Zhan Long
chapter-749

Deer Cry Cave, just east of the Shattered Bone Shrubbery and west of the Spirit Snake Swamp. It was actually a map that was right at the center of things. It was hidden within the Fierce Wind Forest maps and was discovered by Qing Qian and Wei Liang the two curious kids. Up to this point, nobody else has discovered it. Any officers that weren’t on the top level like Star Blade and Tang Xing didn’t even know about the map. All that they knew was that there was a high level map with a lot of resources.

　　……

I urged my horse to the front of the platoon. I held the reigns in my right hand and my Zhen Yue Blade in my left. It almost looked as though I was a lefty. But, nobody was laughing. Because everyone knew that I was holding the Zhen Yue Blade, the number one godly weapon in Tian Ling City. Once this country weapon came out, even the Ghost Harvest weapon stats were crushed by its stats. Actually, my Dragon Reservoir was already one of the top Ghost Harvest Weapons, but its attack was only slightly stronger than half the Zhen Yue Blade’s stats. They were on completely different levels.

Wang Jian lead his horse over to me and said, “Brother Xiao Yao, do you still remember [Epic]?”

I was stunned that he was bringing them up and nodded, “Yup, of course I remember. Palace Decree and Palace Spirit are both still there, aren’t they? I’ve always been thinking about them. What’s up, did something happen to [Epic]?”

Wang Jian replied, “Last time, when we were in Moon City, didn’t we start an international war? [Epic] had also participated, but they had been completely crushed by [Casualty]. They had lost two thousand people without even getting the chance to fight back. It seems that [Epic] has some kind of an internal conflict going on. Seven of their officer level players are now accusing the guildmaster for being incapable due to that battle. Furthermore some people have been pointing out that he has the bravery but not the brains and isn't fit to be the Guild Master. Looks like [Epic] will have someone fight for the guild Masters seat soon.”

I stiffened and furrowed my brow, “Someone wants to take the Guild Master’s position? But…. the Epic guild at most has only has a few thousand people. In reality it does not have that many resources either. Why would someone want to force him out of that position?”

Wang Jian grinned, “Brother Xiao Yao, your strength and Charisma are both top tier, so you can live your life carefree. Naturally you don't understand the struggle of plebeians. Nevermind a guild with several thousand people even a guild with several hundred people have seen many coup d'etats. Almost every Guild has this problem as for our Zhan Long….. You, Li Mu, Cang Tong, and Qing Qian hold down the fort. Anybody who has the notion to do so doesn't have the power to. [Epic] on the other hand was originally an alliance of three different guilds. Plus…..”

“ plus what?” I asked.

Wang Jian looked into the distance and smiled, “ Plus I heard, Palace Decree’s smithing skill has already reached level 14. As long as his materials are enough he will be able to create Divine tier weapons.”

“ Divine tier, damn!”

I was stunned, “ You aren't joking right? S level 14 smith can create Divine tier weapons?”

“ Yep.” Wang Jian nodded, “ That's right, however the material requirement is extremely difficult to procure, and so Mass Production doesn't seem very viable, rumor has it that Palace Spirit and Palace Decree are working together. To this day they were only able to create a level 15 Divine tier battle axe however Palace Decree’s talent is incredible. That Divine tier battle-axe he created has an upper limit attack power of a whopping 5200.”

I felt my heart skip a beat, “Looks like….. Apollo's siblings really have the power to change the flow of the game. What else?”

Wang Jian, “ What else? Everything was downhill from there, the Epic Guild Master wanted to use the power of the guild and acquire several mines after and that how's the crew was able to create various high-level equipment. He tried to have the guild cover some of that. At that point they began to recruit players and used those that had gold to continue creating better weapons and slowly bringing the Epic Guild further up into one of the top ten guilds in Tian Ling City.”

I nodded, “ That isn't a bad plan.”

Wang Jian wryly smiled, “Unfortunately, the other factions within Epic are not willing to see Thousand Mile Ambition become greater and so they are petitioning to have him abdicate. On top of that they want to hold an election within the guild to find out who the next Guild Master will be. They say that it is for the sake of democracy that every guildmaster from then on will be picked through that method.”

I smiled, “ That is all based off of your connections. Whoever has the most number of Brothers is the person with the most number of votes. It's actually a very ugly way of campaigning for votes. The real talented people don't necessarily get to become a Guild Master but rather the vile person with a lot of friends is able to take the seat. That kind of democracy is of no use.”

Wang Jian replied, “Brother, you are right. That is exactly what I was thinking as well. However…. we should not interfere with the internal affairs of another guild. After all the path that [Epic] takes can only be decided by themselves. Although, brother you can relax. Vice guildmaster Cang Tong has already contacted Palace Spirit. If Epic really ends up dividing, Palace Spirit will convince her brother to join Zhan Long with her. Her impression of Zhan Long is pretty good and she said that Zhan Long was filled with interesting people and a very handsome and approachable guildmaster.”

I rubbed my nose and felt a little embarrassed, “Am I really that approachable?”

Wang Jian, “ At least you aren’t like Q-Sword and Fang Ge Que who keep their associates at a distance.”

“ All right then…..”

