Chapter 78 Attack! The Battle of Yuxiao City! (VI)

Li Ren put away the clump of violet-gold blood essence and the bone, then charged straight ahead with the monstrous army, instantly blending into his own crowd of underlings. The identical skeletal frames, swaying and clattering, dazzled the eyes—making it impossible to distinguish one from another.

To avoid attracting attention, Li Ren deliberately waited until he’d followed the skeletons past the area where the red equipment had dropped before using the ashes to store it away.

“It’s gone!”

“Damn! It’s really gone!”

“Who the hell picked it up? Spill the name, I’ll hunt him down!”

“No way anyone could reach it, the place is crawling with monsters, and now it’s just vanished!”

“Shit! Could the system have wiped it?”

“Bullshit! It’s only been a moment—how could it disappear so quickly?”

“Then what do you think happened?”

“I bet it was one of the skeletons!”

“Nonsense! Skeletons can pick up equipment? You’re kidding me!”

“Screw you! Didn’t you see how the Voodoo Lord’s corpse vanished just now? It was that skeleton!”

The players immediately erupted with agitation. Sauron’s eyes never left the battlefield; naturally, he had seen everything unfold before him. The loss of the red equipment filled him with rage—red equipment! It might possess special powers, and now it had fallen into someone else’s hands—into the hands of a skeletal monster, no less!

Who would believe such a story? Yet, it was reality. All he could do was clench his fists tightly, his hawk-like eyes glaring furiously at the skeletal army ahead.

Heart of the Voodoo Lord
(The heart of a legendary lord from the deepest reaches of the Voodoo Lands. Mighty life force still gushes from it; perhaps one day, he will return?)
Attributes: All stats increased by 10%. Vitality increased by 300%. Restores 5% of max HP every 5 seconds.
Grants the skill Rebirth, cooldown 15 days.
Requires level 100.

Worthy of being legendary red equipment! Whoever obtained this would instantly triple their vitality—an unmatched boon! If given to a shield warrior, it would be truly extraordinary. Li Ren took a quick glance, saw the level 100 requirement, and put it away for later. Once he reached level 100, he’d have a life-saving treasure! This item would be incredibly valuable in the future!

Now the target of the players’ hate-filled gazes, Li Ren felt thoroughly annoyed. “Damn it, I just picked up a piece of equipment, is it really necessary for you all to glare at me like you’ve lost your dearest? You’re going to bore a hole right through me! Keep it up and I’ll get angry too!”

Since these items were useless to NPCs anyway, and he’d already been found out, there was no point in hiding. He might as well act openly and go for a big haul.

He stopped pretending and began running brazenly around the battlefield, sweeping through like a whirlwind, leaving nothing behind. The players’ expressions shifted again—they were collectively petrified, then erupted into a frenzy of curses!

He didn’t even bother to check what he was picking up—if it fit in his ring, he took it all. With unlimited space, he could sort through it after returning to Cloudfall City.

“Damn it, I’m so high level, with so much HP, and you mongrels are still suffocating me with your stares? If you’ve got the guts, come duel me one-on-one and I’ll crush your balls, put them back in, and use them as water skins!”

Li Ren grumbled continuously, but on such a chaotic battlefield and at such a distance, no one could actually hear him.

The ranting did improve his mood a bit, but seeing the same idiotic looks on the faces opposite made him even more annoyed. He stopped wasting energy and grew even more arrogant, running around with one hand raised in a rude gesture while the other kept scooping up loot. With every bounce, his upraised finger stood out among the tide of monsters like a flag, its mocking effect even more pronounced.

“Damn! Kill that bastard! There are monsters with no shame at all now! Kill him!”

“That weak skeleton picked up the red equipment! Brothers, take him down, smash his bones and make soup!”

“You go drink skeleton-bone soup, you idiot! Wait! Where did he go?”

Just as Li Ren was gleefully taunting them, he suddenly vanished from the spot—not by his own will, but inexplicably, finding himself in another mysterious place.

“Siege War Side Mission triggered. System quest update: Before the siege battle ends, successfully acquire the Guardian of Yuxiao. Reward: three skill upgrade points of your choice. Failure: lose eight points from all stats and forfeit all current equipment.”

A sudden, imperial edict-like system mission shattered Li Ren’s dreams of profiting handsomely from war. Clearly, his actions had crossed some kind of balance threshold; all the spoils meant for players had been swept up by him alone, violating the system’s original design.

Thus, such a quest was triggered, with harsh failure penalties. Li Ren’s cheerful mood vanished, replaced by tension. Fortunately, system quests never set truly impossible tasks—no matter how hard, there was always a sliver of hope.

For instance, the so-called Guardian of Yuxiao—whatever it was—was not located in the lord’s mansion of Yuxiao City. If it were, he might as well give up now.

The quest clearly showed his target’s location: before his eyes, a pillar of light visible only to him pierced sky and earth from an unknown place in the southeastern corner of Yuxiao City.

Li Ren couldn’t help but mutter inwardly: Even if you’re a hard-to-find quest item, there’s no need to be so flashy. Such a huge beam of light—if I have to carry it around, will it be that conspicuous too?

In accepting the quest, he had actually been temporarily placed in a newly created space by the system. He could vaguely see the outside world, though others couldn’t see him. Once the quest details were delivered—details? With that pillar of light, who needs more details?—the quest space quickly ejected him back out, and he suddenly appeared in a most awkward spot.

East of Yuxiao City, within the player camp, a short distance from the front lines, a skeleton dropped from the sky, landing squarely atop a dense crowd of players. One unfortunate soul, struck out of nowhere, barely managed to curse, “Damn!” before being turned into a beam of white light and sent out of the city, never knowing what had happened.

“Huh? That soft, squishy feeling was rather pleasant… The system’s choice of landing spot is certainly bizarre. Couldn’t it spare a thought for those poor players below?” Li Ren feigned sympathy.

But his hands did not pause for even a moment. Alone amidst a group of unprepared and astonished players, if he didn’t find a good position fast, his fate would be sealed.

Li Ren was far less relaxed than he appeared.

Summon! Skeleton Guards!

He roared, sword flashing, “Rain from the Dust of Destiny!”

Countless powerful attacks rained down from the sky. Players even a little distance away had no idea what had happened before they were swept away by a flash of sword light, leaving behind a field of equipment.