I am the Arcane Archer, and all my skills are self-created.

Day 18.

Li Wu had been on the lava volcano ridge for three days. In those three days, he had almost broken through the outer and middle layers of the ridge, advancing nearly two hundred kilometers from south to north along the volcanic mountain range.

The level has increased from 63 to 65.

The leveling speed is much slower than before. The higher you go, the more experience points are needed for each level. From level 60 to 65, the amount of experience required for each level is almost three times that of level 50 to 55.

But his attribute growth is still terrifying.

With the equipment, my magic attack has exceeded 15,000.

What does 15,000 magic attack mean?

His Blazing Sun Piercing Arrow can easily break 70,000 damage in a single critical hit.

Level 70 mobs?

Within five arrows.

However, he doesn't plan to continue grinding on the Lava Ridge today.

The communicator rang.

It wasn't Hua Zitong, it was Immovable as a Mountain.

"President!" The usually immovable voice sounded urgent. "Something's happened!"

Li Wu stopped in his tracks. "What is it?"

"The new guild leader of the Ironblood Alliance, Ironblood War God, has started causing trouble. They've set up checkpoints in Stranglethorn Vale, blocking our guild members' leveling routes. Three groups have already been blocked today, and two sets of rare gear have been stolen."

"Is the person alright?"

"The people are safe, but morale has been affected. The Ironblood Alliance now has more than 1,500 people, and the other side has at least 300 people patrolling in Stranglethorn Vale. Our leveling teams there usually only have about ten people, so we can't beat them at all."

"Has Hua Zitong found out?"

"I reported it. Sister Hua said she's already handling it and asked everyone to avoid Stranglethorn Vale for the time being. But this isn't a long-term solution. Stranglethorn Vale is the best leveling area for levels 40 to 45, and avoiding it will greatly affect your leveling progress."

Li Wu remained silent for two seconds.

"I understand. Do as Hua Zitong says, withdraw the team, and move to another area to level up. I'll handle this."

"You? Where are you right now?"

"Lava Ridge, Level 65 area."

The person on the other end of the "Immovable Mountain" side remained silent for a short while.

"Guild Master, you don't need to come back. Steel Shield and I can muster about two hundred elite men, which should be enough to wipe out the Ironblood Alliance from Stranglethorn Vale."

"No need," Li Wu said. "Your task is to level up and gain guild experience. I'll handle the Stranglethorn Vale situation."

"But you..."

"Listen to me."

He remained silent, unmoved.

Li Wu hung up the call and dialed Hua Zitong.

"I know about the Ironblood Alliance ambushing people in Stranglethorn Vale."

"Hmm," Hua Zitong said, "Iron-Blooded War God is more troublesome than Iron-Blooded War Banner. He doesn't confront us head-on, but resorts to these underhanded tactics, using his numerical advantage to harass our leveling routes."

"What is his purpose?"

"It's slowing down our development," Hua Zitong said. "I've done some research, and the Iron Blood Alliance has recently been focusing its resources on upgrading their core team."

"Several of the people transferred from the old district are already level 45, and their leveling speed is much faster than our original team. Iron-Blooded War God's strategy is to use their numerical advantage to limit our space for maneuver, while simultaneously raising the levels of their own team members to narrow the gap."

"The idea is good, but the execution is incredibly stupid."

"How so?"

"By setting up a checkpoint in Stranglethorn Vale, the Ironblood Alliance can't level up there either. They've blocked us, and they've blocked themselves."

"He has other leveling areas. The Ironblood Alliance now controls two areas: the southern Blasted Lands and the eastern Tanaris. He doesn't need Stranglethorn Vale."

"That makes things simple," Li Wu said. "I'll give you one hour. After one hour, find out the location of the Ironblood Alliance's strongholds in Stranglethorn Vale, their numbers, and the list of commanders."

"You're going in person?"

"I'll go tonight, and come back to continue leveling up after I'm done."

