Deep in the jungle, a pack of vicious-looking Dire Wolves with red light blazing in their eyes prowled slowly through the undergrowth. Their ink-black fur radiated waves of ominous aura.
These were Demonic Beast Dire Wolves, exceptionally savage by nature. There were no fewer than twenty of them, and the leader had already reached level twelve.
This already counted as a relatively large Demonic Beast pack near Traveler Camp.
Every place the Demonic Beast Dire Wolves passed through was left shrouded in mist like black fog. That mist could cloud the minds of lifeforms. The NPCs said that if no one eliminated the Demonic Beasts, the world would take ten days to half a month to erase it on its own.
As these Demonic Beast Dire Wolves swept their surroundings without restraint,
just as they believed there was no danger nearby and lowered their guard, the level-twelve Dire Wolf at the front suddenly felt its fur stand on end, as though some great terror was about to descend.
Driven by instinct, the Demonic Beast Dire Wolf pushed off with its hind legs and lightly leaped four or five meters away.
The moment it landed, the leading Dire Wolf heard a deafening blast.
Bang!
When it looked back, it saw one of its level-six underlings behind it instantly killed by something no larger than a peanut.
What was that? So fast. If Demonic Beasts had reason, they surely would have thought that. Unfortunately, they did not.
A companion had died for no reason. Though cold-blooded Demonic Beasts had no emotions, they could clearly see the threat posed by such a powerful attack.
They stared warily in the direction the blast had come from and slowly moved toward it.
Just as they were about to approach the bushes where the blast had originated, the trees behind them shook. A figure burst from the grass, her golden hair and perfect tall figure proclaiming at every moment to these brainless Demonic Beasts that she was the mistress of this forest—an Elf.
The figure charged into the Demonic Beast pack and flicked the Iron-Tipped Spear in her hand. Blossoms of spear light bloomed amid the wolves. Just as she swept through the Demonic Beasts as easily as slaughtering chickens, several Demonic Beasts whose levels were second only to the leading Dire Wolf slowly encircled her.
Though Demonic Beasts lacked intelligence, their instincts were incredibly powerful. When the blonde Elf exerted herself to finish a sweep with her spear, instinct told them that this was precisely the opportunity they had been waiting for.
Several Demonic Beast Dire Wolves lunged forward with all their strength, their gleaming white fangs bared as they pounced at the female Elf gripping her spear.
"Watch out!" Qi Lin shouted a warning from the bushes.
Warned by Qi Lin, Young Mistress also noticed several level-ten Demonic Beasts closing in on her. Her footwork changed, and her game character seemed to ride the clouds and mist as she leaped dozens of meters away.
[Light Body Technique] was a skill Martial Artists could learn at level ten. Rumor had it that it originated from the light movement techniques used by the Millelith of Liyue during close-range surprise attacks, allowing one to unleash astonishing speed for a short period.
"That was close!" Young Mistress turned back, deeply relieved to have avoided the encirclement of those level-ten Demonic Beasts. Though she had already become a formal Martial Artist, even formal Martial Artists would not dare confront several level-ten Demonic Beasts head-on.
Young Mistress gripped the weapon awarded for completing her formal class advancement, the level-ten gray-quality [Iron-Tipped Spear], and watched the Demonic Beasts vigilantly.
She waved her spear, and a crimson talisman drifted from afar toward it. Dun Qu Qi Yi's voice rang out from the jungle. "This is the level-five Qi Practitioner skill [Blazing Fire Talisman]. It can serve as a support skill. For the next five minutes, your spear will deal additional fire-element damage."
Hearing that, Young Mistress smiled slightly, revealing a row of snow-white teeth. "That's perfect. Just what I wanted."
She swung the Iron-Tipped Spear. Crimson fire-element energy clung to its tip, and the spear spun a flourish before she charged into the Demonic Beast pack.
From within the jungle, Qi Lin watched Young Mistress with a puzzled expression. For a moment just now, Young Mistress had seemed to transform into a Peerless war general.
Qi Lin shook her head and muttered to herself, "I must be overthinking it."
Perhaps Qi Lin had not guessed wrong after all. Young Mistress had just activated the formal Martial Artist awakening skill, [Peerless].
[Skill Name: Peerless] [Required Level: Level 10 Formal Martial Artist] [Description: The awakening skill of Martial Artists, and the most crucial foundational skill of the Martial Artist class. Greatly increases attack power, speed, and defense.] [Effect: The duration of Peerless depends on the player character's level. The strength of its boost depends on the player's equipment. While Peerless is active, equipment durability is rapidly consumed.]
