"Oh, right! There are still two random Mythical Equipment chests in my backpack. Let's see if I can get another piece of the Heavenly Punishment set!"
Jiang Yuan suddenly recalled, quickly opened his backpack, and found the Level 85 Mythical Equipment Random Chest stored inside. After silently reciting "Buddha bless me" a few times, he chose to open it.
"Ding! Congratulations! You have obtained the Mythical Equipment: Ice-Fire Dual Polarity Divine Bow!"
Opening the first chest, Jiang Yuan's face fell with disappointment upon hearing the prompt. He glanced at it casually and found it was a weapon usable only by Sharpshooters at Level 85.
"Boundless Heavenly Lord, Jade Emperor bless me!" "Amitabha, Buddha bless me!" "Amen, Jesus bless me!" "Hallelujah, God bless me!"
Staring at the last Mythical Equipment Random Chest in his backpack, Jiang Yuan clasped his hands together, pleading with every deity he knew, before cautiously opening the second chest.
"Ding! Congratulations! You have obtained the Mythical Equipment: Sun-Eclipsing Gloomless Shoulder Guard!"
Whether it was Jiang Yuan's prayers working or sheer dumb luck, the last Mythical Equipment Random Chest actually yielded another piece of the [Heavenly Punishment] set!
"Wahaha!"
After checking the equipment's stats, Jiang Yuan was overjoyed. This shoulder guard was the third piece of the [Heavenly Punishment] set!
Quickly equipping both items, Jiang Yuan eagerly opened his equipment panel.
[Heavenly Punishment Set: Sun-Eclipsing Gloomless Shoulder Guard] Level: 85 Class Requirement: Summoner HP +1000 MP +1000 Defense +350 Stamina +25 Tenacity +25 Light Resistance +20 Special Effect: When hit by light-based attacks, there is a 10% chance to negate damage.
[Heavenly Punishment Set: Shadow-Severing Sorrow Belt] Level: 85 Class Requirement: Summoner HP +750 MP +750 Defense +300 Intelligence +25 Spirit +25 Tenacity +25 Dark Resistance +20 Special Effect: When hit, there is a 10% chance to increase defense by 300 points.
Individually, each piece of the [Heavenly Punishment] set didn't have outstanding stats, but once all five pieces were collected to activate the set bonus, it would leap several tiers in power!
"Ding! You will be teleported out of the dungeon in 300 seconds!"
Hearing the system prompt, Jiang Yuan quickly picked up all the blue and purple equipment on the ground. Though they weren't worth much, as a frugal student used to pinching pennies, he could still sell them at the auction house for a few hundred or thousand game coins.
Soon, the light pillars on the ground vanished, leaving the area empty. As the countdown ended, Jiang Yuan and Meow Meow's figures grew ethereal, reappearing beside the NPC "Ye Qiguang," who was responsible for opening dungeons.
At that moment, players still swarmed around Ye Qiguang looking for teams. When they noticed a player named "Jiang Yuan" suddenly appear, they connected it to the server-wide announcement they'd seen earlier and instantly realized this was the super expert who solo-cleared a 40-player raid. They surged forward, surrounding Jiang Yuan.
"Expert, take me along! I'll pay top dollar!" "Please, expert, carry me through! Price is negotiable!" "Handsome, run a dungeon with me? Add my WeChat, we can even get wild offline!"
...
"Sorry, excuse me, let me through!"
Bombarded by a crowd of Level 60+ players, Jiang Yuan's head spun. He struggled to push through the crowd and fled through a gap!
"Jiang Yuan, where are you now? I heard you cleared the large raid. Our guild is willing to pay a high price for the dungeon guide!"
Just as Jiang Yuan escaped to a quiet spot, he received a message from the guild leader of the Dingding Guild, Dingding Cangsheng.
"Brother, no need to be so formal. It's just a guide. I'll send it over soon."
Jiang Yuan quickly replied, then casually opened a digital document and wrote a detailed guide for the dungeon, especially reminding them of the key points when facing the second boss, "Altar Guardian."
After sending the guide via mail to Dingding Cangsheng, Jiang Yuan rushed to the auction house, listed the dozens of blue and purple items and the Sharpshooter's Mythical weapon, then found an NPC to decompose all the unusable Epic equipment, cleaning out his backpack thoroughly.
After decomposing the Epic gear from other classes, Jiang Yuan found two Epic skill books in his backpack. One was for Warriors, which he planned to give to his best friend Ding Ye, and the other was for Summoners, which he could use himself.
"Ding! Congratulations! You have obtained the Epic Passive Skill: Summon Beast Enhancement!"
Summon Beast Enhancement: Enhances the power of all summoned beasts around you. At max level, increases attack by 20%, HP by 20%, and defense by 40%. Level Requirement: 70
Reading the skill description, Jiang Yuan was overjoyed! Boosting the power of his summoned beasts meant indirectly boosting himself, especially since he had the skill "Soul Sacrifice," which allowed him to stack their stats onto his own!
"Ding! Congratulations! You have successfully learned the skill: Summon Beast Enhancement!"
Hearing the prompt, Jiang Yuan opened his skill panel. A golden "+" icon now appeared above the "Summon Beast Enhancement" skill, indicating he could level it up.
Jiang Yuan immediately clicked the "+" to raise the skill by one level, then checked its description.
Summon Beast Enhancement: Enhances the power of all summoned beasts around you. At max level, increases attack by 20%, HP by 20%, and defense by 40%. Skill Level: 1, increases attack by 4%, HP by 4%, and defense by 8%. Next Level Requirement: Level 75.
