The magic knight’s eyes were harsh. “So what if he’s Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand? Everyone’s equal in death! Old Three, use Vanish and then Ambush once Old Four freezes him. While he’s stunned, Old Four will cast Ice Dragon Howl on his pet! He can’t deal with us all at the same time!”

I calmly rushed toward the assassin and swung my blade toward his neck. He wants to vanish? I’ll grant him his wish and make him vanish permanently!

But to my surprise, the assassin suddenly held his dagger in front of his chest and hid his face within his arms. He looked like an oval egg for a second.

Bang!

The Ghost Ice Soul hit the assassin’s dagger, but he was calm and confident despite suffering what should’ve been a fatal blow. At the same time, a blue glow appeared around his body, a sign that he had successfully defended against my strike!

175!

Fuck, what a blunder. I wasn’t expecting this brat to know a defensive skill!

Beep!

Combat Log: Player “Bridge Above Water” uses “Guard”, reducing damage taken by 80%!

……

Fuck, it’s a defensive skill! In Heavenblessed, defensive skills were unique abilities that could reduce all physical damage taken by 50% to 90%. It was the ultimate life-saving skill. Unfortunately, a player couldn’t draw any aggro when using it, so tanks couldn’t just spam it during boss fights. That being said, it could do wonders in PvP against melee players and archers.

Currently, defensive skill books were very rare, but that should change once Heavenblessed entered the latter stages. Everyone had to get a defensive skill eventually.

After the assassin had defended against my attack perfectly, he said with an arrogant chuckle, “Is this all the legendary Unkillable War God can do? Then die!”

He swung his dagger toward the right side of my body!

At the same time, the enemy magic knight rushed at me from a different direction. The blade of his spear was glowing brightly! It was Flame Thrust!

But what really surprised me was that the mage knew the Ice Arrow Spell. After the Dark Wasp was slowed, he immediately fired an Ice Dragon Howl straight toward my head!

In for a penny, in for a pound. Time to slaughter my enemies!

I suddenly stopped in my tracks and spun around like a whirlwind, hitting the assassin’s head with a basic attack. His defensive skill was still on cooldown, so there was nothing he could do to save his life!

984!

It was an easy one-shot!

Chiang!

At the same time, the magic knight’s Flame Thrust hit my shoulder and shook my armor a bit. However, shock quickly entered his eyes in the next moment. “Ah? This is… Pardon!”

MISS!

2983!

Both Pardon and Desperate Gambit were at Rank 6, so there was no chance this magic knight who hasn’t even begun his third promotion yet could survive the attack. It was another easy one-shot!

Finally, the angry mage hit me with an Ice Dragon Howl, but it only dealt 298 damage. I was on point when I thought it wouldn’t deal more than 300 damage to my Magic Resist!

The Dark Wasp flew toward the mage after the slow CC affecting it finally wore off. I also activated my own Charge and stunned him!

It took one attack to destroy the mage’s Magic Shield and another to end his life. Aaand done!

The dead players dropped a generous sum of pots and Magic Consumables. The magic knight especially dropped a whopping total of 47 Rank 5 Health Potions, saving me a ton of gold!

I picked up the loot leisurely since I was in no hurry to leave the area. If the trio decided to come back to life, I could always kill them a second time. It was no trouble to me!

After I had picked up everything, I continued on the path, headed toward Violet Camp, the Blood Dance encampment located at the edge of Eternal Song Forest. Both the leader of the Blood Dance Legion, Sophia, and Shadow Dancer Xue Wei were there, and I was a warrior serving directly under their banner. I figured that it was about time I reported in and pledged my loyalty. As for how I would be going about that, who cares? The important thing here was that I could receive some quests, earn some cash and level up quickly!

…...

I left the dark undergrowth of Eternal Song Forest behind and entered a clearing. The last time I was here, the perimeter of Violet Camp was surrounded by wooden fences and abatis. Now, a row of tall stone walls had been built beyond the original fences. Clearly, their technology had improved and they’ve proudly entered the era of the Stone Age!

Princess Sophia had made a wise tactical decision. She had solidified the defenses of her base first before expanding outward. The plan was to occupy Eternal Song Forest and Violet Forest to eventually rebuild the Violet Empire in its place.

Unlike the Great Leap Forward, her plan was a lot more realistic and practical.[1] There was less of a chance of something really bad happening because they didn’t try to aim too far too soon.

I walked into the encampment and found the undead around me carrying themselves in a solemn manner. A group of undead horsemen were just leaving the camp, probably leaving the camp on a scouting mission. Everything seemed to be clear and in good order so far.

I checked my Blood Dance army rank and noted that I was only at the second rank, Skeleton Horseman. I’m going to have to work harder to increase my rank!

It was at this moment an orderly walked up to me and asked, “Undead from the distant lands, may I know why you’ve come to our camp?”

I shot the guy a disdainful look. Hmph, how dare he act aloof around me when he hadn’t even grown a full set of bones.

To prove his mistake, I pulled down my hood and revealed my handsome face and my bloody eyes. Sigh, although I looked a lot cooler since I had leveled up and become an Asura, my eyes still bloody and kinda scary. I even scared He Yi by accident again just yesterday. Man, I’m such a sinful man~~

The orderly immediately saluted me when he saw my true appearance. “What is your business here, my lord?”

I proudly walked deeper into the camp while asking, “Have you seen Shadow Dancer Xue Wei? Where is she?”

