Chapter 16: Using Wild Monsters to Wipe Out 50 People, Su Qinghan Was Immediately Subdued

After Zhao Kai logged off, Lin Ye thought he might stay quiet for a few days.

But he was wrong.

Early the next morning, as soon as Lin Ye logged into the game, he noticed the atmosphere in the Novice Village was off. There were many new faces in the plaza, all well-equipped and above Level 10—clearly not players from the Novice Village. Moreover, these people were intentionally or unintentionally moving toward Black Wind Ridge, as if scouting the area.

"Looks like Zhao Kai is causing trouble again." Su Qinghan walked over, standing beside Lin Ye, and glanced at the new faces. "At least fifty people, all mercenaries Zhao Kai hired from major guilds. Each has at least two pieces of purple equipment, and three of them are ranked in the top two hundred server-wide."

Lin Ye raised an eyebrow. "You're quite well-informed."

Su Qinghan said indifferently, "I don't join guilds, but I still have my information networks. Zhao Kai posted a bounty on the dark market last night—five hundred thousand gold coins to hire people to hunt you down. These people are all here for the money."

"Five hundred thousand?" Lin Ye laughed. "Is Zhao Kai digging into his coffin savings?"

"You've driven him nearly insane." Su Qinghan glanced at him. "A Level 0 account with a permanent debuff, his speech broadcast to the entire server, and being harassed by vibration pop-ups the moment he logs off. Anyone would go crazy."

Lin Ye nodded; that was true. Zhao Kai's current situation was more miserable than having his account deleted. Deleting an account at least allowed for a fresh start, but he didn't even have that chance—the debuff was bound to the account, so starting over was useless.

"So, how do you think these fifty people will make their move?" Lin Ye asked.

Su Qinghan thought for a moment. "They won't act in the safe zone, nor will they confront you head-on. Most likely, they'll ambush you while you're grinding mobs. Black Wind Ridge is the best spot for an ambush—complex terrain and poor visibility make it perfect for a trap."

Lin Ye nodded. "Then to Black Wind Ridge we go. Let them come."

Su Qinghan frowned. "Are you sure? Fifty people, including three top-two-hundred experts. You, alone—"

"Who said I'm alone?" Lin Ye looked at her. "Aren't you here?"

Su Qinghan was stunned for a moment, then smiled. "Are you treating me as a free bodyguard?"

"Didn't you say we'd be partners from now on?" Lin Ye shrugged. "Don't partners help each other out?"

Su Qinghan said nothing more and followed his lead.

The two walked into Black Wind Ridge one after the other. Lin Ye walked in front while Su Qinghan followed behind, maintaining just the right distance—close enough to apply a shield at any time, but far enough not to interfere with Lin Ye's movements.

Just as they reached the mountainside, Lin Ye sensed something was wrong. There were people in the bushes by the road, people behind the trees, and even more behind the distant rocks. These people were well-hidden, but a new prompt appeared on his Talent panel—

[System Notification: A large number of hostile targets detected nearby. Count: 52. Activate Mass Decay Domain?]

Fifty-two people. All hiding in the shadows, waiting for him to enter the encirclement.

Lin Ye's lips curled into a wicked smile as he intentionally slowed his pace. He walked to an open area and stopped.

"Let's stop here. The scenery is nice, perfect for watching a show."

As soon as he spoke, over fifty people instantly surged out from the bushes, trees, and rocks, surrounding them so tightly that not even water could leak through.

The leader's ID was "Shadow Assassin," a Level 17 Assassin ranked 167th server-wide. He stood at the very front of the crowd, clutching two daggers glowing with purple light, his eyes cold.

"Ye, you actually dared to come." Shadow Assassin sneered. "The five-hundred-thousand gold bounty belongs to me today."

The lackeys behind him began to jeer—

"A Level 8 noob is worth five hundred thousand? Has Master Kai got too much money to burn?"

"Who cares? As long as there's money to take. Brothers, get him!"

"Wait—" Shadow Assassin raised his hand, stopping his subordinates. "Don't rush. This kid is a bit strange, we can't just charge in blindly."

He stared at Lin Ye, sizing him up, then looked at Su Qinghan, a flicker of wariness crossing his eyes. "Qinghan, you're getting involved in this too?"

Su Qinghan's tone was flat. "I don't need to report to you about who I party with."

