Zhan Long

Chapter 348 Spirit Recovering Pill

Snow was falling from the sky as I entered the Icy Forest Graveyard, a cold, barren wasteland. Feathery flakes of snow landed on my armor and even descended upon my eyelashes. Following like a docile kitty, the Flaming Tiger God emitted a deep growl by my side. Of course, even though it seemed quite demure, my Flaming Tiger God would no longer be so docile once it starts attacking.

Nearby, a slender snow white feline stepped forward. The Snow Cat was a Lv 75 Phantom Tier monster with extremely high physical damage and attack speed to top it off. “That’s why no one was willing to come in this Icy Forest Graveyard. The difficulty of grinding for levels here is too high. Once you die, you’d have wasted the entire day of training. Obviously no one wanted to come here,” I mused.

The Snow Cat purred softly, and an icy figure appeared above. Its sharp claws came down as I dashed directly forward. “Keng! Keng!” I drew my swords and struck before the Snow Cat could attack. A majestic aura enveloped both swords as they lashed out in four consecutive strikes. The Snow Cat howled in pain as it was knocked backwards. Simultaneously, four damage numbers appeared——

“2873！”

“2422！”

“2839！”

“2238！”

It was clear that the Emperor Qin’s Sword in my right hand caused higher damage. At the same time, a thought came to me, and I activated the skill——[Combo]LV-8!

I launched five extremely fast successive strikes with my sword. It was a lot swifter than the strikes made by the [Combo] I had used before; the five blows landed in an instant. The Snow Cat let out a yelp before collapsing to the ground. In reality, it was only able to launch one hit before getting instantly killed by me.

I stood silently in the snow and gazed at the swords in my grasp. Resting in my right hand, the light of the [Wind Blade] shook the Emperor Qin’s Sword; in my left, the glow of [Fierce Ice Sword] entombed the Deep Sea Cold Iron Sword. Tsk. Tsk. As expected, so long as my [Yi Hai] remains calm enough, I can utilize two different skills at the same time, thus allowing me to greatly reduce the delay between activating two skills simultaneously. Such an ability would be especially useful against expert opponents like Q-Sword and Jian Feng Han. If I could activate two skills at the same time, the chance of my opponent dodging or blocking two consecutive attacks is much lower.

I felt a rush of excitement as I aimed at my next target. Not too far away there was another Snow Cat. With a wave of my arms, my left sword sent out an [Ice Blade] while my right sword slashed with a [Wind Blade]!

“3628！”

“4129！”

I followed up with a chain of normal attacks, making the Snow Cat wail as it died. Hehe, the damage is just too terrifying. Even my Flaming Tiger God didn’t have the chance to attack.

After picking up the silver coins that dropped, I threw them into my bag as I continued walking while carefully observing my surroundings. As I had expected, these small silver flowers that gave off a touching sense of reflection were the Eye-Catching Grass, a Lv 8 herb. Not letting this chance pass up, I dug up each and every one of them. This way, I was able to grind my harvesting skills, or else I’d have no way of harvesting Lv 10 herbs.

Not far ahead, I suddenly discovered a line of graves. Although they were covered by heavy snow, the outlines of each grave was clear. As I strode forward, I could hear a low growl come from the graves. In the next moment,”BANG!” a bloody hand broke through the snow, followed by an almost completely decayed head. The sinister face would make anyone throw up. Just like that, it rose up from its grave and charged right at me.

“Wah…..”

I quickly shut my mouth and began gathering strength in both of my arms. The two blades began intertwining as they created multiple afterimages. The Zombie cried out as it flung its arms in the air and jumped at me. At that moment my left arm reflexively lifted my Deep Sea Cold Iron Sword, “Pa!” I easily blocked the attack. Just as I expected, the probability of a successful block from my secondary sword arm was extremely high. Along with a player’s own maneuvering the probability of success would further increase. On top of that, I was already an expert in swordsmanship in reality. The Twin Sword Style was also very capable in the art of blocking. Thanks to this, my maneuverability had greatly improved.

After cutting down that Zombie, I picked the Eye-Catching Grass on top of its grave and continued forward. That Spirit Recovering Grass must be deeper in the Ice Forest Graveyard.

In the end, I was able to grind my harvesting skills while casually picking up these herbs. After around two hours, I heard a “Ding.” My Harvesting skill was now Lv 9, and my bag had a bunch of Eye-Catching Grass. As I continued further, I noticed that the graves were becoming more and more dense. I was aggroing 3-5 different Lv 75 zombies at the same time. On the bright side, I had my little tiger to support me. Along with my 10% lifesteal effect, I could solo 8-10 zombies at once without a problem.

I hacked and slashed a bloody path through the mass of monsters, leaving a trail of black blood splattered across the white snow. I walked for about 10 minutes and as I had expected, a great valley appeared in front of me. In reality, it was just a big graveyard where huge crowds of zombies covered the entire map. At the other end of the valley there was an entrance to a cave dripping with shiny, crimson blood. On top of that, the entire map was dyed blood-red. The fact that it was crimson was basically telling me that the area was extremely dangerous. For a map to be dangerous for someone at my level meant that there was a high level BOSS hiding. Yup, it’s possible that there are even Lv 9 herbs in there!

After scanning the map, I determined the course of my attack; I cleared out a path for myself from the canyon of the valley. That way I could save some time, since Fan Shu City and Jiu Li City have similar maps, it was possible that I wasn’t the only one looking for Spirit Recovering Grass. Whoever is the first to find Spirit Recovering Grass, will be the one to obtain the charm for being the first to create a Lv 9 pill. The reward for doing so definitely wouldn’t be too small.

