"It’s only Level 40. Let me kill it."
Fang Xiu said, looking at the Eight-Stone Brass Bull before him.
"You?"
The middle-aged man looked at Fang Xiu again.
His eyes were filled with doubt.
In his eyes, Fang Xiu was just a teenager.
"What is your Level?"
The middle-aged man looked at Fang Xiu, confused. ’Could it be he just looks young?’
So he asked.
"Level 15."
Fang Xiu said with a smile.
Hearing this, the middle-aged man didn’t laugh. Instead, his expression grew grave.
He asked, "Really Level 15?"
"Yeah."
Fang Xiu nodded.
He wasn’t afraid of others knowing his Level.
In fact, it allowed him to feign weakness and take his enemies by surprise.
After all, while he was Level 15, his Skills were leagues beyond those of a typical Level 15.
"Then go ahead. This thing is a Strength Type with decent Defense, but it has no ranged Skills."
The man said, glancing at Fang Xiu.
This confused Fang Xiu.
’Just a moment ago, he saw how young I was and told me to leave, even wanting to protect me.’
’Now that he knows I’m Level 15, he’s telling me to go hunt a Level 40 Eight-Stone Brass Bull.’
’And he looks completely serious about it.’
"What is it?"
The man asked, seeing Fang Xiu’s puzzled expression.
Fang Xiu smiled. "It’s nothing. Just stand back a bit. I have ranged attacks!"
The man glanced at Fang Xiu and started to back away.
"MOO!"
But just as he began to retreat,
the Eight-Stone Brass Bull wasn’t having it.
It charged directly toward the man.
It had finally found prey that could last this long; there was no way it was letting it escape.
By this point, Fang Xiu had already taken out his Life Staff.
"Netherworld Thunder Fall!"
Fang Xiu uttered in a low voice.
Instantly, dark clouds gathered in the sky.
When the middle-aged man saw this, his expression grew even more grave.
Even the Eight-Stone Brass Bull stopped.
It looked up at the black clouds in the sky.
Then it turned to face Fang Xiu, letting out a warning "MOO!"
But instead of charging Fang Xiu, it turned to flee.
RUMBLE!
CRACK!
Black Thunder descended from the dark clouds in the sky.
A force that shattered the darkness.
It landed instantly upon the Eight-Stone Brass Bull.
"MOO!"
The Eight-Stone Brass Bull roared in fury once more.
But this was of no use against the Thunder.
The Thunder continued to rain down on the Eight-Stone Brass Bull.
Every strike was perfectly accurate.
No matter where the Eight-Stone Brass Bull ran, the Thunder would strike it.
’What terrifying Thunder!’
The middle-aged man watched from a distance, completely stunned.
’He never imagined the boy’s Skill could be this terrifying.’
Even though the Thunder wasn’t striking him, it made the hairs on his arms stand on end.
One could only imagine how immense the Power of that black Thunder was.
RUMBLE!
Each time, a bolt struck the Eight-Stone Brass Bull with pinpoint accuracy.
’He couldn’t tell if it was a lock-on Skill or if the strikes were random.’
’After all, it wasn’t just a single bolt of black Thunder that fell.’
’Only one of them was guaranteed to strike the Eight-Stone Brass Bull.’
’The others would dissipate the moment that one landed.’
"MOO!"
The Eight-Stone Brass Bull was now utterly enraged.
As the Thunder struck, electricity Entangled its body, refusing to dissipate.
Just as the Eight-Stone Brass Bull roared, a yellow light emanated from its body.
"That’s the Eight-Stone Brass Bull’s Skill! It increases its Defense by fifty percent!"
the middle-aged man shouted to Fang Xiu.
But Fang Xiu said nothing, only smiling.
Then, the five bolts of black Thunder in the sky merged into a single, massive one.
And descended upon the Eight-Stone Brass Bull.
The stronger its Defense became, the faster its death approached.
Previously, the Eight-Stone Brass Bull had withstood five of Fang Xiu’s Thunder Attacks.
But after boosting its Defense, it only survived two more.
CRASH!
Under Fang Xiu’s Thunder, the Eight-Stone Brass Bull collapsed and died.
’So strong!’
’He’d thought that after the Eight-Stone Brass Bull used its Skill to increase its Defense, it would be able to withstand the Thunder. He never expected that the boy’s Skill would actually grow even more powerful in response.’
The middle-aged man was utterly astounded.
’Not bad.’
