Chapter 289 Entering the Raider Camp, Cutting Through Dry Weeds and Rotten Wood (6400)

Chapter 289 Entering the Raider Camp, Cutting Through Dry Weeds and Rotten Wood (6400)

"We are going right now to rid the people of an evil!"

After Cao Xing finished speaking, everyone responded one after another.

"As you command, Lord!"

Then, Cao Xing first called Dabai and Volibear over.

He and Liu Muxue then went to gather all the [Moses Grass] beside the pool.

[Obtained: Moses Grass (Green) * 17723]

[Obtained: Moses Grass (Green) * 16894]

[Obtained: Moses Grass Seed (Green) * 7231]

[Obtained…]

…

A large patch of Moses Grass grew here, and the two of them harvested it to their hearts' content.

Soon, this patch of grass was completely pulled up by them.

Meanwhile.

The two giant beasts, Dabai and Volibear, also walked over.

"Thud! Thud-thud!"

Cao Xing glanced at everyone present, as well as the Cloud Yak behind them.

Then he said: "Jonard, Josent, you guys take Dabai and Volibear and find a safe place to guard our yaks."

"Then wait for my news."

The two Dragon Blood Warriors straightened their bodies and respectfully said: "As you command, Lord, we will definitely not let the yaks suffer any harm."

Cao Xing nodded slightly.

"Everyone else, follow me up."

As the words fell, everyone split up and began their actions.

Cao Xing led a group of people and found a trail leading up the mountain.

Then, they arrived at the place where Sarah and the others had fought.

A large pile of corpses lay on the cliffs on both sides.

Along with the loot dropped after these guys died.

Cao Xing's eyes instantly lit up.

Because he saw a pile of Hearts of Power, as well as souls!

He walked directly over and put them all away.

[Obtained: Advanced Heart of Power * 1]

[Obtained: Elite Soul of Snow Mountain Raider * 2]

[Obtained: Intermediate Heart of Power * 7]

[Obtained: Tier 3 Earth Mage Apprentice Recruitment Scroll * 3]

[Obtained: Goblin Shrapnel Bomb * 7]

[Obtained: Coins * 17239]

[Obtained: Advanced Elemental Crystal * 12]

[Obtained: Intermediate Elemental Crystal * 37]

…

"Oh? Three Tier 3 Earth Mage Apprentice Recruitment Scrolls, and Goblin Shrapnel Bombs?"

Cao Xing glanced at the attributes of these two new items.

[Tier 3 Earth Mage Apprentice Recruitment Scroll]

[Item Effect: After use, can summon a Tier 3 strength Earth Mage Apprentice, possessing the 'Intermediate Earth Element Control' and 'Earth Spike' skills]

…

"Just a mage apprentice? Although they have Tier 3 strength, the skills are too few."

You must know that for mages, the most important things are all kinds of advanced spells.

Without spells, they can only use some basic attacks, and their combat power is quite weak.

"But it's nothing. Anyway, I still have many elite souls in my backpack, enough to level up all these mage apprentices in one go."

Thinking of this, Cao Xing put all these scrolls into his backpack, preparing to summon them after returning to the territory.

Then, he continued to check the next item.

That was a palm-sized bomb, which felt quite solid and textured when held in the hand.

[Goblin Shrapnel Bomb (Blue)]

[Attack Power: 1723 ~ 1854]

[Attached Special Effect ①: Blasting (After detonation, deals 100% damage to all enemies within a 10-meter range)]

[Attached Special Effect ②: Shrapnel (After the bomb detonates, a large amount of fragments will appear, dealing 78% damage to enemies within the surrounding 20 meters, and adding 1 stack of Bleed effect)]

…

Cao Xing pondered: "Although this kind of bomb is only of blue grade, its attack power is quite high."

"And the most crucial thing is that this kind of bomb doesn't have a cooldown time like skills or other attacks."

"If there are enough bombs in hand, one can even directly pile-kill a Tier 6 Commander, or even a stronger existence!"

Of course, this was just an assumption.

After all, the stronger the existence, the higher their armor and the faster their reaction ability.

Just like when that group of Snow Mountain Raiders ambushed Cao Xing today, although the opponent occupied a terrain advantage, they were still blocked by their powerful strength.

Cao Xing put it into his backpack.

Besides this, there was also an Advanced Heart of Power among the loot.

