Chapter 242: Execution! Expert-level Heart of Strength (5000)

Cao Xing said, "Keep up the damage!"

Bang!

Tong Chuchu fired a shot.

This bullet also utilized the [Focused Shot] effect from the [Super-Powered Pistol].

The power of the bullet far exceeded previous attacks.

The Ogre immediately realized the terror of this shot.

Almost without hesitation, he abandoned his attack on Cao Xing and instead drew the short blade in his hand to block the bullet.

"Clang!"

The power of this shot was too great, knocking the Ogre Hunter's short blade flying.

Seizing this opportunity, Kantor instantly threw the weapon in his hand!

[Skull-Crushing Throw]!

"Bang!"

The blunt weapon struck the Ogre, causing a stun icon to appear above his head once again.

Seeing this, Cao Xing praised, "Well done! Kantor!"

The Centaur laughed, "Haha! Thank you for the praise, Lord!"

Clearly, once the Ogre was controlled, he would suffer a barrage of crowd-control skills from Cao Xing.

This time, he was pinned in place by the group for another ten seconds!

His HP dropped by 170,000!

However, this guy's combat awareness was truly formidable.

The moment he broke free, he quickly opened up distance and engaged in a brutal fight with everyone!

While firing arrows, he could also draw the short blade from his waist at any moment to parry attacks from Assam, Jonard, and the others.

However, despite this, his HP was still steadily declining.

Now, both sides had more or less figured out each other's strength.

Next, it was a matter of seeing who could hold out until the end.

But clearly, in terms of overall strength, Cao Xing's side had the advantage.

The intense battle lasted for three minutes.

This Ogre used every trick in the book.

Including [Viper Trap], [Blood Blade], and so on.

But under Cao Xing's stack of buffs, it was an overwhelming advantage.

Soon, his HP dropped below 40,000.

If not for his terrifying evasion rate, he would have been focused down and killed by Cao Xing and the others by now.

At this moment.

Cao Xing's second round of crowd-control skills had almost finished cooling down.

Clearly, the outcome was already sealed.

And this Ogre also realized that his end was approaching.

He did not run away.

Or perhaps, he never wanted to escape in the first place.

After using [Blood Blade] to force everyone back.

He placed the bow and arrow in his hand directly on the ground.

Then he spread his arms, as if embracing death.

Seeing this scene, everyone's eyes held expressions of confusion.

The Ogre said, "End my sinful second half of life…"

Hearing this, Cao Xing understood his meaning.

"As you wish."

Following Cao Xing's gesture, Assam slashed down with his sword!

"Bang!"

[ – 13341 ]

[Glory Praise] detonated!

It directly dealt a terrifying amount of damage.

On the other side, Sarah also snapped her fingers.

"Snap!"

[ – 16433 ]

Another terrifying damage number appeared.

The Ogre's HP hit zero, and he collapsed into a pool of blood.

He looked at Cao Xing and sighed, "Actually… I shouldn't have… eaten that magic bean…"

"My soul… has long since… not belonged to myself…"

[Your territory member: Sarah Blade Dance successfully killed: Unknown Ogre Lv45, Tier 5 Mutant Boss-level creature, killed an enemy of higher level, gained experience: 22500 * 2]

[Combatants gained experience points: 11250]

…

At this moment, everyone let out a long sigh of relief.

Clearly, this was the longest battle they had experienced since dealing with the Goblin King.

A level 45 mutant boss was truly too formidable.

And Cao Xing also noted his last sentence.

"Shouldn't have eaten that magic bean?"

Thinking of the three stories the Old Witch had told him.

Cao Xing more or less understood this Ogre's identity.

But he didn't dwell on it, as the opponent was already dead.

Dust to dust, earth to earth.

What Cao Xing valued more were the items dropped after this Ogre's death!

He saw the longbow on the ground, as well as the short blade he had used!

And the white leather armor he was wearing!

Clearly, these were all pieces of equipment the Ogre had been wearing.

And he was very much looking forward to what a Tier 5 mutant boss-level existence could drop.

Cao Xing quickly walked up to the Ogre and picked up the items he had dropped.

