Chapter 186: The Leveled-Up NPC

“The attributes of this Heavenly One Mystic Ice Banner are different from my original one, with two new abilities added.”

Trail-breaking Pony unfurled the completed Heavenly One Mystic Ice Banner and set it to display mode for others to see.

Compared to the previous banner, using the Ice Crane as the banner’s Essence Spirit had added two new attributes: Flight Speed +50 and the ability to lay down a Frost Breath field.

“Go back to Bolang Isle and find Taoist Nun Min to accept the next Heavenly One Profound Ice Banner crafting task. I’ll wait for you here.”

“Okay!”

Trail-breaking Pony responded firmly. If they could keep up this kind of efficiency, even gathering a complete Heavenly One Profound Ice Banner Array shouldn’t be a problem, and wouldn’t take much longer at all.

Ye Rong had nothing to do. Seeing Sea Cranes spawn near him, he killed them with a single sword strike. If he encountered Ice Cranes, he’d use his Sword Light to form a circle, trapping them without killing them.

He had a good idea. Trap several dozen Ice Cranes first. As soon as Trail-breaking Pony returned after accepting the task, they could kill these Ice Cranes, capture their Essence Spirits, and craft another Heavenly One Mystic Ice Banner right away.

Dealing with these Sea Cranes took only two or three sword strikes for Ye Rong. A few players, annoyed that he was taking over their grinding spots and wanting to confront him, changed their minds after witnessing this.

Since he wasn’t hogging many monsters anyway, why bother picking a fight with an expert? I’ll just find another spot to grind. That was the common reaction among those players, leaving Ye Rong undisturbed.

“Hmm, seems this method works. Maybe I should expand my range a bit more?”

A loop of Sword Light held several Ice Cranes firmly in place, denying them any chance to flap their wings and take flight. Relying on just his other Sword Light and Chongxu Sword Qi was enough for him to handle the other Sea Cranes.

However, even while killing Sea Cranes and trapping Ice Cranes, Ye Rong kept part of his attention focused on the ongoing battle on the other side of the island, where players were besieging a Sect NPC. The fight still seemed to be intense.

His own current task was effortless, so splitting his attention elsewhere wasn’t a problem and wouldn’t affect him much.

“Such useless fellows. They’ve been fighting for so long and still haven’t finished off that minor Sect’s Sect Leader NPC. Even letting Trail-breaking Pony bring his team would probably perform a bit better and take out the opponent. Focused development overseas is definitely the right move; the level of competition is just weaker here. Far better than facing a behemoth like the Shushan Sword Alliance.”

The weaker these Player Organizations were, the more it suited Ye Rong’s hopes and plans. Less resistance meant greater ease of success.

“What’s happening? That Giant Sword Sect’s Sect Leader is getting fiercer the longer the fight goes on. Something’s not right. Did he take some kind of potent little blue pill? Pfft! No, he leveled up from killing too many players!”

He saw two players chopped into scattered light by a blow from the Giant Sword Sect Leader’s massive blade. Immediately after, a white flash of light enveloped the NPC – the very familiar level-up aura that instantly refilled his Qi and Blood Energy. By killing so many players, this Sect Leader NPC had actually gained two full levels and had now become a Level 60 Elite Tier NPC.

The critical part was the setting that restored an NPC’s HP and Qi to full upon leveling up. This dealt a huge blow to the morale of the besieging players.

No matter how thick an NPC’s HP was, if the level gap wasn’t astronomical, sustained player Zerg-tactics would eventually whittle it down. But this Sect Leader NPC’s starting level wasn’t particularly high. After killing several players in succession, he leveled up, earning himself a second wind.

This time, just as he neared death, he managed to kill two more players and leveled up again. These two consecutive setbacks severely shook the players’ confidence. They began to wonder if they could actually kill this Giant Sword Sect Leader at all.

“Truly useless! They can’t even grasp basic Zerg-tactics properly. Players are actually turning tail, fleeing like cowards, and getting killed without putting up a fight? Is this even a Faction?”

Absurd scenes unfolded one after another. After leveling up, the Giant Sword Sect Leader seemed to master a new Dao Spell. With a wave of his hand, a gigantic golden-armored titan appeared behind him, radiating divine majesty.

The golden titan wielded a long spear. Its sweeping strikes, wherever aimed, resulted in countless spear afterimages, throwing the attacking players’ formation into chaos. Incredibly, players facing the Giant Sword Sect Leader head-on started running away, as if terrified. The Sect Leader smashed one fleeing player with his door-plate-sized giant sword, blasting him into scattered light.

“Giant Whale Gang, you’re utterly useless! You fight and kill this NPC every single day, yet this happens!”

