rift and arrived at the second level, finding before them a two-story building made entirely of white marble.
The building's door was tightly shut, and a lone crane stood silently in front of it. Jiang Yuan and the others couldn't attack it and had no idea what it was for.
[Ding! Protect the crane within five minutes. If the crane dies, the challenge fails!]
Just then, a system prompt rang in everyone's ears, and a five-minute countdown interface appeared on the task panel.
Suddenly, from all directions, countless centipedes, each the size of a small dog, swarmed out, scrambling to pounce on the crane.
"Quick, everyone surround the crane and don't let it get attacked!"
Wending Cangsheng called out and rushed toward the crane. The other four quickly followed, forming a circle around the stationary crane.
The small centipedes were numerous, similar to the ants in the first level, and just like before, a massive centipede boss followed behind them.
[Mythical Boss: Seven-Tailed Centipede] Level: 130 HP: 800 million Attack: 1,000,000 Defense: 200,000
Smack!
The centipede boss's seven forked tails lashed out fiercely, striking the crane and instantly reducing its HP by 1 million. The crane let out a mournful cry, looking pained.
The crane's total HP was only 10 million. With the Seven-Tailed Centipede's attack power, it would die after just ten hits!..
"Meow! Master, what are you doing? Oh, a big centipede!"
Just then, Beiluo Shimen, who had been sleeping inside Jiang Yuan, woke up. With a flash, it emerged from Jiang Yuan, landed on the ground, and stared excitedly at the giant centipede, yowling.
"We're fighting a monster. Beiluo, will you help us?"
Jiang Yuan glanced at the petite Beiluo Shimen on the ground, smiled, and began summoning his own creatures.
"Sure! Sure! I love fighting monsters!"
Beiluo Shimen nodded happily, then shook its body, transforming into a massive white cat, about the same size as a Celestial-tier Dragon-Whisker Tiger!
"Meow!"
Beiluo Shimen vanished into thin air, reappearing by tearing through space itself, right in front of the Seven-Tailed Centipede boss.
Smack!
Beiluo Shimen swiped its paw, and a damage number of 10.35 million appeared above the boss's head!
One strike from Beiluo Shimen matched the damage output of one of Jiang Yuan's sacred beasts!
"Amazing, Beiluo, keep it up!"
Seeing Beiluo Shimen's terrifying damage, Jiang Yuan gave it a thumbs-up and praised it.
"Master, I told you I'm really strong! Meow!"
Beiluo Shimen puffed out its little chest proudly and said to Jiang Yuan.
"I can't even match the damage of one of Jiang Yuan's pets. How depressing! Boohoo!"
Chuangshi Xiaoyun drew her bow, fired an arrow at the boss, dealing 6 million damage, then looked at the gap between herself and Beiluo Shimen, sighed, and put a hand to her forehead in dismay.
After finishing the Huanyue dungeon, under Ding Ye's guidance, Chuangshi Xiaoyun had upgraded her golden body, equipment, soul level, and realm, boosting her critical damage several times over. Her output had made a qualitative leap, so she'd been confident this time, ready to shine in front of everyone. But who knew a cat would steal the spotlight again!
"Xiaoyun, your damage is already impressive. No need to sell yourself short."
Seeing Chuangshi Xiaoyun's displeased expression, Jiang Yuan quickly turned to her and offered some comfort.
"Brother Jiang Yuan is right. Xiaoyun, you've grown fast. You're already an indispensable core damage dealer in our team!"
As Jiang Yuan finished, Wending Cangsheng chimed in, affirming Chuangshi Xiaoyun's role in the team, which slightly lifted her spirits.
Ding Ye, Chuangshi Xiaoyun's number one admirer, stayed silent, fully focused on tanking the boss. The boss's attack was incredibly high; if Ding Ye hadn't taken a potion boosting damage reduction by 20% and relied on his "Taunt" skill's 50% damage reduction, he wouldn't have lasted more than a few hits.
Jiang Yuan summoned 10,000 Sand River Turtles, used the "Summon Evolution" skill to merge them into a Celestial-tier Sand River Turtle, and placed it beside Ding Ye to help taunt the boss, preventing any sudden aggro shifts that could wipe out the rest of the team.
"Don't stop using your artifact skills. Ding Ye, hold the aggro and get ready for a damage burst."
Wending Cangsheng activated his artifact [Qiankun Qingguang Ring], landing a heavy blow on the boss's head to apply a defense-breaking debuff, then said in the team channel.
"Carefree Dream!" "Huazhang Starfall!" "Suppress Immortal Strike!"
Hearing Wending Cangsheng's cue, Ding Ye, Cangshu Buding, and Jiang Yuan each activated their artifacts, hurling them at the boss to stack various debuffs, then unleashed their strongest damage skills!
"Phoenix Cry Imperial Slash!" "Armor-Piercing God-Slaying Arrow!" "Black Tortoise Art: Flood the Eight Wastelands!" "Vermilion Bird Art: Blazing Blood Feathers!" "White Tiger Art: White Tiger Seven-Kill Sword!"
After a round of burst skills, the Seven-Tailed Centipede boss's HP dropped to 380 million. Then, something unexpected happened. Just as Jiang Yuan shouted the White Tiger sacred beast's art skill, the boss's HP bar suddenly halved again, dropping to just over 190 million!
"Holy crap! What the hell? Why did the boss's HP drop so much?"
Ding Ye, being closest, saw it clearly—the boss's HP was now under 200 million!
"My White Tiger sacred beast's art skill triggered its probability, cutting the boss's current HP by 50%. I thought the 10% chance would be hard to activate, but it worked this time! Hahaha!"
Jiang Yuan excitedly shouted in the team channel.
"A 10% chance and you still triggered it? That's something!"
Wending Cangsheng smiled at Jiang Yuan with narrowed eyes. Cutting nearly 200 million HP off the boss saved the team a huge amount of time, laying a solid foundation for a smooth victory!