Zhan Long

Chapter 233 – A Conflict I Wanted No Part In

“Ao….”

Coming out from the Arctic Fox Forest was a Lv 66 Elite Ice attribute Arctic Fox with pure white fur. It was pretty much the strongest level monster in the central section of Firestone Canyon. It was also perfect for me to grind levels with since killing Elite Monsters would increase the leveling speed of my pet by a lot.

Looking off into the distance, both [Vanguard] and [Misty Palace] players were standing opposite of each other around 200 meters away. Their troops were standing in formation, but neither had made a move just yet. Both sides knew they didn’t have enough men yet to be at 100% fighting capabilities. They had also both agreed on waiting half an hour; if any side initiated early, then the video evidence of it would be circulated on the forums and hurt the reputations of their respective guilds.

……

Gripping my Frost Rain Sword, I charged straight at the Arctic Fox. Right when the Arctic Fox was about to release a magical arrow, I cast [Strength of A Thousand Men], and interrupted the skill from being cast. Then came [Great Realm of Desolation], and a great big number came flying up.

2471!

By my side, a streak of fire came out of nowhere as my tiger growled. [Flaming Claw] had struck the body of the Arctic Fox, dealing 3014 points of damage in a single stroke! I was stunned just by looking at the damage. Wow, it was already that strong at Lv 37. How strong would it be at Lv 60?!

After the [Flaming Claw] attack, the small tiger shook a little as he let out an angry growl. An invisible shockwave spread out and with a “hong”, the Arctic Fox lost another 1500+ health. With a couple of painful yelps, the fox tried to raise its front paws and use its abilities. Unfortunately for the fox, my tiger was extremely fierce and he suddenly grew larger with fire sprouting from his fur. With a [Fierce Roar], he stepped on the Arctic Fox and then opened his mouth to use [Vampiric Drain], killing off this Lv 66 Elite Monster in 2 seconds.

I was dumbstruck. A Valkyrie Tier Boss pet, was this its power?! Invincible! With the rate his stats were growing, soon they wouldn’t even be inferior to mine. Yup, with the [Vampiric Strike] life steal skill, he would soon take center stage on the battlefield. Personally, my own power would be increased by at least 40% with this tiger backing me up!

Bursting with joy, we headed off to kill the second Arctic Fox. After killing it, my tiger grew to Lv 38. As expected, killing higher level monsters while the tiger was at a low level would mean that there would be more experience for the tiger. In addition, the tiger was basically on par with the Arctic Fox, making grinding easier to exploit.

Far away, the large guilds were still arguing, but that wasn’t my problem. Arctic Foxes were magic based monsters and thus had low health, so they couldn’t withstand the attacks from me and my small tiger for long. They died quicker then I had expected, and the experience they gave was generous. I had already fallen in love with this training ground; my tiger would be able to get to Lv 55 in just 3 hours.

……

Unknowingly, close to half an hour had passed. I weaved through the edges of the Arctic Fox Forest unhindered, pretty much killing all of the Arctic Foxes. My bag already had 7 Silver Tier equipments and 11 Bronze Tier Equipments, and my little tiger had already risen to Lv 46!

Raising my head to look up, I saw an open field followed by a thick forest. Shadows of white were jumping around in the forest; Arctic Foxes! Yes, that was a perfect place to keep leveling.

With my Frost Rain Sword and the still somewhat cute tiger, I ran through the open field and went straight towards the forest!

……

“You there!”

Suddenly, there a voice above called out towards me.

Looking up, I saw two Wind Elf Archers. They were both [Misty Palace]’s members and one of them said: “Sorry friend. Our [Misty Palace] is currently leveling here and will soon be fighting [Vanguard]. If you don’t want to get caught up in this fight, you should leave quickly. Go find another training ground. If you die once, you’ll have wasted all that effort…..”

Laughing slightly, I said, “Don’t worry, I won’t interfere, I’m just leveling and won’t PK anyone…”

The Archer’s eyebrows furrowed, “Just past this place is the area that [Vanguard] has blocked off; do you really want to go that way?”

I nodded.

