I have to get lucky right away.

Chapter 229 This isn't just for show; it's the core gameplay.

Although Ba Bi, who was called Er Bi, was muttering to himself, he at least knew that this was a dungeon and had no intention of being a bad teammate. So he immediately released his flying sword according to the plan.

However, instead of controlling the flying sword for a ranged attack, he grabbed a talisman in his left hand and activated the sword aura skill of his sword control talent.

"Hey! Take my Gengjin Sword Qi!"

A white light flashed from the sword's edge, and the incomparably sharp sword energy carved a trench in the ground. The demon dragon boss had no choice but to avoid its sharp edge. Just as he was dodging, Guan'er took a leap, and the light on her body turned from white to yellow. She seemed to be a mountain falling from the sky, and she crashed hard into the demon dragon's body.

"boom!"

Although the damage was not high, the physical collision did occur. The dragon's movements faltered, and its two tails tried to sweep back.

The three white mages' healing spells were applied to the jar in a stepwise manner, keeping its health at a safe level. Meanwhile, Erbi seemed to have gained confidence, constantly switching the talismans in her hands and unleashing various colored sword lights, just like laser cannons.

"Hmph, is this how you use talismans?"

Suddenly, the seemingly disadvantaged dragon let out a disdainful sneer. Upon hearing this, Guan'er immediately slammed his greatsword into the ground, unleashing a shield wall with high damage reduction. Guan'er's voice followed:
"We're about to enter the second phase, Erbi!"

"Know!"

Erbi, disregarding the issue of correcting his name, sheathed his flying sword, grabbed a handful of talismans, switched the spell to "vibration" (likely referring to a specific spell or technique), and hurled the talismans out, shouting:
"Nine Heavens Responding to the Origin of Thunder, Universal Transformation Immortal Venerable!"

The power of the talisman merged with the skill of the Nine Heavens Thunder Control Talisman, and the resulting thunderclouds instantly enveloped the ceiling. Purple lightning struck down almost without pause. Feng Xue's massive figure suddenly charged forward, taking the brunt of this powerful attack, and snatched Er Bi's talisman.

"Holy crap! The boss stole the equipment!" Erbi exclaimed in surprise. The charred blackness caused by the Nine Heavens Thunder Control Talisman on the demonic dragon's body faded away as if refreshed. At first glance, it seemed that the boss's appearance was somewhat different from before. Although she couldn't quite put her finger on it, she felt that compared to its original bio-monster-like appearance, it now looked more like a dragon!

"Hahahaha, the power of thunder! The power of lightning!"

The dragon suddenly stretched out its body, and blue arcs of electricity exploded on its body. Its already fast speed increased again, and in the blink of an eye, it had arrived at the location of the three white mages.

Jar immediately launched a rescue attempt, and the white mages even cast shields on each other to buy time, but the twin tails wrapped in lightning swept the mages and shield warriors away together.

"Watch closely, this is how you use a talisman!"

In that instant, all the players were stunned. Only after they died and left the instance could they see the lightning flashing all over the world and the thunderous roar in the replay!

"Holy crap, this boss has no sportsmanship! How can he steal players' items?"

Guan'er immediately opened the strategy group and started denouncing the boss, but instead of comforting words or condemnation of the boss from her fellow group members, she received—

"Hahaha, what did I tell you? Another one!"

"What? Another one? Who else got robbed?"

Guan'er wasn't new to gaming, and he immediately realized what was happening. He then heard a player with the ID "Super Invincible Tyrannosaurus Warrior" reply:

"Baolong, he tried to tank the boss by holding the Kun and Gen talismans, but the boss crushed him to death by squeezing his hands. So why do you guys have to hold them by hand? Why don't you just buy a rope from the general store and tie it around your waist like I did? Look at me, I didn't get robbed!"

"It's hard to trigger the 'tethered waist' effect. I'm already having a hard time just getting the magic to flow through the talisman! This crappy game doesn't even have an assistance system..." A player with the ID "Baolong" muttered in the group chat, and Super Invincible Tyrannosaurus Warrior immediately laughed:
"You all used to complain that even though it's a virtual game, skills are still quick to use and not flexible. Now that we're finally free, you're all unhappy!"

"That's not that free, is it? He should at least provide a guide to teach me how to use mana! Damn, as a warrior, my mana bar is already short, and mana-consuming skills have long cooldowns, it's so hard to level up!" Jar sighed helplessly, and the Tyrannosaurus Warrior also said helplessly:
"That's why they say cultivators are the answer to this version. Sword-wielding skills consume mana continuously, while talisman skills have short cooldowns and many skills. You can use them one by one, drink a mana potion, and the cooldowns will be ready again. The forging system can also increase the mana bar's maximum capacity and recovery speed. As expected, cultivators and talismans are the most compatible! Why don't we all create a small account, practice using talismans as cultivators, and then switch back to our main accounts?"

"Is it necessary?" A player with the ID "Ten Years of Focused Bow Playing" wasn't too keen on the suggestion, but Tyrannosaurus Warrior said:
"It's very necessary. I think this version might be a turning point for the game. Before, it was just a pure reskinned trashy online game. If there weren't no competing products on the market, it would have died long ago. But this game has been out for so long, and other game companies have almost finished developing their new games. I think the game company is probably planning to transform. I think this talisman system might become the core gameplay of this game in the future."

"Ten buff skills? Isn't that a bit much to call the core gameplay?" Ten Years of Playing Archer was somewhat skeptical of this claim, but Guan'er seemed to have a vague idea and said:
"Speaking of which, the boss's line 'This is how you use a spell' was quite sarcastic, but those lightning bolts whizzing across the screen were so cool! If you could actually create that effect, it wouldn't be a bad idea to call it the core gameplay, right?"

"Isn't it normal for boss skills and player skills to have different effects? Back in World of Warcraft, Ashbringer was a legendary weapon on par with Frostmourne, and what effect did you get? And Thunderfury, does it live up to the storyline?" An older player muttered, but before the Tyrannosaurus Warrior could speak, a string of text suddenly popped up in the group chat—

"Holy crap, you'll never guess what I've figured out! This game was still hidden! Let me show you!"

[Research Maniac] uploaded [Research Report.mp4].

"What's going on?" Tyrannosaurus Warrior was slightly taken aback, and immediately clicked on the video. With a brief download, the flying sword of a cultivator's alt account on the screen actually flew up and down all over the screen like lightning.

Everyone else thought the flying sword had gone mad, but Guan'er was all too familiar with this scene; the boss had been in the same state before!

"Is this a talisman? How did you do that?"

"Huh? How did you know it was a talisman?"

(End of this chapter)