It was a peaceful and quiet afternoon after lunch.

At the living hall, I was sitting at the sofa and typing on the notebook with a speed of over 500 APM. I was querying regarding the maps around Sky City.

He Yi sat next to me before expressing her surprise, "You type really fast…"

I gave her a smile. "It was something I picked up while I was still playing Starcraft. That game requires high APM, so over time I learned to type at least 200 words per minute in complete darkness…"

Beiming Xue stuck her tongue out. "You’re amazing, big bro…"

Murong Mingyue also walked over and asked me, "What are you searching?"

"A map."

I sucked in a deep breath and said, "A map that produces rare mounts so our strongest wanderers and magic knights can tame and ride them, to be exact. You’ve all seen how powerful Gui Guzi’s Knight God is, haven’t you? At 50% boost to Attack and Defense, it is no doubt the strongest stratagem in the game right now. However, the skill only applies to mounted units, which is why we need to create a cavalry troop as soon as possible. It is also the only way we can avoid losing the upper hand during the upcoming guild wars and territory wars!"

"Mn."

He Yi nodded, but a bit of worry entered her eyes. "I heard rumors that October Rain had gone to Dragonbone Mountain Range to seek out a certain boss. Warsky had also sent some men to Wind City and Vanished God City to purchase a Raid Token at any cost…"

"Oh? What’s a Raid Token?" Beiming Xue asked.

He Yi answered, "A Raid Token is an item that only bosses would drop, and those who use it can start a territory war against an occupied territory. Clearly, Warsky Alliance is plotting to snatch Dark Moon City from our hands! They still haven’t given up on this territory yet!"

I pondered. "If that’s true then the need to build a cavalry troop is greater than ever before…"

"That’s right!"

……

Suddenly, my cursor stopped on a thread with the title: "Players beware, Fireblade Valley is a valley of death!"

I opened the thread. It was written by a Level 105 assassin with herbalism profession. He was planning to gather some Rank 9 herbs, but he was one-shot by the same type of mob three times in a row. He spoke of a wild horse with a blade of fire on its forehead, a Level 135 shadow-rank mob!

My eyes lit up as I smiled. "Alright, I finally found the place I’m going to solo grind this afternoon!"

"Where is it?" He Yi moved closer.

I pointed at the words "Fireblade Valley”. "Here. It’s filled with Level 135 shadow-rank mobs that are beyond the average party’s ability to kill, but not me. I can lifesteal using my Heaven-stealing Sword, so I should be able to level up fairly quickly if I grind alone. I really need to hit Level 120 as soon as possible and become the first fifth-promotion player in the game!"

"Mn. Do your best!"

"Oh right Eve, I’ve already set both you and sis as the secondary lords of Dark Moon City. If you’re free then please sweep through the territory with our NPC soldiers. Don’t let the resource mobs go to waste."

"Got it!"

……

Now that I had a plan in mind, I drank two glasses of water and went online.

Swhoosh!

The moment I appeared in Sky City, I rushed out of the inn and went to repair my equipment and restock my health potions. Then, I brought almost a hundred stacks of Rank 8 Magic Consumables with me. I didn’t need anything higher than this because I only had so much MP.

I opened the world map and noted that Fireblade Valley was right next to Dragonbone Valley in the north. It was also a barren land that took almost two hours to travel from Sky City on foot. The assassin who made that journey must be really bored or something, not to mention that he was one-shot three times in a row. What an embarrassment.

After that, I teleported to Dark Moon City and made way for Fireblade Valley!

I trekked through a dense forest after I moved out of the territory. I didn’t forget to hide my name and equipment luster, of course. The other players might think that I was a high-level warrior, but they would never imagine that I was the number one expert on Sky City’s Heavenly Ranking, Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand.

On the way, I encountered some players grinding in the forest. Some of the magic knights and wanderers even had mounts already. Not far away, I spotted a Level 105 average five-man party with a magic knight who was riding a Brown Grade Horse. It was one of the lousiest mounts you could get out there, and I guarantee the stat boosts it gave didn’t exceed 5%. However, that didn’t stop the magic knight from feeling like he was on top of the world and running down the mobs in impressive fashion.

To be honest, I was a little envious. The magic knight was the kind of small fry I could one-shot with ease, but he looked as arrogant as a king after he gained the mount. Worse, the little loli in his party was actually staring at him with stars in her eyes! Do you really not realize how weak that guy really is, little miss?? Anyway, the quest to level up to 150 and gain a mount seemed more urgent than ever. I couldn’t call myself an elite player until I gained a mount myself!

……

Suddenly, a Level 107 magic knight called "Fickle Little Handsome" appeared at the distance and rode up to me. His mount was a Horned Wild Bull. It was stronger than the Brown Grade Horse, but only by a little. He was also a member of Hegemon Palace. He said, "Would you like to party up with us, friend? My three friends and I are grinding Level 118 shadow-rank wolves, but they have high Magic Resist and we’re lacking melee DPS. Come and join us! The mob drops metal armor equipment, and I can give you anything I don’t need!"

