Chapter Eleven: The Art of Summoning Monsters

  "Expert-level, you...!" Zhan Yi's face turned red with rage, almost blurting out a curse. He took a deep breath and said, "Does this so-called 'expert' know what expert-level means? Not only are the monster attributes in expert-level higher than those in normal instances, but the internal map will also change. Do you think you have the ability to lead the team through expert-level?"

  Lin Jie turned his head and said lightly, "Not listening to orders, kick."

  "Glaring with wide eyes, 'You!'"

  At midnight, hehe smiled and said, "When I followed the captain to the secondary copy, I was destroyed dozens of times without daring to complain."

  Everyone exchanged a few glances, and Yu Lan glanced at Qiu Yuan, pursing her lips and saying, "Listen to the commander." She had already made the worst-case scenario in her heart. Although dying in the instance didn't have as severe a penalty as dying outside, the decrease in equipment durability was still a significant expense.

  If the team is wiped out, let this floating life hand over some money and continue brushing up copies to accumulate equipment.

  "Nobody has any objections, right? Let's enter the instance." Lin Jie turned around and entered the instance. The entrance to the Cat Demon Lair instance was located in the Lorain Forest, where a bulletin board stood at the entrance with three lines of text written on it.

  Difficult Cat Demon Lair - Midnight Return - 4 hours 24 minutes

  Difficult Cat Demon Lair - Shadow Devil Studio - 4 hours 35 minutes

  Difficult Cat Demon Lair - Iron Wall Empire - 5 hours 2 minutes

  The replica entrance has a so-called "record board", which rewards players for breaking previous records. The first player to set a record also receives an additional reward, and as long as the team name remains on the bulletin board for a full month, they can receive additional experience points and an "unlocked treasure chest" reward.

  After the game has been running for several years, except for a limited number of super casual teams and neutral studios, almost all records have been monopolized by large guilds. Ordinary players are even more inaccessible. The ranking method is: difficulty over time, that is to say, even if Lin Jie and others spend several months strategizing expert-level instances, he is still the first.

  At the entrance, there are 4 NPCs wearing tattered beast hides, they are villagers from a nearby village.

  "Dear traveler, greetings." The big-bearded hunter came forward somewhat timidly. "Our village has encountered a terrible disease. The pharmacist told us that we must obtain the cat demon's paw to alleviate the pain. I implore your help."

  "Will you accept the sub-quest 【Collecting Cat Demon's Claws】?"

  Yes!

  Collecting Cat Demon Claws is a basic instance task, only allowed to be completed once. Most players have brushed simple-level claws and submitted them, getting the worst reward. In fact, only by collecting different cat demon claws in expert-level instances can you get the final reward. Moreover, there is an additional difficulty for this task: single-player clearance can get extra rewards.

  In his past life, the first person to clear the Cat Demon's Lair solo at the expert level was Ou Fa Emperor Wu Xiu, who triggered the Sword Saint quest and received a large number of attribute points as rewards.

  "I'll enter the expert-level instance and look for enough materials," Lin Jie said.

  The big-bearded hunter grasped Lin Ge's hand excitedly and ordered everyone to hand over their weapons, "Wish you a safe return."

  "You have received from Hunter Lain: a White Dagger (Short Sword), a Gray Short Bow... and 10 Torches."

  Got it!

  "You are about to enter the Cat Demon Lair instance, please select the difficulty."

  "You have entered the expert-level cat demon lair."

  The purple duplicate spiral rotated violently, the fog in the middle slowly dispersed, revealing a mushroom-shaped small house and a deep and secluded road.

  "Let's go." Lin Jie beckoned and disappeared.

  Qiu Yuan gritted his teeth and reluctantly decided to wipe his butt for him, then crawled inside.

  Midnight hehe smiled and entered the copy with sugar vinegar tofu brain, others also followed.

  The cat demon's lair, in a dark forest, fireflies fell from the leaves, making this place even more dreamy - if you exclude the cat demon that suddenly jumped out.

  "Meow——!" A shrill and sharp cry for help came, a black shadow suddenly rushed towards Qiuyuan in the middle. Midnight was the one who reacted the fastest, he held the bone shield in his hand, and in just half a second, he entered a defensive stance, planning to withstand the attack for Qiuyuan.

  "Hmm——"

  When he arrived, the cat demon had already been struck by a rusty broken blade and flew through the air, heavily pinched between the forks of a branch. Its sharp claws scratched frantically on the bark, scratching out one crack after another.

  "Qiu Yuan and Fa Shi attacked from a distance below, killing the cat demon." Lin Jie waved his hand, signaling everyone to sit down. "I'll explain the strategy for this instance."

  Qiu Yuan pouted, seemingly disliking the task, yet still obediently stood under the tree, casting Dark Words and Black Kiss on the cat demon's head.

  Zhan Yi sneered and raised an eyebrow at Lin Jie, "Come on, I'd love to hear your expert-level moves."

