"Boss, should we take down this Demon Bear together?" Zhong Yongnian quickly asked Zhou Bai for her opinion.
He knew very well that the highest Demon Beast outside was Level 9, and Zhou Bai was Level 9. With their help on the side, they could definitely take down the Demon Bear.
"Alright," Zhou Bai nodded, then saw the Demon Bear about to attack the person she had knocked down, so she rushed over.
At this moment, the Demon Bear already sensed Zhou Bai's threat—or maybe Zhou Bai's flesh seemed even more tempting. As soon as he saw Zhou Bai, his attention immediately shifted to her.
The two quickly faced off.
The massive Bear Paw rose, revealing sharp claws, aiming straight for Zhou Bai's most vulnerable head and neck.
Zhou Bai directly used her Iron Axe to defend with an attack, blocking the Bear Paw. The Iron Axe's Defense removed a lot of force from the slap, but Zhou Bai still lost 150 Life Value.
You know, she even has attribute boosts from her Equipment!
That Damage Value is crazy high!
Zhou Bai muttered this in her heart, when the other Bear Paw came down right after.
Zhou Bai could only spin quickly to deal with it.
Then came pushing, grabbing, scratching, tearing—the Demon Bear pressured Zhou Bai step by step, determined to knock her down, moving faster and faster.
At this moment, Zhou Bai finally understood why this group had such trouble dealing with the Demon Bear.
Brute force overcomes skill.
This Demon Bear was just way too strong.
Every time Zhou Bai clashed with him, her hands felt numb from the impact.
She could only start using her sneaky tactics, chopping at the Demon Bear's nose and eye socket over and over—she remembered these two spots were bears' weaknesses, and probably the same for Demon Beasts.
Sure enough, faced with this threat, the Demon Bear's attack force softened a bit. Taking advantage of the retreat, Zhou Bai slashed off a significant chunk of his Blood Bar.
Way more efficient than the entire team's effort earlier.
"Nice, awesome!"
"Keep hitting his eyes!"
"Blood Bar dropping, dropping, dropping!"
"..."
The crowd, who'd been bullied by the Demon Bear before, couldn't help applauding and cheering on the side as they watched.
Zhou Bai heard this, her steps stumbling a bit, turned to look at Zhong Yongnian, "Together?" Weren't we supposed to beat him together?
Zhong Yongnian came back to his senses, coughed, then loudly said, "Anyone with Life Value under 300, go rest and recover for now. If you have 300, get in there—and pay attention to your own Life Value the whole time!"
As soon as he finished, the group who had just been cheering grabbed their weapons and rushed over. Boss is so awesome, they almost forgot.
Zhou Bai attacked head-on, and they assisted from all sides. As long as they landed a hit, it'd at least chip away some of the Demon Bear's Blood Bar.
The Demon Bear got annoyed by all their interference and sensed danger, growled softly, preparing to activate an AOESkill.
Zhou Bai had seen its sonic skill before and wouldn't let it get a chance—in her hands, the Iron Axe switched for a Long Spear, which she drove heavily into the Demon Bear's eye.
A piercing, miserable scream rang out on the field.
The crowd felt their eardrums take a hit, and lost quite a bit of Life Value, but they saw their opportunity.
While the Demon Bear howled in pain, everyone slashed if they could, stabbed if they could.
The Demon Bear's Blood Bar plummeted under their teamwork.
Zhou Bai watched the Blood Bar, calculated, and delivered a final heavy blow.
Before the Demon Bear could counterattack, his Blood Bar hit zero, and the massive body slammed to the ground.
[Congratulations, Host! You have slain Lv.9 Demon Bear. You receive Honey*9, Bear Paw*4, Bear Meat*9, Bear Skin*9, Experience Points*90, copper coin*90, and randomly win Permanent Physical Strength attribute points +2.]
Physical Strength +2? Zhou Bai was a bit surprised—this was her first time getting dropped attribute points, and it was Physical Strength. Her eyes involuntarily lit up.
So attribute points can also be gained by slaying Demon Beasts?
This probability... Maybe only for High-level Demon Beasts?
She kept this in mind—she'd need to verify it later when possible.
Just then, with the system notification, the Demon Bear's body disappeared from where it lay.
Seeing this, everyone let out a long sigh of relief.
Victory!
"Boss, thank you. If it weren't for you, we'd have had to give up on this resource point," Zhong Yongnian said sincerely.
Seriously, who would've thought a mini-boss of such High-level was hiding near the bamboo forest?
Looks like from now on they really need to be careful, scout the area first. If a bunch of Demon Beasts swarm them, the whole team will be in trouble.
