Chapter 14: Instant Kill

“Do not act!”

Murong Dashan suddenly yelled loudly, as if he thought of some critical, urgent matter, and his face became anxious and panicked.

But he was still too late. The Steel Sword in Pig Flying at Low Altitude’s hand, who was flying at low altitude, had already made a small cut on Ye Rong’s body.

\-5.

System: The team of Pig Flying at Low Altitude attacked you. You have the right to self-defense within the next half hour.

Ye Rong’s eyes suddenly lit up—this was the moment he had been waiting for.

A Fireball, followed immediately by three Water Talismans. Unlike Fire Talismans, which had to be released one by one slowly, no matter how many Water Talismans remained in the Water Lord Talisman, the user could release multiple at once as desired.

\-8, \-40, \-40, \-40—a series of damage numbers rose from Pig Flying at Low Altitude. He flusteredly pulled a Blood Restoration Pill from his Universe Pouch to take, but three bloody wounds already splattered on his chest.

Pig Flying at Low Altitude’s body went limp, turning directly into a white light as he went to respawn, leaving behind a piece of equipment.

“Just as I thought!”

Ye Rong bent down and swiftly grabbed the equipment, then ran a few leaps out of Murong Dashan and the others’ sight.

This was an average-level team. He believed the few good pieces of equipment with additional attributes were probably on their leader. The other three likely had all trash equipment, low in both defense and Health Points.

The facts proved Ye Rong right. Wielding two Magic Treasures, he instantly killed Pig Flying at Low Altitude, not even giving him time to react and take a Blood Restoration Pill.

After running a distance, Ye Rong found a towering ancient tree, leaned against it, and stopped to catch his breath.

He glanced at the equipment dropped by that little fatty—a quaint dragon-patterned ring, but unfortunately plain without any attributes. Just as he expected, it was purely decorative and didn’t count as accessory equipment. This item would be worthless trash, not even worth a copper coin if sold in a system shop in the Starter Village.

“He got off cheap!”

Ye Rong directly threw the ring away. It took up space in his Universe Pouch and was useless anyway.

“But losing a few dozen Lifespan points should be enough to make that guy heartbroken. And I need to kill each of the other three once too!”

The calculation for Lifespan loss after death was the current Level multiplied by 10. Each Player started with a Lifespan between 800 and 1,200, randomly set when creating their character. Only after dying once would they know how much Lifespan they had left. Now that Pig Flying at Low Altitude died once, he lost at least 60 to 70 Lifespan points, equivalent to about one-tenth of his total Lifespan.

Once Lifespan was completely exhausted, if a Player died, they would directly drop one Level. For high-level Players, this was an unbearable pain.

To some extent, Lifespan was like a substitute death talisman—how could one waste it carelessly in the early stages?

Ye Rong originally didn’t want to bother with them too much; he was too busy leveling up himself. But these people, after failing to form a team, actually tried to lure monsters to kill him. That thoroughly ignited his anger. If he didn’t kill each of these four once, wouldn’t it be a waste of this half-hour self-defense right?

…

“Boss, I died and respawned at the Starter Village. Luckily, I only dropped one piece of trash equipment; the Steel Sword in my hand didn’t drop.”

Pig Flying at Low Altitude’s voice sounded in the team channel, still carrying a trace of confusion and disorientation.

“Damn, what were you doing? You couldn’t even lure a monster properly without messing up!”

Carrot Riding a Rabbit directly started cursing in the team channel. He was extremely envious of the Magic Treasures on Ye Rong and still delusionally hoped to get one for himself.

“Flying Pig, what was that person’s name?”

Murong Dashan asked in a deep voice. Because Ye Rong had chosen to hide his ID, they couldn’t see his name; only Pig Flying at Low Altitude, who was killed by Ye Rong, knew.

“His name is Yijian Kurong. He has two Magic Treasures—one Fire Talisman and one Water Talisman. Especially the Water Talisman, its attack is really high.”

“Hurry over now to support us. We’ll talk when we meet.”

“Okay.”

“Boss, what do we do now?”

“Do what? Run out first, then talk!” Murong Dashan yelled, his face ashen. “Damn, if we don’t leave now, it’ll be our turn to get surrounded by Corrupt Treants!”

Over a dozen Corrupt Treants crawled slowly. If they were any slower, they would indeed be encircled, trapping Murong Dashan and the others inside.

Ye Rong checked his Water Lord Talisman; there were still three Water Talismans left, and one would replenish in a few minutes. If used well, combined with regular attacks, there was a good chance to instantly kill another one.

“I should be able to kill Murong Dashan. He probably has a few decent pieces of equipment. It’d be best to make him drop that pointed hammer in his hand. Let’s see how he levels up without his weapon!”

Ye Rong was now sitting on a tree branch, waiting for those few to retreat from the Corrupt Treants’ territory.

He didn’t believe that, with their level and equipment, they could handle Corrupt Treants as leveling targets; it’d be lucky if they weren’t killed by them instead.

Ye Rong was no kindhearted, lenient person. “Yijian Kurong, Decides Life and Death”—back in Shushan Sword Heroes, he once took on an entire guild that provoked him, single-handedly with his sword, killing over 300 people in one go. It was this incident that made his reputation soar, putting him among the top Players in Shushan Sword Heroes.

Since Murong Dashan and the four wanted to kill him for his equipment, he was willing to waste a bit of leveling time to make them pay a heavy price.

Shen Fan narrowed his eyes, waiting with great patience. He believed it wouldn’t be long before these people came out.

Whether heading back to the Starter Village or going to other leveling spots, they would definitely have to pass through this forest path, unless these three were foolish enough to provoke Mountain Ghosts.

Level 10 Mountain Ghosts, alongside Blackwind Leopards, were among the highest-level ordinary monsters in the Starter Village area. Even Ye Rong didn’t want to bother them now. Their attack was higher than Corrupt Treants’, and their movement speed, though slightly slower than Blackwind Leopards’, was still many times faster than Corrupt Treants’. Apart from having slightly low Health Points, they had no obvious weaknesses.

It wasn’t that Ye Rong couldn’t defeat them, but facing fast-moving monsters like Mountain Ghosts, he couldn’t use the cheesy kiting method, and the consumption of Blood Restoration Pills would be too high.

“They’re coming!”

Ye Rong murmured to himself, slid down swiftly from the tree trunk, and hid in a spot with thick grass.

Murong Dashan and the other three looked somewhat dejected. Failing to harm someone and instead having a teammate instantly killed was sure to make anyone unhappy. Moreover, Lifespan was almost impossible to increase. If Pig Flying at Low Altitude had a choice, he’d probably prefer to just drop one Level.

After all, at low Levels, it didn’t take long to level up again. Using that Lifespan later at high Levels would certainly be much more worthwhile. Above Level 50, leveling up even once usually took at least ten days to half a month.