5. Slaying the Boss
Tang Xuan’s eyes were fixed intently on the two-headed black centipede.
With a swift sound, the beast lunged at him once more, both heads snapping from left and right in an attempt to bite him. Tang Xuan immediately activated his agility skill, his speed jumping from 160 to 352 in an instant. Leaping to the left, he dodged the centipede’s attack.
He launched his agility skill again, counterattacking from the creature’s flank and delivered a powerful punch!
-352
After reaching level 4, Tang Xuan’s attack power was now 160. With his perfected basic boxing technique, his attack power surged by 120 percent, reaching 352 points!
This two-headed black centipede, though a level 10 boss monster, boasted speed, fierce attacks, and deadly poison. Yet its defense was clearly lacking, Tang Xuan’s blow landed true and dealt solid damage!
The beast reeled from the punch, both heads shrieking in pain, then turned to savage him again. Tang Xuan activated his agility skill once more, slipping past the creature’s attack.
He had already used several agility skills and a boxing skill, consuming 25 points of internal energy, leaving only “95/120.”
Tang Xuan mused that this hit-and-run tactic wouldn’t work forever. Once his internal energy was depleted and he could no longer use his agility skills, he’d be unable to keep pace with the centipede and would be at its mercy.
As the beast lunged again, Tang Xuan’s gaze sharpened. This time he neither dodged nor retreated. Both arms struck out.
Left palm, right fist—he simultaneously unleashed his perfected basic palm and boxing techniques!
Ten points of internal energy were consumed.
With internal energy flowing, both palm and fist exploded with force, striking the centipede’s heads simultaneously.
-352
-352
Two crimson numbers appeared.
The centipede howled in agony, growing even more frenzied as it lunged at Tang Xuan.
Tang Xuan had already been injured in his earlier clash with the boss monster, a vivid -150 hovering above his head.
His health dropped to 250/400.
That was thanks to his perfected basic internal arts and the defense boost from leveling up to 160. Otherwise, he would have lost far more than 150 health!
Even so, Tang Xuan staggered back several steps, his hands numb and his chest tight.
Seeing the beast attack again, he activated his agility skill, instantly boosting his speed to 352 and dodging aside.
In the next instant, he used his agility skill again, counterattacking from the centipede’s flank with sudden force.
Once more, left palm and right fist, both perfected palm and boxing techniques!
-352
-352
Two crimson numbers appeared.
The centipede’s shrieks were piercing, unsettling the venomous insects and beasts nearby—none could tell who had angered the valley’s overlord.
Having struck true, Tang Xuan hurriedly used his agility skill to evade the monster’s retaliation.
“No wonder it’s a wild boss, its health is so thick!” Tang Xuan raised an eyebrow.
Those wild monsters at levels 1 through 5 only had health values of 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 respectively. With his attack power, they couldn’t withstand more than one or two blows.
Even a level 10 wild monster should only have just over 1,000 health, but this two-headed black centipede was clearly a boss, its health far exceeding the norm.
He had already dealt 1,760 damage, yet it still hadn’t died!
Yet seeing how crazed the beast had become after several heavy blows, it was surely gravely wounded. If not nearly dead, then close to it.
The centipede lunged again, Tang Xuan’s gaze steeled. Once more, he stood his ground, striking out with both arms.
A punch and a palm, both perfected techniques!
Internal energy surged, his force crashed down on the centipede’s heads.
-352
-352
Two crimson numbers appeared.
-150
This direct exchange cost Tang Xuan more health—his HP dropped to 100/400.
After this heavy blow, the centipede shrieked madly, preparing to attack again, but its body wavered and collapsed—it was spent.
The wild boss was gravely injured and near death.
Tang Xuan struck once more.
-352
With this final punch, he slew the two-headed black centipede.
[You have slain the level 10 boss monster, Two-Headed Black Centipede, and gained 200 experience points.]
[Ding! You have obtained a piece of century-old wild ganoderma.]
Tang Xuan’s eyes shone—boss kills truly brought rich rewards.
A century-old wild ganoderma was a rare treasure; the herbs he’d gathered earlier, like ganoderma and ginseng, were only a few years old, with even decade-old specimens scarce.
Yet this battle left him not only down 300 health, but seriously wounded and with depleted internal energy.
Tang Xuan meditated on the spot for a while, recovering some stamina, health, and internal energy.
Then he headed out of the valley, returning to Novice Village.
By now, many players were on the outskirts of the valley, leveling up by fighting monsters and gathering herbs; their levels had gradually risen to 2 or even 3.
They began banding together, advancing toward the depths of the valley.
Yet the depths had already been explored by Tang Xuan alone, and even the level 10 wild boss had been slain single-handedly.
If ordinary players encountered this boss in the valley’s depths, given their levels and base internal energy, agility, boxing techniques, and the attribute boosts these provided, they would almost certainly be instantly killed by the boss monster, the Two-Headed Black Centipede!
Tang Xuan made his way back to Novice Village.
The place was still bustling, players busy with various beginner quests, while some gaming clubs’ guilds rallied their members.
“Any brothers and sisters from ‘Sky Tower,’ gather here!”
“‘Across the Four Seas’ members, over here!”
As a fully immersive virtual reality game about to take China by storm, “Great Martial Hero” had attracted numerous gaming clubs and guilds upon open beta.
Yet with so many Novice Villages and random assignments, club and guild members couldn’t immediately gather together.
Tang Xuan’s Novice Village, numbered 2512, didn’t seem to host any renowned gaming clubs.
Guilds like ‘Sky Tower’ and ‘Across the Four Seas’ were only small or mid-sized gaming guilds.
Tang Xuan, once the top player and the “textbook” of online gaming, had belonged to Imperial Entertainment, the number one gaming club.
Imperial Club’s four major guilds were famed throughout the gaming world.
Yet after being betrayed and suppressed by Imperial Entertainment, forced into retirement, and stripped of his top-tier accounts, he now stood opposed to the Imperial Club.
Should he encounter members of Imperial Club’s four major guilds, they would be bitter enemies!
Tang Xuan was not one for magnanimity. Now that he possessed this identity and cheat, he fully intended to show Imperial Club what he was made of!