The End of Shi Feng's Mining Arc
Point out any errors I made in the chapters, as I'm very lazy and sometimes can't be bothered to reread them. Also give your opinions on something I should change or add
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After deploying all of the miners and designating there mining spaces, Feng walked up to the foot of the mountain and started mining. Around ten seconds later, a finger-sized crystal chunk that held two units of Seven Luminaries Crystal fell out. At the same time, the sound of a system notification also entered his ears.
System: Mining Proficiency +10, Basic Miner (10/25,000). Obtained 1% EXP.
System: Due to the Book of Creation's Quick Mastery, Mining Proficiency increased by 3 points.
'That much EXP?' Feng was surprised by the amount of EXP at first, but then his gaze suddenly turned cold 'Did those little shits hide this from me?'
In the previous timeline, Zero Wing had many teams of players with the miner subclass who would go to Ore Veins to collect any ores the guild needed. However, they had a main team comprised of trusted miners who would go to places with valuable ores, like the Seven Luminaries Crystals.
That team was the one Zero Wing gave most of the mining resources and focus on, helping them increase their miner ranks as well as any real life difficulties. Many among them were Grandmaster Miners, with the lowest being Advanced Master Miners.
Although Feng knew that mining gave plenty of EXP, he never thought it could give this much, so he never bothered with it in his previous two lives. Never would he have thought that his subordinates would hide such a valuable piece of information.
However, after taking a moment to think about it, he figured that such a situation was impossible.
Firstly, there wouldn't be much benefit to them hiding it. Although if Feng knew that someone could gain so much EXP from mining he would have the guild's experts mine, and that would decrease the miners' gains; it wouldn't be by that much. After all, the guild's experts have plenty of other responsibilities, so they'd only mine to gain more EXP in their spare time.
Moreover, the miners were lifestyle players. High levels weren't a necessity for them. And Feng would naturally reward them for providing the information, so they wouldn't lose anything if they had reported the EXP gain.
Secondly, it was impossible that this remained unknown for so long. Even if they had agreed to keep it a secret and tried to hide it, their high levels would be an easy give away. Although they could use the EXP on things that required it, like growth equipment and other special items that needed EXP to either level up or create something, which is what lifestyle players who didn't need to have high levels usually did, this would be noticed by others after some time as well.
Even if they somehow managed to hide it, there was no way everyone would remain silent. After all, the competition in the Greater God's Domain was many time higher than before. Someone would eventually sell the others out, receiving a reward themselves while the others get punished. There were many cases of such things happening in other guilds.
Thirdly, Feng didn't think any of them would be brave enough to deceive him. Since, if they tried to hide something from Feng, and he found out...
Getting kicked out of Zero Wing, and having their accounts destroyed would be the least of their worries...
After all, Feng had saved their lives by taking them to the Greater World... and he could just as easily take them; no one would dare to say a thing.
The miners knew full well that they were replaceable, and that there were plenty of other people who wanted their positions; so there was no way they would take a risk that didn't benefit them at all.
'Is there something special about this place?' Feng wondered to himself as he inspected his surroundings.
Apart from the incredibly dense mana that was almost in liquid form, and the Divine Might in the air, there was nothing particularly special about this place.
Unable to come up with an answer, Feng put it to the back of his mind and continued mining.
Time went on with Feng mining while Aqua took care of the guild. Meanwhile, the ones who just got their memories and Fire searched for legacies and cleared dungeons.
With how huge the mountain was, it would easily have tens of millions, or even over a hundred million Seven Luminaries Crystals. Although there was no way to carry all of it, Feng had his Spatial bag, which could carry 3,000,000 units of Seven Luminaries Crystals.
Along with the bags he obtained from the Holy Cavers' treasury, like the Epic rank Holy Ore bag, which could hold 7,000,000 units of Seven Luminaries Crystals, as well as the Dark-Gold Ore Bags, which could each carry 100,000 units of Seven Luminaries Crystals.
Overall, Feng had the ability to carry 10,600,000 units of Seven Luminaries Crystals at once. Naturally, Feng wasn't intending to waste any of that space, so he'll keep mining until all of his bags fill up. As for whatever was left, he could only sigh in regret and forget about it. Over ten million units is more than enough anyway...
At least, that was the plan...
However, after mining for some time, Feng noticed that something was changing. The ambient mana in the air was getting slightly thinner.
After Feng and the phantom miners mined around two hundred thousand units of Seven Luminaries Crystals, the mana had grown even thinner. Not only that, the EXP Feng received from mining the mountain was decreasing as well. It went from the original 1% to 0.95%, before decreasing further to 0.9%. As he looked around the mountain while recovering his stamina, Feng noticed faint cracks in some places. Some appeared on the foot of the mountain, while some all the way on the top.
'The Magic Array can't sustain the seal.' Feng soon concluded what the problem was.
The Magic Array used to seal the abyss uses Sharlyn's corpse as the core and main power source, while the mountain of Seven Luminaries Crystals supplies energy. Meanwhile, a piece of the Philosopher's Stone holds the entire Magic Array together and purifies the mana.
The entire mountain was needed to provide enough energy for maintaining the seal. As Feng mined and took away more units of Seven Luminaries Crystals, the passive energy becomes insufficient in maintaining the seal, thus the Magic Array draws more mana from the rest of the Seven Luminaries Crystals, which causes the mountain to break apart and collapse.
'Of course, the system would never allow me to get that many Seven Luminaries Crystals. Cheap ass system.' Feng complained a bit in his mind, feeling like the Main God's System setting up such a mechanism was unnecessary.
It was already practically impossible for someone to reach the Master Miner rank before arriving here, not to mention having the necessary items to carry any Seven Luminaries Crystals; let alone a huge amount. It was only because Feng already knew about this place, how to get here, chancing upon the Holy Cavers' treasury and making preparations before hand that he was able to get anything from it.
Feng soon put the matter aside and focused on the issue at hand 'I need to hurry up'
As things stood, it was only a matter of time before the Seven Luminaries Mountain collapsed. Even if Feng put back the crystals he mined, it would only delay the crumbling for a bit. Within a month or so, the abyss would become unsealed regardless.
