Li Qiuzhi noted in his Character Panel, calmly investing 100 points of experience into the newly comprehended [Hand-to-Hand Combat] skill, and a vast amount of knowledge regarding combat surfaced in his mind.
The application of physical strength, positioning methods during hand-to-hand combat, observing the timing of attacks, and so on-Li Qiuzhi masterfully grasped all this knowledge and experience regarding combat in an instant!
Hand-to-Hand Combat Lv.2 (0/200).
As a Crossbowman, Vige was vastly superior to Apothecary Leichi in both physique and agility.
He had blindly charged over, thinking he could beat Li Qiuzhi, but in the end, he was easily crushed by Li Qiuzhi relying on a formidable physique and proficient combat skills.
Vige in his hat became the second Treasure Hoarders member to be beaten to the ground by Li Qiuzhi after Apothecary Leichi.
[Defeated a formidable enemy, gained 173 Experience Points]
Gazing at the prompt for gaining Experience Points, Li Qiuzhi felt quite pleased. He looked toward the remaining four Treasure Hoarders members being unilaterally beaten up by Noelle, but his gaze suddenly paused. One, two, three... there was no fourth!
Where was that Treasure Hoarders boss?
Did he run? He suddenly realized how those Treasure Hoarders could possibly talk about loyalty; it must have been that the Treasure Hoarders boss took the opportunity to escape while his teammates were being beaten up!
No wonder he let his teammates go first.
After all, as the boss of the Treasure Hoarders, even if they split up and ran, Noelle would definitely catch him first if she gave chase, so he simply made his teammates stall Noelle instead.
Everything was merely meant to concentrate everyone's attention, including that of the other Treasure Hoarders members, right there.
Sure enough, being able to act as a squad leader of the Treasure Hoarders, Jonik naturally wasn't someone who couldn't see the situation clearly. Since they were already at a disadvantage and saw no opportunity for victory, he definitely wanted to cut his losses in time.
The loss he cut was himself, while the loss was left to his companions. Truly treacherous!
Now he had sneaked away so cleanly that not even a shadow remained. Even to avoid making a sound when running and attracting everyone's attention, that fellow had even left his own saber behind!
"Ah, that Treasure Hoarders boss is gone!" Ver noticed the situation as well at this moment.
"What! How could that be!"
The remaining Treasure Hoarders members were beaten to the ground once more, and only then did they realize that Jonik had actually abandoned them and run away!
These people immediately wanted to flip over and escape, but suddenly felt a pain in the back of their necks as if they had been struck by something hard, instantly losing consciousness.
After they fell, an armored figure appeared behind them-it was Noelle.
She crossed her fingers together and placed them before her, wiping a non-existent sweat from her forehead with a slightly flushed face as she spoke:
"I'll go chase that Treasure Hoarders boss and bring him back; he shouldn't have run far."
".Forget it, after all they're just Treasure Hoarders, we can just catch them next time we run into them."
Li Qiuzhi didn't want Noelle to take risks. He had just wanted to say that when he saw Noelle run out as if she hadn't heard him.
"."
He was slightly silent, then sighed, thinking to himself that in the game Noelle was capable of easily defeating a Lawachurl, so a mere Treasure Hoarders boss shouldn't pose any danger.
The result met expectations too. A few minutes later, Noelle dragged the unconscious Treasure Hoarders boss back.
The pity was that that Jonik was indeed crafty; he didn't know where he had thrown the Artifact he obtained, and it wasn't found on him.
These Treasure Hoarders were just like that-watching others take their spoils felt worse than going to prison, and they would rather throw things away than give them up.
Never mind, anyway Li Qiuzhi didn't desperately need that Artifact; it was just that the recovery was slightly less.
Next, everyone found some tough vines nearby and tied up the several Treasure Hoarders who were already powerless to resist.
Then waking one of them up, Li Qiuzhi smiled and asked: "Be so kind as to tell us the secret you discovered inside the ruins, or else we'll throw you down below and let the Ruin Guard grind you to pieces!"
