Chapter 166
Chapter 166: We Cannot be Too Greedy
It was an uproar inside the valley in the shape of an inverted-V, and the person who started this chaos was a Tier 4 Aquamancer Qin Ruo. A simple Frostburst completely destroyed the plans of a group of players that wanted to gather herb while the Wintry Vajra was out and they were directly put into a dangerous situation.
The four Level 45 Snow Giants rushed back to the iceberg in time to protect the herbs. After a few players who failed at gathering herbs were killed, several players with Gathering were then forced to run away, as they dared not go closer again.
These monsters with Tier 4 intermediate capability had terrifyingly good defense and attack skills! A team of ten and at least half a minute were required to take them down.
However, players that were supposed to be attacking were being suppressed by the Wintry Vajra. Not only were a few dozens of people sacrificed as it hunted them down, but this had also completely shattered the players’ confidence.
They all had the same understanding—even if all players present united, they still would not be able to compete with the Wintry Vajra. That was why it was impossible for them to be united. Moreover, due to the fact that Qin Ruo a hostile AoE attack, some parties that lost players with the Gathering skill started to angrily lure the Ice Pythons and Yetis from the surrounding area, forcing players in other parties to consider an escape. In the end, in order to prevent the riot tragedy of the Ice Pythons and Yetis from happening again, they had no choice but to quickly begin withdrawing from the valley, cursing as they tried to evade this inexorable doom first.
Now, people no longer paid attention to the hostile troublemaker.
Without a doubt, Aquamorph played a vital role—making Qin Ruo`s presence undetectable to the other players in the far distance.
Many players even thought that the asshole had either left the battlefield early and returned to town, or that he was killed in the chaotic battle, or killed by the monsters. The possibility of the latter two was higher.
Under this circumstance, no one had a clue that Qin Ruo was still impudently walking toward the players who had lured the monsters toward the iceberg, even though he was being chased after by the four Snow Giants.
Ever since he got out from Frostsnow Island, Qin Ruo no longer feared the Ice Pythons and Yetis as he was undetectable with Aquamorph.
Therefore once he saw the players luring the Ice Pythons and Yetis here, without any hesitation, he ran toward those players and drew in the Snow Giants that were chasing after him.
The poor players were planning to use the Ice Pythons to take down the Bandit that had Stealth activated. Unexpectedly, they saw four Snow Giants charging toward them steadily. The few of them instantly broke into a sweat and wanted to turn around.
Unfortunately they had clearly forgotten that there were several Ice Pythons waiting for them behind.
Qin Ruo quickly went past a few players that were being pestered by the Ice Pythons and Yetis. After the Snow Giants killed them all, the Ice Pythons and Yetis turned back and chased after the other players.
What a coincidence!
Once the Ice Pythons and Yetis were gone, a huge space instantly appeared at the left side and nearly all players retreated as there was no sight of players near the iceberg and at the left side here. After using his Elemental Perception: Water to ensure there were no Bandits nearby, Qin Ruo immediately made his decision.
‘It’s time!’
Qin Ruo held his ground and turned back to face the four Snow Giants that were striding over. He waved his Frostburst Staff rapidly, and one after another, transparent Aquaramparts quickly formed thirty meters away.
The four Snow Giants were instantly stunned and stopped moving. Their fearsome bodies shook before the Aquaramparts. Panicked, they tried to bypass and pass through the sides.
Seeing that the Snow Giants were indeed afraid of water, Qin Ruo smiled to himself and rapidly took two steps forward to move the Snow Giants into his range of attack. All the while his hands were continuously extracting Aqua Bullets from the Aquarampart and shooting them out.
Plop! Plop! Plop!
The Snow Giants could not respond in time and were struck. They wailed as their bodies melted. One of the Snow Giants wanted to retaliate but several Aquaramparts suddenly moved toward it.
Ooooowaaaah!
It was as if they saw their natural enemy, the rats. The Snow Giants could not bring themselves to cast magic to attack Qin Ruo and so they just ran away. Qin Ruo instantly became more excited. As he manipulated four Aquaramparts toward each Snow Giant, he was also extracting rows of Aqua Bullets from the Aquaramparts to strike the Snow Giants.
The Snow Giants were frequently struck and kept howling angrily. Yet their bodies could not handle the erosion of the Water Element and soon, their sturdy bodies were badly damaged. In no time, they died under Qin Ruo’s attack.
