MTLNOVEL Chapter 242: Chapter 241: SSS-Class Beast Merchant · Lord!
As a Level 60, 9-star boss, and of SSS grade to boot, the Sky Centipede had an intimidating 6.25 million HP. With Zhang Yue's S-class skills averaging around 15,000 damage per hit, it felt like an uphill battle to chip away at its health.
The key to dealing damage lay in the SSS-class skill, God-Slaying Curse.
Not only did God-Slaying Curse have high base damage, but each cast on the same target would stack an additional 30% damage.
The best part? The skill had only a 9-second cooldown.
Starting with 34,000 damage for the first strike, increasing to 44,000 on the second, 57,000 on the third, and 75,000 on the fourth...
In just over a minute, each cast of the God-Slaying Curse had ramped up to deal over 100,000 damage to the Sky Centipede.
Although he no longer had the Void Shield from his Void Set, Zhang Yue used high-level vitality potions along with his S-class Divine-Demonic Protection to tank the Sky Centipede's attacks without much issue.
Thus, with SSS-class Voidless · God-Slaying Curse as his main weapon and other S-class skills as support, it took Zhang Yue just a few minutes to bring the Sky Centipede crashing down beneath his staff.
BOOM!
The massive body slammed into the ground, and at that moment, the system's pleasant notification rang in Zhang Yue's ears—
["Ding~ Congratulations! You have defeated the Level 60, 9-star boss [Sky Centipede] (SSS-class Beast). EXP +15,000,000…"]
WHOOSH!
Golden light cascaded over Zhang Yue's head.
Originally at Level 59 with 60% EXP, Zhang Yue directly leveled up to Level 60 just from the experience provided by this boss.
Beside the Sky Centipede's corpse, a mountain of priceless loot was piled up. Zhang Yue proceeded to pick up each item one by one.
This was the first 9-star boss Zhang Yue had ever killed, and its value was astonishingly high.
500 gold coins.
Over 1,000 pieces of Level 60 materials.
And while it didn't drop any equipment, it yielded 3,000 Universal Beast Illustration cards.
The Universal Beast Illustration could replace any Beast Illustration in the Ninth World. Even for A-rank Beast collection tasks, the 3,000 cards dropped by the Sky Centipede alone could provide Zhang Yue with rewards equivalent to completing two and a half tasks.
The value was self-evident.
Combined with the 2,000 cards obtained last night from clearing the Beast Nest dungeon, Zhang Yue now possessed a staggering total of 7,000 Universal Illustration cards.
These cards would undoubtedly come in handy soon.
Just as Zhang Yue finished handling the boss's loot, a sudden system announcement descended from above.
[World Announcement] (Ninth World):
[Ding~ Congratulations to the player [Zero] for defeating the SSS-class Beast [Sky Centipede]]
He hadn't expected that killing an SSS-class Beast would trigger a system-wide announcement.
However, Zhang Yue didn't dwell on it. He bypassed the Sky Centipede's corpse and headed straight into the dark cave ahead.
This announcement, meanwhile, left many players in the Ninth World, who were also hunting Beasts to gather Illustrations, utterly stunned.
"An SSS-class Beast? How was it even killed? That's insane!"
"No wonder he dared to kill the president of the Empire Guild—this guy, Zero, is truly a king of provocation."
———
[Ninth World Safe Zone: Mechanical City]
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
A torrent of white light descended.
Countless well-equipped, high-level players logged into the Ninth World.
These players, brimming with confidence and elite gear, were core members of Longcheng City's top-tier guild, Empire.
No sooner had they arrived in Mechanical City than they heard the system announcement.
At the forefront of the group, Despair Assassin Liu Sheng initially froze at the news of Zhang Yue killing an SSS-class Beast. Then, he immediately issued an order to his subordinates: "Find the respawn location of the Sky Centipede."
It didn't take long before his men located the site.
Liu Sheng promptly commanded, "Move out—full deployment."
