And so, Xu Yang led the main guild back to Sky City for grinding and instances while Gui Guzi grinded in Lost Forest with 10000 Dragonlight Cavalrymen and 30000 Zephyr Cavalrymen. Both types of cavalry were all-rounders, and War God Recovery was enough to deal with the monsters most of the time. They only needed to resupply once every 24 hours, meaning that they could spend most of their time in Ice River Canton.

He Yi, Beiming Xue and Lin Yixin kept me company instead of leaving with the main guild. A while later, Murong Mingyue and Lian Xin showed up as well.

Lian Xin had walked out of a forest together with Beiming Xue. When she saw me, she grew so excited that she even tossed her scepter to the side, jogging up to me and jumping into my lap. A smiling Murong Mingyue crossed her arms in front of her chest and greeted me, "You look a lot tougher compared to the last time we met, boy…"

I simply opened my arms and said, "Give me a hug, sis…"

Murong Mingyue calmly put away her scepter and wrapped her arms around my neck. She asked smilingly, "Has any of the girls given you a public kiss yet?"

"Nah…" I shook my head.

"That’s a shame. Well, I’ll do it…"

Before anyone could react, she pecked me on the cheeks and smiled like the Chesire Cat. Both Lin Yixin and He Yi rolled her eyes before Lin Yixin said, "She’s just kissing his cheeks. It’s nothing, right Sister Eve?"

"Mn." He Yi acknowledged.

Murong Mingyue smiled wider at their comment before standing on her toes again and kissing me on the lips. She turned toward the two girls and asked, "How is this?"

"Fuck!" Lin Yixin raised her fists menacingly.

He Yi hurriedly held her down. "Calm down, this is just the way Mingyue is. You’ll eventually understand that there’s no point getting angry over it…"

Lin Yixin pouted. "You sure are calm…"

"How can I not be? Just look at the type of environment I live in. This is nothing at all…"

Lin Yixin: "..."

……

In the end, Lin Yixin, He Yi, Beiming Xue, Lian Xin and Murong Mingyue formed a party and left to clear the S2 instance. They wouldn’t clear the S3 instance without me because I was the only one strong enough to be the MT in there. According to the rumors, the very first boss of the S3 instance, the Martial God Hall, was ridiculously powerful, so much so that Warsky, Song of Ice and Fire, God Bone and more couldn’t defeat it even after three tries. Naturally, they weren’t able to lay their grubby hands on the S3 equipment set, the Martial God set.

The Martial God set was a Level 200 Immortal-grade equipment set, something everyone and their mothers dreamed of getting. Of course, obtaining it wasn’t easy at all. Even a player at Song of Ice and Fire’s level had been two-shot by the very first boss of the instance.

While the girls were clearing the S2 instance, I went to the materiel officer to receive my quest. I needed to grind 100 glory points before I could resupply here.

After I initiated a dialogue with him, the materiel officer immediately raised his giant axe and said, "Hello, warrior from distant lands! Welcome to our humble camp! Here at Black Cavalry Scout Battalion, we promise to make you suffer more than you have ever suffered before! What? You wish to serve the camp? Very well. We are building the walls right now, but we lack the necessary stones to make it work. More specifically, it needs to be tough enough to withstand an attack. You can find these stones at the foot of the mountain range, but the place is crawling with brutal wild bears. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, but let your guard down, and their tongues will lick the shit out of you!"

Ding!

I accepted the A Rank quest. The task was to gather 10 chunks of top-quality Stone (quality higher than 85) and turn it in to the materiel officer. If I succeeded, I would obtain 5 glory points. Easy peasy.

……

I climbed onto my dragon and set off right away.

I descended at the foot of a mountain range where a bunch of shiny rocks were embedded in the walls. Their shiny appearance meant that they could be extracted for materials. Of course, just as the materiel officer had mentioned earlier, the area was crawling with Bloodthirsty Black Bears—Level 235 fiend-rank monsters—brutal things if it wasn’t for the fact that its Level was fairly low. At this level, even a hundred-man party made up of casual players could grind it with some difficulty. If this was a Level 250 fiend-rank mob from Iron Skull Wilderness, the average fighter would’ve been one-shot easily. It was why the players of Iron Skull Wilderness always fell behind in terms of levels. The mobs there were either stupidly powerful or stupidly weak.

Swhoosh!

I summoned the apparition and made it fight the mobs with the Phantom Wolf King. I myself jumped off the Ancient Divine Dragon and started digging.

I walked up to the closest rock and stabbed my sword into the edges. I exerted a bit of strength and, pop! The whole rock jetted out of its original spot. I put it into my bag, but...

Dark Stone: Quality 57, average quality.

……

Dammit, this wasn’t good enough to meet the quest requirement. Next!

I moved on to the next rock, and this time it was a hit.

Red Stone: Quality 94, top quality.

……

I smiled. Perfect. Suddenly, I recalled something. I forgot to give the snake pet egg to He Yi! Oh well, I could give it to her later after she finished the S2 instance...

