Players could be seen at every corner of Frost Forest. As the biggest forest region inside Floating Ice City’s domain, Frost Forest had all kinds of monsters. It was a great place for players to grind, gather herbs, forage, and procure pelts. It was paradise for Level 30–70 players at the early stage of the game.

The enormous number of Chinese players was world-famous. Half a month after the game’s release, Heavenblessed boasted 180 million registered players. That number had been divided into nine tier 2 cities, 20 million each. This was why the low-leveling areas were currently jam-packed with people. A trailblazer like me couldn’t find a grinding zone without walking for at least an hour or two.

……

My trek through the Frost Forest felt like it would never end. It took me 30 entire minutes to finally arrive at the sea region on the map.

Whoosh!

The forest parted and the scene in front of me brightened. The sea breeze brushed over as a notification came.

System Notice: You have entered a neutral zone—Silverscale Coast!

Far away was a boundless azure ocean and the extensive coast I was standing on was like a belt that encircled Frost Forest. Monsters of all sizes were crawling above the sea coast, waiting for a traveling adventurer to kill them!

I was looking for Fish Meat, so I naturally had to find some shallow waters.

A few steps later, I suddenly discovered a dark red region on the map. It wasn’t too big, but it made my heart jump. A temporary NPC camp?

If so, I shouldn’t act too hasty in killing the mobs. Provisions had to be prepared in advance before an army moved out. I had to check out that temporary camp. It wasn’t too late to get a few quests before going to grind some levels.

My bloody cloak fluttered in the wind, my Ghost Ice Soul tightly in my grasp. I was brimming with a cold aura as I strode past the grove of trees. My eyes brightened. A simple and crude NPC camp had appeared in the open space of the forest. They weren’t Night Creatures, nor were they humans. They were fully-armored dark-type NPC soldiers and the leading NPC wielded a sharp sword. He had blue skin and his eyes were blood red.

Blood Dance Legion!

Too similar. There wasn’t much of a difference between Shadow Dancer Xue Wei and this guy. Even though the Blood Dance Legion’s high-level warriors were considered undead, their bodies were intact, especially their eyes. That bloody color contained deeply-harbored grief. A single glance was all it took for others to fall in!

The head NPC was at least a high-rank Blood Dance Legion member. A row of lines floated above his head—

Wandering Blade Dakara (Bronze Rank Boss)

Level: 65

Introduction: Scout Captain of the Blood Dance Legion’s 4th Corps 7th Squad. Originally a powerful human warrior, after his death, Dakara became a member of the Blood Dance Legion. He possesses extraordinary combat power and intelligence.

……

I walked up to him. Before I even got a word in, Scout Captain Dakara had already hoisted his longsword and angrily denounced, “Who dares trespass into the Blood Dance Legion's territory?”

“I am an adventurer from Frost Mound!” I drew my longsword, ready to battle.

I didn’t expect Dakara’s attitude to suddenly change. He withdrew his sword and smiled. “I’ve heard of you. Young warrior, you’ve saved Lord Shadow Dancer Xue Wei in an ancient ruin before, haven’t you? She has mentioned you many times!”

I was slightly shocked. My luck’s not bad, I met a friend of a friend!

As such, I approached the group. “Yes.”

“Lord Xue Wei has already retreated deep into the mountain range with her troops in defense. Those damn Night Creatures tried to eradicate every one of us. Utterly detestable! I was sent to patrol this beach by Lord Xue Wei but I never imagined that I would encounter a group of mutated creatures. So troublesome…”

Dakara put on a worried frown. That was my cue. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Oh, it'd be great if you could help me out!”

Dakara broke into laughter. “The depths of the sea have recently been churning with a strange power, causing many creatures to grow in strength. Look, you see all those golden crabs on the beach? Those crabs are extremely violent. Help me kill some of them!”

Ding~!

System Notice: Do you want to accept the quest [Crystal Crab]? (Current Quest Rank: B)

Yes!

Ding~!

System Notice: You have accepted the quest [Crystal Crab]!

Description: A large number of golden crabs has appeared near the sea area of the Silverscale Coast. Please be careful and kill 1000 Crystal Crabs. Find Wandering Blade Dakara after completing your quest for a generous reward!

……

Alright, quest received!

I turned around and left the Blood Dance Legion camp. At the same time, I now had a clear understanding of the factions in this world. Heavenblessed had three major forces. Humans, barbarians, dwarves, elves, succubi, and many other races formed the Silver Moon Alliance and represented the power of light. Masters hidden in the darkness commanded the Night Creatures and represented the power of darkness. The Blood Dance Alliance led by Blood Dance Magnificence Sophia was the third force. It was a branch separated from the Night Creatures that only sought survival, and could be considered a neutral faction in the battle between the Silver Moon Alliance and the Night Creatures.

