Chapter 205: The Correct Strategy For Advanced Wilderness Dungeons
Death Valley.
Large groups of Sub-demon Race wearing Wanxing City miner uniforms walked down from the large transport vehicles. In less than a minute, more than two thousand people had gathered in front of the valley.
Of these more than two thousand Sub-demon Race, most were at apprentice level. Under the command of the more than two hundred members of the Ten Thousand Star City Defense Group, they took tools in an orderly manner and began to enter the mountain.
“Lord Lucis, the life detector has detected people on the mountain.”
A Sub-demon Race captain wearing B6-level battle armor, nearly four meters tall with four arms and four eyes, respectfully reported to a Sub-demon Race man whose figure was only two meters tall and whose whole skin was crimson red.
The Sub-demon Race man with crimson red skin directly raised his head and looked toward Fang Zhen and Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang on the mountain. Although the two sides were nearly one kilometer apart, Fang Zhen and Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang, who were hidden in the forest, felt as if they were standing right in front of the Sub-demon Race man, with nowhere to hide.
“This Sub-demon Race is so strong!” Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang looked at Lucis gazing up from the foot of the mountain. With just one glance of eye contact, a warning of death surged through the brain.
“This feeling, this Sub-demon Race is probably at the Bone Forging Realm.” Fang Zhen looked at Lucis, and at this moment he also felt immense pressure. Clearly it was just a moment of eye contact, yet it felt like being targeted at point-blank range by a monster.
Before Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang and Fang Zhen could recover from this oppressive feeling, Lucis at the foot of the mountain casually picked up a spear made of azure bones from his back and hurled it toward the mountain.
Bang!
The sound of the bone spear piercing through the air echoed out, and at the same time Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang and Fang Zhen saw an azure light shooting over to a spot less than a hundred meters away.
“He can launch an attack from that far away?”
Fang Zhen and Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang both were shocked as they watched the incoming azure bone spear.
Separated by nearly one kilometer, even if they used a B2-level compound heavy bow, they could neither shoot that far nor that fast, let alone hurl a spear weighing at least a hundred kilograms.
Faced with this supersonic precise throw, Fang Zhen and Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang reacted quickly. They directly picked up B2-level alloy shovels and jointly swung them to strike the azure bone spear.
Reverse Star Hand First Level Star Rotation!
Cloud Mist Hand First Level Thousand Changes!
With Fang Zhen’s original strength stacked with the buff, his strength reached two thousand kilograms. The Reverse Star Hand’s fourfold strength increase directly made the swing of the alloy shovel reach ten tons. Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang’s strike did not reach ten tons, but still exceeded eight tons. The combined attack of the two, even after some loss of power, still totaled around fourteen tons of force.
Boom!
At the instant the bone spear touched the alloy shovels, both shovels were pierced through. The powerful internal force was like a mountain pressing directly down on Fang Zhen and Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang. That roughly fourteen tons of strength was rendered meaningless under this blow, and the bone spear passed between the two of them without any obstruction.
As for Fang Zhen and Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang, at the moment the bone spear passed by, they only felt as if their entire bodies were hit by a truck. They were sent flying hundreds of meters away, breaking tree after tree, and logged off midway.
As for the azure bone spear bombarding the mountainside, it directly blasted out a crater over thirty meters in radius.
“Lord Lucis, those two have been investigated. They should be martial artists from the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall of the City of Light Chasing.” The captain of the defense group ran over carrying the azure bone spear to report.
“That Obsidian Martial Arts Hall that is preparing to establish a town on Crimson Moon Mountain?” Lucis, sitting on the transport vehicle, took the bone spear and asked.
“It should be them.” The captain of the defense group nodded slightly.
“Seems I helped Igor and the others a bit.” Lucis said indifferently. “Alright, continue your work. This Mithril Ore Vein must be mined out as soon as possible. Now, in order to deal with those monsters, the consumption of B4-level and above battle armor in other cities is quite large. The purchase prices of B4-level and above battle armor in major cities have risen a lot. Our Wanxing City must not miss this opportunity.”
