Rushing Burak

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

Li Shaolin and Sulonna traveled south along Long Beach, killing who knew how many Murlocs along the way. Fortunately, individual Murlocs were not particularly strong. Though they always moved in groups, once Li Shaolin's somewhat sizable skeleton army charged through them, they could only collapse in defeat.

The Bronze Skeleton and Bone Skeleton led the way, bracing themselves behind two great shields as their long blades hacked out. Behind them, the Lightning Skeleton Mage continuously rubbed together its bone hands wreathed in electric arcs, sending out one white lightning bolt after another like a mobile artillery platform. The damage was not especially high, but it often left the Murlocs numb all over before the Black Skeleton, darting everywhere, casually finished them off. As for the Clay Golem, due to its fear of water, it was assigned to the rear to deal with any Murlocs that had not quite died.

"Your skeletons are amazing!" Sulonna praised sincerely. At first, she had helped cast spells. After all, she was a mage skilled in both dark and ice magic. Yet after half an hour, her mana had already run dry, forcing her to sit down and rest. The Lightning Skeleton Mage, on the other hand, seemed to have inexhaustible mana, firing Lightning Arrows without pause and showing no trace of fatigue. Li Shaolin found this strange as well. If it truly consumed no mana, then this Skeleton Mage was far too overpowered. What he did not know was that Skeleton Mages worked on the same principle as Skeleton Warriors: they absorbed Death Force in battle and converted it into mana. In other words, under such continuous slaughter, they could maintain a balance of mana, but in a battle of attrition, they would not be nearly so formidable.

After seeing this, Li Shaolin and Sulonna stopped involving themselves in the fighting. They occasionally added a Frostbolt or Bone Fang, but otherwise had it easy. When hungry, they hunted Sand Strider Crabs along the shore or fish in the shallow water. When night fell and they grew tired, they pitched a tent and camped on the beach. In three days, they had already covered more than half the journey.

"Look, once we turn up ahead, we'll reach the Golden Coast Mine." Sulonna pointed at a shallow sandy gorge and told Li Shaolin, "That mine has also been occupied by the Defias Brotherhood. I heard there are even Gnolls helping out inside!"

"Gnolls? Don't they not know how to talk?"

"The Gnolls' commander is called Swiftclaw, one of Lieutenant Grafan's capable subordinates in the Redridge Mountains. Captains like him can speak Common. And this Swiftclaw has always maintained trading relations with Miser Capol, one of the three giants of Westfall on our side," Sulonna explained.

Just then, a huge beached sea fish appeared before them.

As they approached, they saw that the fish was blackish-gray all over, with a tall, conspicuous dorsal fin. It was over ten meters long and seemed to have died only recently, with no signs of decay on its body yet.

This was Li Shaolin's first time seeing a real giant sea fish. Judging by its size, it probably weighed several tons. Good heavens, if it had been alive, one sweep of that tail might have smashed this whole group of summons to pieces.

But when he turned around, he was startled.

Only half the fish's body remained. Its tail section was intact, while the front half had become enormous white bones. The white fish skull connected to a long spine and ribs, all of them incredibly thick.

"Careful! Murlocs often lurk inside the bodies of these beached sea fish," Sulonna warned from beside him.

Before her words had faded, a series of "mua" sounds rang out. Green figures darted from the gaps beneath the bones, and a large group of Murlocs poured out at once!

Clearly, these Murlocs were furious at having their meal interrupted. Their cries rang out without end as they surrounded them moments later.

Strangely enough, some of these Murlocs even had pet sea crabs, which lunged at the Skeleton Warriors with claws raised.

"Hunting Murlocs! Be careful, these guys can attack from range!" A block of ice appeared above Sulonna's head with a bang as she activated Frost Armor.

Heeding her warning, Li Shaolin did not dare let down his guard. He grabbed at the air, and three Bone Shields formed around him.

There were around a dozen Murlocs. Together with the sea crabs, they launched a fierce assault that drove the Bronze Skeleton and Bone Skeleton steadily backward. As if someone were directing them, these Murlocs vaguely understood how to advance and retreat. Whenever one was injured, another immediately took its place, while wooden spears occasionally struck the two skeletons. If the pair had been able to feel pain, they might have collapsed long ago.

"Something's wrong. They have a commander!" Taking advantage of the chaos to move farther away, Li Shaolin watched for a moment before speaking to Sulonna beside him.

Looking closely, sure enough, behind the Murlocs taking turns attacking stood a Murloc holding a thin short blade, seemingly muttering something. Two Murlocs stood to either side, apparently protecting him. Once Detection was activated, a name appeared before him: Tenacious Slark, Level 15!

"So it's you!" Li Shaolin's thoughts stirred. He gestured to Sulonna beside him, and once the two had prepared, a black shadow flickered through the air. In an instant, a skeleton wielding two black blades appeared behind that Murloc. At the same time, one of the two Murlocs beside him had a skull light up above its head and fled in fear, while the other was enveloped in black light and temporarily blinded. He no longer had any helpers.

