Chapter 148 - 114: Golden Bull Guarding Pearl

Witnessing the scene, the two who had just been knocked away felt their hearts skip a beat. Without even enough time to stand, they could only roll aside.

BOOM!

In an instant, the ground cracked open, sending earth and stone flying. The giant hammer had gouged a massive crater in the ground.

But it wasn’t over yet.

The Golden Bull Guard roared, lifted a massive hoof, and brought it stomping down toward Brother Yu.

This time, however, Brother Yu managed to Block.

CLANG—

A dull thud echoed. The Golden Bull Guard staggered again, but this time, since the shockwave had struck its leg, it lost its balance and came crashing down.

"Badass, Brother Yu!"

Li Miao shouted in excitement.

The trio seized the opportunity, rushing in to unleash a furious barrage of attacks. Crescent Moon Sword Qi and Gulard Heavy Strike repeatedly wounded the Golden Bull Guard, and its health quickly fell below half.

CRACK!

A cracking sound suddenly emanated from the Golden Bull Guard.

A moment later, the golden sheen on its body shattered like glass, revealing the dark-brown skin and fur beneath.

The Golden Bull Guard let out a weak roar, but when it tried to stand, it seemed to lack the strength.

Without a moment’s hesitation, the trio delivered another righteous beatdown.

After a short while, the Golden Bull Guard, with less than a quarter of its Blood Volume remaining, finally mustered its strength and roared as it staggered back to its feet.

But by then, the three had already pulled back to a safe distance.

"MOO—"

The Golden Bull Guard seemed intent on one last Desperate Struggle. It heaved up its giant hammer, its body blazing with Warfire, and brought it crashing down with overwhelming power!

"Here it comes!"

The trio’s eyes narrowed in focus.

Li Miao and Brother Yu raised their Shields without hesitation, igniting their bodies with Warfire to withstand the terrifying Attack on its way.

Faraway scanned the area, and after a moment’s thought, used a series of Execution Steps to reach the far end of the canyon.

The Golden Bull Guard was now between him and the others. All the pressure was on Li Miao and Brother Yu; he just needed to maintain his distance.

BOOM!

The giant hammer struck the earth, and the Warfire erupted into a golden shockwave that surged in all directions like a tsunami!

Unable to evade, Li Miao and Brother Yu could only brace themselves and take the terrifying impact head-on. Their Blood Volume dropped by a chunk, their bodies shuddered from the force, and they were sent skidding back, carving trenches in the ground.

But the assault wasn’t over.

Two more roars followed, and two more consecutive shockwaves kicked up a torrent of boulders that hurtled toward them.

Meanwhile, from the end of the canyon, Faraway was already firing a continuous stream of Blood Stone Bursts at the Golden Bull Guard.

Finally, the onslaught subsided into silence.

RUMBLE!

After its final Desperate Struggle, the Golden Bull Guard seemed to have lost all its strength. Its body teetered on the verge of collapse as it began to heave for breath.

"It’s weak!"

"Get it!"

Naturally, the trio wouldn’t let this rare opportunity slip by. Once they weathered the terrifyingly powerful Giant Hammer Earth-shaking Wave, the Golden Bull Guard would enter a weakened state. It was the perfect time to deal damage.

A short time later, under the trio’s relentless assault, the defenseless Golden Bull Guard’s immense body finally gave out and crashed to the ground.

THUD—

In that instant, a cloud of dust billowed up.

The Golden Bull Guard’s body gradually turned to Ashes and vanished, leaving only a few items in its place.

"Phew..." Li Miao popped a Recovery Wax Block into his mouth and wiped the sweat from his brow. "This damn bull was a real tank. Thick-skinned and tough as nails."

But Brother Yu seemed lost in thought. "So it was a fake Golden Bull. Just coated in a layer of gold."

"Its Attack Power and Blood Volume both dropped drastically after it fell below half," Faraway added as he slowly walked over.

This, they figured, must be the drawback of the Golden Bull Guard’s Talent; it could only display its full power while its health was above fifty percent.

The trio then turned their attention to the items the Golden Bull Guard had dropped upon its death.

[Acquired: Wax Oil x53]

[Acquired: Fire Seed·Golden Bull Residue (Initial Stage)]

[Acquired: Earth-Shaking Giant Hammer (Excellence)]

[Acquired: Golden Bull Guard Pearl]

"?"

Neither the Fire Seed nor the Earth-Shaking Giant Hammer surprised the trio.

But when they saw the pearl, they couldn’t help but freeze.

"..."

The three exchanged glances, silent for a moment.

"A Primordial Magic Pearl?" Li Miao said in disbelief.

[Golden Bull Guard Pearl]

[Type: Special Items]

[Effect: Can be used by a Demon Summoner to summon the subordinate creature "Golden Bull Guard"]

[Explanation: A Primordial Magic Pearl that has an extremely low chance of self-condensing after killing a Golden Bull Guard. It possesses a high growth ceiling and is extremely rare.]

"It is," Faraway confirmed with a nod after reading the description.

"Damn..." Li Miao was kicking himself. "If I’d known, I would’ve rolled a Demon Summoner. Can you imagine how invincible it would be to summon a Golden Bull Guard?"

"Not necessarily," Brother Yu said, his surprise already fading. It wasn’t his first time seeing a Primordial Magic Pearl. "You know the saying: ’tamed monsters are thirty percent weaker.’"

"Besides, the monsters we’ll face later might be even stronger," Brother Yu said with a shrug.

"That’s true," Li Miao sighed. Then, as if remembering something, he looked at Brother Yu and asked curiously, "Brother Yu, didn’t someone on the forums post a bounty for your Giant-Tailed Sea Monster Pearl? How much were they offering again?"

"Fifteen thousand." A wealthy player had indeed posted that price on the forums back then, but Brother Yu hadn’t been interested in such a small sum.

"Holy crap! Then how much can this Golden Bull Guard Pearl sell for?" Li Miao’s eyes went wide at the thought. As a student, he’d never imagined he could actually make money from a game.

After all, even if the Giant-Tailed Sea Monster’s Primordial Magic Pearl had growth potential, it was still from an early-game monster.

This Golden Bull Guard, on the other hand, was without a doubt the strongest monster at this stage of the game.

Give this thing to any Demon Summoner, and their power would skyrocket instantly.

A player with money to burn definitely wouldn’t be short on Wax Oil. They would just need to raise its Level, and they’d have an instant powerhouse on their hands.

The crucial point was that none of the three were Demon Summoners. This meant that unless someone wanted to keep it, they would trade it for resources and split the proceeds.

"So, what’s the plan for this pearl?" Li Miao asked, looking at the other two with anticipation.

"Either way is fine with me," Faraway said calmly, not showing much interest.

"Let’s trade it for Wax Oil," Brother Yu said with a smile after glancing at Faraway. "But I’ll leave it up to you to decide who to sell it to."

The message was clear: he and Faraway didn’t care who Li Miao sold it to, as long as he gave them their cut of the Wax Oil.

Brother Yu knew that for a college student like Li Miao, this was a significant amount of money, and he had no intention of spoiling his excitement.

’This kid’s not half bad... Of course, it’d be even better if the little brat didn’t keep teasing me about getting skunked.’

"Awesome! Thanks, you two," Li Miao said with a grin, pocketing the Golden Bull Guard Pearl.

’If this sale goes through, the first thing I’m doing is throwing out that busted old phone Mom refuses to replace and getting her a new one.’

"Hang on." Brother Yu also picked up the Fire Seed and the hammer. After a quick word with Faraway, he handed them to Li Miao. "If you don’t plan on using the weapon, just sell it for Wax Oil too."