Shadow Assassin's face darkened. "Do you know the consequences of opposing us? These fifty-plus people represent five major guilds. If you help this kid, don't even think about making it in this game anymore."

Su Qinghan smiled. "Are you threatening me?"

"It's not a threat, it's advice," Shadow Assassin said coldly. "You're just a solo Priest with no guild and no backing. If you offend us, you won't even be able to enter a dungeon in the future."

Su Qinghan didn't say another word. She simply took a step forward, stood beside Lin Ye, and raised her hand to cast a Holy Shield on him.

That action said everything.

Shadow Assassin's face turned livid. "Fine. Since you're looking for death, don't blame us for being ruthless. Brothers, kill Ye first, then deal with this ungrateful woman!"

Over fifty people attacked simultaneously, their skills raining down like a localized storm.

Lin Ye remained calm, standing in place without moving an inch. He was already prepared—the "Mass Decay Domain" on his Talent panel was active, and within a fifty-yard radius, all hostile targets were automatically inflicted with the debuff.

The first wave of skills hit Lin Ye but was blocked by Su Qinghan's Holy Shield. The shield partially shattered, but Lin Ye's health didn't budge.

Meanwhile, red damage numbers simultaneously popped up over the heads of the fifty-plus attackers.

"Holy crap! Why is my health dropping so fast?!"

"Me too! A huge chunk is disappearing every second!"

"Priests! Dispel it, quickly!"

"Dispel my ass! This debuff won't go away!"

Shadow Assassin's expression changed drastically. "Don't panic! He can't tank our second round of focus fire! Everyone, full damage output!"

The fifty-plus people gritted their teeth and unleashed another round of skills. This time, Su Qinghan's shield shattered completely, but Lin Ye was ready—he had applied a "Damage Conversion" effect to himself, converting all incoming damage into debuff stacks to reflect back at the attackers.

As the second round of skills hit, Lin Ye's health dropped by a third. However, each of the fifty-plus people across from him gained another fifty stacks of the debuff.

One hundred stacks. 100% of maximum health lost per second.

In less than ten seconds, all fifty-plus people had collapsed.

Shadow Assassin was the last to die. He watched helplessly as his health bar went from full to zero, his level dropped from 17 to 12, three pieces of his purple gear burst out, and both of his purple daggers dropped.

"Ding! Player [Shadow Assassin] has died. Level dropped: 17 → 12."

He stood up at the respawn point, his face ashen as he looked at his level, which had dropped by 5.

"This... how is this possible?!"

His lackeys were also cursing at the respawn point—

"Damn it, I dropped 8 levels! Half my gear is gone!"

"What kind of ghost Talent is this? Attacking him is suicide?"

"Five hundred thousand gold? This is a freaking trap! Whoever takes this job dies!"

Shadow Assassin gritted his teeth and opened his private messages to send one to Zhao Kai—

[PM] Shadow Assassin: Master Kai, I'm not taking this job anymore. I'm returning your five hundred thousand gold. This Ye... he's simply not something humans can fight.

Zhao Kai was completely stunned when he received the message. He had spent five hundred thousand gold to hire over fifty elite players, and they hadn't even managed to harm a single hair on Lin Ye's head?

[PM] Master Kai: What happened?! There were fifty of you, and you couldn't beat one guy?

[PM] Shadow Assassin: It's not that we couldn't beat him, it's that he's impossible to fight. His Talent is too sinister; attacking him is the same as attacking yourself. All fifty of us died, and his health barely dropped.

[PM] Master Kai: ...What about Su Qinghan? Wasn't she helping him?

[PM] Shadow Assassin: She just stood there, only casting a few shields the whole time. We were wiped out before she even had to lift a finger.

Zhao Kai fell into utter despair as he read the message. He had spent five hundred thousand gold to hire fifty-plus elites, and they hadn't even forced Lin Ye's support to go all out?

He slumped in his chair, his eyes vacant. It was over, completely over.

Meanwhile, on the mountainside of Black Wind Ridge, Su Qinghan was staring at Lin Ye with a complex expression.

She had witnessed Lin Ye's entire performance. There was no flashy footwork, no sophisticated skill combos; he just stood there and let fifty-plus people hit him. Then, those fifty-plus people died on their own.

"That Talent of yours..." Su Qinghan couldn't help but say, "is way too ridiculous."

