Lin Yixin’s jealous tone of voice made Beiming Xue stand there at a loss.

I stood up. “Let’s go back, Beiming, it’s getting late. We have to go online at 7 am to level!”

“Mn.”

Beiming Xue obediently nodded and followed behind me. Her short skirt swayed, attracting the lingering gazes of the men of Snowy Cathaya.

I inwardly scolded them. These dumbos, they’re still not satisfied when they’re eating dinner with a super beauty like Lin Yixin. A man’s penchant for beauty was truly endless.

Before I got out the door, Lin Yixin suddenly called me. “Lu Chen?”

“Hm?” I turned. “What’s up, Beauty Yi?”

“Uh… What’s up next for your Blood Mercenaries? Or should I say, what are you planning to do next?”

“Grind to Level 60 for third promotion!”

“Oh…”

Lin Yixin laughed. “Alright then.”

……

We returned back to our room, bringing along Du Thirteen, Gui Guzi, and Yamete. Then I went to pay the bill. It totaled around a thousand. Too extravagant!

At 10 pm, we came back to the workshop. Beiming Xue went to take a shower and us remaining four men went to Yamete’s room to play Legends of the Three Kingdoms—

Mamate: “Haha, 'Southern Barbarian Invasion'!”

Du Thirteen: “Invade your sister, this card’s clearly 'Drowning in Pleasure'!”

Gui Guzi: “I use 'Attack' on Mamate!”

Mamate: “Fuck, you even dare to kill my 'Xia Houdun'? 'Attack' then!”

Du Thirteen: “Wait, wait, I want 'Goddess Luo'!”

Mamate: “Goddess your sister, you picked 'Zhang Fei'!”

Du Thirteen: “Shit!”

We played all the way until midnight, took cold shower, then went to our respective rooms to sleep.

……

After eating breakfast early in the morning, all members of Bloody Mercenaries enthusiastically went online to grind. Mamate, Du Thirteen, and Gui Guzi formed a party while I and Beiming Xue went solo. With our damage, making a party would only hinder our progress.

In Floating Ice City’s eastern gate plaza, I checked out my current progress. Level 53 24%. The higher my level, the harder it would be for me to increase it. Past Level 50, leveling speed would plummet so much that finding a new grinding spot would become imperative. I needed to reach Level 60 as soon as possible. Those who reached their third promotion first would definitely be rewarded by the system!

I walked out of Floating Ice City while browsing through the official forums but I couldn’t find a leveling map suitable for me. With my level at 53, killing Level 55–60 mobs would profit me the most. Violet Forest was not a good leveling spot for me anymore. The best would be a map with Level 55–60 mobs and a field boss so that I can get some valuable items while grinding levels. Two birds with one stone so to speak.

High-grade items like Silver or Gold–grade could only be dropped from bosses at this stage of the game. Steel-grade equipment dropping from an ordinary mob was already amazing but with my current equipment, I didn’t need items of such mundane tier anymore. I needed equipment that was at least of Dark Steel–grade!

A beep suddenly sounded when I was in a daze. Someone sent me a message. Their name sparkled. It was actually Wind Fantasy and the message was sent in clear font: “Lu Chen, what’re you doing?”

I looked at the distant forest and replied, “Going to grind.”

“Oh?”

Lin Yixin paused for a few seconds before sending a second message. “There’s a high-level map in the depths of Frost Forest and I want to bring someone along with me. Want to come?”

“Why aren’t you bringing a priest?”

“Priests don’t do any damage and that map has a high requirement on one’s ability. Aside from you, I don’t think there’s another person in Floating Ice City suitable for me to bring there! Also, the mobs in this map are all Level 55 and higher, which fits our level. I bet if we grind through the entire map, we’ll reach about Level 60. Of course, this depends on whether or not you can kill them.”

“Oh, I see!”

I was ecstatic. I got what I wanted so easily. Lin Yixin was too delightful!

“Let’s party up, I’ll be there soon!”

“Alright!”

Beep!

System Notice: Player “Wind Fantasy” wants to invite you to their party, do you accept?

After I pressed yes, I entered our party of two.

Lin Yixin’s current position was outside Floating Ice City, just a few minutes from me. That orange dot on the map quickly moved and she appeared at the outskirts of the forest in three minutes. She was still in a pure snow white gown holding the Snow Shadow Sword, her soft cheeks forming a smile. She wore a brand new silver chestplate that outlined her attractive curves and a white tassel hung below the outfit, somewhat hiding her suffocatingly beautiful legs.

“Gulp!”

I involuntarily swallowed as my heart secretly pounded. This little vixen could steal souls. I can’t look anymore. If I look any longer, I’ll be conquered and want to kneel.

Floating Ice City’s forums had thousands of daily posts asking to date Wind Fantasy. Many rich men would reveal their identity and family background and fight each other on the forums but none of those wastrels would dare provoke Lin Yixin in game. She was, after all, number one on Floating Ice City’s Heavenly Ranking. She had both looks and power, as the faction behind her was Floating Ice City’s very first guild, Snowy Cathaya. Those who had ideas about her needed to consider those facts.

