Stepping on the rocks of the valley, I cautiously advanced. The map of this place was displayed in my interface as blood red. This told me that the monsters here were Hard Difficulty for me. Even though my defense and health had greatly increased, if I was careless, it would be shameful if I failed miserably in such an easy task.
… …
The Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf let out a low growl and stared into the distance with its blood-red eyes.
I slowly advanced forward, and not long after, a black panther charged out of the valley. Its teeth were extremely long and dripping with saliva. It stared greedily at me and the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf.
It was a Level 130 shadow-rank mob with very high Attack and a 40% increase in attack speed. It was a mob that attacked very frequently. In other words, its DPS was terrifying.
I couldn't help but smile. A Level 130 shadow-rank mob shouldn't be much of a threat to me right now.
I locked onto the target and activated Thunderous Charge!
Whoosh!
I turned into an arrow and shot toward the black panther, leaving a trail of lightning in my wake. In the next moment, the black panther was stunned. It stared at me with its black eyes and let out a low growl.
War Crush and Desperate Gambit exploded at the same time. Mobs couldn't dodge my skills while moving, so the combo of War Crush and Desperate Gambit had become my strongest killing move.
“6465！”
“6123！”
“6092！”
“8974！”
The Black Panther lost almost 30,000 HP in the blink of an eye. Even a shadow-rank monster with high HP couldn't withstand this kind of torment. Meanwhile, the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf continued to attack the Black Panther with its sharp claws, causing it to howl in pain.
Five seconds later, the black panther finally launched its first attack, but it was easily nullified by my Guard. Then, I followed it up with another round of fierce attacks. Together with the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf, we killed the Level 130 shadow-rank mob with almost no damage!
"Roar roar roar …"
The black panther howled and fell to the ground. It didn't drop anything. After skinning it, I stuffed its fur into my bag and continued forward with the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf.
Not long after, I suddenly looked up and found a very simple stone fort at the entrance of the valley. The craftsmanship was very fine, and it didn't look like the work of the orcs. Also, there was a blue flag with a Chinese redbud flower insignia flying in front of the stone fort. It looked very familiar. Floating Ice City's NPC party?!
I was pleasantly surprised. I stepped forward and saw seven or eight human NPC soldiers standing in the camp. One of them was a captain with a longsword in his hand. He looked at the depths of the valley in the distance and sighed, "Damn it. The weather has been bad for a week and we've missed the best opportunity to attack. We won't be able to get the horn. How are we going to explain this to Lady Ziyan?"
Zi Yan?
I recognized this name. It was the commander of Princess Karinshan's Frost Army. If I remember correctly, she looked like a pretty girl. So these people were soldiers of the Frost Army.
There was no doubt that a quest had arrived. Even if I didn't have a keen sense of smell, I still walked up to him and showed him the emblem of Sky City on my shoulder. "My lord, I am an adventurer from Sky City. I once stayed in Floating Ice City for a while. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Oh?"
The scout captain looked at me for a moment before replying, "Young warrior, as you can see, we're trapped in this valley. There are terrifying beasts and violent Fireblade Warhorses everywhere in this valley. Sigh, Lady Ziyan asked us to collect 100 Fireblade Warhorse horns to create a Fireblade Sword that can be infused with fire magic. However, we discovered that these Fireblade Warhorses are incredibly violent, powerful, and difficult to tame. No matter how hard we tried, we still lost more than a dozen companions and had no choice but to defend this place."
I patted my chest confidently and said, "Now that I'm here, just leave this extremely dangerous quest to me!"
"Alright. In that case, I'll leave this extremely dangerous quest to you, young warrior. Fans of the books love to read 'Fireblade Warhorse'!"
The scout captain patted me on the shoulder and said, "What you need to do is very simple. Head to the depths of Fireblade Valley, find the Fireblade Warhorses, kill them, and bring me 100 Fireblade Warhorses' horns. You will be rewarded handsomely this way!"
Ding ~!
System Notice: Do you accept the quest [Fireblade Warhorse's Horn]?
(Current Quest Difficulty: S Rank) Very good, it's an S Rank quest. Now I have the motivation to do it!
Just as he was about to turn around and leave, the scout captain said, "Wait, warrior from afar, I have something to give you!"
"Oh?
What is it, captain? "
The scout captain took out a long, cyan gem and said, "This is a Sealing Stone. If you encounter a rare Fireblade Warhorse, attack it until its HP is below 20% and seal it with the Sealing Stone. Young warrior, I am in dire need of a high-rank warhorse. If you can seal a Fireblade Warhorse for me, I will reward you even more handsomely!"
Overjoyed, I grabbed the Sealing Stone with one hand. This was definitely a good item. Even a non-rider could tame a mount with this and sell it for a sky-high price!
