Chapter 53: Dividing the Equipment

With a single slash, Wang Liang’s Life-Slaying Blade plunged once more into the wound on the wild boar mountain whale’s snout.

This time, Wang Liang was not on horseback; he summoned all his strength for this blow, combining the force of two moves from the Innate Heaven and Earth Art.

As the blade struck, he heard a distinct crack—the Life-Slaying Blade wedged itself deep in the mountain whale’s skull. Wang Liang had long known that the creature’s defenses were extraordinary; its hide alone was thick enough, but its bones were sure to be even more formidable.

So, when he felt the blade stuck fast in the whale’s skull, he gripped it tightly with both hands and pushed it forward. The Shocking Thunder technique activated once again, and several thunderous blasts exploded within the mountain whale’s brain.

With that explosion, the players could see the mountain whale’s weakness at last. They surged forward, unleashing every skill at their disposal to attack the beast.

One of the three ghost cultivators, Nie Xiaoqian, darted straight into the mountain whale’s mouth. The massive creature began to spray water as if it were drowning.

Her ploy worked, and the remaining players, seeing hope, sprang into action, using their most powerful skills to suppress the mountain whale.

Such an opportunity was not to be missed. Seeing that he could not pull the Life-Slaying Blade free, Wang Liang twisted his body, planted both feet on the whale’s face, and pressed down with all his might.

With that, the blade finally pierced through the whale’s skull, its Shocking Thunder effect blasting apart the creature’s brain.

At this point, it must be said—the mountain whale’s bones were incredibly hard. Even as they heard the blasts echoing inside the creature’s head, its skull remained unscathed.

This alone proved that its strength far surpassed that of Inspector Yin Xun.

Once the mountain whale collapsed, unwilling to yield, flashes of white light appeared on its head, in its mouth, at its chest, and even within the pools of black oil that marked the presence of death.

These were system-guided rays, indicating to players where treasures could be found.

After struggling for a while, Wang Liang found he still could not extract the Life-Slaying Blade. Rather than persist, he casually said to the others, “Let’s get ready to divide the loot. Gather everything up—focus on anything from the boar; those are the real prizes.”

Speaking, Wang Liang tapped his equipment menu and unequipped the Life-Slaying Blade. In the next instant, the blade was back in his inventory, sparing him the need for any further exertion.

The other players were accustomed to such maneuvers and paid it no mind.

Having re-equipped his blade, Wang Liang sat to the side, waiting for his bronze warhorse to recover while watching the others clear the battlefield.

This battle had been even more perilous than the previous fight against Inspector Yin Xun. Out of more than thirty players, seven had fallen—nearly one-fifth of their number. Though each had their own path to death, such losses boded ill for the fights to come.

Each boss had proven stronger than the last. If things continued this way and the players were all slain by the end, what was the point in fighting at all?

As Wang Liang pondered this, the treasures indicated by the guiding lights were brought over one by one.

The most enticing finds were, naturally, those recovered from the whale’s head, mouth, and chest. The item found in its head, carved out by Tu Yidao, was a massive, meter-wide disc of white bone.

Judging by its hardness, this was certainly among the toughest parts of the mountain whale’s body.

Wang Liang glanced at it and let out a small sound of surprise. “Unidentified!”

As soon as he spoke, the nearby players gathered quickly.

“This is a real treasure. Looks like a shield—perfect for the early stages.”

“I want it! I want it! I ranked second in points last round, and fifth this round. Nobody fight me for it!”

Their excitement was understandable. In this game, items, equipment, and consumables of green quality or lower did not require identification; some blue-quality items did, while others did not; anything purple or above always required identification.

The need for identification marked something as truly valuable. Now that the word ‘Unidentified’ had appeared, everyone’s focus was glued to the bone plate—players without enough points came crowding over just for a look.

“Anyone here able to identify this? Should we appraise it first, or distribute it now?” Wang Liang asked, sweeping his gaze over the crowd.

“Let’s just distribute now—the results of the appraisal are up to luck,” the players called out in small groups.

Wang Liang understood their thinking. If they identified it now and it turned out to be a purple-grade item, chaos would ensue among the survivors.

“Very well—let’s go by points. I’ll pass on this one.”

Once again, Wang Liang’s points ranked first, topping the leaderboard for two consecutive major battles, which meant he had first pick of all the items.

Upon hearing Wang Liang was passing on the bone plate, the players breathed a collective sigh of relief.

They then began to discuss distribution. The player with the second-highest total points, though a magic user, exchanged his points for the bone plate on the spot and dashed to the rear to have it identified.

Wang Liang’s gaze moved to the remaining items. Besides the unidentified bone plate, two other items from the mountain whale’s body had properties displayed.

One was an orb resembling a stone marble: the Mountain Whale Core.

[Mountain Whale Core (Core)]
[Quality: Green]
[Effect: The inner core of the demonic beast Mountain Whale Boar. Contains the creature’s understanding of earth, defense, and charge. Can be absorbed or used as a crafting material.]

The other was a mass of boar essence blood, roughly the size of a human head.

[Heartblood (Essence Blood)]
[Quality: Green]
[Effect: Upon consumption, generates a cluster of essence blood worth 5000 units of life, replenishing health during battle. Can be used as a sacrifice or crafting material.]

Most players, seeing these were merely materials, lost interest and turned to other items.

Aside from these three, they also found weapons wrapped in black mud, chunks of pine resin, and the like near the mountain whale’s corpse. These likely held hidden valuables, which interested the players more.

Only Nie Xiaoqian kept her eyes on the Mountain Whale Core—this must have been her goal for the fight.

Wang Liang hesitated for a moment, considered the current number of players, and pointed at the Heartblood. “I’ll take this one.”

As soon as his words fell, Wang Liang’s points were instantly reset to zero, dropping him to last place on the leaderboard.