Zhan Long

Chapter 721 - Verdant Pear

Now that the exams were done with, instead of going online, we all chose to sleep until 11 at night to renew our energy and concentration. It’s also about time the Blood Demon Forest mission comes to an end as well.

Logging in. I emerged from the pillar of white light in the center of a forest. Not far from here, I could even see a group of Steel Blade Cavalry hurrying about. Looks likes there’s still some remnants of the Blood Demons around.

Wan Er and Dong Cheng logged in simultaneously. Qing Qian and Duck, these two girls, had much better endurance than us. Once they saw that we had logged on, they immediately left Li Mu’s group and joined ours.

“How are things going along?” I greeted them with a chuckle and asked in chat.

Qing Qian craftily giggled, “Much smoother than we had expected. The Blood Demons are just about done for. Also, Li Mu and the others found a level 130 Divine Tier Boss. We took about 50 casualties but still successfully killed it. It even dropped a Ghost Harvest bow that Forest-jie* won in dice roll.”

*Note: A term of endearment for an older female peer, literally translated as Sister

“Ooooh, that’s great. We came online just in time to turn in the mission!”

“Yup!”

“Oh right, what about the Black Flame Set? How many did we get in total?”

‘About that……” Qing Qian appeared from amidst the trees and ran towards us, eyes twinkling merrily like stars, “After a total count, we have a total of 1154 complete sets. How’s that? Even better than what Xiao Yao-gege’s* expected right?”

Note: Term of endearment for an older male peer. Literally translated as Brother

Genuine joy arose in me, “Ah. I really didn’t expect to get this many. Qing Qian, do a headcount of how many Moon Elves there are in the Steel Blade Cavalry! Make them top priority when distributing the Black Flame Set!”

Qing Qian promptly answered me, “Already did. There are 701 Moon Elves in total. All beauties……”

I laughed, “OK, I’ll leave the task of sending out the sets to you. Make sure all of them also get a Frostform Sword and a Steel Blade Mount to complete the set. As for the accessory slots, have them get 1-2 Rage skill trinkets and/or ones with the HP Drain effect. Basically have them copy the conventional Battle Reflux style gear. In the future, the Battle Reflux style will definitely be the true overlord of the battlefields!”

Qing Qian grinned, “Yup. Got it. I’ll do just that.”

Just then, a chime resounded in the air. It was the system notifying us that the *SSS*-rank mission has been completed. All participating players are now required to show up at the Xiayu Army’s encampment and talk with their logistics officers in order to receive their rewards. I mounted up and hurried in that direction with the other four girls. Even after being offline for so long, I still firmly sat in the number one spot for kill count. And since I’m also the same person that triggered the mission, I’ll definitely get the best reward; I just don’t know what it’ll be like.

Li Mu. Wang Jian and Matcha also lead their respective shares of [Zhan Long] players in the same direction. This huge group of people all exited the forest’s south entrance down a winding route and made a beeline straight for the encampment. This Blood Demon Forest has been wiped clean and the system already announced that it’ll refreshing the map; but the next batch of monsters to show up won’t be the Blood Demons anymore. That means, the 1100+ sets that we’ve gathered are all that is in existence. It was an exclusive privilege that only [Zhan Long] had. Even if other maps could also drop high end sets, there won’t be any more of the Black Flame Set.

After a short distance, we could see the flags of encampment wave in the air. Tian Ling City’s war flags were the emblems of the royal family. Just by looking at them, I could feel the savagery and violence emitting from their symbols. Furthermore, since this Xiayu Army was the self-proclaimed second greatest army in the Empire, the military prestige that it bore was even more oppressing.

Just outside the encampment, ten logistics officers were awaiting us; the quest turn in icons distinctly floated above them. Oh, the system mainframe was pretty considerate to us.

I rode up to the front and took out the scroll, “Officer, we’ve returned after completing our mission. This is our contract. The Blood Demons of Blood Demon Forest are no more!”

Shock flashed across this NPC officer’s eyes, “…Kid, looks like I really underestimated you all. For humans to actually be able to wipe out those terrifying demons…… Seems it’s true what they say about a talented generation… Take this, kid. You were valourous in your battles and was the greatest contributor in this mission. I believe this reward is most suited for you. It used to be the Princess’s personal mount but now it’ll belong to you!”

Ding!

System Notification: Congratulations, you’ve successfully completed a *SSS*-rank storyline mission and have earned the following rewards: Current Level +70% EXP, Charisma +27, Gold +17,823, Large Increase to Prestige in Tian Ling City. Additional reward: 【Verdant Pear】(Divine Ter Boss Mount)!

……

Fuck, it’s actually a mount?!

I quickly brought up my inventory window. It’s true. A shimmering snow colored mount crystal sat right there in the corner. I pointed at it and its stats window pops up, which gave me a shock. This mount’s stats does not lose out to my Flying Scythe War Horse in any way——

【Verdant Pear】（Divine Tier Boss Mount）

Strength: +220

Stamina: +215

Agility: +210

Spirit: +207

Attack: +80%

Defense: +120%

Movement Speed: +275%

Maxi HP: +8000

Mount Toughness: +55%

Mount Stamina: 170

Stamina Recovery: 0.4/minute

Required level: 115

……

An image of the mount floated inside the crystal. It would be a completely pure white horse if not for the tufts of fine hair around its hooves being a clear verdant green; looking like four fresh flowers growing among a field of pear blossoms. It’s offensive and defensive capabilities and everything else were already heads and shoulders above the rest in the current stage, making it a top class mount. It definitely lived up to its name’s meaning of “the pear blossom that blooms only on the battlefield”!

