Zhan Long

Chapter 684 Battle of Magma Falls


Cutting through the Magic Dragon’s Nest, 5000+ of [Zhan Long]’s elite players climbed the volcano while it was still dormant and pa.s.sed through the Zi Wu Mountains. Wan Er and I were the first to reach the peak. I looked towards the east. In the distance lay our old home, Ba Huang City. There were green forests as far as the eye could see. Immortal’s Path Forest was once a most highly contested grinding map for Ba Huang City’s guilds.


……


I lead my horse down the mountain. After Tian Ling City had opened up, almost all of the maps in the game had resp.a.w.ned. Immortal’s Path was one of them. Originally, the Immortals Path Forest only had monsters that were level 100 or so. Now, it was covered with Level 120 Thunder Tier Mobs. There were Poison Wasps, Blue Mantis and Flame Mantis, the three types of mobs. It just so happens that these three give off the most Level 1 babies. On top of that, once a player catches one of these three monsters as a pet, it was very easy to level up its stats. No matter if it was used as support for grinding or killing other players, it was a great addition. And so, even no, the Immortal’s Path Forest was an unforgettable map for top tier players. Besides grinding levels, many of them go there to catch pets to earn some money. Quite a few solo players call it their own little heaven.


The Poison Wasp and Blue Mantis both had a six star increase in their strength and a superiority rating between 30% and 80%. They were normally sold at around 10G-100G with a slight deviation. However, if any players caught a pet with a superiority rating above 90%, then it would at least be priced at 800G. And so, quite a few people go there to grind levels. There was at least the chance of meeting one or two Level 1 Babies in a day. Catching one with a superiority over 90% was enough to feed a person for half a month.


My Flying Scythe War Horse snorted flames and galloped forward. My Ancient Heavenly Tiger ran by my side while Yao Yan, Old K, and Dong Cheng Lei followed behind. We grandly marched across the Immortal’s Path Forest and did not bother the players that were grinding in the map. The Immortal’s Path Forest was not our target. There were already a large amount of players that had taken up territories here so there wasn’t much left to conquer. Comparatively, however, most of the secrets of the Magma Falls Mountain Range map had yet to be scouted out. It was far more worth it if we were to scout out the rest of it.


……


“Grrr….”


My Ancient Heavenly Tiger roared. We charged out of the Immortal’s Path Forest. Further ahead, a mountain wrapped with flames suddenly appeared before us. That was our target——Magma Falls Mountain Range!


Magma Falls Mountain Range’s map was similar to Zi Wu Mountain. They were both volcanos. There were flames all over the mountain and rivers of magma that slithered down the slopes. In addition, there were some fire type plants that grew spa.r.s.ely along the center of the mountain. These allowed monsters that weren’t afraid of the flames to survive. They would eat up all of their favorite plants. Our mission this time was to kill these high level flame monsters to grind levels and smelt equipment. Of course, more importantly was to help w.a.n.g Jian and Li Mu gain a foothold in this map.


We weren’t here to bully others but we would never allow others to bully us!


……


“Brother Xiao Yao!”


In the distance, w.a.n.g Jian rode on a black war horse. He was waving his blade in the air as he smiled, “We’re over here”!


Li Mu was close behind him. 100 of the top level players of the [Valiant Bravery] camp were all there. No one had died. Most likely, those who had died in battle had been revived and were waiting for us to come over.


Wan Er’s face turned red and she wiggled around in my lap. She then leapt off the horse and raised her dagger. Her cloak fluttered in the wind as she smiled, “Li Mu, how are the mobs here? Do they give a lot of experience?”


Li Mu nodded, “Yup, they’re all Level 125 Monsters. There’s one type called the Magma Ox and it has extremely explosive charging power. There’s another called the Flame Tailed Scorpion. It’s another Level 125 Thunder Tier monster. Of course, there’s no need to mention its experience. They’re both suitable mobs for [Zhan Long]’s players. On top of that, their drop rates are pretty nice. w.a.n.g Jian and I have been grinding here for less than half an hour and we’ve already gotten two OP equipments. Unfortunately, we were chased out by Thunder Swift’s men. D*mm*t, they’re just relying on the fact that they have more people. They aren’t respecting the hundred men that we have here.”


I raised my eyebrow and said, “[Hous of Prestige] only has 2000 players, how could they be so arrogant?”


Li Mu wryly smiled, “Compared to our hundred man team, his 2000 man team is like an army. Plus, why wouldn’t Swift Thunder be so arrogant?”


I pulled out my Dragon Reservoir Sword and looked up at the Magma Falls Mountain Range. I smiled, “Let’s go, why don’t we go and check out those Magma Oxen and Flame Tailed Scorpions. If we must, then we’ll meet with Swift Thunder and see whether the elites of [House of Prestige] have improved at all!”


Everyone nodded. Most of the people we brought with us were knight types. There were at least 1000 players that had mounts. Furthermore, we had some monks, knights, and berserkers who still hadn’t gotten their mounts yet. They were enough to make our foot soldiers able to defend our ranged players. There was no other way. The game had been open for too long and there were less and less mount type Level 1 pets. Let’s not talk about getting some amazing G.o.dly horse, most people are praying just to get a mount.


……


1000+ [Zhan Long] knights all entered into Magma Falls Mountain Range. Li Mu, w.a.n.g Jian and I were leading the party.


Boulders rolled down the mountain. One after another, hot streams of magma slowly rolled down the mountain. On top of that, some plants grew along the cliffs. Seeing them couldn’t’ help but make people wonder, that plants could actually survive under thousand degree temperature. To top it off, it had a peach like fruit hanging off its stems. Under the firelight it looked shiny and extremely enticing.


