Tiny wisps of flame could be seen swirling just above the fiery red pet egg. Its shells were semi-transparent, so much so that I could see the faint outline of an incredibly tiny scorpion inside of it. Still, the fact that the egg had so much detail proved that it was no ordinary pet egg.

Chaos Moon’s mouth fell open as she accepted the pet egg and looked at me. "Wow, an Immortal Rank pet? Are… are you sure you grabbed the right gift?"

I nodded smilingly. "Of course. You were the one who kept me company when I was alone and far, far away from home. Without you, I don’t know if I could’ve withstood everything that had happened until now. So, thank you."

Chaos Moon smiled before patting my shoulder once. "Alright, let’s not dwell on the unhappy stuff any longer. This Crimson Scythe Scorpion is an Immortal Rank pet, so it should be pretty powerful. I’m going to hatch it now if you don’t mind?"

"Sure."

……

Chaos Moon unsheathed her sword halfway before slicing her finger against the edge. Then, she dripped a trickle of blood onto the pet egg, which immediately shone brightly and shivered with movement. A moment later, the shell started cracking and falling on its own.

Crack…

A fiery pincer pierced through a corner of the egg, followed by its tiny head and its whole body. It looked like a translucent crystal with a pair of fiery scythe-like pincers attached to it. It was probably how it got its name. Not only did it have a cute appearance, it even had a cute hiss.

"Haha, it looks surprisingly cute!"

I tried to touch it, but the Crimson Scythe Scorpion immediately raised its pincers and glared at me warily. It obviously didn’t want me to get close to it.

You little shit! Take this!

I pressed my fingers together in an attempt to flick it to oblivion.

Unfortunately, Chaos Moon slapped my hand away before I could do anything. "Dude, what are you doing? You said you were going to gift it to me, so why are you bullying it now? Hmph hmph!"

I curled my lips. Still hissing, the Crimson Scythe Scorpion climbed up Chaos Moon’s arm and stopped on her shoulder before resuming its glare at me.

Whatever, it was just a wee, not to mention that its mother had been killed by yours truly. I had better things to do than taking a baby’s life.

"Alright, if there’s nothing else then I’m getting back to the grind, Chaos Moon. I’ll be going to sleep in an hour so that I wake up early and can take a follow-up quest tomorrow."

"Okay."

……

After that, I climbed back onto the Ancient Divine Dragon’s back and departed Dragonbone Mountain Range at lightning speed. This movement speed was seriously off the charts.

A little over half an hour later, I arrived at the wasteland that was Iron Skull Wilderness once more. To be honest, I felt much safer logging off here than anywhere else because I knew there wasn’t anyone in the area.

That being said, I made sure to circle around the area just in case someone had intruded into my territory. That’s right, I now saw this area as my territory, and no one was allowed to get inside. After patrolling the area once and discovering nothing unusual in particular, I finally logged out of the game to catch some rest. I hadn’t had a good one since the Nation War began, so I really could use a good night’s sleep. Also, He Yi and Lin Yixin were both members of the good-looks-or-nuthin club, so skipping my beauty sleep and risk turning into Ng Man-tat was a no-no.

……

The City Map of Daybreak City had been retaken, and Tang Long’s dirty deeds were about to be exposed to the public. There didn’t seem to be anything left to worry about besides the fact that Purple Grape City, Cyan Earth City and Elephant City all hated my guts. Also, Tang Feng’s emergence meant that the VR department finally had a shred of moral integrity in them. For just a bit, I could almost believe that they could give me the outcome I wanted.

The sleep was a deep and undisturbed one. If I had a dream, I couldn’t remember it in the morning. It was great.

It was exactly 8 am when I woke up the next morning. I had a 10-hour sleep, and I felt just as refreshed. I opened the window and took in the beautiful sight of the spring rain for a moment. In fact, the peach blossom in the courtyard had bloomed overnight.

A while later, I woke up Chaos Moon and ate an exceptionally full breakfast. It was because I was planning to skip lunch that day. The sooner I hit Level 210 and complete my eighth promotion, the better. With luck, I might even be able to ascend to that Heavenly River Realm or whatever it was called again.

……

Swhoosh!

I reappeared in Black Wind Scout Battalion’s camp and crawled out of my tent. Not far away, I saw Mona standing atop a hill and watching her surroundings vigilantly. Obviously, she was keeping watch for the camp.

Before I did anything, I grabbed the Purple Ying Sword, buffed myself with Martial God and the Ghost Chariot Card, put the mini-sized Ancient Divine Dragon around my arm so it could be summoned in its full form at any moment, and summoned the Phantom Wolf King. After everything was ready, I walked up to Mona and asked, "Mona, are you ready to give me that quest of yours?"

Mona turned toward me with an expression of pleasant surprise. "Thank goodness you’re still around, young warrior. I thought you had left us! Yes, I am ready to entrust you with an important task now."

"Very well, tell me!"

Mona sat down on a giant rock before explaining, "We’ve been trapped in this god-forsaken place for two years, and there is almost no chance that we’ll survive the trip back to Sky City. I spoke to the captain about this yesterday, and we both agreed that the only way we’re making it back is to procure a mount that can travel hundreds of kilometers in a single day. It is the only way we can pass through the bramble forest and avoid the harassment of the evil spirits and the wolves. Otherwise, it is only a matter of time before we all perish."