So, Feng needed to make the most of his time to mine out as much Seven Luminaries Crystals as possible.
Thus, Feng commanded the phantom miners to go at full speed and then went back to harvesting.
Feng spent the next two days mining the Seven Luminaries Mountain. Only when he was completely out of stamina would Feng log off to rest and grab something to eat. He would go to the Workshop to return the memories of those he could, afterwards going back home, drinking an A-rank Nutrient Fluid and going straight back to chipping away at the crumbling mountain.
Of course, even though Feng logged off, the phantom miners continued their labor without stopping, thus the mining efficiency didn't drop by much. At least at the beginning it didn't. However, as Feng mined, his Mining Proficiency quickly increased.
Although increasing his mining rank doesn't help much since the Holy Pickaxe could only upgrade him to a Basic Master Miner, there were some subtle changes to his mining efficiency. Moreover, when he used the Holy Pickaxe's active skill Berserk Miner, his rank increased accordingly.
Now, after two days of mining, he had already reached the Basic Master Miner rank even without the Holy Pickaxe's passive, and when he used the Berserk Miner skill, he becomes an Intermediate Master Miner.
"Alright, you guys have done enough." Seeing that the Seven Luminaries Mountain would crumble any moment now, Feng stopped the phantom miners from continuing. After the phantom miners gave Feng the Seven Luminaries Crystals they had mined since Feng resummoned them after their duration ran out, Feng recalled them.
Overall, they had managed to mine a little over three million units of Seven Luminaries Crystals [1] during these two days. Although it wasn't as much as Feng had originally hoped, it will still be more than enough for his current plans.
After storing all the Seven Luminaries Crystals, Feng ran up the mountain. Quickly locating the small cave according to his memory, Feng rushed in it.
The cave walls were covered with engravings of divine runes, the golden glow these divine runes were giving off brightly illuminating the interior of the cave.
Looking at the cave's central crystal pillar, Feng noticed a blood-red stone embedded in it. This piece of stone was just like a beating heart, only, instead of bright-red liquid, an endless amount of mana passed through it. Meanwhile, the mana that passed through this blood-red stone became much purer in quality.
Feng arrived before the crystal pillar. He then inserted the tip of the Abyssal Blade into the crevice in the crystal pillar where the Philosopher's Stone was set. With a light tap on the pommel of the Abyssal Blade, the Philosopher's Stone easily popped out from the crystal pillar. Feng promptly retrieved the item and stored it in his bag.
Shortly after the Philosopher's Stone was removed from the crystal pillar, the cave started fading away. Moreover, the rate at which it disappeared was visible to the naked eye. The Elemental Mana in the air that was already incredibly thin also quickly dispersed, becoming thinner and thinner. As for the already cracked Seven Luminaries Crystals, they, too, had began turning into ash.
Feng immediately turned around and bolted out of the cave and down the mountain, which rapidly turned to dust behind him. As the mana in the Seven Luminaries Mountain was already almost completely drained, it merely took an instant to collapse and turn into dust.
The magic array that sealed the Forgotten Lands also lost its effectiveness.
As for the monolith that had previously been standing on the mountaintop, it remained floating high up in the sky. Gradually, the monolith rose higher and higher, before suddenly releasing a rainbow brilliance. The monolith was like a miniature sun at this moment. Soon after, the dazzling glow disappeared, along with the gigantic monolith itself.
After the Seven Luminaries Mountain collapsed, a bottomless pit appeared in its place. The pit was just like a black hole, devouring everything that entered it.
At the deepest reaches of this bottomless pit, there was actually a boundless aura of destruction, and any object that came into contact with this pressure instantly turned into ash.
Feng could feel signs of life at the very bottom of this immeasurably deep pit.
At this moment, a notification from the system sounded.
System: Unique Quest "Miracles Unsealed" completed.
Quest rewards: 1,000,000 EXP, 40 Free Attribute Points, and 40 Free Mastery Points.
System: The Endless Abyss has come into existence. Activating new expansion pack, "The Great Catastrophe."
System: Legendary ranked Main Storyline Quest "Seven Treasures" activated.
Quest details: The Endless Abyss has already opened. You are required to immediately notify the War God's Temple in order to have them reseal the Endless Abyss.
After glancing at the system notification, Feng took out a Return Scroll and teleported back to White River City; thus marking the end of Feng's mining arc.
The revelation of the new pack caused a sensation throughout the entire Star-Moon Kingdom. Players could not help but feel excited after finding out about the Great Catastrophe expansion pack.
The official developers of the game had already revealed information about this new expansion pack. In the future, Demonic Beasts would randomly launch assaults on towns, and in response to such attacks, towns would issue Defense Quests to players. As long as players managed to defend the town, they would receive bountiful rewards. Of these rewards, there would even be Secret-Silver ranked items and many more valuable items. In addition, players would also receive City Reputation from completing the Defense Quest.
These Defense Quests would undeniably allow average players to quickly improve themselves, hence the excitement of many of the average players over the arrival of this new expansion pack.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in White River City had also suddenly cooled down, as many players had chosen to head out to the towns instead. They intended to grind for some levels while they awaited for a Demonic Beast assault to occur.
If luck would have it, they might even happen upon a Demonic Beast assault, making a huge profit from completing the resultant Defense Quest.
As soon as Feng returned to White River City, he received a call request from Aqua
"Guild Leader, thank god I finally managed to contact you. Some things have been happening in the guild which need your instruction, but none of my calls went through to you..." Aqua immediately spoke when the call connected.
"I was doing doin a quest inside a place with no system connection." Feng briefly explained "Has something happened?"
Aqua then started talking about what was happening in the guild while Feng was tearing down the Seven Luminaries Mountain.
Feng had mentioned to her that they were going to construct a Guild Residence soon, so, during this period of time, she had been preparing for its establishment, even though she didn't completely believe that Feng was already able to have a Guild Residence made.
Currently, most of the average players in White River City were already around Level 14 to Level 15, while the elite players of the various Guilds were already at Level 17.
