Chief of Black Wind Stronghold

He opened his inventory and looked through its contents...

[Ice Spirit Staff]: Bronze Grade: spell attack +160, spell penetration +10%, ice magic damage increased by 5%. Additional attributes: intelligence +24, spirit +22. Equip requirement: Mage.

[Flame Bracelet]: Bronze Grade: spell attack +80, mana +200, fire magic damage increased by 5%, cooldown reduction 5%. Additional attributes: intelligence +21, agility +20. Equip requirements: Mage, Priest.

Wu Shaozhen licked his lips as he looked at the two pieces of equipment. Honestly, these were undoubtedly the best equipment in the game right now. His own bronze equipment couldn't compare. After all, these had dropped from a level 20 boss.

The remaining three pieces of black iron equipment were also for Mages: a helmet, a pair of boots, and a belt. Wu Shaozhen couldn't equip any of them, so he didn't even bother checking their stats.

I wonder if that girl can afford all this, Wu Shaozhen thought. If she could buy all this equipment, she would undoubtedly become Jinling City's top Mage. Her gear would be even better than his.

After some thought, Wu Shaozhen sent Su Muxue a message: "Girl, how deep are your pockets?"

Xue'er: "What do you mean?"

Wu Shaozhen sent her screenshots of all five pieces of equipment.

Xue'er: "!!!"

Xue'er: "How much for everything? I'll take it all!"

Wu Shaozhen rubbed his chin as he read the message. Was this girl really that rich? She hadn't even hesitated.

Wu Shaozhen checked the Auction House's transaction records. The only bronze equipment sold so far was the piece he had auctioned last time, which had gone for 180,000. There were no other bronze equipment sales, though a few more black iron sales had been recorded. Their prices had dropped somewhat, to around 40,000-60,000.

After thinking it over, Wu Shaozhen replied, "200,000 for the Ice Spirit Staff, 180,000 for the Flame Bracelet, and 60,000 each for the black iron pieces."

That was a very reasonable price. These pieces had better stats than those on the market, so naturally, they cost a little more.

Xue'er: "Deal!"

The moment she said that, a remote trade request arrived, with 560,000 entered straight away.

He put the equipment into the trade window and completed the transaction. Just like that, he had earned another five hundred thousand and change, leaving him delighted.

He continued checking the remaining items. The scroll was a [Teleportation Scroll]. It could record a set of coordinates and then teleport him directly there. Not bad.

The remaining fruit was something he had never seen before...

[Spirit Fruit]: Permanently increases spirit by 10 upon consumption.

Now this was good. Anything that permanently increased attributes was definitely valuable. He was running a little short on mana anyway, so he ate it immediately, bringing his spirit to 52 and his mana to 680.

That left only the chief, right? Wu Shaozhen looked at the house at the very top, then headed straight up.

The moment he reached it, a voice rang in his ears.

"Who let you come up here? Didn't I tell you? Nobody comes up without my permission!" The voice came from inside the house.

"Damn, who do you think you are?" Wu Shaozhen wasn't about to put up with that. He kicked the door open.

"Who the fuck has a death wish, interrupting my fun?"

As the words rang out, a furious middle-aged man with a scar on his face appeared before Wu Shaozhen. He visibly paused when he saw him, then said:

"Who are you? Where did you come from?"

While he was talking, Wu Shaozhen quickly cast Insight on him.

[Chief of Black Wind Stronghold] Silver Grade boss

Level: 20

Health: 500000

Physical attack: 1300

Physical defense: 650

Spell defense: 420

Attack speed: 100%

Movement speed: 180

Skill 1: Soul Devour: Thrusts a dagger at the target, dealing 170% physical damage and converting 30% of the damage dealt into health restored to himself. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Skill 2: Crushing Blow: Strikes the target hard with the pommel of his dagger, dealing 160% physical damage and silencing them for 3 seconds. Skills cannot be used while silenced. Cooldown: 1 minute.

Skill 3: Weak Point Break: Swings his dagger to strike a target's weak point in front of him. This damage ignores defense and is guaranteed to critically hit. Cooldown: 3 minutes.

"Sorry to disturb you." Wu Shaozhen turned and ran without the slightest hesitation. He needed to get away first and process this. The man's stats were far higher than he had expected.

"Where do you think you're going?" The chief refused to let him escape and gave chase. Fortunately, Wu Shaozhen was fast enough. The pursuit only stopped once he had fled Black Wind Stronghold entirely.

"Phew... good thing I was quick. But that guy really is fast. The Strategist only had 95 movement speed. This guy's 180 is ridiculous."

The Chief of Black Wind Stronghold's stats were downright monstrous. His attack reached 1,300, a full 400 higher than the Strategist's, which was terrifying. But there was good news too: the chief was actually an Assassin-type monster. His single-target burst damage was absurdly high, but like Wu Shaozhen, he had no ranged or area-of-effect skills.

Although this kind of boss was unbeatable in a straight duel, he was actually relatively easier to fight. Wu Shaozhen wasn't going to stand there trading blows with him. He just needed to strike and run. The chief attacked twice per second, meaning that each time Wu Shaozhen applied poison, he would have to take either two basic attacks or one skill attack. That made him much easier to handle than a Mage monster.

Let's calculate his damage. His third skill hits hardest. It ignores defense and always crits, so it can take 2,600 health off me in one hit. But that still won't kill me outright.

He just didn't know whether the chief could follow it up with a basic attack. His attack speed was pretty high, after all. To be safe, Wu Shaozhen took out a [Vitality Potion] he had been reluctant to use. It increased maximum health by 30% for 30 minutes.

After using it, his health reached 3,961. With nearly four thousand health, he no longer had to fear taking the third skill followed by a basic attack.

Having done his calculations, Wu Shaozhen activated Stealth and returned to Black Wind Stronghold. Soon, he spotted the chief shouting away.

"Hmph, that's what you get for chasing me. I'll kill you yet."

Wu Shaozhen crept closer, but before he could reach him, the chief seemed to sense something. He stared in Wu Shaozhen's direction and took a defensive stance.

"Shit, is he really that alert? Stealth is getting less and less reliable." Wu Shaozhen grumbled, then abandoned concealment. He activated Extreme Speed, charged in, struck twice with his sword, and turned to run.

"So it was you, insect!"

Wu Shaozhen was already moving incredibly fast, but the chief reacted quickly too. He countered with a basic attack, then landed Weak Point Break on Wu Shaozhen's back.

"-1034"

"-2600" Critical hit!

"Fuck, that hurt." Fortunately, he had had the foresight to drink a Vitality Potion, or he would have been dead by now. His guess had proved correct: this guy really could land a basic attack and a skill in such a short span. Apparently, even though it was a melee skill, its range had to be a little longer than that of a basic attack.

Wu Shaozhen kept running without pause, with the chief chasing him all the way. Thank goodness he didn't have to stand and trade blows. Who could withstand that damage?

He gulped down a Large Red Potion. Combined with his own health regeneration, it was enough to restore him to full health. Turning to look at the chief still hot on his heels, Wu Shaozhen remarked, "That's the advantage of being fast!"

And so, Wu Shaozhen and the Chief of Black Wind Stronghold went back and forth in a wonderfully lively fight. To be safe, Wu Shaozhen struck twice when Extreme Speed was active, and only once before running when it wasn't.

By now, the Chief of Black Wind Stronghold was utterly frustrated. This little insect kept darting around in front of him, yet he simply couldn't catch him. If only he had even one ranged attack! He was starting to regret becoming an Assassin.