　　……

Right at that moment we had reached the border of Broken Bones Shrubbery. This was an area that was controlled by [Legend] for training purposes. I could already see a group of Legend players killing monsters in the distance. Even though the level 1 Earth Bane Oxen now had a very low spawn rate, they were still trying to catch them. After all even a dry river had some fish. This was also understandable, as almost every map within Tian Ling City was the same way. [Zhan Long] controlled the Steel Blade Mountain, [Hero’s Mound] controlled the Fire Crystal Basin, [Judgment] had a monopoly on the Frost battle Rams and there were many other examples as well. Everyone hoped that their mounts can become the most unique and strongest mounts in the server. As long as someone is strong enough then they will control the Monopoly on a certain resource.”

“Hi, Zhan Long!”

In the distance, a flag bearer player led his horse over. He raised his large halberd and waved at us. It was Little Scholar. That brat was now level 128. He smiled, “ Where are you guys going?”

Li Mu immediately replied, “ Nowhere, but wherever I go, I am completely fearless…..”

Wan Er grinned, “ We are checking out all the different Maps. Little Scholar continue your training, we won't disturb [Legend]’s event any longer.”

Little Scholar gave a nod with a smile, “Ok, it's just a routine grinding event. So very boring. Go on ahead, I wish you good luck! Once the Heroes Wings International Tournament comes to an end I'm afraid that the balance of power in Destiny will have completely shifted.”

I raised my Zhen Yue Blade and said, “ No problem, as long as everybody works together then Tian Ling City will remain in the Chinese server. Maybe even Moon City and Port City will become Chinese territory!”

Little scholar laughed “ Yep, I'm just afraid that somebody will try and right things in the middle!”

The person he was talking about was none other than Rumor, Not Ordinary and the rest. Even so I wasn't worried. After all, they weren't planning on becoming a part of the main forces in the upcoming country battles, even though the greedy wolf Raiders now had 30,000 members I still felt that their battle capabilities aren’t that strong. Once they meet the main guilds from Moon City and Flame Cloud City, they will definitely become divided immediately and crushed. The age of which the Greedy Wolf Raiders were undefeatable has already passed. They were only level 105 Emperor Tier Mounts, and were incomparable to the ones that [Zhan Long], [Legend], [Hero’s Mound], and [Judgement] were in control of.

I grabbed my reins and said, “No problem, the sun will eventually rise isn't that right?”

Little scholar laughed, “That's true. Then I wish you a successful journey!”

　　……

After we left the [Legend] territory we had a leisurely walk through the forest with my blade in hand. [Legend] was made on the blood and sweat of Fang Ge Que. The entire guild’s personality was the same as its guildmaster. [Legend]’s prudent and cautious personality came from Fang Ge Que. Plus, [Legend] inherently carried a certain noble attitude. It’s power was both incredibly strong and unpretentious. This was something that [Hero’s Mound], [Vanguard], and [Prague] were incapable of. This was probably also due to the fact that [Legend] was always the creme of the crop in the Chinese Server, right?”

The thicket in the forest before me was getting thicker and thicker as we pushed forward. Qing Qian raised her dagger and dashed before me, “We’re almost there. Three more minutes! Everyone, you will soon witness a miracle!”

“A miracle?” I smiled, “What do you mean by that?”

“You’ll find out soon enough!”

We continued to push forward. I started to hear the sound of running water before us. I didn’t realize there was a spring in the Gale Forest. It sounded as though it were a stream of some sort. What was going on?

Our twenty man team entered the dense forest. As we continued along, we were met with a cliff. There was an enormous waterfall right in front of us. Below it was a thousand meter deep ravine. Nobody knew that there was a marvel like this in Tian Ling City. The water from the waterfall evaporated and spread out like mist. It was a scene that nobody could see clearly. Qing Qian picked up her dagger and jumped off the edge. I immediately shouted, “Qing Qian, are you trying to die?”

Unexpectedly, Wei Liang grinned, “As expected, Brother Xiao Yao got freaked out too. That’s no problem, Sister’s fine. Why don’t you also try and have your horse jump over!”

The map clearly showed Qing Qian’s dot. I was feeling somewhat flabbergasted. What was going on?

I charged forward. My Flying Scythe War Horse whinnied and surged forward. “Shua!” I leapt through the mist. However, right as I charged through, I didn’t feel a single drop of water. Rather, my battle horse landed on the ground. Past the mist was a flat land. I could smell the scent of flowers all around me. When I looked back, there wasn’t any mist, but rather a tranquil Gale Forest. Wan Er and Dong Cheng were both staring blankly at me.

Qing Qian smiled and explained, “Actually, it’s all just an illusion. That mist and the abyss were all just created by the system. That’s why no players have tried charging through it. Wei Liang and I were the first. Deer Cry Cave is right behind us. Let’s hurry up. I’m not sure when there will be a second fearless person who tries to charge through this.”

“Ok!”

With my command, Li Mu, Wang Jian, One Second Hero, Match and all the others charged forward. All twenty of them appeared before me, and waited to enter the map.

　　……

I turned around and saw a mountain covered in trees. The ridge was obscured by the greenery. A cave appeared before me. I could faintly hear the sound of a deer cry. This was the SSS tier, Deer Cry Cave.