Chapter 158 - 31 Unparalleled Mounted Shooting

Chapter 158: Chapter 31 Unparalleled Mounted Shooting"Holy shit, look at the size of that crab!" Mr. Ramen exclaimed. Xiao Jie’s face was also solemn. The art style of this game was unusually realistic. The giant crab, over three meters wide and covered in spiky armor, along with those massive pincers, was quite intimidating. Not to mention there was a muscular merfolk riding on its back. At first glance, it was clear this creature wouldn’t be easy to deal with. Its life value was second only to the Ghost General back in Newbie Village. This thing was truly frightening, not only because of its size, but also because, unlike the merfolk, the giant crab didn’t suffer from short legs. Its armor was clearly incredibly defensively powerful; even Granny Li would probably struggle against it. If it charged, it would definitely tear down our thatched hut. Granny Li cried out, "Oh, what are we to do, brave warriors?" I Want to Be Immortal: "Feng!" Mr. Ramen: "Feng!" Xiong Da: "Roar (Feng)!" Xiao Jie assumed the responsibility unchallenged. At times like this, someone had to step up and take control. "Don’t worry, leave everything to me—I’ll deal with the boss. You guys just clear out the little monsters." As he spoke, Xiao Jie blew a horse whistle, summoning a black warhorse. Riding the warhorse, he charged towards the merfolk crab knight, and shouted, "You think you’re the only one with a mount? Let’s have ourselves a knightly duel!" And, really, the warhorse he rode was majestic and powerful, clad in horse armor, its charge formidable. The merfolk crab knight seemed to feel Xiao Jie’s fighting spirit, pulling on the reins as the giant crab turned to charge towards him, the merfolk knight’s whale horn spear pointed directly at Xiao Jie like a cavalry charge. Holy crap, this thing knows how to charge with a spear? The sideways charging posture did look a bit weird, though. But I’m no gun cavalry; I’m bow cavalry, damn it. Only a fool would charge head-on against you. Xiao Jie yanked the reins hard, turning his horse to charge by the side of the crab. He quickly switched to his bow and arrow, and just as he closed within a few meters, he shot an arrow with force. Thwack! -17! The arrow hit the merfolk knight square in the chest. Unexpectedly, the creature had quite high defense. Seventeen damage points were nothing to scoff at, against 1300 life volume, but Xiao Jie wasn’t worried. He was experienced. Knowing that knight monsters have separate life volumes for the knight and the mount, it appeared to be a single bar. This 1300 life volume looked intimidating, but the rider on top would likely account for only about half of it. This meant that inflicting about 650 damage should be enough to take down the opponent. In an instant, horse and crab passed by each other, the four-legged horse indeed outpacing the eight-legged creature. The crab hurriedly turned around, but since it walked sideways, it couldn’t turn while moving like a warhorse could. It had to rotate in place with all eight legs, lacking the agility of the warhorse. Ha, turns out it’s a tank! Then what do I have to fear? Xiao Jie got behind the crab and shot another arrow at the back of the merfolk knight. -15! Turn again, shoot again! -14! While turning circles on his horse, he kept shooting arrows into the inner circle, rapidly firing five or six arrows, knocking down nearly 100 life volume in the blink of an eye. The merfolk knight flailed in desperation but was helplessly spun around. Finally, the merfolk knight simply pulled the reins, and the giant crab quickly retreated toward the edge of the lake. With a sudden turn, its rear end faced the water with the pincers raised high, leaving Xiao Jie no chance to get behind it. He pulled the reins, stopping about twenty meters from the crab, and used his combat skill—Continuous Arrow! The giant crab suddenly raised a pincer, blocking in front of the merfolk knight, deflecting four consecutive arrows. Before Xiao Jie could fire another arrow, the crab suddenly opened its mouth, and a mass of bubbles surged within, threatening to spew out. Xiao Jie’s heart chilled, and he hurriedly switched to sword and shield, placing the shield in front of him while simultaneously charging forward on his horse. Rapid Water Burst! Pupupupu, four high-pressure water jets