Bosses Assemble

One of the awakened individuals raised his hand and greeted Bai Xiaowen: "Hello, are you Bai Xiaowen, a student from Jinghai University?"

Bai Xiaowen nodded slightly. "Yes."

The Awakened One who greeted them had slightly dark skin and was rather thin, but he was carrying a shield, clearly a tank-type Awakened One charging ahead. After hearing Bai Xiaowen's confirmation, he excitedly said, "My name is Jiang Bo, from Jiaodong University. Bai, would you like to join our team and fight monsters together?"

Before Bai Xiaowen could answer, another Awakened student beside him—the same archer who had just lured away and eliminated the Elite Zombie dog—tugged at Jiang Bo's clothes and then said loudly, "Sorry, Bai, we have enough people on our side."

Jiang Bo wanted to say something, but the third awakened one pulled him back, so he could only shut up.

Bai Xiaowen almost laughed, but since the other party had clearly stated their refusal, there was no need for him to try and win them over. He waved his hand and said, "Understood."

As they were talking, Bai Xiaowen spotted a clump of Netherworld Grass and quickly went over to pick it.

After Bai Xiaowen walked away, a low murmur of argument arose among the awakened individuals who were fighting monsters.

Jiang Bo: "Why not let Bai Xiaowen join the team? He's so strong. Having him as a teammate would reduce the pressure on us a lot."

Ke Yifei, the ranged agility marksman who had just lured away the Elite Zombie dogs, fired with a cold expression and said calmly, "Yes, he's very strong, stronger than any of us. Once he joins the team, he'll steal most of the Kill Contribution from this wave of monsters. What will we have left?"

Another Awakened being named Teng Fan brandished his greatsword and said in a muffled voice, "Ke Yifei is right. With the strength of the three of us, we are already capable of dealing with these monsters. There is no need to bring in another person to share the spoils."

Jiang Bo finally understood what the two were thinking, but he still shook his head. "You're wrong. If Bai Xiaowen joins, our team's strength will increase a lot, and we can try to kill the Boss Tier monster. Even if Bai Xiaowen takes most of the contribution, what we get left over will still be more profitable than killing Elite Tier and ordinary monsters here."

Ke Yifei scoffed, "If you're so eager to curry favor with a master, then go ahead. Nobody's stopping you."

Teng Fan: "Yeah, anyway, we're just strangers who met by chance. We only teamed up with you because we needed a tank temporarily. You can leave if you want."

Bai Xiaowen's mental state was currently at a high level of 47, and despite the distance, he could hear the conversation between the three clearly. He almost laughed; these three weren't from the same university after all, and their friendship had capsized so easily.

Bai Xiaowen lowered her opinion of Ke Yifei and Teng Fan's character by one level.

With so many monsters, Jiang Bo, acting as the tank, bore a considerable amount of pressure.

Now, including the Elite Zombie dogs, half of the monsters are dead. The remaining few monsters, though still low on health, can Parry by the strength-type warrior Teng Fan.

The fact that the two of them wanted to drive Jiang Bo away at this point felt somewhat like discarding a donkey after it had served its purpose.

However, although Jiang Bo's expression was not good, he did not leave on the spot. He said in a muffled voice, "I also contributed to this battle. You want to kick me out now? I won't let you have your way. I will leave naturally after we kill the monsters and distribute the Psionic Points and treasure chests."

Now it was Teng Fan and Ke Yifei's turn to look grim.

The battle continued when suddenly, from another opening, emerged a robust Awakened One carrying a shield. He glanced at the fighting and exclaimed with a hint of delight, "Teng Fan, Ke Yifei? What a coincidence!"

The battle was nearing its end. Ke Yifei had a moment to look back, and quickly revealed a look of surprise, saying, "Brother Shanji!"

"Bullshit! My name is Ji Jingyuan. Call me Mountain Chicken again and I'll get angry!" The burly Awakened One carrying a shield laughed. "What a coincidence! Three of us from Luzhou University were assigned to the vicinity of the Netherworld Rift and met up ahead of time."

Ke Yifei glanced at Jiang Bo sideways and deliberately said loudly, "Brother, you're a bit late. If you had come earlier, Lao Teng and I wouldn't have had to team up with people from other schools."

Ji Jingyuan frowned. "Someone from another school? Also a MT?"

Ke Yifei: "What are you waiting for? Come and lend a hand, you'll get a share of the Kill Contribution."

"Alright!" Ji Jingyuan Sprint forward, deliberately blocking Jiang Bo 'Jiang Bo path and deflecting an attack from a Drowned Zombie.

On the surface, Ji Jingyuan was helping Jiang Bo absorb damage, but in reality, the number and strength of the monsters were far from enough to kill any Awakened One. Ji Jingyuan was doing this in a roundabout way to compete for Kill Contribution —you should know that how much damage a tank-type Awakened One takes for their teammates and how long they control the monsters will also be converted into Kill Contribution according to the Spirit Realm Rules.

