The Golden Arrow Tigers were like long-range killers that specialized in one-shot our ranged players. Moreover, almost all mages, archers, and priests were dead the moment they were hit by Golden Arrow Burst. That was why we had lost three archers and two mages even after we had killed four Golden Arrow Tigers. It wasn't an optimistic outcome for a hundred-man party like us. There were only so many people in the party, and one death meant one less life for us. Fans of the novel loved to read "The Golden Arrow Tiger" even though we were a hundred-man party.
… …
"Pa da!"
The last Golden Arrow Tiger dropped a round metal helmet. I picked it up and inspected it. It was a Level 125 3-star Outstanding Dark Gold – grade item with an Outstanding Property that increased the wearer's Defense by 12%. It was a very good helmet, so we decided to split it among ourselves and give it to Chaos Moon to increase her Defense on the spot. This way, we would be able to save a few players from dying later on.
As we continued forward, we encountered a few more packs of Golden Arrow Tigers that numbered between five to ten. Fortunately, these tigers didn't appear in large numbers, or they would've been very difficult to deal with. Arrow Volley's high Attack wasn't something current players could endure. Fans of the book also liked to read:
The guild channel was abuzz with discussion. Li Chengfeng: "Fucking hell, these Golden Arrow Tigers are so disgusting. Their ranged attacks ignore aggro transfer, and they specifically target our low-level Defense players. It hasn't even been twenty minutes, and my hundred-man party is down to 70 or so players. What the hell …"
He Yi: "Yeah, it's the same here. The Golden Arrow Tigers' Attack is too high, so we can only try to minimize our losses."
Gui Guzi: "Boss, what about you?
How many players did you lose? "
Me: "Eighty-four players left …"
Gui Guzi: "Fuck, even your side is like this. There's no way we can survive this …"
Xu Yang: "What's the situation at the B1 floor?"
He Yi: "Candlelight Shadow has cleared out more than half of the Wood Porcupines, and Warsky Alliance's October Rain seems to be planning to attack while Candle Dragon is busy. At any rate, whoever wants to get the Wood Dragon Scale from the Giant Dragon of Life will have to step over countless bodies …"
I smiled. "Let them have their fun. Our people in the Wood Dragon Domain should be careful. Once you get the second floor scroll, gather enough people and teleport to the second floor. Right now, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls should be the only ones in the Golden Dragon Domain, so let's find the boss and kill it as soon as possible!"
Gui Guzi: "Okay, I've already gotten a Level 3 Teleportation Scroll …"
Xu Yang: "Damn, what kind of luck is that? Kid, your luck is off the charts today …"
…
"Say, what kind of reward do you think we'll get if we can gather all nine dragon scales?
Could it be an Immortal-grade equipment? Or perhaps a Divine Beast? "Chaos Moon asked hopefully. Fans of the book loved to read more.
Li Chengfeng couldn't help but smile. "Who knows? But this mission is definitely a scam. How many lives will be sacrificed to gather all nine dragon scales …"
I nodded. "Yeah, but we still have to fight for it. This is a competition between the top guilds of the China server, and whoever manages to gather all nine dragon scales will receive a huge boost to their guild's prestige in the China server. In any case, let's do our best and get as many dragon scales as we can!" I nodded in agreement.
He Yi: "Yeah, Lu Chen is right. We're not challenging the Nine Lost Dragon Domains for the reward. Our true goal is to prove that we're strong enough to challenge any opponent!"
Everyone happily agreed and continued to kill the mobs in front of them.
… …
It wasn't long before 7 Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls parties had entered the second floor. We slowly pushed forward and killed the Golden Arrow Tigers. The Golden Arrow Tigers were hard to kill, but they gave a lot of experience. Every time we killed a shadow-rank mob, my experience bar would flash for a second and increase my experience bar by at least 0.1%.
After more than two hours of arduous pushing, another group of people finally appeared in front of us. It was He Yi's party, but they were scattered all over the place. There were only about 40 people in their party, and at least half of them had died.
"Fuck …"
Caught off guard, I walked up to her and asked, "Eve, how come you only have so few people?"
He Yi shrugged and smiled. "They're all dead …"
A while later, Gui Guzi, Li Chengfeng, and the rest of the players returned. Including the rest of the Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls parties that had arrived at the second floor, we barely managed to gather 500 players. That was a pretty good number. I reorganized the teams and threw 100 riders to Gui Guzi, 100 archers to Beiming Xue, and the rest to He Yi, Li Chengfeng, and I.
"Do you know where the Boss is?" I asked. Fans also like to read: "".
Li Chengfeng nodded and said solemnly, "We saw the boss's coordinates from afar on our way here. It's about 10 minutes away from here, but it's an Earth Rank boss, and we only have 500 people. I'm not sure if we can handle it …"
I smiled as I gripped the Heaven-stealing Sword and said, "It doesn't matter if we can kill it or not, we still have to. Let's go! Let's kill the boss before the other guilds reach the second floor and start exploring the deeper parts of the maze!"
"Mn!"
