I logged into the game. It was time to meet the Descent of the One Hundred G.o.ds!

However, the second I came online, I heard a faint ding and a system announcement from Sky City. That's odd. I guess the system didn't completely remove me from the China server after all. It was the only explanation as to why I could receive a system announcement from Sky City—

Ding~!

System Announcement: Player "Gui Guzi" (Sky City) has acc.u.mulated enough Kill Points to learn the Great Earth Transformation and become the thirteenth Divine General of China! They have gained 200/200 Divine Energy Points, Luck +1, Tactics +1, and an exclusive Divine General Skill, "Killer G.o.d Formation"!

Killer G.o.d Formation: Summons the Killer G.o.d to possess its oracle, the user, and activate the Killer G.o.d Formation. Increases all user's stats by 50%, and their party members' by 25%. Costs 2 Divine Energy Points per minute. Skill exclusive to Gui Guzi.

……

Heavens, was he still fighting? Didn't he sleep at all last night? Not only did Gui Guzi ascend to become a Divine General, his Divine General Skill was obscenely powerful. Killer G.o.d Formation increased all of his stats by 50% and his party members' by 25%. Moreover, the effects of the Divine General Skill could be stacked together with the Famous General Skill, so that was 275% to himself and 250% to his party members. Gui Guzi was without a doubt one of, if not the best army commander in the entire China right now. He would even be on the same level as Li Chengfeng if he could temper his hotheadedness and gain a bit more wisdom.

But of course, some people were just the way they were. Gui Guzi was a candid and pa.s.sionate man who could never become another Li Chengfeng, and that was fine. Everyone had their own good traits, and there was no need to force themselves to become someone else.

I walked out of the tent with a smile on my face, happy for Gui Guzi and his new ascension. He might've left Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls with b.l.o.o.d.y Mercenaries, but I was absolutely confident that he would return to the guild the second I returned to the China server and said the word. As Li Chengfeng told me a long time ago: “Little Gui is a stubborn mule, dammit. He only listens to you and no one else, Lu Chen!”

……

I pulled up the Purple Ying Sword and buffed myself with a Ghost Chariot Card and my Famous General Skill, Martial G.o.d. My destination was Final Duel Valley, and my goal was to kill as many enemy players as possible, take revenge, and use their equipment to exchange for refinement points. The sooner my Purple Ying Sword could finish its evolution the better. In fact, Depending on how good my performance was, I could fully upgrade the Purple Ying Sword in as soon as three days. Three days should also be enough time for my Ancient Divine Dragon to hit Level 100 and become a proper mount!

I looked at my left arm where the Ancient Divine Dragon was dozing off to dreamland behind my s.h.i.+eld. It was now Level 91 and only 9 levels away from reaching Level 100. However, the d.a.m.n thing required so much experience to level up that its final 9 levels actually took more effort to grind than my 9 levels. Moreover, even with Final Duel Valley's special conditions, my grinding speed was much slower than the time Li Chengfeng did battle in Final Duel Valley. He had an army several hundred thousand strong and so could afford to do battle to his heart's content. I had to run away barely a minute into a fight or risk being surrounded and killed by the enemy's best.

I also brushed up knowledge on Final Duel Valley in the forums and learned that the map was considered a forbidden zone by the entire j.a.pan server, which made a lot of sense. There could be a gold mine hidden inside the bellies of the mobs of this map, and it would still be empty as the sky. The risk of losing all of one's levels and equipment was just too high. If it wasn't for the Nation War, this place would have been as empty as ever.

What this meant was that I should kill as many players as possible while they still came to this G.o.d-forsaken place!

……

I spurred the Armored Ice Qilin Horse into a valley terrain where the soil turned increasingly red. A drizzle poured down from the sky again almost as if they were praying for the souls who were about to be extinguished in this land. After all, every time I appeared, Final Duel Valley would be embroiled in a storm of blood and death. Now that my equipment was fully repaired, I could afford to "play" with my enemies a lot longer than before.

First things first, I activated Dark Pupils. It was the Aegis Combat System that allowed me to see everything around me. Only by knowing oneself and one's enemy could one be ever-victorious.

Rustle rustle rustle…

I heard a series of slow trots ahead of me and carefully parted the red maple leaves blocking my sight. I saw about 300 cavalrymen trotting down a certain path under the misty drizzle. They weren't moving in a formation, but they were fully alert. Judging from the emblems on their shoulder, they belonged to Tail Feather Palace.

At the center of the group, a Level 191 magic knight wielding a sharp blade said with blood-shot eyes, "Red Maple said that no one is to enter Final Duel Valley without a party. That Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand is a G.o.d of slaughter, and one or two players are of no threat to him at all. Unless we have a JGL Hall of Famer with us, the only way we can even think to fight him head-on is with a party that is at least 300 men strong."

Beside him, a wanderer wielding a warblade asked, "Boss, Old Four spent the last night searching for Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand to no avail. Is it possible that his fear finally got to him, and he's escaped from this map?"

A cold glint appeared behind the magic knight's pupils as he gazed to the distance. "Impossible. Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand may be our enemy, but he's absolutely an expert who is deserving of respect. He came to our forums and declared that he wouldn't leave Final Duel Valley for 7 days straight. A man like this will never go back on his word."

"That's true… but there's nothing we can do if he keeps hiding…"

"Don't worry, he will show up."