Exactly, many people under his command were still stuck at level 30 and all needed this thing to break through.

Thus, he first gave the [Withered Spirit Longbow (Gold)] that Renice had replaced to Elisa.

And handed the Advanced Heart of Power in his hand to her.

Elisa took these two things, and a surprised smile instantly appeared on her face!

"Woo-wa! This is something that can make me even stronger!"

"And this bow and arrow is also so amazing!"

"Thank you, Lord!"

Cao Xing smiled and said: "Your recent performance has been good, this is your reward."

"Now, directly use this Heart of Power to break through."

"As you command, handsome Lord!"

After the little girl finished speaking, she directly crushed the Heart of Power and then entered the breakthrough state.

As for Cao Xing, he continued to clean up the battlefield, picking up the clothes on these raiders as well as their weapons.

[Obtained: Damaged Jute Padded Jacket * 42]

[Obtained: Damaged Linen Padded Jacket * 23]

[Obtained: Snow Mountain Raider Standard Weapon (Sabre, Sword, Spear, Bow) * 62]

[Obtained: Goblin Shrapnel Bomb * 18]

…

"Not bad, got dozens of sets of padded jackets and a dozen or so bombs again."

"Although these padded jackets are damaged, we can just have Jenny and Elena sew them up when we go back."

Cao Xing thought happily.

At this time, Renice walked over and said: "Lord, I sense that the location of the Hunting Mark is one or two kilometers ahead. Do you need me to go and scout first?"

Sarah, who was next to her, said: "I'll go together too."

Cao Xing nodded, "Alright, you guys go."

After getting permission, the two women looked at each other with faint smiles on their faces, and then walked directly toward the mountain forest ahead.

But as Cao Xing watched their backs, he felt a bit odd.

The relationship between these two women seemed to be getting better and better.

Cao Xing also noticed that not just them, but the relationship between the territory residents under his command had also grown much closer.

Many people had found friends with similar interests to themselves.

For example, Braum and Assam, for example, the Centaur and the Wild Boar Warrior, Elisa and Tong Chuchu, etc…

For Cao Xing, this was also a good thing.

After all, his territory was equivalent to a big family.

While swearing allegiance to him, everyone had also found compatible friends, and they could communicate more often on usual days to increase their sense of belonging.

Thinking and thinking, time began to slowly elapse.

A few minutes later.

An extremely strong aura of ice suddenly rose from Elisa's body as she was breaking through.

Like an ice arrow shooting out, carrying a sense of threat that made one's heart tremble.

[Your territory member: Elisa has successfully broken through and has become a Tier 4 Boss-level creature, with basic attributes increased by 100%]

[Due to her attributes greatly increasing, Primary Archery Mastery has been upgraded to Intermediate Archery Mastery…]

…

Elisa opened her azure blue eyes, then walked over holding her bow and arrow, and said joyfully: "I succeeded, Lord!"

"Congratulations, keep working hard afterwards, and strive to break through to Tier 5 as early as possible."

Cao Xing encouraged with a smile.

Elisa nodded heavily, "Mm-mm! I will work hard!"

After speaking, everyone continued to wait in place.

A few minutes later.

The figures of Sarah and Renice appeared in front.

The two women quickly walked over and reported: "Lord, we have found the entrance to this group of raiders' camp."

"However, there is a barrier blocking us there, so we didn't go in to scout."

"A barrier?"

"Yes, the strength of this barrier is relatively high. Even if Sarah and I join forces, it will take some time to break through it."

Hearing this, Cao Xing pondered for a moment, then directly said: "I know, lead us directly over there."

"As you command, Lord."

Having said that, everyone followed behind Sarah and Renice, walking toward that dense forest.

As for Braum, this blood tank, he held his shield and walked at the very front of the team.

After entering the dense forest, they twisted and turned all the way.

There was no fixed route in the dense forest, and many times they would pass by some fork roads.

If it weren't for the [Hunting Mark] special effect on the hunting longbow equipped by Renice, they might not have been able to find the location of this group of raiders' camp.

Under Renice's senses, they quickly reached their destination.

Everyone saw that at the foot of the mountain ahead, a few small watchtowers appeared, on which stood a few archers also dressed in animal skins and wearing horned helmets on their heads.

And behind the watchtowers was a giant cave entrance about two to three meters wide and about six meters high!