’This was my first time using Netherworld Thunder Fall to kill a Level 40 Demon Beast.’
’Looks like I underestimated this Skill.’
’It can even kill Level 40 Demon Beasts.’
’And a Demon Beast with extremely high Defense at that.’
’Other Level 40 Demon Beasts would be even easier.’
"Thank you!"
Just then, the middle-aged man walked over to Fang Xiu, extended his hand, and said, "My name is Ye Fan."
"Ye what?"
Fang Xiu paused.
"Ye Fan!"
The middle-aged man repeated seriously.
"Ye... that’s a surprisingly common name! Heh heh!"
Fang Xiu smiled.
’In the novels I remember reading back on Earth, anyone with that name was destined to be extraordinary.’
’I can’t believe this guy actually has a name like that.’
"I’m Fang Xiu."
Fang Xiu extended his own hand, shaking Ye Fan’s.
"So, is that Fang Xiu as in ’party ’til you drop,’ or ’fight ’til you drop’?"
Ye Fan suddenly asked.
Fang Xiu paused, then smiled and said, "Both work. Depends on my mood!"
Hearing this, Ye Fan also laughed.
’When he’s in a good mood, he parties ’til he drops.’
’When he’s in a bad mood, he fights ’til he drops?’
’What a peculiar kid.’
"I am a bit curious. Why did you let me stay when I told you I was Level 15?"
Fang Xiu finally voiced the question on his mind.
Ye Fan smiled and gestured to their surroundings. "This is a Special Gate World. Only people who have killed a Gate World’s boss get the chance to enter!"
"Yeah, I know that!"
Fang Xiu nodded slightly.
’I’ve figured that much out by now!’
"Level 15 Gate Worlds don’t have bosses,"
Ye Fan added.
"So you figured I must have killed a higher-level boss to get in?"
’I didn’t think this Ye Fan guy would be so sharp.’
"Not exactly. It’s mainly because I saw the announcement about a Level 15 named Fang Xiu killing a Level 40 boss."
Ye Fan said with a smile.
Fang Xiu: ...
’Okay, so much for that compliment. He just saw the announcement.’
’Then again, news of me killing a Level 40 boss has spread all over the Awakener Website recently.’
’Between the public announcements and private messages, everyone was bound to see it.’
’There were tons of forum posts about it, too.’
’And even if someone missed all that, their Awakened friends would tell them.’
’Unless you were like me and had no friends.’
’Yep. So far, no one had contacted me... except for Chu Qingxue.’
"Looks like we got lucky. The Demon Beast dropped something!"
Ye Fan pointed out.
A glow was appearing on the corpse of the Eight-Stone Brass Bull.
Only then did Fang Xiu look over.
The light faded, leaving behind a wooden box.
"Huh?"
’I always thought only Elite Monsters dropped these.’
’How could an Ordinary Monster like this Level 40 Eight-Stone Brass Bull drop a wooden box?’
Fang Xiu was a little stunned.
"That’s what makes this a Special Gate World. Things that only Elite Monsters drop out there can be dropped by Ordinary Monsters in here!"
Ye Fan explained, as if reading Fang Xiu’s mind.
"No wonder it’s called a Special Gate World!"
Fang Xiu now completely understood why it was called a Special Gate World.
’Ordinary Monsters dropping items meant for Elite Monsters... that means Rare Materials and other such things will be much more common here.’
’Isn’t this exactly what I’ve been looking for?’
’It could even drop things like Treasure Chests... I can hardly wait.’
"You seem very excited!"
Ye Fan remarked, looking at Fang Xiu.
"Why wouldn’t I be?"
Fang Xiu retorted.
"The Levels of the Demon Beasts here are unpredictable. You could run into a Level 50, a Level 70, or even a Level 100 Demon Beast."
Ye Fan said, gesturing to the Eight-Stone Brass Bull on the ground. "Just like me—I couldn’t beat this thing, but I couldn’t get away from it either!"
"When I killed that Level 40 boss, it wasn’t because my power is limited to killing Level 40 bosses. It was because the boss was *only* Level 40."
Fang Xiu replied coolly.
His tone was incredibly arrogant.
And yet, as Ye Fan listened, he found himself nodding slightly.
’This boy’s power truly can’t be measured by common sense.’
He looked at Fang Xiu again. In his eyes, the boy was now shrouded in a veil of mystery.
’He was impossible to read.’
’Perhaps, if they spent more time together, he could uncover it!’

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