Chapter 710: The Ape King

Thirteen top-tier professions, this lineup was indeed impressive.

Nie Yan recalled the Lava Beast from the Molten Fire Forest. That creature had once slaughtered countless players, and the memory was still vivid in his mind. Once the number of top-tier profession players in the Bull Man Tribe increased a bit more, they might be able to challenge the Lava Beast.

After preparing, they summoned their flying mounts and set off.

Thirteen flying mounts soared across the sky.

Nie Yan glanced at the flying mounts of his teammates. As top-tier professionals, lacking a high-tier flying mount would be extremely embarrassing. Therefore, recently, everyone had managed to obtain excellent flying mounts.

Nie Yan’s flying mount was a level 7 Darkwing Dragon, the highest among all the flying mounts. Next were two level 6 mounts, both newly hatched. One was Xie Yao’s Phoenix, and the other was Shui Se Yan Tou’s Blue Dragon.

The Phoenix was slightly smaller than the Darkwing Dragon, its entire body enveloped in blazing white flames. Wherever it passed, waves of heat radiated outward. Previously, Xie Yao had mentioned that she hatched the Phoenix during a class change quest and imbued it with holy light properties, making it a mutated variant.

Shui Se Yan Tou’s Blue Dragon was covered in crystalline blue scales that refracted brilliant blue light under the sunlight.

Besides these two mounts, the rest were level 5 flying mounts, including Royal Griffins, Wyverns, and others.

Top-tier professions already had strong combat capabilities; they always found ways to obtain high-tier flying mounts.

“I still have a dragon egg in my personal warehouse. If anyone is interested, you can hatch it,” Nie Yan said, sharing the egg’s attributes. Hatching this egg required completing a high-difficulty quest, which he estimated only a top-tier professional could accomplish, hence why he mentioned it only now.

Everyone glanced at the egg’s attributes.

“It seems more suitable for warriors.”

“Brother Daoguang, do you want it?” Sha Bu Si De Huai Dan asked.

Cui Can Daoguang looked at it and shook his head. “I previously obtained a quest clue, and the reward is a level 6 flying mount, so I’ll pass on this dragon egg. Give it to someone else.”

Among the warriors, Cui Can Daoguang declined, and Shui Se Yan Tou already had one, leaving only Lei Su.

“Give it to Lei Su,” Nie Yan said.

No one objected to Nie Yan’s distribution plan.

“Really give it to me?” Lei Su asked in surprise. After all, he was still a newcomer to the Bull Man Tribe.

“I’ve set the extraction rights of the egg to you. You can pick it up from the warehouse when you return to the city,” Nie Yan replied. Although Lei Su had joined for a short time, Nie Yan already regarded him as part of the team.

“Thank you,” Lei Su said gratefully. From Nie Yan and the others, he felt trust.

Thirteen flying mounts soared across the sky, especially the leading Darkwing Dragon, Phoenix, and Blue Dragon, which were undoubtedly eye-catching. Players below who were leveling up looked up at the sky, watching Nie Yan’s group fly past until they disappeared into the horizon.

Soon, major factions learned of Nie Yan’s group’s movements, but they dared not confront them. Without experts capable of matching Nie Yan’s group, sending more people would only result in more deaths.

“Everyone, split up and search. If you find the Ape King, contact us in the team chat,” Nie Yan said in the team channel.

“Alright.”

The thirteen flying mounts scattered in different directions, scanning the ground below for the Ape King. The vast plains below offered a wide field of vision, making it easier to spot the target.

“I found the Ape King,” Hei Se Di Yu said in the team chat. “But it seems someone got here before us.”

“What’s the coordinate?”

“3829.2385.2880.”

“Got it, we’ll head there immediately.”

Everyone quickly gathered at the location Hei Se Di Yu mentioned, gradually descending in altitude.

Nie Yan looked ahead. In the distance, on the grasslands, a giant ape came into view.

This giant ape was the Ape King mentioned by the NPCs in Oaklen. Its massive body resembled a small hill. Around it gathered at least a thousand players, attacking the Ape King.

Seeing a thousand-player team in Abernathy surprised Nie Yan. Abernathy Grasslands was a relatively remote border area, so having so many players here was unexpected.

From a distance, Nie Yan couldn’t see their faces clearly, but he noticed three players at the forefront, while the Ape King continuously swung its iron fists downward.

Boom! Boom! Boom! The thunderous sounds could even be heard from Nie Yan’s side.

The Ape King kept attacking the three figures, who dodged and leaped around it, avoiding being defeated.