"Is this it?" Cao Xing asked.

Renice replied: "Yes, in my senses, that fellow is inside the cave right now."

Cao Xing nodded slightly. He didn't conceal anything either, directly leading the people swaggeringly to approach the cave entrance.

And those Snow Mountain Raiders on guard duty at the door also discovered Cao Xing and the others, and their expressions instantly changed!

"Damn it! These are the guys Boss Savage talked about, they are attacking right now!"

"What should we do? Our camp location has already been exposed!"

"We are not opponents of this group of people, quickly go into the camp and notify the leader!"

Without even fighting, these few Snow Mountain Raiders jumped down from the watchtowers, and then scrambled straight into the cave.

Cao Xing did not stop them.

On one hand, it was because they were inside the barrier, and on the other hand, it was because they were about to enter the cave next, so they would be exposed anyway.

Then, he directly led the people to the passage entrance.

An invisible energy shield appeared, blocking everyone's path.

Cao Xing glanced at the attributes.

[Mountain Soul Barrier]

[Armor: 3000]

[Durability: 150000 / 150000]

[Attached Effect ①: Tier 5 Over-limit Rune (Immune to attacks below Tier 5)]

[Attached Special Effect ②: Mountain Soul (Every time durability drops by 10000, a Mountain Soul with Tier 5 strength will be summoned to attack enemies)]

…

"This barrier is a bit interesting. Not only does it have an attack-immunity special effect, but it will also summon Mountain Souls to attack us as the durability drops."

A smile hung on the corner of Cao Xing's mouth.

To be honest, up until now, he didn't even know how barriers were actually constructed.

If possible, he also wanted to make a barrier to protect his own territory.

Francesca should know. After all, near her ancient castle, there was a large barrier. Cao Xing decided to ask this woman when he went back.

Shaking his head, Cao Xing cast aside the thoughts in his heart and placed his gaze on the [Mountain Soul Barrier] in front of him.

A full 150,000 durability really required some time to break.

Sarah and Assam said at the same time: "Lord, do you need us to make a move?"

"No need."

After speaking, Cao Xing took out a hairpin from his backpack that had a smooth surface and was emitting a slight glow.

It was precisely [Vivian's Hairpin (Orange)] obtained from the Witch's Castle last time.

This gadget was a divine artifact-like existence when dealing with these barriers.

Cao Xing held it in his hand and poked it directly forward.

"Pop!"

Along with a crisp cracking sound ringing out.

This layer of barrier quickly dissipated like a popped bubble.

Elisa looked curiously at the hairpin in Cao Xing's hand and exclaimed: "Such a pretty hairpin!"

Cao Xing smiled and said, "Let's go, let's head inside."

Just as he was about to step into the cave,

Assam and Braum beside him spoke at the same time, "Lord, please let us clear the way ahead."

Cao Xing nodded, "Alright."

Assam, wielding a legendary weapon, and Braum, holding a giant shield, walked at the very front.

The group followed behind them and entered the cave.

As soon as they went in, Cao Xing felt waves of warmth washing over them.

At the same time, the light also became somewhat dim.

System prompts appeared.

[You have entered a special area: Raider Camp]

[Danger Level: Medium]

…

A medium danger level meant that the creatures inside posed little threat to Cao Xing.

He glanced at the temperature overhead.

[Current Temperature: 8°C]

The temperature difference inside the cave compared to the outside was as much as several dozen degrees. In such deep mountains with biting cold winds, having a place like this was simply a holy land.

"A pretty good place. No wonder these guys could live in the mountains for so long and set themselves up as kings of the mountain."

Cao Xing began to observe the environment inside.

This passage was very spacious.

Three to four meters wide and about six meters high.

It could accommodate a dozen people walking side by side.

Clusters of burning torches were stuck on the cave walls, providing high visibility.

Following the bright passage, the group moved forward all the way, and after walking for nearly several dozen meters,

a sudden sound of breaking air came from ahead!

"Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh!"

Dozens of arrows shot directly towards them without any warning.

Seeing this scene, the group did not panic.

Because they had long known that their traces had already been exposed.

Cao Xing gave the order, "Braum, block them."

Braum let out a fierce shout.

"Ancestors of the Frost Giants, grant me strength!"

As the words fell, his figure rapidly grew larger.