Jiang Bo tried to dodge left and right to fight the monster, but his attacks were blocked by Ji Jingyuan's large shield.

"What are you doing?" Jiang Bo shouted angrily.

"Absorbing damage for teammates, isn't that a main tank's job?" Ji Jingyuan laughed heartily. "Young man, as a tank, your awareness isn't quite there yet. Learn from me."

Jiang Bo controlled his emotions and refrained from smashing the hammer. Initiating a fight against three opponents would not only result in a loss but would also give them a legitimate opportunity to retaliate in self-defense; anyone with a modicum of intelligence wouldn't do that.

Jiang Bo simply stopped fighting and stood aside. Anyway, he had already participated in the battle for so long and absorbed several kilograms of damage, so his Kill Contribution couldn't be erased. He could just take the treasure chest and leave later.

The three Awakened students from Luzhou University smiled smugly when they saw Jiang Bo back down. Instead of rushing to kill the BOSS, they slowed down their attacks, letting Ji Jingyuan tank the damage for longer—obviously, the longer Ji Jingyuan tanked, the greater his Kill Contribution would be, which would correspondingly reduce Jiang Bo's contribution.

"This Jiang Bo is really an eyesore. Maybe we should just kick him out," Ji Jingyuan said in a low voice.

Ke Yifei: "I'd like to do that too. However, there's an outsider over there, a formidable one. Who knows if he'll use this as an excuse to interfere and steal our treasure chest?"

"He is..." Ji Jingyuan followed Ke Yifei's finger and saw Bai Xiaowen digging up a Netherwind Flower. He didn't recognize him at first, but felt that he looked familiar.

"Bai Xiaowen, the ace of Jinghai University."

"Hiss..." Ji Jingyuan gasped. "Forget it, forget it, don't give him a chance to cause trouble."

They deliberately kept their voices down, thinking they were being careful, but Bai Xiaowen actually heard most of it.

Bai Xiaowen shook her head, revealing a helpless smile.

Seeing these awakened individuals go to such lengths to Kill Contribution of Elite Tier monsters, sacrificing their own killing efficiency just to get a little more, Bai Xiaowen truly found it hard to understand.

As for their discussion about whether Bai Xiaowen would find an excuse to interfere and steal their spoils...

Bai Xiaowen recalled the more than 70,000 new Psionic Points he had just acquired, as well as the twenty-three Silver Treasure Chest he had just opened.

[Unaware that rotten rats become a delicacy, the speculations of the phoenix continue unabated.] Bai Xiaowen thought of a line from Li Shangyin's poem, which perfectly reflected his current state of mind.

Of course, Bai Xiaowen is neither a poet who laments the passing of spring and the coming of autumn, nor a refined person who disregards interests. If he encounters a treasure that truly entices him, he will also try to seize it.

Right now, competing with these few useless Awakened Ones for the loot of a few ordinary monsters and a couple of Elite Tier monsters yields too little, and it's not worth losing reputation for it.

The suspicions harbored by Ji Jingyuan, Ke Yifei, and others were like those of a homeless man who had just won a 500 yuan lottery, watching Jack Ma passing by with wary eyes, worried that he might snatch the ticket away...

"Actually, it's a good thing that these guys from Luzhou University cleared out the monsters; I can now collect Netherworld Grass and Netherwind Flower without worry... It's just a pity that I don't know where the Nightmare Alligator is."

Just as Bai Xiaowen had this thought, the ground of Yinwind Ridge suddenly shook violently.

"It can't be that effective, can it?" Bai Xiaowen was a little puzzled; his mouth hadn't been blessed with any magic...

Ke Yifei and the others' expressions changed, and they shouted, "Quickly kill these monsters! More monsters are coming out!"

As they spoke, cracks appeared in the ground of Yinwind Ridge, as if an invisible hand was tearing the earth apart.

One by one, withered arms stretched out from the cracks, clawing at the ground, slowly crawling out. They were all sturdy skeletons, with blue phosphorescent flames burning in their two empty eye sockets.

There were also Zombie with bloated, festering bodies, moving somewhat slowly, their skin appearing waterlogged and a disgusting, deathly white.

Black mist floated up along the cracks, turning into black shadows.

"Skeleton Champion, Drowned Zombie, Ghost! There are so many of them!" Ke Yifei exclaimed in horror.

"Not only that, there's also the leader... a two-and-a-half-meter-tall skeleton, probably an Elite Tier individual, right?" Ji Jingyuan's voice trembled slightly; he couldn't believe his own words.

"The Elite Tier Skeleton Champion is behind it, at least two heads shorter!" Teng Fan exclaimed. "That's clearly the Boss Tier!"

Bai Xiaowen could see it more clearly: there were over a hundred newly appeared Undead Species monsters, including more than a dozen Elite Tier monsters. And there wasn't just one Boss Tier, but a total of three!

