41

"The reason is that your bow can't be considered real equipment. It didn't even increase your damage by a single point and can be considered a special existence like a Warrior's shield. All starting equipment is like this." Cheng Yang explained when he stopped laughing.

"No way! Doesn't that mean Rangers need to expend two thing to fight? Mana and Arrows?"

Cheng Yang was speechless, "Have you never used the arrows your quiver makes before? When you use one it increases your damage by two and a half points and you don't need Mana. The ones in the store are even better and increase damage by five points."

Yu Kai gave a wan smile but couldn't retort. Although the increased efficiency of using the arrows wasn't amazing it did allow a Low-Grade archer to have the same damage as a Standard-Grade one.

"Yoko, what are our plans for the morning?" Liu Hau asked, dispelling the unpleasant atmosphere.

"Most of Ox's team is responsible for protecting the Loggers right now, as for everyone else, we're going to visit Cloud City." Cheng Yang said.

"We're going to break through to Cloud City today?" Yu Kai asked in surprise.

Cheng Yang saw Old Lee send him a grateful look and nodded.

Yu Kai only nodded before shouting at his team to prepare.

The village become quite lively as all the soldiers prepared for the journey. In addition to Cheng Yang, every soldier was buying as many potions as they could. Mana Recovery Potions to ensure they were never defenseless and Health Recovery Potions to make sure they didn't die randomly.

Cheng Yang's commanders also bought potions but they were only going to act as extra bags for Cheng Yang. All of the potions they bought would go to him.

After everyone was finished preparing Cheng Yang opened the gate without a word. The hundred and fifty strong army directly exited the gate leaving a strong impression on the civilians in the village.

Even during the march Cheng Yang wasn't complacent. He was constantly scanning the side of the road, looking for alchemical components he could use. Searching for herbs and the like was really only suitable as daytime work.

Since the army was marching in a different direction than the one he search last night Cheng Yang gathered enough components to make forty potions only two kilometers in. If he didn't need to stay at the front of the army he would have been able to gather at least double that!

Of course, Cheng Yang didn't carry the components he found himself. One of his team's members was tasked with doing that. This could be seen as an abuse of power but since the soldier seemed excited by the various components Cheng Yang didn't worry about it.

After a little more walking Cheng Yang ordered the army to halt.

"My Lord, is the bridge to Cloud City nearby?" Old Lee asked.

"There are still another two kilometers to go but we need to start acting now otherwise it will be impossible to succeed."

"Whatever you command I will complete it thoroughly my Lord." Old Lee patted his chest. He was fired up knowing that this was the last barrier between him and his family.

Cheng Yang gathered the Captains. "From now on we'll be moving independently with our teams. As we continue moving it is important that we clear the monster hordes on the way. Whenever you encounter a horde either destroy it or lead it away from the bridge, we can't let them attack me from behind at a critical moment."

"Yoko, what do you mean? You aren't planning on attacking the horde on the bridge by yourself are you?" Yu Kai interrupted.

"You've got it right, since its not safe for the rest of you to go I'm starting the fight alone. After all, the leader of this group is an existence you simply can't defeat. You're too weak to join the fight with me but your job is even more important. Although I'm fast enough to run circles around every monster there if my path to retreat is cut off I'll definitely die. That's why you absolutely must not leave any hordes in the two kilometers between here and the bridge."

"My Lord, this is too risky, let us join you." Old Lee urged, "With the help of our potions we can still help you fight."

"Don't worry, its not as dangerous as you're imagining. Don't bother with the hordes numbers, most of them are only Low-Grade. My speed is easily five or six times faster than every one of those monsters below Standard-Grade. The only monster there capable of pressuring me is the leader. If the situation isn't looking good I'll just turn around and run. If the leader is smart it won't chase me. If it does dare to follow me back, you'll be waiting and it will never return."

Cheng Yang's confidence infected the Captains. Even Old Lee had been convinced by Cheng Yang.

"My Lord," He said, "How big of an area do you need us to open up for you?"

"At least one square kilometer. After all, the amount of space a thousand monsters will take up isn't small. If the space I have isn't big enough it will be hard for me to move around. Make sure you move in a predictable way otherwise I won't be able to find you when I need to get more potions."

"Rest assured, we'll make sure to follow the same paths after you leave." Yu Kai said.

Cheng Yang nodded and then began to assign tasks. He would head directly to the bridge alone. Two of the four teams would sweep directly around the perimeter and the last two would walk in a circle between the bridge and the outer perimeter. After walking another six hundred meters, the teams and Cheng Yang split up.

Cheng Yang chose to follow the same path he had the day before. Although it being clear yesterday didn't guarantee that it was today, it was still less likely for him to run into a large horde. As for the newly spawned monster he ran into? Cheng Yang just smashed them with a Magic Missile.

Cheng Yang was especially careful to conserve the potions he had while clearing the path to the bridge. After he finished, he went back the way he come collecting alchemical components. Unlike the previous night, he used the Harvest skill to collect the components. Although he knew how to collect basic components without the skill, he would only be able to cry if he found something rare and his Harvest skill wasn't a high enough level.

The only hiccup during this time was that after he had already cleared the path, he ran into a horde with over a hundred monsters. Although he tried to defeat them without using a potion, he had to in the end.

The other four groups had a much easier time. None of them had run into a horde with over eighty monsters so they quickly completed their patrol. It would seem that after Cheng Yang cleared the area yesterday, very few monsters had wandered over.

Before each group returned, they were able get a good look at the deep ravine surrounding the city. They were also able to see the bridge through the cracks in the trees. Cheng Yang hadn't lied, there were at least a thousand monsters and not a single person couldn't help but feel a sense of dread.

After they all gathered together at their original position, Cheng Yang grabbed an extra potion from Yu Kai before heading out to face the monster horde.

The other leaders exchanged a few words before scattering into the woods once more.

Cheng Yang once again stood in front of the horde that guarded the southern bridge into Cloud City. Looking over at the group of monsters, Cheng Yang cursed his luck. In the time since his last visit, a large group of Blood Gehenna had joined the horde. These monsters were fierce, cunning and possessed a powerful passive skill. They were monsters he definitely didn't want to face.

Individually they were nothing special, but they were able to absorb the blood around them to increase their Health. Although he would be able to insta-kill the first few like any other Low-Grade monster, as the battle continued their Health would reach the level of a Standard-Grade monster. Fighting a group of them would cause his potions to be expended much faster than normal.

Regardless, he still needed to kill them in order to reach Cloud City. Old Lee wasn't the only one eager to get to Cloud City. Although Cheng Yang wanted to help out Old Lee, he had his own reasons for going to Cloud City. He remembered from his previous life that the city housed a number of good things. There was at least one instance dungeon and the spawn rate for treasure was higher in the first few days in the city than in other areas. Although he couldn't bring an instance dungeon back to the village, he could still collect some treasures. As long as he killed the leader of this horde, all of those treasure would be his!

Cheng Yang subconsciously grinned. He turned towards the horde with renewed vigor and ran forwards.

The bone stave in his hands started to glow with magical energy before Cheng Yang shot a Magic Missile into the crowd. It flew forwards and directly decapitated a Blood Gehenna. It couldn't even let out a scream before falling to the ground lifelessly.