However, Shi Feng's current goal was not the Card Sets, but the Moonstones. The Moonstones could only be found in the core area of the Moonlight Forest. Only, Shi Feng could not help but be careful when taking action. Not mentioning the extreme dangers found in the Moonlight Forest, Shi Feng was just Level 3 right now, and he was entering a Level 9 monster area.
If he were to die an accidental death, then the 200,000 EXP he collected would be for naught, and he would have to start collecting it all over again. He had yet to reach Level 10, so he could not activate the Teleportation Gate found in Cities. If he were to die, his only choice was to return to Red Leaf Town; if he wished to return to this place, his only choice was to collect the required experience.
Currently, Shi Feng was far behind the leading experts regarding level. It would be an absolute nightmare if Shi Feng were to die once and have to collect another 200,000 EXP.
Just after entering the forest, Shi Feng could see Level 9 Shadow Leopards hiding either up in the trees or in the bushes, each of them prepared to ambush their foe. If it were not for the Isolation Scroll, Shi Feng would have long since been discovered.
Shi Feng naturally wasn't an opponent for a Level 9 monster, so he could only avoid them. Besides, his goal here was not to kill monsters, and even more so, there was no need for him to pick a fight with the Shadow Leopards.
Shi Feng carefully circled the Shadow Leopards, one after another. After spending more than an hour doing so, he arrived at a wide and towering forest made of stone.
In this stone forest existed a group of battle maniacs called Mountain Beast Fighters. They were a group of tenacious warriors that did not fear suffering. The thing they loved most was battling, and the fiercer, the better. At the same time, they were also guarding a large pile of treasure, and amongst the treasure was the rarely seen Moonstone.
However, the entire stone forest was filled with these armored, gigantic creatures. Wielding a spiked club the height of two people, these creatures patrolled the stone forest, preventing anyone from entering. If Shi Feng were to set foot in the stone forest, there was a 100% chance for him to be discovered. At that time, a group of those Mountain Beast Fighters would come rushing over, and a swing from each of those spiked clubs would easily turn Shi Feng into meat paste.
[Mountain Beast Fighter] (Common Rank)
Level 9
HP 1100/1100
'Looks like I can only clear the way slowly.' After searching for half a day, Shi Feng still could not find any safe way to penetrate the heart of the forest. His only choice was to kill his way there.
Shi Feng could not help but admit that the difficulty of an Epic Quest was indeed very hard. This was just the beginning, yet he was already required to face off against the Level 9 Mountain Beast Fighters. He did not know what kinds of challenges he would meet further down the line.
Fortunately, he was very familiar with the terrain of the Moonlight Forest. He knew many methods to deal with the Beast Warriors before him.
The Mountain Beast Fighters were abnormally powerful, and their attacks were out of the ordinary. Even Shield Warriors and Guardian Knights of an equal level were unable to take more than a few hits from them. However, their bodies were enormous, resulting in their Movement Speed being relatively slow. In Shi Feng's previous life, there were many Elementalists who used Frost Arrow to reduce their speed. They then utilized the unique terrain of the stone forest to avoid the attacks from the spiked clubs, kiting and killing the Mountain Beast Fighters.
Following which, this stone forest became a holy ground for ranged players. Mountain Beast Fighters could be seen being kited through various means throughout the stone forest.
Although Shi Feng did not possess any speed reduction skills, he could use other methods to supplement it. As for kiting the Mountain Beast Fighters, he had the rare skill, Defensive Blade[1], which could increase his attack range by quite a lot. Shi Feng did not believe that a Sword King expert, such as himself, could not beat a Level 10 Elementalist regarding utilizing the terrain to dodge attacks.
After properly observing the terrain, Shi Feng ran practice simulations in his mind a total of five times.
Carrying out mental simulations would have a tremendous effect during actual operation. Hence, every expert would often carry out mental simulations of the operation before actually taking action.
The reason why experts were experts, was because of the preparations they made were much greater than others.
