Chapter 435: 435
At first, they only noticed Li Yao. Although the other members were leveling up at a decent rate, it was still within their acceptable range.
Even though many people were annoyed when Li Yao alone reached level 20, they all knew that if Li Yao wanted to compete, such a thing was inevitable. Hence, they didn’t make a fuss about it after a while, considering that it was not his first time doing something like this.
However, leveling himself up and bringing a whole team to level up were two different things.
While these top players were still struggling at level 19, the Starfire Guild surprisingly had three members already on level 20.
Indeed, the prospect of a fourth, fifth, and sixth member reaching level 20 posed a frightening thought.
It must be said that the spoils from the level-10 quests brought the Starfire Guild their first kill, leaving countless other guilds humiliated.
The big guilds felt threatened by Li Yao’s presence. Now that Starfire had shot up to level 20, these guilds were in fear.
If things really turned out this way, the first kill in the level-20 main quest would inevitably fall into the hands of the Starfire Guild.
The big guilds became anxious and began to reach out to members of the Starfire Guild to inquire about the situation.
“Now is the perfect time to catch these invaders. Since I’ve already reached level 20, I might as well return first. I’ll open a portal for Fruit Knight and Feng Yi to come through,” Sister Li suggested.
“Alright, that’s a good idea. We should still be able to hold on for a while,” Li Yao replied as he had invited Fruit Knight and Qin Feng Yi to join the party.
He knew what Sister Li was planning. Having the main MT, Fruit Knight, level up would help in mapping out future instances, while Feng Yi, who had been busy with promotional activities and guild affairs, was falling behind on leveling. This would be a good chance for him to catch up.
Despite that, Li Yao hadn’t planned to guide all of the guild members to level up, but he was fine with helping a few veteran members who were falling behind due to other commitments.
“What a pity, we can no longer claim the first kill of the Frogman General. Dumbfounded pupils regretfully entered the portal,” Sister Li opened a portal to the guild base where team members could enter from both directions.
Sister Li and Pupils returned, and upon receiving the news, Fruit Knight and Qin Feng Yi used their hearthstones to teleport back to the base and came in through the portal.
“You guys have turned this place into a bloodbath,” upon seeing the red river flowing through the canyon and the numerous frogman corpses floating around, Fruit Knight could easily imagine the massacre.
“Now that we no longer have Sister Li’s ice wall, the frogmen will attack us. It’s all up to you and Feng Yi’s undead creatures to maintain our defense line,” the absence of an ice wall meant the Mirror Image would be useless. It was a real battle this time, “Prince, don’t worry about attacking, we can handle it ourselves.”
The experience gained from the NPCs joining the battle was significantly less.
The frogman general, who had previously lost hope, noticed that the mage who created the ice wall had vanished, which sparked a glimmer of hope. The frogmen started charging towards the cave along the coral tree they had found.
With limited forces left, the General decided to go all out and ordered the frogmen to charge without fear.
Fruit Knight, Iron Stone Demon and a horde of undead pets formed a defensive line. When Fruit Knight’s health decreased, he retreated to a safe place to heal before charging back into the fray.
With Li Yao’s firepower and powerful charge blast arrows, they managed to remove the frogmen loitering around the cave entrance.
The two players’ experience increased rapidly. The general, who had no way out, started to fight ferociously. Even the Prince, who had held back, began to battle the general.
With the help of the hydra, the Frogman General was no match for the Prince. His subordinates couldn’t offer any assistance, leaving the General yelling in frustration.
The Frogman General’s final counterattack lasted for more than two hours. Seeing that his forces were nearly wiped out, with a heavy heart, he jumped into the sea and fled on a sea beast.
His health was dwindling down to less than a third, while the Prince was at half health.
“That leader is too cunning, I guess we just missed our chance at a first kill,” Qin Feng Yi said.
They didn’t chase him because their current state wasn’t very good. If it wasn’t for the Prince’s buffs and plenty of magic potions, they would have been out of mana already.
Also, the sea beast was remarkably fast. And considering that it’s a mid-level boss, the odds of beating it in the sea were uncertain.
“This animal is known for its cunning nature. We won’t be able to catch up with it,” The Prince’s joyful eyes revealed a hint of sorrow and loneliness.
“What a pity,” Fruit Knight was also hoping to get a first kill announcement. Now, that was not happening.
“Hydra, how’s it going?” Li Yao asked.
The Ice Snake spoke, “Master, we are a little short.”
“Hm, I will sell some more when we get back,” Li Yao frowned. He didn’t expect that even after absorbing so much toxin from the Poison Arrow Frogs, it still wasn’t enough for the Poison Snake to appear.
“Don’t worry, Master. We are almost there,” Shadow Snake, noticing Li Yao’s concern, reassured him.
“Glad to hear that,” Li Yao let out a sigh of relief, feeling more relaxed.
“Here are the rewards you three deserve,” With a wave of the frogman’s hand, the three of them completed their mission and received 15% experience points, “I hope you can escort me back and help me take control of the tribe. What do you think?”
Li Yao looked at the mission. It was to ensure his safe return and complete the mission. The reward was 10% experience, a very generous offer, which he promptly accepted.
Next, Li Yao and the others escorted the Prince to his tribe. They even sighted traces of the Frogman General along the way. However, he didn’t dare to intervene.
Upon the Prince’s return, hTook over the tribe effortlessly. Surprisingly, some of the troops remained loyal to the Prince, and the commoners didn’t even know he had been gone.
With escort and loyal followers, Frogman General was not a concern for Frogman Prince at all anymore.
The three of them received the experience rewards, and as night fell, they returned directly to the guild territory.
“You guys are finally back, haha, things are chaotic outside now. Those big guilds are in complete panic, and Sister-in-law has already caught several high-level spies in action,” Dumbfounded pupils happily reported.
“After all, we currently dominate the top 10. It’s only natural for them to panic. But this will motivate them to level up more frantically. Our group should not be slack either,” Li Yao advised.
“Don’t worry about that. We also have places to level up at night. We won’t fall behind,” Sister Li reassured, “You should focus on what you’re going to do these next few days.”
“I’m going to look for a mentor, complete Hunter’s promotion quest, then move on to Hydra’s promotion, and after that, create a defensive pet. It’s going to be a busy time,” Li Yao said, rubbing his temples.
However, causing the big guilds to go into a frenzy was something that could cheer him up…