Rustle rustle…

Crushing tiny, weathered rocks beneath my feet, I walked at the forefront and gazed toward the distance. An endless and seemingly lifeless stretch of hills and plains lay in front of us. The creatures of this world were practically frozen in time until they were unearthed, so assuming that they were still alive, they must be as old as the Cambrian period at least.

Chaos Moon and High Fighting Spirits were right behind me. The main bulk of the party such as Moonlight Stone lagged slightly behind. We climbed up a hill about a hundred meters tall to get a better view, only to be surprised by what we found on the other side. Wide, seemingly borderless plains stretched before us, and it was fully populated by a kind of dragon-like creature. It was covered in dark gray scutes that resembled a crocodile’s skin. It had a pair of powerful hind legs, a pair of metamorphosed forelegs, and a long tail. Its ugly head was shaped like a triangle, and three sharp horns protruded from the top of its skull. A triangle in a triangle. It was clearly a mob with powerful physical attacks.

Earth Triceradragon (Shadow)

Level: 155

Attack: 1840~2120

Defense: 2300

HP: 194000

Skills: Bite, Claw Swipe, Draconic Hornblade

Introduction: The guardian of the Earth Dragon Domain. The Earth Triceradragon is the ancient ancestor of the Earth Dragons. It possesses incredible strength, and its three sharp horns are capable of tearing apart the bony plates of its kin with ease. Moreover, they are an extremely cruel and violent creature that terrorizes any foe at any range.

……

The Earth Triceradragons were stronger than the Golden Arrow Tigers despite sharing the same level and rank. This was to be expected, however. We were at the B5 floor of the Nine Lost Dragon Domains after all.

"How should we do this?" Chaos Moon asked.

I licked my lips and replied with a smile, "Wanna do some solo grinding?"

"Sure!"

Chaos Moon had been itching for a fight since she obtaining the Bone Scythe set, so I transferred the party leader to High Fighting Spirits, took Moon Dew with us and left. While High Fighting Spirits was grinding with the party, Chaos Moon, Moon Dew and I went to look for a good spot to grind in. This Nine Lost Dragon Domains map was a rare opportunity, so I wasn’t going to let the chance to maximize my experience go to waste.

The three of us trekked along a dark cyan wall for a while, but we couldn’t find a sharp depression in the wall that we might use as a choke point. We didn’t give up though. The walk stretched for almost twenty minutes before Chaos Moon suddenly stopped in her tracks and pointed to the front. "Lu Chen, look! There’s a cave over there!"

"Oh?"

I looked at the direction she was pointing, and just as she had said, there was an inconspicuous cave hidden behind a bunch of wild grass at the bottom of the wall. The interior of the cave was glowing slightly red. The suspicious red glow was all I needed to confirm it was the mob spawn point.

 Hmph, it should’ve shown itself to us sooner!

I raised my sword with a smile. "Well spotted. Now let’s check out our new spot!"

"Mn."

I didn’t damage the wild grass concealing the cave after we got close. I simply parted them in half wide enough to admit a person. The entrance of the cave wasn’t too huge, and a slightly unpleasant stench was leaking out of the cave. It was the stench of a low-rank Earth Dragon. This had to be a habitat of the Earth Triceradragons!

Pleased by the discovery, I walked into the cave with Chaos Moon and Moon Dew. The deeper we went, the deeper the cave interior became. As Chaos Moon observed the surroundings, she lamented, "OMG, this map-in-map is unbelievably well-hidden. It would’ve taken us forever to find it if we hadn’t run into it by accident…"

I nodded. "Yes, it definitely is. Anyway, let’s clear out all the mobs in this place before we head out. I have two of the dragon scales anyway, so no matter how well the other guilds do, they can’t gather all nine dragon scales."

"Mn, okay!" the girl agreed without hesitation. With me, a CGL Hall of Famer, as their carry, they were destined to level up like a rocket.

"Roar roar…"

Suddenly, we heard the growls of a giant dragon in front of us. When we rounded a corner, we were greeted by the sight of a wide passage and a horde of Earth Triceradragons. Just as we had predicted earlier, this was one of the mobs’ habitats. The only question left now was whether the boss was here as well. Oh well, it could wait. Even if the boss was here, we still wouldn’t challenge it until the mobs were fully cleared.

I looked around and spotted a nice triangular choke point made of sharp rocks almost immediately. After I put a marker on the choke point, I said, "I want the two of you to move there. Chaos Moon, the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf and I will stand at these three spots and protect Moon Dew at the back. Also, I’m pretty sure the Draconic Hornblade is a powerful skill, so please watch out for it, Moon Dew!"

"Mn!" Moon Dew nodded obediently. Her image of a gentle woman was as impeccable as ever.

……

Fwee!