There would often be many average players who would admire the experts in God's Domain. They would lament over their own skills being poor, determining that they would never be able to reach the level of these experts. In reality, however, they did not know how great of an effort these experts were putting into each day. The suffering these experts went through each day far exceeded the average player. It was the reason why they could shine brilliantly.
After running through the simulations, Shi Feng took out a Black Steel Beer and a Speed Scroll.
The Black Steel Beer could reduce a monster's level by 2. In addition to the Attributes of the Abyssal Blade, Shi Feng would not be suppressed due to the level difference, even when facing a Level 9 monster. He would be able to deal damage normally. As for the Speed Scroll, each one of them cost 25 Copper Coins. It increased the user's Movement Speed by 25% for a duration of 10 minutes. This scroll was a lifesaving item when out in the wilderness. Shi Feng bought a total of twenty of them just for such occasions.
If the average player were to learn about this, they would definitely curse Shi Feng as a spendthrift. Such an item would only be used when one was in a life or death crisis. Meanwhile, Shi Feng used it for killing Common Monsters. It was just too extravagant.
If Shi Feng were not cursed, he could easily kite these monsters, just based on his Attributes. However, his Attributes were now reduced by 50%. The suppression was just too great, so it was safer to use a Speed Scroll.
If Shi Feng were to mess things up, it would not just be a matter of losing a level. He would have also wasted 200,000 EXP.
Shi Feng took a deep breath, relaxing his body as he looked towards the closest Mountain Beast Fighter. Following which, his two feet exploded with strength, rushing towards the Mountain Beast Fighter.
TL Notes:
[1]Defensive Blade: Mentioned in Chapter 52
Normal attacks range increased by 10 yards after use. Able to block up to a maximum of 6 ranged attacks or 3 melee attacks. Duration of 25 seconds.
Chapter 64 - Silvermoon Set Equipment
When the distance between Shi Feng and the Mountain Beast Fighter was less than 30 yards, the monster discovered Shi Feng speeding towards it. It widened its mouth and let out an ear-piercing battle cry. It raised its gigantic spiked club, using a Charge and rushing towards Shi Feng.
Shi Feng immediately pulled out the Abyssal Blade. The blade slashed horizontally as Shi Feng used Parry.Peng! Shi Feng was knocked back by five yards, pulling some distance away from the Mountain Beast Fighter without taking any damage. After he landed, he immediately spun around and ran towards the stone forest.
If players were hit by the Mountain Beast Fighter's Charge, the monster would immediately follow up with a Break to reduce the player's speed, preventing them from escaping.
In Shi Feng's previous life, the Elementalists who were struck by the Beast Fighter's Charge would immediately use Frozen Nova to freeze the monster for 8 seconds. They would take the chance to gain some distance, then continue by kiting the monster. The Mountain Beast Fighters would only use Charge on the first meeting, using suppressing skills afterward. As long as the Elementalists did not let the monsters catch up to them, there would be no danger whatsoever.
Also, nearby there were numerous large rocks that could be used to toy with the Mountain Beast Fighters, making the process of killing them a lot easier.
After using the Speed Scroll, Shi Feng's speed was faster than the Mountain Beast Fighter just by a thread. It was not very obvious, but it was this small difference that prevented the Mountain Beast Fighter from catching up to him.
After entering the densely packed stone forest, Shi Feng turned around and used Thundering Flash. From a distance of 15 yards, three sword rays immediately pierced through the Beast Fighter's armor, causing three damages of -15, -19, -13. Without the level suppression, even if Shi Feng's Attributes were reduced by 50%, his Attack Power and Skill Damage were still very powerful.
After using the skill, Shi Feng's speed slightly reduced, and the Mountain Beast Fighter caught up to him within an instant. The Beast Fighter was clearly furious after being struck. It roared as it brandished its spiked club, smashing it at Shi Feng.
Shi Feng hurriedly turned his body, hiding by a nearby rock. The spiked club did not land on Shi Feng; it only hit the stone and created a splash of broken rocks.During this attack, Shi Feng, once again, pulled a distance of over 8 yards away from the monster.
