Chapter 177 – Dual Linking Ghost Boundaries

“Look. Steamed Bun Invasion’s previous mistake made it so that the monsters weren’t gathered perfectly. However, the three monsters that slipped through just happened to be heading towards you. Here, the best choice wasn’t to immediately use Ice Boundary to control them. Instead, you could have first used a Ghost Slash to send the three monsters back into the desired positions and make up for Steamed Bun’s mistake. Then, using Ice Boundary would have been perfect.” Ye Xiu said.

“But there were more than three that had slipped through!” Qiao Yifan said.

“Aren’t we a team?” Ye Xiu smiled, “We can help fix the mistake and coordinate with you as well!”

“If a mistake like this happens, does this mean that there’s no hope for setting the record?” Qiao Yifan said.

“Ha ha, from that perspective, such a mistake really wouldn’t be good. We could make up for the lost time but it wouldn’t be enough. However, more important than the record is training our game knowledge and decision-making by going through these types of scenarios. In the previous scenario, it was easy to pull off an Ice Boundary. But that was in a dungeon. What if that was in a match? Could you be certain that you wouldn’t be interrupted while using your Ice Boundary in a scenario where you have no cover?” Ye Xiu said.

Qiao Yifan immediately understood: “I understand.”

“Even though this is only a dungeon, you still have to try hard and increase your game knowledge!” Ye Xiu said.

“Right, right.” Qiao Yifan responded. He felt as if a door in his heart was opening; as if the bottleneck he had been stuck at was slowly being broken through. He wasn’t sure if it was because he had switched classes or because he had received coaching under a God or maybe even both. Qiao Yifan thought.

Even though he had already taken the dungeon very seriously, after hearing Ye Xiu’s words, he felt that he still hadn’t placed enough emphasis onto it. Even if it was just a dungeon, there were still lots of places for improvement.

Under Ye Xiu’s constant instructions, the team quickly pushed forward. Ye Xiu’s team was using the “missing a player” strategy they were experimenting with last night.

The monsters that they weren’t originally able to kill fast enough and the places where they had originally struggled with, suddenly turned good with the addition of One Inch Ash.

Tang Rou felt indescribably shocked. To be able to create a strategy before one of their members had ever coordinated with them before, just how much further did she need to go before she could catch up to Ye Xiu?

“You two!” Ye Xiu called out to Tang Rou and Steamed Bun Invasion, “Pay more attention to his Ghost Boundaries. Coordination is mutual! Now that I think about it, do you two know the effects of these Ghost Boundaries?”

“No......” The two new players said.

Ye Xiu was helpless. He had no other choice but to give them a brief introduction about the skill. Support classes who provided support on the sidelines didn’t necessarily count as coordination. Those being supported have to fully utilize the support. If you don’t even know what the effects of the support are, then how are you going to utilize them?

In a Level 30 Ghostblade’s arsenal, besides the defense-oriented Ghost Shadow Image and the attack-oriented Boundary Ghost Ice Soul, there was also Sword Soul that could be learned at Level 10.

The Sword Soul’s strength was that the allies within its boundary would have increased Strength and Intelligence, which determined the amount of Physical Damage and Magic Damage one could deal. It could be said that any class within the Sword Soul would gain huge buffs. This skill was also called Sword Boundary by players.

The skill could be learned at Level 10 and could be skilled up every three levels. A Level 30 Ghostblade could have a Level 7 Sword Soul, which would increase Strength and Intelligence by 105. As soon as this number was said by Ye Xiu, Tang Rou and Steamed Bun Invasion jumped back in astonishment. The two checked their profiles and immediately recognized how terrifying an increase in 105 points of Strength and Intelligence were.

Battle Mages and Brawlers had the same Strength growth. At Level 30, without any equipment or stat rewards, their base Strength was 105 points.

Of course, a character’s base stats weren’t the most accurate indicators. In reality, with their equipment and rewards, the two characters would have much more.

However, 105 extra Strength and Intelligence was enough to make them start sweating.

Ghostblades had to cast Sword Soul at the right time and the other characters would have to fully utilize the Sword Soul as well. They should try and deal as much damage as possible within the Sword Boundary during the duration of the effect.

Seeing this incredible number, Tang Rou and Steamed Bun Invasion already understood. The coordination between the two sides was now smoother. Even though it was their first practice trial, it was already much better than their previous trial with Full Moon Guild’s guild leader.

Their coordination with each other had been improved by the utilization of the support, but the crucial point was still Qiao Yifan’s outstanding view of the general situation. Qiao Yifan himself felt like he was a fish back in the water in this dungeon. No, to be more accurate, it was in this team that he found the feeling of being a fish back in the water. Qiao Yifan had already believed that even if they weren’t running a dungeon, even if they were in any other place, even if they were in a pro match, he felt as if he had a place in the team.

