Soon after, accompanied by Lin Zhao's mighty Qitun Mengze Style, the last sliver of HP of the gray-robed water demon was depleted. A large pile of loot rained down from the sky. Lin Zhao immediately conjured a small, boundless world, engulfing the gray-robed water demon and all the loot within it. The best piece of equipment dropped was a celestial-grade leather bracer, nothing particularly noteworthy. Besides gold coins, eight unbound Gold Whisker Coins were also obtained, which were as good as cash.
It was rumored that after the Stone of Destiny update, all Bosses of Ghost God rank and above would directly drop Gold Whisker Coins. What did this signify? It meant the government was essentially handing out money. Each Gold Whisker Coin was equivalent to 1,000,000 Universal Coins. This move was intended to encourage player competition within this "second world," touted as a metaverse.
Consequently, almost all Ghost God rank Bosses in the national server had been marked by major guilds, with teams already lying in wait long before their respawn. A single Ghost God rank Boss represented millions of Universal Coins, leading to intense clashes between numerous guilds and large-scale studios, fiercely vying for the resources of these Bosses. Such scenes were commonplace within the White Emperor City's territory.
Furthermore, the corpse of the gray-robed water demon, a tenth-realm Boss, surprisingly remained. It turned out to be a fish, not a white one, but a red-tailed one, measuring over a meter in length. Consuming some of it daily could grant experience points for the current level.
Not bad, added to the inventory.
Although it was only a tenth-realm creature, it would be excellent for Chen Xue, Ding Chi, and the others to handle.
Lin Zhao felt a surge of ambition as he looked at the long red-tailed fish in his inventory. He became even more certain that in "Tian Xia," the game rules and the plot rules were indeed separate. For instance, when defeating Bosses in normal public maps, their corpses would simply vanish. However, it was different for plot Bosses of the demon and sprite races; most would leave something behind for players. The high-ranking demons Lin Zhao had defeated previously, like the Catfish Fiend and the Wuli, had transformed into delicious catfish and snakehead fish respectively. As for the sprite race, there were creatures like the Blazing Maple and the Water Birch, all of which proved useful in the end.
Therefore, it was inevitable that following the plot would yield greater rewards, while simply grinding monsters would only result in meager paper gains.
...
"Beep!"
Chen Xue sent a message: "I've reached the fourth floor."
"Send me your coordinates, I'll bring you something."
"Okay."
As Chen Xue, Ding Chi, and Roman, leading the Scarlet Moon Knights on their Blazing Sky Warhorses, slowly advanced along the lakeside on the fourth floor, Lin Zhao descended from the sky. He retrieved a red-tailed fish from his inventory and handed it to Chen Xue, saying, "This can be grilled or boiled for soup. It'll give you some extra experience points, so don't waste it. You guys can grind some experience here on the fourth floor for now; I'm heading to the fifth."
"Mm."
Chen Xue's lips curled into a smile. "Are you really letting Xinghe, Xun Xian, and Hancheng have the eleventh-realm White Elm?"
"We are."
Lin Zhao said readily, "Our Scarlet Moon Knights have already claimed a Blazing Sky Forest Valley map. Let them have a taste too. The eleventh-realm White Elm is likely a Saint-grade Boss. Let's wait and see. After the battle, these three guilds will likely suffer over ten thousand casualties, severely depleting their strength. In subsequent maps, our Scarlet Moon Knights will be able to secure more resources. I've told everyone not to rush and to prioritize stability."
"Mm."
Chen Xue added, "Oh, there's one more thing to be aware of. There's no place to repair equipment on this map currently. And this Ancient Dragon Marsh map is a persistent one. Conserve your equipment durability; it wouldn't be good to run out of it early."
"Alright, don't worry."
Lin Zhao smiled and nodded. In truth, Chen Xue had no reason to worry. Lin Zhao's primary method of grinding monsters was through his flying sword attacks. Flying swords do not have durability. On the contrary, his own equipment's durability loss was very low. Even if all of Lin Zhao's equipment lost all its durability, it wouldn't matter as long as his flying sword remained; it was still a formidable weapon.
...
Finding the entrance to the fifth floor.
Lin Zhao harbored a personal agenda. Although the Ancient Dragon Marsh map was persistent, he still hoped to clear it as soon as possible to obtain the legendary artifact, the Qiankun Xuanhuo Tower. After all, the New Year was fast approaching, and it was likely already festive at the Mountain Peak Villa. Being trapped in the Ancient Dragon Marsh wasn't ideal; as the master of the mountain, he had to return and preside over the festivities.
Moreover, Xiao Jiu'er might be returning to the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool in the coming days. In the past, the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool was a desolate ruin, and Xiao Jiu'er would spend the New Year with her fellow disciples on Mount Changming. However, now that Lin Zhao had returned, this was his first New Year back in the Snow Domain Heavenly Pool, and Xiao Jiu'er was bound to return.
Additionally, Lin Zhao wanted to add another person to the gift list for the New Year's goods purchased for Mountain Peak Villa.
Yunzhou City, Shi Hanyin.
Shi Hanyin had shown great sincerity. Although he had refused her, she had still gifted him a pair of jade bracelets and even offered to follow him at the cost of her own fortune. He had to remember that sentiment. Even if he couldn't accept her goodwill, a small token of appreciation was in order for the New Year, wasn't it?
There were many things to do, so the sooner he concluded his conquest of the Ancient Dragon Marsh and obtained the benefits, the better.
...
"Swish!"
Stepping onto the fifth floor, his vision blurred for a moment, and the scene transformed into a desolate stone forest. Just as Lin Zhao was adapting to his surroundings, several "swish-swish-swish" sounds echoed, and flame arrows shot towards him. Lin Zhao hurriedly dodged to the side, evading most of them, but two missed, causing his HP to drop by a staggering 40,000+. And this was while wearing his Golden Armored Immortal Robe; otherwise, those two hits might have instantly killed him!