Jiang Yuan did a quick mental calculation. At Level 90, he could max out this skill!
"Swish, swish, swish!"
Jiang Yuan pumped the skill to max level in one go, then also learned the Level 90 skill to summon Dragon Beard Tiger. He promptly summoned one.
[Jiang Yuan's Summon: Dragon Beard Tiger] Level: 90 HP: Defense: Attack:
"Th-this... is this too OP?"
Looking at the Dragon Beard Tiger's stats, amplified twice (Super Mythical passive boosting by 10 times, Summon Beast Enhancement boosting HP by 20%, attack by 20%, defense by 40%), Jiang Yuan stood dumbfounded!
A single Dragon Beard Tiger's stats rivaled the Level 50 boss Zombie King from the Yin Wind Valley, and Jiang Yuan could summon a full ten thousand of them!
"Does that mean I'm basically carrying a ten-thousand-strong boss army with me now?"
At this thought, Jiang Yuan's entire body began to tremble involuntarily.
Carefully examining the Dragon Beard Tiger before him, Jiang Yuan's face lit up with a satisfied smile, like a father looking at his daughter. Without exaggeration, the Dragon Beard Tiger was the coolest summon he currently possessed!
The beast's nearly five-meter-long body displayed perfect curves, covered in a layer of bright cyan dragon scales like armor! On its massive tiger head, a dark gold "King" character mark faintly glowed, and two flowing dragon whiskers on either side of its jaw swayed in the wind, majestic and imposing!
"Damn, that's cool!"
The more Jiang Yuan looked, the more he liked it. As a male player, he'd dreamed of having a pet or mount like this!
"Giddyup!"
In a burst of excitement, Jiang Yuan swung onto the Dragon Beard Tiger's back and began strolling through Peace City.
"Wow! Look, that guy's mount is so cool!"
Along the way, many female players turned their heads, admiration shining in their eyes as they whispered to each other. The words reached Jiang Yuan's ears, nearly making him float off the Dragon Beard Tiger's back!
Zipping through most of Peace City, Jiang Yuan soaked up the envious stares of passersby. But in a moment of carelessness, the Dragon Beard Tiger's summon time expired, and Jiang Yuan fell from mid-air, landing face-first in the mud.
He scrambled up quickly, brushed off the dirt, and glanced around nervously. Luckily, the area was quiet, and few had seen his clumsy fall.
"Ding! Server Announcement: Congratulations to the team 'Dingding Guild Recruiting Strong Players' for clearing the dungeon Lost Land. Raid Leader: Dingding Cangsheng!"
Just then, a server-wide broadcast rang in Jiang Yuan's ears.
"The Dingding Guild cleared it that fast?"
Jiang Yuan checked the time. Less than an hour had passed since he'd sent them the guide, while he himself had taken nearly a whole day to clear the dungeon!
"Brother, congratulations!"
Jiang Yuan immediately sent a congratulatory message to Dingding Cangsheng, who quickly replied: "Haha! Thanks to your detailed guide, brother. But we still wiped a few times on the second boss. Oh, and I've already sent the guide fee to your account. Also, I have a piece of equipment you might find useful. Where are you now? I'll have someone deliver it!"
Jiang Yuan briefly left the game, grabbed his phone from the computer desk, and saw a transfer of two thousand yuan had come in. He thought to himself that the Dingding Guild was indeed loaded—a simple dungeon guide had earned him two months' living expenses!
"Thanks a lot, bro. We're in the same guild, so just say if you need anything. No need to be so formal!"
Back in the game, Jiang Yuan replied to Dingding Cangsheng with gratitude and sent his current coordinates.
Soon, an Assassin player from the Dingding Guild, using a speed-boosting skill, rushed over to Jiang Yuan and initiated a trade request.
"Ding! Player Dingding Yinci requests to trade with you. Do you accept?"
The system prompt sounded, and Jiang Yuan immediately clicked accept. A trade window appeared above their heads, and the other player placed a pair of Mythical boots in the trade slot.
[Heavenly Punishment Set: Leisurely Cloud-Walking Short Boots] Level: 85 Class Requirement: Summoner Defense +150 Movement Speed +6% Intelligence +25 Spirit +25 Fire Resistance +20 Special Effect: When worn, increases movement speed of all players within a 30-meter radius by 15%.
"Holy crap!"
Seeing the boots' info in the trade window, Jiang Yuan nearly jumped for joy. The equipment Dingding Cangsheng had sent was the fourth piece of the [Heavenly Punishment] set!
"Wait for me a moment!"
Instead of pressing the trade button, Jiang Yuan closed the dialog and dashed to the auction house. He forcibly delisted the [Ice-Fire Dual Polarity Divine Bow], losing tens of thousands of gold in fees, then returned to the waiting Dingding Guild Assassin and initiated a trade request.
"Please give this equipment to the guild leader as a thank-you gift from me, Jiang Yuan."
Jiang Yuan placed the Mythical bow in the trade slot, clicked confirm, and said to the player.
"Got it, Expert Jiang Yuan!"
After the trade completed, the player bowed respectfully to Jiang Yuan and left. Jiang Yuan immediately equipped the [Leisurely Cloud-Walking Short Boots]!
Now, Jiang Yuan had collected four-fifths of the [Heavenly Punishment] set, needing just one more piece to activate the set bonus!