Chapter 203: Giant Serpent Transforming into a Flood Dragon, Dilapidated Immortal Manor

The several people behind Trail-breaking Pony held Heavenly One Mystic Ice Banners identical to the one in his hand, though altogether there were only about twenty.

If they could gather all eighty-one banners, then the power of the Heavenly One Profound Ice Banner Array could be fully unleashed.

But since they now knew that Ice Cranes could serve as the Essence Spirit for the Heavenly One Mystic Ice Banners, refining them in the future would be much easier. They just needed to have Trail-breaking Pony lead a team and forcibly requisition the place, spending some time to complete the refinement of the Heavenly One Mystic Ice Banners.

The magic treasure used by Voice of the Listening Sea Breeze was quite unusual. He controlled it together with the eight people behind him. There were nine jade tokens as white as mutton fat, engraved with images of the sun, moon, stars, mountain spirits, and water monsters, all emitting a faint glow.

When the nine of them jointly activated it, this set of magic treasures connected as one. A warm, sunlight-like white light poured down from the nine mutton-fat jade tokens, forming a curtain of light that protected a large area.

Among these members, many also had Seven Avian Feather Fans. At this moment, they all activated the Seven Avian Divine Light, with seven-colored light flashing everywhere.

The Seven Avian Feather Fan and the Mixed Gold Orb had almost become the signature treasures of the Green Emperor Alliance. Many of the older members possessed them.

The types of Divine Light were different, and their effects varied, each with its own use. But one thing they all had in common was their ability to change at will, leaving no gaps. This was just right for dealing with these venomous slimes.

After the initial panic, two unlucky fellows fell, but they quickly stabilized their formation, and large numbers of snake monsters fell.

The dropped items and various materials were naturally collected by designated players. After returning, they would be handled uniformly and deposited into the faction’s Public Warehouse. These items and materials were also assigned a value, which was distributed to each member in the form of Gang Contribution Points.

These formal faction rules were now being promoted within the Green Emperor Alliance as well, and they had already gotten off to a good start.

Currently, the main issue was that the faction’s Public Warehouse had too little stock. Additionally, since it was not a formal player organization, they still needed to handle these matters manually, resulting in very low efficiency.

But these problems would naturally be resolved once the Green Emperor Alliance became a formal faction, and they would cease to exist.

“So scary! I never thought just clearing out a snake nest would be so dangerous, let alone venturing deep into the Endless Forest Sea!”

Voice of the Listening Sea Breeze gasped for breath heavily. The consumption of True Qi by those nine mutton-fat jade tokens was terrifyingly high. Even though nine people shared the burden of activating them, they were still swallowing True Qi recovery pills like eating chocolate beans.

Places like the snake nest under Golden Whip Cliff, because they were adjacent to the Endless Forest Sea and the monsters there were targets during Trial Missions, were rarely entered afterwards. So, Voice of the Listening Sea Breeze had previously looked down on this place.

But now, having come here personally, he discovered the extraordinary nature of these snake demons, and they had only explored half of it.

“After we go back, we should record information like the types, levels, and attack habits of the monsters here and compile it into a book. Once we establish the faction in the future, we can incorporate this information into the map. When the average level is a bit higher, this place can also serve as a leveling spot.”

The density of snake-type monsters under Golden Whip Cliff was absolutely an excellent monster grinding location, provided one had sufficient strength.

With Ye Rong and the current configuration of the team behind him, they were already struggling to get here, let alone encountering that level hundred flood dragon snake.

A plump, over ten-zhang-long giant serpent shot towards them, bringing with it a foul wind. There were slight protrusions on its head, as if small bumps had grown. He knew this was a sign of a snake undergoing molting and about to transform into a flood dragon; it was about to grow a pair of small horns on its head.

Its body was already covered in dirty bronze-like scales, reflecting a dull metallic sheen.

Bang!

One member who was standing a bit too far forward was directly sent flying by the impact. He turned into light mid-air, showing just how powerful the impact was.

“Boss, it’s an 80-level Elite Monster!”

Voice of the Listening Sea Breeze cried out, his voice trembling slightly. He had a special Dao Spell that could detect a monster’s grade and tier. As long as the Elite Monster’s level did not exceed his by 50 levels, he could detect it.

After the giant serpent landed, its tail churned up a muddy water pit. In the sky, muffled thunder rumbled continuously, and dark clouds seemed to be gathering.

“Damn, so imposing, such a grand display!”

Ye Rong knew at a glance that the situation was bad. The ability to disturb celestial phenomena with such divine powers was something only monsters approaching the Heavenly Tribulation could achieve. Moreover, wherever it went, it created chaotic marsh water pits, with Water Eyes appearing one after another on the ground, gushing out clear water.

With such abilities, even if they brought all the members of the Green Emperor Alliance, it would likely end in death, with no other outcome.

“Trouble, retreat! Withdraw in order!”

Two streaks of Sword Light flashed as he actively advanced to meet it, drawing the attention of this flood dragon-transforming giant serpent.