I couldn’t suppress my glee… m*therf*cking hell yea! Originally, I was simply just expecting a piece Divine-tier equipment or something. Never would I have expected it to be a mount again. For the heavy armor class players, nothing is more important than an excellent mount! Clothes make the man, stats make the mount… that’s so true!

The problem now is, my Flying Scythe War Horse isn’t any worse than this Verdant Pear. Also, the Flying Scythe War Horse’s intimidating appearance suited me, who has been labeled as a battle maniac by Wan Er, better. As for Verdant Pear… it was obviously a girl’s mount. Opening up my friends list, I saw that my lil sis was already level 114; wonder how much longer until 115… I’d be better off saving this Verdant Pear for my own little sister. To give it to anyone else… I really just can’t bear to do that. Everyone wants a mount like this but there’s no market for them, it is literally a priceless treasure in the current stage of the game. But since I plan on making my lil sis into one of the pillars of the [Moon Elf Regiment], this is a price I’ll have to pay.

“Meng Yao, what are you at? How much longer before you level?” I sent lil sis a PM.

She quickly replied, “97% now! I’m killing a boss in the Spirit Valley of No Return… Bro, I’m the main tank! I’ll level up to 115 for sure after killing it!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle, “OK, pass me the coordinates. Stay where you are after killing the boss and wait for big bro!”

“Kaaaaaay!”

……

Seeing my excited behaviour, Dong Cheng jabbered, “This guy must’ve gotten a reeeally good reward……”

I smirked, “That’s right!”

“What is it?” Wan Er spoke up.

I shared Verdant Pear’s stats with them, “Meng Yao has always wanted a pure white horse for mount and as her big brother, I haven’t been really looking for one. The reward this time came at a perfect time. With this, Meng Yao’s stats should get a pretty big boost.”

Wan Er faintly smiled, “En. Springtime has arrived for [Zhan Long]’s [Moon Elf Regiment]!”

I turned around to look at Wang Jian and stretched out an open hand, “Get me a Black Flame Set!”

He stiffened, “Uh… What for? Xiao Yao-ge, you shouldn’t be needing these lower level equipments……”

“It’s for Meng Yao. I just happened to get my hands on something I needed to give her.”

“Oh. Got it!”

Wang Jian quickly traded a set over to me. Then turning around, I looked at Wan’er and softly spoke, “Wan Er, take Dong Cheng and Qing Qian to play around for a bit. I’m gonna go give Meng Yao her new gear.”

“Go already! Shoo! Dong Cheng and I will go grind some EXP for level 126 ~”

“Mmm!”

……

With a light pat, my Flying Scythe War Horse immediately shot off towards the north like lightning. The current Blood Demon Forest was blocked off by a barrier that cut off all players so I could only take a wide detour. Luckily, my mount was fast enough. Plus, once it was stacked with the bonus from my Yuanrong Warboots, we crossed through the wilderness like a gale of wind. In less than 10 minutes, I reached the valley. Here, a new type of mob had been spawned as well.

Making my way to the given coordinates, I could see a giant beast lying on the ground in the distance. It’s a Saint-class Boss and already dead. Most of its killers have already dispersed but Meng Yao, outfitted in a suit of fiery red armor and mounted on top of chestnut horse with a yellow mane, remained at her spot. On her side were two players from [Zhan Long]’s First Division Guild. Both of the youngsters were guys; and apparently at her every beck and call. Guess this can’t be helped. Meng Yao is, at the same time, charming and attractive with a bright and pleasant personality. On top of that, her figure is superb. For people to fall for her is as normal as breathing.

“Meng Yao!”

I cried her name from afar as I galloped over and dismounted with flip. The moment she saw me, Meng Yao ditched both her suitors and rushed over as well. She slid off her mount and spreads her arms to give me a fierce hug before looking up from my embrace with a pouty look.

“Bro, it’s too hard to even catch a glimpse of you ingame!”

I stole a glance at her level, “Level 115 now. You’re catching up pretty fast. Soon you’ll be able to tag along with big bro to go leveling!”

Meng Yao’s smile became extremely sweet, “En! But I’m worried my stats are too weak and I’ll become a burden to bro…”

I gently counter her worries, “Aren’t stats just the result of your equipments? Well, no problem. Very soon, Meng Yao will become a first rate player too. With your talent, it won’t take too many days.”

As I spoke, I pulled out the completed [Black Flame Set] from my inventory, “Come. Try this on!”

“En!”

Meng Yao equipped the set onto her alternative gear slot and switched over to it. With a *kacha* sound, her entire look underwent a huge change; the low tier fiery red set had transformed into a set of ink black Black Flame Set. When equipped by female characters, the appearance of Black Flame Set went through several changes. The design became even more striking and detailed. On top of pauldrons, grew several elegantly curve-shaped protrusions that served as defensive spikes. Linking ink black scales wrapped around her already ripe young woman torso. Another ridge formed below her twin peaks pushing up like overlapping mountains while her abdomen remains flat like the plains. A slender pair of legs with half exposed thighs would catch anyone’s eyes and never let go. And on top of the shield in her hand, the flames that formed the [Black Flame Ward] circled around her. With a magnificently decorated cape billowing from behind, Meng Yao, at this very moment, truly looked every inch the part of a high level female beauty knight.