The Great Thief

“You can come back now. Stand where you were before.”

Lu Li commanded Sakura Memories to return to the formation while he continued to deal damage. Even though the damage output was decreased due to the formation, this strategy was very safe and easier to execute with less-experienced players such as Remnant Dream and Hachi Chan.

If you were debuffed with the plague, you would run away. If you were debuffed with the disease, then you would stand in place.

The second person that was afflicted with the plague was Moonlight, who reacted before Lu Li could call his name.

After this, Remnant Dream was finally affected with the plague. She knew that she had slow reactions and had anticipated the debuff. As soon as Lu Li called her name, she bounced out like a rabbit.

Lu Li praised her unwillingly because she had placed all her attention on him while waiting for her name to be called out. However, this caused her to miss all the arrows she fired, placing her near the bottom of the damage output chart.

As for Hachi Chan, even though she was airheaded, she had very good reactions. This explained why she always did well in quests.

Lu Li wasn’t worried about the others as they were all PVE experts.

With the debuff-rotation strategy, Verdan the Everliving was quickly killed after about ten minutes. However, because there were ten people, the EXP reward was quite mediocre.

“I received 1 SP!” March Rain exclaimed happily. She was always in need of SP because priests had more skills to level up.

“Anyone else get SP?” Lu Li asked, disappointed.

Everyone shook their heads.

“Whatever. Let’s see what the boss dropped.”

Remnant quickly gathered the loot from the battle.

She first picked up a Deviant Oak Seed, which was a rare material used in Alchemy. Lu Li gave this to Sesame Rice Ball.

“Ah, why did you give it to me?” Rice Ball was surprised.

“You’re the one that provides all the health potions; you deserve to take this rare material,” Lu Li said generously.

“Then… I’ll take it. Older brother Wandering, don’t forget to deduct points.” Sesame Rice Ball was very serious about the point system for distributing loot.

“It’s not even an equip. I’ll just deduct 2 points,” replied Wandering, who was visibly displeased.

Apart from the rare material, there was a Silver-Grade Mage Hat for Mages and Warlocks. Since Sesame Rice Balls took the rare material, the hat was given to Lonesome Flower.

Lonesome Flower’s old LV15 Silver Grade Hat was given to Sesame Rice Ball.

The two pieces of gear were similar and both had a useful active. The only difference was that the high-level hat had better defence and stats.

“Where’s the last Boss?” Azure Sea Breeze was about to cry because not a single tank equip had dropped.

“It’s back at the entrance of the Instance Dungeon. I know a short cut, but you must follow me closely,” Lu Li replied as he prepared himself and jumped down the cliff.

Below was a small but deep pool of water. If you missed the water, it would be certain death.

This shortcut was developed by players who wanted to break the Instance Dungeon clearance record. The dungeon was studied and examined very carefully to find methods of reducing their clear time.

The location shortcuts were really just common sense.

After realising that Lu Li was still alive a few seconds later, the others cautiously jumped down.

They kept Lu Li’s words in their minds and followed him very closely through the narrow road, eventually gathering at the dungeon entrance.

The three NPCs were still there.

After turning in two quests for a decent amount of EXP, they followed Lu Li and arrived at Navarax’s disciple Muyoh.

The Tauren stroked his beard and said intensely, “You did not let me down. Now I can awake Navarax. Come and help me, brave adventurer.”

“Everyone accept the quest.” Lu Li wrote on the team channel.

“What do we need to do?” Lu Li asked the NPC as the party representative.

“The Earth Mother guides you. I need your help. The Fanglords are dead! All hope is not lost! The awakening ritual is quite complex, however. It cannot be done alone.” The old Tauren seemed quite troubled.

“Don’t worry – we’re here to help.” Lu Li didn’t mind being guided by the Earth Mother. Without the Tauren’s quest, they wouldn’t be able to fight the 8th boss.

“I will handle all the necessary preparations, but I will need you to protect me. The nightmares summoned from Navarax’s journey through the Emerald Dream prove to be quite formidable. Without your help, the mission is doomed. When you’re ready to defend me, say the word, and I shall lead the way to Navarax’s chamber.

“Are all Tauren this chatty?” Azure Sea Breeze mocked him.

“I’ve done the necessary preparation,” declared Lu Li as he patted himself on the chest.

“Walk with the Earth Mother. The winds will guide you.”

The old Tauren happily nodded and led everyone into the depths of the Instance Dungeon.

“There might be a lot of mobs later; we must protect the Tauren. Sea Breeze, go ahead. Wandering and Moonlight, stay on either side of the Tauren and protect him,” Lu Li instructed.

The Tauren continued walking as waves of Elite Grade Monsters were summoned. They were all LV25 and gave excellent EXP.

These monsters were different to the deviant versions. They had all been summoned from the Emerald Dream, so they were much stronger.

However, compared to Serpentis, these mobs were much easier.

Eventually, they arrived at a cave.

A Night Elf lay on the floor in a deep sleep with powerful Nature Elementals surrounding his body. This Druid was far from ordinary.

Navarax!

Muyoh stood in awe before the great Druid and was afraid to go near him. He turned around and said to Lu Li and others, “As you can see, a powerful Druid is dreaming.”

“What should we do?” Everyone wanted to help out the Tauren.

Just say it, brother, we’ll do anything you ask!

“Protect me, brave souls, as I dive into the Emerald Dream to rescue Navarax and put an end to this corruption. There will be powerful monsters from the Dream that will attempt to stop me. Friends, you must not protect me while I perform the ritual,” Muyoh said worriedly.

“The Earth mother guides you. We’ll protect you with our lives,” Lu Li replied formally.