As it turned out, He Yi enjoyed hoarding gold even more than I did. My bag had only ever held two thousand gold at once. Hers however had a total of three hundred and sixty thousand gold!

How else could you describe her beside the words “rich and wealthy”? She wasn’t worried that gold’s value would deprecate over time at all!

He Yi gave everyone 50k gold each as promised, and at this point of time, it was worth roughly fifty thousand RMB in real life. Everyone liked making quick buck like this, and for Beiming Xue and Moonlight Stone, it was the perfect gift to take back to their parents and show their filial piety.

The last equipment drop was a bow. I tossed it into Beiming Xue’s hands without even bothering to check the stats.

No one had an objection to offer. She was the only archer in the party, she was the second-highest damage dealer, and her performance in Myriad Poison Cave left nothing to be desired. If her beautiful Evil Spirit Volley hadn’t dominated everyone’s eyeballs, then her ridiculous DPS would be the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

The bow was made from dark blue divine iron, but I couldn’t tell what the bowstring was made of. It was covered in wavy light, and the aura it exuded was calm but powerful!

Beiming Xue’s pupils were colored with joy the moment she received the bow. She literally blanked out for five seconds or so before she finally snapped out of her reverie and showed us its stats.

Purgatory Bow (Dark Gold–grade)

Attack: 145~190

Agility: +42

Stamina: +37

Passive: Increases user’s long-ranged attack power by 10%

Passive: Increases user’s Agility by 22

Level Requirement: 70

……

“Wha… what an amazing bow…” He Yi and Murong Mingyue’s mouth fell open in shock. Even I had to swallow my surprise. Godddamit, I really need to switch out Ghost Ice Soul the second I find something better. This Purgatory Bow had 40 more Attack than my sword, and that was considering that bow-type weapons were designed to be 25% less powerful than sword-type weapons, that were 25% less powerful than axe-type weapons. Yeah, this bow is way better than my Ghost Ice Soul...

Besides that, this Purgatory Bow also added 64 Agility and 10% long-ranged attack power. I could only imagine how hard Beiming Xue’s arrows would hit after she equipped the weapon!

I checked her level. She was Level 69 like me because unlike the four of us who had died, she didn’t drop a level in the boss fight.

He Yi smiled faintly. “Lil Beiming is probably the number one archer in the China server, isn’t she? Hehe, that’s great~~”

Beiming Xue smiled at the compliment but said, “Number one? No, I don’t think I’m there yet, not until I beat Transient Smoke and Clouds of Candle Dragon!”

“Transient Smoke and Clouds!?” He Yi exclaimed in astonishment.

I sucked in a deep breath. Transient Smoke and Clouds was a fierce general of Candlelight Shadow, and he was known as the strongest archer in China. Two years ago, after Frivolous Scholar and his subordinate, the divine archer Magic Cube of Fate retired from gaming, Transient Smoke and Clouds came out of nowhere and carried Candlelight Shadow to his throne. Besides that, Transient Smoke and Clouds also became the second archer ever to join the China CGL Hall of Fame with his own strength!

Today, Transient Smoke and Clouds was practically a god in the hearts of the Chinese players. He was an incredible player who had kited countless legends to their deaths, and he was the guiding light in the hearts of every wannabe archer in China. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him a milestone...

I couldn’t help but curl my lips when I saw the competitive spirit shining in Beiming Xue’s eyes. “Transient Smoke and Clouds isn’t that good, really. Just train for another half a year and I guarantee you’ll slaughter him like a lamb…”

Beiming Xue nodded before asking me with a smile, “Boss, have you ever fought Transient Smoke and Clouds in Spirit of Grief?”

“Yeah, I ran into him twice during WSL 2022 and destroyed him both times…”

“Wow! Boss, you’re amazing!” Beiming Xue’s eyes were filled with adoration.

Then Murong Mingyue interrupted and said, “The next year in the same event, someone got kited like a dog and forfeited the match…”

“Fuck, can you not dampen my spirits, sis…” I rolled my eyes at her before clenching my fists. “If Transient Smoke and Clouds showed his face in Floating Ice City today, I’m seventy percent sure I’d kick his ass!”

“Why not a hundred?”

“It will be a hundred percent after I equip the Purgatory War Armor and Purgatory War Helmet!”

“Boo boo~”

……

He Yi said, “Lu Chen, there are still two skill books to go through, right? Let’s distribute them quickly so we can get some much-needed rest!”

“Yeah!”

I took out the skill books and touched them gently, bringing up the stat screen.

Freezing Arrow: Shoots an arrow imbued with the power of ice. Deals massive damage to the enemy and slows down their movement speed and attack speed drastically. Class Requirement: Archer, Tamer. Level Requirement: 60.

Rock Shield: Summons a rock shield to protect yourself. Increases Defense by 20% and reduces all damage taken by 5%. Class Requirement: Magic Knight, Wanderer. Level Requirement: 60.

……

Fuck me! Two third-promotion special skill books!?

I felt like spring had come to us as my eyes widened in shock. Who would’ve thought that one Level 75 Dark Gold Rank boss would increase our strength this much?

Freezing Arrow was obviously a super crowd control skill. Once Beiming Xue learned it and equipped the Purgatory Bow, there was no one in the world she couldn’t kite to her heart’s content.