Li Mu smiled, “Those are Magma Fruits. They only grow under high temperatures and around magma. They’re also the Magma Ox’s favorite food.”


“Ok….”


I urged my horse forward. The Magma Fall’s Mountain wasn’t very precipitous and so the mounted players could move around without a problem. The only problem was that our movement speed decreased by 40% or so. But that was fine, we were here to kill monsters, not to run.


Moving forward, the ground began to flatten out. We had entered the first plateau of the mountain. In the distance, the magma river formed a long ribbon that cut between the mountains. Stems of Lava Fruit flourished on the ground. We could even see oxen mooing in the distance. They stood in the rivers of lava and were slowly making their way to the land. It opened its mouth and chomped onto the Magma Fruit. It pulled off both the leaves and the fruit. It happily closed its eyes as chewed in satisfaction. These were the Magma Ox, Level 125 Thunder Tier Monsters!


“Ha….” I raised my Dragon Reservoir Sword and said, “n.o.body advance any more. I will solo it first. I want to see just how strong these monsters are on this Magma Falls Mountains to make Swift Thunder drive [Zhan Long]’s players out like this.”


“Ok.” w.a.n.g Jian smiled and nodded.


My horse lunged forward and I raised my Dragon Reservoir Sword. I threw a [Wind Blade]. I rushed forward with my horse. That one attack’s damage was terrifying. It cut into the Magma Ox’s b.u.t.t, drawing blood. “Moo mooo” it cried out. It turned around and pointed its sharp horns at me. “Pa pa” it dealt two ramming attacks.


I quickly used my Brilliant Fire Emperor to parry the attack. For someone like me, who practices the Twin Blade Swordplay Style, my left hand weapon was much more useful as a parrying and defense tool that would support my right hand’s Dragon Reservoir attack. You could say it was both attack and defense. However, once the opponent loses the strength to counterattack, then that would be the moment that I attack with both swords. [Sword Tempest]’s dense attacks made the opponents lose their will to fight.


This Magma Ox had already lost its will to live. Practically each attack I dealt created 10,000 damage and my critical hits dealt 30,000 damage. Add on the little tiger’s attacks, I had killed the monster in 12 seconds, dealing 20,000 dps.


“Moooooo…..”


The Magma Ox fell to the ground and actually dropped 1G and 12 Silver. I reached out to pick them up. I couldn’t help but sigh, “No wonder Swift Thunder has been protecting this map like it was a treasure chest. Killing one monster actually earns a dollar. D*mn, this place is like a mine. Wouldn’t I be getting a couple hundred in a day?”


Li Mu smiled, “Exactly. Why else do you think that Swift Thunder would try and seize this map? [House of Prestige] was built from scratch. Rumor has it that Bai Li Ruo Feng isn’t a board member of any corporation either and so they place a lot of importance on recruiting people in the game. It’s pretty similar to our [Zhan Long]. We’re all guilds that rely fundamentally on the game.”


I raised my sword and said, “No need to say anymore. Let’s go and continue upward. There are too few monsters here. Besides, it looks like it’s already been cleaned out once.”


Li Mu nodded, “Yup that’s right. Bai Li Ruo Feng and the others have already cleaned out this floor. These ox had probably just sp.a.w.ned. If we go 2000 yards up, then we’ll reach a more fertile area of the Magma Falls Mountain. The monsters there sp.a.w.n faster. That’s where Bai Li Ruo Feng drove me out of.”


“Ok let’s go!”


We continued pressing forward. More and more Magma Fruit were appearing in the mountains, as well as Magma Ox and Flame Tailed Scorpions. The Flame Tailed Scorpions were just a large Scorpion. It was a whole three meters long when it reached out its head and tail. On top of that, the poison needle on its tail was engulfed with flames. You could just see how strong its flame element was. However, there were just too many of us. We had to practically squeeze through. One or two Flame Tailed Scorpions did not pose any threat.


“Brother Xiao Yao, look over there!”


Qing Qian picked up her dagger and excitedly pointed at the forest like area in the distance. She smiled, “There looks like a lot of Magma Ox here! There’s at least a hundred! I’ll take some men over…..”


I couldn’t help but smile, “Go, go!”


……


Qing Qian immediately brought over several hundred players. It’s hard to see so many monsters collected in one spot. The beautiful girl was practically drooling. Our main goal this time was to PK, but as normal players, we’re constantly finding ways to improve. Plus, this was a guild activity. Besides the team that Matcha took out to kill the Greed Wolf Brigade, the rest of the elites were all gathered here.


A group of cavalry charged down at the Magma Ox. The Knights used [Holy Provoke] to grab the mobs aggro while the archers and musketeers focused their fire onto the mob. The killing rate was extremely fast and steady. The Magma Ox would summon a Flame Shield that burned everything around a certain target and so our healers would add a [Anti-Magic Shield] around the knights. The entire process was incredibly safe.


……


After killing the twentieth ox, suddenly, we could hear a shriek coming from the mountains, peaking my curiosity. That was the sound of an arrow. Then, in the next moment, all of the knights that Qing Qian brought with her took a hit. One of them had a chest buried with arrows. He was then instantly killed by an [Indigo Sea Arrow] and a [Flame Bullet].


“Defend, we’ve been ambushed!”


The rest of the knights raised their shields while healers gave health. Bearing the hits we built up our defense.


“Charge!”


I cracked my reins and lead Li Mu, w.a.n.g Jian and the others in a charge down the mountain side. In front of us, Swift Thunder raised his battle axe and he coldly looked at us, “Hmph, Li Xiao Yao is here too. Looks like today is destined to be a fierce battle!”