Chapter 246: Top-Tier Equipment, Instant Drop

"Go to hell!" Ruan Ning's silver teeth ground together with a sharp click as she watched the items she had carried burst onto the ground all around her. This damned shop owner was actually taking advantage of her misfortune, trying to coerce and entice her into joining!

It was bad enough being hacked to pieces by others within the game, but if she joined whatever ghost of an online gaming guild he was running, she would probably end up being hacked to pieces in reality too! Only a ghost would join!

With a cold snort, she drew out her communication jade: "Think this young lady has no backing?! I'm calling my good sisters over right now!"

"For now, I'll go level up somewhere else! I won't cross paths with these few damned bastards! Humph!"

"Suit yourself," Fang Qi replied nonchalantly. Hand in hand with Xiao Yue, he resumed hacking away at the monsters. At this moment, Fang Qi was deep inside the Skeleton Cave. This place was not only economical, but it could also rake in quite a profit—provided no one was competing for the kills.

Presently, the vast majority of players were still lingering around level ten. Given Fang Qi's current level, naturally no one would come to contest his ground; in fact, no one had even discovered this map yet. After all, the system's version of the map was vastly larger. Had he not searched meticulously along the mountain cliffside, already knowing a Skeleton Cave existed in the vicinity, even Fang Qi would have failed to find such a well-hidden cavern.

Although the system-enhanced map was far larger and many elements had changed, the fundamental framework remained unaltered!

They had only just hacked a single monster to death when Ruan Ning, standing nearby, cried out in alarm: "How does your monster drop so much money?!"

Ruan Ning had watched as Fang Qi and Jiang Xiao Yue combined their efforts to slay a lone bat—an effortless affair—only for four massive piles of gold coins to erupt directly onto the ground!

There must have been several thousand pieces in each pile!

Added together, it was likely close to ten thousand!

Furthermore, there were several Town Portal Scrolls scattered on the earth!

One had to know that these items sold for several thousand gold coins in the shops!

Which meant that Fang Qi killing a single monster yielded more than all her painstaking labor hunting huge heaps of venison combined!

"How can it be like this?!" Ruan Ning gasped. "Where on earth are you?!"

"Young lady, please explore on your own," Fang Qi said. "The joy of a game lies in discovery!"

Ruan Ning flew into a frantic rage. Wasn't it just because this young lady hadn't agreed to join whatever ghost of a guild he possessed!

She watched from the side, observing that this gloomy, sinister cavern held little else but skeletons. Moreover, these skeletons appeared far from weak; each resembled a battle-hardened warrior who, despite being dead, still maintained the martial discipline of their previous life!

Even Fang Qi and Jiang Xiao Yue had to maneuver and skirmish for a brief spell before they could execute a kill.

Should they accidentally provoke several at once, even the two of them would end up wounded.

Warriors in the early stages possessed only a single skill, which, in truth, could no longer be called a mere skill within this realm.

Basic Swordsmanship—the most traditional and fundamental cornerstone of the blade.

In the legends of this continent, long ago, a warrior of supreme martial prowess had distilled this style of swordsmanship from his own lifetime of learning, and the people had used it to resist the monsters.

Through many years of accumulation and refinement, it had formed the most fundamental sword technique for warriors.

Basic Swordsmanship was easy to learn, its forms simple and devoid of flashiness. However, it was of immense aid in forging a rock-solid foundation.

Utilizing it himself, Fang Qi naturally understood that this particular sword technique was rather unique.

In truth, it was not limited to the sword alone; even some of the most fundamental application techniques of other cold weapons were blended into this basic swordsmanship. Compared to most introductory weapon arts, it indeed possessed its own sublime merits.

Fang Qi himself was someone who had never built much of a foundation in basic swordsmanship; having learned many powerful sword arts before returning to study these rudimentary elements felt akin to constructing a ten-thousand-foot tower starting strictly from the ground up.

Systematically replenishing these foundational matters naturally brought no small measure of benefit to him.

In fact, this applied not only to him; as long as a cultivator had not forged a foundation so unshakeably firm that it entirely precluded the need for further practice, they would all stand to gain from it.

Of course, his journey to the Skeleton Cave was by no means solely for practicing his swordplay.

"What is it?" Ruan Ning asked, seeing Fang Qi retrieve a bracelet with a face full of sheer delight.

On Fang Qi’s screen, his character was currently inspecting the attributes of the bracelet:

Large Bracelet

Defense 1-3

Attack 0-3

"!!??" Ruan Ning suddenly froze. She had seen this bracelet in the shop; it was clearly listed as Defense 1-1 with no other attributes, and it was terribly, terribly expensive!

What kind of ghostly sorcery allowed the one Fang Qi dropped to possess so many extra attributes?!