Rock Shield was even stronger though. 20% increase in Defense and 5% damage reduction from all sources was like having a third-promotion Bard following you and buffing you with Death Match all day and night. It was the kind of skill every magic knight would dream to have!

Beiming Xue was part of the family, so I tossed the skill book into her hands like the overprotective brother I was. The girl learned the skill so quickly that it was almost as if she was afraid that someone would contest her for the ownership of the skill book.

“Hoho, this is great! I finally have a slow of my own!” Beiming Xue couldn’t keep her smile off her face.

I asked, “How much does Freezing Arrow slow exactly?”

“It’s 25% at Rank 1 and 60% at Rank 10. Pretty good, isn’t it?”

“It’s great! At Rank 7 the slow should be around 50%, so you should rank it up as quickly as possible!”

“Mn mn!”

Beiming Xue was beaming like the sun. It was incredibly important for an archer to have a skill that could slow down the enemy. For example, if Beiming Xue had Rank 7 Freezing Arrow before we fought the Poison Ghost King, we might have been able to avoid that party wipe. A 50% slow was nothing to scoff at!

After that, I picked up the Rock Shield book and turned to He Yi. “Boss? This is another magic knight skill. Here, take it…”

He Yi bit her lips hesitantly. “This is a pretty rare skill book, isn’t it? Should… should we leave it to Gui Guzi instead? He’s the symbolic tank of our guild, so I think it’ll be better if he learns this.”

But I shook my head and smiled at her reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Gui Guzi already has Undying Shield, and according to system limitations, a player can only use one shield-type skill at a time, no matter how many they have learned. Therefore, it’s better if you learn it instead. Moreover, don’t forget that Gui Guzi hasn’t participated in this trip. It doesn’t make sense for him to have it over you, no matter how you slice it.”

Murong Mingyue also joined in and said, “That’s right. You wanted to become strong, didn’t you? That chance is now sitting right in front of you. The Abyssal Sword, Abyssal Armor, Azure Wolf Wristguards, and now Rock Shield. Who would’ve thought that we would find all the components necessary to create a top-tier magic knight in a single night?”

I nodded repeatedly. “Exactly. Don’t hold back on our account, boss!”

“O… okay then…”

He Yi accepted the skill book and learned it. After it transformed into a blue light and entered her body, a new skill was added to her skill list.

The next moment, He Yi let out a cute cry and activated Rock Shield. A brilliant magic formation appeared beneath her, and blue rocks started flying all around her. By the time she turned around to face us, the rocks had joined together to form a gorgeous-looking, semi-transparent blue shield!

“Hehe, done!”

Finally, I tossed the Phantasmal Magic Stones, the Purple Crystal and everything else into Murong Mingyue’s hands with a smile. “You girls split this up like the last time. I’m gonna go find the quest item I came here for!”

“Mn!”

But He Yi surprised me by saying, “I know where it is. Look behind the Poison Ghost King’s throne, Lu Chen. That tiny purple flower behind it is probably the Heavenly Poison Snow Lotus you’re looking for.”

I ran to the back of the throne as instructed and found exactly what I was looking for on the wall. There was a purple lotus growing at the center of the poisonous grass, and it was none other than the Heavenly Poison Snow Lotus!

Ding~!

System Notice: You have obtained the Heavenly Poison Snow Lotus!

……

“Okay, quest complete. Let’s return to Floating Ice City and turn it in!”

“Mn mn!”

We crushed the return scrolls in our hands and teleported back to Floating Ice City. Then, I led the way and ran straight for the Violet Camp of the Blood Dance Legion. Since it was a neutral faction, I thought it was probably fine for He Yi and the others to accompany me.

Outside the city, the wind of spring carrying the scent of open plains entered my nostrils. As I was passing through, I spotted a large group of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls players—an army of probably a thousand—having a post-mission evaluation at the edge of the forest.

I saw fully-armored Xu Yang planting his sword into the ground and admonishing the group. “Last night we went to Greedy Wolf Forest on a level grinding event, and I don’t need to tell you what a disaster it was. Color me curious, but do you actually want to stay in Ancient Swords Dreaming Souls or not?! Don’t think I didn’t notice some of you taking it easy and letting your guildmates do all the hard work! I saw archers who pulled their bowstrings but didn’t shoot a damn thing, mages who only threw Fireballs all day long, warriors who were too scared to charge into the fray, guys who were too busy chatting up girls and people who fought each other over one Small Magic Stone! I told you all before that you have a responsibility to the guild, and this is how you guys act? You call yourselves professional players, so where the hell is your professionalism?”

The entire group was as silent as death.

Murong Mingyue and He Yi could barely hold in their laughter, but Beiming Xue and Moonlight Stone were already laughing their asses off.

I was pretty happy to see this though. This was why Xu Yang was a core member and a spiritual leader of Ancient Guild Dreaming Souls! He might not be a good player by any means, but he was honest, just, loyal, and brave. A man like him was crucial in bringing up the unity and morals of our guild.

Unlike Xu Yang, my focus was on increasing my own strength, so I seldom had time to acquaint myself with the players of our guild. Socializing was also definitely not one of my strong suits.