Chapter 235: Chapter 234: You Call This Restraint?
[The Ninth World, Beast Kingdom]
Level 58 Tropical Forest.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
ROAR!
SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, SWISH!
Under the combined onslaught of Zhang Yue and the S-tier skills of the Extinction Black Dragon, the Hell Skeleton King, and the Shadow Predator, a string of damage numbers between 10,000 and 20,000 floated above the Giant Mosquito King's head.
Even without using the Eternal Set, Zhang Yue managed to deal damage surpassing that of any Empire Guild players present by two to three times—against an A-tier Beast with a 70% suppression effect, no less.
Explosive power!
Under the relentless assault, the Giant Mosquito King's needle was bent, and its health bar kept plummeting at a visible rate.
Protected by the Void Set skill [Void Shield], the Hell Skeleton King tanked the mosquito king's attacks without fear.
In no time, a third of the mosquito king's health bar was gone!
The members of the Empire Guild, all seasoned veterans from Dragon City, couldn't hide their astonished expressions as they watched the scene unfold:
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"Such terrifying damage!"
"Is he soloing an 8-star boss?"
"And with 70% suppression active..."
Even Xu Bei wore a stunned expression.
Until now, he had doubted Zhang Yue's strength, assuming it relied entirely on his Sword Emperor disciple. He thought Zhang Yue himself might not even be stronger than Luo Chen.
But witnessing this firsthand shattered Xu Bei's understanding of professional powerhouses.
At this moment, Luo Chen joined the fray, wielding his sword and unleashing hundreds of sword shadows to assist Zhang Yue in attacking the boss.
In no time, the boss was defeated.
[Ding~ Congratulations on defeating the Level 58 8-star boss [Giant Mosquito King] (A-tier Beast). You gained 8 million experience points and 58 million units of energy]
BOOM!
The Giant Mosquito King's massive body fell like a crashing plane.
CLATTER! CLATTER! CLATTER!
Thanks to the rich rewards from the mosquito king, over a third of the players present leveled up.
Beside the mosquito king's corpse, a pile of equipment, coins, and skill books spilled out as loot.
Zhang Yue walked over and picked up everything.
Among the loot were one 8-star piece of equipment and two 7-star pieces.
At this stage, 7-star equipment wasn't bad.
However, Zhang Yue ignored it, only interested in the 8-star item—a warrior helmet named [Bloodforge], perfect for the Hell Skeleton King.
Unfortunately, at Level 58, the Skeleton King, currently Level 55, couldn't meet the equipment requirement yet. Zhang Yue stored it in his bag for later use.
In addition to the equipment, the mosquito king dropped a substantial amount of gold and materials, valued at tens of thousands on the market.
But what Zhang Yue valued most were the 300+ Giant Mosquito Illustrations it dropped.
Boss drop rates were truly insane.
A single mosquito king dropped as many Illustrations as 300 regular mosquitoes combined.
Thanks to this boss, Zhang Yue's mission progress jumped to one-fourth complete.
As the battle ended, Xu Bei approached Zhang Yue with a face full of admiration.
"Brother, do you have any tips for getting stronger? Can you teach me?"
"My dream is to become a top-tier powerhouse like my mentor, the Ice Emperor. I thought I was just one step away from my goal, but after meeting you, I realized how far I still have to go."
Zhang Yue suddenly felt a bit regretful.
If he performed too well, what if Xu Bei became too scared to make a move?
After all, Zhang Yue was counting on the Empire Guild to attack him.
No opportunities?
Then Zhang Yue would create one.
Zhang Yue sighed deliberately. "Sadly, my awareness isn't good enough."
"For example, if you guys were those assassins and suddenly ambushed me, I probably wouldn't even have time to react before being killed instantly."
Xu Bei laughed. "Don't worry, brother. With the Empire Guild protecting you, they won't get the chance to ambush you."
As he spoke, Xu Bei immediately ordered his team: "Everyone, spread out with Zero at the center and level up!"
The 50+ Empire Guild members quickly formed a large circle, surrounding Zhang Yue.
Zhang Yue couldn't help but sigh: 'I've given you such a big hint, and you still don't act. Are you really that dumb, or just pretending?'
But Zhang Yue wasn't in a rush.
They'd make a move sooner or later.
After all, Zhang Yue had his Feixin recording feature running this whole time.
Yet, Zhang Yue underestimated Xu Bei's patience.
To his surprise, Xu Bei held back for two whole days.
This even caused Zhang Yue's Feixin recording feature to rack up data charges.
This guy had endurance like a ninja—even Ninja Turtles couldn't compare.
For Zhang Yue, though, it didn't matter much.
With the Empire Guild's assistance, it only took a day and a half to almost complete his Eternal Set through mission rewards.
That evening, at a hot pot restaurant in Tianjing, Zhang Yue dined with members of the Heavens Hall.
During the meal, Lin Tian asked, "Any signs of movement from Xu Bei?"
Zhang Yue dipped a beef roll into the soup and replied, "None."
Ouyang Ling'er, holding an orange cat, asked curiously, "That's strange. His goal was to approach you and wait for the right moment to strike. Why hasn't he acted yet?"
"Could it be," Wu Haotian suggested, "that your performance these past two days was too strong, and now they're too scared to make a move?"
Zhang Yue sighed helplessly. "I've already held back a lot."
Ouyang Ling'er asked, "How exactly have you held back?"
"Before, I could solo 20-30 Beasts at once. Now I only take on 5-6 at a time."
As Zhang Yue finished speaking, everyone stared at him in disbelief.
"You call soloing 5-6 Beasts at a time restraint? Do you know how long it takes regular people like us to kill a single Beast?"
Zhang Yue: "Isn't that just the baseline for weaklings?"
Everyone: "We're not even worthy of being called weaklings?"
In actual combat, Zhang Yue deliberately showed flaws, making himself seem careless, with holes in both his skills and awareness. He aimed to reveal his weaknesses: high damage but nothing else to offer.
He even sent Luo Chen away, refusing his help.
Short of writing "Kill me! I'm super easy to kill!" on his face, Zhang Yue had done everything.
But no matter how many opportunities they had, the Empire Guild still didn't act. Zhang Yue was running out of ideas!
At that moment, Ouyang Ling'er said, "Don't rush—stay patient."
"I'm sure Xu Bei approached you to deal with you. Before the World Finals for elite professionals start, he'll definitely make a move."
Just as she finished speaking, Zhang Yue received a Feixin message from Xu Bei, whom he had added earlier that afternoon.
Xu Bei: ["Brother, same spot tonight?"]
Zhang Yue: ["Yeah, I'm eating now. I'll head over in a bit."]
Xu Bei: ["Alright, we'll wait for you there."]
After finishing his hot pot, Zhang Yue logged back into the game.
Currently, Zhang Yue had collected six A-tier Eternal Set boxes. He only needed one more to complete the set.
The final piece could be obtained by completing the [Mighty Demon Ape Illustration] mission, which was already 70% complete.
That night's goal was to head to the Blossom Mountain map, kill Mighty Demon Apes, and collect the remaining 30% of the Illustration entries.
After restocking potions at the pharmacy, Zhang Yue headed south from Mechanical City toward Blossom Mountain.
Not far from the city, Zhang Yue spotted Xu Bei leading a group of Empire Guild members in a forest clearing, seemingly up to something...
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