The battle reached a fever pitch.

The troll's bone club swung frantically; every strike was powerful enough to shatter stone monuments.

Zhao Hu and Tie Dun took turns stepping forward to contain it, and the cracks on their shields grew more numerous.

Wang Wu and Arrow Eye's arrows constantly shot toward the troll's head and eyes, forcing it to distract itself with parrying.

Shadow Snake flickered in and out of the mist, every blade strike picking at the troll's newly healed old wounds.

Su Yurou's Healing Spell never stopped for a moment, her mana consuming at a rapid pace.

A Wang and Scarface Liu protected her on both sides, shields raised, watching the battlefield nervously.

Their levels were too low to intervene in a battle of this caliber; they could only do their best to protect Su Yurou.

30 seconds!

40 seconds!

The troll's recovery speed grew slower and slower, but its ferocity became increasingly blazing instead.

“Roar!!!”

It suddenly let out a wild roar and swung its bone club violently. A ghastly white Bone Light shot out from the club, tearing through the mist and heading straight for Wang Wu and Arrow Eye in the distance!

The two of them hurriedly rolled to dodge. The Bone Light smashed into the rocks behind them, exploding with a boom!

Zhao Hu took the opportunity to rush forward, his bone-crushing greatsword hacking fiercely at the troll's knee! Crack! -48!

The troll cried out in pain and kicked out. Zhao Hu didn't have time to dodge and could only raise his shield to block!

Boom!!!

The guardian round shield finally couldn't hold up; cracks spread instantly, and with a snap, it exploded into fragments!

Zhao Hu was kicked flying back, spraying blood from his mouth as he smashed heavily onto the ground! -160!

His health bar bottomed out instantly, leaving only a sliver!

“Big Brother Zhao!” Su Yurou cried out in alarm, desperately casting one Healing Spell after another on Zhao Hu. +110!

Zhao Hu barely managed to climb up. His face was pale and blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, but his gaze remained fierce: “I... can still fight!”

A sharp glint flashed in Lin Feng's eyes.

Enough.

He suddenly took a step forward, gripping his spear with both hands. The five stacks of Windchaser from the 【windchaser boots】 were pushed to the limit, and his figure turned into an afterimage!

【Blazing Spear Light】!

Ten streaks of crimson light shot out from the tip of the Wildfire Spear! They covered the sky and earth, heading straight for the troll!

The troll roared and raised its bone club to frantically block!

Clang clang clang clang!

Six streaks of spear light were blocked by the bone club, exploding into bursts of sparks!

But four streaks still penetrated the defense, sinking ruthlessly into the troll's chest, abdomen, and shoulder!

Puchi puchi puchi puchi!

-130! -131! -130! -130!

The troll roared and stumbled back, four bloody holes appearing on its body as blood sprayed out!

In that very instant, Shadow Snake's figure once again swept out from the shadows behind it!

The deep blue fang traced a lethal arc in the air. 【Shadow Step · Active】!

She appeared instantly at the back of the troll's neck, gripping her daggers with both hands, pouring all her strength into this strike.

Puchi!!!

The dagger entered through the back of the neck and pierced out through the throat!

-180! (Critical Hit! Backstab! Stealth Strike!)

The troll's movements froze completely.

Its dark red eyes bulged wide, and a gurgling sound came from its throat, and then—its massive body crashed to the ground!

Dust flew everywhere!

【Killed Lv23 Elite Troll】

【Level Up: 17 → 18】

A warm current surged through Lin Feng's body, his exhaustion swept away as his power climbed once more.

At the same time, a flash of level-up light also appeared on Shadow Snake—Level 17.

The battlefield fell into a brief silence, with only heavy panting remaining.

The troll's corpse began to slowly dissipate, leaving behind a pile of loot: four green crystals and two shields glowing with a faint blue light.

Lin Feng stepped forward and bent down to pick up the two shields.

The first was a rectangular tower shield, dark gray all over, its surface covered in rough patterns with metal reinforcement strips inlaid along the edges. It felt extremely heavy in his hand.

【troll bone shield (Blue)】

Type: Shield

Defense: +45

Constitution: +3

Special Effect · Mighty Block: Upon a successful block, reduce incoming damage by an additional 20%.

Equipment Requirement: Constitution ≥ 12

Lin Feng raised an eyebrow. Good shield! Its defense was nearly double that of Zhao Hu's previous green round shield, it added constitution, and it had extra damage reduction.

The second was a slightly smaller round shield, also dark gray. In the center of the shield was a massive tusk, the base of which glowed with a dark red luster.

【troll tusk shield (Blue)】

Type: Shield

Defense: +40

Constitution: +3

Special Effect · Fang Counter-Stab: Upon a successful block, deal 20 points of recoil damage to the attacker.

Equipment Requirement: Constitution ≥ 12

A smile curled on Lin Feng's lips as he turned to look at the two men slumped on the ground.

Zhao Hu's shield was already shattered; he was currently sitting on the ground empty-handed, gasping for air.

Though Tie Dun's shield was covered in cracks, it was still barely usable.

“Tie Dun.”

Tie Dun looked up.

Lin Feng threw the 【troll bone shield】 to him: “It's yours. High defense and adds constitution. It's perfect for you.”

Tie Dun caught the # Nоvеlight # shield and looked down. His eyes bulged instantly: “Holy crap! Blue! Defense +45! Constitution +3! Extra damage reduction! This... this is more than ten times better than my old piece!”

He hugged the shield, grinning so wide his mouth wouldn't close, turning it over and over as his rough hands constantly stroked the shield's surface.

Lin Feng turned to Zhao Hu and threw the 【troll tusk shield】 over.

“Zhao Hu, yours.”

Zhao Hu caught the shield, his one eye scanning the attributes.

【troll tusk shield (Blue)】

Defense: +40

Constitution: +3

Special Effect · Fang Counter-Stab: Upon a successful block, deal 20 points of recoil damage to the attacker.

He froze for a moment, then grinned, the scar on his face bunching up.

“Recoil damage! Blocking can actually reflect damage!” Zhao Hu hugged the shield, unable to put it down.

“If that troll had hit me a few more times just now, I could've shocked it to death just by standing still!”

Wang Wu put away his longbow and said with emotion: “This battle almost cost us our lives, but this harvest... it was worth it!”

“With two blue shields, our frontline has toughened up by more than just one level!”

Arrow Eye nodded, which was rare: “Tie Dun's has damage reduction, and Zhao Hu's has recoil damage. They're even more formidable when paired together.”

Su Yurou wiped the sweat from her forehead. Seeing the two of them hugging their new shields and grinning like idiots, she couldn't help but laugh too.

Shadow Snake stepped out from the mist, her deep blue fang already returned to her waist. She remained expressionless, but a very faint trace of gratification flashed in her eyes.

A Wang and Scarface Liu looked at the two blue shields with eyes full of envy, but even more so with excitement.

Following such a Lord and such a team, they would sooner or later get good things of their own.

Lin Feng stood with his spear stowed, his gaze sweeping over everyone.

“Everyone is fine, which is good. And the equipment has been upgraded.”

He turned and looked deeper into the mist.

“Rest in place for ten minutes. Then, we continue.”

Everyone sat down one after another, taking out dry rations and water skins to silently recover their strength.

Zhao Hu and Tie Dun hugged their new shields and grinned like idiots for a full ten minutes.

This night had only just begun.