  Youlan glared at Zhan Yi, staring at Lin Jie in surprise. Perhaps this man wasn't as weak as he had imagined? His earlier move to strike the cat demon required precise timing and force to achieve the effect of knocking it flying. Moreover, if his angle was off by even a little, the cat demon would have fallen into the endless cat demon nest, and the cats would have swarmed out like a tidal wave.

  "Expert-level copy, actually nothing special, just the monster's attributes have increased a bit, and there are a few more monsters in each wave." Lin Jie's casual tone almost made Midnight spit out old blood after passing through the difficult level copy. "Each nest has 12 monsters, relying on our strength, we can deal with 2 at a time, killing 6 waves is enough. However, in each nest, a white kitten will refresh and use healing skills, recovering 300 HP each time, prioritize killing it in the last wave."

  "Hmph, taking down two at once? Easy to say, but how do you plan on luring them out? Cat demons are pack animals, lure one and dozens will come. As for that white cat demon, in the simple level it only spawns one in the final stage, each monster is like they've drunk chicken blood or something, can't be killed...". Zhan Yi couldn't help but point out the flaw, turned his head to flatter Midnight, "Midnight big brother, why don't you take command?"

  "Midnight gave him a cold glance and said, 'Shut up.'"

  In his heart, he was secretly scolding: "Damn it, even an expert-level deputy like you should know how to command. I'm not taking the blame for this."

  Lin Jie smiled slightly, "If I were you, I would come out and trample him again when this guy who talks big on paper fails. Not only is it satisfying, but there won't be any aftereffects either."

  "What aftereffect?"

  "Get lost."

  Yao Lan waved her hand to stop the two from continuing their argument and asked, "Why only summon 2?"

  "This is handed over to you, as long as T holds on to hatred, Na adds well, and outputs with all one's might."

  Yu Lan took a deep breath and stopped talking.

  "It's dead." Qiu Yuan exclaimed with surprise, this cat demon had at least 500 blood points, a simple cat demon only had 300 points, the difference was really too big. However, when the cat demon died, it suddenly burst out a white cow's milk-like robe, which made her very happy.

  Radiant Robes of Light (Bronze)

  Demand level 3, Fabric A

  Defense 12

  Intelligence + 2

  Additional: Chanting speed increased by 1%.

  Players with an average level of 3 team up to challenge the 3-level expert instance, with a drop rate more than 1000% higher than the normal instance, but when the level is upgraded to 4, the drop rate returns to normal.

  "Even if we can't get past the BOSS, killing small monsters can still earn us a lot." Autumn Far waved her hand at Azure, and she finally helped Lin Jie find a reason.

  "We'll take down the BOSS." Lin Jie looked unimpressed, pulling out a firearm, "Get ready."

  He used the feather fall device to reduce his weight, and jumped vigorously on a large tree, instantly climbing up the tree. This move received quite a few praises, he ran on the branches, raised his gun and aimed, no good. Continued to change positions, still no good...

  "Are you done yet?" Occupying Wing sneered after 4 minutes, having been holding in his anger.

  "Bang——"

  Bullets whizzed between the branches, accurately hitting a cat demon's tail. The enraged cat demon turned its head and scratched another cat demon's face, causing them to roll around together and gradually move away from their nest. Meanwhile, the other cat demons continued to lick their paws with an air of contentment.

  "Bang——"

  Another bullet was fired, and the two cat demons immediately shifted their target and rushed over.

  "Tofu brain, midnight, up!" Lin Jie jumped down from the tree, drew out a rusty big sword and stood at the output position, neither leaning nor inclining, exactly opposite to Zhan Yi.

  At midnight, he raised his bone shield and attracted the hatred of a cat demon. The cat demon scratched his body, tearing away 60 points of damage. His eyebrows jumped wildly as he hastily turned around to shout for healing.

  Therapy is a Holy Knight. Before changing jobs to become a Holy Knight, his milk was not enough. This flat-headed young man blushed and said, "I... I'm sorry."

  It's still like this at midnight, let alone tofu brain. The whiteboard shield was torn open by the cat demon, its durability plummeted, and its blood volume leaked out like water.

  Magic struck the cat demon, dealing a string of damage. Yuan Yi and You Lan wielded their large swords with all their might, but the damage they dealt was barely visible - their equipment was just too poor! You Lan sighed inwardly, Floating Life had told him to pull two monsters, he had succeeded, but what about himself?

  "Meow——" The cat demon ripped open the Tofu Brain's shield with his sharp claws and swiped at his face!

  Wild Sprint!

  Lin Jie's heavy sword slashed across the cat demon's belly, heavily striking it to the ground, dealing 45 points of damage while stunning it, and this damage shocked everyone.

  The cat demon woke up from the dizziness, jumped high and continued to attack. Lin Jie raised his sword horizontally, neither biased nor inclined, just right on the cat demon's paw.

  Fight back! - 102! (Critical hit)

  Plop! The cat demon was heavily smashed onto a nearby tree, and this scene left Wu Ye and You Lan staring in shock.