Thinking up to this point, I glanced at the scout leader and revealed a smile.
The scout captain shivered when he saw my smile. "What do you want, young warrior?"
I held the Sealing Stone tightly and said, "Captain, do you have an extra one of these?
I'm in dire need of it, so can you give me a few more? "
"I don't, absolutely not!"
The scout captain said confidently, "The Sealing Stone is the crystallization of the world's essence, and only a royal magus can inject sealing power into it. How can I possibly have a lot of them? Don't even think about it, kid! There's only one Sealing Stone!"
"Is that so?"
I narrowed my eyes and said, "Actually, I'm very familiar with Commander Ziyan, and I'm friends with Princess Karinshan as well. My lord, if I return to Floating Ice City and tell Princess Karinshan that a scout captain of the Frost Army was unable to complete a mission, and that he had asked an adventurer of Sky City to do something for him, and even bribed the adventurer to seal a mount for him, what kind of expression do you think Princess Karinshan would have?"
"You!
You can't do this … "The scout captain spat out a mouthful of blood and said," Heavens, as a knight of honor and justice, how did I meet a devil like you … "
I waved the Sealing Stone in my hand and said, "This is proof!
Princess Karinshan and Lady Ziyan will be very happy to hear my story. "
The scout captain's face was ashen, but he finally relented and took out two more Sealing Stones. He said, "Alright, the court magician Raas is an old friend of mine. I asked him to forge a few Sealing Stones for me, and that's all I can give you. He may be an old friend, but I had to sacrifice several bottles of Wild Lily Wine to obtain these Sealing Stones!"
My heart stirred and I said, "Only three pieces?
Alright then, I'm going to tell Princess Karinshan that the court magician Raas is in cahoots with the scout captain to forge a lot of Sealing Stones in an attempt to amass troops and buy horses to attack Floating Ice Kingdom … "
I was already running my mouth off. It would be a waste of time if I didn't tease this NPC first!
The scout captain glared at me and said, "Alright, you must be the reincarnation of a devil. Heavens, why did the adventurer guild of Sky City accept a scoundrel like you …"
As he spoke, the scout leader took out a pile of Sealing Stones from his bosom. His face was full of reluctance. "These were all exchanged for with hundred-year-old fine wine …"
I felt a bit apologetic, so I took out ten thousand gold coins and bundled them up into a bundle before handing it to the scout captain. I said, "Come, these gold coins will be your compensation. Give me all of the Sealing Stones, or else Princess Karinshan's position as the manager of the stable will be reserved for you …"
The scout captain wailed and took out all the Sealing Stones from his pocket while collecting the gold. Damn, there were a total of 31 Sealing Stones in total. The rest of the readers looked at it normally: Wow!
… …
A gratified smile spread across my face as I gripped the Sealing Stones. Very good. Now, let's see if the Fireblade Warhorses in Fireblade Valley will disappoint me!
Logically speaking, the first time a map was spawned, it should have the most bosses, Rare and shadow-rank mobs. Assuming that there were 5 Rare Fireblade Warhorses in Fireblade Valley right now, there would be less than 5 when the second spawn occurred seventy-two hours after I killed them. That was why the first person to eat the crab always got to enjoy the most delicious taste!
I couldn't bear to torture the scout captain any longer. He might be a drunkard and a bastard in Floating Ice City, but he was still a knight. I couldn't humiliate him too much, or I wouldn't even be able to turn in my quest if he hung himself in his stone fortress.
… …
Carrying his sword, he entered the depths of the valley. His surroundings became incomparably hot. The plants that could still grow in such a hot environment were all unbearable. There were some sparks on the ground, and there were also some short and dry shrubbery. In the open space of the shrubbery, far away, a fierce wild horse was standing there, lowering its head and gnawing on the vegetation!
Tsk tsk, what a mighty warhorse!
Its body was covered in flowing light, and its body was covered in faint flames. Its muscles were powerful, and its limbs looked very capable. There was also a flaming sword on its head. This warhorse was not a unicorn, but a fire-type beast. When I got closer, I read the warhorse's stats — — [Fireblade Warhorse] (Shadow Rank Mob) Level: 135 Attack: 1550 ~ 1740 Defense: 1450 HP: 90000 Skills: [Trample LV-10], [Haste LV-10], [Fireblade Stab LV-10] Introduction: The rulers of Fireblade Valley. These Fireblade Warhorses have very high heat resistance. They have been eating fire-type plants for many years, and their bodies contain a large amount of fire energy. Gradually, they began to mutate, and a burning blade grew out of their head, making it so that no beast would dare to fight against them … …
It really was a Level 135 shadow-rank mob. I couldn't help but smile and call out to the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf, "Little wolf, get ready!"