……

I observed their levels from my hiding spot. A large majority of them were above Level 180, so they definitely counted among the elites. Also, the highest-leveled player among them was over 190. Purple Grape City might've lost the Nation War, but their consolation reward was still worth a lot. Yeah, it would be unwise to fight them head-on. I should ambush the greatest threats first before doing anything else. Specifically, the higher-level magic knights needed to go first because their Trapping Net skill was too big a threat.

Rustle rustle...

I and my apparition dissolved into several rays of b.l.o.o.d.y lights and seeped into the ground. The Phantom Wolf King also entered stealth. Slowly, the three of us sneaked across the clearing between the forest. About ten minutes later, I saw the same cavalry party pa.s.sing by the area again. I knew they were patrolling the area. I bet that each area in Final Duel Valley was guarded by a certain number of players as well. It looked like Purple Grape City had finally decided to treat me seriously and come up with a good system to deal with me.

I didn't "unearth" myself in haste even after they entered my attack range. I wanted until they were 5 yards away from me before bursting into the surface and launching Thousand Ice Slash + Burning Blade Slash + Coiling Dragon Revolution combo, killing absolutely everyone within the area of effect. At the current stage of the game, none of these players were strong enough to withstand my super combo, not even the two Level 190+ magic knights!

As horses neighed in alarm, and the forest floor became covered in equipment and potions, the enemy shouted, "The devil's here! Get him with Trapping Net and kill him!"

Swhoosh swhoosh swhoos.h.!.+

Countless Trapping Nets descended toward me, but I s.h.i.+fted my mount to the side, altered my speed and direction repeatedly, and dodged them again and again. At the same time, I controlled the Phantom Wold King to execute Purgatory Storm + Claw of the Storm combo to the enemy's flank, and the apparition to execute Burning Blade Slash + War Crush + Thousand Ice Slash combo. Finally, I made the apparition drink an MP potion before executing Purple Dragon Howl!

The chain of attacks greatly unsettled the enemy. Almost a hundred of the three hundred magic knights were killed just like that.

Pa!

Suddenly, three magic knights appeared in front of me. I tried to slow down and change my direction, but one of them was able to get into melee range and growl, "You're dead, Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand!"

Swhoos.h.!.+

The Trapping Net hit me and immobilized me. For 4.5 seconds, I wouldn't be able to move an inch from this spot!

s.h.i.+t!

The moment I was caught, 7 mounted players surrounded me and used Barrier Break!

Eyes turning steely, I brought my sword to bear. I might not be able to escape, but I could still defend myself and attack the enemy. Unlike the G.o.d Binding Art, Trapping Net didn't fully immobilize the enemy.

Chiang chiang chiang...

I parried many of the Barrier Breaks before las.h.i.+ng out in a horizontal sweep, successfully killing three magic knights at the same time. However, I took a hit from behind and lost 70k+ HP in one go. Not only that, a dozen or so archers appeared out of nowhere and rocked my s.h.i.+eld with their Mountain Stagger Arrows. There were even mages firing their Touches of the Dragonkiss at me.

My HP decreased far faster than I would've liked. I had 250k HP at the beginning, but now it was below the 90k mark!

Not all hope was lost, however. The enemy's subsequent Shock Arrows and Trapping Nets kept missing me because of my powerful levels and stats. When 4.5 seconds had finally pa.s.sed, I immediately s.h.i.+fted the Armored Ice Qilin Horse to the side and took out a dozen or so mages and archers with Thousand Ice Slash.

After I was free, I backed away from the enemy and used Tenacity of the Dead to recover my HP. Then, I put some distance between myself and the enemy—my movement speed was higher than theirs—before hitting them with a well-timed Coiling Dragon Revolution, putting my hit-and-run tactic to the test.

……

"Don't let him escape! Charge him! Kill him!"

A group of magic knights rushed me at the same time.

I returned their Charges with a Charge of my own and sent a couple of magic knights staggering to the back. After parrying a number of Barrier Breaks with a horizontal sweep, I twisted my wrist and unleashed Burning Blade Slash, killing many and restoring my HP to over 50% once more.

The Tail Feather Palace players couldn't help but look at me with silly eyes. Thanks to my kiting tactic, I was able to exploit the 10% lifesteal of the Purple Ying Sword to the max. I never engaged too many enemies at once; targeting groups of ten to thirty only. A couple of charges later, there was barely anyone still alive in the 300-man party.

Some distance away, the Phantom Wolf King ran back to me with 15% HP. The poor thing was almost dead after that skirmish.

I took the opportunity to put as much loot as I was able into my bag. The equipment wasn't particularly good, but they could be traded for refinement points with the NPC, and that was all I wanted.

……

"C'mon, little wolf!"

I beckoned my little wolf to escape with me. A couple of archers were escaping into the forest, but I didn't bother to pursue them.

Something unexpected happened, however. The Phantom Wolf King suddenly let out a whine and froze in place. It was stunned! Two a.s.sa.s.sins appeared beside it, attacked it with their daggers and one-shot it before it could recover!

"What?!"

I hurriedly scanned my surroundings with Dark Pupils. I immediately spotted a dozen or so red dots in the forest directly in front of me.

Swhoos.h.!.+

I instinctively raised the Dragon G.o.d s.h.i.+eld and blocked a cold shot that actually numbed my arm a little. A second later, an archer, three warriors and two mages stepped out into the open, and the Level 192 mage said with a malicious smile on his face, "Your reputation is well-deserved, Little Heavenly King of the China server! We've finally found you!"

……

I couldn't help but feel surprised. They were clearly a cut above the players I had fought just now, and they all wore the same guild emblem. It was the new king of guilds the j.a.panese formed specifically to hunt me down, the Descent of the One Hundred G.o.ds!