For Qin Ruo, he killed four Level 45 Snow Giants within ten seconds without deactivating Aquamorph. Undoubtedly, he was happy.
However, putting the excitement aside, Qin Ruo did not forget about the high-grade herbs near the iceberg. Besides, the batch of Ice Pythons that were killed earlier would have re-spawned within a minute. He would miss the chance to gather herbs if he did not act now.
Immediately, without caring what the Snow Giants had dropped, he rushed toward the iceberg and used Elemental Perception: Water to quickly search through every corner of the iceberg for herbs.
The iceberg was purely made up of ice cubes, which was very complicated and had most herbs trapped within, making it hard for players to discover all herb at a glance. Not to mention that selecting the highest-grade herbs from the numerous herbs was not easy either. However Qin Ruo’s Elemental Perception: Water was different. It was like an omnidirectional speculum, that even if the herb was well-hidden, it could still be detected by the Elemental Perception: Water.
Within seconds, Qin Ruo had already detected five Frost Lotuses and seven or eight Frost Flower Vines, and over twenty Frost Orchids. However, the price of the Frost Orchid was lower, with each piece costing only 1, 200 gold coins. The total value of twenty of them could not even compare to the value of a Grade 5 Frost Lotus.
Qin Ruo was not attracted by the Frost Lotus.
He sprinted there and squatted in front of an ice cube. He then removed the outermost Froststone, revealing a dreamy blue crystal-like plant that exuded a faint aroma.
‘There is indeed a Dreamy Blue Ice Chrysanthemum! Grade 4 herb!’
Excitedly, Qin Ruo inhaled deeply and transferred the Gathering skill to his palms. Once the violet light appeared, he immediately started working on the Dreamy Blue Ice Chrysanthemum.
Gathering Grade 4 Dreamy Blue Ice Chrysanthemum, even with Master Gathering, required at least fifteen seconds. Within this period, no magic could be used, including Defense Magic. Also, no interruption was allowed, or else the effort would all go to waste.
The first time Qin Ruo had gathered a Grade 4 herb was at the Stygianlock Centiking Cavern. Back then, he was gathering Violetjade Fruit. Even though all centipedes’ re-spawn time and monsters’ tendencies had been taken into consideration, he was already covered in sweat when he was only halfway through.
The situation this time was more dangerous and more delicate.
Even though the Wintry Vajra was out of the valley, the players left were very few now. Moreover there were Ice Pythons and Yetis at the periphery, so it was impossible for them to escape. With its speed, it was hard to know if the Wintry Vajra would return soon.
Too bad Qin Ruo was now behind the iceberg, where his sight was obstructed. Hence it was impossible for him to detect the Wintry Vajra in time, deactivate Gathering, and return to town.
He could only pray in his heart. Pray that those players could act like cockroaches, fighting each other so that there was more time for him. No doubt if those players knew what Qin Ruo thought, they would wish they were killed earlier, especially when the Wintry Vajra returned…
Fifteen seconds later…
The Dreamy Blue Ice Chrysanthemum was completely gathered from the ice formation. Qin Ruo`s anxiety peaked. The overflowing aroma excited Qin Ruo. He did not even bother to forage the few Frost Lotuses nearby as he hurriedly pulled out and activated a Return Scroll. Although he was dying to bring along all the herbs in front of him, he clearly knew that one should not be too greedy.
Right as the hexagram portal glowed, an angry roar and sound of heavy footsteps approached at high speed.
“Raaawr!”
The Wintry Vajra was too late! If Qin Ruo hesitated just now, he would have been pulled into combat by the Wintry Vajra.
***
Recalling the earlier scene when he was about to be stopped by the Wintry Vajra, with the possibility of being killed and dropping an equipment, he could not help but feel a chill down his spine. He had three Gold equipment with him. He would have been so heartbroken to have dropped any of them.
After taking some time to calm down, Qin Ruo saw Violetmoon Devilite and the others, who were waiting by the warp portal, walking toward him. Several players trailed after them—the several “acquaintances” they had met at the Snow Domain.
Qin Ruo raised his eyebrow as the players angrily stormed toward him. Without waiting for them to speak, Qin Ruo said coldly, “Don’t bother to talk, just come at me if you want revenge!”