I glanced at Lin Yixin and shook my head. Those immoral designers that made female armors were truly celestials!

Lin Yixin glared at me. “You weren’t drunk when you went back home last night, were you?”

“How… how could I be…” My heart thumped. Why was she asking this?

“Actually, our Bloody Mercenaries have five members now. You’ve seen Beiming Xue, and the others are guys, Gui Guzi, Du Thirteen, and Yamete. Beiming Xue has her own room…”

When I looked at her again, Lin Yixin was already walking into the forest with the Snow Shadow Sword. She glanced back with a smile. “Why are you explaining this to me? Besides, you living with a girl doesn’t have anything to do with me, right?”

I nodded. “Right!”

“Hmph!”

Lin Yixin rolled her eyes. “Let’s go, I’ll bring you to a godly leveling ground. You’d better not tell anyone about it!”

“What kind of a place is it?”

“You’ll know when you get there!”

I released my Dark Wasp while Lin Yixin also released her Fire Blade. We entered the forest with our guard up. The deeper we went, the more land we saw. Frost Forest was a map without bounds and there were monsters everywhere, with the majority being wild animals. On our way there, the mobs grew stronger, from Level 30 Wild Wolves to Level 60 Pythons.

I looked around and discovered that Lin Yixin and I were the only players here. It was already a deserted land since Level 60 mobs were no joke. Even parties with an average of Level 40 wouldn’t survive there. In fact, there weren’t that many such parties in Floating Ice City in the first place.

A few minutes later, we entered a clearing. The place looked as if all the trees around had been chopped down. Ahead of us I could see a building protruding into the sky. A tall pagoda stood in the forest clouded in white mist. No wonder why I couldn’t see it from afar!

I gazed up at this structure, inwardly surprised. This ancient tower had a total of five floors, with each floor at least ten meters tall. It seemed as though it was piercing through the skies as lightning scuttled down around the pagoda like legendary dragons of yore, shaking it. It looked terrifying to say the least!

Startled, I grabbed Lin Yixin’s arm. “Yiyi, when we go up, just one lightning bolt will burn us to a crisp. Look, this tower’s completely covered in lightning…”

Lin Yixin glanced back at me and smiled. “What are you scared of? You dare to go against tens of Domination Clan experts but you’re scared of a little grinding zone?”

“This is different…”

Lin Yixin burst into a giggle. “Don’t worry, I was in the first floor of this Ancient Thunder Temple last night. As long as your reaction speed is fast enough and your head’s not muddled, you won’t get hit by lightning.”

“Oh, I see. Then let’s go!”

“Mn!”

I walked in front. After going up the stairs, I pushed open the Ancient Thunder Temple’s heavy iron doors with open palms. The doors buzzed as they grinded against the floor, dust falling on our heads. Who knows how long this temple had been gathering dust for...

“Wait...”

Seeing the dust-filled air, I turned around. “Are you sure you were here yesterday?”

Lin Yixin turned around and looked at the distant forest. “The scenery isn't too bad~~”

“Fuck!”

I used more force and the door fully opened. I smelled something foul, then was immediately thrown out. I flew backward into the air and Lin Yixin shouted in surprise before flying out with me due to the large attack range.

Bang!

Both of us landed on the ground. My neck was in pain and a howl sounded. A large blood-colored dog pounced on my body and bit off nearly 300 of my HP!

“Scram!”

My leg abruptly kicked out. The huge, blood-red dog miserably howled when knocked away. My damage was still pretty good. If I hadn’t been ambushed, I wouldn’t have been in this wretched state.

Lin Yixin crawled up from the grass. With gritted teeth, she charged at the big dog with her sword. At this time, I finally had the chance to look at the monster’s details—

Hellhound

Level: 57

Attack: 240~420

Defense: 320

HP: 5500

Skills: Flurry Dance, Roar

Introduction: Guardian of the Ancient Thunder Temple’s first floor. The nightmare of all adventurers, Hellhounds come from the sinking Abyss and possess immense power.

……

Level 57 monster, it can’t be left alive!

Lin Yixin and I unleashed our attacks at the same time. Moon Gaze + Extreme Break, Pardon + Desperate Gambit. When our combo skills fell, the Hellhound howled and lost most of its HP.

But at this moment, a golden light suddenly appeared on the Hellhound’s forehead. A powerful skill’s coming!

Papapapa!

Four consecutive hits. The Hellhound unleashed four attacks, two at me and two at Lin Yixin. I lost 300 HP!

Flurry Dance: Can hit several targets multiple times with power equivalent to physical damage skills.

Another lightning quick strike came from each one of us and the Hellhound died before our pets had time to react.

I spread out my hand and tried for additional loot with Death Plunder!

Hellhound Pelt (Quality: 75): Rank 4 pelt.