Zhan Long

Chapter 57 – Pardon Card

This chapter was sponsored by William Wang, Alban de Caumont, Manuel T. and Sai Pakalapati.

TL: Unlike in other MMORPGs, Chinese mmorpgs are filled with PK/Guild wars because of its limited resources which is why there is an excessive amount of PKing in the book. PKing is a larger element in this book than monster killing.

“Shua!”

A gold beam fell upon me and I once again reached Level 32 after killing a Cloud Water Snake. I was close to tears. Damn, if not for the 2 consecutive deaths this afternoon, I would already be within the Top 10 of Ba Huang City. To miss such a rare opportunity…

Suddenly, “Sha Sha”, the grass by the shore moved. A few seconds later, a beautiful silhouette appeared, Level 34 Assassin beauty, Yue Qing Qian.

“Qing Qian!”

I walked forward, “You’ve come a long way, what is it that you want to give me?”

Yue Qing Qian smiled as she stretched her hand into her waist-pouch and pulled out a card, “Look, I somehow managed to acquire this from an auction, I’m sure it’ll be useful to you…”

I reached for it and took the blood red card.

[Pardon Card]: After using this card, for 12 hours, the user will not receive any penalties for killing other players.

…….

“Oh?”

Shocked, I continued, “Qing Qian, this should be pretty expensive right? I really do need it though…”

Yue Qing Qian laughed and shook her head: “Not really, it’s only 5 gold because not many people want it. Everyone is more focused on rushing to Level 40 for their second class upgrade. Nobody has the time to spend on killing people all day, Of course, Tyrant of Western Chu is an exception…”

Yue Qing Qian looked at my equipment from head to toe as she spoke.

“Eh? Brother Xiao Yao, you…why are you wearing heavy armor? Aren’t you…aren’t you a healer?”

I patted the Dragon City Scavenger insignia on my shoulder, “Nope, I just changed my class to Swordsman.”

“Wah, no wonder you could withstand the attacks from the Generals and even kill 3 of them…”

“I still died though, my level was insufficient…”

“Hmm.” Yue Qing Qian blinked and continued, “I suggest you stop training here, your current location is pretty much an open secret and is sure to attract endless players to try and kill you for the 1000 gold bounty. The temptation is simply irresistible!”

“I know, Qing Qian, you can return first, I’ll change my training spot right away,”

“Okay, Brother Xiao Yao you must be careful!”

“Sure…”

……

I watched Yue Qing Qian disappear into the distance, and then opened the map of my surroundings. I did have to move from here, many players were going to come here looking to kill me soon. So it wouldn’t be possible for me to level in peace. Liu Ying wanted to buy my doom, but I wouldn’t surrender so easily. I had to be as tough and difficult to kill as a c**kroach, and bide my time for the perfect moment to strike back.

“Di!”

Yue Qing Qian sent yet another message: “Brother Xiao Yao, one more thing!”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Have you heard of the [Vanguard] guild?”

“Of course, they are Rank number 3 in China, second only to [Legend] and [Hero’s Mound]. How can I not have heard of them?”

“Well…” Yue Qing Qian sounded worried: “[Vanguard] guild left Jiu Li City towards Ba Huang City this morning. Their leader, Jian Feng is also on the way over, they will reach Ba Huang within a day. The whole Ba Huang City’s balance of power is going to change, even [Prague] is feeling the heat. Half an hour earlier, I heard that Jian Feng saw the video of you PK-ing the Generals and is interested to exchange a few blows with you…”

I clenched my teeth: “[Vanguard] is a large guild, they shouldn’t be short on gold?”

Yue Qing Qian: “Though they don’t lack gold, Jian Feng is insane. For a guy with the nickname Insane Gamer, he keeps seeking to challenge strong players. Just this morning, Uncle Yan Zhao dueled with him 5 times and lost 4 of those duels. You must be careful, Jian Feng is arrogant and cold-blooded, I suspect that if he sees you outside the city, he’ll kill you without even bothering to ask for a duel.

My heart sank: “Okay, I know…thanks Qing Qian, I’ll do my best and stay strong…”

“Okay!”

……

Leaving the Desolate Cloud Swamp, I continued my journey towards the East. After I passed through a thick forest, I reached a large canyon ahead. It was also the largest training area within the Dragon’s domain – Fire Stone Canyon!

The area of Fire Stone Canyon was at least 10 times the size of Desolate Cloud Swamp. This would make it safer for me to train here as it was harder for other players to find me in such a large area.

“Wu wu…”

Standing on the canyon above, my whole body suddenly started trembling as the cold wind blew through the gaps in my armor and chilled me to the bone. As I gazed into the distance, all I saw were fire-red rocks, it was like I was within a raging, flaming volcano. On the side of the Fire Stone Canyon nearest to me, I spotted countless Level 39 Orcs who held wooden clubs swarming around. With my current strength, training with monsters 7 levels above me was not difficult, and the EXP was wonderful. Alright, I would hang around this area to train!

Swinging off from a protruding rock, I slid down along the mountain slope.

“Keng Keng” I used the Jade City Sword to carve a trace into the rock to slow my descent. Baby Bobo followed me in the air. A few minutes later, I planted my feet firmly onto the ground in the middle of the canyon. Just ahead, there were 2 Orcs, “Huchi huchi”, they breathed coarsely and I couldn’t make out what they were saying.