This is the path I will be treading. Joining the Blood Dance Legion, but also taking quests of the other two factions. Three birds with one stone, that is the king’s way!

I summoned the Dark Wasp and set foot near the coast. Not too far away was a golden crab. It was about one-third the size of a human and held its pincers up high. The crab’s entire body was bright and transparent, like crystal, clearly the reason for its name! I was already Level 58 so I had no problem inspecting its stats—

Crystal Crab

Level: 65

Attack: 375~420

Defense: 350

HP: 5850

Skills: Flurry, Rend

Introduction: Silverscale Coast’s mutated species, possesses strong attack power and fast recovery.

……

As a Level 65 monster, the Crystal Crab’s attack and defense was normal. At least it was something I and my Dark Wasp could handle with ease.

I rushed up to make the first move—Pardon + Desperate Gambit!

MISS!

2011!

Desperate Gambit’s blood red light struck the Crystal Crab right on its head, bringing out a high damage number with one strike. The crab launched a decisive counterattack. It raised its enormous pincers that began to glow gold and swiftly attacked me 4 times. Flurry!

My Rank 5 Ghost Deity Armor hummed when I was struck. The crab’s attack power wasn’t low as 4 damage numbers appeared above my head—

245!

228!

232!

229!

Shit, almost 1000 HP gone in a flash!

Scared out of my mind, I speedily retreated. I noticed that the Crystal Crab’s Flurry skill was at Rank 6 which meant that it could instantly attack 4 times. No wonder my soul almost flew out!

My Dark Wasp advanced and hit it 3 times, shaving off almost 2000 HP. I pounced over right after!

“Jiejie…”

The Crystal Crab died with a screech. This thing’s DPS was nice but its Defense and HP could only be considered ordinary. The Crystal Crab’s attack power should also be ordinary, but its Flurry VI was nuts. Just this one skill alone completely transformed this mob’s damage potential!

After chugging down a potion, I drank a smaller dose to slowly recover my HP. At the same time, the scene of the previous battle appeared in my mind. The Crystal Crab’s Flurry was instantaneous but there was about half a second of charge-up. Even though it was very short, it didn’t escape my eyes. In that case, I could rely on my skill to dodge the initial hit. Otherwise, I would need to drink a potion after each crab, and I couldn’t bear this kind of expenditure!

I’ll test it out first!

I plundered the crab but it didn’t even give me a single hair!

I went searching for my next target. Not far away from me were two Crystal Crabs, walking left and right on the beach!

I dashed over and lifted my hands into Pardon’s stance, skill activation alone aggroing the mobs!

Just when it was time for me to attack, I quickly took two steps back and cancelled my cast. The Crystal Crab that had already moved swung four times in the air, causing four beautiful MISSes to pop up.

Haha, success! Even with its strong DPS I can still force it to miss!

I was super excited. Now that I cheated the Crystal Crab out of its Flurry skill, it couldn’t threaten me anymore. If I attacked together with my Dark Wasp, we could finish off a Level 65 Crystal Crab in about 10 seconds. Adding the time it took to find a mob, I could kill like 2–3 in under a minute. Not only would this complete my quest fairly fast, my leveling speed would soar! I might even reach Level 60 and undergo my third promotion within the next 2 days!

Several hours passed in the blink of an eye. My Dark Wasp was now the same level as me, Level 58. It couldn’t gain experience anymore because in Heavenblessed, a pet’s level could not surpass its owner’s. This way, Level 10 players couldn’t spend RMB to buy a Level 100 pet to act cool.

Whoosh!

The Ghost Ice Soul separated into two sword auras and struck down, jolting the Crystal Crab!

557!

Tsk tsk. A Rank 1 Thousand Mirage Slash’s attack wasn’t that great. Its attack range was also only 1 yard so I had to focus on increasing its rank. It was bound to become much better later on.

However, using Thousand Mirage Slash even once consumed 50 MP. The current cost was devastating. Thankfully, I was a chef that could make his own Magic Consumables, else I wouldn’t even be able to afford increasing this skill’s proficiency!

I continuously slaughtered my way through, forgetting the time until I heard a notification.

Ding~!

System Notice: Congratulations, your skill Thousand Mirage Slash has reached Rank 2!

Haha, proficiency needed for Rank 2 wasn’t much, it ranked up so quickly!

I looked at Thousand Mirage Slash’s tooltip again. Rank 2 boosted its attack power to 80% but it was still two sword auras. However, the range was increased to 2 yards, so it could no longer be considered merely a melee skill

So exciting. Continue!

I grinded all the way until noon. Killing 1000 Crystal Crabs was a rather huge request, it was literally manual labor. At this time, I had unwittingly reached the seawater. The shallow water beach still had Crystal Crabs but there was now an extra creature that loved water—Spearfish!