"Not yet." Yu Zhun shook his head. Just as he was about to say something, Su Hong suddenly grabbed both of his hands.
Yu Zhun was full of question marks. He thought, "Let go! I'm not into guys!"
"Yu Zhun, I'm truly sorry!" Su Hong's face filled with remorse. "Because of my personal grudge with others, I wasted one of your chances to subjugate the boss."
Yu Zhun was left speechless. He remembered now. Players in the Newbie Area could only subjugate a boss once a day.
"It's fine. I've already—" Yu Zhun shook his head. Before he could explain, Su Hong interrupted him.
"It is a big deal!" Looking at Yu Zhun's miserable state, Su Hong sighed deeply. "It looks like you didn't crush the Avoid Battle Stone and were attacked by the Black Rock Snake while escaping.
"It's all my fault. I was in such a hurry when I left that I didn't explain things clearly to you. Consider that Avoid Battle Stone a gift from me. You don't need to pay for it, so you can use it with peace of mind."
"Well, actually, I..." Yu Zhun opened his mouth, but Su Hong interrupted him once again.
"Say no more." Su Hong patted Yu Zhun's shoulder heavily. "I owe you for this one.
"Once I teach those bastards a painful lesson, we'll team up to subjugate the Black Rock Snake again!"
Yu Zhun remained silent. "Seriously, at least give me a chance to speak!" he thought.
"Su Hong..." Standing nearby, Su Yue hesitated to speak. She opened her mouth, closed it, and finally poked Su Hong's arm with one finger. "Look at Yu Zhun's level."
"What?" Su Hong looked up blankly. Staring at the glaring "Lv7" floating above Yu Zhun's head, he instantly fell silent.
If he remembered correctly, Yu Zhun was only level five when they teamed up for the raid. Leveling up twice consecutively required over a thousand experience points. The only way to gain that much experience in such a short time seemed to be...
HUMMM.
A towering pillar of Light shot up into the sky from the deepest part of the Black Rock Snake's lair. The Black Rock Snake had respawned.
Su Hong's eyes widened drastically. He stared at Yu Zhun as if he had seen a ghost. "Y-Y-You...
"You killed the Black Rock Snake?!"
"Yeah." Yu Zhun nodded, a helpless look on his face. "I wanted to tell you, but you didn't give me a chance to speak."
Su Hong instantly fell silent.
Only a very short time had passed between when he and his sister were teleported out and when Yu Zhun emerged. Inside the lair was a Black Rock Snake that had already entered a berserk state. Therefore, he hadn't even considered the possibility that Yu Zhun could kill it. Was this player, whom he and his sister had met by pure chance, actually a hidden powerhouse?
As this possibility dawned on him, the look in Su Hong's eyes toward Yu Zhun shifted rapidly.
"Anyway." Being stared at like that made Yu Zhun feel a bit self-conscious. He took out an Avoid Battle Stone. "You just said this was a gift from you. Does that still count?"
"It counts! Of course it counts!" Su Hong nodded without hesitation. Although an Avoid Battle Stone wasn't cheap, it was nothing to his family.
"That's good." Yu Zhun put the Avoid Battle Stone back into his inventory.
He thought, "A tearful profit of fifty grand!"
"By the way, since you two used the Avoid Battle Stone to withdraw from the battle, it was treated as automatically leaving the party. Therefore, all the experience from killing the Black Rock Snake was given entirely to me." Yu Zhun looked at the Su Family siblings.
"It doesn't matter," Su Hong shook his head. "I'll take Yu Yu to fight it again tomorrow. When we retreated, the Black Rock Snake's health was above sixty percent. According to the rules, it's judged as your solo kill, so the experience and dropped items naturally belong to you.
"However," Su Hong paused, "if any items dropped that are suitable for us, could you sell them to us first?"
"No problem." Yu Zhun nodded readily. He took out all the dropped items except for the Master Level Armor and the Outstanding Level dagger.
Su Hong placed a hand on the Outstanding Level necklace. After inspecting its details, his eyes lit up. "Yu Yu can use this. How does one hundred and twenty thousand sound?"
"Deal." Yu Zhun nodded. Even if he sold it to someone else, the price wouldn't exceed that amount.
Su Hong then selected some materials and a Skill Book they could use. The prices he offered were all quite fair. When the transaction ended, both sides were very satisfied.
"Yu Zhun." Su Hong looked at him, pondering for a moment before speaking slowly. "You're so strong. Have you contacted any guilds in advance?"
"Not yet." Yu Zhun sighed. "I heard that the vast majority of guilds are located outside the Newbie City. So I plan to leave the Newbie Area before considering this matter."
"I see." Realization dawned on Su Hong's face, followed by a smile. "Since that's the case, would you consider the Hanlong Guild?
"The Hanlong Guild is a Three Stars guild. Its headquarters is located in Divine Strategy City, one of the thirty-six Main Cities. In Divine Strategy City, the Hanlong Guild's strength easily ranks in the top ten, and the internal benefits are excellent.
"My father is the vice president of the Hanlong Guild. Once Yu Yu's level catches up, we'll go to the Hanlong Guild together.
"If you are interested, we can go together when the time comes."
"Hanlong Guild..." Yu Zhun revealed a thoughtful expression.
After interacting with them, the Su Family siblings had left a very good impression on him. However, joining a guild required careful consideration, and he knew nothing about the Hanlong Guild they mentioned. Naturally, he couldn't just agree on the spot.
"I need to think about it."
"No problem." Su Hong nodded in understanding. "Joining a guild is indeed something that requires careful consideration.
"Before you leave the Newbie Area, as long as you make a decision, you can contact me at any time."
***
After their conversation, Yu Zhun soon parted ways with the Su Family siblings.
Su Hong didn't mention continuing to team up with Yu Zhun. Since Yu Zhun could solo a berserk Black Rock Snake, dealing with the other two bosses wouldn't pose any problem for him either. If the siblings tagged along, they would just be dead weight. With Su Hong's personality, he was too embarrassed to do such a thing. He planned to deal with Zhang Bo's lackeys first before finding another reliable teammate to subjugate the boss.
Yu Zhun was more than happy with this outcome. He had already confirmed his strength to solo a boss, so he planned to solo the other two bosses next. After all, the rewards for a solo run were far too enticing.
However, before soloing the bosses, he still needed to boost his strength a bit to be on the safe side.
With this in mind, Yu Zhun pulled a Skill Book out of his inventory.
Although his four skill slots were already full, Lurking was useless to him. He actually only had three usable skills. Learning a new skill to replace Lurking was imperative. As for which skill to choose, Yu Zhun already had an idea.
It was the Assassin's exclusive skill, Phantom.
[Phantom (Lv1): Temporarily shifts the body into a phantom state, reducing damage taken by forty percent. Consumes 30 Mana per use.]
This was Yu Zhun's only skill that consumed mana. Even though it had a 30-second cooling time, it could save his life at a critical moment.