Lin Ye shrugged. "I told you, its priority is higher than a GM's."

Su Qinghan was silent for a few seconds before suddenly asking, "Why didn't you use my help just now? I could have cast my shield two more times."

Lin Ye glanced at her. "I wanted to see exactly how much sincerity you had."

"Sincerity?"

"Yes," Lin Ye said. "If you hadn't acted just now, or if you had run away seeing so many people, our partnership would have ended right there. But not only did you stay, you stood in front of me and shielded me." He paused. "That shows you're serious about collaborating."

Su Qinghan was stunned for a moment, then laughed. "You were testing me?"

"You could say that." Lin Ye smiled as well. "Congratulations, you passed."

Su Qinghan shook her head, speechless. This man was truly wicked to the core, testing even his own partner.

"So, what's next?" she asked.

Lin Ye thought for a bit. "We don't need to worry about Zhao Kai for now; he can't cause any more waves. Next, it's time for some real business."

"What business?"

"Dungeon grinding." Lin Ye opened the map and pointed toward the north of the Novice Village. "The highest difficulty dungeon in the Novice Village—the Wolf King Secret Realm. No one in the entire server has cleared it yet. Let's go take the First Clear."

Su Qinghan's eyes lit up. "Are you sure? The difficulty of the Wolf King Secret Realm is ten times higher than the Wolf King outside. The mobs inside start at Level 15, and the final boss is a Level 20 Elite Wolf King. All the top ten guilds in the server have tried, and they were all wiped out."

Lin Ye laughed. "That was them. We're different."

"How are we different?"

"You have the strongest shield in the server, and I have the most toxic debuff in the server." Lin Ye stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes. "With our coordination, let alone a Level 20 boss, we could grind down a Level 30 one."

Su Qinghan looked at him and suddenly felt that although this man was wicked, he was strangely reassuring.

"Fine." She also stood up. "Then let's go give it a try."

The two walked side by side toward the Wolf King Secret Realm.

Meanwhile, in a corner of the World Channel, a message quietly popped up—

[World Channel][Heavenly Temple Qin Wentian]: Ye, your performance was excellent. Any interest in joining Heavenly Temple? We can discuss the benefits.

When the players across the server saw this message, they exploded again—

[World Channel]

[Player 'Onlooker': Holy crap! Qin Wentian is personally headhunting him?!]

[Player 'Brick-Moving Expert': Brother Ye is going to the top! Even the Guild Leader of Heavenly Temple came to invite him personally!]

[Player 'Invincible Sword God': Don't go, Brother Ye! Heavenly Temple is full of scammers!]

[Player 'Yes Little Follower': If Brother Ye joins Heavenly Temple, won't Master Kai cry himself to death?]

Lin Ye also saw the message. He glanced at it, a wicked smile curling his lips, and replied—

[World Channel][Ye]: Guild Leader Qin, thank you for your kindness. However, I'm used to playing alone. Besides—some people from your Heavenly Temple tried to steal my boss a few days ago. I haven't settled that score yet.

The players across the server went wild with laughter upon seeing this—

"Hahaha! Brother Ye just slapped his face directly!"

"Qin Wentian personally tried to recruit him, got rejected on the spot, and even had old grudges brought up!"

"Brother Ye is awesome! He doesn't give Heavenly Temple any face at all!"

Qin Wentian's face turned livid as he looked at the reply. He hadn't expected that after stepping forward personally, he would be rejected by a player in the Novice Village. And it was done in front of the entire server, with old scores being settled.

He gritted his teeth and closed the World Channel.

"Guild Leader, should we..." a lackey behind him asked tentatively.

Qin Wentian raised his hand. "No rush. Let him enjoy himself for a few days. Once he reaches the main city, I'll show him what's what."

Meanwhile, Lin Ye and Su Qinghan were already standing at the entrance to the Wolf King Secret Realm.

Su Qinghan looked at the dungeon entrance and took a deep breath. "Are you ready?"

Lin Ye's lips curled into a wicked smile. "Ready. Let's go show the whole server what true crushing looks like."

The two stepped into the dungeon at the same time.

A system prompt popped up—

[System Notification: You have entered [Wolf King Secret Realm] (Maximum Difficulty). Current clear rate: 0%. Good luck.]

In the next second, the sound of wolves howling inside the dungeon shook the heavens and earth.