Chapter 172: The Gap
Finally, the BOSS was dealt with, and Yuliya could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
I have to say, the pressure from that battle was seriously intense.
This was something that couldn’t be done without the right timing, location, and human support—all while taking enormous risks. Definitely not doing this again!
She turned her head to the spot where the BOSS had died, where a golden treasure chest awaited her.
Whoa, golden legend!
It’s gotta give me some golden equipment, right?
She rushed over to open it.
As it turned out, she was getting ahead of herself—just because it’s a gold chest doesn’t mean it comes with a golden gear.
Well, purple gear isn’t too shabby either. It’ll do just fine for the dungeon.
Inside, there were three pieces of purple gear, but the star of the show was definitely a purple sword.
Top-notch attributes, with a bonus to critical hits.
Perfect!
Finally, a weapon that fit her hand.
Sure, the last little hammer had worked for her, but let’s be real—it was just a pretty face; the actual output was about the same as her fists.
And it was just blue gear, which meant she had to worry about durability too.
She had tossed aside all those other weapons not just because they didn’t boost her damage, but for a very important reason: durability.
Look, my fists are weapons too! Using enchantments on them is basically like wearing boxing gloves, so why bother with trash?
Once that trash starts running low on durability, you have to tiptoe around the problem, and if it doesn’t add damage, it’ll just drop your output instead.
Now, her beloved Justice had become completely wrecked after pulling a nuclear explosion slash.
But purple gear? No, that’s a precious gem!
And it’s my favorite type, a sword! It’s a match made in heaven!
Aside from the equipment, Yuliya was rummaging around in the chest and, sure enough, stumbled upon a chunk of black something.
[Item Name: Fox God’s Remnant Soul
Item Rarity: Golden Legend
Item Description: “d*mn it! Despicable! Hatred-filled! Terrifying…” This is a mixture of the fragmented soul of the Fox God and its power. Explore at your own risk.”]
It was this little beauty that inspired her to try challenging the BOSS in her own way.
She had picked up one when snagging the shadow of the Wolf God too.
Both times, it was after the nuclear explosion slash left a sliver of health, and both times, the BOSS hadn’t entered its second phase.
So it seems the issue might not be with the BOSS himself but rather with the nuclear explosion slash skill.
This wretched fox demon was radiating such a strong aura, it definitely had something to do with the so-called Fox God. Not an identical twin, at least a cousin or something.
In short, she got her hands on another goodie! Not that she knew what it was for, but hey, it’s Golden Legend quality—can’t go wrong there!
Yep, another pit she’s jumped into—Yuliya’s signature move!
Since they had to beat the BOSS anyway, even if her plan flopped, she could always retreat.
At worst, she could wait for the strategy team to sweep in and take it down the conventional way.
Luckily, in the end, everything went smoothly, and she single-handedly took down the BOSS.
Yuliya stuffed some recovery items and enhancement consumables into her bag and began checking her points.
Whoa! Three hundred thousand!
One BOSS gave her a whopping hundred thousand points!
No wonder it’s a purple boss—overflowing with generosity!
She looked up at the cliff, where another chest awaited her.
How to get up there?
Easy peasy! Just wait for the teleport cooldown to expire, and boom, right up there!
The teleportation mark was on the stone slab and still intact. The teleportation range was a few thousand meters, and the cliff’s height was just right.
While Yuliya waited for the cooldown, over in the Illusion Forest, Fiery Conflict Across the Sky and his crew were locked in an intense battle.
They were pushing ahead quite swiftly.
Since the first earth-shattering roar, the elite mobs and BOSSes had gone into a panic, shrinking back and giving them a massive advantage.
Then came the second roar, and the mobs were practically paralyzed—some even started taking hits without fighting back.
This led many to think that the game had glitched out.
Until that moment, everyone saw a black lightning bolt shooting up to the sky, followed by explosions in the air that were more dazzling than fireworks.
After that scene, the whole bamboo forest erupted, with monsters rampaging around as if caught in a frenzy.
Good thing this chaos didn’t last too long, and since the mobs didn’t have a direct target to attack, there wasn’t too much damage taken.
After a round of mayhem, all the monsters were wiped out, and they scored a hefty amount of points.
Now they understood—something was influencing the mobs’ behavior, and it was keeping the pressure on.
Taking advantage of the situation, they pushed ahead rapidly and even stumbled upon other lost teams—something that had never happened before.
Eventually, they made their way to the deepest point and found the Teleportation Array.
What now? Half of their team was still lost in the bamboo forest—should they leave or wait?
As they hesitated, an invisible wave expanded outwards, gradually enveloping the entire Illusion Forest.
Wherever the wave passed, the false bamboos vanished, revealing the real ones that stopped moving.
And in the outer layer, the mist completely dissipated, exposing real life forms.
Fiery Conflict Across the Sky stared at this sudden change, a bit dazed.
Suddenly, someone pointed and shouted, “Over there! That looks like our guys!”
After the fake bamboos disappeared, the real ones didn’t obstruct their view anymore, allowing them to clearly see the figures of people and beasts far off.
“Is this… the maze breaking?”
Someone must have cracked the maze, but it definitely wasn’t them.
Fiery Conflict Across the Sky immediately opened the map.
When he saw the big chunk that was already lit up on the map, he was stunned for quite a while.
He muttered, “The Illusion Forest has been lit up…”
The people beside him heard this and paused for a moment before quickly checking their maps.
Then, he opened the points leaderboard.
First place’s three hundred thousand points were shining brightly like the nuclear explosion slash’s white light.
“Holy cr*p! The Wind God just cleared the big BOSS of the Illusion Forest?!!”
This revelation sent shockwaves through the crowd, and everyone scrambled to check the map and leaderboard.
Stunned people stared in disbelief, and “holy cr*p!” became a chorus.
Even the brothers in the distance running over to greet them went unanswered.
When the wave of people arrived, the “holy cr*p!” phenomenon became a trend.
They realized something quite significant: the monsters behaving oddly in the forest were likely caused by the BOSS, and it was the Wind God who had stirred things up.
The monsters in this bamboo forest were fierce, and without these unforeseen circumstances, many would have bitten the dust.
So, they had been saved again by the Wind God.
Once everyone’s emotions calmed down, Fiery Conflict Across the Sky tried to regain his cool.
He was thinking deeper than the other teammates.
As the second in the Huaxia Server, he always had his sights set on claiming the top.
Looking at it now, the gap was wider than he had imagined.
But no worries! This event was being streamed live, and he could watch it all from start to finish, figuring out just how the acknowledged number one managed it.
Not like the last Heroic Spirit Trial Tower—where he had no clue what was happening.
Now that the bamboo forest maze was out of commission, locating their lost teammates became much easier.
After discussing with the others, Fiery Conflict Across the Sky decided to gather all the members first and then venture deeper.
Even though the BOSS had already been defeated, there surely were other monsters lurking inside.
Since everyone had come all this way, it would be a shame not to check out what lay within!
