That night, we stayed at Eternal Moon’s base. Lin Yixin, He Yi and I were provided with a 6-star residence that was close to Xinran’s room for ease of communication.
My mission was very simple. I would find Xinran in the Banished Lands and take her away from the Purgatory. Then, I would tell her that it was time to wake up in the real world.
……
When the clock ticked past 9 pm, I finally logged back into the game.
Swhoosh!
After I appeared at the seashore of the Banished Lands once more, I crawled out of the tent to find Uldan kneeling right next to it. She broke into a smile when she saw me. “You’ve finally awakened!”
I nodded and looked at Uldan’s legs. “Hmm? Have you recovered, Uldan?”
She shook her head. “Not yet. I’ve tried a couple of times, but I’m still unable to fly. My legs are still lacking their usual strength.”
“Got it!”
I got to my feet and lifted Uldan to my back. After I had secured her to me, I looked at the sky and called out, “We’re departing, Winged Silver Dragon. We shan’t stay here for too long!”
The Winged Silver Dragon swooped down from above and caught something with its talons while it was flying over the sea. It was a fat fish about half a meter long. After it devoured the fish in one gulp, it shot me a deferential smile and asked, “Master’s big brother, you’ve not eaten any food for many days, have you? Would you like to eat some before we continue?”
I checked my Satiety and noted that it was sitting at 31. Ever since I ascended to become a god, my ability to withstand hunger had increased drastically. That didn’t mean I no longer needed to eat though, so I took out high-grade bread that restored 100 Satiety from my bag and consumed it. Now, I would be able to fight for another 7 days.
……
I brought up the map screen. There was a red-colored valley area directly ahead of me, meaning that the mobs in there were pretty high-level. The name of the map was “Ancient Ogre Valley”. Ogres were famous for their carnivorous diet, and Xinran unfortunately fell under that category. It was hard to imagine that anyone would even think to consume a woman as gorgeous as Xinran, but then again an ogre’s aesthetics hardly matched a human being’s. Xinran might be a god, but not even she could withstand being boiled alive in a pot of boiling water [1], could she?
My concern turned into impulse, and my impulse drove me to unsheath my Xuanyuan Sword and take off to Ancient Ogre Valley immediately!
Thud!
I took to the sky and entered the airspace of the valley in no time. The second I did so, I received a system notice—
Ding!
System Notice: You have entered the map “Ancient Ogre Valley”. The ogres who reside in this valley are ancient devils, and they are far stronger than the ogres in any other plane. Don’t let them catch you with their net, or you will be made into their food!
……
“What the fuck…”
I swore under my breath while descending toward a golden hilltop. There were campfires and ogres all over the valley, and it looked like they were waiting for their pot of prey to be cooked. If I wasn’t mistaken, they were mostly animals such as hyenas, boars and more. As for humans, what humans? There were no humans in the Banished Lands until recently.
Each campfire ws surrounded by 20 ogres at least. According to Dark Pupils, they were Level 340 deity-rank mobs. I didn’t think it would be a problem for me to fight 20 of them alone, so I made up my mind to make my way through the valley one campfire at a time. Once I had cleared out the area and reaped all the experience, I would proceed toward the deeper area of the valley. It was because I saw a giant cage at the edge of my vision. Who knows, it might be where Xinran was trapped!
Before I made my move, I checked the sky again to confirm that Night Fury wasn’t close. There shouldn’t be anything on this map besides him that could threaten me.
……
I walked toward a group of ogres until I was close enough to hear their conversation—
“Hey, how long has it been since we’ve tasted human flesh? Is it three thousand years, or seven thousand?”
“I’ve forgotten a long time ago. There are only badgers to eat in this accursed place, and they all stink like hell. Man, I miss the days when I was still young. The human I had eaten was so fresh and tasty…”
“Why don’t we break out of the Purgatory and enjoy life in the Human Realms?”
“Quit dreaming. That devil, Night Fury patrols the sky day and night, and he’ll never let us out of this place. Also, did you forget what the Banished Lands are? We are a forgotten race, and we will be stuck here for eternity. That is a fate not even Night Fury can overturn. If there is, we would’ve escaped from this place a long time ago…”
……
He was going to say something else, but the blade of a sword had suddenly burst out of his chest. It was me, of course. I executed War Crush so that the iron pot hanging above the campfire would be flipped over. Now, they wouldn’t even get to eat a badger’s meat anymore.
“What the—is that a human? Look at his huge muscles! Hahaha, we’re eating a human today!”
The ogres roared as they swung their clubs at my Dihai Shield. Unfortunately for them, the Fire God Barrier had greatly increased my Defense, and although the clubs looked scary they couldn’t even do 20k damage to me. One swing of my sword was all I needed to regain nearly that much HP!
Two minutes later, I had taken out all 24 ogres at the campfire. I examined the loot on the ground for a bit and concluded that their loot drop rate was pretty good. The best loot they dropped was Immortal-grade, and with my Luck, practically any Immortal-grade equipment I dropped was Outstanding.