“Lord Lucis, the people from the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall died here, and those were two martial artists. They will definitely send people to search afterward. If the hall master of the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall comes, how should we respond?” The captain of the defense group asked cautiously.
Although Lucis had only recently joined the Ten Thousand Star City Defense Group, he was one of this year’s Top Ten Graduates of the Genius Training Camp, and in the future was very likely to compete for the position of leader of the defense group. Usually in Wanxing City he acted with impunity, but as subordinates they had to consider many things.
Martial artists were very important to any faction, especially to a faction like the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, which had just stepped into the circle of city senior officials. To lose two at once meant the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall would definitely come knocking.
If it were only those Viscera Refining Realm martial artists from the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, it would not matter as much. But if the hall master at the Bone Forging Realm personally came, for them, mere captains who were only advanced martial artists, it would be fatal.
“That newly promoted Bone Forging Realm from the City of Light Chasing?” Lucis could not help but laugh. “He still dares to come looking for me? It is already good enough that Igor has not gone to cause him trouble. Does he really think a town can be built just because he wants to? Does he think he is a City Lord? If he really comes, I will personally give him an answer.”
“Yes.” The captain of the defense group bowed and left.
With Lucis’ words, they as subordinates were relieved.
On the other side, on Blue Star.
“So this is the strength of the Bone Forging Realm?”
Fang Zhen, waking up from the virtual pod, felt shock in his heart that would not dissipate for a long time.
A casual throw from nearly one kilometer away had directly taken both their lives. Such strength was simply not on the same level as their Viscera Refining Realm martial artists.
Moreover, that spear, rather than being called a thrown spear, was basically a missile.
Especially that internal force as it pressed over, it was truly like a crashing tide, impossible to dodge or block, giving Fang Zhen the feeling of having opened a new world.
Just as Fang Zhen was savoring that spear, a communication request from the virtual pod sounded. The one contacting him was none other than Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang.
“Captain Fang, are you going back to that Death Mine later?” Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang asked.
“Of course! Why not! That’s a B3-level primordial mithril mine. If we can take it, reaching the Bone Forging Realm will be no big deal. How could we possibly give it to those Wanxing City NPCs?” Fang Zhen replied without hesitation.
After becoming martial artists, they had already understood that leveling up in High Martial Arts Descend was not something you could achieve just by grinding casually.
It could be said to require both heavy grinding and heavy spending.
Improving proficiency in the Cultivation Method Second Level was extremely slow, and the later it went, the slower it became. By now, he often could not even increase 3% proficiency in a whole day, despite cultivating more than ten hours daily.
Although he could devote even more time to improving the Cultivation Method Second Level proficiency, he could not neglect the supporting martial skills, which had to be raised to proficient level as soon as possible. Otherwise they could not be used for long battles of the same level.
And putting aside cultivation methods and martial skills, the truly terrifying part was all the various expenses.
After becoming a martial artist, wanting to improve cultivation method proficiency was no longer like below martial artist level where you merely absorbed energy from the air and circulated it through the body. Now it required energy ore.
The issue of energy ore was easy to solve; they could directly redeem it with points. Even though, after becoming martial artists, each cultivation session with energy ore consumed several times more than when a quasi-martial artist charged at martial artist level, the points earned from hunting monsters in the wilderness as martial artists were sufficient.
However, after experiencing the cultivation improvement brought by the Type 2 Energy Potion, neither he nor others could easily go back to using energy ore to cultivate.
If cultivating with energy ore for an entire day could raise proficiency by at most 6%, switching to Type 2 Energy Potions and using two bottles a day, without even needing a full day, could raise proficiency by at least 15%, with much lower risk of random death. That improvement in cultivation efficiency was not just a little.
Then there was the Type II Healing Potion that everyone had previously underestimated, which was practically a miracle drug for practicing and improving martial skills.
After they became martial artists, each death resulted in a resurrection time ranging from forty minutes to an hour. Spending 648 each time they died was a minor issue; the time wasted was the real problem.