The other Archer shook his head, “No, we can’t let him through, his ID is concealed. If he is a spy for [Vanguard] that has discovered our troops here, he would make our situation even worse if he told [Vanguard] our location!”

I shot a glance at the bushes to my side; there were at least a hundred Archers lying in ambush. On another side, I could vaguely see some Musketeers with their guns ready. It was an open wide space in front, a suitable battling ground for heavy armored players. It seemed that they had planned to ambush [Vanguard]’s front line…

“Don’t worry, I won’t say anything…” I spread my hands out in submission, “In fact, I am supportive of the [Misty Palace] guild in the first place…”

The young Archer squinted, “No, we must see your ID; just because you are high leveled doesn’t mean you can belittle us…”

I gave a sigh in exasperation.

At that moment, a group of people came by; one of them was the young Berserker Guild Master Misty Clouds. Upon seeing me, he quickly realized everything. With a humble tone, he said, “Dear friend, would you kindly reveal your ID? Otherwise, we cannot let you pass…”

My own level was higher than his by 3, so even this Lv 61 Berserker wouldn’t be able to see my information at all.

TL: Yeah… I don’t know either, apparently it changes (maybe cuz he’s a higher level) I’m pretty sure that Shi Luo Ye explained all of this in a previous novel but… Dunno which one.

With a laugh, I revealed my ID, and the words immediately raised into the air above my head.

Xiao Yao Zi Zai Lv 64 Dragon City Night Watch & Ba Huang City’s 2nd Player

City: Ba Huang City

Guild: Zhan Long

Position: Guild Master

……

“Woah!” The Archer that had asked for my ID clenched his fist with a pale face, “It really…is Xiao Yao Zi Zai. Oh god, I just held up [Zhan Long]’s leader…and Ba Huang City’s 2nd ranked player…”

Misty Clouds was instead much calmer. He smiled lightly, “Hmph, I knew it. If he has the ability to hunt in Arctic Fox Forest alone, he should have both the courage and strength to do so. You are indeed the expert, Xiao Yao Zi Zai, a name that resounds throughout Ba Huang City. I didn’t think that our first meeting would be in such a dire situation, haha…”

I swung my Frost Rain Sword onto my shoulders and lazily leaned on a nearby tree. I smiled, “I also never thought that in Ba Huang City, besides [Zhan Long], there would still be another guild called [Misty Palace] that would be picking a fight with [Vanguard]. Truthfully, I’m very relieved; you can even say I’m very happy!”

Misty Clouds steeled his fist and replied in a serious tone, “There are some guilds that are putting up a tough front, for example, [Wrath of the Heroes]. There are also some guilds that are arrogant to their bones, for example, [Vanguard]. [Vanguard] practically rules all of Ba Huang City’s affairs; that Jian Feng Han even treats Ba Huang City as his own personal land. However, we, [Misty Palace], want to let [Vanguard] know that even if they are strong, they can only bully the weak. We [Misty Palace] will definitely not accept them, and we’ll fight if we must. If we die, at the most we’ll only lose levels. We can just stay up at night to train and fight them again!”

I was deeply moved. I raised my arms and waved my Frost Rain Sword, “Alright, I hope that you can win the war you’ve started. Today I came here to train for myself, so I won’t be joining the fighting going on here.”

Misty Clouds nodded, “Yeah. Xiao Yao, what do you think of our battle arrangement?”

I shook my head, “Not great…”

Misty Clouds froze, “If you say so, I hope you can give us some pointers…”

I reached out my hand and pointed to the front and said, “Your intent for ambush is too obvious. Furthermore, although your Archers and Musketeers are lying in wait in the bushes, you are an easy target from above. Once the enemies’ Wind Elves notice you guys from above, all of your troops will be plainly visible; you are going to fail this way. Instead, why don’t you prepare an ambush 500 meters south from here; there are bushes for you to hide in and also giant, tall trees to block vision from the sky. Arrange for some heavy armored players to start the battle here. Once the battle starts, retreat slowly to the south and ambush [Vanguard]’s players there. You’ll find the result to be better…”

Misty Clouds paled as he clenched his fist, “Damn! Why didn’t I think of this before…alright! Thank you, Xiao Yao. Your words helped us realize our weaknesses. I’ll arrange them accordingly immediately; there is still 10 minutes before they start their large scale attack. You should avoid the battle grounds so that you don’t get pulled into this disaster.”

