novelraw Chapter 81 - Star Phantom Valley
Chapter 81 - Star Phantom Valley
Chapter 81: Star Phantom Valley
Carrying the Painted Sparrow Phantom Bow on his back, Jiang Chen strode through the wilderness outside Yunhuang City, the Cloak of the Prison Shadow fluttering noisily behind him—a testament to just how terrifying his full-speed movement was now.
“Ding!”
At this moment, Jiang Chen received several friend messages.
[Galactic Leader]: “Lone Ranger bro, can you sell me that golden gear for twenty thousand gold?”
[General Chaoge]: “God-tier player, our Chaoge Guild wants that gear—how about twenty thousand gold? We’re open to negotiating.”
[Phantom Dream Lichen]: “Wow, so much golden gear again—can you sell it to Alluring Beauty like last time?”
These people replied too slowly. Jiang Chen couldn’t be bothered to respond individually, so he sent a group message:
“The gear’s been sold.”
After replying, Jiang Chen continued alone into the Maple Leaf Forest—this was the only route to Star Phantom Valley. Traversing this forest would take at least half an hour. Unfortunately, players’ levels were still too low, and no one had triggered the mount system yet. Otherwise, even a simple horse would be far better than walking.
“Ding!”
He hadn’t gone far when another message came—this time from Phantom Dream Lichen: “Lone Ranger, we’ve identified five golden bosses above level 40. When are you free?”
Jiang Chen asked curiously: “How did you determine the bosses were over level 40?”
“We have a special item—Eye of Reconnaissance. It can identify monsters up to 30 levels higher than the player.”
“I see. But I’m currently busy. Let’s check in a few hours—I’ll message you.”
“No problem, no rush. Talk soon.”
…
After crossing the Maple Leaf Forest, Jiang Chen entered another mountain range, forging ahead until he reached Star Phantom Valley in about 40 minutes.
According to the map records, Star Steel could be found at the valley floor—but the location was a sheer cliff several hundred meters high. Even getting down was a challenge.
[At coordinates (****/****), there is a green vine that reaches all the way to the bottom of the valley.]
Fortunately, the mapping team had already found a way down.
Arriving at the exact coordinates, Jiang Chen found a massive green vine just as described—apparently reaching straight to the valley floor. With the vine to assist, descending would be much easier.
The vine looked like a giant tree root, incredibly tough—no risk of breaking midway. Jiang Chen grabbed it and began sliding down.
“Whoosh whoosh—”
Down in the valley, the wind howled. Moisture hung thick in the air. The vine was covered in dew, but Jiang Chen’s strength allowed him to grip tightly and descend steadily.
“Ssssss…”
Just as he was about to land, a strange sound rose from below—a large mottled serpent baring its fangs at his feet. The moment Jiang Chen hit the ground, it lunged at him with jaws wide open.
–327!
It barely broke his defenses—this thing was clearly high-level.
Jiang Chen immediately unslung his longbow, flames coiling around the arrowhead—Flame Infusion activated!
At the same time, he summoned the serpent’s stat panel:
[Valley Rock Serpent]
Level: ???
…
The level didn’t even register—clearly a monster above level 40. The Hongsha Guild really had gone all-in, daring to scout out even this area.
Thwack! The flaming arrow hit dead-on.
–4547!
Despite being suppressed by the level gap, Jiang Chen’s output was a terrifying 4,500+.
[Barrage Arrow]!
[Concussive Arrow]!
–4583!
–4583!
–4583!
–4583!
–5459!
…
The barrage stunned the serpent before it could react, and Jiang Chen riddled it with arrows like a porcupine. Though high-level, it was just a normal monster with low HP growth. It was quickly whittled down to near-death.
Plop!
Just as it recovered from the stun, it was felled by Jiang Chen’s flaming arrow, letting out a mournful hiss. He looted 700 silver coins and a mostly useless snake skin.
He checked the XP—very nice: 8,600 points! Thanks to his honorary title, he had a 10x XP bonus from kills.
Today might be a good day to grind here and hopefully break level 30.
Not far ahead, another Rock Serpent appeared—Jiang Chen casually shot it dead.
Now his attack damage had reached 7,000. With Flame Infusion adding 20%, his output climbed past 8,300. Even with the level suppression, he cut through the monsters like butter.
Under the blazing arrows enhanced by Flame Infusion, Rock Serpents fell within three seconds.
Treading over a carpet of snake corpses, Jiang Chen ventured deeper into the valley. Suddenly, his eyes lit up—there was a level 1 Rock Serpent ahead, and it was an elite!
Jiang Chen had a few pre-prepared Sealing Cards in his backpack that had never seen use. This was the perfect chance.
He pulled out a stack of Sealing Cards, thinking to himself—This serpent is mine for sure!
“Swish!”
Brimming with confidence, Jiang Chen hurled a card right at the serpent’s head. A massive hexagram magic circle formed beneath it as the elite serpent began thrashing around to escape.
The sealing circle glowed brilliantly.
Seconds passed—then a large “miss” symbol appeared in the sky.
Miss!
That card failed.
Unwilling to give up, Jiang Chen kept tossing cards. He refused to believe that his usual good luck would fail him here!
Third card.
Fourth.
Fifth…
…
As more cards were used, Jiang Chen grew increasingly anxious—failed seals gave the monster XP. After ten failures, the serpent would hit level 2, making it impossible to tame.
Over its head, the words “EXP +10” appeared. Jiang Chen began to panic—was his 200 Luck stat about to get dunked on by a little snake?
He kept throwing.
Finally, on the eighth card, the Rock Serpent stopped struggling, gradually enveloped by the light of the seal, then transformed into a beam of light and entered the Sealing Card.
Success!
[Sealing Card]
Valley Rock Serpent (Elite Monster)
Excellence Rating: 56
…
The information panel didn’t reveal much—he’d need Contract Potion to sign a pact and turn it into a pet before seeing its full stats.
But Jiang Chen already had Xiao Rongyan. This one wasn’t anything special—he’d probably just sell it off. For now, he put it away.