“These guys seem pretty skilled,” Hei Se Di Yu remarked. He usually remained silent, occasionally speaking a few words. However, no one ever ignored his presence. Since Nie Yan fulfilled his promise to dismantle the Dark Ranger, Hei Se Di Yu had stayed in the Bull Man Tribe. To the lower-ranked players, Hei Se Di Yu was mysterious, but within the Bull Man Tribe, his status was quite high.

“Where did this group come from? Logically, ordinary players can’t deal effective damage to the Ape King. Aren’t they just wasting time by surrounding it?” Sha Bu Si De Huai Dan asked, puzzled.

“It’s hard to say. There are various special items in Faith. I’ve seen things like Piercing Scrolls. When activated, all players in the team gain a chance to ignore defense and deal critical damage for a certain period. They’re especially effective against high-tier bosses,” Yu Wang Ran Zhi Qing Chun explained.

“Yu Wang is right. If a team is determined to defeat a boss, as long as the team leader is smart enough, they’ll find a way no matter what,” Cui Can Daoguang said. He often led teams in hunting bosses, so he spoke from experience.

“Let’s go down and take a look,” Nie Yan said.

Their flying mounts slowly landed over a thousand yards away from those players. Landing too close might cause conflict, as the others might think Nie Yan’s group was here to steal the kill.

The thirteen of them walked toward the distant hill, where the battle had already reached a fever pitch.

The Ape King roared furiously but seemed trapped, unable to escape a ten-yard radius. On the open ground around it, sixteen high-level mages raised their staffs, chanting incantations. Their positions formed a mysterious formation. Two warriors and a paladin stood in front of the Ape King, continuously attacking it with their swords.

“Damn, this guy’s hide is so thick. We’ve only brought it down to 12% after all this time. When will this end?” The paladin cursed in frustration, delivering a Holy Smite to the Ape King’s waist, dealing over 700 damage.

Magical projectiles streaked across the sky, striking the Ape King. Numbers like fifty to sixty damage floated above its head. Although the individual damage was low, with at least seven or eight hundred mages attacking, the total damage output was still substantial.

“Thankfully we activated the Punishment Formation. Otherwise, our 1,600 people would have been wiped out completely. This guy has such high defense,” a shield warrior shouted angrily, leaping high and delivering a shield bash that pushed the Ape King back two steps.

The group attacked the Ape King rhythmically, demonstrating considerable skill. As they focused on the battle, a player suddenly spoke in the team chat, “Boss You’nan, there are about a dozen people approaching from the northeast, around a thousand yards away.”

“Who are they?” A female paladin asked. She was leading the battle among the players, wearing sleek silver light armor, her black hair tied neatly behind her head, appearing fresh and capable. Her tall, curvaceous figure made her stand out. This group’s leader was actually a beautiful woman.

“It’s Nie Yan from the Bull Man Tribe!” a player replied in the team chat, having just spotted the Darkwing Dragon.

“Him?” Yue You Nan slightly furrowed her brows. This was definitely not good news. If it were anyone else, they could easily brush them off, but if it was Nie Yan, it wouldn’t be that simple.

This group belonged to the Dark Chanting Guild, and Yue You Nan was the guild leader. The Dark Chanting Guild was merely a small guild with around 2,000 members, among whom more than thirty core members, including Yue You Nan, belonged to the Dark Chanting Studio, a relatively well-known small studio domestically.

“Nie Yan is the newly crowned lord of Abernathy Grasslands. If we want to stay here, we must not offend him,” the paladin who was holding off the Ape King said. He was around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a sturdy build and clad in silver-gray heavy armor. His name was Kano, the vice-president of Dark Chanting.

Yue You Nan weighed her options for a moment. She had to admit Kano made sense. They truly couldn’t afford to offend Nie Yan. If they fell out with him, they might not be able to remain in Abernathy Grasslands.

“Although Nie Yan is the newly crowned lord of Abernathy Grasslands, there are so many NPC tribes here and at least twenty or more guilds of varying sizes. It won’t be easy for him to rule the entire Abernathy Grasslands. We just need to avoid being the ones to stand out,” Yue You Nan said.

“What if Nie Yan tries to steal the kill later? Are we just going to hand the Ape King over to them?” A tall warrior beside the Ape King asked.

“If Nie Yan really wants to steal the kill, we can’t do much about it. However, considering Nie Yan’s style, he probably won’t directly steal our kill and leave himself open to criticism,” Yue You Nan said, a sly smile appearing on her fair face.