"What the hell is that!?"
He frowned, pressing his body against a stone pillar. He felt "crackling" sounds as the stone pillar behind him was struck by flame arrows. The firelight behind him illuminated the forest beyond, turning it bright. So, Lin Zhao stealthily peeked his head out and saw that the stone forest was populated by slender-legged birds called Flame Thorns. When these thorn birds discovered Lin Zhao, the "intruder," their feathers bristled, transforming into deadly flame arrows.
"..."
As soon as he peeked, two arrows flew towards him. He hastily dodged and then adjusted his view, finally seeing clearly. There were over a dozen Flame Thorn Birds standing their ground, continuously shaking their feathers and shooting flame arrows at Lin Zhao. However, these birds were extremely territorial, refusing to budge from their positions, waiting for Lin Zhao to expose himself and be shot down.
Troublesome. It was impossible to confront them head-on. Entering the range and line of sight of these Flame Thorn Birds carried the risk of instant death. They were not ordinary monsters but uniformly level 170 Ghost God rank elite monsters. In fact, the entire fifth floor was filled with clusters of fiery red light, densely populated by these Flame Thorn Birds.
"Business opportunity has arrived..."
Lin Zhao grinned. Ordinary players might struggle to deal with these Flame Thorn Birds, but he could. With a thought, the stopper of his orange gourd opened by itself, and 36 Ephemeral Flying Swords shot out like a fine mist, circumventing the stone pillars and wreaking havoc around the Flame Thorn Birds. Without direct line of sight, it was virtually impossible to kill enemies with flying swords; sword cultivators needed to see where their opponents were. However, the Ephemeral Flying Swords had a different mechanism. With the Ephemeral Flying Swords and the orange gourd, there was a "release" mode. As long as Lin Zhao set this mode, the Ephemeral Flying Swords could fly out in swarms and automatically attack enemy targets.
Soon after, Lin Zhao's experience bar began to climb rapidly as all dozen Flame Thorn Birds were killed by the Ephemeral Flying Swords. When Lin Zhao went to inspect the loot, he found that the rewards were substantial. There was a celestial-grade magic boot, and in addition, two earthly-grade equipment pieces, both high-level items at level 160. In the current version, these items were still quite marketable. If they had even slightly superior attributes, an earthly-grade item could be worth over 100,000 Universal Coins. It was all money!
"Whoosh..."
He took a deep breath and then began grinding monsters on the fifth floor of the Ancient Dragon Marsh in his own way. His movements were swift as he darted between stone pillars, drawing the aggro of a group of Flame Thorn Birds. He then hid behind a suitable stone pillar and continuously released Ephemeral Flying Swords to help him grind. In no time, he was gaining experience and obtaining loot.
Concurrently, he sent a message to Chen Xue, informing her about the situation on the fifth floor, including the characteristics of the monsters, and reminding the Scarlet Moon Knights to be cautious if they entered the fifth floor. He advised them to avoid lingering there unless necessary and to proceed to the sixth floor as soon as possible. The characteristics of the fifth floor were not suitable for ordinary players to grind. Unless they possessed extremely high spiritual attack power like Shen Xingchen, who could cast a pool of fire rain at the feet of the Flame Thorn Birds to slowly burn them, and could eventually grind monsters using similar methods, it would certainly be slow. After all, the sustained burning damage from any mage's fire rain could not be compared to the Ephemeral Flying Swords.
...
An hour and a half later.
A bell chimed. The eleventh-realm White Fish Spirit, Bai Yu, was slain on the fourth floor. Su Xinghe and the others received the secondary kill reward for a Saint-grade Boss. However, the cost was reportedly extreme, as could be seen from the clear speed of the conquest. The Scarlet Moon Knights only took 20+ minutes to defeat the Blazing Sky Beast, killing it rapidly at full force. In contrast, Xinghe, Xun Xian, and Hancheng took a full 90 minutes to defeat Bai Yu. The extent of the casualties could be imagined. According to Ding Chi, the total number of players from the three guilds who perished under Bai Yu's sword was around 20,000, far exceeding Lin Zhao's earlier expectations!
It seemed that with the version updates, the upper five-realm demons had not necessarily weakened; they might have even grown stronger. These fluctuations were normal. When Lin Zhao led the Scarlet Moon Knights in a swarm tactic to defeat Lu Xiuyuan, the losses were not this severe. In the current version, the power of the upper five-realms had actually been enhanced. Of course, it might also be related to Bai Yu being a sword cultivator and a water-elemental demon fighting in a water-based environment. Regardless, Su Xinghe, Xian Bai, and Yan Yuhan had certainly faced immense challenges. It remained to be seen how many benefits Bai Yu had dropped and whether it was worth the price. If two Saint artifacts were dropped, it would probably suffice.
Putting them aside for now, Lin Zhao had gained a substantial amount. In just an hour and a half of intense grinding on the fifth floor, he had focused entirely on elite monsters with high drop rates. As a result, his inventory was now overflowing. He had over 120 pieces of earthly-grade equipment and 22 pieces of celestial-grade equipment. It was important to note that celestial-grade equipment was still considered top-tier gear. Among them were not a few exceptional pieces. Once he listed them all on the auction house, he would make a fortune, which would then be used to subsidize Scarlet Moon Transport, purchase more combat aircraft, and buy more equipment, arming the brothers of the Fire Blade to the teeth. He wanted to show the world that the Scarlet Moon Knights were not only formidable in-game but also in reality. Anyone who dared to provoke the Scarlet Moon Knights would do well to reconsider!
Continue grinding, grind until the seas run dry and the stones decay.