shot towards Xiao Jie in succession, but fortunately he reacted quickly. He dodged the first three, which hit behind the horse’s buttocks, and the fourth struck the horse’s rump directly. -26! The horse’s health bar suddenly appeared above Xiao Jie’s head. 274/300. Shit, it can actually attack from a distance, truly a tank. While the crab’s spit wasn’t as powerful as the Rapid Water Arrow, the fact that it could continuously spray made it quite terrifying if one were to take the full damage. Xiao Jie didn’t risk it and quickly pulled back, shooting arrows from a safe distance. The crab’s water-spitting ability had a range of only about twenty to thirty meters, and beyond that it was helpless. Of course, Xiao Jie’s accuracy suffered at such a long distance, but since he wasn’t the one getting hit, he could afford to whittle it down slowly. Besides, with his unmatched mounted shooting skills, even if he missed the person, he could always hit the crab. Several arrows flew past, and as expected, the merfolk knight could not stand it any longer and once again spurred the giant crab to charge towards Xiao Jie. Xiao Jie remained calm, galloping his horse while continuing to shoot backwards. Years of cavalry charge practice now fully came into play, each arrow precisely hitting the merfolk knight. Whenever his feel was off, he greeted the giant crab with an arrow. Although the giant crab was quite fast, it would have caught up had it been an inferior horse, but it was still much slower than the warhorse bought for 100 taels of silver. Xiao Jie kited flawlessly, nimbly riding his warhorse through the thatched huts, occasionally shooting arrows backward, with thunderous crashing sounds coming continuously from behind. Many thatched huts were directly smashed. "Feng, the little monsters are cleared, pull the BOSS back." "Received." However, there was no need for Xiao Jie to lure, the merfolk knight, after being shot for so long, finally couldn’t bear it anymore and turned to run towards the water. Shit, it’s trying to run away. "Quick—stop him!" I’ve got this! I Want to Be Immortal charged boldly, blocking the giant crab’s path. The merfolk knight readied the Whale Horn Spear, I Want to Be Immortal raised the Steel Shield! Bang! The long spear struck I Want to Be Immortal’s shield, the violent impact causing I Want to Be Immortal to stagger, almost getting stunned. However, although the spear attack by the knight was blocked, the crab was still able to battle. The giant crab swung its large pincer down in a crushing blow. Bang! The pincer smashed I Want to Be Immortal to the ground. -54! The merfolk knight wanted to follow up with another attack, but a figure leaped into the air from behind—it was Mr. Ramen. Cloud Piercing Kick! A flying kick struck the merfolk knight, interrupting his action. And there was more to come. Movement technique—Swallow Returning to Nest! Using the momentum from that kick, he flipped backward 360 degrees in the air, and, surprisingly, did a reverse leverage in mid-air to kick toward the merfolk knight again. Shadowless Chain Kicks! Five consecutive kicks landed on the merfolk knight, finally knocking the knight off the crab. Mr. Ramen seized the chance to land on the crab’s back, without any hesitation, he immediately flipped in the air to jump to the ground, narrowly avoiding the crab’s giant pincer. As the merfolk knight hit the ground, the two health bars suddenly separated. Alien Giant Crab: Level 14, Life Value 725/800. Merfolk Knight: Level 19: Life Value 248/500. Xiao Jie, who was catching up from behind, breathed a sigh of relief at this scene. Ha-ha, with so little blood left, what do I have to fear from you? Utilizing the horse’s speed, he delivered a slashing strike. The merfolk knight, just getting up from the ground, was caught squarely by the slash, solidly on the shoulder. -58 (87% speed damage bonus)! As the horse dashed past, Xiao Jie immediately dismounted, flipping to land on the ground, and turning around to see that Mr. Ramen had already started to pincer from the other side of the merfolk knight. The crab tried to come to the aid, but I Want to Be Immortal had already risen from the ground. Splitting Stone Slash! One axe chop coming straight down, and with a crack, it shattered a large piece of the crab’s shell. To deal with such heavy armor units, no doubt