Swhoosh!
When I appeared outside White Cloud City, there weren't many players gathered here. There were only a few leveling parties heading toward the outskirts of the city. There were also a few people shouting at each other to form a party at the edge of the forest in the distance. Basically, all of the last-minute parties were gathered here.
There were a lot of solo players in the China server, but not all of them were peerless experts. Therefore, solo players needed to form parties, and the areas near the leveling areas were the best places for solo players to form parties.
I looked in my bag and saw that there were two pieces of Armor of Flame that had yet to be appraised. So, I immediately headed to the Appraisal Center. After the stats of the equipment appeared, they were not bad. At the very least, they were much stronger than the Bone Corroding Golden Equipment Set that Ling'er was wearing. So, I swapped them out. There were also five Honor Tokens in my bag. I exchanged them for 10,000 points from the Palace Guards and recruited 100 Swift Wind Cavalry!
Now there were 400 Swift Wind Cavalrymen in the King's City, and they were a force that couldn't be ignored!
A few girls' names lit up in my friend list one after another. Ling Xue was the last to come online because she was taking Jiangnan Qiao and Xun Meng to eat outside the school. Of course, it was cool to see three beautiful girls driving a BMW out to eat. It was like riding the Golden Wild Boar King and roaming the streets of White Cloud City.
Beep!
Breeze Snow: I'm coming, I'm coming. Where should we meet?
Breeze Snow: White Cloud City's eastern gate plaza, same place. Remember to repair your equipment and buy potions!
… …
It didn't take long for Ling Xue to appear in everyone's view. This time, our party was reduced to five members: Ling Xue, Ling Yue, Qin Yun, Chrysanthemum Daohana, and me. There was no doubt that we were the true ace party of Snow Moon. If there was an international five-man team competition in the future, our party would definitely have the strength to fight for the championship.
Ling Xue said with a smile, "I'm so full. There's a new Sichuan restaurant outside the school. Hoho, the food is pretty good ~"
I glanced at her and said, "Remember to call me next time …"
"You'll have to pay for it!"
"Sure."
Ling Xue asked again, "What's the mission today? Where is the Scholar going to catch a mount?"
"That place is called the Specter Forest. It's on the other side of the White Cloud Mountain Range. Our goal today is to cross the White Cloud Mountain Range before midnight. After that, we'll have a good night's sleep. We'll gather at 9 am sharp tomorrow morning to catch Fire Cloud Leopards and level up!"
Ling Xue was a little surprised. She stuck out her tongue and said with a smile, "We have to go through the White Cloud Mountain Range. It's already covered with snow. It must be very cold …"
"Alright, let's get ready to go!"
"Alright!"
As a result, I led the party out of White Cloud City. Of course, a party with four top-tier beauties was extremely eye-catching. Almost every player on the road was the center of attention. Of course, I was the only blind spot in their eyes.
Basically, when male players saw such a leveling party, they would immediately filter out the men.
We arrived at the edge of Moonlight Forest around 8 pm. Then, we began to advance toward the White Cloud Mountain Range.
The White Cloud Mountain Range was a gigantic mountain system that surrounded the entire White Cloud City like a winding dragon. The only exit was a tiny Icewind Canyon, and it was directly opposite the exit — Bloody Fortress. It was a fortress that the Army of Darkness had set up to defend against the elite armies of the Silvermoon Alliance.
On the other side, Xue Yue Studio's other party had also set off to the Despair Glacier to grind. Bing Cha, Summer, and Silent Rain were the main damage dealers, while Zi Yue was responsible for killing the solo and newly spawned mobs. After a few days of training, Zi Yue had reached Level 110. Now that she had a Level 110 Heaven-grade dagger, Zi Yue had become one of the top assassins in China in terms of DPS. Of course, her control was basically mediocre.
Bing Cha's equipment had been upgraded several times in a row, and he now had an AoE skill called Sword Aura of Destruction. He could just barely be considered one of the top-tier warriors in White Cloud City. Summer herself wasn't much, but she had a high-damage summon and the Slime King Slug as her pet yesterday. This tanky pet could take a lot of the MT's responsibilities, and Silent Rain's equipment and skills were pretty good. After I gave her the Elemental Bow, it was clear that no one could shake her position as the main damage dealer.
As for the healer, Bing Cha pulled Jiang Nan's Little Qiao over to him. Little Qiao was Ling Xue's good friend, so it was only natural that she had a good relationship with Bing Cha.
I checked my level. I was Level 118, 81% of the experience bar. I was just a little more than a level away from Level 120. This was yet another dividing line in terms of strength.
