Chapter 98 - 98-Dragon Hunt! (Part 2)
But she was supposed to head to the rift and participate in the dragon hunt event right now!
Moreover, what puzzled Lily the most was that she repeatedly tried to summon her character panel, but she failed, as if everything that had existed before had vanished into thin air!
"Jo-Johnny? Helena! Can you hear me?"
If this was the world behind the rift, then what kind of dragons were they hunting?
What kind of beings lived among these stars?
As thoughts swirled in her mind, a dazzling light reflected on Lily\'s cheeks, making it nearly impossible for her to open her eyes. She could only vaguely see the world before her through the gaps between her fingers.
It was a figure bathed in light. Lily couldn\'t see the figure\'s face clearly, but it seemed to be a woman?
"You... you really resemble her, those brows and lips, you\'re exactly like her."
As the blinding light gradually dimmed, Lily tentatively lowered her hand to observe the woman in front of her. Facing a face of unparalleled beauty, Lily swallowed and asked in confusion, "Excuse me, where is this place?"
"As you see, this is the galaxy and the source of your power."
…
"Utterly disappointing. I really thought we could ride on the dragons and soar into the sky. But these dragons actually live under rocks?"
With a single thought, Exiled Immortal recalled all the swords that surrounded him into his inventory.
Looking at the corpse of the earth dragon, which had been pierced like a sieve by Exiled Immortal, John smirked.
"I think I already told you not to get your hopes up."
"These creatures aren\'t worthy of being called dragons, are they? You\'re right, John. They\'re just oversized lizards with tough scales. They almost broke my precious flying swords!"
"Give it a rest, Exiled Immortal. You have over fifty flying swords! I bet you can\'t even remember the names of each one!"
Rolling his eyes, Qing retrieved his long halberd from the shattered dragon\'s head, flicking away an eyeball stuck on the tip.
"Alright, what are we betting on?"
"Unfortunately, I have no money and nothing you want. How about we bet on something else? If you win, I\'ll do one reasonable thing for you unconditionally."
"Deal. Let me tell you how I name my precious flying swords. This one\'s Sword One, this one\'s Sword Two..."
"Get lost! Who wants to bet with you on that?"
Watching Exiled Immortal and Qing bicker endlessly, John pinched the bridge of his nose, his expression still somewhat grave.
His worry was not unfounded. Of course, it had nothing to do with these giant lizards clad in heavy scales. John was worried about Lily.
As if sensing John\'s concern, Elaria stepped forward and gently patted his shoulder.
"She\'ll be fine. Maybe she just took an unexpected break. Didn\'t you say you\'d be forcibly returned to your own world?"
"Lily pays attention to these details. She wouldn\'t overlook something like this. I\'m worried she might have been teleported somewhere else, which is why we can\'t contact her."
"It\'s not impossible, but at least we can be sure she\'s still alive."
Helena sighed softly and reopened the player leaderboard, saying helplessly, "Lily\'s name is still in the seventh place. That\'s probably the only good news for now."
"Sorry, I\'ve been overthinking and it\'s affecting our progress. Helena is right. No matter how worried I am, we can only wait until the big event is over."
"Come on, John, cheer up."
Old Mac stepped forward and tossed a brown bottle to John.
"What\'s this?"
"Alcohol, what else? I brewed it myself. You can try it; it tastes pretty good."
"Let\'s save it for the victory party. Exiled Immortal! Be careful, another earth dragon is emerging!"
"Perfect timing! Qing, let\'s have a little competition. Let\'s see who can deliver the fatal blow to the earth dragon the fastest!"
Exiled Immortal\'s eyes lit up, and a breeze gathered beneath his feet.
In the blink of an eye, he soared into the sky.
Nearly fifty flying swords flew out and hovered behind him, making it seem as if the legendary sword immortal had truly appeared!
In contrast, Qing was much more straightforward and brutal.
With a massive weapon and an exaggeratedly powerful attack that could almost go head-to-head with an earth dragon, Qing had unparalleled confidence!
Seeing this, John signaled Helena with his eyes, and she immediately understood.
Yes, this dragon hunt event was clearly a great opportunity for Helena\'s growth, but not so much for Qing.
Unlike Helena, who specialized in hunting specific species, Qing\'s talent required accumulating numbers.
The individually powerful and not-so-team-friendly earth dragons were not the ideal experience targets for Qing.
Facing the small humans before it, the earth dragon opened its blood-filled mouth and roared mightily.
Its numerous sharp teeth were even smeared with rotting flesh, emitting a nauseating stench!
Seeing this, Qing felt no fear at all. Instead, he responded with a loud shout.
"This is the life I want! I was going crazy being cooped up at home!"
Qing laughed heartily, leaped high with his long halberd, and then smashed it down heavily on the earth dragon, severing its thick tail.
As the tail hit the ground, it continued to struggle and writhe!
At the same moment, Exiled Immortal casually pointed, and his longsword shot out like falling leaves, piercing through the earth dragon\'s eye and pulverizing its brain into mush!
Since this was a large-scale event open to all players, the difficulty was intentionally restrained.
Along the way, John and the others encountered hardly any challenging dragons.
Most of the time, Qing and Exiled Immortal attacked together, with Helena delivering the final blow, making it easy to dispatch the dragons.
This time was no exception.
As the earth dragon\'s HP was about to be depleted, Helena drew her blood crossbow and fired a bolt made from refined dragon blood, which easily pierced the earth dragon\'s forehead, depleting its HP completely!
"Hey! Helena big sis! I was betting with Qing! That was my kill!"
"Not anymore. You two are like immature schoolchildren, making such childish bets. Have you forgotten our original goal? We need to help me improve my stats as much as possible before encountering higher-level dragons."
"Whatever... Qing, I nearly one-shot the earth dragon just now, so I should win this round!"
"Win? If I hadn\'t decisively severed the earth dragon\'s tail and drawn its attention, would you have hit your target so easily? So, this round is, at best, a tie."
"How about this: you both lost to me, so you both owe me one favor, and that favor is to shut up and do more, talk less. Deal?"
Helena stepped forward and lightly knocked on Exiled Immortal\'s head.
"Don\'t waste time. These big lizards are so easy to kill, we haven\'t gained much distance from the other teams. If we get overtaken, just wait for John to lose his temper with you."
"Is John still in that state?"
Exiled Immortal peeked over, stealing a glance at John. It was the first time he\'d seen such a vacant expression on John\'s face.
"You know, he\'s still worried about Lily, so he\'s a bit distracted. Normally, he should be very excited."
"Yeah, she just disappeared all of a sudden. I\'m actually a bit concerned too."
"Just a bit?"
Helena narrowed her eyes, her gaze carrying a hint of accusation. Seeing this, Exiled Immortal\'s face immediately turned red.
"Of course! Lily is our teammate, isn\'t she? Not just me, but Qing, Elaria, and Mac—everyone is concerned about her whereabouts, afraid she might be in danger."
"You better be. Alright, stop talking and keep moving. Let\'s head to the central area to hunt higher-level dragons. Didn\'t you want a challenge? Just hope you don\'t wet your pants then."
"I won\'t!"