Murlocs were short, and their strength often did not match their levels. Take the Murlocs along Long Beach, for example. They were only slightly stronger than the Murlocs by Crystal Lake back then, and were no match for the Skeleton Warriors at all. If not for their numerical advantage, how could they have held on for so long? They were less than a meter tall, while the Bronze Skeleton and Bone Skeleton were both nearly two meters tall. Especially after advancing, the Bronze Skeleton possessed tremendous strength. One slash was often enough to cut a Murloc in two.

Naturally, the Black Skeleton was no weaker than the Bronze Skeleton. The moment it appeared, its twin blades spun and danced, and the fellow called Slark was already separated from his head!

"This guy was way too weak!" He looked like a leader, yet he had been killed just like that? Li Shaolin could not help feeling surprised.

However, after Slark was killed, the rhythm of the Murlocs' attack immediately fell apart. Once the Bronze Skeleton unleashed its might and cut down two of them, the Murlocs scattered with a crash and fled in all directions!

Just then, a huge blue-purple figure rushing at full speed appeared in Li Shaolin's sight!

As fast as lightning, it arrived in the blink of an eye!

"Whoosh!" The Black Skeleton appeared directly in its path, blocking it with its twin blades! Only after that brief pause could they see the figure clearly. It was a large Murloc wielding a three-pronged fork.

The twin blades met the three-pronged fork with a crisp clang, but the Murloc had charged in with tremendous momentum. With one thrust, it actually sent the Black Skeleton flying!

"So strong?" Before Li Shaolin could finish being surprised, the Bronze Skeleton moved sideways and met it with the Bronze Blade. As blade and fork collided, neither gave ground.

Detection activated again: Rushing Burak, Level 16!

As though Burak had awakened its desire to fight, the Bronze Skeleton stepped forward and slashed fiercely with its long blade, engaging him in battle in an instant. Burak showed no fear. Its long three-pronged fork spun rapidly, moving so tightly that not even water could pass through, keeping the Bronze Blade at bay.

A black figure flashed, and the Black Skeleton appeared behind him. Its twin blades came down, ready to strike him down while he was occupied with the Bronze Skeleton!

However, an unexpected scene unfolded!

The Bronze Skeleton parried with its long blade, knocking aside the three-pronged fork, then rotated its great shield and blocked the Black Skeleton's twin blades!

"What does this mean?" Seeing this strange development, Li Shaolin was about to step forward when an inexplicable connection came through his mind. It seemed to be from the Bronze Skeleton?

The general meaning was that it wanted to duel the Murloc!

Good heavens, ever since the Golden Golem, this was the only summon capable of forming even a slight mental connection!

He recalled the Black Skeleton and let the two fight. Li Shaolin could not help sinking into thought. Could skeletons gain consciousness after evolving? No, that could not be right. The Golden Golem had already become golden and reached the Eighth Tier, yet it only possessed the intelligence of a child a few years old. This Bronze Skeleton was only Fourth Tier. How could it possibly develop consciousness?

In the end, the Murloc did not possess the Skeleton's endurance. After breaking one of the Bronze Skeleton's ribs, it was cut across the neck by the long blade.

Immediately afterward, a familiar sensation surged up. The results of three days of slaughter manifested themselves. The Bronze Skeleton's broken chest bone miraculously recovered, while an inexplicable force spread through Li Shaolin's body. He had leveled up!

He was now a Level 13 Necromancer.

Before he could assign his points, a middle-aged man's voice called out loudly, "Sulonna, is that you?"

A Defias member wearing a brown leather jacket and leather mask appeared at the edge of the gorge, calling out to Sulonna. Since the two had been traveling along Long Beach, neither had worn a mask. No wonder they had been recognized.

Li Shaolin quickly pulled out his mask and put it on. He did not want to invite any trouble. But it was already too late to put away the skeletons, so he let the man see them.

Sulonna took a few steps forward. "You are... Messenger?"

"Yes, I'm Messenger. This companion of yours does not seem to be one of our members. Someone from the Scourge?" Unlike the Defias members they had encountered before, Messenger was quite friendly and did not panic at the sight of the skeletons.

"This is my friend, Lin. Aren't you surprised by his identity?" Sulonna was curious as well.

"Hehe, it's like this. Recently, Ghouls and Undead have appeared at the Watchtower on the Dust Plains in Westfall, and VanCleef is considering cooperating with them. Oh, right, he already knows what happened in Elwynn and has been urgently looking for you. Sigh, our Defias are simply not united enough internally." Messenger sighed, then smiled heartily. "This mage, you don't mind me saying that, do you?"

"Of course. Please, go ahead." Li Shaolin nodded.

"Sulonna, come here for a moment." Messenger's expression turned somewhat grave.

"Can this man be trusted?" Li Shaolin asked softly, lowering his head.

"He is VanCleef's cousin and oversees one side of Westfall on his own. He should mean no harm." Sulonna nodded and slowly walked over.