External Deacon, Purple NPC!

External Deacon, Purple NPC!

The squad leader had been completely dumbfounded from start to finish.

Wasn't throwing Lime Powder the Azure Cloud Association's usual trick when hunting Alchemists?

How was someone now using it even more professionally than they did?

Yang Shan used Lime Powder partly to give himself a greater advantage, and partly to conserve as much Dou Qi as possible.

Thunder Spirit Flash in particular consumed 30 points of Dou Qi every time it was used.

Although Thunderclap Skill was a Golden Word Seal, it was ultimately only Yellow Rank High-Level. Its Dou Qi recovery speed was slower than a turtle's crawl.

Even with pills that rapidly restored Dou Qi, he could not keep using it nonstop.

He had to save Dou Qi wherever he could.

Lime Powder was still quite effective.

In his previous life, Yang Shan had done plenty of things with Lime Powder.

His greatest achievement had been ambushing and killing a Dou Ling expert! As for Dou Wang experts of an even higher realm, something like Lime Powder was truly useless.

It was not that reaching the Dou Wang realm made one's Constitution so powerful that even the inherently fragile eyeballs became difficult to harm.

Rather, after reaching Dou Wang, Dou Qi was no longer confined to the dantian.

Even without using defensive Dou Techniques, some vulnerable areas would still be protected by Dou Qi.

Therefore, many of Yang Shan's dirty tricks became useless after the Dou Wang level!

Still, the Dou Wang realm was far too distant for now.

Back then, Battle Through the Heavens' protagonist, Xiao Yan, had set out from Wutan City and fought all the way from the Magical Beast Mountain Range to the Misty Cloud Sect. Whenever he could not win, he used a "Yao Lao Experience Card."

And if that still did not work, he could summon Medusa! It was all about overpowering and killing his enemies head-on.

Thus, most Players still followed the logic of the original story.

The moment words failed, they grabbed their weapons and went at it!

But Yang Shan clearly did not follow that path.

Being powerful and using dirty tricks were two different matters.

Who said that being strong meant he had to face enemies head-on?

Yang Shan specialized in challenging opponents above his level.

Without a "Yao Lao Experience Card" like Xiao Yan's, he had to use other methods.

That Two-Star Great Fighter squad leader had died in the most aggrieved manner possible.

Until his death, he had not even known what the bastard who killed him looked like! (Yang Shan had circled behind him the moment he attacked, staying out of his line of sight.) The other lackeys were also cleanly dealt with by Yang Shan and Chao Bafang.

With Boiling Itch Powder in their systems and their entire bodies spasming, being able to display seventy percent of their combat power already counted as exceptional endurance.

This time, Chao Bafang performed better than before and successfully snatched five lackey kills from Yang Shan.

While picking up the drops, Chao Bafang also sought Yang Shan's advice on how to use certain "special items."

Yang Shan patiently taught him. From bear traps and luring Magical Beasts to spreading poison, he explained all sorts of theories until Chao Bafang was left utterly bewildered.

In the end, Chao Bafang could only say with utmost admiration, "Great God, you really are an Old Schemer, full of bad ideas!"

"How do you talk? What Old Schemer?"

Yang Shan retorted, "We're challenging opponents above our level here. We don't have a Yao Lao Experience Card, so shouldn't we think of other ways? Playing games is about using every possible method to clear challenges. It has absolutely nothing to do with me being full of bad ideas—ptui!"

Yang Shan realized he had spoken his true thoughts and immediately changed his tune. "I'm not full of bad ideas. I'm just better at thinking!"

Chao Bafang gave him a thumbs-up.

"Great God, you're awesome. I really think following you was a good choice."

Yang Shan gave a crooked smile. "What, were you intimidated by my kingly aura?"

Chao Bafang said, "No. I was thinking that if I ever came into conflict with you in Cloud Frost City over a boss or a quest or something, I have no idea how many times you'd scheme me to death!"

Yang Shan: "."

Afterward, Yang Shan and Chao Bafang lingered around the outskirts of the Azure Cloud Association's Yun Shuang Branch for a full half month—three days in real time.

They maintained over fifteen hours of high-intensity gameplay nearly every day!

Chao Bafang farmed monsters until his eyes were bloodshot, declaring, "Who would've thought the way to make me quit self-rewarding would be fucking monster farming!"

Monster farming was addictive, especially when they saw those glittering Spirit Stones.

Yang Shan did not care about such a small amount of Spirit Stones, but Chao Bafang was desperate for them.