[Obtained: Forest Hunting Longbow (Gold)]

[Obtained: Silver Wolf King Leather Armor (Gold)]

[Obtained: Hurricane Arrow Skill Book (Gold)]

[Obtained: Hunting Seal (Purple)]

[Obtained: Cutting Short Blade (Blue)]

[Obtained: Expert-level Heart of Strength]

[Obtained: Large Agility Book]

[Obtained: Expert-level Elemental Crystal * 5]

…

"Good grief, two pieces of Gold equipment! One Gold skill book!"

"Plus one Purple item, and an Expert-level Heart of Strength?"

Intense surprise instantly appeared in Cao Xing's eyes!

The harvest before him far exceeded his imagination; he thought having one Gold item would have been good enough!

As it turned out, this time, it dropped three directly!

However, it was a bit of a pity that no soul dropped this time.

Thinking of what the hunter said before dying, Cao Xing roughly understood the reason.

However, this didn't have much of an impact, as killing this Ogre had dropped quite a few good things for him!

Carrying a sense of anticipation, Cao Xing quickly checked the attributes of the newly obtained items.

[Forest Hunting Longbow (Gold)]

[Quality: Rare]

[Equip Requirement: Level 40 or above]

[Attack Power: 1132 ~ 1247]

[Attached Effect ①: Agility + 200, Strength + 150, Accuracy + 20%]

[Attached Effect ②: Beast Bane (Deals an additional 30% damage when attacking beast-type creatures)]

[Attached Effect ③: Hunting Mark (Targets hit by an attack will be afflicted with 1 layer of Hunting Mark; for the next 1 hour, you can vaguely sense the target's location through this mark.)]

(Equipment Description: A longbow used by an experienced hunter; prey that is targeted will lose any chance of escape.)

…

"What a powerful longbow!"

This longbow's attack power was very high, and it also had many bonus attributes.

Especially the last two effects; whether used to deal with beasts or track enemies, the results were excellent!

However, this was level 40 equipment, and none of his archers could use it yet.

Cao Xing continued to check the next item.

[Silver Wolf King Leather Armor (Gold)]

[Quality: Rare]

[Equip Requirement: Level 40 or above]

[Armor: 273 ~ 312]

[Attached Effect ①: Agility + 120, Strength + 80, HP + 2000]

[Attached Effect ②: Lightweight (Evasion rate increased by 15%)]

[Attached Effect ③: Shadow of the Silver Wolf (When taking damage, there is a 30% chance to increase movement speed by 25% and evasion probability by 15%, lasting 10 seconds)]

(Equipment Description: Armor made from the thickest leather on the Silver Wolf King; it still retains the faint power of the Silver Wolf King!)

…

"Good grief, so it was this coat that allowed his evasion rate to reach such a high level?"

"No wonder I couldn't catch this guy just now!"

Both pieces of equipment had very good attributes.

It was a pity that they required level 40 to equip.

However, given Cao Xing's strength, it wouldn't be long before he reached this level.

And what surprised Cao Xing was that the short blade this hunter had just used was actually only a level 40 Blue weapon.

Although the attributes were decent, it was far inferior to a Gold weapon.

With little interest, he put it into his backpack. Cao Xing flipped his right hand, and another skill book appeared in his hand.

[Hurricane Arrow Skill Book (Gold): Exclusive skill book for Snowfield Hunter]

[Skill Effect: Charge for 1 ~ 3 seconds to fire a hurricane arrow with piercing power forward, dealing 188% tearing damage to all enemies in a 1m * 100m range. Each second of charging increases damage by 30%, up to a maximum increase of 60%. Targets hit will enter the 'Hurricane Tear' state, increasing damage taken by 20% for the next 30 seconds. Skill cooldown: 3 minutes]

…

"This skill book has really good attributes. For Hunters, area-of-effect attacks are their weakness."

"With this skill, it's equivalent to having a means for clearing the field!"

Cao Xing really wanted to master such a powerful skill himself.

But unfortunately, skill books like this could only be learned by Survivor lords like them.

Currently, in his territory, there was indeed one Snowfield Hunter, and that was Xia Yanni.