The intensity of the competition for the Three Great Dungeons had also reached its peak by now. Out of all the Guilds in White River City, Ouroboros shone the brightest. They had already managed to take down the second Boss of the Hard Mode Land of Death, and they were currently in the midst of challenging the third Boss of the Dungeon. Meanwhile, Dark Star, which ranked after Ouroboros, was still attempting to raid the second Boss. As for the other Guilds, they had also passed through Normal Mode, and were currently preparing to raid Hard Mode.
Furthermore, as players started raiding the Hard Mode Bosses of the Three Great Dungeons, they soon discovered the astonishing benefits they could obtain. Aside from dropping Level 15 Secret-Silver ranked Set Equipment, the Bosses also dropped plenty of recipes and designs. Players could also obtain the Guild Task Order that could not be obtained from 20-man Team Dungeons or lower. These Guild Task Orders could be used to accelerate the promotion of a Guild. Otherwise, it would take ages for Guilds to get promoted if they simply relied on the meager Guild Reputation their members obtained by completing Daily Quests.
Yet, as one of the top six Guilds in White River City, Zero Wing had actually remained inactive all this time. Since she was unable to contact Feng, Aqua had tried talking with Fire Dance about it, since she was Zero Wing's main force commander.
However, Fire had simply denied her, telling her that Feng had already told them not to bother with the Three Great Dungeons; leaving Aqua helpless. What frustrated her even more was that Fire and most of the others had suddenly disappeared, not even going in any of the other dungeons.
The only ones who have been doing anything were Cola, Violet and Blackie, who each led teams to clear some dungeons.
So, not only had Zero Wing accomplished nothing during this period of time, it did not even set foot in any of the Three Great Dungeons. It had simply focused its attention on raiding Level 15, 10- and 20-man Dungeons, and its decision to do so had greatly confused the masses.
Even though Zero Wing clearly had the strength to challenge the Three Great Dungeons, it had chosen not to take action instead.
The Guild's behavior had caused many of the new members to grow dissatisfied, and a majority of these players had chosen to leave the Guild one after another. Very quickly, Zero Wing's member count that had originally exceeded 8,000 had quickly dwindled down to just slightly more than 6,000.
This situation had panicked Aqua Rose somewhat.
Aqua contacted Blackie, knowing that Feng had left him with managing the Workshop and helping out in the guild, hoping that he might be able to contact their Guild Leader. However Blackie had simply said that Feng's words were, "If they wish to leave, then let them leave. You don't need to stop them. The Guild is too bloated right now, so this is a good chance to rid ourselves of those that joined solely with the intention of taking advantage of us. The Guild would become much purer after those players are gone."
Hearing Blackie saying so, Aqua Rose had no choice but to turn a blind eye to all the players withdrawing from the Guild. However, she did make sure to record the names of those who left. In the future, they would no longer be welcomed into the Guild.
Meanwhile, the players that withdrew from the Guild simply reacted with contempt at Aqua Rose's actions. They had even made a mockery of Zero Wing, declaring that they would never rejoin a lousy Guild like Zero Wing. Moreover, as if to rub salt into the wound, Dark Star had also been secretly killing many players from Zero Wing, causing even more players to withdraw from the Guild.
As of this moment, there were only around 4,000 members remaining in Zero Wing. Not to mention a third-rate Guild, they were not even comparable to a large unrated Guild right now.
"Guild Leader, should we arrange for a few members to head towards various towns and keep an eye out for a Demonic Beast assault?" Aqua Rose suggested after she finished updating Feng on Zero Wing's situation
The other Guilds were currently busying themselves with raiding the Three Great Dungeons. They definitely would not have the time to pay attention to these Demonic Beast assaults. Hence, this was a good chance for Zero Wing to shine.
"Let's not participate in the Demonic Beast assaults. Focus on leveling up. Level 20 is the time when our Guild will shine." Feng simply shook his head
He neither cared for the Demonic Beast assaults, nor for the leaving members. As far as he was concerned, the players he could currently recruit aren't of much use to him. For those who left, he didn't even care in the previous timeline, let alone now.
The players who were currently in Zero Wing and stayed afterwards all either died in battles, or weren't strong enough for Feng to bother wasting his mental energy returning their memories, if he had even seen their souls and could remember them.
"If we don't participate and make some achievements, many more of the remaining members might choose to withdraw from the Guild." Aqua could not understand what was going through Feng's mind.
Before, they had given up on competing over the Three Great Dungeons. Now, they were also going to give up such a good chance to earn good equipment and reputation. Just what were they supposed to do?
"Let them leave, then. Our Guild is only capable of handling 3,000 members right now, and we are still well above that number. It would be even better if they do leave." Feng smiled without care.
"I understand."
Looking at Feng's indifferent expression, Aqua Rose had no better choice but to concede to his decision. It was indeed like Feng had said: there were too many members in the Guild. The current member count far exceeded their range of tolerance. By having those unfaithful members leave, they could also lay a good foundation for their Guild's future.
Another reason why Aqua Rose had agreed to Feng's decision was mainly because of the Guild Residence. Once they revealed their Guild Residence to the public, there would be no shortage of players wanting to join their Guild.
If Feng hadn't already told her about the Guild Residence and showed her the deed for the Purple Sun Mansion, Aqua Rose definitely would not have agreed to such a self-destructive course.
After Aqua Rose went on her own way, Feng went to the bank to store his newly obtained wealth as well as his mining equipment and the Philosopher's Stone, he then headed to the Adventurer's Guild.
On the way there, Feng looked at his level with a bit of a troubled expression. Because of the need to mine the Seven Luminaries Mountain as quickly as possible, Feng had stopped paying attention to the EXP he was getting and simply mined.
Although the EXP he received from mining decreased as more of the mountain went into his bag, Feng had still reached Level 96. This might create a bit of trouble, as the monsters in the Twelve Trials leveled along with him, which means that the Primordial Beasts would most likely be Level 95 or Level 100; since they usually round to the closest threshold.
Even though Feng had the Fragmented Legendary Heavenly Dragon's Breath as well as the Epic rank Rocket Boots and Blazing Meteor that leveled up with him, the rest of his equipment was underleveled, including the Rocket Boots; since they only level up to Level 50.