“She…”

The orderly suddenly dropped to his knees and said in a trembling voice, “Lord Xue Wei was gravely injured. She’s resting inside her tent right now!”

“What? Gravely injured?”

I raised my eyebrows menacingly. “Who’s the bastard that hurt her?”

“Allow me to take you to her, my lord!”

“Okay!”

I followed the orderly to a quiet but elegant little house deep inside the camp. The orderly then stood next to the entrance and said, “Lord Xue Wei is inside!”

I nodded, pulled aside the curtains and walked in. I was immediately greeted by a heartbreaking sight!

Shadow Dance Xue Wei normally looked heroic and lively, but today she was lying on the bed with a haggard face and a dim look in her red eyes. Her shoulder was covered in blood, black blood, that was giving off a terrible stench!

Princess Sophia was inside the house too. She gave me a nod and said, “You’re here!”

“I am.” I walked up to her and asked directly, “What happened to Xue Wei? What can I do to help?”

Sophia said, “A few days ago, Xue Wei was ambushed when she led a squad of 100 horsemen through Night Creatures’ domain. She was gravely injured, but the worst part is that she was afflicted by a curse by an undead shaman. The curse is continuously spreading toxin throughout her body!”

Sophia looked worried. “If her condition continues to deteriorate, she’ll probably become a true Night Creature and lose the last bit of her conscience…”

Suddenly, Xue Wei opened her eyes and grabbed my bracer tightly. She said in a crying voice, “I don’t want… I don’t want to lose my conscience. I don’t want to become one of the walking dead or those terrible things. My… my family wouldn’t want me to turn into them…”

I sucked in a deep breath and asked, “How can this undead toxin be cured??”

Sophia frowned slightly. “There is a way, but it is an incredibly dangerous journey. Sigh…”

I puffed up my chest and declared with confidence, “Just tell me. I’m not afraid of any danger, it is all like a walk in the park to me…”

Princess Sophia nodded and said, “At the southernmost border of the Floating Ice City domain, amid the tall mountains, there is said to be a cave called Myriad Poison Cave. It is said to contain a huge collection of poisons from all over the continent, and that a terrifying devil dwells inside of it. However, the legend also claims that a Heavenly Poison Snow Lotus, a herb that can cure any toxin or poison, grows inside Myriad Poison Cave. If you can obtain it, I’m sure it can cure the undead toxin that’s tormenting Xue Wei!”

Princess Sophia stood up and put her hand on my shoulder. She said softly, “Young warrior, I will grant you a generous reward if you can bring me the Heavenly Poison Snow Lotus!”

Ding~!

System Notice: Do you accept the quest [Myriad Poison Cave]? (Current Quest Rank: A)

…...

An A-rank quest? Hell yeah! I’m sure I’ll profit a ton from this!

Excited, I accepted the quest without hesitation.

Ding~!

System Notice: You have accepted the quest [Myriad Poison Cave]!

Description: Head to the southernmost area of the map of Floating Ice City and find Myriad Poison Cave. Venture to the lowest floor, find the Heavenly Poison Snow Lotus and retrieve it for Princess Sophia for a generous reward! However, be warned that the cave is filled with devils and deadly gases. Death penalty will be doubled!

…...

WTF! Penalty will be doubled? So I’ll lose two levels and twice as many items upon death? Damn, if I fail to complete this quest I can’t even imagine the consequences I will suffer!

According to the quest hint, it could be shared to at most five players, meaning that it would probably be a very bad idea to perform this quest solo. At the very least, I was sure I would die a horrible death if I tried to do this without a priest. I should find some helpers and form a five-man party before I tackle this quest.

…...

So, a five-man party. This meant that I needed to find 4 other players.

I would definitely need a priest, and Murong Mingyue was the obvious choice here. Her healing was higher than Yamete’s, and she was pretty enough that her presence had the same effect as a Tactician’s Encourage, but with double the boost.

Next, I would need a long-ranged attacker. Beiming Xue and her Evil Spirit Volley would be perfect for killing grouped up mobs.

That makes three of us. A mage was necessary just in case the party runs into a mob that was resistant to physical attacks. The guild’s third-promotion mage, Moonlight Stone, was my first choice since she had good skills and good equipment. At the very least, she wouldn’t be a burden to the party!

I wasn’t sure who to choose to fill up the last party slot however, so a while later I decided that I would bring He Yi along. She could earn some much-needed experience and maybe even an equipment she could use if we were lucky. I needed to beef up our beautiful leader as much as possible so that the other guilds wouldn’t have the opportunity to talk shit about her.

Moreover, He Yi was even prettier than Murong Mingyue was, so her being in the party would be like an Encourage that buffed everyone’s Attack by 20%. How could anyone say no to that?

……

My mind finally made up, I started sending messages to all my future party members. “Hey everyone, I have a quest here that can use your help. You wanna join me? If you’re free then come to the eastern plaza of Floating Ice City!”

It wasn’t long before I got a couple of replies.

Beiming Xue: “Okay boss, gimme three minutes!”

He Yi: “I’m coming right now!”

Murong Mingyue: “Hoho, you finally have a use for me~~”

Moonlight Stone: “Brother, did my magical muscles catch your fancy?”

……

After responding to all of them, I took out my return scroll and got ready to tackle Myriad Poison Cave!

1. Great Leap Forward (1958), Mao's attempt to modernize China's economy, which resulted in economic devastation, and millions of deaths.