I whistled once, and the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf pounced toward the horde of Earth Triceradragons like lightning. Zigzagging through the mobs again and again, it was only a matter of time before all the Earth Triceradragons were chasing after it. I couldn’t help but feel a bit sad for my poor pet, however. Despite its high level, I was so far ahead of it in terms of power due to ever-improving levels and equipment that I only used it as monster bait and cannon fodder these days. What a tragedy.

A few minutes later, the lolling wolf cheerfully ran back to my side while being chased by two hundred or so murderous Earth Triceradragons. The mob wasn’t particularly big—it was as big as a rhino in real life, I supposed—so killing them in groups was pretty feasible.

Thud!

The wolf accidentally rammed its head into Chaos Moon’s thighs and let out a painful whine. The girl couldn’t help but stare at it and said, "How dare you look like that after you copped a feel of my legs! Lu Chen, your pet is just as shameless as you are!"

I curled my lips. "I have never touched your legs."

Chaos Moon smiled brightly. "Oh really? You can fix that now if you want…"

"Focus, the mobs are coming…"

"Fine."

Chaos Moon stopped joking around and waited for the Earth Triceradragons to reach us. I threw out the Icy Cyclone Domain to slow down the mob’s attack speed, reduce the damage we take and alleviate some of Moon Dew’s pressure once the battle started for good.

Bang!

The first Earth Triceradragon rammed its horns into Chaos Moon’s shoulder and elicited a painful yelp from the girl. She immediately repaid the favor with Barrier Break.

I swung my sword and kicked off with Thousand Ice Slash. Many Earth Triceradragons were hit and frozen by the skill.

Next, I executed Burning Blade Slash and fired three burning sword auras into the mobs, dealing a ton of damage. Then, pleasantly surprised by a chill from the Silver Dragon Ring, I followed up with Silver Dragon Storm that engulfed a group of mobs and reduced their HP to almost nothing in an instant. The girls were so pleased by the amount of damage I was doing that they declared that they might just leech onto me forever.

I kept using my four AoE skills—War Crush, Burning Blade Slash, Silver Dragon Storm, and Thousand Ice Slash—whenever possible. Since my critical rate was pretty high, I was mowing down the mobs like a lawn mower. According to Chaos Moon, my DPS was almost ten times that of her, and Moon Dew fully agreed with that assessment.

Less than twenty minutes later, almost all of the Earth Triceradragons had been killed, and the ground in front of us was fully stacked in equipment. Earlier, we would have had to share these items with the guild, but now we could keep all of these to ourselves. It was an amazing feeling to say the least.

Pop!

The last Earth Triceradragon screamed in despair before dying beneath my Heaven-stealing Sword. To my surprise, it dropped a light blue-colored skill book. It was incredibly eye-catching as it was the only skill book amid the pile of equipment.

"What’s that?" Chaos Moon asked. Although the skill book was almost right next to her, she didn’t pick it up because I was the main damage dealer of the party. She was a smart girl, and it was one of the reasons she did incredibly well in the guild. After all, it was hard to dislike a girl who was both cute and sensible. It wasn’t like there was no demand for unruly and thoughtless girls, but the market was a lot smaller so to speak.

……

I picked up the skill book and felt a faint but heavy energy seeping into my palms. I waved a hand across the skill book, and its contents manifested in the form of a hologram—

Rock Crush: Beseech the power of the earth and launch a wave of sword energy unto enemies in front of you, dealing damage over an area. Level Requirement: 120. Class Requirement: Warrior, Magic Knight, Wanderer.

……

"Holy shit, it’s an AoE skill?" My eyes widened.

Chaos Moon cocked her head at me before stabbing her sword to the ground and bending her waist a little. She smiled at me and said, "Oh oh, congratulations to hero Lu Chen for gaining a new AoE skill!"

I shook my head with a smile. "Are you aware of the cooldown restriction on AoE skills, Chaos Moon?"

"Sure. Why are you asking?"

"A player can only execute a maximum of two close-ranged AoE skills in 6 seconds, and I already have Burning Blade Slash and Thousand Ice Slash. Therefore, this skill book is completely wasted if I use it, not to mention that it’ll be ungentlemanly to do so knowing that a certain female warrior right next to me still doesn’t have her own AoE skill. Also, you are a core member of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls. You can’t 

not 

have an AoE skill…"

I tossed the skill book to her hands and gave her a smile. "Now learn it already and stop being a burden. When the next battle begins, I want you to pull your own weight and stop kill-stealing my mobs with Barrier Break, yeah?"

"Er, got it…" Chaos Moon accepted the skill book with a grateful smile and said, "Thank you, Lu Chen. I understand now why so many girls fell for an animal like you…"

"You’re the animal…"

……

After Chaos Moon absorbed the skill book into herself, she raised her sword and injected true qi into her sword. The next moment, a brilliant sword aura that looked like a mountain range appeared and sliced the air in front of her. 

Tsk tsk, it looks very impressive!