Li Chengfeng led the way, and we marched through the black wastelands. We spotted a few Golden Arrow Tigers roaming around in the distance, but we couldn't be bothered to kill them. The Golden Arrow Tigers were just too annoying to deal with, not to mention that we had already collected 5 scrolls that led to the third floor, so it should be more than enough. Plus, there was no telling how many more of our 500 players would die to kill an Earth Rank boss.
It wasn't long before we could hear the faint roar of a giant dragon reverberating through the mountains. Everyone's hearts tightened. No one knew what an Earth Rank boss was like, but the entire Nine Lost Dragon Domains was like a slaughterhouse. Every time a tempting reward was tossed out, all the players had to do was dive into it.
"Hey, did you guys check the official forums?" Chaos Moon asked.
"Nope. What's wrong?" I asked.
Chaos Moon smiled. "When Nine Lost Dragon Domains was first released to the public, everyone scrambled for it like a flock of ducks. But now, the Wood Porcupines of the Wood Dragon Domain have scared a lot of people out of their wits. Rumor has it that Nine Lost Dragon Domains is an ominous place, so more than 90% of the players in the game hate it to the bone. It's only natural that not many people would enter the map."
"That's for the best. It'll be too difficult to kill too many people …" I said.
Li Chengfeng nodded. "Yeah. We have enough competitors already. The big guilds of Sky City, Candle Dragon, Purple Lily, and Peach Garden of Wind City, and the top ten guilds of Vanished God City. Each of them is more troublesome than the last. If a real fight breaks out, we'll be lucky if we can even get one or two dragon scales. Everyone else, don't worry."
High Fighting Spirits said, "Li Chengfeng only knows how to boost others' morale and belittle his own."
Li Chengfeng smiled but didn't say anything.
I said, "Chengfeng's right. We've almost no allies since we entered the Nine Lost Dragon Domains. Our enemies are everywhere, but our allies are few and far between. Anyway, we should be careful, everyone!"
"Mn!
Mn! "
… …
It was at this moment we arrived in front of a canyon. It was a deathly silent canyon, and a foul stench permeated the air.
Gui Guzi and a couple of magic knights dashed into the canyon like lightning. In the next moment, they stumbled backward in fright as a wave of scorching golden flames chased after their butts!
"Fuck, the boss is inside the canyon! Prepare for battle!"
I unsheathed the Heaven-stealing Sword and led Li Chengfeng and the others toward the boss. At the same time, Beiming Xue and the other girls also drew their bows and readied themselves for battle.
An earth-shattering noise came from inside the canyon. A few seconds later, a golden dragon claw grabbed a giant rock above our heads with a loud pop. The next moment, a sinister-looking golden dragon head with a single horn appeared and spread its wings. The One-horned Golden Dragon had appeared!
"Fuck, it really is a One-horned Golden Dragon!"
Li Chengfeng stared blankly at the gigantic dragon. Even a warrior of Li Chengfeng's level couldn't believe his eyes, let alone the rest of us.
I couldn't help but yell, "Don't just stand there! Prepare for battle! Magic knights, hold the aggro! Everyone else, get to work! Priests, keep your health up! It's just a Level 155 Earth Rank boss, we can still kill it!"
I pounced forward and read the boss's stats — [One-horned Golden Dragon] (Earth Rank Boss) Level: 155 Attack: 2240 ~ 3000 Defense: 2800 HP: 1000,0000 Skills: [Dragon Blade], [Scale Defense], [Golden Wall Blade] Introduction: A legendary golden dragon. Although this One-horned Golden Dragon isn't as strong as the Three-headed Golden Dragon, it's still an excellent warrior among the dragon race. Moreover, it's an arrogant and evil One-horned Golden Dragon that's filled with aggression and aggression...
"Holy shit … its stats are so high, and its max Attack is 3000. How painful is it going to be if I hit it?"
Li Chengfeng sucked in a deep breath. "Knight God and Royal Road, go first. Those who don't have healing or Defense should rest for a bit …"
I nodded in agreement. "Knight God, go first. Eve, take Royal Road and the rest. I'll leave the job of the main tank to you guys …"
He Yi leaped onto her mount and smacked the back of her Whirlwind Sword into the horse's butt. The Snow Domain Windchaser immediately raised its front hooves and let out a loud neigh before charging toward the boss like lightning. Gui Guzi also charged toward the boss with Rainbow in hand. The two magic knights showed no fear in the face of the powerful One-horned Golden Dragon, and their morale was greatly boosted.
Swhoosh!
Swhoosh!
He Yi and Gui Guzi activated Charge at the same time. Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun followed up with his third Charge, but to their surprise, three big MISSES appeared above the boss's head at the same time. How hilarious! Not a single one of them managed to stun the boss!
"Roar!"
The One-horned Golden Dragon roared angrily as it raised its front claws and charged down the mountain, aiming for He Yi.
He Yi's eyes were calm as she displayed the results of her training in the arena. She blocked the One-horned Golden Dragon's attack with her shield and blocked it head-on. Before the golden dragon could attack a second time, He Yi abruptly moved her shield away and thrust her Whirlwind Sword forward with a flaming cone. It was a beautiful counterattack — Barrier Break!