The world was covered in snow, as if it was covered by a thin blanket.
The Snow Region was always so cold that I shivered the moment I teleported over. A layer of frost formed on the Pardon War Armor, adding to the chill.
I summoned the Flame Warhorse and charged down the snowy mountain.
When I arrived at Longyu, I saw Bing Lan standing near the Giant Dragon's Nest. She was standing on a halo and commanding a group of Dragon Knights to heal an injured black dragon.
"You're here?"
"Yes."
I took out the Soul Sucking Sword and handed it to Bing Lan. She glanced at the Flame Warhorse and laughed coldly. "Animal, behave. Otherwise, I'll kill you and feed you to the dragons!"
The Blazing Warhorse snorted and knelt down. This useless thing couldn't even withstand a single word of intimidation.
Bing Lan shouted and suddenly appeared in front of the Flame Warhorse. The Soul Assimilating Sword shone with a purple light that shot into the sky!
Puchi!
Lava-like blood splattered everywhere. The Soul Sucking Sword had pierced through the Flame Warhorse's neck. The horse neighed. It didn't look like it would survive.
I panicked and pulled on Bing Lan's shoulder from behind. "Don't, it's just leveling up. If you cut it into pieces, it will level up into a dung beetle..."
"Don't worry!"
Bing Lan smiled and quickly retreated, knocking me away. The Flame Warhorse, whose neck had been pierced, did not die immediately.
Bing Lan spread her fingers slightly. Her palms shone with holy light. She chanted in a low voice. In the end, she shouted, "Soul Tampering Art!"
Weng!
Weng!
Weng!
The Soul Sucking Sword trembled. The Flame Warhorse raised its head and howled in pain. However, the purple light on the Soul Sucking Sword kept surging into the Flame Warhorse's body.
Not long after, the Flame Warhorse's body actually changed!
"Crack!"
A flaming sword protruded from the top of the warhorse's head. The flames burned fiercely, and the warhorse's four hooves continued to extend. Its muscles swelled, and flames spewed out. Many golden runes appeared on the surface of its skin. Upon closer inspection, they were runes that resembled the Oracle Bone Script!
A few minutes later, the Blazing Warhorse looked completely different from before, and I was starting to recognize it more and more!
Ding ~!
System Notification: Congratulations, your mount [Flame Warhorse] has successfully leveled up to [Flame Qilin]!
…
"Damn, it's upgraded to a Divine Beast?!"
I couldn't stop smiling. I hurriedly opened the newborn Flame Qilin. Its powerful stats were even more shocking —
[Flame Kirin] (Earth Tier Boss Mount)
Strength: + 7,500
Stamina: + 7250
Agility: + 7000
Intelligence: + 5500
Attack Speed: + 150%
Attack range: 32 yards
Movement Speed: + 650%
Max Health: + 150000
Defense: + 70000
Turn back: -15%
Level Requirement: Holy Domain Level 200
Required Strength: 17500
Reputation Requirement: 4500000
… …
Compared to the Blazing Warhorse, it wasn't just a small upgrade. The difference was like the difference between heaven and earth. Moreover, the movement speed boost was terrifying. It had actually reached 650%! It wasn't any slower than the Fire Dragon's speed! In short, my running speed would be invincible in the future. My eyes widened in shock.
Bing Lan clapped her hands and said with a smile, "It's done. Want to try it out?"
"Mn!"
I walked up and patted the Qilin's head. The bastard was still wagging its tail shamelessly, its fiery red tail swaying back and forth.
I mounted the horse and felt a vast power flow into my body. This was proof that my stats had increased.
I checked my character's stats. My Attack had increased to almost 250,000, and my Defense had increased to a whopping 400,000. The strongest stat I had was my HP. Right now, I had almost 1.9 million HP. Even without the fire dragon, I was still a tank. As expected, 42 Stamina boosted my stats, especially after I lost my Earth God pet.
I was beyond excited. After bidding farewell to Bing Lan, I urged the Flame Qilin to run at full speed. The wind whistled past my ears as the Flame Warhorse galloped down Longyu like an arrow let loose from a bow.
In the middle of the night, I got excited and rode the Flame Qilin around the old site of White Cloud City. It only took me 10 minutes to do so. This thing was as fast as a Ferrari sports car!
However, White Cloud City was now a wasteland of undead. The tall city walls were in tatters, and most of the buildings inside the city had been destroyed. It was no longer as prosperous as it used to be.
I killed a couple of skeleton warriors that slipped out of the city and enjoyed myself until 3 am. Finally, I remembered that I needed to sleep.