Not to mention that Dou Techniques and equipment occasionally dropped as well.

If they dropped from ordinary lackeys, it could at most be considered a small profit.

But if they dropped from Great Fighter-level squad leaders, that was truly satisfying.

Either a Yellow-tier mid-grade or even high-grade combat technique with a Green Word Seal.

Or a premium piece of equipment with a Green Word Seal.

Sell it after returning to Cloud Frost City, and he could conservatively pocket one thousand RMB! Chao Bafang had gone up one star, reaching Three-Star Dou Shi.

Yang Shan was even more outrageous, gaining two stars.

Eight-Star Dou Shi!

The two had been grinding monsters as a team, so logically, the experience they gained should have been about the same.

However, experience from team kills was distributed according to combat contribution.

For example, if they killed an NPC and Yang Shan dealt 900 damage while Chao Bafang dealt 100, then Chao Bafang would only receive 10% of the experience in the end.

The difference in contribution rates resulted in a massive gap in the experience they received.

The more you worked, the more you earned—it was closer to reality.

Chao Bafang had actually been desperately trying to compete with Yang Shan for kills.

But he still couldn't beat him.

Yang Shan was simply far too practiced at pulling underhanded tricks.

Chao Bafang had never understood how Yang Shan had figured all this out in such a short amount of game time.

Yang Shan wasn't about to tell Chao Bafang that in his previous life, he hadn't been a launch-day player. Even after entering "Battle Through the Heavens," he had been mediocre in the early stages.

Since he had always been a lone wolf, Yang Shan had been forced to think of other ways to speed up his leveling.

He had relied on these inconspicuous yet exceptionally useful little tricks.

Yang Shan had managed to rise to the ranks of first-rate players during the version when Top Players broke through to Dou Wang! After reaching the Dou Wang level, these underhanded little tricks had stopped being very useful, so Yang Shan rarely had the chance to use them.

Now, Yang Shan was merely returning to his old trade.

It didn't matter whether the cat was black or white—as long as it caught mice, it was a good cat! During the monster grinding, Chao Bafang had also learned a great deal, especially in terms of timing and accuracy when attacking weak points.

Another day passed.

After resting well offline, Yang Shan and Chao Bafang logged in simultaneously at their agreed-upon time.

Holding up his halberd, Chao Bafang shouted:

"Grind, grind, grind! Today is another day to make big money!"

Yang Shan had just been about to tease Chao Bafang when he suddenly heard muffled sobbing from nearby.

Chao Bafang was no longer the man he used to be. Without needing Yang Shan's reminder, he rolled aside and hid himself.

Yang Shan immediately leaped up into the tree canopy as well.

Chao Bafang had actually wanted to climb the tree as stylishly as Yang Shan had.

But since he had allocated his points mainly to Constitution and Bone Root, speed was his weak point.

The two held their breath and focused. Before long, they saw two NPCs dressed in Azure Cloud Association uniforms escorting a beautiful married woman toward them.

The woman's eyes brimmed with tears, but with her mouth stuffed with cloth, she could only make muffled whimpering sounds.

Moreover, her belly was visibly swollen.

A message from Chao Bafang immediately came through:

"Fuck! These three bastard animals won't even spare a pregnant woman! Boss, we're definitely playing heroes and saving the beauty, right?"

Saving the beauty was a given. After all, the woman these two NPCs were escorting was Master Yao's wife!

Before meeting Ya Fei, Yang Shan had dealt with Master Yao quite often. Once, when he had gone to see Master Yao, he had happened to meet Madam Yao.

So he still remembered what Madam Yao looked like.

Although Yang Shan didn't know why the Azure Cloud Association had captured the helpless Madam Yao, since he had run into this, he had to save her.

However, when Yang Shan used the inspection system to check the two NPCs' panels, his brow furrowed.

The NPC escorting Madam Yao was manageable—a One-Star Great Fighter with a Green Word Seal, whose attributes were roughly comparable to the patrol squad leader Yang Shan had killed before.

But the muscular man walking in front, with both hands clasped behind his back and an air of unmistakable arrogance, was something else entirely!

Cheng Yuan (Purple)

Level: Five-Star Great Fighter
Attribute: Earth Attribute

Affiliation: Azure Cloud Association, Yun Shuang Branch

Position: External Affairs Steward

Qi and Blood: 4600
Attack: 280
Defense: 135
Speed: 58

Description: A professional responsible for external affairs within the Azure Cloud Association, and a core combat force of the branch.