Lin Yixin swiped the air in front of her and shared her map with me. It looked like Dragonbone Mountain Range was split into five different zones, and the higher you climbed, the darker the map color became. The topmost part of the mountain was completely blood-red in color.

"Look, the first zone is between Level 100 to 110, and the second zone is between Level 110 to 120. There are both common mobs and elites in the area. Which zone do you think we should challenge?" Lin Yixin asked.

I pondered for a moment before answering, "Let’s go to the zone between Level 110 and 120. I’m Level 99 and you’re Level 97. A 15-level disadvantage shouldn’t be a problem for us!"

Lin Yixin stared at me for a moment before breaking into a smile. "Why do I feel like you’re plotting something?"

I spread my arms helplessly. "You got me. There’s a snow mountain area in that zone near Sky City where there are Level 115 elites called Snow Rabbits. It’s the place to forage Snow Rabbit Meat, and I was hoping to get my Cooking skill to Rank 9 or even Rank 10 if possible. I want to know if it’s possible to upgrade my profession skill after I finish my fourth class promotion."

"Okay then, let’s head to that snow mountain."

"Mn. Yiyi, you’re so nice…"

"Cut it out!"

……

We went up the mountain range together. We circled around a zone filled with Wild Bears because they were only Level 105 common mobs. Although they dropped some pretty good pelts, grinding these mobs was a complete waste of time for players at Lin Yixin and my level. If we didn’t choose our mobs wisely, it was only a matter of time before our competitors caught up to us.

Looking at Sky City’s Heavenly Ranking, the core players of Warsky Alliance, Hegemon Palace, Gods of Destruction, Mad Dragon, and more hadn’t given up just because they lost the contest for the divine sites. In fact, they worked harder than ever before. Farewell Song, Warsky, and Laughing at the Heavens especially had reentered the Heavenly Ranking despite losing a couple of levels before. These people were incredibly motivated, and the pressure on both of us was very high. We must fight harder to maintain our high ground at Sky City!

We trekked along the edges of a needle-leaved forest cautiously. Suddenly, we spotted a group of growling Level 110 elite Wild Bears not far away from us. Two of the strongest-looking bears were fighting each other until one of them collapsed in defeat. The victorious bear then pounced on top of another bear and rode it like they were playing human pyramid.

Lin Yixin looked a bit confused. "What are these idiots doing?"

I replied, "They’re fighting. You know, ‘fighting’."

Lin Yixin caught on my meaning and turned red immediately. She shot me a disapproving look before rebuking me. "One more dirty joke and you’re dead!"

"Mn."

I replied calmly. We continued to move forward until we suddenly heard the sounds of battle. In fact, we could see the light of Ice Ray, Blaze, and other skills just above the canopy. Clearly, there were players fighting mobs just ahead of us.

"Should we circle around them?" I asked.

Lin Yixin shook her head. "Let’s decide after we see who they are. We’re really close to the area we’re heading to, and I don’t want to avoid them only to be stabbed in the back because we didn’t check if they’re our enemies first."

"You’re right."

I gripped the Purgatory Sword and led the way. Once we entered the forest, we held our breaths and examined our surroundings carefully. We spotted five players fighting a challenging Level 115 Snowy Plains Wolf—a mob with incredible attack speed and attack power—although the experience yield was more than worth the risk.

……

"They’re from Warsky Alliance…" Lin Yixin’s eyes immediately turned cold and murderous.

I hurriedly grabbed her shoulder before she could do anything rash and said to her in the party channel, "Patience. We can act after we see what they’re doing!"

"Mn…"

The reason Lin Yixin was angry was very simple: Warsky Alliance went way overboard when they made their appearance and declared that they would wipe the floor with Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls and Snowy Cathaya. Although we kicked their asses and claimed the two strongest divine sites for ourselves, that didn’t mean Warsky Alliance had given up on the war. In fact, they used all kinds of colorful language to belittle us on the forums.

Warsky was an extremely cautious man, but he was one person and his men were a legion. With three subguilds and almost ten thousand players in total beneath his rule, he was physically incapable of shutting everyone’s mouth and restraining them, however charismatic he was.

The five players in front of us were members of the Warsky Alliance second subguild. It was clearly indicated by the insignia on their shoulder. Their party was made up of a Level 90 magic knight—the main tank of the party—2 warriors at Level 86 and Level 87 respectively, a Level 89 mage and a Level 84 priest. It was a standard party composition you could find anywhere, and it was absolutely capable of slaying the Level 115 Snowy Plains Wolf.

The Level 90 magic knight had the highest level and the best equipment out of everyone in his party. I spotted 3 Dark Gold–grade and 2 Gold-grade items on his person. If I wasn’t mistaken, both his flaming spear and his shield were of the Dark Gold grade, meaning that he wasn’t a foe that could be underestimated. He looked to be about 28 years old, and his pet was a golden wild boar.

Lin Yixin bumped me on the shoulder before whispering, "Look, that Guardian Sword is the guild leader of the Warsky Alliance’s subguild…"

"Yeah!"

I saw the post listed under the guild name as well. Even if the data was invisible to me, the way the players treated him with unusual respect was enough to clue in his true identity. The Level 86 swordsman with a pig loin for a face was cutting down the Snowy Plains Wolf while asking, "Boss, are you sure this Level 115 elite mob would drop a Level 90 sword?"

