Chapter 44

With the treatment behind him, Fang Yi didn’t bother with any formalities, and with a series of punches, he sent the ranger to the Creator’s Temple, leaving the thief, Xiao Mujiang, who had been standing under the tree with a hand crossbow ready to pick up the loot, completely stunned.

Fang Yi glanced at the guild emblem on the ranger’s chest, confirming that he hadn’t dropped anything, before jumping down from the tree.

"Your skills are still as good as ever," the Golden Right Hand chuckled, patting Fang Yi on the shoulder, seemingly unsurprised by his performance. However, the few people around him were not so calm, and their gazes towards Fang Yi were now filled with more admiration and less doubt.

Just now, Fang Yi had leaped to draw his blade and parried the ranger’s first arrow, then used his body to block the second arrow, followed by the shield of the team leader, Golden Right Hand, which blocked the third arrow. Although the remaining three people also reacted and made the correct moves, they understood that the difference between a skilled and a top-tier skilled person was just this thin line.

"Luck was on my side. This ranger has learned the Rapid Shot skill, but to achieve a successful three-shot combo, the first arrow lacked power, and the Rapid Shot skill wasn’t well practiced. The third arrow was also delayed too long from the first two," Fang Yi said with a smile. "The rangers of World Domination are as weak as ever."

After confirming that there was no one else around, the group didn’t waste any time. Each of them drank a small mana potion to restore their mana, then directly entered the dungeon.

Not far from the entrance of the Emerald Forest dungeon, on the road leading from Taisel to Greenwind Canyon, a group of people was hurrying along. Leading them was a bald human monk, who was unusually equipped with six or seven magical items. His thick eyebrows and narrow, sharp eyes, combined with his shiny bald head, gave him a fierce appearance.

At this moment, the monk’s rapid movement slowed down as he lowered his head to read the message sent by the ranger, his brows slightly furrowed.

The monk leading the group was none other than the guild leader of World Domination, Qi Tanshanhe. Today, Qi Tanshanhe was leveling up nearby when a ranger in the guild suddenly reported the discovery of a dungeon called the Emerald Forest. Having participated in the beta test, Qi Tanshanhe immediately recalled the famous one-time dungeon from the beta.

During the beta, the system automatically adjusted, increasing the probability of all events. Many players had experienced the challenge of one-time dungeons. The most famous one-time dungeon was the "Dragon Nest," a 100-player dungeon said to be taken from a certain level of the Labyrinth of the Earth’s Veins. However, no one knew if this was true, as the players’ strength during the beta was not enough to delve deep into the Labyrinth of the Earth’s Veins, known as the lair of monsters. The Emerald Forest, if he remembered correctly, was the first one-time dungeon that players cleared.

Upon receiving this information, Qi Tanshanhe immediately gathered nearby guild members. As the largest guild in Dragon Coast so far, although it was not officially registered, the guild had a clear numerical advantage. The nearest ranger was sent to scout, while Qi Tanshanhe gathered nearby guild members to head to the dungeon entrance.

However, he didn’t expect it to be this person again. The name "Fang Yi" was the most troublesome for Qi Tanshanhe, causing the guild a lot of trouble over the past few days. But now wasn’t the time to think about that; the most important thing was to secure the rewards from the Emerald Forest!

The interior of the Emerald Forest was similar to the terrain outside, a dense and impenetrable forest. However, the sunlight here was blocked by a layer of black mist, and the air was filled with a decaying smell. The originally lush and green trees were entangled with thick, menacing vines, devouring the forest’s original vitality.

The Golden Right Hand arranged for Xiao Mujiang to closely protect the bard, with the mage in the center and himself at the front. Fang Yi was assigned the crucial role of scout.

Fang Yi maintained a safe distance from the group, advancing cautiously.

This was a linear dungeon, and the only path through the forest was the small river at their feet. The water was clear, and the pebbles on the riverbed could be seen clearly. However, ... looking at the combat log, which showed a -1 HP loss every few seconds, Fang Yi winced.

The river was infested with black leeches, which the mage’s Detect Toxin spell had immediately identified. However, these black leeches were not considered monsters but rather a hostile environmental factor, and cutting them with a blade was ineffective. The riverbed, which seemed to stretch endlessly, made it impractical for the mage to use area-of-effect spells to clear the area. Fang Yi could only try to stay close to the riverbank, but his Stealth skill was useless here.

After advancing about 200 feet, the group was just getting frustrated with the constant minor damage when the first wave of monsters finally appeared.

Three brown bears were playing in the stream ahead, each about five feet tall, clearly not ordinary wild animals. Looking further ahead, about 50 feet away, there were four more brown bears, and beyond that, the stream curved, making it impossible to see what lay ahead.

These three level 12 elite beasts were no match for the group, who were all top-tier players. Without much discussion, the Golden Right Hand immediately charged forward, shield in hand, to attack the bears, while Fang Yi busily dealt with the bears’ rear. The mage focused on crowd control, and Xiao Mujiang protected the healer. The group quickly engaged in a heated battle.

The brown bears had high attack power but slow attack speed. The Golden Right Hand gradually stabilized the aggro, and the bears occasionally used a cleave attack, but it was difficult to hit the experienced Fang Yi. Thus, the bard had no trouble healing.

However, before a hero can obtain a treasure, they must endure various setbacks, and the game’s logic was no different. The first brown bear’s HP quickly dropped to one-third, and it suddenly roared, its body turning dark red. The nearby melee players immediately received a system message: "You are affected by the Roar of Fury, reducing your movement speed by 30%."

The transformed "Red Bear" turned and sprinted towards the four other bears 50 feet away. Fang Yi quickly understood the bear’s plan and, with a reverse grip on his sharp dagger, stabbed the bear’s buttocks, trying to slow it down. However, the transformed bear, as if on a stimulant, ignored the thief and charged forward, its large paws splashing through the stream.

"It’s immune to control!" the mage shouted, having received a system message that his Web spell had failed. At this point, everyone knew that if they attracted the four other bears, even the Golden Right Hand would be in trouble, let alone the Diamond Right Hand.

Fang Yi quickly checked the bear’s HP and shouted, "This one has a vulnerability effect! Pull the other two back, and I’ll take care of this one!"

The Golden Right Hand also understood and, trusting Fang Yi’s abilities, slowly pulled the remaining two bears back. Fang Yi glanced at the combat log and saw that his stab to the bear’s buttocks had dealt 32 points of damage, almost making him think his dagger had been swapped for a higher-quality one. It seemed that the bear’s immunity to control came at the cost of a vulnerability debuff!

Seeing the red bear heading towards its friends, Fang Yi didn’t hesitate. He immediately activated his shortest cooldown escape skill to remove the movement speed reduction and stuck to the bear’s buttocks, hacking away furiously. The Golden Right Hand and the others, who were retreating, saw the thief swinging his weapons, moving up and down and left and right behind the bear’s large buttocks, with occasional spurts of fresh blood and the thief’s wild and joyful laughter, "Awesome!"

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**[AD Start]**

**[AD End]**