The next moment, thousands of high-level guild elites—ranging from Level 56 to 57 and fully equipped in gold-tier Eternal Sets—set off from Mechanical City in an imposing formation, heading straight toward Zhang Yue's location.
This grand spectacle drew the attention of countless wandering players inside and outside the city.
"Are those… members of the Empire Guild? Holy crap! What kind of operation is this?"
"They came to Tianjing to deal with Zero, right? They must be heading out to kill him now!"
A young female streamer, broadcasting live to her audience, spoke excitedly into her camera:
"After defeating both the Glory and Chen Army, Zero was crowned this year's strongest new player in Dragon Nation. But can he escape the punishment of Longcheng City's top-tier Empire Guild this time? Folks, let's follow them and find out!"
As a result, a wave of independent players trailed behind the Empire Guild's army...
Among them was a private detective hired by Ouyang Ling'er.
The detective relayed the information to Ouyang Ling'er, who frantically messaged Zhang Yue: ["Big brother, the Empire Guild has arrived in Tianjing and logged into the Ninth World. They're sending thousands of people toward your location!"]
["Before you clear your name, you should hide somewhere. Those Empire guys don't look easy to deal with!"]
Zhang Yue replied, ["Why should I hide?"]
Ouyang Ling'er slapped her forehead,[ "My God! Where do you get this confidence? That's Ice Emperor's guild!"]
["Relax, I have my ways to handle this."]
———
Meanwhile, Zhang Yue had entered the cave.
Although the Sky Centipede was gone, the dark and damp cave was still filled with smaller centipedes.
All of them were A-class centipedes. Thanks to his A-class Eternal Set negating the suppression effect, Zhang Yue could fight them at full strength, making it ridiculously easy to kill them.
After casually eliminating a dozen centipedes, Zhang Yue reached the depths of the cave.
There, tied to a stone pillar, was a Beast Merchant.
The Sky Centipede had been cunning, using the Beast Merchant as bait to lure adventurers into the cave and kill them.
Around the Beast Merchant, a dozen centipedes writhed densely.
Finding them unsightly, Zhang Yue raised his staff. Hell Judgment + Necro Storm + Thundercloud Storm—three AOE skills wiped out their HP. Then, with the infinitely refreshing Voidless · God-Slaying Curse, Zhang Yue eliminated all the centipedes.
The Beast Merchant, Lord, burst into tears of joy upon seeing Zhang Yue:"Oh, my God! Someone's finally made it here alive!"
"Hero, please untie me! I'll give you as many Eternal Sets as you want."
Zhang Yue took one look at the Beast Merchant.
'Whoa! SSS-class?'
He had speculated earlier that the captive Beast Merchant would at least be S-class or possibly SS-class. But this result exceeded his expectations.
Still, Zhang Yue knew better than to trust Lord's words.
Sure enough, as soon as Zhang Yue untied him, Lord changed his tune:"Hero, to thank you for saving me, I'll reward you with high-tier Eternal Sets, but only if you help me collect more Beast Illustrations."
Zhang Yue frowned. "Didn't you just say you'd give me as many Eternal Sets as I wanted if I untied you?"
Lord chuckled awkwardly: "I tend to speak without thinking, you see..."
"In that case, let me just tie you back up."
The Beast Merchant panicked, his green face turning even greener: "No, wait!"
"How about this: I'll give you a 30% discount. You only need to submit 70% of the usual Beast Illustration requirements to get the reward."
"After all, it's hard for us Beast Merchants these days. Illustrations are our lifeblood. Without them, we can't produce Eternal Sets or stay in business."
Zhang Yue raised three fingers: "30%."
Lord hesitated before responding: "60%!"
"40%."
"...50%!"
"Deal."
At that moment, the Beast Merchant fell silent, unsure if he had just won or lost.
Just then, a system notification rang in Zhang Yue's ears—
[Ding~ Congratulations! You have triggered the quest [Flying Mantis] (SSS-class). Would you like to accept?]
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