I returned to my territory, logged off, and took off my helmet. I felt a bit hungry, so I called the service counter for supper. I ate some dumplings and went to sleep.
… …
The next day, I went to the company in the morning. Everything was on track. I had lunch with a couple of TV reporters and gave them a couple of red packets. There were three women and one man. The female reporters praised me for being handsome and promising, and I praised them for being young and beautiful. Everyone was happy. I had to shut these reporters up, or they would give me something I didn't have. Gossip was a fearful thing, and my little shop couldn't withstand the torment of public opinion.
There were some things that you knew were disgusting, but you still had to force a smile and flatter others. This was the law of survival in modern society. Upright people were nothing but fleeting clouds.
I wandered around until the afternoon. I ate dinner early and returned to the city!
Swhoosh!
A flash of white light later, I appeared in King's City.
There were players everywhere. There were players from Snow Moon and people from other factions. Right now, King's City was a mix of good and bad. There were all kinds of people here, and I even saw a couple of Soul Battle Robes and Thousand Year Achievements players.
An idea flashed through my mind, and a plan came to mind!
I immediately ran to the territory manager and put Soul Battle Robes, Thousand Year Achievements and their subguilds on my enemy list. Then, the people from these two guilds would have to pay double the normal price when they came to King's City. Fuck, I'll kill you all!
Seven-star Lamp, that heartless brat, had stolen my Skywater Prefecture. I was going to take it back as revenge, but the Reign of Chaos patch had opened at this time, and Soul Battle Robes was like duckweed on the water. Without a foothold, I had no way to get rid of their roots.
Ling Xue saw that I was online, so she added me into the party.
I looked and saw that the little beauty had leveled up. It looked like she was working hard.
"Xiao Xue, you've worked hard!"
Ling Xue smiled. "I have nothing to do at school all day. It's not hard for me. You, on the other hand, can only come online after dinner every day. You must be tired after a busy day, right?"
"I'm fine, it's nothing."
Ling Yue coughed, "Xue'er, since Shusheng is here, can we go and do the mission now?"
I was surprised. "Oh?
What quest? "
Bing Cha said, "This morning, an orange quest appeared in the encampment. It's difficulty is 12500. We planned to do it, but Beauty Snow wouldn't let us. She insisted on waiting until you came online."
Tears streamed down my face. "Look, the gap!
Xiao Xue is so good to me, but none of you love me... "
Bing Cha laughed softly. "Don't give me that. Love you?
Whoever wants to do this kind of troublesome thing can do it. I'm not interested. "
I looked at the party. Bing Cha, Ling Yue, Ling Xue, Chrysanthemum Daohana, and me. There were five of us. The quest was quickly shared, and it was a high-level quest shared by all five of us —
[Sunken Gold Cavern] (Current Quest Difficulty: 12500)
Description: Head to the south of Dew Rain Forest. There is a sunken gold cavern hidden in the forest. There are rich ores there, but the gold cavern is being guarded by a large number of undead. There is even a leader Undead Lord among them. Please kill these undead and bring back the head of the Undead Lord. You will be rewarded handsomely. At the same time, the King's City will occupy the gold cavern and become its next master.
… …
"Oh, it's a quest to occupy a gold mine!
Not bad, not bad. It'll bring a lot of benefits to the territory... "
"Yeah!"
Ling Yue smiled, "In a few hours, after we finish the quest and come back, the territory should be able to level up to level 2. Let's all work hard and try to get the territory to level 3 before midnight."
"Yes, let's go!"
Everyone gathered in the forest outside the territory. In the distance, the four girls were already waiting for us.
Ling Xue was clad in Withered Armor and wielding the Startling Rainbow Sword. She had an extraordinary presence.
Bing Cha was clad in a cyan S4 set and wielding the Jade Sea Sword. He teased Chrysanthemum Daohana with a smile. Ling Yue was clad in an S2 set and wielded a Divine Armament staff. She smiled sweetly.
"We're going to mine. Are we really not going to bring a priest?" I asked.
Bing Cha's attitude was firm. "No, why would I bring one? I'll just drink my potions."
"Oh, okay!"
Ling Xue summoned the Snow Feather Pegasus while Bing Cha summoned the White Tiger King. It looked like they were full of power.
Ling Yue asked, "Scholar, where's your mount?
Hurry up, I want to hitch a ride today... "
"Alright!"
I smiled and waved my hand. A magic formation appeared in the air, and a long neigh sounded. The Flame Qilin pounced out of a different space. Its entire body was covered in flames, and there was an incredibly sharp flaming sword on its head. This was a real divine beast. Just its aura alone was enough to make the Snow Feather Pegasus and the White Tiger King shudder.