Thus, Feng started pouring his levels into Flame Burst. Tier 2 Level 4, Tier 2 level 5... Tier 2 Level 9. Even after getting to Tier 2 Level 9, Feng's levels were still a bit high. As he pondered over this issue, Feng raised an eyebrow when he saw that Flame Burst could still be upgraded.
As Flame Burst was only a Tier 2 skill, logically, it should only be able to go up to Tier 2 Level 9, and unable to level up any further into Tier 3. When Feng checked the description, he saw that it couldn't be upgraded to Tier 3, instead it could be upgraded to Tier 2 Level 10.
This got Feng even more confused, as there was no Level 10 for skills. Once a skill reached level 9, it could be upgraded to the next tier. If there was no next tier for the skill, then it couldn't be leveled up anymore.
At least, that's how it worked for lower tiers. For higher tiers, the upgrading would be divided into lower-rank, middle-rank, upper-rank and peak-rank. Though, the same concept applied to those skills. Once the skill is upgraded to peak-rank, it could only upgraded to the next tier, or not upgraded at all.
However, this doesn't seem to be the case for Flame Burst. Feng was unsure if Flame Burst was special, or if this was a reward for getting a skill to max either first or in such a short time since God's Domain was launched. It might even be because Flame Burst was the first skill dropped which increased with EXP.
Feng had no idea which of these was the case, as he never bothered upgrading Flame Burst after Tier 2 Level 3 in his previous life, since he had higher tiered skills that needed to be upgraded.
Moreover, the EXP needed to upgrade Flame Burst to Tier 2 Level 10 was even higher than upgrading a skill to Tier 3.
Out of curiosity, Feng decided to upgrade it and see what would become of the skill. He needed to lower his level anyway, so might as well. A soon as he leveled up Flame Burst, his level dropped to Level 50, which was good enough that it won't cause him many inconveniences.
After leveling up, Flame Burst underwent a big change...
[Flame Burst]
Tier 2, Level 10
Channeling time: 1 second
Gathers the power of flames to a single point and causes 2,300% damage to the target.
Attack Count: 20 times
Cooldown: 2 minutes
From the original 2,000% damage, 16 attack count and 3 minute cooldown at Tier 2 Level 9, the power of Flame Burst had greatly increased now.
Feng then looked at his Free Mastery Points. From all the leveling up and the reward for completing Miracles Unsealed, Feng currently had 135 Free Mastery Points saved up. Feng placed 50 Free Mastery Points into one-handed sword mastery, becoming an Intermediate Sword Master, now dealing 40% extra damage when using one-handed swords.
As for the 40 Free Attribute Points he got, he placed half into Strength and half into Agility.
By the time Feng finished sorting out his gains, he had arrived at the Adventurer's Association.
Currently, the interior of the Adventurer's Association of White River City was filled with players coming and going. Most of these players were here to accept or hand in their Daily Quests.
However, there were insufficient NPCs to cater to the large number of players. As a result, these players usually needed to wait in the lounge for a period of time before they could accept or turn in their quests.
Having nothing better to do inside the lounge, some Guild players started ordering alcohol and holding a discussion among themselves.
"Zero Wing is getting worse by the day! If I had known this would happen earlier, I would have definitely joined some other large Guild to develop myself! Perhaps I might have already become the leader of a party by now! Brother Hui, as expected, you are still the smarter and wiser one! You joined Dark Star from the very start, and now, you've already become the vice-leader of a 15-man team! Now that I have left Zero Wing, I will be relying on Brother Hui's guidance from now on!" A Shield Warrior with tanned skin flattered the robust-looking Berserker sitting beside him.
"No problem! With me around, you will definitely have no problem joining the Guild!" the Berserker assured him, clapping his chest.
Meanwhile, sitting beside this Berserker addressed as Brother Hui was a pretty female mage. Although her face looked average, she had an excellent figure. Coquettishly fluttering her eyelashes, the female mage looked at the person known as Brother Hui, sweetly saying, "Big Brother Hui, I've been wanting to go to the Level 15 Wind Ridge. When will you take me there?"
Wind Ridge was a Level 15, 20-man Team Dungeon. Among Level 15 Team Dungeons, Wind Ridge had a below-average difficulty. However, to average players at this stage of the game, even a Level 15, 10-man Team Dungeon was a great challenge, not to mention a 20-man Dungeon like Wind Ridge.
"Of course, of course! Isn't it just Wind Ridge? You're already my woman now, how could you settle for only a meager Wind Ridge? Tomorrow, I'll call up my men and bring you to the Demon's Castle!" The Berserker wrapped his arm around the female mage's willowy waist, a nasty grin on his face.
Many onlookers grew envious at this scene. They could not help but wish that they, too, could join Dark Star and getting a beauty for themselves as well.
"Brother Hui, I hear that the Demon's Castle has a very high difficulty. Don't tell me you've already managed to obtain the raid strategy from Zero Wing's main force?" the tanned Shield Warrior asked curiously.
"Indeed, we've managed to obtain the strategy already. However, even without it, with Dark Star's strength, we could still easily conquer the Demon's Castle. The main reason we haven't done so is simply because of the competition we're having with Ouroboros. Otherwise, Zero Wing would not have had the chance to take the limelight as they did before. Look, isn't Zero Wing in shambles now? They're simply a little faster in terms of leveling up. They haven't even cleared the Normal Mode of any of the Three Great Dungeons yet. Dark Star, on the other hand, has already killed the second Boss of Hard Mode and started trying to raid the third Boss. We have already caught up with Ouroboros. It is only a matter of time before we surpass Ouroboros. I really don't know what qualifications Zero Wing possesses to be considered as one of the top six Guilds in White River City." The Berserker's loud voice was filled with disdain as he spoke of Zero Wing.
"Even though the Guild clearly has no future, there is still more than half the original number of players remaining in it. It really makes you wonder just what is going through those people's minds."
"They're just fools."
"Brother Hui, you're right! I really regret listening to my friend's words about joining Zero Wing back then." The Shield Warrior nodded his head in agreement, his heart filled with great disappointment. If he had joined Dark Star early on, he might also have had a beauty accompanying him by now.
