Heavenly Alliance

A single instance dungeon could only be entered three times a day. Ye Luo and Yan Hua Yi Leng had already cleared it three times and could only continue tomorrow.

Next, Ye Luo planned to gather some Dragonfly Wings to refine Gale Pills, while Yan Hua Yi Leng went to wander around Novice Village to see if she could pick up any quests.

After parting with Yan Hua Yi Leng, Ye Luo headed toward the South Gate, muttering to himself as he walked, "With Yan Hua and my strength, there's no longer any suspense in clearing the instance dungeon. I've already completed my set, and Yan Hua has too, except for the Flying Snow Robe. There's no great need to keep farming equipment."

"Fortunately, the instance monsters give quite good experience, and there's extra experience after completing the quest. Besides, the male ants and the ant queen also drop Jade Poison Beads. This is much faster than farming Demonized Scorpions." Ye Luo said, faintly looking forward to it. "The attributes of a Tier 3 Jade Poison Bead are already extremely powerful. I wonder what a Tier 4 one will be like."

Just as he was thinking about this, Ye Luo's communicator rang. After answering it, Zhi Yue's sweet voice came through. "Brother Ye, you and Sister Yan Hua really got the first clear, and you even broke the record one after another. Congratulations! Sister Feng is grinning from ear to ear. She said no one will probably be able to break your record again."

Hearing Zhi Yue's delighted tone, Ye Luo could guess that they had gained quite a bit as well. He asked, "Yue Er, how was it? Did you get any good equipment?"

"Heehee, of course! The first time we cleared the instance dungeon, we got two Bronze Grade pieces of equipment. Of course, they're far inferior to the mask and medal you and Sister Yan Hua got." Mentioning their gains, Zhi Yue laughed even more brightly. "We also completed heavy armor and cloth armor sets, so our strength rose dramatically. We also got several Jade Poison Beads, including two Tier 2 ones. Now, almost every one of us has a Tier 2 Jade Poison Bead."

Hearing about Zhi Yue's gains, Ye Luo was happy for them. Then, remembering something, he suggested, "Yue Er, I suggest you farm Demonized Scorpions and try to upgrade the Tier 2 poison beads to Tier 3, because the attributes of Tier 3 poison beads undergo a drastic change."

"You don't need to arrange that. Sister Yan Hua already told us." Zhi Yue sounded faintly excited. "Sister Yan Hua told us that once we have Tier 3 Jade Poison Beads, we can go to Novice Village and kill Level 20 monsters. Our levels will rise quickly then. Maybe we'll soon make it onto the Celebrity Ranking."

"Then keep working hard." Ye Luo encouraged her before closing the communicator.

Just as Ye Luo had separated from Yan Hua Yi Leng, more than ten players quietly began following him. At the time, he had been communicating with Zhi Yue and had not noticed them.

However, he was a well-trained man. After closing the communicator, he sensed that something was off. Still, he did not pay it much mind and continued toward Novice Village's South Gate, glancing at the people behind him from the corner of his eye as he walked.

"Twelve people, mostly around Level 15. They have every class, and there are three faint traces of killing intent. Assassins should be in stealth." Ye Luo grasped the situation in an instant, then began paying attention to the IDs above their heads. "Heavenly Calamity, Heavenly Grief... Most of their names begin with Tiandi. They should belong to the same guild."

"Looks like I've become a little famous lately. They want to make a move on me." Ye Luo gave a bitter smile, then thought of something and hurriedly contacted Yan Hua Yi Leng. "Yan Hua, is anyone following you?"

Although he knew Yan Hua Yi Leng was also a rare expert, she was still a woman, so Ye Luo naturally worried about her safety.

A minute or two later, Ye Luo's communicator rang. Her voice was as cold as ever. "No. You're being followed? How many? What levels?"

"Around fifteen people. I don't know if there are assassins hiding farther away. Most are Level 15." Ye Luo sent her everything he knew, then asked, "Do you know of a guild whose names start with Tiandi? All their IDs begin with Tiandi."

"Yes. Heavenly Alliance, an infamous guild that makes a living by robbing players. They also take assassination jobs. Although they are weaker than professional assassin organizations, they are difficult to deal with." Yan Hua Yi Leng quickly replied, then added, "Heavenly Alliance is notorious, but it ranks thirteenth among Chinese guilds. The fact that it has survived the joint suppression of several major guilds shows its strength."

"Infamous, huh? That settles it." Ye Luo spoke calmly, though a faint killing intent seeped into his voice. "I've been wanting to see how good I am at PK in this game. They couldn't be better practice."

"Do you need me to help?" Yan Hua Yi Leng's tone remained completely unruffled.

"No, I can handle it myself," Ye Luo said decisively.

"Fine. Contact me if you need support." Yan Hua Yi Leng was even more decisive. Then she added, "Remember not to get a red name. Otherwise, it'll be troublesome. You won't be able to enter Novice Village for a long time, and it will affect our leveling."

After saying that, Yan Hua Yi Leng decisively closed the communicator without waiting for Ye Luo's reply.

