【This chapter was supposed to be updated today, and there will be two more chapters added later... I can't handle it when someone gives me 40,000起点币 as a reward.】
After the Ghost-faced Spider was eliminated, the Water Cold Sword and the Yue Ling Sword slightly recovered some of their shield energy. The next wave of enemies, the Yuan Kui, rushed forward again. This time, over twenty desert wolves attacked. Unlike the wolves in the "Yue Wang Gou Jian" dungeon, these twenty desert wolves were much stronger and could spit fireballs, making them fall into the category of magical beasts.
Moreover, among the attacking desert wolves, there was a powerful wolf king. A wolf pack with a wolf king and one without a wolf king were fundamentally different concepts.
Without a wolf king, the wolf pack would have already charged forward in a chaotic attack, with no strategy. But with a wolf king, the pack's attacks became orderly and varied, even capable of forming formations... like now.
Under the wolf king's command, the twenty or so desert wolves did not recklessly attack. Instead, they formed several formations, facing off against Yue Wang and the other three sword maidens, taking no action. This wolf king seemed to be assessing the abilities of Yue Wang and the others, deciding on the appropriate tactics.
Water Cold tightened her grip on the Water Cold Sword. The wolf king's blood-red eyes exuded a murderous and threatening aura, making Water Cold's pores stand on end.
"This is a fierce enemy, a brutal battle!" Water Cold thought to herself, mobilizing all her strength. She knew this battle would not be as simple as the previous ones.
"Ow!" The wolf king suddenly howled, and Water Cold's heart raced. It seemed the wolf pack was about to attack.
Sure enough, as soon as the wolf king's howl echoed, eight of the desert wolves split off into pairs, each heading toward Water Cold, Gu Han, Yue Wang, and Yue Ling's positions!
Two desert wolves quickly engaged Water Cold. These wolves were incredibly fast and had good attacks. Working in pairs, they were very coordinated. Although they couldn't break through Water Cold's close-range shield immediately, their纠缠 made it difficult for Water Cold to move and support others.
"Why hasn't the wolf king sent all his forces?" Water Cold wondered. Two desert wolves were already giving her a hard time. If the rest of the wolves joined in, she would be in real trouble!
Soon, Water Cold's confusion was resolved. The remaining dozen or so desert wolves were not idle; they just didn't need to engage in close combat.
The dozen or so desert wolves opened their mouths, and in each of their mouths, a red energy fireball was gathering power.
"Oh no, they're going to focus their fireballs on us!" Water Cold immediately understood the wolf pack's plan. They first sent part of the pack to separate and entangle each sword maiden, restricting their movement. Then, the remaining wolves would use their fireballs to focus on one of them!
This was similar to how players fought bosses, with the main tank holding the boss and drawing its hate, while ranged classes like mages and hunters focused their attacks to quickly take down the boss... except now, the players were the bosses, being eliminated by the monsters using the same strategy.
By the time Water Cold figured this out, the desert wolves' fireballs were almost ready to be launched. What made Water Cold even more terrified was that the dozen or so desert wolves' mouths were all aimed at her position.
"Oh no!" Water Cold gasped, knowing that a dozen fireballs would leave her severely injured, if not dead, and might even deplete her already half-empty shield energy!
"It's too late..." Water Cold desperately slashed at the two desert wolves entangling her, then dived to the ground, burying her face to try to avoid the fireballs.
"One second, two seconds, three seconds... Wait, why haven't the fireballs hit me yet?" Water Cold wondered, cautiously raising her head. She was then stunned to see that Gu Han, whom she had considered a burden, had somehow charged into the group of wolves preparing to fire, striking each one with a perfect, explosive blow. Occasionally, a critical hit would appear.
In Water Cold's eyes, Gu Han was like a surfer gliding effortlessly through the wolf pack, each movement resulting in the death of a desert wolf. Even the enraged wolf king, facing Gu Han, only lasted a few more strikes before becoming a corpse, sucked back into the secondary dimension by the dimensional vortex. The entire process was as smooth as a musical performance, seamless and unbroken.
Compared to when he fought the wolves in the "Yue Wang Gou Jian" dungeon, Gu Han's damage output, fluidity of movement, and the strangeness of his sword techniques were far superior. This was not surprising, as at that time, Gu Han relied on human attributes. Now, he had been enhanced with half of Yue Wang's attributes, making a significant difference in combat effectiveness.