As the two of them conducted a peanut gallery, a cloaked man walked past them, his hand slightly grazing the man known as Brother Hui's shoulder. As the cloaked man walked past, the Berserker's expression suddenly changed. He gridded his teeth in pain as he placed a hand on his chest.
"Brother Hui? What's the matter?" The Shield Warrior asked as he looked at the Berserker in confusion and slight concern. Currently, the expression on the Berserker's face was incredibly pained, and sweat appeared on his forehead.
"It's nothing. I just suddenly felt a little pain in my chest. It's nothing major; perhaps I've been playing God's Domain for too long." The Berserker's expression started returning to normal a moment later.
He had definitely underplayed it; since the pain he felt was not little at all. Out of nowhere, he suddenly felt like something was squeezing his insides. It had taken all of the Berserker's will power to not scream out loud and embarrass himself in public. Inwardly, the Berserker decided to go see a doctor after logging off.
The faint blue light disappeared from Feng's eyes as he arrived at the Adventurer's Association's counter. He had wanted to test out how much of an effect he had on a Tier 0 player's immortal soul as a Tier 0 player with his ability.
The result was good enough; and it was about what Feng expected. Although he could interact with a player's immortal soul, that was about all he could do. He was unable to do any actual damage even if he tried. The reason the Berserk felt pain was because Feng had tried tightening the energy from his soul around the Berserker's immortal soul, which reacted in panic while defending itself.
Though, that was only because everything was too unexpected. Now, the Berserker and his immortal soul would subconsciously be on guard. If Feng attempted to do the same thing again, the immortal soul would immediately neutralize any of his attempts, and the Berserker won't experience any pain from it. At most, he'll feel a slight sting.
Of course, this was only because Feng's immortal soul was currently too weak.
The strength of Feng's ability is dependent on his mental strength and soul strength. In God's Domain it's dependent on his concentration, which is the transition of mental strength, and the strength of his immortal soul.
However, Feng was also able to use the strength of his soul in real life to effect things in God's Domain. Though, it's a lot more complicated and harder that way than simply using the immortal soul's strength. It needed to be used through Feng's conscious, which resulted in a loss of power, as well as exposing his real soul to danger.
Feng was uncertain if he could reincarnate again if his physical body died, however, he was 100% certain that he would truly die if his real soul shattered; so Feng didn't want to expose it to any risks.
Otherwise, if he had used the strength of his real soul to attack the Berserker, that would have been it for the Berserker's career in God's Domain.
After all, his soul was unaffected by his reincarnations. So, the strength of his real soul remained at the Mental Strength Greater Grandmaster standard.
Soon after, Feng dealt with all the necessary procedures. After he turned his private territory into a Guild Residence, he also spent 3,000 Gold to build an Advanced Guild Hall in place of the Purple Sun Mansion. The Advanced Guild Hall could fit up to 3,000 people. As for the other facilities of the Guild Residence, those would only be obtainable from large-scale Team Dungeons that were Level 25 or above.
Some time was needed before the construction of the Advanced Guild Hall could be completed.
After Feng completed all the necessary procedures, his remaining task was to head to the War God's Temple and report the matter of the Endless Abyss.
Just as Feng left the Adventurer's Association, the system notification sounded.
Moreover, this wasn't just any normal notification. Instead, it was a notification sent to the entire Star-Moon Kingdom.
Star-Moon Kingdom System Announcement: Congratulations to Zero Wing for becoming the first Guild in Star-Moon Kingdom to establish a Guild Residence! Rewarding 10,000 Guild Reputation, 10,000 Guild Popularity and 10 Gold Coins to the Guild.
Meanwhile, inside the lounge of the Adventurer's Association, the tanned Shield Warrior that had just recently left Zero Wing no longer felt joyful about joining Dark Star. On the contrary, his face was as pale as a sheet of paper.
---
Inside the Land of Death, one of the Three Great Dungeons...
Dark Star's main team was currently battling against a White-bone Giant Elephant, which was over 20 meters in height.
At this time, the MT of the team, Lone Tyrant, was enduring the attacks from this White-bone Giant Elephant. Every time he took an attack from the Boss, he would receive over -2,000 damage. His HP constantly rose and fell, his life hanging by a thread.
Just as the White-bone Giant Elephant in the distance was preparing to charge, Lone Tyrant suddenly received a system notification.
Lone Tyrant was momentarily stunned by what he saw.
"How did Zero Wing obtain a Guild Residence so quickly?!" Lone Tyrant couldn't help but yell out when he saw the description of this system notification, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. He even forgot to use a skill to block the incoming attack from the White-bone Giant Elephant before him.
As a result, he was turned into a pile of meat paste by the Boss's foot, losing his life instantly.
What followed was what would be expected: a team-wipe...
---
Tens of players were currently lining up outside a large and peaceful tomb.
Everyone in this team of players was Level 17 or above, and all of their equipment were at least Mysterious-Iron rank with a few pieces of Secret-Silver Equipment mixed in. Most of the equipment the leading MT of this team had were of Secret-Silver rank, and the crescent-shaped shield he carried was even of Fine-Gold rank.
Meanwhile, all of these well-equipped players were looking reverently at the peerless beauty standing before them.
Looking out through the gaps of her silver-white helmet, her black, crystalline eyes shone with both intelligence and wisdom. Her hair, which was a midnight-black [2], hung down to her waist, gently brushing against the silver-white armor she wore. Resting her hand on the hilt of a dark-blue greatsword glowing dark blue, she exuded the indomitable aura of a goddess of war as she silently stood there.
This peerless war goddess was none other than the Snow Goddess of Ouroboros, Gentle Snow.
After undergoing the baptism of the Three Great Dungeons, Gentle Snow was even more dazzling than before. She was like a rough stone that had been polished, instantly revealing the sparkle of an icy-cold sapphire.
Currently, not only was Gentle Snow fully equipped with the Snowfall Set Equipment, a Secret-Silver ranked Set Equipment, the greatsword she wielded, albeit of indiscernible quality, was also giving off a frightening amount of energy.
The Snowfall Set Equipment could only be obtained from the Hard Mode of the Three Great Dungeons. As for the Blue Sky greatsword Gentle Snow wielded, she had obtained it after killing a Great Lord that served as a protector of a ruined temple.