With [Peerless] activated, Young Mistress carried the red-glowing Iron-Tipped Spear into the Demonic Beast Dire Wolf pack as though entering an uninhabited land.
Level-five and level-six Demonic Beasts, bolstered by [Peerless] and [Blazing Fire Talisman], were left severely wounded after only two strikes. With even a little force, those level-five and level-six Demonic Beasts could not last a single exchange beneath Young Mistress's spear.
An intensely scorched smell spread through the air.
In just a few minutes, more than half of the Dire Wolf pack of over twenty Demonic Beasts had been killed or wounded.
The wolves that remained were all level-nine Demonic Beasts or higher.
They surrounded Young Mistress in the center. Yet the remaining Demonic Beast Dire Wolves did not dare attack the Elf before them, staring at her with deep apprehension. Though Demonic Beasts had no intelligence, they still possessed the instincts of living creatures. Those instincts told them that the lifeform before them could not be challenged for now.
Just as the Demonic Beasts considered how to attack, the earlier deafening blast rang out again.
A bullet flew straight toward the center of a level-ten Demonic Beast's forehead.
The instant the bullet left the barrel, that level-ten Demonic Beast sensed danger and narrowly tilted its head away from the vital point.
Unfortunately, even after that hair-raising dodge, the fired bullet struck precisely into the Demonic Beast's body. Its absurd initial velocity blasted the poor Dire Wolf two meters away.
The level-twelve Demonic Beast Dire Wolf at the front paid no attention whatsoever to its underling that had been sent flying. To Demonic Beasts, eliminating the lifeforms before them was what mattered most.
Its gaze remained fixed on Young Mistress.
It assumed a posture ready to attack at any moment.
Because in the leading Demonic Beast Dire Wolf's eyes, Young Mistress's threat was rapidly declining.
That was indeed the case. Young Mistress's [Peerless] skill and the support skill [Blazing Fire Talisman] bestowed by Dun Qu Qi Yi were both about to expire.
The instant the skill effects vanished, the leading Demonic Beast Dire Wolf unhurriedly walked toward Young Mistress, seemingly intent on filling its prey with terror.
When it reached a distance from Young Mistress perfect for pouncing, the Demonic Beast Dire Wolf preparing to attack felt that fur-raising sensation again.
That thing again. If Demonic Beasts had consciousness, it would have said that.
The leading Demonic Beast Dire Wolf casually tilted its head and easily dodged the metal bullet whistling past its face.
No, that terrifying sensation had not disappeared.
The leading level-twelve Demonic Beast Dire Wolf clearly heard an exceptionally crisp sound of metal entering flesh.
What was going on? Though Demonic Beasts had no minds, Young Mistress, who had witnessed everything from beginning to end, could not stop the pitiful image of that Demonic Beast Dire Wolf from rising in her mind.
"Fuck, this is downright poisonous." Young Mistress shook her head, tossing the fantasy out of her mind.
Young Mistress had seen it clearly just now: the bullet Qi Lin fired had taken a very interesting curve.
This was the awakening skill of the formal Dual Guns class, [Gun-Kata].
[Skill Name: Gun-Kata] [Required Level: Level 10 Formal Dual Guns Class] [Description: The awakening skill of the formal Dual Guns class, and the most crucial foundational skill of the Dual Guns class. Mastery of Gun-Kata makes attacks more unpredictable.] [Effect: No special effect. At the instant a bullet leaves the barrel, rapidly shake the muzzle to make the bullet curve.]
Seeing the Demonic Beast before her flattened by one shot, Qi Lin stepped out from the bushes. The two smoking pistols in her hands spun through a flourish before she flashily slid them back into the holsters at her waist.
Those two pistols were the reward Qi Lin had received for becoming a formal Dual Guns user: the level-ten gray-quality [USP45] pistols.
Looking around, she saw that Young Mistress and Dun Qu Qi Yi had already wiped out all the other Demonic Beasts. Only this one remained.
"Once we eliminate this Demonic Beast, we'll have gathered the items needed to help Ali exchange for her formal class advancement."
As it turned out, everyone present had already advanced to a formal class except Ali.
Everyone looked toward the Demonic Beast lying on the ground, barely clinging to life.
Demonic Beast: "Emergency treatment me, save me, Doge JPG."
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