Chapter 133: There Is Nothing Quite Like Riding a Horse

After fully equipping his level 30 red-tier gear, Zhang Shan’s character attributes saw an explosive increase. His attack power and agility, in particular, soared to terrifying heights. With an attack power exceeding nine thousand, he was nearly four or five times stronger than other players. Before anyone else reached level 30, no one could stand before him for more than two seconds. Even tank-class players could not withstand such abnormal damage.

Furthermore, thanks to the substantial agility bonus from the red gear, his primary attribute reached nearly 1,500 points—a remarkably high figure. Zhang Shan also boasted fourteen skills, seven of which were obtained through his talent. If other players were to see his skill panel, they would likely fall into despair; such a vast array of skills was truly intimidating. Currently, most players had only four or five skills. Even big spenders might have more, but rarely more than seven or eight. There simply weren’t enough skill points to level them all up, and it was impossible to leave every skill at level one. While some skills were fine at level one, damage-dealing skills were ineffective unless fully upgraded.

Zhang Shan’s "King of Passives" talent did more than just grant him extra passive skills and save him the cost of buying skill books. The crucial advantage was that passive skills obtained through his talent didn't require skill points; they were essentially free. The further he progressed, the more he realized how overpowered the "King of Passives" talent truly was.

With his gear sorted, he set off. After dealing with the Golden Giant Ant, he planned to head to Tianmen Pass to see if anyone was foolish enough to cross him, serving as target practice for his blades. He tossed his discarded level 20 purple gear onto the auction house. Though purple gear wasn't worth much, each piece could still fetch a few hundred gold coins. Selling seven pieces would net him two or three thousand.

After listing the items, Zhang Shan teleported to the city gate, summoned his Red Hare mount, and galloped toward the Ant Mountain map. Nearby players watched in envy as he sped past.

"Holy crap, is that the Red Hare? It looks so cool! The legendary god-tier player is insane."

"That Red Hare is incredibly fast! It’s already out of sight."

"I need to grind harder. I have to reach level 30 soon and buy a mount. Running on two legs is just miserable."

Riding the Red Hare, Zhang Shan quickly zipped past player after player struggling on foot. The 200% movement speed bonus felt amazing. Leaving the nonsense of running on foot behind, he finally felt the true joy of the game—this was how it was meant to be played. On the way, he spotted Fengyun Yidao and his group heading toward the Ant Mountain map. Nothing but a "holy crap" could express their reaction.

"You guys take your time; I’m going to head to the Ant Mountain map and grind for a bit."

"That’s enough, Six-Barreled Big Boss! Don't rub it in that you're going to grind while we’re stuck here on our two little legs."

"Not at all, I’m just stating a fact. See you there!"

"Damn it, not having a mount is brutal. We started before him, and he still gets to arrive early and grind. So unfair!"

"Then level up faster! Once you hit level 30, you'll have a horse too."

"Yeah, but it still sucks."

"The worst part might be yet to come. Six-Barreled's Red Hare was a system reward. If we go to the Royal City to buy horses, I doubt we’ll find anything that good."

"Crap, that’s entirely possible. I was planning to grind hard to hit level 30, but now that you mention it, my motivation is gone."

It only took about ten minutes for Zhang Shan to reach the Ant Mountain map. With the Red Hare, traveling across the map was no longer a hassle. Entering the area, he found Boss Wu, who was still grinding there.

"Let’s head toward the boss first and grind while we wait for the others."

"How much longer until they arrive?"

"About twenty minutes or so. I saw them on the way here."

Zhang Shan dismounted, summoned his Panda Baby, and led Boss Wu toward the location of the Golden Giant Ant. With his current attack power, he could kill a soldier ant in two shots, with significant damage overflow. The Magic-Infused Soldier Ants had 12,000 HP, and he was dealing over 8,000 damage per shot. If it didn't crit, he couldn't one-shot them, but two shots were overkill—it was a bit annoying. Having attack power that was too high brought its own set of problems; without the right monsters, higher-level enemies had level suppression that affected his output, while lower-level ones were too weak.

Beyond his abnormal attack power, Zhang Shan’s attack speed was also incredibly fast. The Hand of Midas added 50% attack speed, the "Mad Demon" passive added 20%, and his two bracers added even more. Plus, his agility was over 1,400. The impact of agility on attack speed was becoming evident. Zhang Shan felt that even without any gear, his attack speed would still be faster than when he first started the game. The speed advantage of the agility class was finally manifesting. This was natural, as agility classes weren't as tanky as strength-based ones, their skills weren't as versatile, and their survivability was lower.

As for intelligence-based classes, they relied entirely on skills, with flashy abilities appearing one after another, leaving the agility class in the dust. Of course, the attack speed of other classes had also improved compared to the starter phase, just not as much as the agility class.

Leading Boss Wu, Zhang Shan pushed forward rapidly. They soon reached the Golden Giant Ant's location and ground for a while before Fengyun Yidao and his group entered the map.

"Damn, these ant monsters have high attack power!"

"Quit yapping and keep moving!"

"Man, good thing there are so many of us, otherwise I don't think we could have made it to the boss."

Seeing how slowly they were moving, Zhang Shan was speechless. These high-level players were a bit weak. He decided to go back and help them.

"Let’s go meet them halfway," he said to Boss Wu, turning back toward the map entrance. Before long, he linked up with the group.

"Where’s the Golden Giant Ant you mentioned? I don't see it."

"Follow me, it's not far ahead."

Zhang Shan led the way with his Panda Baby, mowing down swarms of soldier ants, and soon arrived back at the boss's location.

"Holy crap, this boss is imposing! It’s wearing golden armor; it looks so cool."

"How can you call it cool? It’s clearly a female ant. You should say it’s beautiful."

"Stop being a contrarian."

"How do we handle this? Do we just go for it?"

"It’s just a small red-tier boss; do we really need a strategy? Six-Barreled, send in your Panda Baby."

Alright, these guys were getting cocky. A red-tier boss was now considered "small" in their eyes.