After clearing the wolves, Gu Han casually dispatched the two desert wolves near Water Cold, patted her shoulder, and praised her, "You did well, knowing that lying down was the best choice. The next wave of attacks won't come for another ten minutes or so. You can rest and try to fully recover your shield energy."
This left Water Cold unsure of how to react. A human she had completely looked down upon and despised was now showing such strength, patting her shoulder, and praising her... Should she just find a cliff and jump off?
As Water Cold felt ashamed, the previously quiet Chao Tian Palace suddenly erupted in chaos, with the sound of objects being smashed and people being scolded, indicating a significant disturbance.
"Could the ghost wave have come early?" Gu Han's face darkened. After warning Yue Wang and the others not to leave their positions, he quickly ran back into the Chao Tian Palace.
Among the Yuan Kui attacking the Chao Tian Palace, there was a wave of ghost Yuan Kui. They were silent and无形, almost impossible to detect without a magical sword maiden.
These ghosts couldn't directly attack anyone; their bodies had no offensive capabilities. However, they could possess the bodies of human NPCs, controlling them to harm others.
This was a very difficult wave to defend against. No matter how well the outer defense was set up, the survivors inside the Chao Tian Palace couldn't handle the sudden attacks from their own people. Many players had failed at this stage, with over a dozen survivors being killed before the ghosts were finally cleared.
When Gu Han noticed the significant disturbance inside the Chao Tian Palace, he assumed the ghost wave had come early... If so, there should already be casualties inside, and Gu Han's SSS rating goal would be in jeopardy.
Fortunately, when Gu Han entered the Chao Tian Palace, there were no casualties. Only an old man was smashing various items inside, with a group of Taoists following behind, trying to persuade him, but none daring to stop him.
The person who made the Taoists hesitate was none other than the old Taoist who was a generation senior to Rumi, whom Gu Han had knocked out with a sword strike. The other Taoists were his disciples and grand-disciples, none of whom dared to stop him, allowing him to vent his anger freely inside the Chao Tian Palace.
"You useless bunch! I raised you to this size, and you let an outsider knock out your great-uncle in the scripture hall! What good are you? Go and bring that person to me now, I need to teach him a lesson! Do people these days even remember to respect the elderly and care for the young?" The old man was raging inside the Chao Tian Palace, loudly scolding his disciples and grand-disciples, who all hung their heads, saying nothing, and let him berate them.
"Arrogant old coffin!" Seeing this, Gu Han regretted not hitting him harder, wishing he had knocked him into a vegetative state to avoid this noise.
The old man heard Gu Han's voice, turned his head, and saw his enemy standing before him. He immediately flew into a rage, pointing at the young Taoists behind him and ordering, "You few, bring that brat to me!"
The young Taoists looked at the old Taoist, then at Gu Han, feeling caught between a rock and a hard place. In theory, they should have firmly followed the great-uncle's orders. However, this person was not just anyone; he was a sword bearer sent by the Yanjing Base City, and the survival of the seven hundred people in the Chao Tian Palace depended on Gu Han. If they angered him, he could withdraw the support forces with a word.
Moreover, they had clearly seen the battle outside. Without Gu Han and Yue Wang, their three sword maidens would not have lasted long and would have been defeated, leading to their deaths. Therefore, they could not afford to anger Gu Han.
Thus, the young Taoists wisely chose to be like turtles, retracting their heads.
Rumi was the only one qualified to calm the old Taoist. He patted the old Taoist's back, repeatedly saying, "Calm down, don't take it out on a child. He did it for your own good, to protect your safety," trying to soothe the old Taoist's anger.
The old Taoist's actions made Gu Han very angry. He was just a broken NPC, why was he acting so high and mighty! However, the situation seemed to be calming down, so Gu Han held back, deciding to let it go. He walked up to Rumi and said, "Watch over everyone here. If there's any trouble, we'll all be dead!"
After saying this, Gu Han turned and left, unwilling to stay in the crowded Chao Tian Palace any longer.
But unexpectedly, the old Taoist was still upset. Seeing that Gu Han had no intention of apologizing, he loudly cursed, "You ungrateful brat, born without a mother..."