This greatsword was similar to the Abyssal Blade, since it, too, was a Magic Weapon. Furthermore, it was also one of the thirty-six Famed Swords of God's Domain, Blue Sky.
Just as Gentle Snow's team was about to raid the fourth Boss of the Land of Death, the White-bone General Jera...
Gentle Snow suddenly received a system notification, and a hint of astonishment flashed through her eyes when she read its contents.
"How can he be so fast?" Gentle Snow knew exactly how difficult it was to obtain a Guild Residence. Even though she had a powerful Guild like Ouroboros, the number one Guild in White River City, backing her, the Reputation she had collected was still far from enough to allow her to become a Baroness of White River City. Yet, Zero Wing was still a step ahead of her. Gentle Snow's lips suddenly curled into a faint smile as she muttered, "It seems I need to congratulate him."
In White River City, Ouroboros and Zero Wing were actually allies, although this matter was not known to the public. If people did find out, however, they would definitely be greatly shocked. After all, who would ever imagine that White River City's number one Guild would actually be willing to form an alliance with Zero Wing, a Guild that was declining by the day.
However, Gentle Snow had indeed done such a thing.
Although Ouroboros was the number one Guild in White River City, they were still far from being considered an unshakable existence. Just the fact that Dark Star was close to surpassing them showed how vulnerable Ouroboros was. Moreover, Dark Star also had some hidden connections with World Dominators, which was also a first-rate Guild like Ouroboros.
If these two powerful Guilds joined hands to wage war against Ouroboros, then Ouroboros would definitely suffer a huge loss.
Hence, Ouroboros itself needed allies. Setting aside Dark Star and World Dominators, there were still three others among the top six Guilds in White River City. Of the three, the most powerful would be Emperor's Light, a first-rate Guild, while coming in second would be the Assassin's Alliance, a second-rate Guild. As for Zero Wing, they were considered the weakest of the top six Guilds in White River City. Yet in defiance of all logic, Gentle Snow had chosen to ally herself with the recently established Zero Wing, out of these three Guilds.
The reason for her decision was her optimism for Zero Wing.
Setting aside the mysterious, elusive, and heaven-defyingly powerful Ye Feng, just the fact that Zero Wing had Black Flame in its midst had already solidified Gentle Snow's conviction. Not only was Black Flame the publicly acknowledged Chief Forger of Star-Moon Kingdom, he also had a mysterious organization supporting him from behind the scenes, not to mention a deep connection with the Starstreak Trading Firm.
Black Flame's shocking financial power put even Gentle Snow herself to shame.
Although she could not make head or tail of the connection between Ye Feng and Black Flame, she knew for a fact that both of them possessed immeasurable strength. Yet, despite being so powerful, neither of them chose to reveal that strength to the public, and such an action greatly confused Gentle Snow.
Just the thought of the two of them working together had sent chills down Gentle Snow's spine.
There was also Ye Feng's expert friend, Black Cloud, who's combat standards were, from what she has seen, much higher than hers.
As if to put icing on the cake, the person named Aqua Rose had also appeared in Zero Wing out of nowhere. Aqua Rose used to be an honorary elder of Twilight Echo. Although her fame was less than Gentle Snow's, that was only because Gentle Snow had appeared in many advertisements before, raising her profile in the public eye.
Gentle Snow had never personally fought against Aqua Rose. However, based on the video recordings of Aqua Rose's battles, in terms of combat techniques, should they ever have a fight between themselves, Gentle Snow felt she only had a fifty percent chance of emerging victorious.
In any case, just the presence of these four powerhouses in Zero Wing made it worthwhile for Gentle Snow to ally herself with them. Not to mention, Zero Wing still had many other experts within their ranks. Their true strength and potential were simply unfathomable.
In the eyes of the public, Zero Wing would sooner or later vanish from existence. However, Gentle Snow knew very clearly...
Zero Wing's current calm was merely the prelude to their next breakout.
The situation right now would be the best example. Against all expectations, Zero Wing had suddenly become the first Guild in Star-Moon Kingdom to obtain its own Guild Residence, miles ahead of the other Guilds. Within moments, Zero Wing had become the focal point of all players throughout Star-Moon Kingdom.
---
Shortly after the appearance of the system notification, Zero Wing's recruitment point was overrun by a stampede of players.
Although Aqua Rose had long since prepared for such a reaction, the sea of players desperately trying to join the Guild still left her breathless.
Meanwhile, the players who had previously withdrawn from Zero Wing presently had regret filling up their intestines. If they had not acted so impulsively and had waited just a few more days, they would have been able to enjoy the various benefits offered by a Guild Residence. Now, unless they deleted their game accounts and started over with a new name, it was impossible for them to join Zero Wing anymore. However, who would have the courage to actually delete their account and start all over again?
As for the players that had chosen to remain in Zero Wing, currently, they were extremely happy about their wise decision.
Now that Zero Wing had a Guild Residence, not to mention being able to receive more quests, they could save a lot of money, thanks to the equipment and weapons repair facility of the Guild Residence. Neither would they need to spend money to recover their Stamina at Hotels; they could simply do so at the Guild Residence.
Furthermore, they could also obtain a Double EXP buff just by resting inside the Guild Residence. With this buff, they could grind and level up with much greater efficiency than before.
In addition, Guild Residences could also provide Private Rooms. This was also the greatest benefit of having a Guild Residence.
In God's Domain, every player would wish to possess their very own private room or house. As long as players logged off inside their own rooms, they could still accumulate the Double EXP buff, and with much greater efficiency than in the Guild Lounge to boot, even though they weren't personally within the game.
Normally, when Guild members rested within the Guild Residence's Guild Lounge for 48 hours, they could accumulate 20% Double EXP, and they could accumulate up to one Level's worth of Double EXP. In the case of a private room, however, players only needed to rest for 24 hours in order to accumulate 20% Double EXP, and they could likewise accumulate up to one Level's worth of Double EXP. Although the maximum capacity of the buff was the same, the accumulation speed inside a private room was double that of the Guild Lounge.
Of course, this was only in the case of a 1-star Private Housing.
