The next morning, I woke up early.
In the hall of the 2nd level, Wan Er was sitting quietly while holding a brand new notebook. She was looking over the maps of Tian Ling City and Ba Huang City. Beside her sat Dong Cheng who was playing on her phone.
I walked forward and took a seat, saying, âAre there any activities today?â
âYes there is!âWan Er pointed at the computer screen and said, âLi Mu and Qian Qian have already decided for themselves. They are going to mobilise a hundred-man team to clear the high level maps in Ba Huang City. They plan to improve everyoneâs equipments and levels before the Heroâs Wings Cup starts. En, the area they have decided to go to is Panguâs Abyss which is at the east side of Ba Huang Cityâ¦â¦â
âPanguâs Abyss?â
âEnâ¦â¦â The beautiful elder sister laughed as she nodded her head. âBa Huang Cityâs Map still has a lot of high level areas we havenât even set foot in. This Panguâs Abyss was newly released after the opening of Tian Ling City, which is why Li Mu and Qing Qian chose this place. Why donât you join them too? With you, everyoneâs killing rate will increase at least a little. The average level of the monsters at Panguâs Abyss is around level 125 while our average levels arenât even roughly close to level 106. Thatâs why you definitely have to go.â
I stood up and went to heat up some milk and said, â Sure. At the same time, Iâll keep tabs on [Prague], [Vanguard] and some other guilds. Letâs try to keep the information that we will be grinding at Panguâs Abyss a secret. As of now, [Zhan Long] has been marked by a lot of guilds and I donât want any more time on issues that crop up on the side.â
Dong Cheng gently laughed, âDonât worry about that. Thereâs no one in Ba Huang City who would dare raise a hand against us. Our main enemies will be [House of Prestige], [Flying Dragon] and [Thousand Burial]. [House of Prestige] is a guild of Jiu Li City, and so for the most part, they wonât come all the way to Ba Huang City to make trouble for us. As for [Flying Dragon] and [Thousand Burial] um, let them come if they want. Theyâll just be delivering experience and equipments.â
I couldnât help but break into laughter, âYo. Sister Dong Cheng, whereâd you get all that confidence?â
Dong Cheng raised her elegant eyebrows and replied, âHmph, thatâs a for sure. Those guys are lousy fighters!â
Wan Er smiled and suddenly said, âPig, did you know that thereâs a Heroâs Stage arena next to the Eastern Gate Plaza?â
âHeroâs Stage?â
ââ¦â¦â
I blankly shook my head, âNope, Iâve been to Tian Ling City for the past two days, Iâve been rushing here and there, I didnât even notice anything. What exactly is the â¦â
Wan Er explained, âIt is just an area for players to self-initiate a single-elimination open tournament. Whenever there is a player who wants to go up to create a battle, he has to first pay a certain amount of gold. Every challenger would then have to pay 10% of the total prize pool to earn the right to challenge. So the longer you stay in the arena, the more rewards you will earn. I heard that last night, Misty Clouds stood on the arena for over 3 hours. In the end, he brought away close to 70,000 Goldâ¦â
I trembled a bit, âWhat! That much?â
Dong Cheng leaned over and giggled, âHas our cheap Xiao Yao Brother, finally been moved to action?â
I thought about it, shook my head and answered, âNever mind. Iâm not moved by this.â
Wan Erâs pair of pretty eyes stared straight into my heart as she looked into my eyes. She couldnât help but laugh softly, âPig, youâre scared to meet Q Sword and Fang Ge Que, these high-level players, and end up wasting all of your effort right?â
I laughed awkwardly, âWhat are you even thinking about? Am I such a person to be so easily terrified? I was just thinking, just let those frontline high level players go earn some money. As the guild master of [Zhan Long], I wonât go to join in the fun but if letâs say Q-Sword were to enter the arena and start a challenge, I will be very happy to challenge him and see whether or not my third-rate Pulse Break Style will be able to contend against his third-rate Pulse Break Style!â
Dong Cheng agreed, âEn, thatâs our Li Xiao Yao. How can we let Q Sword affect our confidence? If we have the opportunity, we should go! Even if there isnât one, we should create one and go!â
I was expressionless. âHow come that doesnât sound like it means what it sounds like it meansâ¦â¦â
â¦â¦
After breakfast, I skipped classes and went online to grind at Panguâs Abyss!
âSlash!â
I appeared in Tian Ling City, and went to repair my equipment and refilled my cards and potions from the storehouse. Afterwhich, I messaged Wan Er, Dong Cheng, Yue Qing Qian, Li Mu, Song Han and the other core members of [Zhan Long]. A group of seventeen people appeared next to the warehouse manager. They all looked at me and asked, âBrother Xiao Yao, whatâs the matter?â
I started taking out some Level 11 Dragon Spit Pills. I held one up in front of my eye and said, âHeavenly Tier Level 1 pills. Each person is to take 30 and use them when fighting BOSSes or during PKs. Itâs best for each of you to keep five with you at all times. Leave the rest for the Heroâs Wings Cup. This way, weâll hold an advantage when PKing and as we donât have too much stock, we get to save a little too!â
Li Mu was stunned. âLevel 11 Pills? What the hell? â¦â¦ There are really level 11 Pillsâ¦â¦â
Wang Jian responded, âDonât make a big fuss. When Dragon City killed Lin Han, brother Xiao Yao already had level 11 herbs. â¦â¦ I heard that level 11 pills have started to appear in [Heroâs Mound], [Legend] and [House of Prestige] as well.â
Ran Min rubbed his nose, âThe speed at which these monsters train their [Medicine Refinement] is really fastâ¦â¦â
I grinned. âActually, Iâm already at level 12 of [Medicine Refinement]. I just canât find any level 12 resources.â
Wan Er carefully put away the potions, and raised her dagger as she reminded us, âOk, letâs stop wasting time and teleport to Ba Huang City. We will be going from Ba Huang City to Panguâs Abyss. Iâve already arranged for some people to stand guard at the entrance of Panguâs Abyss. Either way, we better hurry and not let the other guilds be the early birds to steal our worm. It is rare that weâre the first to find such a high level map.
