A Terrifying Weapon

"Bang!"

Bai Xiaowen's first shot was still powerful, hitting the eye socket of an Elite Tier Earthwalker Dragon and tearing open a piece of its skull, splattering brain matter and blood. Vital Strike took more than 1/3 of its maximum Life Value, an instant kill!

At the same time, Bai Xiaowen's body surface glowed slightly red, indicating that he had entered the Brutality after the Killing Thirst was triggered! He would fire a shot and then switch to another enemy, specifically targeting those full-health Earthwalker Dragon, and every shot would definitely trigger the true damage of Killing Thirst.

At this point, Bai Xiaowen's Critical Hit rate was already considerable. The 8% Critical Hit of the level 3 Elite Tier squad, the 10% Critical Hit rate after the Killing Thirst was triggered, plus Bai Xiaowen's own agility which naturally increased his Critical Hit rate, meant that his overall Critical Hit had exceeded 20%, with a Critical Hit occurring every few shots.

Moreover, with the support of his level 7 Shooting Specialty, Bai Xiaowen was basically hitting the Earthwalker Dragon's vital points. Almost every time he triggered Critical Hit, he would kill an Elite Tier Earthwalker Dragon instantly!

While Qiao Rui was playing the whistling instrument to weaken the Earth Dragon, she was also secretly shocked by Bai Xiaowen's performance. Although he was playing as a ranged shooter, Bai Xiaowen seemed to be more powerful than Xie Yixin, the shooter from the Yanda University team. Although Xie Yixin, as a sniper, could also kill an Earth Dragon with one shot, it required a long time to aim and charge up, and the attack interval was too long, which was far less efficient than Bai Xiaowen's killing efficiency.

On the other hand, Li Shuyi's performance was also outstanding. She and Bai Xiaowen understood each other's strengths and weaknesses, and their cooperation was seamless.

Li Shuyi wouldn't even touch those fully healed Earthwalker Dragon, leaving them all for Bai Xiaowen to trigger the First Blood blood enhancement effect of the Blood Essence Stone! She targeted the Earthwalker Dragon that Bai Xiaowen hadn't killed with a single shot (those that didn't trigger Critical Hit and didn't meet the 1/3 maximum Life Value instant kill condition), and wielded her dual swords with a whooshing sound, efficiently slicing through the flesh to finish them off.

Unlike Bai Xiaowen, who can kill instantly with a single shot, Li Shuyi takes a sustained damage approach. Her agility and attack speed increase with each shot, and her swordsmanship is precise. Within her melee range, almost every Earthwalker Dragon is blinded in one strike, and her frenzied Charge can accidentally injure other Earthwalker Dragon companions nearby.

While attacking, Bai Xiaowen was also manipulating the Elite Tier undead creatures to help Li Shuyi finish off the remaining enemies, with the primary goal of reducing the number of Earthwalker Dragon.

The battle continued, and one after another Earthwalker Dragon fell with mournful cries.

The Black-Scaled Earthwalker Dragon Chieftain roared and Charge, but was steadily stopped by the Butcher. The Butcher's Life Value was not much lower than its own, and its survivability was equally high. It was like a flesh and blood barrier, blocking the Black-Scaled Earthwalker Dragon Chieftain's path.

Ultimately, the Black-Scaled Earthwalker Dragon Chieftain is just a physical type boss; it's not strong in either strength or agility, Butcher can easily intercept it.

Of course, if the Black-Scaled Earthwalker Dragon Chieftain is of the strength or agility type, it will be difficult for the Butcher to contain it single-handedly. But in that case, Bai Xiaowen's tactical approach will change: kill the Boss Tier first and then clean up the mess, ending the battle much faster.

After the last Elite Tier Earthwalker Dragon fell, Bai Xiaowen ordered Goliya's Elite Tier undead to retreat from the battlefield and Stealth again, while he commanded the summoned creatures, along with Li Shuyi and Qiao Rui, to surround and kill the BOSS.

"An hour of the mission has already passed. I wish the next hour would be this easy too." Li Shuyi crawled behind the Black-Scaled Earthwalker Dragon Chieftain and repeatedly Thrust it to bleed it, appearing relaxed and happy.

Suddenly, the Black-Scaled Earthwalker Dragon Chieftain swung its thick, long tail, and its barbed tail fin, like a spiked club, hurtled towards Li Shuyi.

Li Shuyi was genuinely taken aback, crossing her twin swords in a cross shape to try Parry the attack. With a clang, she suffered a significant recoil injury and staggered back two steps. Considering the Life Value she had lost in the horde of Earthwalker Dragon, her Life Value was now less than half.

Qiao Rui raised her hand and cast a Life Healing skill, instantly raising Li Shuyi's health to 90%!

Li Shuyi: "(▽`)"

"Get away from directly behind the BOSS and attack from the side! Many beast-type BOSSes have a tail sweeping attack, so being directly behind is just as dangerous as being directly in front."

Li Shuyi nodded quickly. She was actually under a lot of pressure. Bai Xiaowen and Qiao Rui were both powerful Hero Class with their own equipment, while she was just an Elite Class. If she didn't want to become a burden to the White Phoenix Squad, she had to raise her standards. She shouldn't repeat the mistakes she made before.