"Wow?
This is... "Ling Xue blinked and asked happily," Is this still a Flame Warhorse? "
"Yes, it's a mount that the Flame Warhorse got after upgrading. It's called the Flame Qilin!"
The little beauty revealed an enchanting smile. "Oh, it must be fast, right?
Can I sit on it? "
"Of course, but if you sit on it, our movement speed will be greatly reduced. Bing Cha can't stay with Ling Yue and Xiang Xiang."
Ling Xue thought for a moment. "In that case, forget it. Next time, let's go mine first."
Chrysanthemum Daohana asked with a smile, "Big bro, we didn't lose the World Cup, did we? Why do we have to go mine?"
"We have our own conscience. We've let the people down, so we should apologize..."
"Oh..."
In the end, Ling Xue, Chrysanthemum Daohana, Ling Yue, and Chrysanthemum Daohana were the first to experience the Flame Qilin's speed. I traveled at full speed through the forest for a while, and by now, I had left Ling Xue and Bing Cha in the dust.
Ling Yue pulled up the hood of her mage robe to cover her head, but it wasn't enough to block the branches and leaves. At this time, the beautiful boss's face was dripping with dew, and her black hair was covered in fallen leaves. She looked like a beautiful elf lost in the forest, and a smile spread across her face.
"So fast..."
Ling Yue's chest rose and fell with pride. She lay on the Flame Qilin's neck and said with a smile, "A Divine Rank mount is so strong. I must let Snow experience it later, hoho!"
"Mn!"
I ran back and found Ling Xue and Bing Cha. We traveled side by side through the forest, the Darkness Dragon above our heads. It was none other than Ling Yue's Darkness Dragon Guoguo. She helped us clear out the mobs along the way.
"Oh, right, the Shadow Follower has ascended!"
"Oh, that's great!
How's its growth? "
Ling Yue curled her lips and waved her hand in front of her to share the view. The Shadow Follower's growth was right there —
[Strength]: 35 stars
[Stamina]: 37 stars
[Agility]: 44 stars
[Intelligence]: 19 stars
… …
I thought for a moment and did some calculations. Then, I said, "Strength, Stamina, and Agility are combined at 116 points. Not bad. Its Agility is amazing, 4 points higher than mine!"
In principle, the growth of a melee player depended on the three stats of Strength, Stamina, and Agility. The combination of these three stats was enough to evaluate the strength of a Holy Domain melee player.
"Yeah!"
Ling Xue said with a smile, "The Shadow Follower's three measurements are 116, the Seven-star Lamp's three measurements are 110, and the Waning Moon In The Morning Breeze's three measurements are 120. All in all, the Shadow Follower's three measurements growth is not bad."
Bing Cha teased, "Oh?
Then, what is our Beauty Xue's three measurements? "
Ling Yue smiled. "Snow's three measurements are 126, higher than all three of them!"
"What about Scholar?"
"130. Thank you for letting me win, everyone!" I laughed.
Bing Cha was speechless. "I look down on you!"
I continued to laugh. Out of all the Holy Domain players in the world, my three measurements growth could be said to be the best. Ling Xue was ranked second, but she was still 4 points behind me. Don't underestimate these 4 points, they had a huge impact on your stats. 4/126 = 3%. This was equivalent to a 3% stat gap!
Reality once again proved the principle of "the first to enter the pass is king".
The players who ascended later on usually had decent equipment, but it was difficult for their growth to exceed 120. Basically, any player with a growth of more than 120 was already an expert. After all, even Brave Heart only had a three measurements of 118.
Of course, all of this was judged by my standards. To normal players, being able to ascend was already an amazing existence. Even if their three measurements were below 80, they could at least get a few infatuated girls after transforming. If this was in the past, if someone gathered energy to run to a main city and shouted: "Looking for a girlfriend!"
Then there would definitely be a bunch of love-struck girls applying, unless the person was as ugly as Wu Mengda.
Of course, in this patch, if someone gathered energy and went to a main city to shout for a girlfriend, then a group of ferocious undead would quickly appear and cut them into pieces.
… …
Not long after, the quest showed that the target was getting closer and closer to us on the map.
The mine finally appeared. It was just a pitch-black hole about the size of a person. I had no idea what was inside.
"Who's going in first?"
I looked back, but the girls were all glaring at me. So, I turned around, grabbed Scarlet Heaven Sword, canceled the Flame Qilin, and dove into the mine.