someone as fierce as I Want to Be Immortal was needed. Xiong Da also commenced his attack from behind—Bear Palm Strike! Bang! -23! Xiong Da’s armor-piercing capability was obviously somewhat lacking, but it was still more effective than Xiao Jie’s bow and arrow. One man and one bear forcibly stopped the giant crab— one swinging an axe, the other pounding with its paw, making a clamorous and exciting scene. Over there, Xiao Jie and Mr. Ramen also began to gang up on the merfolk knight; two against one, and with the knight’s short legs, it was a matter of minutes to finish it off. Once the merfolk knight was killed, the three men and one bear teamed up to gang up on the giant crab, finally taking down this dominating elite monster. Phew, it’s finally done—Cheng Xian, check the body. This task indeed had to be done by I Want to Be Immortal; after the knight was separated from the crab, their bodies were also split apart. First, he checked the merfolk knight, and what dropped was a pair of shoulder guards. [Spiked Shoulder Guard (Shoulder Armor/Fine)] Body Defense +8. Equipment Effect: Spiked Defense. Inflicts 3 points of piercing damage to the attacker upon receiving a hand-to-hand combat Attack. Item Introduction: Armor crafted by merfolk artisans from the shell of thorny armored crabs, not only extremely hard but also able to wound attackers, a symbol of bravery among the merfolk. Not bad, shoulder armor is extremely rare and valuable, and this effect is better than nothing. Then I Want to Be Immortal checked the giant crab’s body. 4x Huge Crab Meat. Besides that, there was another piece of equipment. [Huge Crab Meat (Material)] Item Introduction: Large chunks of crab meat obtained from thorny armored giant crabs, top-grade material for making high-level cuisines.] [Crab Claw (Exotic Species Boxing Gloves/Fine)] Attack Power: 8 blunt. Attack Speed: -1. Equipment Effect: Crab Claw Lock. Can be triggered after a successful block, disarming the enemy’s weapon, causing it to return from the equipment slot to the backpack. Item Introduction: Unique boxing gloves made from the claws of a giant crab, with an odd shape but formidable power, providing a significant advantage in hand-to-hand combat.] "Damn, damn, Feng, can I have this? I don’t want anything else," Mr. Ramen said excitedly at the sight of the Crab Claw. Xiao Jie thought to himself that the kid was really scared of being poor, getting so excited over a piece of green equipment. "Don’t get too excited, it’s yours," he said. Only martial artists could use this thing. Despite only having 8 blunt damage, due to the extremely fast attack speed of hand-to-hand combat, the boost to damage is definitely not inferior to that of regular swords. As for the Spiked Shoulder Guard, it was naturally given to I Want to Be Immortal, who was in need of a shoulder guard. And the four Huge Crab Meat were pocketed by him. Mr. Ramen equipped the boxing gloves and burst into laughter, "Ha-ha, I look so cool." But Xiao Jie, looking at his fists equipped with two large pincers, really couldn’t see the coolness in it; the design was somewhat comical. However, Granny Li suddenly urged, "Brave warriors, prepare yourselves quickly; the fight isn’t over yet." Indeed, just as she finished speaking, the lake water began to churn again. Damn, another one? Xiao Jie now felt real pressure. "Recover quickly! This time, the real boss is probably coming." The three men and one bear rapidly recovered, eating and drinking, while watching for the lake’s disturbances. Looking at the lake, they could see a group of merfolk’s upper bodies emerging, numbering in the hundreds, and among them was a beautiful woman prominently surrounded by them. At first glance, she appeared nearly identical to a human female, but upon closer inspection, one could see many fish-like traits: her snow-white skin adorned with colorful scales and fins visible behind her ears. She held a translucent azure Treasure Bead in one hand and a silver short staff in the other. Ji Xian’er (Merfolk Princess): Boss-level Boss, Level 22, Life Value 1600. Damn, she’s that strong? Without the boost from riding a mount, she alone has a Blood Volume of 1600. And she’s clearly from the magic system. Magic users usually have less Life Value than physical ones; 1600 for a magic user might well be equivalent to 3000 for a physical one.