Another First Kill!

Chapter 22: Another First Kill!

"Grandson, your grandpa's right here!"

Though Ye Weiming's improvised taunt skill could not produce any system-recognized effect, it successfully drew the BOSS's attention. Without another word, Chen Ming raised his crossbow and fired.

Ye Weiming's movement technique already far surpassed that of ordinary players at this stage. After channeling internal energy into it, he became astonishingly fast. Chen Ming had only just fired two crossbow bolts when Ye Weiming had already crossed several yards and ducked behind another stone pillar.

While Chen Ming's attention was drawn to Ye Weiming, Youyou stepped out from behind her pillar. Chen Ming had just begun to turn his crossbow toward her when Ye Weiming emerged from behind his pillar once more. Pushing the Eight-Step Toad Leap to its limit, he charged fiercely at Chen Ming.

Both targets appeared at once, but Chen Ming immediately decided that Ye Weiming, who was trying to close in on him, posed the greater threat. He turned his crossbow back again, but before he could attack, Youyou's bolts had already struck him.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!..."

Another six crossbow bolts struck home in succession. Drawing on her previous experience, Youyou deliberately slowed her attack rhythm. By exploiting the roughly 0.2-second aiming delay the BOSS needed before firing, she bought Ye Weiming more time. At the same time, she took 324 HP from Chen Ming, reducing him to 6176/6500.

As for the HP Youyou had taken off in her previous volleys?

Even her severe injuries had already healed her back to full health. Could the BOSS possibly regenerate more slowly than a player?

Of course, the amount of HP Youyou's six bolts removed was not the point. The point was that she had bought Ye Weiming nearly five seconds!

Five seconds was enough for Ye Weiming to charge from the edge of the hall to the BOSS and follow up on Youyou's attack.

After being struck by both of them in succession, even a BOSS could not take it forever. To protect himself, the instant he broke free from attack recovery, he instinctively swung the Zhuge Divine Crossbow up to block.

According to Youyou's earlier explanation, the Zhuge Divine Crossbow had been forged by a Tang Clan master based on the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow. It had taken ten years and rare metals gathered from across the land to create. Not only did it push the repeating crossbow's capabilities to their limits, it was also extraordinarily sturdy—neither blades nor axes could harm it in the slightest.

Ye Weiming had long expected him to block this way. With a flick of his wrist, he changed his thrust into a sweep. The blade, infused with internal energy, sliced across Chen Ming's crossbow-wielding wrist with lightning speed.

"Argh!" Chen Ming cried out in pain. The Zhuge Divine Crossbow slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground, while he rapidly retreated in an attempt to widen the distance between himself and Ye Weiming.

Ye Weiming pressed his advantage. With Chen Ming empty-handed, he sent his longsword forward, and the most damaging move in the Moon Maiden Swordplay, Xi Shi Holding Heart, struck him squarely in the chest. - 326!

It was also a critical hit, yet Ye Weiming's damage was more than twice Youyou's!

Having gained the upper hand, Ye Weiming showed no mercy. His fierce attacks came one after another, and he shouted as he struck.

"Xi Shi Holds Throat!"

"Xi Shi Holds Eyes!"

"Xi Shi Holds Temples!"

"West Lake Holds Kidney!"

He was simply using the most damaging move, Xi Shi Holding Heart, over and over again, with each strike landing at a different spot. Every attack in the barrage hit a Vital Point. After seven consecutive strikes, he had taken over two thousand HP from the BOSS.

Naturally, this was not because his Xi Shi Holding Heart was so bugged that one move could chain endlessly. The move was actually simple and direct, and not difficult to deal with. He only dared to fight this way because the BOSS had no weapon in hand and was not proficient in unarmed combat.

After seven strikes, the BOSS finally drew the Ghost-head Great Saber from his back and chopped down onto the edge of Ye Weiming's Xi Shi Holds Abdomen.

Clang!

A thunderous clash of metal rang through the chamber. Ye Weiming was sent staggering back three steps by the BOSS's tremendous strength, and his combo was interrupted!

With his attack broken, Ye Weiming hurriedly looked toward where the Zhuge Divine Crossbow had fallen. Seeing that Youyou had already picked up the treasured weapon, he finally let out a breath of relief. He raised his longsword and charged at Chen Ming again.

Now that the BOSS had a saber in hand, Ye Weiming no longer dared to keep making Xi Shi hold this and that. Instead, he focused on using the Moon Maiden Swordplay to slowly circle and contend with his opponent. About ten seconds later, Youyou's Reinforcements still had not arrived, but Ye Weiming did not mind. Relying on his superior Swordsmanship Level, he had found openings to stab the BOSS twice more. Though neither strike critted, they still took nearly 200 HP from the BOSS.

At this pace, Ye Weiming felt that he might be able to try soloing this BOSS.

However, his plan to solo the BOSS ultimately fell through. Just as he was preparing for a prolonged battle, Youyou's attack finally arrived.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!..."

As sharp bolts tore through the air, a string of red damage numbers floated above the BOSS's head. - 734! - 721! - 1465! ...

With seven bolts in a row, every hit knocked Chen Ming back some distance, while a shocking number floated over his head. Two of the hits struck Vital Points for critical damage, dealing nearly 1,500 terrifying damage each.

It was said to be seven bolts, but the BOSS's HP bar had already been emptied by the sixth. Strictly speaking, the final bolt was merely desecrating the corpse—and it directly pinned the BOSS's body to the stone pillar behind him.

Ding! Successfully killed Level 30 BOSS Chen Ming. Gained 4,000 EXP and 400 cultivation.

Ding! Your level has increased to Level 14.

Ding! You successfully killed Chen Ming, leader of the West Lake Bandits, perfectly completing the quest "Clear Out the West Lake Bandits." Rewards: 6,000 EXP, 600 cultivation, 2 gold and 50 silver.

Compared to the rewards listed in the quest, clearing out all the bandits truly yielded more than simply completing the quest directly!

System Announcement: Divine Constable Bureau disciple Ye Weiming and Tang Clan disciple Youyou killed the bandit leader occupying the Leifeng Pagoda Dungeon, Level 15 BOSS Chen Ming, achieving the first kill. First-kill rewards: 100 Jianghu Reputation and 100 Sect Contribution Points.

System Announcement: Divine Constable Bureau disciple Ye Weiming...

The System Announcement flashed three times in a row, but what Ye Weiming cared about more was this: "How come the same treasured weapon deals more damage against the BOSS in your hands than it did when the BOSS used it?"

"Because the BOSS doesn't know how to use it." Youyou stated it as though it were obvious. "In the BOSS's hands, this hand crossbow cannot even guarantee basic accuracy, let alone receive damage bonuses from martial arts. The Jingyu Art I cultivate specializes in hand crossbows."

Thinking of his Moon Maiden Swordplay, which granted a 70% sword attack bonus, Ye Weiming understood. He had simply been too shocked by her instantly killing the BOSS to think of it right away.

Shaking his head, Ye Weiming suddenly asked, "Can you send me the stats so I can take a look?"

Although the Zhuge Divine Crossbow was currently in Youyou's hands, it was not hers. It had to be brought back to the Tang Clan to complete the quest. Naturally, Youyou had no reason to hide its stats, so she generously sent Ye Weiming a screenshot.