Chapter 1468: Xuangu Shield

At a Turkish barbecue meat restaurant by the streets.

I was holding a bottle of beer and letting out a satisfied burp in my seat when I sensed the three girls staring at me with deep curiosity in their eyes.

"Uh, why are you guys looking at me like that?" I asked suspiciously.

He Yi burst into a giggle before saying, "We just want to know what the Purgatory plane looks like, and how are you doing inside. Usually, we only need to go to Intelligence Agency to learn about the details of a major leveling ground or something, but the Purgatory plane is a completely new place, and you are its only visitor right now!"

I thought for a moment before replying, "Eh, it’s honestly not that different if you think about it…"

"Have you found anything about Xinran yet?" Lian Xin asked with widened eyes.

I answered, "Not yet, but the situation wasn’t as bad as I thought it was at the beginning. I believe that she’s still alive, and as long as she is still alive I will rescue her eventually!"

He Yi nodded. "Yes, you can do it. Now, tell us about the Purgatory already."

"It really isn’t all that different…"

I took a sip of beer before continuing, "As you probably can imagine yourself, the mobs are very high-level, and their hidden stats are extremely high. It has seven floors in total, and I’m currently on the third floor. So far, I’ve taken out two bosses and gotten quite the handsome loot. One of them was a Middle Divine Armament axe called ‘Sun’, and the other was a Lower Divine Armament metal armor called ‘Flame God Armor’. However, even they are incomparable to a leather corset armor I got called the Purple Cloud Armor. It’s one of the Seventy-two Ghost Armaments, and it doubles your total Defense once it is equipped!"

"Double?" Lian Xin’s mouth fell open. "That’s amazing! It’ll make the archer or assassin almost as tanky as a metal-armor player, right?"

"Yep. I’m giving it to Beiming after I return to the surface. Once she gets on her Dragonscale Beast, she’ll be able to fight anyone in melee…"

……

I let out another burp while accepting a skewer of lamb meat from Lian Xin. "I haven’t really had the time to check the forums while I was in the Purgatory. How is the retaking of Sky City going?"

He Yi sprinkled some cumin on a piece of barbecued meat while saying, "Not long after you entered the Purgatory plane, Karinshan had ordered her entire force to march toward Sky City to retake it at first notice. We took part in the battle, but things aren’t going as smoothly as we would’ve wanted. Linda the Whisperer is very powerful, and she has the ability to summon undead creatures from the Purgatory non-stop. Just today, we killed 9 waves of monsters in total and suffered massive losses as a result. A lot of players aren’t coming back online either. That being said, the other guilds suffered even bigger losses, so…"

Lian Xin let out a cough. "Boss, stop delaying the inevitable and tell big brother Lu Chen about the Sovereign Rank boss already!"

I raised an eyebrow. "What about a Sovereign Rank boss?"

He Yi pursed her lips. "Our luck isn’t very good today. We killed 2 of the 9 Sovereign Rank bosses Linda the Whisperer summoned but only got two Ancient Immortal-grade pieces of equipment from them. Not only that…"

"Yes?"

"Warsky and Candle Dragon killed a total of 3 Sovereign Rank bosses between them, but they managed to get two Ghost Armaments…"

"What the fuck!"

My hand shook, and a bit of oil fell off my barbecued meat and onto the charcoal, causing some white smoke to rise. "I didn’t check the Seventy-two Ghost Armaments Ranking before I logged out. What did Candle Dragon and Warsky Alliance get? Ghost Armaments are all crazy powerful equipment. If we don’t deal with them cautiously, we may fall prey to them some day…"

He Yi nodded in agreement. "Yes. Warsky’s Ghost Armament is called the Xuangu Shield. It’s very similar to your Cloak of Divine Fervor except that it reduces the user’s damage received by 35%, and absorbs another 15% as HP. Also, the Xuangu Shield has super high Defense. Its rating is at least 30% higher than your Cyan Dragon Shield…"

"What the fuck—" I choked on my words mid-sentence, and Murong Mingyue hurriedly poured me a glass of water and patted my back gently.

She added, "Candlelight Shadow’s Ghost Armament is the complete opposite. It is a wristguard called the Dragon Tooth Arm, and when activated, the user’s next attack has a 100% chance to deal 9 times more damage than normal…"

"Pu…"

This time, I literally spat out the beer in my mouth. I stared at He Yi and complained, "This effect is a bit too OP, isn’t it? Who the hell can withstand that much damage?"

He Yi nodded smilingly. "I know right? This Ghost Armament effect is absolutely disgusting to say the least. Candlelight Shadow already has super high Attack. If he executes his Shattering Sword and Shield after triggering its effect, you may be the only player in all the servers who can survive it. Maybe Warsky can survive it too with his new equipment, but it will be close…"

Sweat began forming on my forehead. "I don’t know. I’m pretty sure I’d be one-shot without buffs…"

Lian Xin added with a giggle, "It’s not impossible to deal with though. All you need to do is to activate your invincibility skill after the Dragon Tooth Arm is activated… actually, forget what I said. I had forgotten about Candlelight Shadow’s SSS Rank Ancient Divine Skill, the Pangu’s Axe. In that case, I suppose that you can only parry, Guard or evade the attack…"

I grimaced. "Candlelight Shadow’s signature skill, Shattering Sword and Shield, goes through both parry and Guard and deals 150% damage, sister. How do you not know about this yet? He’s had that skill since forever…"

Lian Xin shrugged. "I have Blink, so…"

He Yi and I imitated her pose. "But we don’t…"

Murong Mingyue suddenly hit the table and complained, "Stop acting cute, you two! You made my heart race half a second ago!"