In God's Domain, housing was also categorized into different levels. Meanwhile, the higher the level, the greater the benefits a player could enjoy. The lowest level housing was 1-star, while the highest was 10-star. Each increase in level required a huge sum of money, and also certain special materials. It would not be easy for players to upgrade their private housings.
For a 1-star Private Housing, every 24 hours, players could accumulate 20% Double EXP, up to a maximum of 1 Level's worth of Double EXP.
For a 2-star Private Housing, every 24 hours, players could accumulate 25% Double EXP, up to a maximum of 1 Level's worth of Double EXP.
...
For a 7-star Private Housing, every 24 hours, players could accumulate 50% Double EXP, up to a maximum of 1 Level's worth of Double EXP. In addition, players would also receive a Vigor Increased buff, increasing all Attributes by 5% for 2 hours.
For a 8-star Private Housing, every 24 hours, players could accumulate 50% Triple EXP, up to a maximum of 1.5 Level's worth of Triple EXP. In addition, players would also receive a Vigor Increased buff, increasing all Attributes by 5% for 3 hours.
For a 9-star Private Housing, every 24 hours, players could accumulate 50% Triple EXP, up to a maximum of 2 Level's worth of Triple EXP. In addition, players would also receive a Vigor Increased buff, increasing all Attributes by 8% for 3 hours.
For a 10-star Private Housing, every 24 hours, players could accumulate 50% Triple EXP, up to a maximum of 3 Level's worth of Triple EXP. In addition, players would also receive a Vigor Increased buff, increasing all Attributes by 10% for 4 hours.
However, it was simply too difficult for players to obtain their own houses in White River City. Yet, buying a house in a town would not be convenient for them.
Meanwhile, Guild Residences could provide its members with private rooms, although not everyone could enjoy the benefits of a private room, due to limited space inside a Guild Residence. Normally, these private rooms would be given to members who contributed greatly to the Guild and also the upper management of the Guild. If there were any additional private rooms, Guild members could also rent them using the contribution points they accumulated from raiding Dungeons and doing quests.
In God's Domain, the matter of leveling up would always be a headache to players. Moreover, the further into the game a player went, the harder it was for them to level up. It would not be strange for players to level up only once every three to four days. If players died out in the fields, they would also lose an entire level as a penalty. Hence, a tool that could aid players in leveling up quicker would definitely be well-received.
This Guild benefit alone already held a fatal attraction for all players. And that was in addition to the large number of Guild Quests available for choosing, which would dramatically accelerate players' leveling speed.
---
The War God's Temple, an organization that was founded shortly after the Great Destruction, had been in existence for thousands of years now, protecting the human race from invasions by foreign races.
Now that the Endless Abyss had been opened, the humans of God's Domain would have to rely on the War God's Temple to deal with the invasion of Demonic Beasts. It was no longer a situation that could be handled by any single country.
Shortly after Feng arrived at the War God's Temple, he reported the Endless Abyss to the Knight Captain on duty.
The War God's Temple was considered one of the most powerful forces in God's Domain. Just a normal Knight here was already a Level 180 Tier 2 NPC. As for the Knight Captain, he was a Level 200 Tier 3 NPC.
The Knight Captain revealed an anxious expression after hearing Feng's report. "Your Excellency Black Flame, this matter is of utmost importance. However, as I'll need to immediately send out warnings to all cities throughout the kingdom and also muster troops to the frontlines, I'll have to trouble you to head to the War God's Temple in the capital city and report this matter to Lord Ucarus and seek his aid." The Knight Captain passed a gold token to Feng, then promptly headed out of the temple, not giving Feng any chance to even refuse.
Following which, Feng left the War God's Temple and hurried over to White River City's Teleportation Hall.
Just as Feng was about to enter the Teleportation Hall, however, six robust-looking players stood in front of the stone staircase, completely blocking the entryway.
These six players were all Level 18; such a level could definitely be ranked at the top of White River City. Moreover, the equipment these players wore were of excellent quality, majority of which were of Secret-Silver rank. Meanwhile, the solemn-looking middle-aged man who looked like the leader of this party of players had the best equipment out of these six players. He was actually fully equipped with Secret-Silver Equipment. His gaze was like a sharp blade, and his entire body exuded such an icy-cold aura that other players unconsciously detoured as they walked past him.
Meanwhile, pinned to the chests of these players were black six-pointed stars. This black star was none other than Dark Star's Guild Emblem.
"You're in the way?" Feng asked.
"You're Black Flame, right? I am Ming Sha of Underworld. I am here to give you a piece of good news," the middle-aged man said in a condescending tone.
Although Black Flame had been titled as the Chief Forger of Star-Moon Kingdom, in Ming Sha's eyes, he was merely a clown prancing on the stage.
Whether it was in reality or in God's Domain, only strength truly mattered.
A forger that only knew how to stay hidden inside a room was nothing more than a tool for strong players like them.
If not for the matter of the Guild Residence astonishing the upper echelons of Underworld, Ming Sha would not even be here trying to make contact with Black Flame.
Instead of Black Flame, the person Ming Sha was interested in was Ye Feng, the player widely acclaimed a God-ranked Swordsman. Ming Sha really wished to meet him. Moreover, Young Master Feng had also given orders to get rid of that Ye Feng and obtain the Epic ranked item in Ye Feng's hands.
Unfortunately, Ye Feng proved simply too elusive. No matter how many men Ming Sha had sent out, they still could not find a trace of that Ye Feng. Ming Sha was very disappointed by such a result, as he never imagined that Ye Feng would be such a coward, not having the courage to even come out and fight.
"Good news? Then why do I feel that you guys are coming with bad intentions in hand?" Feng revealed an indifferent smile as he sent a glance at the other five menacing players.
Although he could simply ignore them, or kill them if he wanted, Feng decided to humor them anyway
On one hand, he wasn't in a rush; on the other, he felt like provoking and slapping Feng Xuanyang
"Master Black Flame, it is our fault for behaving too rashly. However, we truly do have great news for you. Only, I hope that you can take a trip with us. After all, this place isn't exactly suitable for discussions of such an important matter."