“Sha sha…..”

After slicing my Emperor Qin’s Sword into the canyon, and using my Deep Sea Cold Iron Sword to maintain my balance, I pushed myself and slid down the icy canyon. My little tiger roared and closely followed me. After sliding down 100 meters, I regained my balance at the bottom of the canyon. By then, 11 zombies had already come roaring in my direction. I quickly retreated a step and opened one hand, activating [Black Tortoise Realm] and forming the [Soul Army]. Then, with a raise of my arm, I cast [Seven Star Fragment Slash] right into the crowd.

Using my primary arm to cut, I was able to have a higher attack. My secondary hand gripped the Deep Sea Cold Iron Sword as it made a sweeping slice and knocked away the first zombie. Taking a step forward, I smoothly advanced and let my swords dance as I swiftly cut down the first zombie into a gory pile of meat and bones. By the time it died, it looked as though someone had cut all of its meat off its bones and all that was left was its bony frame. Even I couldn’t help but take in a deep breath of cold air. F*ck, I never thought that the Twin Sword Style would be this powerful.

In addition to my attacks, Flaming Tiger God activated [Burstfire Raid]. With a sorrowful cry, the zombies dropped one by one. I lost almost half my health under the barrage from the zombies. I was able to use [Heal] and 10% lifesteal to pull my health back up. Even though I could see the blood from the zombies turn into my own strength, it made me feel sick as I watched my body absorb the blood from these disgusting zombies. But then again, it made me feel better knowing it was just a game….

……

I slowly cleared the monsters as I walked around the border of the valley to the other end. At the same time, I noticed that the respawn rate of the monsters were really fast. It only took around 60 minutes for them to respawn. This wasn’t a bad thing for me. Even if someone comes after me, they won’t be able to clear the mobs easily. Theses Level 75 Phantom Tier monsters were no joke. Normal players could definitely not beat them. Of course, if Fan Ge Que or Q-Sword or even Jian Feng Han brings a squad over, then I won’t do anything but extend my arms, closes my eyes and say, “Brothers, come kill me. I’ve done wrong. The BOSS is yours……”

After killing for around 2 hours, I finally reached the cave entrance. Even after killing so much, I only received 7% of my experience bar. Leveling up after Lv 70 is so hard. Unless it was a SS Class server mission or a massive event, there was no way I could quickly level up.

……

After clearing out the zombies at the entrance, I healed myself up and entered the cave with my Flaming Tiger God. When I stepped into the cave, I began shivering. It was really cold! If the outside was like a refrigerator, then the cave would be a freezer!

“Ding!”

[System Notice]: You have entered a Sinister Map – Cave of the Dead King

Layers of frost appeared on my brows. I waved my sword around, using the flames on its blade to melt the ice. After walking a little further with Flaming Tiger God, I noticed a golden flower growing on the walls. After looking carefully, I realized that it was the Spirit Returning Grass that I’ve been looking for. I’ve finally found the Lv 9 alchemy ingredient!

Even if the Dead King is here, I’ll just harvest these for now!

I took out my medicine shovel and started digging——

“Ding!”

System Notice: Congratulations. You have obtained [Spirit Recovering Grass] x4. Herb Gathering Proficiency +9!

……

Continuing on, I dug out the remaining dozens of Spirit Recovering Grass from the wall. After that, I stood in the Dead King Cave and started to refine the pills. After using up six alchemy furnaces, I’d finally completed the first Lv 9 Medicine Pill.

“Ding!”

System Notice: Congratulations. You have obtained [Spirit Recovering Pill] x2!

After that, another bell resounded. This was the sound that I was waiting for.

“Ding!”

System Notice: Congratulations. You are the first player to refine the [Spirit Recovering Pill]. Reward: Charm +7

……

Hehe. Charm +7. It seems like I didn’t come here for nothing.

After venturing deeper and killing the small mobs on the side, my bag became filled with Spirit Recovering Grass. I had collected around 2000 strands already! However, I felt that something was off. Since entering the cave, I hadn’t felt even the slightest movement from the BOSS. As I continued, I found a fresh pair of bones at the end of the cave. God damnit! Who killed the boss before me….?

Opening the forums, I searched for Dead King Cave and felt relieved. There was a stickied post about guild activities.

[Activity] Jiu Li City’s [Legend] guild will enter the Icy Forest Graveyard this afternoon. The target, Dead King Cave’s Dead King!

……

This was a post from 4 days ago. This meant that they’ve searched the map already. The Spirit Recovering Grass was only a recent addition to the system so the [Legend] players who killed the BOSS did not find them. However, I missed out on the BOSS after finding the Spirit Recovering Grass. Talk about fate…..

At the same time, Old K sent a message in the guild chat, “Is there anyone near Icy Forest Graveyard?”

I quickly replied, “I’m here. What’s the matter?”

Old K said, “Our First Division has 20 people leveling in the Icy Forest Graveyard and they were attacked by members of [Mass Burial]. They have around 100 people. We’re planning to send a group over to teach them a lesson.

I couldn’t help but smile and looked towards the cave entrance, “No need to send a group. I’ll go over!”

Old K laughed, “Okay. Based on your abilities, it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll let Wang Jian bring a group of 100 over to explore the map while they’re at it. You should be careful. These [Mass Burial] members are all the elites of their guild.

“Don’t Worry!”

I held my sword and walked towards the cave’s entrance. After struggling to climb back out, I looked towards the direction of the snowy valley. That was the place that Qing Qian mentioned. It’s not too far from me. It’ll probably take me ten minutes to get there.