"Sigh, true enough. Getting hunted by the guards for entering the village with a red name would be troublesome." Ye Luo sighed softly, then changed his tone. "Then I can only let them attack first. With my current defense and health, taking a few hits should be no problem."

"No one is following Yan Hua. Looks like they don't dare touch her. They must fear that she's on the Celebrity Ranking, and they probably don't want to provoke Misty Pavilion either." Ye Luo muttered. Then his eyes turned cold. "So they think I'm easy to bully? Heh, they really took me for a soft target."

With those thoughts in mind, Ye Luo arrived at Toad Slope outside the South Gate. By now, the Toad King should have respawned long ago, but there was no sign of it nearby. It had likely already been killed by someone else.

"Looks like outsiders have already obtained Jade Poison Beads. I wonder when he'll discover their secret." Ye Luo muttered. Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly sensed something unusual around him. Knowing that assassins had already launched their Backstab skill, he did not dodge, since he wanted the others to attack first. He merely adjusted his position slightly.

Pain shot through his back. A yellow damage number of '105' appeared above Ye Luo's head, and he was stunned for one second.

**Ding~!**

System Notification (Personal): Dear player Ye Luo Zhi Qiu, you have suffered a malicious sneak attack from 'Heavenly Assassin'. You may freely retaliate within 10 minutes. Killing 'Heavenly Assassin' and members of his team will not result in a red-name penalty.

**Ding~!**

System Notification (Personal): Dear player Ye Luo Zhi Qiu, you have suffered a malicious sneak attack from 'Heavenly Demon'. You may freely retaliate within 10 minutes. Killing 'Heavenly Demon' and members of his team will not result in a red-name penalty.

**Ding~!**

System Notification (Personal): Dear player Ye Luo Zhi Qiu, you have suffered a malicious sneak attack from 'Heavenly Heart'. You may freely retaliate within 10 minutes. Killing 'Heavenly Heart' and members of his team will not result in a red-name penalty.

Three consecutive system notifications told Ye Luo that he had been ambushed by three people. They were clearly the three assassins he had sensed earlier.

The three assassins took turns using Backstab, chaining their skills perfectly and keeping Ye Luo stunned in place. Their coordination was quite seamless and practiced. Clearly, they often did this sort of thing.

Although they had stunned Ye Luo, the three men's attacks were somewhat weak, each dealing only around 100 damage. To Ye Luo, who already had nearly a thousand health, this was no great problem.

Assassins were slightly faster than knights and were also closer to Ye Luo. Combined with the position he had deliberately chosen, the knights had no chance to use Charge. He struck one assassin with a Slash followed by a normal attack.

That assassin had invested all his points into Agility. He was wearing almost a full set of equipment, including a piece that gleamed bronze, which was quite good. His defense barely reached 180, but he could not withstand Ye Luo's attacks. Slash alone took 400 of his health, and the following normal attack emptied his health bar.

Before the other assassin could flee, Ye Luo activated his Combo skill. Three sword shadows flashed past, and the other assassin also turned into a streak of white light and died.

After that, Ye Luo's attacks went on cooldown, but he did not stand there waiting to be cut down. He quickly moved away, escaping their encirclement. He casually swallowed a mutated Major Blood Recovery Pill, and under his powerful regeneration, his health soon recovered to 900 points, putting him safely out of danger.

"Damn it, this guy's defense is extremely high, at least 250 points. His health is also far higher than the 550 points we expected." The still-living Heavenly Heart's face turned pale as he realized they had run into a tough opponent.

"Hehe, that means he has several extremely powerful pieces of equipment. Bronze Grade equipment only adds Strength, so his equipment must be better than Bronze Grade." Heavenly Calamity let out a sinister laugh, a cold glint flashing through his eyes. "Hmph, he's alone. Even if his attack is high, he can't possibly withstand attacks from more than ten of us."

"That's right." Heavenly Grief nodded and looked toward another player, ordering, "Heavenly Fate, Heavenly One Blade, you are knights with all your points in Constitution. You have high health and defense, so he can't kill you instantly. Catch up and use Charge. Coordinate with Heavenly Heart and stun him to death. Heavenly Snow, Heavenly Rain, remember to heal."

At those words, Heavenly Heart charged forward. He was an assassin and slightly faster, and his Backstab skill was about to finish its cooldown. As long as he got within five meters of Ye Luo, he could use the skill to stun him. Then Heavenly Fate and Heavenly One Blade would catch up and keep him stunned until he died.

"Heh, I instantly killed two of them, yet they still dare chase me. They really have guts." Ye Luo gave a sinister laugh inwardly, then glanced behind him. "Heavenly Heart attacked earlier, so his Stealth Skill is on cooldown and needs another twenty seconds before it can be used. But Backstab will be off cooldown soon. He probably wants to stun me so the knights can Charge me. However, assassins are slightly faster. Once I get more than ten meters away, the knights can't use Charge. In that case..."

As he fled while calculating all this, a clear tactic gradually formed in Ye Luo's mind.