So moved!

In such a short moment of time, feelings of being blessed had risen many times. In return, he tried his hardest in this dungeon.

They pushed through the dungeon without a hitch. In the blink of an eye, they reached the final BOSS Toya. Qiao Yifan looked forward to the God’s commands. He knew that Toya was the most influential part of the record.

In the end, God actually talked less in this area. The entire team was more free to do their own thing. Even though there was some coordination, it didn’t seem like it was be good enough. They seemed more passive in front of Toya.

Qiao Yifan was a pro, after all. He could roughly judge that with the way they were playing, they wouldn’t be able to beat the record.

Qiao Yifan felt a bit puzzled. Even he could come up with some sort of strategy for this part. He could at least do better than their current strategy of randomly playing. God Ye Qiu had to have some sort of plan, right?

Just as he was thinking this, he heard God’s Lord Grim move next to him and ask: “What do you think about this?”

After a brief pause, Qiao Yifan said the truth: “I think that if we play like this then breaking the record might be difficult.”

“You don’t need to worry.” Tang Rou’s Soft Mist had also come over. Hearing their discussion, she added: “All of this is because someone here refuses to go all out. If not, then you’d be seeing a completely different scene.”

“Ha ha.” Ye Xiu laughed. He then said to Qiao Yifan : ”When the time comes, you’ll know what to do. You can do it!”

“Uh......” Qiao Yifan was a bit lost, but he didn’t ask.

After finishing the run, they had completely understood the strategy.

“Two chances!” Ye Xiu wasn’t only saying this to Qiao Yifan, but to the other three as well. Having strong mechanics didn’t mean that you wouldn’t make mistakes.

“Yeah.” Tang Rou simply answered.

“Relax! I only show my true strength at crucial times like this.” Steamed Bun Invasion said.

“You too!” Su Mucheng reminded Ye Xiu as well. Ye Xiu obviously wasn’t someone who was immune to mistakes. In his ten years of gaming, he had plenty of experience making mistakes.

“Begin!”

Under this command, they began.

In the beginning, where they needed to pull monsters, their current strategy was similar to their original one. Except this time, Qiao Yifan’s Once Inch Ash helped pull the monsters. As soon as they gathered together......

“Sword...... Soul!”

Ye Xiu had only said one of the words, when Qiao Yifan’s Sword Soul had been casted.

The timing had been grasped perfectly, coordinating seamlessly with the rest of the team.

Ye Xiu was extremely happy. Bringing an expert like this was so much easier; he grasped everything so quickly!

The others were also controlling the monsters. If not, then the monsters would escape the Sword Soul’s range. The difference between their DPS inside the boundary and outside the boundary was completely different.

There was only one bad part. Sword Soul only lasted 20 seconds, while the cooldown was 30 seconds. There was no way they could keep it on forever, there would always be 10 seconds of free time.

But this time, the instant the Sword Soul disappeared, Lord Grim suddenly jumped backwards to escape from the mob. He then waved his sword and a shadowy mist leapt out of his sword, congealing into a dark violet Ghost.

One Inch Ash’s Sword Soul had faded away, but a new one had followed up closely.

Sword Soul!

“If it’s Sword Soul, I know it as well!” Ye Xiu said. Lord Grim’s sword danced and followed up with a Berserker skill.

The Ghostblade’s Sword Soul was a Level 10 skill, so of course unspecialized had it. The effects of the two couldn’t overlap, but it could be used to fill up the empty gap.

This type of coordination had a name in Glory: “Dual Linking Ghost Boundaries.”

In the current Professional Alliance, only Team Void used this type of strategy. Besides their team captain Li Xuan’s Sobbing Ghost, they also had another Ghostblade class.

However, Ye Xiu and Qiao Yifan’s “Dual Linking Ghost Boundaries” weren’t perfect. After all, Lord Grim’s unspecialized class could only learn the “Sword Soul” and no other Ghost-summoning skill. Even so, it still let them maximize their DPS.

The first wave was cleared quickly inside of the Ghost Boundary.

Second wave.....

Third wave.......

Fourth wave......

On their smooth journey through, there wasn’t any excessive talk. Not just Qiao Yifan, but Tang Rou and Steamed Bun Invasion no longer needed Ye Xiu’s constant reminders after running it so many times. The two weren’t lacking in the slightest in what they had to do.

Qiao Yifan’s Phantom Demon was doing even better. His Ghost Boundaries came out whenever they were needed, and he wouldn’t mess anything up whenever he wasn’t. He also linked together with Lord Grim’s occasional Sword Soul well, too.

Without any suspense, everyone swiftly smashed their way to the dungeon’s rear garden. Only a mere 19 minutes had passed.