"Don't! Don't! Absolutely don't do this!" the Treasure Hoarders member cried out in panic, "I'll talk, I'll talk, I beg you not to do this!"
Li Qiuzhi looked at him with a calm gaze. A breeze blew past, and the mechanical footsteps of the Ruin Guard drifted up from below.
The Treasure Hoarders member nervously swallowed and said:
"A month ago we found an Adventurer's diary at Falcon Coast, which recorded clues about high-star Artifacts at the Temple of the Thousand Winds. When we came here we indeed discovered there were Artifacts.
"But just as recorded in the diary, they were sealed. That Adventurer probably gave up because they couldn't find the materials to break the seal, leaving the diary behind at Falcon Coast.
"Our leader, Lord Raptor, has vast supernatural powers, and naturally collected most of the items used to break the seal through various channels quite easily. We also happened to run into the rare Golden Bass."
Hearing about the Golden Bass again, Li Qiuzhi felt an inexplicable heartache, feeling as if he had lost a hundred million Mora.
"Then as you can see." Not knowing Li Qiuzhi's thoughts, the Treasure Hoarders member continued, "Today we very smoothly broke the seal and obtained the Artifact, but what surprised us was that there was also a Domain Portal inside the seal!
"This is very likely an unexplored Domain; you should all know its value. But before we could be happy for long, those Ruin Guard units appeared, so we had no choice but to retreat first, and then we ran into you."
After finishing, the Treasure Hoarders member also spread his hands, implying that was simply it.
"You actually discovered a Domain!"
Ver walked up, the girl's fair face revealing a trace of surprise under the daylight. Beneath her dark shorts were her knees, injured and not yet fully healed, her legs swaying as she walked, making her look slightly unbalanced.
"Hmph, otherwise we wouldn't have made things so difficult for you." The Treasure Hoarders member still said somewhat resentfully.
Everyone knew that an unexplored Domain represented countless Mora, rare Artifacts, and precious treasures. Even though the dangers within were not few, it was still worth everyone flocking to it!
If not for the appearance of these Adventurers, their Treasure Hoarders could have swallowed this Domain all by themselves.
Noelle, with her silver-gray shoulder-length hair, put away the Favonius Greatsword in her hand. Her high-heeled armored boots made crisp clacking sounds as she walked, and she approached, gazing fixedly at the Treasure Hoarders member.
The Treasure Hoarders member shrank his neck in fright.
Li Qiuzhi didn't entirely believe his words, and went on to wake up the other Treasure Hoarders members to question them. After the given answers matched, he nodded and further inquired about the matter of the Elemental Potion Recipes.
As captives they had zero qualification to refuse, and could only spill everything.
He had the Treasure Hoarders member named Buck copy down the formulas and steps for both the Electro and Pyro Potions for Li Qiuzhi, and then knocked the Treasure Hoarders out again.
"Mr. Adventurer, how should these people be dealt with?" Noelle turned her fair face, casting her gaze toward Li Qiuzhi, her double pupils asking with slight doubt.
"Considering how cooperative they've been, hand them over to the Knights of Favonius; they will receive the punishment they deserve!"
Li Qiuzhi thought for a moment and said.
"Hmph! Letting them off too lightly!" Ver crossed her arms and let out a cold snort.
Noelle's soft, moist lips couldn't help but part into a light giggle, while still keeping her manners by slightly covering her mouth with her hand.
"Today's harvest is really good, and very dangerous too. We still have Noelle to thank, otherwise it would have been troublesome!"
Li Qiuzhi said with a trace of emotion while collecting the spoils of war.
"Mr. Adventurer performed very brilliantly as well." Noelle wouldn't attribute all the credit to herself; modesty was a knight's virtue, even though she wasn't yet an official knight.
Yet Noelle always held herself to the code of conduct of the Knights of Favonius.
"Speaking of which, why are you collecting things like the Repeating Crossbow and scimitars?"
Ver on the side asked with puzzled incomprehension. These shouldn't have much use for him, right? Was he planning to go sell them?
Ah, thanks to the big shot "Ai Youyin" for the 500-coin tip, this newbie author is pleasantly surprised!
Before you continue