It wasn’t long before I was done digging, and I had 10 top-quality Stones in my bag. It was time to turn in my quest!

I flew back, gave the items to the materiel officer, and was rewarded with a ton of experience. Awesome!

The next quest I received was a bit more challenging—

Construction Quest (SS Rank): Constructing the base requires a lot of animal fur. It is said that a high-level monster called ‘Mad Leopard’ lives to the north of Lost Forest. It is a speedy and destructive beast, but its fur is also the best material to craft the best imaginable leather armor. Collect 100 Mad Leopard Fur to greatly increase the attack power of Black Cavalry Scout Battalion’s archers and the camp’s defense. Awards 55 glory points upon completion!

……

I was stunned by the generous reward. Not only did it give 55 glory points in one go, the quest itself was highlighted in gold. What kind of god-tier quest was this, and just how powerful was this Mad Leopard that it elevated what should’ve been a simple quest to the SS Rank? On second thought, I supposed that the quest not being shareable added to the difficulty as well.

I took off to the north with great excitement. I wanted to know just how OP this Mad Leopard was that it could elevate a quest to the SS Rank. Not even the Scorpion King Cave had featured this level of difficulty!

Five minutes later, I descended at the northern perimeter of the map. Any further than this, and I would be faced with the impassable Dragonbone Mountain Range. It was obvious that almost no one had visited this place before because the monster levels were simply too high. Even a random skeletal warrior in the forest was Level 260. Who but a handful could deal with them?

I brought up the map screen after landing on the ground. Yep, this was where the Mad Leopards should appear alright. It was where the quest marker was; a blood-red region.

I walked forward with the apparition and the Phantom Wolf King by my side. I had barely taken a few steps when the bush in front of me suddenly rustled, and a shadow darted into view. It was none other than the Mad Leopard I was looking for. The creature was covered in black dots. It had a pair of merciless brown pupils, and flames were rising from its body. Its head was oddly-shaped, there were bits of flesh stuck between its sharp teeth, and a translucent thread of saliva was dripping down its mouth. Just how much did the monster underestimate me? It absolutely thought that I was easy prey.

Dark Pupils revealed the Mad Leopard’s stats. It was as powerful as the quest had suggested, but the greatest advantage it had over most players was its incredible level. At Level 260, the level penalty that would be imposed on the average player was almost obscene—

Mad Leopard (Fiend)

Level: 260

Attack: 21000~28500

Defense: 24000

HP: 2200000

Skills: Bite, Acute Perception, Wild Berserk

Introduction: The Mad Leopards are ancient animals that reside at the center of the continent. These monsters have existed since the ancient times, and they possess powerful senses and offensive power. They can sense any creature’s fear and panic, and their teeth and claws are imbued with divine power. It is why they are known as the blessed creature of the gods. While they normally do not reveal themselves, they always prove to be a human’s worst nightmare when they do. Not even an elite imperial knight may be a match for a Mad Leopard.

……

I raised my hand and used the God Binding Art. High-level fiend-rank mobs like these were actually very easy to kill especially when they were alone. All I needed to do was to bind them with the God Binding Art and gangbang them with my pet and my apparition. Twelve seconds, or two rotations of skills were generally enough to kill any monster.

Swhoosh!

However, the Mad Leopard defied my expectations and dodged out of the way with incredible speed. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I knew myself, and I knew that there was no chance I had misfired my skill!

I found my answer when I checked the combat log. Acute Perception was a skill that protected the Mad Leopard from all crowd control skills, critical hits, weakening skills and more. Lore-wise, it was described as their natural ability to sense danger. That was why my God Binding Art had missed even though I had predicted its movement perfectly. Since Acute Perception was a passive skill, to say that it was OP would be an understatement. If a top-tier player could have a skill like this, it would be like having half an invincibility skill all the time. After all, they could never take critical hits, never be immobilized by Trapping Nets, never be stunned by Shock Arrows and more. It would’ve been utterly ridiculous.

Chiang!

The Mad Leopard leaped into the air and left some scratch marks on my Dragon God Shield, deleting 30k+ HP. It was very impressive since the normal monster couldn’t even break my Defense.

I retaliated with Burning Blade Slash + Universe Break combo. I didn’t know if the Mad Leopard could dodge an offensive skill, but there were two of me and one Phantom Wolf King. Even if Acute Perception was that OP, it couldn’t possibly dodge everything we threw at it. And I was quickly proven to be correct.

"Roar roar…"

The first Mad Leopard died to my sword just like that. It would be embarrassing if I failed to kill a single fiend-rank monster while in possession of an Ancient Divine Armament.

The monster also dropped a blood-red card. I gave it a look and noted that it was pretty useful—

Mad Leopard Card: Increases user’s Attack by 45%, Defense by 20%, and attack and movement speed by 30%. Duration: 120 minutes. Level Requirement: 200.

……

It was a very good card. Obviously not as good as the Fire War God Card, but still very useful for both PvE and PvP.

I used the card immediately and activated Death Plunder on the body. As expected, the skill was a success, and Mad Leopard Fur appeared in my bag. Next!