Within the Kunlun Immortal Realm map, players from the four alliances were frantically grinding wild monsters on the three immortal mountains—Penglai, Yingzhou, and Fangzhang. The entire Kunlun Immortal Realm map buzzed with unprecedented activity!
"Loyal Warrior 10 monster spawn point, need one more!" "Kid, you've got no martial virtue, stealing my old man's monster?" "Hey hey hey! If you're gonna fight monsters, fine, but why are you grabbing my butt?"
All kinds of shouts rose and fell. With the game update just a few hours away, everyone wanted to be the first to enter this brand-new map of the Immortal Realm and experience the fresh gameplay!
Two hours earlier, Jiang Yuan had moved with Hamster Pudding to the deepest part of Yingzhou Immortal Mountain, where there was a spawn point for level 110 wild monsters called "Kunlun Immortal Slaves."
"Honey, hang in there a bit longer. I reckon we'll hit level 120 in about an hour," Jiang Yuan said with a smile, looking at Hamster Pudding, who was leaning against him, yawning nonstop with a sleepy expression.
It was already three in the morning. Half an hour ago, Jiang Yuan had become the first player in the Dragon Kingdom server to reach level 120, while Hamster Pudding, after grinding for four or five hours on billions of wild monster experience points, had been pushed all the way to level 118!
On the current level leaderboard, three people were tied with Hamster Pudding at level 118: Proud Dragon Emperor, One Blade Breaks Ten Thousand Laws, and Dominating the Mortal World.
"Mhm!" Hamster Pudding leaned against Jiang Yuan, eyes half-closed, humming softly like a mosquito.
"Summon Dragon Beard Tiger!" "Summon Divine Beast Black Tortoise!"
Watching his summoned creatures disappear ahead, Jiang Yuan mechanically repeated the actions he'd performed countless times that night.
"Ding! Congratulations to player Proud Dragon Emperor for completing cultivation, reaching level 120. Ascension to the Immortal Realm is imminent!" "Ding! Congratulations to player One Blade Breaks Ten Thousand Laws for completing cultivation, reaching level 120. Ascension to the Immortal Realm is imminent!"
Just then, two messages flashed in the world chat channel. Proud Dragon Emperor and One Blade Breaks Ten Thousand Laws, who had been tied with Hamster Pudding at level 118, had suddenly jumped two levels for some unknown reason!
"Brother Dominating the Mortal World, what's going on? Why did those two suddenly hit level 120?"
Confused, Jiang Yuan quickly opened his friend list and sent a message to Dominating the Mortal World.
After a long pause, Dominating the Mortal World replied. He told Jiang Yuan that Proud Dragon Emperor and One Blade Breaks Ten Thousand Laws had stumbled upon some incredible luck—they'd discovered two epic-level bosses. Without calling anyone else, the two had worn those bosses down and killed them.
"Damn, those two sure are lucky!" Jiang Yuan relayed the news from Dominating the Mortal World to Hamster Pudding, then added with a chuckle.
"Jiang Yuan, how about we go look for some too? Grinding here all the time is so boring!"
Hearing this, Hamster Pudding perked up instantly, wriggling out of Jiang Yuan's arms and sitting up, with no trace of sleepiness left.
"Sure! I can't gain any more experience anyway. If we actually find a boss, you can take all the experience yourself!"
Jiang Yuan was getting a bit bored from all the grinding too, so to spice things up, he immediately agreed to Hamster Pudding's request.
The two left the "Kunlun Immortal Slave" spawn point and pressed deeper into Yingzhou Immortal Mountain. Before long, a cave entrance about the height of a person appeared before them.
"Jiang Yuan, should we go in?"
Staring at the pitch-black cave mouth, Hamster Pudding felt a bit scared. She clutched Jiang Yuan's arm and asked softly.
"What's there to fear? I'm here!" Jiang Yuan reached out and ruffled Hamster Pudding's head, speaking gently, then took her hand and stepped into the cave one after the other.
The cave was vast inside, winding and twisting to who knows where. Jiang Yuan led Hamster Pudding, stumbling along in the dark. Along the way, they didn't encounter a single boss—not even a wild monster!
They continued forward and noticed a glimmer of light ahead. Jiang Yuan quickened his pace, pulling Hamster Pudding along, and followed the light until they emerged from another side of the cave!
Before Jiang Yuan lay a stone gate. He couldn't see what was beyond it, but his first impression was that there seemed to be an open space behind it.
Stepping through the stone gate, sure enough, it opened into a wide platform. And there, in the upper right corner of the platform, a bizarrely shaped monster was staring at them with wide eyes!
[Epic Boss: Changyou] Level: 110 Health: 100 million Attack: ? Defense: ?
The monster before Jiang Yuan looked like a long-tailed ape, but it had four ears on the sides of its head. Its cry was different from an ape's, more like a human sigh. Jiang Yuan glanced at the monster's head and immediately got its info—it was an epic-level boss named "Changyou."
"Summon Sand River Turtle!" "Summoned Beast Evolution!"
Without giving the enemy time to react, Jiang Yuan immediately summoned a Heaven-tier Sand River Turtle, followed by the Divine Beast Black Tortoise.
"Arcane Mark!"
He cast an Arcane Mark on the boss Changyou, and the Heaven-tier Sand River Turtle and Divine Beast Black Tortoise charged forward.
"Sigh! Sigh!"
Changyou let out a series of sighing sounds, but its face showed a startled expression. It leaped onto a nearby tree, ready to flee.
"Roar!"
The Heaven-tier Sand River Turtle let out a furious roar, spat a beam of white light, and struck Changyou instantly. The boss's once-alert eyes grew dazed, and it wobbled down from the tree, stumbling toward the Sand River Turtle.
While the boss Changyou was taunted, Jiang Yuan summoned ten thousand Dragon Beard Tigers and waited for the "Summoned Beast Evolution"!
After picking up the equipment dropped by the epic boss Changyou, Hamster Pudding stretched lazily, wrapped her arms around Jiang Yuan's neck, and gave him a kiss. Her face was beaming with joy—after all, Jiang Yuan had worked so hard to finally get her to level 120!