Chapter 29: President of the Heaven and Earth Guild

As Zhang Shan ran deeper into the Demon Map, the monsters around him began to change as well. Gone were the ordinary level thirteen demons that threw stones; now, he was faced with a new type of demon soldier wielding long spears and small shields, level fifteen monsters.

Demon Militiaman: Level 15, Health: 3,000, Attack: 390, Skill: Spear Thrust, increases damage by fifty percent.

These monsters weren’t especially strong—only a little tougher than the previous demons. They had slightly more health and attack, and their skill wasn’t anything special. Still, with a shield in hand, their defense was clearly higher, but overall, they were still decent monsters for farming. Zhang Shan couldn’t help but wonder how the others had managed to find this place.

When Zhang Shan caught sight of Wind and Cloud’s group, he hurried over.

“You really are something—managed to find a spot this far out.”

“No choice,” someone replied. “If we don’t venture far, that lot keeps sending people to harass us, and we can’t level up at all.”

“Don’t the people from Heaven and Earth Guild know about this place?”

“So what if they do? These little monsters might not look like much, but there are loads of them, and they respawn fast. If they send cannon fodder, these mobs will just send them back to town.”

“Enough chit-chat, hand me the musket. I’ll send you the coins once I’m back in town,” Wind and Fire Cannon said eagerly.

Zhang Shan traded him the exquisite musket. Wind and Fire Cannon grinned as he equipped his new weapon.

“Not bad at all—much better than what I had before. Over a hundred more attack power. It’s a good gun, a great gun, but why do I still feel so down?” he said, looking crestfallen.

“Of course you’re not happy. Who would be? Comparing yourself to others only brings misery. No matter how good a purple musket is, what’s the point when you look at Six-Barrel’s divine artifact musket? Now that’s a real treasure.”

“Exactly! Compared to a divine artifact, purple gear is nothing but trash.”

“Come on, you’re all just jealous. None of you even have a purple weapon, yet you’re all eyeing my musket. That’s going too far.”

Everyone chuckled.

Zhang Shan wasted no more words and summoned his pet, beginning to farm monsters nearby. The Demon Militiamen’s defense was indeed high—Zhang Shan’s attack exceeded fourteen hundred, and with the Demon Nemesis title, his damage was still around thirteen hundred.

The monsters’ defense canceled out a hundred or two damage. For players with slightly less attack power, these mobs would be difficult to farm. The other members of Wind and Cloud Guild had to work in groups of three or five to take down a single monster, and these were all well-equipped main members.

After just a short while, Zhang Shan realized that his pet was almost unnecessary—he could take down a monster in at most three shots, and if he landed a heavy or holy strike, it only took one. His pet barely had time to reach the enemy before Zhang Shan finished it off himself.

With Zhang Shan in the fray, the monsters in the area quickly dwindled. Soon, the others noticed there weren’t enough monsters to go around.

“Damn, is the divine artifact really that powerful? Earlier, there were so many of us and we couldn’t clear them all. Now that Six-Barrel joined, we don’t have enough monsters?”

“Well, it’s a divine artifact. Of course it’s strong.”

“If only I could get my hands on one, too.”

“Just sleep with your pillow a bit higher tonight—you’ll have everything in your dreams.”

“Get lost.”

Zhang Shan almost felt embarrassed as there weren’t enough monsters for everyone after he joined in.

“Boss, maybe I should move deeper in and farm alone, or there really won’t be enough monsters for everyone,” Zhang Shan said apologetically.

“Let’s all move further in. The deeper you go, the denser the monsters. Who knows, we might even run into a boss,” Wind and Cloud replied.

“That’s right, let’s push in! I want to hack at a boss.”

And so, the guild party kept fighting as they advanced deeper into the map. The monsters grew more numerous and packed, but fortunately their own numbers were strong, with all sorts of professions represented. Several support classes had now learned Rejuvenation, allowing them to heal allies.

One of the guild’s support girls had even learned Resurrection, which could bring a fallen teammate back at full strength. Who knew how much she’d spent on that skill book—she was certainly generous.

“Who’s the leader of Heaven and Earth Guild, anyway? Seems like a low-key figure—I haven’t seen them yet,” Zhang Shan asked.

Though their guild had clashed with Heaven and Earth Guild several times, Zhang Shan had still been in East Capital City back then and had missed out. So far, he only knew Heaven Bunny and the three he’d met on the road; he’d never seen the rest.

“Heaven and Earth Guild was founded by Heaven Dragon Slayer and Heaven Sword of Destiny. The guild master’s position alternates between the two of them. I hear Heaven Dragon Slayer is the current leader,” Wind Bell explained.

“What did you say? Heaven Dragon Slayer is their master? I ran into him on my way here and took him out with a single shot. That can’t be right—he didn’t seem all that strong.”

Zhang Shan found it hard to believe the guy he’d one-shot was actually the guild master.

“For real? You one-shot Heaven Dragon Slayer? That can’t be. He’s a berserker, should have at least two thousand health. How did he not survive even a single hit from you?” The others were incredulous at Zhang Shan’s story.

“He was definitely a berserker, and I’m sure his ID was Heaven Dragon Slayer. Can’t be two people with that name. Oh, and he dropped a green cloak for me, which I just equipped.”

“Divine artifact for the win! Must’ve been a critical. Otherwise, there’s no way you’d kill a well-equipped warrior in a single shot.”

“Yeah, I think it was a Holy Strike that did him in.”

“You’re incredible. Who can withstand a Holy Strike? Ignores defense, deals ten times damage—if you trigger it, you could deal over ten thousand damage. Even powerful boss monsters could be one-shotted.”

“True enough.”

Zhang Shan had never really calculated his own damage, but now that he thought about it, triggering a Holy Strike could deal over ten thousand damage. Forget Heaven Dragon Slayer—even a powerful guardian like Little Secretary wouldn’t survive.

“So you took out Heaven Dragon Slayer earlier. No wonder our spies report that Heaven and Earth Guild has stopped harassing us and is focusing on leveling up instead. Looks like you really crushed their spirits.”

“Heh, who would dare come now? The divine artifact master just goes pew, pew, pew—each shot sends them home.”

“At this stage, divine artifacts are overwhelmingly strong. The gap with other gear is massive. Other than a warrior’s charge, no other class can even get close to Six-Barrel,” Wind and Cloud said with a sigh.

“Which is good for us—let’s take this chance to level up.”

“Exactly! Let’s keep farming. Maybe we’ll run into a red boss here, and if we’re lucky, it’ll drop a Heroic Order. Then our guild can establish a new one in New World.”

“Only problem is, what if we can’t beat a red boss?”

“What’s to fear? We’ll just keep charging at it, one after the other, to buy Six-Barrel more time to deal damage. With his insane output, even a red boss won’t last long. As long as we kill the boss and get the Heroic Order, it won’t matter if we all wipe once.”

They hadn’t even seen what a red boss looked like yet, but their discussion on how to take one down was heated and full of excitement.