I nodded, “Sure, I wish you luck! Let’s meet again sometime!”

“Okay!”

……

Carrying my sword and small tiger, I passed through the wide open space. This time, I chose to move forward on the grass. [Camouflage] would allow me to be invisible, and the small tiger was originally a wild animal, so it had a natural ability to blend in with the grass. It would be easier to hunt this way. With both the tiger and I disappearing into the wide open grassland, we resumed our Arctic Fox hunt journey.

“Pu!”

My sword slashed through an Arctic Fox’s body, causing a stream of fresh blood to gush out. At the same time, I turned and looked afar, noting that the battle had already started. War cries thundered through the air. Aside from [Misty Palace], there were two other strong guilds in the battle. One of them was [Ruined Bones] and the other was [Winds of Battle]. They were both newly established guilds in Ba Huang City. The most reassuring thing about China is that we never lack heroes. Ba Huang City, as a virtual city, also did not lack guilds with courageous and high ambitions. The emergence of [Misty Palace], [Ruined Bones] and [Winds of Battle] would complicate Ba Huang City’s power struggle even more. This was also a situation that [Zhan Long] needed.

If the world wasn’t chaotic, how would [Zhan Long] become famous?!

……

Even with the fierce battle so close, I acted as if nobody was there and continued to train. The battle of the three big guilds versus [Vanguard] was extremely desperate; there seemed to be endless deaths and revivals, as well as endless fires and explosions, on both sides. People perished in groups; the wide open space had turned into a river over-flowing with blood. But neither side had the intention of withdrawing, and so they continued their desperate killing.

“Shua!”

After a little more than an hour, the battle still continued on, but my Flaming Tiger God had already rose to Lv 52 and his stats exploded like crazy-

【Flaming Tiger God】(Valkyrie Tier Boss)

Level: 52

Attack: 2080 – 2600

Defense 1560

Health: 4160

Mana: 1352

Skills:【Flaming Claws】【Flame Armor】【Fierce Roar】【Vampiric Drain】【Burstfire Raid】

……

Holy, the attack, defense and health attributes increment were too fierce! He was only at Lv 52; if his level rose to Lv 64 like mine, it would definitely increase by a whole lot more. This pet’s growth attributes were really not a joke, it is currently the number one pet on the entire server!

Happily picking up an Arctic Fox Card that increased a player’s defense by 50 points, I continued to look further into the distance. There were still 7-8 more Arctic Foxes loudly wailing in the wilderness, waiting to give us experience.

Just as I was about to go there, the forests beside me suddenly started shaking. Following that, a Berserker from the [Winds of Battle] guild staggered out, his health not even at 10%. Carrying his battle-axe, his face was full of frustration, “Damn, so many people…:”

Before he even finish speaking, “pa”, an arrow struck at his shoulders; [Scattered Shot], stun successful!

A [Vanguard] Swordsman followed him out of the bushes; his killing method was extremely clean and agile. “Pu” his sword pierced the Berserker’s neck. Slowly pulling out his sword, he whispered, “[Ruined Bones], [Winds of Battle] and [Misty Palace]; they are indeed just a bunch of nobodies flocking together…”

At the side, an Archer carrying a longbow charged out from the forest, lowly bellowing: “Fourth Brother, careful, there’s a person there! Wait, it’s Xiao Yao Zi Zai!”

I started in alarm, realizing that I had forgotten to reactivate the function to hide my ID!

……

“Kill!”

The Swordsman suddenly raised his sword with both hands, his eyes filled with a strong desire to fight: “Only Xiao Yao Zi Zai alone, hmph; spoils of war like these cannot be let go. We have to tell all of Ba Huang City that today we not only defeated [Misty Palace], [Ruined Bones] and [Winds of Battle] acting together, we also managed to kill our old enemy in the Arctic Fox Forest–[Zhan Long]’s Guild Master, Xiao Yao Zi Zai!”

I stared blankly for a bit, then similarly raised my Frost Rain Sword and slightly laughed: “This fool, why rush into an early grave?”