I nodded and replied, âOk, letâs go!â
We quickly made our way to the teleportation portal and went to Ba Huang City. Each of us followed closely behind one another while I swept a glance towards the Heroâs Arena in the far distance. On the stage, there were two players battling it out, both of whom seemed to come from Jiu Li City. Around the stage, there were players numbering in the hundreds watching the match. The prize pool seemed to have accumulated to 5700 gold coins. Currently, the gold to RMB exchange rate was about 1:1. This 5700 RMB should be enough to lure those top tier high level players to join. All these second-rate players should be rather content.
âShua!â
After teleporting to Ba Huang City, I summoned my Flying Scythe War Horse and Ancient Heavenly Tiger. A group of [Zhan Long] Elites could be seen with the guild insignia glowing on our shoulders. At this moment, the formidable [Zhan Long] crests merged together into one. The Heavy Armor Squad participating in todayâs activity were all clad in the same uniform and had their own mounts. Together with the leather armored squad and the cloth armored squad, all of the players were 5th advancement players and all had their 5th advancement skills. This scene immediately made all players under level 100 in Ba Huang City raise their eyebrows. All of them stunned beyond words.
âHey look. The main force of [Zhan Long] is thereâ¦â¦ Xiao Yao Zi Zai, Cang Tong, Cang Yue, General Li Mu, Yue Qing Qian, their whole core team is there. Where could they be going? I almost thought that they were going to abandon Ba Huang City. Who would have thought they would be the first to come back and visit usâ¦â¦â
âNonsense, they are probably here to clear some map? Isnât the Heroâs Wings Cup about to start? The members of [Zhan Long] certainly arenât going to stay idle right, especially their main force?
âI say, Cang Tong really has a nice figure, if only I could cop a feelâ¦â¦â
âGet lost! So vulgarâ¦â¦ I donât wish to touch this goddess, just a kiss would be enough.â
â¦â¦
My Flying Scythe War Horse galloped across the cobblestone and I was the first to rush out of the Eastern Gate of Ba Huang City. The players outside the city had noticeably decreased but there was still a constant influx of new players. All the level 20-100 players have to start from here before advancing to the higher levelled maps. With the continuous game hype, this main city will always be popular.
Looking behind me, our team set-up was very logical. Be it defense, attack or healing, we all had a complete set. In seconds, we formed 5 teams. The 5 man team I was in was also the same team that I would participate in Heroâs Wings Cup with. I guess this was good too, as we could improve our teamwork. Looking at how the final fight in the five matches of the Heroâs Wings Cup would be a 5v5, whenever the score became 2:2, the final 5v5 match would become very crucial.
Our party entered the jungle and passed through the Nightmare Plains. This was also my first genuine experience here in the Nightmare Plains. From afar, at the centre of the field, there was a lone towering city. It was [Vanguard]âs city, called Lone Blade City. The whole city was desolate and rugged, and was seemingly built out of a pile of stones. This Lone Blade City was truly vivid, looking exactly like a lone blade sticking out of the field.
Around Lone Blade City, there were at least 2,000 [Vanguard] players bustling about. After taking the city, they were not idle. I decided to lead the [Zhan Long] players to travel around the border of the area. We came here to clear maps and I definitely did not wish to spend my time on them.
âThe mounted troops squads are certainly niceâ¦â¦â¦â
Wan Er pursed her red lips as she looked forward at some knight players crazily running about. âWith a mount, their moving very fastâ¦â¦â
Dong Cheng nodded. âEnâ¦â¦â
I couldnât help but laugh and pulled my reins. I then turned around, and stretched my open hand to Wan Er, âCome, let me take you on a ride, little missâ
âAh?â
Wan Er opened wide her small mouth, and her pretty oval shaped face immediately turned a shade of red. She then grabbed my open hand. âSwooshâ and I pulled her up onto the horse. When mounted, one could carry another passenger, male or female didnât matter as there were no limits. Thus, there would definitely be the scene of many male players riding with other male players in the future. It couldnât be helped.
â¦â¦
However, whenever there was a passenger on the mount, fighting wasnât possible. This small restriction therefore prevented cases like Zhao Yun saving the king type of legends. If one wants to fight, one has to place all their baggage on the ground.
After close to 20 minutes of riding, we entered the wilderness. Further forward, there were many historical sites and totems. Rays of holy light flooded the ground from the sky as though some ancient deity had descended into the human world. Wan Er sat in my bosom and she contently smile, âPig, just 25 degrees east from north, we are roughly 1000 yards away from the entrance of Panguâs Abyss.â
âEn!â
I urged my horse to gallop in that direction with the Ancient Heavenly Tiger and the Purple Kirin Dragon clearing the monsters in front. One of them was a Demon Harvest Rank BOSS tier Pet while the other was a Divine Rank BOSS tier Pet, both with tyrannical strength. The monsters on the road were barely enough to faze them. Also, there were 98 other [Zhan Long] core members behind us sweeping across horizontally. We were like a roller, crushing over all the enemies on the road, proceeding quickly towards our destination.
â¦â¦
âSha Shaâ¦â¦â
The thicket shook a little as a wind elf archer flew out with her bow raised. She laughed as she exclaimed. âVice-guild master, we, the [Zhan Long] members are the only ones here for now. No one else has ever come here before!â