These were Porcine Orcs, with a human body and a pig’s head. Though I wouldn’t say that their body was entirely human either. Their torsos were exceptionally thick and strong, covered entirely in slick black hair. Standing at about 2 meters tall, animal skin which seemed to be leopard fur hanged from their waist. This was enough to prove that these Orcs were strong.

……

“Ga Ga … … I smell fresh blood!” The Orc on the left was suddenly on the alert. With his ears perked, he laughed loudly, “Finally, a change of diet. I see a strong, young, human warrior. The delicious flesh of a warrior’s legs is great, let’s get him together!

……

“Hong long long”, I heard the sound of footsteps as both Orcs brandished their wooden clubs and rushed over.

I remained calm. With a swift stroke, I struck forward with my Jade City Sword, “Pu chi”, a normal attack hit the Orc in front. Immediately after that, a low whistling sound was heard as aura rose from my feet and the S Rank combo [Strength of a Thousand Men] was activated. I executed a flurry of strikes and cut forcefully. The final strike, [Wind Blade] split the Orc as he screamed in agony. With another attack, rays of white EXP points flew and seeped into my body, making my EXP bar jump. The Orc was dead!

As i turned around, Jade City Sword shuddered as a golden hexagon forms\ed on the blade and rotated, “Keng keng keng”, my combo landed on the other Orc’s wooden club. Baby Bobo’s combo followed, producing another ray of white light. “Chuckle”, with this combination, I could kill off two Level 39 Orcs within 6 seconds, my damage output was indeed outstanding.

As a third Orc rushed over, I lifted my blade and dashed toward him, wanting to execute my custom combo. Alas, a cooldown of 30 seconds was on all custom combos, so I had to wait for 20 seconds more before I could use [Strength of a Thousand Men]. I immediately used [Wind Blade] and together with Baby Bobo’s attacks, we easily got rid of the Orc. I lost a little health, 1 hit from the Orc took out 80 HP from me, an amount that wasn’t even worth healing over.

One step at a time, I gradually advanced into the depths of the Fire Stone Canyon.

Up ahead laid a patch of dark green thicket belonging to the Deep Cold Forest, the sole forest in the middle of Fire Stone Canyon. Before I entered, my Herb Gathering skill lit up, signalling that there were high leveled herbs ahead!

Stepping into the forest, I looked between a large tree and a rock and caught a glimpse of strands of dark blue grass swaying in the wind. It was almost as if they were welcoming me.

While I took a number of steps forward, imaginary tears started to stream down my face as I spotted the name of the herb in front of me. Indigo Seaweed, a Level 5 herb. It was the essential ingredient in the refinement of Level 5 Indigo Seaweed of Immortality!

I took out my herb shovel and gathered it excitedly!

“Ding!”

System Notice: Congratulations, you have gathered 2 x [Indigo Seaweed], your [Herb Gathering] skill as increased by 2!

“Ding!”

System Notice: Congratulations, you have gathered 3 x [Indigo Seaweed], your [Herb Gathering] skill as increased by 3!

……

After collecting 7 Indigo Seaweed plants, I happily stood upright to leave when suddenly, something scuttled out from the shrub in front of me. “Ji ji”, its tail flashed as an ice cone was hurled my way–

“Pa!”

“224!”

My body trembled. Damn, it was a magic type monster–

Ice Rat, Level 40, data not available.

……

Just before I initiated my attack, the Ice Rat sent its second ice cone my way, making me lose 200+ HP again. But he wouldn’t be lucky enough for a third time as my Jade City Sword slashed into the Ice Rat in the next instant. An aura surged around me as my combo was activated. “Pa pa pa”, [Strength of a Thousand Men] struck the Ice Rat continuously. Being a magic type monster, its health should only be around 1500 HP. “Ji ji”, it whimpered as it fell to the ground!

“Pa ta… …”

My luck was pretty good, it was just my first kill and I actually got a dark blue illustration as loot —

[Ice Rat]

Attack：★

Defense：★★☆

Health：★★★

Agility：★★★☆

Magic：★★★★

……

Okay, a typical pet, magic potential growth at 4 stars was good if one used it as a magic pet. At least it would be useful to level and PK at the early stages. Magic was the weakness of armored classes, and the proof of it was that this Level 39 monster could shave off 200+ of my HP with its ice cone.

I continued to roam around the Deep Cold Forest with my Jade City Sword in hand, searching for Indigo Seaweed while keeping an eye out for a Level 1 Ice Rat, making sure not to miss it.

After drifting around for more than an hour, it was almost 9PM already, but Lin Wan Er hadn’t contacted me for supper. Dong Cheng Yue did joke that tonight was my turn to treat, because my bet with Lin Wan Er was still on-going and I got killed by the Generals twice, which meant I owed them 2 meals.

While fighting an Ice Rat, I suddenly heard the sound of footsteps and voices coming from just outside the forest–

“Boss, these are the carcasses of Ice Rats. It looks like there’s a player nearby, and he must’ve been here recently because the carcasses haven’t disappeared yet……”

“Okay, let’s go in and take a look. To train in this area requires a group of at least 10 players, or they wouldn’t be able to withstand the monster’s attacks.”

“Yeah!”

……

Shadows moved as a few players entered my field of vision. I simply stood there holding my Jade City Sword, surrounded by nothing but empty space. I stared at them as our eyes met.

“Seriously……”

A thin archer remarked coldly: “Xiao Yao……Xiao Yao Zi Zai…to actually bump into him here. Boss, what should we do……”

The Level 31 Berserker lifted his battle axe off his shoulder, as his face turned savage: “Isn’t it obvious? Kill him!”