I couldn't help but feel excited when I thought about the blue curtain in Bing Lan's hand. This skill could even resist the Frost Dragon Bone's dragon breath, one of the ten bosses of Spirit of Grief. If I could obtain such a ridiculous amount of Defense, I wouldn't need to be afraid of Seven-star Lamp's skills at all. In fact, this Defense skill could even block Seven-star Lamp's Affection Skill!
Ling Yue paused for a moment. We were walking through a mountain range full of shrubs, and it was clear that this weak little mage wouldn't be able to bear the burden. Therefore, Ling Xue walked up to me and said with a smile, "Big sis, let me help you. It'll save us some energy."
Ling Yue smiled back. "Mn!
Mages are too weak. How disappointing. If I had known this would happen, I would've chosen a warrior from the beginning. Mn, a female beastman berserker! "
I was speechless. It was hard to imagine that Ling Yue would've chosen such a character. Mn, it would've been a waste of a heavenly gift.
In non-realistic games of the past, transvestites ran rampant, and the ones who chose female beastmen were mostly perverted men. However, in virtual games like this, everyone's body was scanned to confirm their gender. Transvestites had disappeared, so of course there wouldn't be any perverted women who would choose beastmen characters. Of course, I heard that Big Sis Fr had chosen female beastmen because she wanted to be the most beautiful woman in Clear Breeze City. I didn't know if that was true or not.
… …
Two hours later, we gradually entered the high mountains. The surrounding forest had turned into a coniferous forest, and the greenery gradually decreased. After a while, snow started to fall from the sky, and the temperature dropped a lot.
"Ugh …"
Qin Yun's lips were a bit pale. She clearly couldn't endure this kind of temperature. Priests weren't much stronger than mages, so this was to be expected.
I said, "Turn off your sensory system, or else you really won't be able to endure it."
Qin Yun said, "I've already lowered it to the lowest 5%, but it's still a bit cold. The White Cloud Mountain Range really isn't a place mages can come to …"
Ling Xue raised her head and looked into the distance. She said with a smile, "Good thing we're almost at the top. After the peak, we'll be facing the sun, so it should be much warmer."
At this time, a few stupid monsters rolling snowballs appeared in front of us — snowmen!
"Hualala!"
The snowballs rolled down the mountain range. I hurriedly hugged Qin Yun and dodged to the side. The huge snowballs flew down the mountain from where we had been standing.
Ling Yue and Chrysanthemum Daohana used Blink to dodge. Ling Xue was even stronger, and directly swung out a Profound Ice Sword Energy, smashing a snowball in front of us into pieces!
"Ling Er, go kill that snowman!"
I gave the order, and the Phantom girl who wasn't afraid of the cold immediately dashed forward. Sword Slash instantly wreaked havoc in all directions. The snowman was just a Level 140 common mob, so it wasn't much of a threat at all. It died in a few hits. However, these snowballing guys were really annoying, and they often caught us off guard.
Therefore, I ordered Ling Er to clear the path in front of us and sweep away all obstacles.
… …
Another hour passed in the blink of an eye, and we finally reached the top of the mountain. Wind and snow were blowing here, and it felt very much like Longyu. In fact, I was starting to suspect that the Longyu Bing Lan was in was on the White Cloud Mountain Range. But then I thought about it and realized that it was impossible. Otherwise, the players of White Cloud City would often see giant dragons roaring through the sky.
Ling Xue pointed down the mountain and said with a smile, "Look!
We can almost see the greenery of the forest. The path down the mountain is a little steep, but it seems to be a little shorter. "
I said, "Ling Xue, do you take Ling Yue or Qin Yun? You choose. I'll take the rest, so don't snowball down the mountain …"
Qin Yun looked at me and blushed. She seemed to recall that sweet kiss on the Moonlight Plains.
Ling Xue said, "You take Sister Qin Yun, don't look at me like that. I'm not that petty ~"
"Fine!"
And so, I held Qin Yun's hand in one and Chrysanthemum Daohana's hand in the other. Just as Ling Xue said, the journey down the mountain was very short. I estimated that we would reach Ghost Forest by midnight.
… …
At 0: 37 AM, I heard a thud. Finally, the ground beneath my feet was covered in green grass. I opened the world map and saw that we had left White Cloud City's territory. We had entered the Dark Territory and countless dangers were waiting for us in the forest ahead!