"You, at level 65, are going to fight people in a level 40-45 area?"

"What's the problem?"

"No problem." Hua Zitong paused for a moment. "I'll send you the information in an hour."

Communication was lost.

An hour later.

Hua Zitong's intelligence arrived on time.

The Ironblood Alliance has set up three checkpoints in Stranglethorn Vale, each located on one of the three main leveling routes. Each checkpoint has twenty to thirty people, plus mobile patrols, for a total force of about one hundred and fifty. The commander is a vice president of the Ironblood Alliance named Ironblade, level 43, who came from the old server.

One hundred and fifty people.

After reading the intelligence, Li Wu crushed a return scroll.

Ironforge.

The light from the teleportation array faded, and he appeared in the teleportation plaza of Ironforge.

Several passing players recognized him, but he walked quickly, giving them no chance to surround him. He went straight to the teleportation station and entered the coordinates of Stranglethorn Vale.

Teleport again.

Stranglethorn Vale.

It was already dark. Stranglethorn Vale was densely vegetated, with huge tropical trees blocking out most of the light, and vines and shrubs covering the ground.

Li Wu glanced at the location of the first checkpoint marked in the intelligence report, then drew his bow and headed in that direction.

Five minutes later.

He stood on a high ground, looking down at a canyon passage below.

Inside the passage, over thirty members of the Ironblood Alliance were carrying out a checkpoint mission. Several shield warriors stood blocking the way in the middle of the passage, followed by a ranged formation, and two healers were on standby. A standard door-blocking setup.

Li Wu drew his bow.

The Arrow that Burns Stars and Returns to Ruins.

The dark red singularity flew into the very center of the canyon passage.

The field unfolds.

Collapse.

More than 30 people were swallowed up by the collapse before they even had time to react.

The system kill notifications filled the entire screen.

Li Wu didn't even turn his head; he turned and headed towards the second checkpoint.

Ten minutes later.

Two levels, more than sixty people, the same ending.

The commander of the third checkpoint, Iron Blade, stood in the middle of the passage, cursing into the communicator.

"What do you mean both levels are gone? Wiped out in a minute? Who did it? Explain yourself!"

The voice on the other end of the communication trembled: "It's...it's like looking through a fog...he's here..."

A cold sweat instantly broke out on Tie Ren's back.

"Evacuate! Everyone evacuate!"

When he finished shouting those words, a figure was already standing on the mountaintop.

Iron Blade looked up and saw the bow that emitted a faint blue light.

"you……"

A dark red light shone on the bowstring.

After dealing with the matters in Stranglethorn Vale, Li Wu used a town portal scroll to return to Ironforge, slept for four hours in the Thousand Gold Pavilion, and then teleported back to Lava Ridge.

The whole process took less than five hours.

Before he left, he sent a message to Hua Zitong: "Stranglethorn Vale is cleaned up. Have Immovable Mountain send people to take over those three leveling routes."

Hua Zitong replied instantly: "The Iron Blood Alliance won't be coming again?"

"Not in the short term."

How can you be so sure?

"One hundred and fifty people, three checkpoints, and I finished in twenty minutes. If the Iron-Blooded War God is smart enough, he'll know that occupying Stranglethorn Vale isn't worth the cost."

Hua Zitong didn't ask any more questions.

Li Wu's judgment proved correct. In the following days, the Ironblood Alliance never appeared in Stranglethorn Vale again. According to Lin Hai's intelligence channels, the Ironblood War God, upon receiving the news, only said one sentence: "Don't touch Stranglethorn Vale for now."

He then adjusted his strategy, concentrating his manpower in the Blasted Lands and Tanaris, and focused on leveling up.

This is the reaction of a smart person.

He wants to narrow the gap by elevating the level of his core team, rather than engaging in direct conflict given the current disparity in strength.

But what he didn't know was that the gap wasn't narrowing, but rather widening rapidly.