If they died several times a day, a few hours would be gone. If all that time were used for training and improvement, their growth rate would be much faster.
The supporting martial skill training after class change also had an unusually high injury rate. Even after learning the Body Strengthening Secret Technique, such injuries took a long time to heal, and it was more efficient to die and resurrect instead.
But if they used the Type II Healing Potion during training and were cautious while under its effects, they could almost train continuously.
Because of this, his current cultivation and improvement were already inseparable from the Type 2 Energy Potion and the Type II Healing Potion.
These two items, although now directly redeemable in the martial arts hall, not only had quantity limits but also required a large amount of points and consumed martial arts hall contribution.
That was right.
Both the Type 2 Energy Potion and the Type II Healing Potion required martial arts hall contribution. Each bottle cost two thousand contribution. If a player’s contribution was deducted below ten thousand, they would fall from elite disciple directly down to inner disciple.
Inner disciples could only redeem fifteen bottles per month. Elite disciples were better off and could redeem thirty bottles per month. The points cost was relatively minor, only three hundred thousand points per bottle, which could easily be earned by killing a single mid-level monster.
Because redeeming Type II potions required martial arts hall contribution and a large amount of points, without a large reserve of contribution and points, rapid cultivation as a martial artist would become a problem.
The martial arts hall not only purchased A6-level ancient bronze ore with points and contribution rewards, but also rewarded large amounts of points and contribution for purchasing all primordial ore of A6-level and above.
For B1-level primordial ore, the martial arts hall rewarded one thousand points and twenty contribution for every ten kilograms.
For B2-level primordial ore, the martial arts hall rewarded two thousand points and thirty contribution for every ten kilograms.
After reaching B3-level primordial ore, the rewards were significantly increased.
For every ten kilograms purchased, the martial arts hall rewarded ten thousand points and one hundred contribution.
For B4-level primordial ore, every ten kilograms earned twenty thousand points and two hundred contribution.
Once they reached B5-level primordial ore, there was another major jump.
For B5-level primordial ore, every ten kilograms earned one hundred thousand points and one thousand contribution.
For B6-level primordial ore, every ten kilograms earned two hundred thousand points and two thousand contribution.
At present, the mithril mine was a B3-level primordial ore vein. A single mine vein would contain at least several hundred tons of mithril ore. With such enormous wealth, not only would it be enough for him alone to cultivate, but also enough to allow a team to become core disciples and cultivate up to the Bone Forging Realm. How could he possibly give it up?
With Fang Zhen’s firm reply, Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang again arranged with him to head together to Death Valley.
Death Valley was more than sixty kilometers from Crimson Moon Mountain. Although the straight-line distance was just over sixty kilometers, actually running there, even for people like Fang Zhen and Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang whose strength and speed were close to intermediate martial artists, would take three hours while detouring around those mid-level monster groups.
When Fang Zhen and Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang once again arrived not far from Death Valley, they found that the entire valley had changed considerably.
All paths up the mountain had monitoring outposts set up. Teams of Ten Thousand Star City Defense Group members wearing B4-level and above battle armor patrolled among these outposts. Anyone approaching within two kilometers of Death Valley would easily be discovered.
“No way! Has this turned into a high-level wilderness dungeon?” Fang Zhen stared in astonishment at the monitoring outposts on Death Valley and the large number of patrol teams.
A place like this was clearly no longer somewhere players could casually approach. With patrol teams of fully armed intermediate and above martial artists everywhere, it had already become a very high-level dungeon.
“Turning it into a dungeon is completely normal. This is a mithril ore vein. Have you ever seen a game where treasures are not guarded by danger and powerful monsters?” Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang said unconcernedly. “I guess it is because the two of us triggered the game mechanism earlier, so the game system quickly set up a high-level dungeon to prevent us from getting this Mithril Ore Vein.”
“Then what do we do now? The dungeon difficulty is ridiculously high. With so many fully armed intermediate and above martial artists and B4-level heavy bows, we will be dead the moment we get close.” Fang Zhen looked at the B4-level heavy bows mounted on each monitoring outpost and felt a headache coming on.