Ling Yue checked the time and gritted her teeth. "Let's explore the forest today and see if we can tame a Fire Cloud Leopard. We'll grind here tomorrow, and the mobs won't be low-level!"
Her suggestion was immediately approved by everyone. It was a little unreasonable to come all the way here just to sleep.
At the edge of the forest, there were black bears. They were Level 130 common mobs, so we ignored them completely. Ling Er circled the forest a few times and killed them all.
As they advanced further in, plants with large leaves appeared around them. The ground was also wet, and their boots made uncomfortable sounds as they stepped on the rotten grass. Giant pythons coiled around the tree trunks. They were about the thickness of an arm and five to six meters long. Originally, they would not have caused any trouble.
But Ling Xue said, "Scholar, tell Ling Er to kill all the pythons here!"
I asked, "The pythons didn't attack first. Why kill them?"
The little beauty blinked. "Because I'm afraid …"
"Fine!"
We sent Ling Er out to kill the pythons and continued forward. It wasn't long before a vast savanna appeared behind the forest. The legendary Fire Cloud Leopards should be here!
Ling Yue raised a hand. "Stop, there's movement up ahead!"
I immediately entered Shadow Meld and went over to take a look!
Rustle rustle...
Parting the weeds in front of them, they saw a One-Horned Demon Goat lying on the ground. It was already dead, and its four hooves were stretched out. Its stomach had been torn open, and three leopards were lying on it, devouring the Demon Goat's organs!
"Hah!
These are Fire Cloud Leopards? "
I was slightly surprised. As expected, these leopards had flames on their backs. Their eyes were dark green, their teeth were sharp, and their limbs were strong. They were clearly sprinting experts!
[Fire Cloud Leopard] (Elite)
Level: 145
Attack: 3250 ~ 3750
Defense: 3500
HP: 280000
Skills: [Bloodthirsty Bite], [Great Ambush], [Aurora Speed]
Passive: King of the Savanna. They live in groups and specialize in ambushing lone prey. Even the Savanna Lions are afraid of this Fire Cloud Leopard...
What high Attack!
This Level 145 elite monster had even higher Attack than a Level 130 Ghost Rank boss. Clearly, if I could tame this Fire Cloud Leopard, it would increase the user's Attack by a lot!
In the party channel, Ling Xue asked, "How is it, did you find it?"
"Yes, I'll bring it back immediately!"
Thus, I switched to the Icefire Bow and fired an Ice Arrow at the head of a Fire Cloud Leopard!
"Bang!"
“6738！”
The moment they were attacked, the three Fire Cloud Leopards went berserk and turned into three phantoms!
I immediately turned around. By this time, Ling Er had caught up and intercepted two of them with Sweeping Slash. With Ling Er's strength, killing two Level 145 elites shouldn't be a problem for her. Thus, I took the lone one and ran back!
Whoosh!
Grass flew into the air as I switched to the Soul Demise Sword. I turned around and slashed at the Fire Cloud Leopard, causing it to howl and the flames on its body to sizzle!
The girls were slightly surprised. "Wow, this is a Fire Cloud Leopard? It looks so powerful, much stronger than the Wild Boar King!"
"Don't mention the Wild Boar King …"
Qin Yun said, "Everyone, don't attack. Scholar, use Tame. I'll heal you, and Ling Xue, get ready to pull aggro …"
"Mn!" The girls nodded in unison.
Thus, I stood still and used Tame. As usual —
Ding ~!
System Notice: Tame failed. The Fire Cloud Leopard has entered a berserk state, and its Attack is increased by 50%. You cannot attack a target while tamed!
… …
After adding another 50% Attack, the Fire Cloud Leopard's attacks became even more terrifying. "Pa pa pa", my HP dropped by 2000 every second as it swung its claws!
Thankfully, the priest I brought was Qin Yun. Anyone else would've failed.
The girls watched hopefully and said, "If Scholar rides a Fire Cloud Leopard back to White Cloud City, he'll be so cool!
Hehe, the Fire Cloud Leopard is so big, even bigger and mightier than the guild's Cloudmane Horse! "
Of course I hoped so too. Moreover, the Fire Cloud Leopard's stats were definitely higher than the Cloudmane Horse's.
But, at that moment, a system bell messed up all my plans.
Ding ~!
System Notice: Tame failed. The Fire Cloud Leopard has evolved into a Dark Gold Rank boss. All stats increased by 25%!
Ding ~!
System Notice: The target is a Dark Gold Rank boss 20 levels higher than you. You cannot tame it with your current strength!
… …
Damn, I can't even use Tame? What the hell is going on?