Then, holding the huge [Evil Eye Shield], he blocked a large number of arrows.

Clang! Clang clang!

Those arrows landed on Braum's head, kicking up a flurry of three-digit damage numbers.

Compared to his health pool, it was completely negligible.

However, a portion of the arrows still leaked through and hurtled towards the group.

Isabelle in the back raised her staff, "The Holy Light will protect us."

A [Holy Light Cinder Shield] exuding a golden-yellow glow strikingly appeared, blocking all the remaining arrows.

Isabelle's skill was truly useful; while blocking damage, it could also push back monsters and detonate the shield to deal damage.

At the same time, Cao Xing and the others also saw the appearance of the enemies.

It was a group of Snow Mountain Raider Archers wearing horned helmets, numbering around thirty to forty people.

Seeing that their first wave of attacks had no effect, astonishment immediately appeared in their eyes.

"Just as Boss Savage said, these people are extremely powerful, they are all monsters!"

"Hurry, let's go to the back of the passage!"

Having finished speaking, these archers prepared to retreat.

However, Braum patted the shield in his hand and laughed loudly, "Aha, I see you!"

At this moment, in his Frost Giant form, he rushed out like a bulldozer.

"Rumble!"

Seeing Braum charging over, panic appeared in the eyes of those raiders!

One of the archers hurriedly gave an order, "Don't panic! Shoot! Keep shooting!"

Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh!

A large number of arrows shot over.

At the same time,

those archers stared at Braum's feet with a hint of anticipation in their eyes, as if waiting for something.

Braum, holding his shield, was completely fearless as he blocked a massive amount of arrows and sprinted forward wildly!

Right at this moment, his feet seemed to step on something.

"Hiss…"

Instantly, Cao Xing caught a whiff of gunpowder.

"Braum, watch out!"

As the words fell, before Braum could react, patches of fiery light appeared right beneath his feet.

"Boom! Rumble!"

Violent explosions rang out one after another.

A large number of damage numbers appeared above Braum's head.

[-752]

[-1124]

[-845]

[-1162]

[-1252]

…

Seeing this scene, the raider archers in the back laughed aloud, "Haha, this guy stepped on our bomb trap!"

"Keep attacking, I want to turn this fellow into a hedgehog!"

Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh!

More arrows shot into that ball of smoke, seemingly wanting to press the attack.

Dozens of three-digit damage numbers appeared. Braum had withstood two waves of concentrated arrow fire, plus a wave of bomb traps.

His health pool did drop by a chunk.

And right at this moment,

Liu Muxue behind raised her hand to cast [Holy Heal], and Isabelle raised her hand to cast [Chain of Holy Light].

Two recovery numbers appeared above Braum's head.

+6629

+5231

…

In the blink of an eye, his health was pulled back up.

Not only that, recovery figures of over two thousand kept appearing above Braum's head.

That group of archers still relentlessly pulled their bows, while their eyes carried the joy of victory.

Then, they saw a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

A shirtless, towering giant grinned at the corners of his mouth, then stepped out of the thick smoke.

Furthermore, he even looked completely unscathed.

At this moment, those archers were instantly dumbfounded.

"Mountain Gods above! What kind of monster is this?"

"He endured the bombardment of so many goblin bombs, plus all our arrow attacks, why is he completely fine?"

"Is this person immortal?"

Braum blew on his mustache, "Little mice, are your attacks tickling me?"

Hearing this, this group of Snow Mountain Raider Archers instantly felt a chill rising from the soles of their feet.

"Ret… Retreat!"

Without any hesitation, they turned around, wanting to escape from here.

And right at this moment, Cao Xing raised his staff and directly cast an [Ice Wall].

Moreover, the most crucial part was that his [Ice Wall] was cast behind them.

When these raiders reacted, they suddenly discovered a thick ice wall completely blocking their path.

At this moment, terror appeared in the eyes of the raiders.

"Dammit! How did an ice wall suddenly appear!"

"Attack! Quickly attack! Destroy this ice wall!"

They attacked frantically.

However, the durability of the [Ice Wall] was Cao Xing's Spirit * 10, meaning this ice wall had over 20,000 durability.

With their damage, it would take them a few seconds to break through.

Cao Xing said casually, "Go on, finish these guys off."

As the words fell,

Bjorn held a giant axe, made a flying leap, and fiercely jumped out.

"Rumble!"