If B4-level heavy bows were used by intermediate and above martial artists, their attack range would be at least one kilometer. And the NPCs at martial artist level generally had very high combat standards, with archery accuracy at professional level.
With twenty B4-level heavy bows on a single monitoring outpost, one volley would be enough to kill both of them. They truly could not even get close.
“We indeed cannot get close.” Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang carefully observed for a moment, then smiled slightly. “But fortunately this game is realistic enough. The dungeon set up has no area barriers.”
“You mean to lure monsters?” Fang Zhen immediately understood Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang’s idea. “Will that work?”
In many cases, the game was so realistic that it left him speechless. Whether fighting people or monsters, not only did every character model differ, but their combat habits also varied. Every fight against each person and each monster felt like fighting someone new or a new monster.
He had no idea how much computing power the game developer had invested in this. It was so realistic it was almost insane.
But for this reason, they had come to understand that everyone and every monster in the game was an independent AI with its own operational logic.
Now the wilderness was full of monsters, and monsters and people were mutually hostile. Without an area barrier, they could lure monsters over and make them fight the NPCs.
There was, however, one problem: whether the monsters’ aggro would hold until they attracted enough monsters.
If they only drew over a dozen mid-level monsters to attack Death Valley, that would not be nearly enough to trouble the Wanxing City NPCs.
If other monsters stopped chasing halfway before they gathered sufficient numbers, then their plan of using monsters against the Wanxing City NPCs would fail.
“It should work.” Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang explained. “I previously ran experiments with those monsters during wilderness exploration. As long as I did not run out of their tracking range, they chased me for dozens of kilometers.”
“You even did that kind of experiment?” Fang Zhen looked at Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang in surprise, not understanding what Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang was usually thinking.
Normal people entering High Martial Arts Descend would feel that even grinding twenty-four hours a day was not enough.
In the wilderness, if they encountered monsters, they fought if they could win and ran if they could not. Letting monsters chase them for dozens of kilometers was simply a waste of time and lives.
Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang said carelessly, “I just wanted to test the stamina limit of the game’s monsters. Would they actually get exhausted and unable to move? Monsters that cannot move should be very easy to kill, even for newcomers who have learned the Lightning Palm.”
“How did it turn out?” Fang Zhen asked curiously.
“My test showed that monsters in this game really get tired like us.” Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang sighed. “This game is too real. I was almost exhausted to death myself. Fortunately I learned the Body Strengthening Secret Technique, so my stamina recovery was better than the monster’s. In the end I finally ran that mid-level monster to the point where it could not move. It could not even resist when I kicked it. I originally wanted to do some other experiments, but I drew too many monsters along the way and got killed by the others before I could. That monster ended up as food for the others.”
Fang Zhen was greatly shocked. He had not expected wilderness monsters could literally be run to death.
“Enough talk. I’ll go lure monsters. You stay here and watch the final result.” Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang finished speaking, then turned and left to attract other monsters.
From afar, Fang Zhen watched Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang luring monsters and found that Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang was indeed skilled at this, accurately sensing the perception ranges of those mid-level monsters. As soon as stepping into range, they immediately ran toward areas with other monsters, causing the mid-level monsters that sensed them to instantly give chase, yet never locating their exact position.
Whenever those mid-level monsters were about to give up, Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang made some noise to get them to resume the chase.
Normally, mid-level monsters were much faster than Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang when she did not use Cloud Mist Step. But because they did not know her exact position, their pursuit speed was slow, maintaining a steady distance from her.
In less than half an hour, Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang had attracted several hundred mid-level monsters from the surrounding area, and even one high-level monster.
“This is about my current limit.”
Xiao Yuan Ye Feng Kuang glanced at the movements of the monsters running through the forest behind. The distance was getting shorter and she could no longer shake them off. Realizing she had been completely locked onto and it was only a matter of time before she was caught, she immediately sprinted toward one of the monitoring outposts at Death Valley.