This island wasn’t monopolized by one Faction. Three Factions had joined forces to drive off competitors. The rights to these Giant Sword Sect NPCs rotated between them, each having their turn at kills.

These super-small sect NPCs – if they hadn’t been unlucky enough to get noticed early by players – could level up close to Level 100 given three to five months of development. They wouldn’t just be punching bag cash cows. But being killed right upon respawning daily denied them any growth chance, leaving them ever weaker.

Today, for unknown reasons, the Giant Whale Gang took too long trying to kill this Sect Leader. The other two Factions naturally mocked them mercilessly for some amusement.

They didn’t see the leveled-up Giant Sword Sect Leader as a real threat either. Level 60? So what? His Flying Sword and Magic Treasures were still poor stuff. If the Giant Whale Gang couldn’t handle it, letting them take over was the ideal outcome. Swordfish Gang and Four Seas Gang higher-ups taunted the Giant Whale Gang, their tones dripping with schadenfreude.

“Don’t struggle if you can’t manage. Both our gangs have hands free; we can help!” While the three Factions had a cooperative alliance, it was purely an expedient compromise due to mutual inability to oust the others. Each secretly would prefer driving the other two away and monopolizing the island.

“BullXXXX! Screw off! Our Giant Whale Gang…”

Players from the opposing sides quickly escalated into shouting matches and vicious personal insults, soon filling the air with furious curses.

Ye Rong could tell the problem: the Giant Whale Gang seemed to miss several key members, drastically reducing their damage output and causing this embarrassment.

Eventually, a bearded man apparently leading the Giant Whale Gang roared commands, steadying his forces and successfully re-surrounding the Giant Sword Sect Leader.

“The intelligence of an Elite Tier NPC is just low. A Rare Grade one would have sprinted off long ago rather than stubbornly clash with players here. A Legendary Grade one might even pull off deep tactics like ambushes, feigned withdrawals, or luring support to wipe out.”

Ye Rong stopped attacking the Sea Cranes beside him. He gathered his full focus, switching to his trusty Casting Snow sword. He held it ready, poised to strike, building momentum for a decisive blow.

His aim was to seize the opportunity for the fiercest possible attack and steal the kill on this Giant Sword Sect Leader NPC.

He sensed he wasn’t the only one with this plan. At least three or four players nearby, likely experts from the Swordfish Gang and Four Seas Gang, were similarly poised. Like him, they hoped to let others tire the target and snatch the prize Giant Whale Gang.

No matter how ferocious the Giant Sword Sect Leader was, facing hundreds of burly fighter players was too much. The awe-inspiring, divine-like golden titan shattered into countless fragments under the relentless onslaught. Then the leader himself began to lose HP rapidly, covered in layers of debilitating debuffs.

He went from ruddy-faced, to deathly pale, to sickly green – a veritable masterclass in ghastly color changes.

Thud!

A massive hammer flew from somewhere unknown, crashing into the Sect Leader. He vomited blood violently and was sent flying backward.

Seeing this, the players intensified their frantic Sword Light bombardment. The dazzling radiance was almost blinding.

“It’s time. Now!”

Ye Rong’s expression flickered. A cascading sword light, pure as frost and snow, poured down like a torrent from the Milky Way itself. It smashed squarely into the Giant Sword Sect Leader’s chest–

At practically the same instant – separated by mere milliseconds – several other dazzling beams struck the Sect Leader from different directions, blasting him utterly beyond dead.

The difference was: within Ye Rong’s icy torrent hid a brilliant white gleam – his Chongxu Sword Qi.

In the moment he struck, even he himself couldn’t guarantee he’d snag the final blow. Snatching a monster kill from hundreds of hands was incredibly difficult. Even the strongest expert could only improve their chances slightly, never guaranteeing 100% success. Unless one was truly powerful enough to one-shot monsters of this level outright, making the concept of “kill-stealing” irrelevant, let alone worrying about timing the blow.

“Got it!”

The moment the System message – “Successfully killed Giant Sword Sect Leader XXX” – flashed before his eyes, Ye Rong’s face lit up. His frost-snow torrent coiled back, snatching two items which he stuffed into his Universe Pouch without a glance.

After leveling up twice, this Giant Sword Sect Leader was a Level 60 Elite Tier NPC – the same tier as the highest-level monster Ye Rong had killed so far. Being humanoid, it was even tougher. The loot it dropped would undoubtedly be valuable, not disappointing. But there was no time to examine it now.

Whether from the Giant Whale Gang, or Swordfish Gang and Four Seas Gang whose kill-steal attempts failed – all turned furious gazes his way, seemingly trying to bore through him with their stares.

“That Player’s not one of us! He stole our NPC!” “After him! Kill him!”