Chapter 619: Black Flame Valley

Black Flame Valley was very much like Death Valley in terms of its size. There was only one path that led into the valley. Compared to Death Valley, Black Flame Valley was situated further from the town. A player with max Agility and at full sprint would have taken at least forty minutes to reach the place. As for the Elementalists, they would require one hour on foot.

Due to its remote location and the high demand of the Black Flame Steed’s Pet Eggs, skirmishes between parties or individuals happened frequently at this high-tier monster zone.

In locations such as these, it was crucial to completely overpower your opponent.

This was due to the fact that if one was killed at the Black Flame Valley, the one-hour journey would delay the resurrected player’s time. After being put down at the valley, unless one had the confidence to regain authority, it was an unspoken rule that those defeated would never set foot into the place ever again. Due to this reason, weaker players would consciously avoid coming to this far-fetched land. As a result of the harsh penalties, players that camped in this place were mostly Level 48 or above.

Moreover, players below Tier 5 usually traveled here in large groups. They would arrive very early and occupy one of the Black Flame Steed’s spawn points. If not, it would be difficult to find a farming location when the valley was crowded with people. After that, came the long wait and incessant farming for the Pet Egg. Players usually would not encroach other’s territory during the spawning hours.

But today, the situation was a little different than usual…

***

On a farming spot not far away from the valley’s entrance, a party made up by forty-seven players had just painstakingly put down eight Black Flame Steeds. When the Berserker tried to collect the dropped rewards, nothing was found on the floor.

“Fuck! What the hell? We have been farming for hours now and still no sign of the egg. Isn’t the drop rate a little too low?!”

“No way. Nothing again?” A Bowmaster emerged from behind and checked the floor around the Steeds corpses thoroughly. Disappointed and helpless, the Bowmaster voiced his concerns to the Shadowmancer at the back, “Hanlin, this is bullshit. We have farmed for five to six hours now and still, we’ve got no Pet Eggs. So far, we also only managed to pick up a Tier 5 White Grade and another Tier 5 Blue Grade ¹ . Sooner or later, the party will lose its patience.”

“This is expected. If not, why would people be willing to pay 150,000 for the egg?” The Shadowmancer known as Hanlin sneered at the Bowmaster. “If we are able to obtain one every few hours and judging by our speed, do you really think we could still be around here? Keep quiet and get to work. I don’t believe we won’t be getting anything for three days straight.” The Bowmaster sighed after listening to the Shadowmancer. Hanlin was right. Despite being here the longest, their farming rate was the lowest among all other parties inside the valley. Not only had they spent the most time killing a Black Flame Steed, but they were also the most laborious ones. They had only achieved slightly more than a hundred Black Flame Steeds so far, after all the hours spent. To get a Pet Egg this early at such low efficiency was no doubt delusional.

After he thought it through, Bowmaster returned to join the team when he heard the part exhausted, part hopeful voice of the Berserker coming from the back, “A minute later, as usual, Priest will apply buffs to everyone. For now, take a short break wherever you are.”

While barking out instructions, the Berserker walked dejectedly toward the Shadowmancer and lamented, “In my opinion, at this rate, the possibility of getting a Pet Egg on the first day is close to… zero. But it’s equally unlikely that we can stay here for three consecutive days. After the third round of the Grand Tournament ends, I think those powerful Champions would soon return and reclaim their territory here.”

Hanlin jeered at the Berserker who belittled his own group, “So what? We have forty-five Tier 4 and two Tier 5 and we won’t surrender easily. Stop being a coward.’

As he spoke, the Shadowmancer suddenly sensed something and looked toward the valley’s path.

“What?” Those around him got nervous after noticing his troubled face. “Is someone coming?” The valley’s path was forty meters long, which fell exactly within the detection range of a Tier 5 Elementalist’s Elemental Perception. Being a Shadowmancer, Hanlin was naturally the first to detect the presence of new visitors.

It so happened that the valley had now been fully occupied. The arrival of any new parties would definitely hurt their chances of retaining their current spawn points.

“Why are they here?” Hanlin blurted. He was completely dumbfounded, which could be clearly seen through his blank expression.

“You know them?” The Berserker looked at Hanlin oddly and extended his head to look toward the valley’s opening.

He was stunned too.

“Damn, for real?”

Other players, being curious, had all moved forward and were lined horizontally across the path.

“Fuck!”

“These bastards, why come here instead of helping the Angel Faction to compete for better rankings at the Mythical Mirage?” Most of them were aggravated after they identified the new incomers.

Of course, these words were exchanged in a low voice. It was no fun if these expletives were to be heard by the ten or more winged Champions approaching them fast.

“There are more of them!” Hanlin bellowed.

