On the ground lay a charred corpse and a Daoist priest with a crushed chest.
Another minute later, and the mission would have been downgraded.
That was a close call.
The group members watching the live stream, who had been holding their breath, finally let it out.
Ganyu:That was incredibly close… As expected, none of the three-star missions are simple.
Hu Tao:Indeed. The essence of this mission was finding the enemy quickly. Otherwise, it would have been a two-star mission. It's a good thing Captain Beidou is sensitive to lightning.
Ningguang:Correct. Now, all she has to do is eliminate the jiangshi.
In the world of the jiangshi, the Royal Jiangshi, which had been knocked back, let out an enraged roar and quickly leaped to its feet.
Its target was locked directly onto Beidou.
The nearby Master Crane saw this and hurriedly shouted, "Brave woman, be careful! This jiangshi has become sentient!"
"You don't need to tell me, I know. Protect your men and fall back! Do not let this jiangshi drink any blood!" Beidou replied.
Then, she tightened her grip on her Dragon-Slaying Sword and charged towards the Royal Jiangshi.
Clang!
When her blade clashed with the jiangshi's body, a massive repulsive force was transmitted into Beidou's hands.
The force was so great that it actually made her palm go numb.
"Good grief! So this is what they mean by indestructible… Interesting, very interesting."
Beidou continuously swung her sword like a rampaging tyrannosaur, while the jiangshi relied on its tough body to constantly maneuver around her.
Seeing this, Master Crane hurriedly said to his apprentices, "Quickly, take the Little Prince and the others to my senior brother! I will stay behind and help!"
"Yes, Master!"
In a moment, only Master Crane, Beidou, and the Royal Jiangshi were left on the scene.
Seeing that the meddlesome people had retreated, Beidou no longer held back, unleashing the full force of her lightning in a more ferocious assault.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The very terrain began to change due to their battle.
The jiangshi had only just been unleashed. Without having consumed any blood or flesh, its body was still weak. Seeing that it was no match for her, it decided to retreat.
But Beidou had already seen through its intentions and directly intercepted its path.
With a tide-splitting slash, the Royal Jiangshi was sent flying back once again.
Just then, it did something astonishing. It turned and rushed back towards the coffin.
"Not good! There's still one more Daoist over there!" Beidou's expression changed, and she quickly gave chase.
However, when she arrived at the camp, she found the jiangshi drinking the blood of the dead.
The men who had been killed by the lightning had become the Royal Jiangshi's rations.
Master Crane was leaning on his broken sword, groaning. The crazed jiangshi had sent him flying with a single blow. Not only was his peachwood sword broken, but six of his ribs were cracked as well.
After drinking the blood, the Royal Jiangshi recovered its strength. Its cold eyes locked onto Beidou once more.
If escape was not an option, then it would eat her.
Moreover, the jiangshi had a premonition that if it could devour this woman, its own strength would become even greater.
"ROAR!" The jiangshi roared at the sky, and countless wisps of black energy burst forth from its body.
Then, it no longer hopped, but ran towards Beidou.
This jiangshi had already surpassed the level of a hopping vampire! Its power was now completely stabilized.
"Good! It seems you still have some fight in you. A three-star mission indeed," Beidou said. "You may have an indestructible body, but my lightning is no vegetarian either."
The elemental power that Beidou had been condensing for some time finally erupted.
The rampaging Electro element whipped her hair into a frenzy.
The entire forest was illuminated by the light of her lightning.
The battle began anew.
The massive sounds of impact, like the beating of a war drum, echoed through the sky.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Every time the jiangshi tried to attack, it was sent flying by a single sweep of her sword.
The scorching power of her lightning finally broke through its defenses on the sixteenth strike, piercing straight into the jiangshi's lungs.
"Aaargh!" The Royal Jiangshi let out a painful, mournful cry and slowly collapsed to the ground.
"Hah… so it really was a mission somewhere between three and two stars. Easier than I thought," Beidou sighed, looking at the completely dead jiangshi.
This jiangshi was simpler than the Kraken, its only strength being its high defense.
Perhaps the key to the mission had been the rescue aspect.
Afterward, Beidou walked over to the injured Master Crane, gave him a bottle of medicine for internal injuries, and said, "Take it. Don't die."
"Cough… thank you, brave woman," Master Crane managed to reply.
Only after he had swallowed the medicine did the system notification finally appear.
[Ding! Congratulations on completing the mission. You have been awarded 50,000 points.]
[Ding! You have been promoted to a Level 2 Group Member!]
[Hint: Congratulations on your promotion to a Level 2 member. You can receive one Independent Mission per cycle. Completing the mission will grant special rewards.]
Beidou's eyes lit up as she looked at the message that appeared in the dialogue box.
"There are also Independent Missions? Now that's nice."
She had thought that all missions had to be issued by the group.
It turned out there were independent ones as well.
This was great. Two independent missions every month. How awesome was that?
Although building up Liyue was good, Beidou also wanted to become stronger herself.
Unfortunately, the points were never enough.
But Independent Missions were different.
It seemed that after completing them, the reward wasn't just points!
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