We just had a great post from TheDeath666 about grinding in Datong. Wierd name for a character, but if you get to know him he'll tell you his real name. In that post he suggests that you can move to Datong as low as RC11 to grind on. You can do that, but I have another idea.

You can also progress with a high RC or low RL character into areas 20 to 24 of the Shi Zhang map. Those areas are known as Death Valley and you have the added advantage of possible CoF pass drops with each mob you kill. This isn't an easy grind. Not at all. All of these mobs will gang up on you, and I recommend you simply avoid the Drunken Swordsmen. Those guys are just not worth the damage they can do, and they can screw up your mouse control too.

But the CoF passes are free here. Once you are above the level of these mobs you can come back and grind for passes again, but the drop rate is low. If you're a newbie player I suggest you collect these passes to CoF and wait for the chance to do a treasure run. I have a farmer character who does nothing but collect these passes, 30 minutes each day.

We do those treasure runs almost daily, and whoever pays the passes gets the best drop, and not all leagues do that. If you want to come along you should read the post on CoF Killer Epi Runs, and be prepared to do as you're told, at least on your first run.

- SpearDriver