I shot him a glance. He was clad from head to toe in Dark Gold–grade equipment, and he even had a Purple Gold–grade item on him. In the eyes of a casual player, the guy probably looked like an absolute unit. Tsk tsk, no wonder he was acting so arrogantly. Since I had turned off my equipment effects, it probably looked like I was wearing a set of high-level Dark Steel–grade equipment. It made sense that he would look down on me.

"I’m sorry, but I’m planning to grind someplace else," I said with a humble smile.

"What’s that? Are you looking down on us?"

But Fickle Little Handsome looked annoyed by my rejection. The female archer in his party chose this moment to walk up to him and asked, "What’s wrong, Little Handsome? Does he not want to join our party?"

"That’s right!"

Fickle Little Handsome snorted disdainfully. "He’s probably one of those crazy levelers who thinks that he’s hot shit just because he has a high level…"

He kept his voice low, but I still heard every word he had said. Angered, I growled. "Excuse me? Do you perchance think that your equipment is better than mine?"

"So what? My equipment is better than yours!" Fickle Little Handsome said arrogantly before turning his Horned Wild Bull toward me. He then swung his sword and said, "Heard of the saying ‘refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit’? A noob like you shouldn’t have come to Dragonbone Mountain Range!"

"Is that so?"

I smiled before turning on the equipment luster. A dazzling orange glow immediately surrounded my entire body in an instant!

"Heavens!" The beauty’s mouth fell open. "Spirit-grade! His weapon, helmet, and necklace are all Spirit-grade! Wait, there’s a bit of rainbow mixed into the glow as well, they’re… they’re all Outstanding Spirit-grade equipment!"

"How… how is that possible?" Fickle Little Handsome was so shocked he repeated himself. "How is that possible?"

However, his shocked expression eventually turned into greed and malice. After he seemed to say something in his party channel, the mage and the priest in his party slowly moved toward me. Clearly, he was planning to kill me and get my equipment!

"Get ready!" Fickle Little Handsome shouted. "I have a Level 100 Dark Steel Rank mount, so there’s no way he can survive our attack! If we can kill him and get even one Spirit-grade item, we’ll be set for life!"

Swhoosh!

Fickle Little Handsome then charged me with greed and impudence shining in his eyes. This brat must be insane or something. I could hardly imagine that someone this stupid could exist in the world. Was this the kind of people Hegemon Palace recruited into their fold?

Rustle rustle...

I zigzagged to the back and dodged the magic knight’s Charge with ease. Then, I zigzagged—always a simple but practical maneuver—back to the front and hit his right side with a blinding Ice Ray!

Pu!

An icicle formed around the Heaven-stealing Sword and penetrated the Horned Wild Bull’s body, dealing a massive amount of damage—6543!

All the blood drained away from Fickle Little Handsome’s face. He murmured, "How… is this possible?"

Not giving him a chance to even breathe, I ran an S-shaped path to his back, exploited his mount’s pathetic turn rate and slashed him in the back twice—Desperate Gambit + basic attack!

7632!

4873!

His priest was healing him all this time, but Fickle Little Handsome still died like a goddamn vegetable. He collapsed to the ground with a reluctant expression before exploding into a floor of potions. He also dropped a non-Outstanding Dark Gold–grade shield.

"Roar roar…"

Finally, I unleashed the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf after I took out Fickle Little Handsome. The little wolf’s fur was fully erected, and it was baring its fangs and snarling at the remaining trio. It looked menacing to say the least.

"What the fuck…" the male mage exclaimed in shock with eyes as wide as saucers. "He… he’s Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand? That damn moron, of all the people he could possibly provoke…"

They stopped fighting the moment they realized who I was, not that it would change the result in any way even if they tried.

I walked up to the shield and sent it rolling next to the archer’s feet. The girl was staring at me in astonishment with her bow pointed at the ground. She was probably waiting for me to send them all to kingdom come.

I didn’t kill them, however. I simply said, "You came here from Dark Moon City, didn’t you? In that case, please don’t kill solo players randomly. This is not in line with the principles of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls. If you really want to PK players in the wild, at least find a 5-man party about the same strength as you. Bullies are the worst, you know."

After that, I turned around and left the scene. These people weren’t worth my time.

The female archer watched my back absentmindedly for a while before murmuring, "Guys, is it just me, or Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls is a more righteous guild than our Hegemon Palace…?"

The male mage rubbed his nose and suggested, "Should we change guilds then?"

"Yeah, let’s change…"

……

Paying no attention to the party, I continued on my journey and ran for about half an hour or so. I eventually arrived at the edge of Dragonbone Mountain Range where a blazing valley was situated right in front of me. One of the mountains looked as straight as an actual blade, and at the bottom of it was an active volcano that turned the soil red hot. I had arrived at Fireblade Valley!