She watched as Fang Qi gleefully unequipped a standard Large Bracelet with 1-1 Defense.

"!!??"

Ruan Ning was dumbfounded once more. Was his own original Large Bracelet not also 1-1 in Defense? Why was this one different?!

This single piece of yours is worth three or four of anyone else's Large Bracelets combined!

Fang Qi burst into a wild laugh: "Xiao Yue, keep hitting them!"

Glancing at Fang Qi’s inventory at this moment, he already possessed over a hundred thousand gold coins!

"Ahhh—! How are there nothing but treasures in this place! Let me go there too!" It would have been fine had she not witnessed it, but having seen it plain as day, Ruan Ning's eyes turned utterly red with envy!

"Want it?" Having dropped a piece of superior-grade equipment, Fang Qi was brimming with smug satisfaction. "The Dragon-Slaying Saber, yours with a single click; supreme-grade equipment, bursting forth in a second! Hurry up and join our Defying-the-Heavens Online Gaming Guild!"

"..." Ruan Ning's face turned black.

What the absolute hell!

Just hearing the name made it sound completely unreliable!

Before long, several more young women entered through the shop doors. By this time, Ruan Ning had long forgotten her initial assertion that "how could anyone possibly come to this shop," and had now dragged several people into the establishment herself!

Entering first was a mature, voluptuous, and tall lady in black, an older-sister type, accompanied by two twin girls around eighteen or nineteen years of age clad in green.

"Over here, over here!" As soon as they crossed the threshold, they saw Ruan Ning waving frantically.

"What's the matter today that has our Ningning in such a desperate rush?"

"Ningning..." Fang Qi stifled a laugh nearby, covering his mouth.

Ruan Ning’s face twitched. She rolled her eyes and hurriedly changed the subject: "Isn't it because I discovered something wonderful, so I called my sisters over to share in the joy!"

"Boss! Activate *The Legend* for these sisters of mine too!"

"Eh?! What *The Legend*?" The three women looked completely bewildered.

"Let's go, let's go! You'll find out in a moment!" With that, she dragged the three of them and hurriedly logged into the game.

Two hours later...

By this time, Wang Qiang and his cohorts, who had taken up the business of highway robbery, crossed paths with Ruan Ning once again!

It was only that they had shifted their robbing grounds slightly toward the Viper Valley, where they happened to encounter Ruan Ning leading a platoon in search of a certain Skeleton Cave rumored to be filled with wealth and treasure!

When bitter enemies met, their eyes burned with distinct hatred!

"Sisters! It was these few bastards who killed me! They don't have as many people as we do! Kill them back!"

Ruan Ning immediately led her army of women and launched an assault against Wang Qiang!

"Holy crap!" Wang Qiang was still pondering who to rob next when four Fireballs slammed into him square in the face!

Before he could even react, another volley of simultaneous shots rained down!

"Who's hitting me?!" This game was not the original version; within the forest, one could hide behind trees or tuck away behind mountain cliffs—you could go anywhere. For a moment, Wang Qiang was thoroughly disoriented.

"He's almost out of health! Kill him!"

"Holy crap!" Wang Qiang watched as four women, fierce as wolves and tigers, charged out and unleashed a furious beating!

"Someone's killing Qiangzi!"

"Slash him!"

"Focus all fire on that one! He's almost out of health!"

The entire scene dissolved into utter chaos, a frantic whirlwind of flying feathers and leaping dogs!

Boom—!

An absolute explosion of loot!

"Brothers of Jiuhua City! Holy shit! I've been wiped out and looted!" Over the Penguin channel, Gong He had specifically set up a dedicated frequency for the Jiuhua Army.

"Where?! Where are you?!"

"Heading toward Viper Valley! Four little chicks! They're hunting us down like they've lost their damn minds! Oh, crap!" The remaining two let out a barrage of wild shrieks. Two fists were clearly no match for four hands! Before long, they all collapsed to the ground!

Only then did the four girls proudly gather up their spoils of war, which surprisingly included not just deer meat, but also jewelry and various pieces of equipment!

"We struck it rich, we struck it rich!" Several of the girls looked on, their eyes shining like tiny stars.

"Hurry up, let's get out of here! Whatever this Jiuhua Army is, they have a massive number of people!" Ruan Ning recalled the previous scene where Huang Shan's group had been slaughtered, and she immediately greased her soles to flee!

Yet while the conflicts raged incessantly outside, Fang Qi led Jiang Xiaoyuan along. Aside from the heavy bracelet they had looted earlier—boasting three points of defense and three points of attack—they had managed to acquire another ring with four points of Taoism, plus a whole outfit of minor premium gear, hiding their achievements deep as they slipped away.