I licked my lips before asking, "Okay, what should I do?"

Mona smiled and pointed to the north. "Five kilometers from here to the north of Iron Skull Wilderness lies a place called Zephyr Valley. It is overflowing with high-level undead, and I even heard that a high-level undead magus has been ruling that place for over a millennium. There is some good in all of this though. Their necropolis produces a mount called the Zephyr Ironbone Warhorse, and it is a kind of undead mount that is said to possess incredible movement speed. All we need are five Zephyr Ironbone Warhorses, and we’ll be able to make it back to Sky City!"

My eyes lit up. "The Zephyr Ironbone Warhorse, you say?"

"Mn!”

Mona nodded before continuing, "Unfortunately, there is a catch. The necropolis is located deep in Zephyr Valley, so you’ll have to kill the undead magus, Juve, first before you can get close to the Zephyr Ironbone Warhorse. After that, seal a total of 5 Zephyr Ironbone Warhorses and bring them back to me. I will reward you handsomely if you succeed, but only if you manage to kill the undead magus, Juve!"

I raised a fist and chuckled confidently. "Kill a mage, got it. Leave it to me! I won’t disappoint you!"

"Very good!" Mona smiled sweetly at me.

Ding~!

System Notice: You have received the quest [The Way Home]! (Current Quest Rank: SS+)

Description: Head to Zephyr Valley, seal a total of 5 Zephyr Ironbone Warhorses and return them to the archer, Mona for a generous reward. However, the Zephyr Ironbone Warhorses are raised deep within the necropolis, so you’ll have to kill its ruler and protector, the Great Undead Magus Juve before you can even think of approaching them. You should probably gather a powerful party before setting off on this quest. Be warned! To attempt this without sufficient numbers is almost suicide!

……

I stared at the last line on the quest description with a flabbergasted expression. This was probably the first time I read such a dire warning in the game. It showed how difficult the quest really was.

That being said, what is a challenge if not doing the impossible? Just watch me! I’m gonna kick this super quest’s ass solo!

I looked at Mona and shot her a helpless expression, "I just remembered something… Mona, I want to help you, but I’m not a magic knight. How on earth am I supposed to seal those Zephyr Ironbone Warhorses for you?"

Mona let out a giggle before grabbing my arm and leading me to the trader. "You can just buy 5 Sealing Crystals from him. I promise you that it’s cheap and worth the price. Also, today’s the only day he’s going to sell the Sealing Crystals, so don’t miss out!"

I shivered in anticipation. It was because I had smelled another opportunity.

First, I spoke to the trader and bought two loaves of bread. Then, I checked out the purple crystal that was the Sealing Crystal and noted that it cost only 100 gold per piece. Mona wasn’t lying when she said it was cheap. Not only that, I could stack 100 Sealing Crystals into 1 stack so that they would take up only a single slot in my bag.

I looked at my bag before coming to a decision. Fuck it, go big or go home! I had already given all my equipment loot to Chaos Moon, and I saved only 100 slots for potions, cards and Magic Consumables. This meant that I could buy 900 slots worth of Sealing Crystals. I didn’t know how many Zephyr Ironbone Warhorses there were, but I did know that this Sealing Crystal was a one-of-a-kind item that I wouldn’t be able to buy again in the future. And what do you do when you encounter a rare item? You hoard as much of it as you can, of course! I would even give up any equipment I found in the near future because it was that worth it!

That was why I bought 900 stacks or 90k Sealing Crystals in one go. Once I returned to Dark Moon City, I would unload them all in my private warehouse and take a couple hundred with me every time I set out. Starting now, I no longer need to worry about missing out on a top-tier mount. Hell, I can even use them to capture a shit-tier mount if I want to, not to mention that the Sealing Crystal was a tradeable item. This was a literal pile of fortune just waiting to be converted into many, many mountains of cash!

For a time, I stared at my bag full of Sealing Crystals and reveled in the deep sense of accomplishment. I couldn’t wait to put them to good use!

……

It was time to leave and seek out the Great Undead Magus Juve of Zephyr Valley. The quest was rated as an SS+ Rank quest, but it wasn’t a main quest, so I reckoned that this Juve was just a small fry or some sort. At the very least, it definitely wasn’t at the same level as the Nine Sovereigns of Purgatory. Long story short, soloing this boss wasn’t an impossible task.

I took to the air and flew toward the north. Along the way, I maintained a relatively low altitude so I could keep an eye for any abnormal activity on the ground. My destination was 10 kilometers away, a not insignificant amount of distance even on dragonback. Along the way, I saw a ton of mobs lurking in the forest, including a mighty Level 270 Thunder Rhino. I wasn’t crazy enough to challenge it, of course. It was a fiend-rank mob, so it might have the ability to one-shot even me...

Speaking of which, I still hadn’t encountered a single player up until this point. I was starting to understand why this map was called the Iron Skull Wilderness. This place was as barren as they came!

……

A while later, a valley with dark clouds above it appeared on the horizon. The minimap already identified it as Zephyr Valley. Mona wasn’t kidding when she said that it was undead territory because the place was literally brimming with undead energy. The good news was that I was an undead and an Asura King no less, so I held a certain advantage over them from the start.