After using Thundering Flash, Shi Feng activated Defensive Blade. His attack range suddenly increased to 15 yards. As long as he maintained a 5-yard distance between the Mountain Beast Fighter, the monster would not be able to land a hit on him.
Shi Feng brandished his sword as he paid attention to the distance between him and the monster, pulling back to avoid the club whenever he was too close. In such a way, streak after streak of sword light landed on the Mountain Beast Fighter's body. The Beast Fighter could only bellow in helplessness as its HP continuously fell. It never imagined that a human could actually be so agile and cunning. Every time its attack was about to land, the human would dodge towards a nearby rock. Its bulky spiked club could not land a hit at all. Instead, it only served to create a gap between itself and the human.
Just when the Mountain Beast Fighter's HP went below 7%, another Mountain Beast Fighter suddenly appeared from behind a rock. It blocked Shi Feng's path, using Charge at him.
'Scram!'
Faced with the sudden appearance of another monster, Shi Feng immediately used Abyssal Bind on it, preventing the monster from moving. At the same time, the Abyssal Bind also canceled the life-threatening Charge.
Since the Mountain Beast Fighter had been locked up, Shi Feng naturally would not let the skill go to waste. He immediately used Wind Blade, instantly shaking off the low HP Mountain Beast Fighter, and his blade landed on the bound Mountain Beast Fighter's neck. Shi Feng continued by using Double Chop, causing a Bleeding effect on the monster. He then used another Chop on the monster.
Just within 3 seconds, Shi Feng had taken away 16% of this Mountain Beast Fighter's HP.
Seeing as the low HP Mountain Beast Fighter was about to catch up, Shi Feng dodged and arrived at behind the restricted Beast Fighter.
He raised the pitch black Abyssal Blade high, abruptly slashing down.Thundering Flash!Above the heads of both Mountain Beast Fighters, three consecutive damages of -16, -19, -23 appeared. The low HP Beast Warrior fell to the ground with a bang.
System: Mountain Beast Fighter killed. Level difference of 6. EXP obtained increased by 600%. Obtained 36 EXP.
Such an amount of experience could be considered negligible to Shi Feng, who was currently Level 3. On the other hand, the Proficiency Points for using skills were gained much faster. Every use would definitely increase the skill's proficiency by 3 points. This allowed Chop to quickly rise to Level 3. In addition to the Abyssal Blade's Attributes, Shi Feng's Chop was now Level 5; it's might greatly increasing. Double Chop had also risen to Level 2, and if the skill were used through the Abyssal Blade, it would be a Level 4 Double Chop. The damage caused by the Bleeding effect also increased significantly.
The restricted Mountain Beast Fighter bellowed. It finally broke free from the chains, and it wanted to annihilate Shi Feng. However, Shi Feng gave it no chance. He immediately distanced himself 5 yards away from the monster and continued kiting it.
Although the Defensive Blade had a long Cooldown and a short duration, by using Thundering Flash, Double Chop, and Parry in concert, Shi Feng could still slowly grind the Mountain Beast Fighter down.
Not a minute later, another Mountain Beast Fighter fell.
However, the Mountain Beast Fighters did not reward Shi Feng with anything special. There were only three pieces of Hard Stone and 2 Copper Coins. On the other hand, killing these Mountain Beast Fighters was a good way to grind Skill Proficiency Points.
Subsequently, Shi Feng advanced forward while killing Mountain Beast Fighters. These monsters had a short respawn time, so from time to time, Shi Feng would attract two to three of these Mountain Beast Fighters. Fortunately, the stone forest had narrow spaces. This resulted in the Beast Fighters blocking each other's path, their numbers causing their speed to reduce instead.
Seeing this, Shi Feng had sudden inspiration. He started luring more and more Mountain Beast Fighters, and within a short moment, he had lured over 20 of these monsters. The monsters chased after Shi Feng as a group, but the narrow pathways of the stone forest prevented them from even stretching their bodies. Just a slight movement and they would run into the other Mountain Beast Fighters. Such a situation allowed Shi Feng to become much more relaxed.