This game keeps changing every day, and Demon Beast Level is rising, too. Yesterday most they encountered were Level 6-7, today it's suddenly Level 8-9.
"If you guys hadn't run into it, I probably would have later anyway." Zhou Bai shook her head, then added, "Don't call me Boss, just call me Zhou Bai."
"How long have you been here?" Zhong Yongnian asked curiously—he seemed to have seen Zhou Bai come from the bamboo forest.
"Been here a while now, just collected a fair bit of bamboo strips and Wind and Rain Orchid." Zhou Bai answered, giving some info.
Sure enough, hearing the words Wind and Rain Orchid, Zhong Yongnian was shocked, "There are Wind and Rain Orchids in the bamboo forest, too?"
"Yeah, a ton actually. When you're gathering later be careful—there are Magic Bamboo Rats guarding them. Watch out for surprise attacks; some might suddenly pop out from underground," Zhou Bai warned.
"Thanks," Zhong Yongnian replied quickly—they didn't even know there were Wind and Rain Orchids inside! Wind and Rain Orchid is way more valuable than bamboo strips. Zhou Bai didn't even have to share that, but she did.
"No need to thank me—I can't gather all of it on my own anyway. The resources are there, everyone should grab more so the territory can build more Equipment," Zhou Bai said casually, then glanced at her new loot and continued, "The Demon Bear dropped a bunch, including 2 Physical Strength attribute points. I'll just keep a set of stuff for myself; you guys split the rest!"
Zhong Yongnian listened to the first part and quietly gave Zhou Bai a thumbs up in his heart—her mindset was so broad!
Then hearing the next part, he was surprised by the Demon Bear dropping attribute points, but he still refused Zhou Bai's offer, "No, no, you did most of the work." How could they take it now!
If Zhou Bai hadn't been there, they would've had to give up this resource point—how else would they keep gathering bamboo strips and Wind and Rain Orchid?
"You guys helped too, just take it! Attribute points are already a huge bonus for me," Zhou Bai insisted.
"How about this—we'll just take twenty percent of the loot," Zhong Yongnian said, seeing Zhou Bai's attitude, but would only accept twenty percent.
"Fifty percent!"
"...Fine!" When did people start complaining about getting too much loot?
And so, the two reached an agreement.
"So what are you planning now?" Zhong Yongnian asked Zhou Bai.
"I'm thinking of heading over to Cloud Mist Forest to check things out and look for Rain Tree Resin," Zhou Bai answered.
"We just came from there—there are the most people over that way. During rain, every tree in Cloud Mist Forest turns into Rain Trees. Cutting them down gives wood and randomly drops Rain Tree Resin. The drop rate isn't bad, but there are tons of small Demon Beasts out there—so be careful," Zhong Yongnian told her, sharing info about Cloud Mist Forest.
"Okay." Zhou Bai nodded to show she understood, then realized they probably had Rain Tree Resin, so she added, "How much Rain Tree Resin do you have? Sell it to me at the territory buy price. I won't go that way for now, gonna deliver materials back first."
Once delivered, Diana could make more Equipment, so other Residents could come out, too.
The rain makes the outside riskier, but the harvest is huge—a great chance to level up. No way can she let them just laze indoors.
"...Alright," Zhong Yongnian agreed again—they weren't losing out anyway.
He really started to look at Zhou Bai differently.
Maybe they should learn from her, too.
In the territory, the higher someone's Level, the better for the territory. Need to think long-term.
After both sides finished their trade, they split up.
Watching Zhou Bai walk away, the others quickly surrounded Zhong Yongnian.
"Boss is really awesome! Big picture thinking."
"But when will I get to be strong like her?"
"Nah, isn't the real question, Boss is loaded? So much Rain Tree Resin, she can buy it all!"
"Of course! She's high Level, killing high-level Demon Beasts, getting tons of copper coin—that means she's rich. Plus, she usually solo-kills Demon Beasts."
"Jealous! In games, those who upgrade early get ahead instantly."
"Everyone should work harder to kill more Demon Beasts and level up—still room to catch up!"
"....."
As the group chatted energetically, Zhong Yongnian snapped back and spoke up, "Alright, enough chit-chat. Let's head into the bamboo forest and collect bamboo strips and Wind and Rain Orchid. The Equipment time bonus is down to less than an hour—gotta get back to territory before it runs out, and stock up on materials."
Hearing Zhong Yongnian's words, everyone remembered what Zhou Bai had said just now and quickly agreed.
Thinking about it, if they're willing, they can contribute quite a bit to the territory, too.
With that, the group raced into the bamboo forest, fighting for every second.
They didn't realize at the time, sometimes the spirit of a territory is shaped unconsciously.