Chapter 387 (1/2)
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I pa.s.sed through Sky Forest as I ran toward Cold Ice Canyon. The mobs in Sky Forest sat between Level 80 and Level 110, but I never gave them a second look. These mobs gave very little experience, not to mention that I was now a man whose wealth went up and down by the hundred thousands per second. Simply put, I had no time to waste on these low-level mobs.
I ran into a lot of leveling parties, but no one knew who I was because I had set my ID to hidden. Along the way, a lot of players were staring at me in astonishment probably because they were astonished by the equipment I was wearing. No one dared to attack me, however. Only a fool would attack a player whose level and ID were completely invisible to them.
I also heard a lot of players discussing the upcoming ”Who Will Rise” tournament and asking around for party members. For example, I saw a party asking a solo-grinding Level 91 magic knight to join their party on an empty field in the forest. That party had no future, however. I could already imagine them being eliminated during the preliminaries.
China was full of talent, and barring any surprises all the parties who made it to Top 32 would be above Level 100 and after fourth promotion at the very least. Our country was always ahead of other countries in terms of player levels because most foreigners simply didn't possess the fort.i.tude or willpower to grind their way to the top.
……
Over half an hour later, I arrived at the foot of Dragonbone Mountain Range. I looked up. Although Cold Ice Canyon was connected to Dragonbone Mountain Range, it was strictly speaking an independent map. To this day, there were barely any rumors regarding Cold Ice Canyon because the mobs there were simply too powerful for the average player to explore.
I continued forward as the wind and snow started blowing at my face. I had entered the snowy region.
The sudden cold caused me to s.h.i.+ver a little, but I ignored it and continued to make way toward my destination. At the same time, I pulled out my Heaven-stealing Sword and started really paying attention to my surroundings. This was a leveling zone, and the mobs there were said to be pretty powerful. It would be unwise to treat this lightly!
As expected, a Polar Bear suddenly let out a roar from the distance before charging toward me. It hit my Heaven-stealing Sword with its paw, but it didn't possess nearly enough strength to shake my sword. One hit was all it took to send it stumbling. I took the small time window to check its stats. Hmm, a Level 125 elite mob. This should be an easy fight.
The Polar Bear's Attack was much weaker compared to a Level 125 shadow-rank mob. I didn't even need to use my active self-healing skills to heal myself since Regeneration of the Undead was already enough. Regeneration of the Undead was now at max rank, but unfortunately its effect was a bit weaker than I thought it would be. At Rank 10 I regenerated 2% HP per second, meaning that I could regain all my health in 50 seconds tops. It was pretty amazing, but not so amazing that it could be considered broken. If my opponent had enough power, this amount of HP regeneration wasn't enough to tip the scales in my favor.
That being said, there probably wasn't anyone in the world who could kill me in half a minute in a one-on-one right now, not even if that person was Candlelight Shadow himself!
Crack!
I killed the bear in one hit and was rewarded with a Rank 8 bear pelt and a Phantasmal Magic Stone. I took the bear pelt, but decided against picking up the magic stone. It was worth very little because its quality was just a measly 32.
I continued to fight my way toward my destination without hurry. I also summoned the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf to make my life just a tad easier. With my current strength, killing a Level 125 elite mob was as easy as pie. Heck, even my pet could solo these mobs without any trouble whatsoever, especially when it used its AoE skill Fire Cyclone. Sometimes, we would even take turns drawing entire hordes of Polar Bears toward ourselves so we could kill them all in one go and save some time. This was a material gathering and level grinding trip anyway, and Level 125 elite mobs dropped an okay amount of experience.
Almost half an hour later, I checked the map and noted that I was about one-third of the way through Cold Ice Canyon. The snow storm was subsiding, and the sun was peeking out of the clouds just a little. However, it was still incredibly cold, and every time the wind blew against me I felt like someone was cutting my skin with an ice blade.
At least my field of vision improved a lot, I suppose.
I still hadn't found a single Ice Soul Giant though. I frowned a little. Just where the h.e.l.l are these mobs?!
I resumed my march and ventured deeper into Cold Ice Valley. A while later, I finally spotted a shadow-rank mob!
Rustle rustle...
It was a humanoid mob with a translucent exterior. In fact, it almost looked invisible against a snowy backdrop. Its exterior was covered in a frightening amount of sharp icicles, giving it the appearance of an ice-type sea urchin.
Ice Urchin Devil (Shadow)
Level: 125
Attack: 1250~1400
Defense: 1120
HP: 60000
Skills: Ice Stab X, Desperate Gambit X
Introduction: The Ice Urchin Devils are one of the guardians of Cold Ice Canyon, and they possess incredible Attack and Defense. After guarding the canyon for countless years, they have become incredibly violent creatures who only care about tearing apart any adventurers who come their way.
……
Eh, it was just a Level 125 shadow-rank mob with an average Attack. 1400 Attack mobs were barely a blip on my threat radar these days. Not only could I kill it by force, the 14% lifesteal on my Heaven-stealing Sword might be all the healing I needed to keep myself healthy.
I stopped thinking and charged!
Whoos.h.!.+
Thunderous Charge successfully stunned my target. At max rank, the chances of Thunderous Charge triggering its paralysis status was over 90%. It was literally harder not to stun my target.
I then swung my sword three times and unleashed a Pardon + Desperate Gambit + basic attack combo!
Thud thud thud!
MISS!
7846!
4198!
Not bad. The Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf also attacked the Ice Urchin Devil from the sides. Together, the two of us managed to delete over half of its heath in just 7 seconds!
Another 7 seconds later, the Ice Urchin Devil only managed to attack me twice before dying in a screaming fit.
Pop!
A round-shaped, dark cyan helmet dropped on the ground. When I picked it up, I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw—
Cold Helmet (Gold-grade, Outstanding★)
Defense: 215
Magic Resist: 160
Strength: +52
Agility: +41