Me: "..."

……

I continued eating until my strength was fully restored. I had also made up my mind to eat only breakfast or brunch during the morning and dinner during the night for the next couple of days. Until Xinran was found, I was going to devote as much time online as possible.

I asked another question, "By the way, this city retaking event has a contribution point ranking, right? What are the rewards?"

Lian Xin replied, "Eh, it’s just so-so. This time, the MVP only gets a Ghost Armament, and the second and third place, a Lower Divine Armament. Everyone else will have to pray that their luck is good."

"So, who’s ranked what?"

Lian Xin chuckled. "Sister Lin Yixin is temporarily at first place, Luo River God of the Capital is second, Candlelight Shadow is third, I’m fourth, Beiming is fifth, and… boss, Li Chengfeng, Gui Guzi and High Fighting Spirits are all between 11th to 20th…"

I frowned. "Who are the players between 6th to 10th place?"

"They’re all mages such as Stranger of Three Lifetimes, God’s Dance and more. The large majority of mobs we fought were metal-armor Corpse Eaters, which is why mages currently hold the advantage…"

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"I see. Well, do your best. If possible, try to take all three top spots for us. The Seventy-two Ghost Armaments are the key to conquering Heavenblessed…"

"We know, but the enemy is cunning and powerful, so…"

"..."

……

It was past 10 pm when we finally stepped out of the restaurant. I had to lean on He Yi because I drank a bit too much alcohol.

The night wind blew as a bar rolled up its shutters and began its business. Even before that, youngsters were lining up at the entrance and waiting for their turn to go in. A couple of hooligans wolf-whistled when we passed them, and the reason was of course the girls. The dim light did nothing to conceal He Yi's exquisite beauty and class.

While holding He Yi, I asked, "Do you want me to beat them up?"

"It’s fine. You should go to bed soon anyway…" He Yi chuckled.

Lian Xin was supporting me on the other side. She too said with a chuckle, "Sister He Yi is right, big bro. Also, there’s no way you can beat anyone in your current condition…"

I replied, "I know, but I’m feeling a bit too much pressure as of late. I feel like fighting someone to loosen up a little…"

"And how exactly is getting beaten up going to help you ‘loosen up’?" He Yi said exasperatedly.

I replied, "Well, even getting beaten up is a life experience that will transform into a beautiful memory when we enter old age. Just imagine this: the rays of sunset pass through a pavilion’s window and illuminate an old photo frame. A 90-year-old Eve is rocking back and forth gently on a vine chair when she picks up the photo frame and sees me with a bruised face; the proof of me getting beaten up tonight. Then, she slowly wipes the glass on the frame while whispering, ‘I miss you’ to herself. That is quite the aesthetic image, isn’t it?"

Suddenly, He Yi paused in her steps and turned away from me, a tear sliding down her cheek.

"I don’t need memories like this. I would rather have this moment eternally frozen."

None of us understood what He Yi meant by that.

"What do you mean, Eve?"

I asked her while still clinging to her shoulders.

He Yi turned back toward me and wrapped her arms around my waist. Then, she said seriously, "Love is the blooming of a flower. It is short and meaningful only during that instant. A so-called eternal love is really a love that is forever frozen in time. That means that the only way I can love you forever is for us to commit double suicide right here and now… Anyway, I will kill you if you dare to make another ominous joke like that, you hear me?"

I shivered a little before returning the hug. "Sorry. I won’t say stuff like that anymore…"

He Yi giggled and kissed me beside my lips.

The guys and gals in front of the bar immediately started clapping for some reason. Some of the girls were even shouting, "Marry him! Marry him!"

Blushing like an apple, He Yi glared at me and said, "Let’s go home already…"

And so the four of us rounded a corner and vanished from the streets.

……

After I returned to the workshop, I took a bath and went to bed immediately.

The next day, before it was even 7 am in the morning, I got up, cleaned myself, and went downstairs to buy breakfast for the girls. Then, I woke them all up, had breakfast with them, and logged back into the game. Time was of the essence to me, and I needed to head to the seventh floor of the Purgatory as soon as possible.

Swhoosh!

Once more, I appeared on the third floor of the Purgatory, the Reincarnation Realm.

I was greeted by an unbearable gust of heat the second I crawled out of the tent. Thank goodness I had the Unusual Physique, or this wind would literally burn me to ashes.

"You’re finally back!"

Uldan’s voice rang beside me as I turned around to face her. I noticed that her quiver contained what seemed to be arrows of pure light, which suggested that it had infinite ammo just like Beiming Xue’s Infinite Quiver. Of course, NPC equipment was different from us players. Uldan’s arrows were probably made from her divine energy. Also, the strength of a Divine Rank NPC and a “Divine Rank” player was like night and day. Unless you had a full set of Divine Armaments and Ghost Armaments, the Divine Rank NPC was most likely going to kick a divine player’s ass 100% of the time!

"Let’s go…" I said after using an Ash General Card.

"Mn!"