However, Xia Yanni had her own work.

So Cao Xing decided to put this skill book on the market to see if he could trade it for a Frost Mage skill book of similar value.

Thus, Cao Xing put it into his backpack.

Then, he took another look at the other two new items.

[ Hunter's Seal (Purple) ]

[ Quality: Rare ]

[ Equipment Slot: Accessory ]

[ Equipment Stats: Agility +20, Strength +10, Attack Speed +5% ]

…

[ Expert-level Heart of Strength ]

[ Effect: After use, it can advance a level 40 creature into a Tier 5 Expert-level creature, with a 70% success rate. ]

…

"Not bad. This Hunter's Seal is very suitable for Sarah or Renice."

"As for the Expert-level Heart of Strength, its breakthrough probability is slightly lower than that of the Advanced Heart of Strength.

However, this is to be expected.

After all, in the power system of any world, it is a pyramidal structure.

The more powerful an existence is, the fewer there are.

And Tier 5 creatures, even looking at the entire continent, are not considered weaklings.

Therefore, for the Expert-level Heart of Strength to have this success rate is already considered very good.

Moreover, relying on his strength, he is now almost able to deal with Tier 6 monsters, and the probability of these monsters dropping an Expert-level Heart of Strength is also higher.

So, this is not a problem for Cao Xing."

He casually tossed the [Hunter's Seal] in his hand to Sarah.

Then he put all the other items into his backpack.

After all, those were level 40 pieces of equipment, and no one could equip them in the short term.

Then, he looked around.

This room looked a mess due to their intense battle.

Cao Xing ordered: "Alright, everyone split up and search the second floor."

"And then look for the entrance to the third floor."

Upon hearing this, everyone started to move.

They began to search the second floor.

There wasn't much of value on the second floor of the castle; in those rooms, apart from the unknown chunks of meat hanging from the ceiling,

and the various tissues from beasts and human bodies soaking in bottles and jars.

Of course, Cao Xing didn't dare to put this meat into his backpack.

Who knows what kind of meat this is.

Just then, two beautiful figures walked quickly to Cao Xing's side.

One was Isabelle, the other was Hilda.

Both women spoke at the same time.

"I found a treasure chest in one of the rooms." * 2

"I found it first!" * 2

"Hmph!" * 2

After speaking, they looked at each other, their eyes filled with hostility.

Cao Xing was also stunned for a moment.

Clearly, they had found the same treasure chest.

At this moment, they seemed to be arguing endlessly.

Just then, Sarah also gradually emerged from the shadows.

"Lord, I have found the passage to the third floor."

Cao Xing chuckled: "Isabelle, Hilda, and Sarah, you all did well."

"Let's go see that treasure chest first, and then check the passage."

With Sarah's appearance, the atmosphere between the two women seemed to ease a little.

They huffed softly and turned their heads away, refusing to look at each other.

Then, Cao Xing said: "Isabelle, Hilda, you two lead the way."

Upon hearing this, the two women turned around together and led the way.

Isabelle was still wearing her plain priestess robes, walking with graceful steps, her whole person filled with a serene beauty.

While Hilda moved on her eight long legs, her overall height was two heads taller than Isabelle's.

The group moved forward and soon arrived at a room piled with debris.

"It's right here, Lord."

Isabelle had already entered the room and reached the corner.

While Hilda stood at the doorway with her arms crossed, looking at her with disdain.

"Tsk! What a woman who loves to fawn!"

Isabelle glared at her.

Ignoring the clash between the two women, Cao Xing cast his gaze forward.

There, he saw a treasure chest covered in dust, but faintly glowing with a golden hue.

"Good heavens! This looks like a Golden Treasure Chest!"

His eyes lit up instantly, and he walked over quickly.

[Found a dusty Golden Treasure Chest. Open it?]

"It really is a Golden Treasure Chest!"

Cao Xing was incredibly excited and clicked 'Open' directly!

[Opening successful.]

[Obtained: Bracelet of Light's Blessing (Gold)]

[Obtained: Blue Copper Orb (Gold)]

[Obtained: Eternal Gold Ingot * 6]

[Obtained: Magic Pattern Stone * 4]

[Obtained: Advanced Elemental Crystal * 5]

[Obtained: Large Resource Pack * 3]

…

"A piece of gold-tier equipment, and a gold-tier orb!"