Fortunately, the reward from the SS-Tier Elite Tier Scavenger mission— Purified Divine Power Residue —gave Li Shuyi a glimmer of hope for further progress.

After reminding Li Shuyi, Bai Xiaowen gave Qiao Rui a thumbs-up in praise. He thought to himself that Qiao Rui's addition had indeed raised the team's ceiling, and even the margin for error had increased significantly.

Qiao Rui responded with a gentle smile. She had been keeping Bai Xiaowen's instructions in mind. With only one hour left in the mission, she immediately tapped her shoulder pads to summon the Falcon Spirit.

With a clear eagle's cry, a nearly transparent falcon shadow soared into the sky. Only Qiao Rui and her teammates could see the blurry shadow; the others could not see the Falcon Spirit at all, as it was in a state of permanent cloaking.

With a thud, the Boss Tier the Black-Scaled Earthwalker Dragon fell to the ground, dead. This battle was much easier than before.

The Battle Rating was only C because the Earthwalker Dragon boss was only level 7, while the attackers consisted of two Hero Class and one Elite Class, all of whom were level 6.

Bai Xiaowen opened and drew from the fallen Golden Treasure Chest.

The golden card flipped over, and wow, it revealed a dark, barbed hammer.

[Earthwalker Dragon Bone-Spike Hammer (Bind on Pickup)]

[Equipment Quality: Heroic Tier (Gold)]

[Equipment Slot: Two-Handed]

[Equipment Requirements: Base Strength 40]

[Attribute: Additional Attack Power 16~40]

[Additional Skill: Armor Break Penetration: Passive. When attacking with this weapon, ignores (40~80)% of the target's armor value. The lower the target's armor, the higher the percentage of armor ignored.]

[Durability: 39/40]

[Note: The Earthwalker Dragon that roams the ice plains possesses three terrifying weapons: a powerful jaw, heavy claws, and a tail hammer covered in barbs.]

Besides the murder weapon, the treasure chest also contained a special item not listed in the loot: Drake Blood. Bai Xiaowen had seen this before; it increased maximum Life Value based on base constitution points, making it an excellent item. This also shows that the Spirit Realm Rules Battle Rating between C-Tier and B-Tier, hence the C-Tier and the additional Drake Blood drop as compensation.

However, all three of them were drawn to the bone spike hammer.

"This hammer has a very high attack power, comparable to some heavy Polearm Weapons," Bai Xiaowen said. "The key is the Armor Break -piercing passive skill, which is really strong. The only pity is the 40 base strength. Those who can reach this level are basically strength-type awakeners close to level 10, or they have to be Advanced Hero Class."

"This is a piece of graduation gear," Qiao Rui commented briefly, but her judgment was definitely sound. "It's worth trading."

Following the distribution method agreed upon by the three after the team was formed—distribute according to need, with unnecessary items placed in the Shared Storage Space — Bai Xiaowen put away the Bone Spike Hammer. The Drake Blood, after discussion, was given to Li Shuyi.

Most teams might request to split their Psionic Points in the bidding mode, but none of the three members of the White Phoenix Squad care about Psionic Points; being too calculating would be counterproductive.

The reason for giving the Drake Blood to Li Shuyi is quite simple. After this adventure, Li Shuyi will undergo Hero Trial alone. If she succeeds, both she and the White Phoenix Squad will see a significant increase in strength. Therefore, items and props that can increase her success rate should be saved for her as much as possible.

"Xiao Wen, my experience bar is full! I can level up to level 7 now!" Li Shuyi said happily.

"Do not upgrade."

Bai Xiaowen had already considered this issue and immediately shook his head. "Leveling up from 6 to 7 is a crucial improvement; it can significantly boost your strength. I think you should hold your level for now and wait until you complete the Hero Trial and the trial quests before leveling up!"

Qiao Rui nodded and said, "That's right. When the Spirit Realm Rules determine the difficulty of a mission, they are based on the recipient's current strength. If you level up 7 more levels after accepting the mission, your chances of passing the Hero Trial will greatly increase."

"Okay, I'll listen to you. But unfortunately, my experience bar is full now, so I won't be able to get any more experience from killing monsters or completing quests... It's Lord Tier quest."

"These are all secondary; promotion is the only Kingly Way. This time, neither Sister Qiao nor I can help you; you'll have to rely on yourself, Shu Yi."

Bai Xiaowen waved his hand and made a pronouncement, "I think the requirements of the Spirit Realm Rules for the Hero Class are that they must be able to stand alone. When I helped you with the Class Change quest, I clearly got a perfect rating, but in the end, I still didn't get the Hero Class, only a Rare Elite class, which was a bit strange at the time. Now, the Hero Trial quest requires you to complete it alone, which finally clears up one of my doubts."

Li Shuyi also became serious. "I will try my best."

"Captain, junior... put the Hero Trial aside for now, we're in trouble."

Qiao Rui closed her eyes slightly, then opened them.

"Are more monsters coming? Based on the pattern of this mission, this third wave of monsters should be stronger than the Earthwalker Dragon horde, right?" Bai Xiaowen said.

Qiao Rui gave a wry smile, "He's definitely stronger, but as for how much stronger, I don't know..."