Out of all the equipment drops, the best one was a pair of wristguards that had high Defense and stackable 6% lifesteal. It was also a Level 240 Immortal-grade item. If I were to sell it at Sky City, it would net me 5,000 RMB at least. I tossed it into my bag and continued on my journey. Assuming I succeeded in bringing Xinran home, I would be making a small fortune as well. It was because there were at least 500 such pieces of equipment in my bag!
……
I fought the ogres for over an hour, cutting a literal path of blood through the Ancient Ogre Valley. Instead of accompanying me, the Winged Silver Dragon went on a feeding frenzy of its own. I saw it biting an ogre’s arm, tearing out a chunk of flesh and swallowing it in no time. The ogres ate humans, but the dragons ate the ogres. The Winged Silver Dragon was definitely higher than me on the food chain.
Rustle rustle…
It was at this moment Uldan looked over my shoulder at the giant cage we were moving toward. She said, “I’m almost certain that whoever’s trapped inside the iron cage cannot be the Wind Singer. Did you notice how fragile the iron bars are? They wouldn’t even be able to stop the Wind Singer from blowing them away, much less imprison her!”
I shrugged. “I figured that out a while ago, but we may as well check it out since we’re already here, right?”
“Mn.”
I leaped into the air once more and flew straight toward the cage. However, I quickly noticed that at least a hundred elite ogre warriors and twenty or so ogre shamans were surrounding the cage. The shamans were also deity-rank mobs, but their stats were much higher than a normal ogre. This wouldn’t be an easy fight.
I activated Battle Astral Wind and spread three Ancient Seals across the group of mobs. Then, I executed a Summon the Storm + Myriad Swords Obliteration combo. Most battles would finish faster if I hit them all at the same time!
“Dammit, someone’s trying to kidnap our princess! Kill him!”
The ogre warriors’ angry shouts surprised me. The person imprisoned inside the cage was their princess?
The Xuanyuan Sword shone brightly as I unleashed Burning Blade Slash. Ten minutes later, all 100 ogre warriors and over 20 ogre shamans were dead. The Xuanyuan Sword had lifesteal, and the Cloak of Divine Fervor reduced my damage received by 50%. Although the ogre shamans’ Lightning Chain skill hurt a lot, they weren’t enough to kill me in an instant. And if they couldn’t kill me in an instant, then their defeat was all but certain.
……
I stepped over the ogres’ dead bodies and stepped toward the cage. Then, I cut apart the chains on the door.
A gigantic figure stepped out of the cage and greatly surprised me. It was easily the biggest ogre I had encountered today, and it even had rouges on its cheeks… wait a second. This ogre was a female!
“Thank you for saving me, my beloved warrior!”
The ogre princess stepped toward me with a pair of impossibly hairy legs and footsteps that had to weigh at least three tons. She crouched on the ground and said to me, “Thank you for having a kind heart, but… I must still marry that devil for the sake of my race!”
I sucked in a deep breath and started, “You are too kind, princess. Saving someone in need is but the basic responsibility of a hero. Anyway, I’m a busy man, so see you later—”
Thud!
However, the ogre princess grabbed my arm and said, “Wait, my brave hero. You may have saved me, but I still must marry that devil to end the humiliation of our race once and for all. I need you to defend the pride of our ancient tribe!”
I was unable to pull free. The ogre princess’s Strength was at least two times higher than mine. What a brawny princess!
Meanwhile, I was wailing inside my mind. What the heck does your marriage have anything to do with me? Don’t drag me into your business, I have no interest in the political marriage between ogres at all…
……
Ogre Princess Canarina (Quasi-Divine Rank Boss)
Level: 345
Introduction: Leader of the ancient ogre tribe.
……
I was despairing a little at this point. What the heck was this several-tons-heavy princess planning?
It was at this moment an axe-wielding ogre warrior dropped to one knee beneath the steps and asked, “Princess Canarina, have you truly made up your mind to marry that devil?”
The princess nodded. “Yes, I have decided of my own free will. However, I will take this brave warrior with me. He will act as my bodyguard and protect me from danger!”
She then clenched her fists before adding, “With his aid, we will finally be able to kill that devil, Night Fury and retake both our territory and dignity!”
The ogre warrior looked surprised. “Forgive me for saying this, Your Highness, but Night Fury captured a beautiful girl about half a month ago. I believe he no longer needs you after he captured that girl!”
“Nonsense! He will accept me!” The princess erupted in anger.
His words caught my attention though. “What did you say? You said that Night Fury captured a beautiful girl? Is… is she a human girl?”
“Yes, brave warrior!”
I immediately turned around and said to Canarina, “Your Highness, I agree to accompany you to Night Fury as your bodyguard. I will aid you in your quest to murder that bastard!”
1. E/N: … yes she could? You’re withstanding LAVA, and you think 100 degrees Celsius are a problem? ☜