The giant axe carried boundless immense force, directly smashing out a huge crater on the spot!

At least a dozen archers were directly sent flying by this strike!

Sarah, along with the powerful Assam, and Andrew in Owlbear form, successively unleashed all kinds of terrifying attacks.

Cao Xing's side consisted entirely of members at least at the boss level and above.

While the opponents were just a group of Tier 4 ordinary archers.

Clearly, this was a battle without any suspense.

"Puff! Puff puff!"

One Snow Mountain Raider after another fell.

They were beaten almost to the point of having no power to fight back.

Kill messages kept popping up.

[Your territory member: Bo Jie, Sun Chaser killed Snow Mountain Raider Lv38, Tier 4 elite creature, killed monster above level, gained EXP: 3800 * 2]

[Combatants gained EXP: 1900]

[Your territory member: Sarah Blade Dance…]

…

Two minutes later,

the battle ended.

A large number of snow raider corpses lay crisscrossed all over the ground.

Cao Xing walked over and continued to collect the loot on the ground.

[Obtained: Intermediate Heart of Power * 8]

[Obtained: Elite Soul of Snow Mountain Raider * 2]

[Obtained: Tier 3 Earth Mage Apprentice Recruitment Scroll * 3]

[Obtained: Goblin Shrapnel Bomb * 17]

[Obtained: Advanced Elemental Crystal * 4]

[Obtained: Intermediate Elemental Crystal * 12]

[Obtained: Damaged Jute Cotton Clothes * 41]

[Obtained: Coins * 7822]

…

"Harvested dozens of sets of clothes again, plus three recruitment scrolls."

"If we clear out all the raiders in this camp, we can probably scrape together a ten-person earth mage squad."

Cao Xing thought happily.

"Not bad, not bad. Let's keep moving forward."

Along this passage, making several twists and turns, they entered a few spacious areas.

These areas were all blocked by some caltrops and fences, looking like defense points of this camp.

However, the Snow Mountain Raiders inside had all run away.

They were also unimpeded and continued forward.

In the passage ahead, a bend appeared.

Just as they were about to enter this bend,

Renice suddenly reminded them.

"Lord, please wait a moment. There are a large number of traps in the passage ahead."

Hearing this, everyone stopped in their tracks.

They cast their gazes over.

But they found only flat ground, with no trace of any traps in sight.

And Cao Xing had [True Sight].

Sweeping his gaze over, sure enough, as Renice said, he discovered a large number of traps.

[Tier 4 Spike Trap], [Tier 4 Falling Rock Trap], [Tier 4 Poison Spike Trap], [Tier 4 Explosive Trap]…

Cao Xing nodded, "There really are a lot of traps. The damage of these Tier 4 traps is quite high."

Hearing this, Braum immediately patted his chest and said, "Lord, let Braum just charge right through!"

"Those traps can't hurt Braum."

Triggering all the traps once was also a method.

At this time, Sarah said calmly, "Let me do it. I can handle these traps."

Cao Xing pondered for a moment, then nodded, "Alright, go ahead."

Compared to Braum's brute-force clearance, Sarah was more reliable.

Hearing this, Sarah directly entered the [Moon Wheel Dance] form.

Hum!

The power of the dark moon descended, making Sarah's movements even more agile.

She just casually walked over and intentionally triggered the traps one by one.

[Ground Spike Trap] triggered.

The ground suddenly collapsed by a large chunk, and below stood many spikes carrying venom.

At this moment, Sarah made a nimble leap and landed safely up top.

Then, she triggered the [Spike Trap] again.

Spikes on both sides of the wall shot out instantly, but Sarah's figure flashed, dodging past at an even faster speed.

Repeating the same trick, Sarah walked all the way, continuously triggering various traps.

"Rumble!"

"Bang!"

The sounds of falling rocks and explosions were endless.

And Sarah was also dodging flexibly.

Of course, even if there were ones she couldn't dodge, she could just use the Holy Shield on her body to hard-tank them.

Very soon, walking all the way, at least a dozen traps were all dismantled by her.

Then, Sarah walked over completely unscathed.

She said calmly, "They have all been completely cleared."

Cao Xing also praised upon hearing this, "Well done, Sarah."

As expected of a Tier 5 Commander-class assassin, this efficiency was truly fast.

Then, they continued walking deeper into the passage.