If he wanted to escape alone, of course he could do so easily, but the team behind him would suffer heavy losses. It would be fortunate if even half of them managed to escape. Such an outcome would not only be a severe blow to the Green Emperor Alliance but would also affect his own authority.

If their first expedition ended in defeat and half of the brothers under his command were lost, the people below would definitely start having different thoughts.

The frosty Sword Light shot towards the flood dragon-transforming giant serpent’s lantern-like large eyeballs. It neither dodged nor avoided, merely closed its eyelids, causing a shower of sparks to fly out, like two solid metal plates blocking all attacks.

Knowing that his attacks couldn’t harm the giant serpent, an 80-level Elite Monster was truly extraordinary.

Ye Rong also gave up the idea of injuring its vital points. Instead, he desperately dodged and maneuvered, changing the direction of his Sword Light, only hoping to buy a little time. Even if he were struck once, despite having the Hundred Poison Cold Light Barrier protecting him, his survival would be uncertain, let alone escaping this place smoothly.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the team, led by Trail-breaking Pony and Voice of the Listening Sea Breeze, quickly retreating. They were almost out of there. He made a sharp turn, directing Chongxu Sword Qi and various Divine Thunder spells fiercely towards the giant serpent’s head, then turned and ran without looking back.

Fortunately, the range of Chongxu Sword Qi was long enough. While escaping, he still remembered to manipulate the Sword Qi to provoke the giant serpent a few times, buying himself a little more time.

Otherwise, trying to escape from such a powerful monster would be extremely difficult, and he might very well have to pay the price of using a Substitute Paper Puppet.

“Boss, the trip to the Golden Whip Cliff snake nest resulted in a total of seventeen losses. Fifteen of them were caused by that giant serpent just now!”

“After we return, tell Pecking Chicken immediately to list this area as one of the forbidden zones. In the short term, no members of the Green Emperor Alliance are allowed to enter it for leveling to avoid unnecessary losses! For the members who were lost, give them some extra Gang Contribution Points as appropriate after returning.”

Ye Rong himself was still somewhat shaken. After calming down, he gave Voice of the Listening Sea Breeze a few instructions.

“So, are we heading back now, or what?”

“We’re changing locations to continue exploring. We said we were opening up the Endless Forest Sea, but we haven’t even taken one step into it. Are we going to be scared off by a snake nest? Will you still be able to hold your head up in front of them when we get back?”

Ye Rong glared at him, leaning against a tall pine tree. He did not immediately issue an assembly order.

He knew these members were all in a sorry state, frightened and fleeing in panic. They needed some time to collect themselves.

…

Ci Ties looked like water buffaloes with huge horns over a meter long. Their fur was pitch black, and they fed on various metal ores.

Ye Rong led the team into the Endless Forest Sea from beside Golden Whip Cliff. They advanced five hundred li, carefully avoiding those Spiritual Monkeys and not killing them. Due to one of his suggestions, these little creatures’ living environment had greatly improved. Basically, no Qingcheng Disciples targeted them for killing anymore.

If the Spiritual Monkeys were aware, building a shrine in his honor would not be excessive.

On this Iron Ridge, they discovered this type of monster called Ci Tie. They were sparsely distributed, and their numbers weren’t too high.

Ye Rong flew up into the air and counted. On the vast Iron Ridge, there were only about a hundred Ci Ties, spread out fairly evenly.

With a “boom” nearby, one Ci Tie couldn’t withstand the concentrated attack of hundreds of Sword Lights. Even though it was proficient in several metal-element Dao Spells and had even cultivated a golden light hammer that appeared above its head when it rampaged and charged.

But it was hopelessly outnumbered. It howled twice and died in humiliation.

Upon its death, it dropped two pieces of black, hard ore. Picking them up, he saw they were refining materials. Although their grade wasn’t high, they could still be considered faction resources. Accumulating them would allow them, once the Green Emperor Alliance had produced a few Sword Refiners and Treasure Refiners in the future, to rapidly increase their professional levels in one go.

“Let’s stop here. The monster quantity and respawn speed are suitable. It should be able to accommodate a team of a thousand players grinding monsters here. Going further in would be too dangerous; it’s very likely some terrifyingly powerful monster could appear.”

Ye Rong still felt lingering fear about the terror of the Endless Forest Sea. This was no snake nest under Golden Whip Cliff. Every step forward increased the danger exponentially. It wouldn’t be strange even if a super BOSS that could instantly kill him ran out.

This was precisely why, both two months ago and two months later, players’ exploration progress into the Endless Forest Sea had basically stagnated, remaining at the same position.

“Boss, come quickly, we found something!”

While Ye Rong was giving instructions, his private message window suddenly flickered. It was a voice message sent by Trail-breaking Pony.

“What happened?”

“We found a man-made cave entrance!”

Trail-breaking Pony and the others found the cave entrance on the other side of Iron Ridge, in an area strewn with scattered giant rocks and dense forest shade.

It was three meters high, allowing two people to pass through simultaneously. Around the cave entrance, there was a layer of mottled, neatly arranged stone strips—clear signs of human work. Only, too much time had passed, and with no one maintaining it, it had become dilapidated and desolate.