[Alexei (Level 6 Boss Tier)]

[Race: Undead Species / Bonefolk]

[Class: Bone Warrior Commander]

[Attributes: Strength 52, Agility 20, Constitution 30, Spirit 19]

[Skill 1: Bone Shield: Passive effect: Each time you receive physical damage, a stack of Bone Shield will be triggered. This effect can be accumulated. Active activation will release all current Bone Shield stacks, forming a shield that absorbs physical damage.]

[Skill 2: Mighty Swing: Alexei swings his greatsword, dealing heavy physical damage to the target and inflicting a knockback effect.]

[Skill 3: Stunning Heavy Strike: Alexei delivers a powerful punch to the target's head, dealing heavy physical damage and inflicting a stun effect.]

[Skill 4:???]

To the side of Alexei, the Bone Warrior Commander, amidst a horde of Ghost monsters, floated a pale-faced, disheveled Banshee, hovering about a foot in the air, her red eyes gleaming eerily.

[Lady Shivalis (Boss Tier Level 6)]

[Race: Undead Species / Soulkin]

[Class: Banshee Commander]

[Attributes: Strength 29, Agility 25, Constitution 32, Spirit 50]

[Skill 1: Formless Body: Racial Passive Ability (details omitted)]

[Skill 2: Mind-Splitting Shriek: Emits a chilling shriek, causing all nearby enemies to flee aimlessly for 3 seconds, and inflicting a Soul-Shaking Echo effect. The duration of the next Mind-Splitting Shriek is increased by 50%.]

[Skill 3: Death Ripple: Lady Shivalis unleashes Death Ripple in a cone-shaped area in front of her, dealing heavy magic damage to all targets within the area.]

[Skill 4:???]

Although the Banshee Boss, Lady Shivalis, floats about a foot off the ground, her head is only about the same height as the towering Bone Champion Boss, Alexei. However, these two bosses are not the tallest. Beside them, among the Drowned Zombie monsters, stands a gigantic, deformed monster three meters tall.

[Voodoo Colossus (Level 6 Boss Tier)]

[Race: Undead Species / Corpse Demonfolk]

[Occupation: Drowned Zombie Commander]

[Attributes: Strength 48, Agility 13, Constitution 50, Spirit 15]

[Skill 1: Bloat: Passive, Voodoo Colossus gains an additional 100% Life Value, and its armor and magic resistance are set to zero by default.]

[Skill 2: Toxic Miasma: Passive, the Voodoo Colossus automatically releases poisonous mist during combat, causing continuous poison damage to all enemies within melee range.]

[Skill 3: Ominous Aura: Passive. The Voodoo Colossus automatically releases Ominous Aura during combat, stacking Ominous Aura on all enemies within melee range, up to a maximum of 15 stacks. Each stack of Ominous Aura reduces the target's all attributes by 1 point.]

[Skill 4: Overwhelming Crush: Passive. All attacks of the Voodoo Colossus Corpse gain Overwhelming Crush effect, dealing additional Overwhelming Crush damage to targets smaller than itself. The smaller the target, the higher the Overwhelming Crush damage.]

The Voodoo Colossus looked like a crooked tree, with a blurred face, a deformed and huge left arm, and a right arm that had mutated into an octopus-like tentacle. Its whole body exuded a putrid stench.

The Voodoo Colossus has no active attack skills; all of them are passive. However, it's undeniable that the combination of these four passive skills makes it a very troublesome opponent.

While the first skill certainly has negative effects, the positive effect is simply too explosive—it doubles its Life Value. The Voodoo Colossus already has 500 Life Value points from its base constitution of 50, and after doubling, its Life Value reaches a terrifying 1,000 points, making it even more resilient than Advanced Boss.

With such a high Life Value, it's difficult to quickly defeat this Voodoo Colossus. Moreover, its two shameless passive skills, "Toxic Miasma" and "Ominous Aura," are absolute melee killers. The final passive skill, Overwhelming Crush, perfectly complements the Voodoo Giant Corpse's lethality, making its strength self-evident.

The other two bosses were no pushovers either, being no weaker than the Voodoo Colossus. Just look at the pale faces of the other Awakened Ones to know the visual impact of having three Boss Tier, plus a group of Elite Tier and ordinary monsters, appearing at once.

The poem uses an allusion from the Zhuangzi: During the Warring States period, Hui Shi served as the prime minister of the Liang state, and Zhuangzi prepared to visit him. Someone told Hui Shi that Zhuangzi was there to seize his position. Hui Shi was terrified and searched the Liang state. Zhuangzi went to see Hui Shi and said, "In the south, there is a divine bird called the Yuanchu (meaning phoenix), which flies from the South Sea to the Beihai. Along the way, it will not rest except on the paulownia tree, will not eat except bamboo seeds, and will not drink except from sweet springs. An owl, having just caught a dead mouse, saw the Yuanchu flying by and, suspecting it was coming to steal its food, raised its head and let out an angry 'screech!' Are you 'screwing' me for the sake of your Liang state?"