"It truly lives up to being a Golden Treasure Chest!"

Up to now, Cao Xing had already obtained five gold-tier items on the second floor of this tower.

It can be said that the harvest was quite abundant!

Sure enough, high-level places have more good things.

This is so comfortable…

Cao Xing was overjoyed.

Then he quickly checked the stats of these two gold-tier items.

[Bracelet of Light's Blessing (Gold)]

[Quality: Precious]

[Equipment Level: Level 30]

[Special Effect ①: Spirit +80, Agility +60]

[Special Effect ②: Light Affinity (Increases Light element affinity, increases Light-type magic casting speed by 30%)]

[Special Effect ③: Light's Blessing (When attacked, has a 40% chance to activate the Light's Blessing effect, applying a shield with durability equal to 50% of your HP to yourself. Once the shield is broken, there is a 120-second cooldown.)]

(Equipment Description: A bracelet containing the aura of Light, accidentally unearthed in the ruins of a mysterious church.)

…

"Oh? The effects of this bracelet seem pretty good."

"The third special effect is something even I can use; it can greatly increase my survivability."

However, Cao Xing already had a bracelet-type piece of equipment — the Ice Dragon Ring.

So he couldn't use this bracelet.

At the same time.

Cao Xing held the bracelet in his hand.

The bracelet was silver overall, with some intricate carved patterns on it, looking very beautiful.

And Isabelle naturally sensed the aura of Light contained in this bracelet.

She said softly: "I feel a very warm aura from it."

Cao Xing smiled and handed the bracelet directly to her.

Isabelle was stunned, "This is…"

"Of course it's for you; this bracelet suits you very well."

Hearing this, Isabelle was still a bit hesitant.

But Cao Xing had already insisted and stuffed the bracelet into her hand.

This beautiful Holy Light Priestess looked up, her gaze towards Cao Xing filled with gratitude.

[Due to your generous gift, Territory Member: Isabelle Gospel's loyalty has increased. Current Loyalty: 92]

…

Seeing the system prompt, Cao Xing hadn't even had time to be happy when the second system prompt appeared.

[Due to your words and actions, Hilda Bloodkiss's loyalty to you has decreased by 2 points. Current Loyalty: 93]

…

Cao Xing looked over instantly, only to see Hilda looking at him and Isabelle with a look of disgust.

He hadn't had time to say anything yet.

Hilda had already turned her head away in disdain.

"Tsk!"

Seeing this scene, Cao Xing felt a bit helpless.

However, this made him realize one thing.

In the future, when doing such things, he cannot let the other of these two women see.

Otherwise, while one's favorability increases, the other's will decrease.

And at this moment, Isabelle had already put on the bracelet.

She stretched out her snow-white arms, waved them in front of Cao Xing, and asked: "Lord, does it look good?"

Hearing this, Cao Xing examined it carefully.

The silver bracelet clasped on her wrist, highlighting the smooth back of her hand and her five jade-white fingers, which were flexibly waving in the air.

It must be said that Isabelle is perfect from head to toe.

Including her palms, where the finger bones were distinct, very beautiful.

He nodded, "It looks good; the bracelet is beautiful, and you are beautiful too."

Hearing the latter part, the Holy Light Priestess in front of him immediately lowered her head in embarrassment.

She seemed to like this bracelet very much and ran to the side to admire it.

While Cao Xing continued to check the loot,

At this time, another orb, the size of a thumb, smooth all over and glowing with blue light, appeared in his hand.

Don't look at how small this orb is; it is a priceless item.

[Blue Copper Orb (Gold): Can be inlaid into weapons or equipment, increases Constitution by 50 points, HP by 2000 points]

(An extremely precious Blue Copper Orb; in several blue copper ore veins, only one Blue Copper Orb will appear. Requires Expert-level forging technology to inlay.)

…

"Not bad, not bad. Just this one orb adds at least 3000 HP!"

"It truly lives up to being a gold-tier item!"

…

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