Guardian Sword knocked back the mob with a spear thrust before raising his shield to defend himself from the counterattack. He replied seriously, "Mn. I heard that someone from Gods of Destruction managed to drop a Gold-grade sword called “Sword of Snowy Plains Wolf” at this place. The official records also showed that the chances of the sword dropping from this mob are about 0.001%, or one in a hundred thousand. The drop chances are very low, but it has high Attack and a passive that adds 20% damage, making it almost as strong as a Dark Gold–grade weapon at the same level!"

Guardian Sword then looked at the warriors before smiling. "The two of you are almost Level 90, aren’t you? Wouldn’t you like to get a better weapon? The Sword of Snowy Plains Wolf is even stronger than the Dark Gold–grade weapon I’m wielding right now, so I want us to farm at least 2 Swords of Snowy Plains Wolf in half a month if possible!"

The Level 86 warriors smiled. "Got it! We’ll do our best to farm that top-tier Gold-grade weapon. By the way guys, did you hear that Pink Strawberry, a girl from our guild went to Ningbo to meet Old Six? Apparently, they went on a date and didn’t come back the whole night yesterday, tsk tsk! I can’t believe she gave herself to Old Six just because he had a Silver-grade staff that added 6% to healing! What a world we live in these days!"

The other Level 87 warrior called "Kanus Wolf" smiled vulgarly. "So what? Pink Strawberry is at best a 60; a pass! She’s a perfect fit for the Silver-grade staff she sold herself for. We should be mourning for Old Six’s lack of taste, not the other way around! A real man would aim higher and gun for Snowy Cathaya’s Shadow Chanel and Clear Perfume; Ancient Sword Dreaming Soul’s Beiming Xue and Chaos Moon!"

Guardian Sword snorted. "Are you dreaming? All the women you just listed belong to our enemies, you know. Dream too much and you’ll be slammed by the hammer of reality. Still, none of those girls could compare to the prettiest women in Sky City, From Water and Wind Fantasy. Such a shame that they’re both powerful guild leaders that we can’t touch easily. Life is so unfair sometimes..."

Kanus Wolf laughed. "Boss, that’s even more of a pipe dream than ours! I doubt you can snare her heart even with a staff that adds 60% healing!"

Guardian Sword sneered. "Is that so? Hmph! It’s not like there’s only one way to snare a woman’s heart. Once she got a taste of my manliness, she’d never be able to leave my side again, hahaha!"

Everyone in the party broke out in laughter when they heard that.

I curled my lips. GG, Guardian Sword, GG. You made a step past the no return line, then lunged so far ahead that not even gods could save you now. I could try, but Lin Yixin would mop the floor with me and then the rest of you.

……

"Guardian Sword is mine. You deal with the rest!" Lin Yixin uttered with eyes that burned like fire.

"Okay…"

I summoned the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf and burst out of the forest with Lin Yixin. Since this was a sneak attack, we both activated Charge to stun our enemies!

Bam!

I hit Kanus Wolf like lightning and swung the Purgatory Sword twice. Pardon + Desperate Gambit!

MISS!

7074!

He died. Clearly, his Defense was so pitiful that he failed to survive even a single combo.

Beside me, the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf howled and chomped its teeth around the other warrior, taking him out in no time as well. When I looked around though, I saw Lin Yixin stabbing Guardian Sword right in the throat with Extreme Break.

Thump!

The poor guy dropped to his knees with eyes as wide as saucers, the number 6498 floating above his head. When he looked up, he saw Lin Yixin speaking down on him coldly, "Die!"

The Moonlight Sword glowed brightly before erupting into the Ice Flame Slash. A tremendous icicle tore Guardian Sword’s body apart and slammed into the distant mage and priest, breaking both of their Spell Shields instantly!

The mage shouted in a hurry, "They killed our boss! Fuck, it’s Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand and Wind Fantasy! We need to run and call our friends to kill them!"

Lin Yixin’s eyes turned colder. "Don’t let them escape, Lu Chen!"

I nodded and casually fired the Dragon Slaying Slash at the mage, killing him instantly. Less than three seconds later, I fired another Dragon Slaying Slash and killed the priest as well. The five-man party was wiped out just like that.

I looked at Lin Yixin and asked with a smile, "Feel better now?"

"Eh, I guess…"

"Then let’s leave immediately. We still need to grind, and these idiots can revive at any moment!"

On the way, I picked legguards dropped by the unfortunate mage. They were very good; Silver-grade, and added 4% to Intelligence. After tossing the legguards into my bag, the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf and I started running toward the north.

Lin Yixin ran after me as well, but to our surprise a system announcement dinged across the entire Sky City a couple of seconds later—

Ding~!

System Announcement (Player Warsky Shout): Friends of Sky City, please be informed that Warsky Alliance is putting up a bounty for player "Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand" and "Wind Fantasy”. They’ve maliciously killed the guild leader of our second subguild, Guardian Sword, and they’re not getting away with it. Starting now, anyone who manages to kill them in 24 hours can claim 50000 gold from me, one time. Please submit video evidence to prove your claim. They are somewhere near Dragonbone Mountain Range (25743, 10993)!

……

Lin Yixin shot me an astonished look. "Why is Warsky making such a big deal out of this?"

I replied with a smile, "No, it’s a smart move. Look at the level ranking. We’re the two closest players to Level 100, aren’t we? He’s trying to delay us so that his members can get their fourth promotions first."