Even without his exclamation, everyone had already noticed the great mass of people coming through the valley opening. From the initial few dozen, they expanded to about a hundred, then a few hundred.

When the winged players flew past them, the path was already filled with a dense crowd. The highly recognizable Tier 5 Equipment and league insignia displayed their unquestionable levels and status.

Many parties inside the valley were also startled by the entry of the large group of unexpected “guests”.

Everyone had stopped their activities at hand and looked toward the entrance simultaneously.

***

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“Shit! If we arrived twenty minutes earlier, we would have killed a dozen Black Flame Steeds already. I can’t believe we are told to wait aimlessly for the main troops in the air. I am speechless.”

“Yea. Why not send in the Elementalist directly? What a waste of time.” Two players among the winged Champions muttered when they flew into the valley. The party landed on the nearest farming spot without hesitation despite the abundant gazes thrown at them from the surrounding players.

“So this is a Black Flame Steed? It’s really as handsome as what we have been told. No wonder its Pet Egg could be sold at such high prices.” Black Rock was amazed when he saw the few strong-willed Black Flame Steeds shining brightly with bodies blazing with purple flames.

“Er, Rocky, it seems someone was here before us. Sigh…” Behind Black Rock, a comrade reminded him loudly. This considerate and timely “reminder” raised the eyebrows of the players who were dumbstruck by Black Rock’s sudden intrusion.

“Here before us?” Black Rock deliberately spoke in a surprised tone, “So what? This land does not belong to them. Why can’t we stop here just because someone had arrived earlier than us? Be reasonable…”

“Besides, these monsters are spawned by the system, not bred by these people. So it’s definitely legal for us to farm even though someone was here before us! What if they decided to stay here forever? Are we going to wait forever for them to leave? Illogical, right? As long as we don’t disturb them and compete fairly, the loot goes to the stronger team.”

“True.” The winged Champions formed a circle behind Black Rock and endorsed Black Rock’s reasoning. “If that’s the case, it’s completely fine for us to proceed to the other spots then.” Under the helpless sight of the surrounding players, the winged players split up at the entrance and dived quickly toward other farming spots.

At the same time, the five hundred or more players from the Fallen Angels also segregated themselves into smaller troops and marched into the Death Valley respectively.

They ignored the large and small parties that came before them and directly charged into every farming point, even though they were already occupied with many players.

This included the one nearest to the entrance, which was guarded by Hanlin’s party.

“Come on, a complete conquer?”

Hanlin and his party had long given up on resisting after being surrounded by a few hundred well-equipped Tier 5 players. They were almost trampled by the incoming flux of the Fallen Angels’”army”. They looked at each other helplessly as the Fallen Angels men brazenly infiltrated one after another pre-occupied farming point.

The rude intrusion by Fallen Angels had finally provoked a minority of hardcore players.

Some Clans had prepared to challenge the Fallen Angels.

However, players from the Fallen Angels paid no attention to them. They neither chased them away nor fought with them. The Fallen Angels only allocated five different classes on each farming point. These five players stayed close to it and took care of business swiftly every time a new Black Flame Steed spawned. They showed no interest in other parties, whether it was one that left admittedly or those that tried to compete with them.

Several Tier 5 classes would face no problem taking down the Tier 6 Black Flame Steed quickly. Truth be told, not many had the guts to challenge the Fallen Angels openly under the presence of their enormous troops.

A few minutes later, more and more parties decided to leave the region after most of their experience and loot were being robbed away by the Fallen Angels.

***

“Hey, I have encountered some real fighters. Seven Tier 5, three Tier 4. They have given their best. We can’t sweep all their experience with only six of us.”

“Oh? There is a Tier 5 party around?” Black Rock was highly interested. He passed over his farming spot to other members and dashed toward the mentioned spot. “Do they have a clan?”

“Netherspirit’s Claw.”

Black Rock stopped mid-air as he heard that. “Never mind then. It’s not really a big deal to spare them with them one spot.”

“The problem is, they refused a truce. These men even declared that they have called in their reinforcements from the League and will do everything to fight us.”

“What?” Black Rock once again stopped in mid-air. “Woah, that’s scary.”

“What should we do?”

“Hmm…. Let’s see. Well, we will have to leave this kind of diplomatic matters in the hands of our beloved League Commander. Hey, when will this old horse be willing to flex his muscles?” Black Rock called out to Qin Ruo through the Clan channel.

***

Half a minute later, the group from Netherspirit’s Claw admitted defeat and unhappily left the Death Flame Valley.

***

“Sorry for the trouble, Netherclaw.”

“No big deal. It was their fault to stand in your way. We should have a drink sometime when you are free.”

“No problem.”

After the conversation ended, Death Flame Valley had been officially sealed out by the Fallen Angels.