Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Azure Heart’s Vigil

After circling around yet another stone wall, I finally laid eyes on the culprit responsible for my dwindling health—a massive tree-like monster, swinging its arms as huge chunks of rock crashed down within a fifty-yard radius, sending clouds of dust billowing nearby.

Damn it, I actually encountered a boss that attacks everyone indiscriminately! I quickly checked the monster’s details—

Swamp Guardian (Boss)
Level: ???
Attack Type: Area-of-effect, indiscriminate magic attacks
Defense Type: Magic immunity
Special Skill: Rock Solidification—has a chance to paralyze opponents for two seconds with a rock attack.

…

I was stunned to discover there truly existed monsters immune to magic!

The attacks kept raining down on me—each hit cost me over sixty health points, not enough to be fatal but definitely unpleasant. More importantly, I realized with dismay that the Swamp Guardian had blocked the only exit with its root-like body, the roots burrowing deep into the rock, making it impossible to lure him away.

Having come this far, there was no way I’d spend another half hour retreating. The only option was to take down the Swamp Guardian before me!

“121!”

Watching the number from my heavy strike, I was speechless. This creature’s defense surpassed even that of the Golden Knight, which meant the area behind it must be a prime spot for leveling or treasure hunting—a map guarded by such a monster could not be wrong!

The Swamp Guardian attacked indiscriminately, meaning even if a hundred warriors swarmed him, he could attack them all at once. The sixty-point damage he dealt me would likely be much higher for others—I had a 40% magic resistance bonus, and a 30% boost to physical defense against magic, so even with my high defenses and resistances, I still lost sixty health per hit. Most ordinary warriors would easily lose 150 health each time, unless they were tank builds, and even then, their attacks would probably only scratch the Guardian, barely making a dent.

Magic couldn’t harm the Guardian, and given his positioning, only five or six warriors could attack him at once. Even with a team, only six could engage him simultaneously, and without a healer’s support—priests couldn’t withstand the Guardian’s relentless magic attacks, and fifty yards was beyond their healing range.

Thinking about it, I felt a surge of delight—this Swamp Guardian seemed tailor-made for solo players like me, with high attack and high defense!

Almost every thirty seconds, I drank a medium healing potion—thank goodness I’d bought four stacks at the trading post last time, or I wouldn’t have stood a chance against the Guardian. After the system update, potions were grouped in thirties, so four stacks gave me 120 medium red potions—enough for an hour of battle. Now that everyone’s levels had increased, these potions were more plentiful and cheaper; just one day ago, I spent twelve gold coins for that many—truly foresight!

It was as if the system was toying with me. Five minutes into hacking at the Swamp Guardian, his health bar had barely budged. Was this a joke?

Clearly not. This only confirmed the certainty of treasure hidden behind the Guardian!

Excitement, exhilaration, and impulsiveness surged, but as the battle dragged on, numbness gradually set in…

With the Pine Forest Giant Sword, I unleashed my three active attack skills over and over, firing them as soon as their cooldowns expired. Now that I’d reached level thirty, I could regain skill experience. Rumor had it that a level-four combo had a chance to strike three times, which was something to look forward to!

Thirty minutes passed…

The Guardian’s health bar was down to less than half, and I’d used nearly half my potions. My arms swung automatically, and thankfully in-game actions didn’t drain stamina, or I’d surely have pulled a muscle by now.

Sixty minutes passed…

Staring at the nearly empty health bar of the Swamp Guardian, I felt a surge of excitement!

This boss was the toughest, most durable enemy I’d ever faced—nonstop hacking for a full hour! Roughly calculating, I struck twenty to thirty times per minute, each hit for 120 damage, totaling over 2,000 per minute. With skill damage, about 3,000. In sixty minutes, that’s 180,000 health points! Good heavens, nearly rivaling the legendary Black Dragon Onyxia…

Another five minutes slipped by…

The Swamp Guardian’s health finally depleted completely. With a thunderous crash, its massive form collapsed like sand losing its bones, scattering green leaves and muddy sludge everywhere, then slowly fading away. Three pieces of equipment, a skill book, and a heap of coins lay quietly on the ground. At the same time, I received a system prompt: Congratulations! You have slain the Swamp Guardian, gaining 40 million experience, 50 gold coins, and 2,500 reputation!

I paid little mind to the experience or coins—what mattered were the items. I hurried over, scooping everything into my inventory, then, with a racing heart, examined each piece one by one—

First was a necklace gleaming with blue light, as beautiful as the Heart of the Ocean:

[Azure Heart Guardian] (Necklace—Purple Equipment)
Stamina: +37

Intelligence: +42
Agility: +32
Bonus: Increases spell healing effect by 45%
Required Level: 30
…

My eyes grew moist with joy…

Finally, my first piece of purple equipment! And it might very well be the first purple item on the entire “Yueheng” server! I wasn’t mistaken—it didn’t increase healing by 45 points, but by 45%! What did that mean? Though I couldn’t use it myself, gifting it to Xuehan would surely have astonishing effects. Maybe that girl would throw herself into my arms—sweetness…

Without further hesitation, I messaged Xu Lin: “Are you with Xuehan and Xinyu? Invite me to the party across maps!”

Xu Lin said nothing, and a few seconds later, I received a party invitation.

I accepted and glanced at the party—four girls: Xu Lin, Xinyu, Xuehan, and Li Qing. All familiar faces!

I quickly made the Azure Heart Guardian necklace into an item card and posted it in the party channel!

“Wow…”

Even wearing headphones, I could hear the shouts from the room outside. Soon enough, someone came knocking at my door.

I immediately entered the map guarded by the Swamp Guardian, then, without a second glance, logged off.