At this moment, another person walked up from behind the six players. This person was similarly a middle-aged man. Currently, this man had a wide smile on his honest-looking face. When Feng used Observing Eyes on this man, he discovered that this man was actually called South Wolf.
"Alright, I'm not in a hurry." Feng nodded.
"Let us go, then," South Wolf said as he led the way.
A short while later, Feng and the others arrived inside a high-class bar. Very few average players could be seen inside this bar, as most could not afford this luxurious place.
"Master Black Flame, please, come in. Young Master Feng has been waiting for you for a long time now." South Wolf pushed apart the doors to a private room, hinting that Feng should enter.
Upon entering the private room, Feng discovered an imposing yet charming youth sitting inside. This youth was also accompanied by two beautiful female companions at his sides. These two beauties were NPCs.
"You are?" Feng asked as he sat down opposite of Feng Xuanyang.
"This one here is known as Feng Xuanyang, the Vice-Leader of Underworld's Star-Moon Kingdom Eastern Branch. Of course, you can also call me by my character name, Dark Wind." Feng Xuanyang introduced himself.
"I wonder, what business does Vice-Leader Feng have with me?" Feng asked.
"I heard that Master Black Flame is the founder of Zero Wing. You have even managed to elevate Zero Wing to its current position. We at Underworld feel very optimistic about Zero Wing's future; hence we wish to invest in some shares." Feng Xuanyang then pointed towards Ming Sha, who was currently standing by the door, saying, "You've already seen for yourself the strength of Underworld. Because of us, even the previously insignificant third-rate Guild Dark Star has instantly become a powerhouse in White River City. If Master Black Flame is willing, Underworld can similarly make Zero Wing grow rapidly. Not only could you become the overlord of White River City, you could even become the number one Guild in the entire eastern region of Star-Moon Kingdom.
"I wonder if Master Black Flame might be interested?"
Feng had tuned out Feng Xuanyang's voice as soon as the latter opened his mouth. He was currently thinking how best to piss of the arrogant young master.
"Master Black Flame, you should know that there are over 20 cities just in Star-Moon Kingdom's eastern region alone. If Master Black Flame agrees to our proposition, in the future, you will become the absolute overlord of these 20-plus cities. Moreover, even though Underworld will be investing in Zero Wing, we will not interfere directly in the management of the Guild itself. Rather, we will provide you with a large sum in funding and manpower," Feng Xuanyang slowly said in a tempting tone. "We at Underworld have already decided that, as long as Master Black Flame agrees, we will immediately inject one billion Credits into Zero Wing, and also provide the Guild with 100 Gold Coins every week. In addition, we will also provide 100 experts, and also one team of Underworld Guards for you, Master Black Flame, to command as you see fit. If Zero Wing develops well, Underworld will invest even more into the Guild in the future.
"Master Black Flame, what do you think?"
Feng Xuanyang had taken Feng's previous silence for hesitation, thinking that Feng was definitely considering his proposition; hence he sweetened the deal.
"I wonder how much shares Young Master Feng is intending to purchase?" Feng asked, an indifferent expression on his face.
"Not much, just 50%. In exchange for 50% of Zero Wing's shares, you can obtain one billion Credits, in addition to having many experts to assist you. I believe that no other corporation will be willing to offer such a high price," Feng Xuanyang said confidently.
"You're thinking too highly of yourself. At most, I'll offer you 0.01% of Zero Wing's shares." Feng replied as he looked at Feng Xuanyang in distain.
Naturally, Feng was just being polite. Feng Xuanyang wasn't even worthy of being a regular member of Zero Wing, let alone have any percentage of shares of it.
However, Feng felt it would be a bit rude to say that, so he went with the 'politer' option.
"W-what?" Feng Xuanyang sat there, completely dumbfounded. Some would say that he was wondering if his hearing had gone bad, but Feng was pretty certain he was just overwhelmed with joy at such a high percentage.
"Are you toying with me?" After coming to his senses, Feng Xuanyang asked coldly as he glared at Feng.
"Toying with you? I'm offering you shares of God's Domain's future number one guild. I can, at most, offer you 0.1% of Zero Wing's shares if you give me 100% of Underworld's shares." Feng gave the best deal he could possibly offer before he would take a huge loss in this transaction.
"Black... Flame...! You're courting death!" Feng Xuanyang exploded. He was now sure that Black Flame was merely toying with him.
Little did Feng Xuanyang know, that he had just thrown away his and Underworld's only chance at survival.
"I give you a tenfold increase for a little bit more on Underworld's side, yet you're still not satisfied? It seems Underworld is way to greedy. Never mind, then, I don't like working with greedy people. You can consider this deal over." Feng stood up, no longer intending to waste his time with this young master who doesn't know how to appreciate his kindness.
Feng Xuanyang was so mad, he couldn't even speak. He only glared deadly at Feng. If looks could kill, Feng Xuanyang would have died from a counter-look made by Feng.
"I don't like that look." Nevertheless, Feng felt insulted that a little worm like Feng Xuanyang dared to glare at him.
Thus, he stepped onto the table with his left foot, and sweeped with his right leg. After that, Feng walked off the table and out of the room, leaving behind a headless corpse with blood spurting like a fountain from its neck, and a dumbfounded Ming Sha.
Although Feng had originally planned to slap Feng Xuanyang, both figuratively and literally, he felt that the young master wasn't worthy of him taking his hands out of his cloak's pockets, thus he opted for a leg sweep.
After leaving the restaurant and changing his looks so that the guards won't bother him, Feng immediately headed towards the Teleportation Hall. Spending 32 Silver Coins, he quickly arrived at Star-Moon City, Star-Moon Kingdom's capital city.
Compared to White River City, the competition at Star-Moon City was much more intense. Just the number of first-rate Guilds present in the city already surpassed five. The second- and third-rate Guilds were even more numerous. Meanwhile, the player population at Star-Moon City was over three million. Such a number could easily match the total number of players in White River City and its neighboring seven cities.
One could say that Star-Moon City was a location that every Guild needed to compete for in the future. After all, it was a super-city that would be able to contain over ten million players in the future. Meanwhile, the resources available in the surroundings of Star-Moon City were even more abundant. There were plenty of high-level maps that were only a short distance away from the city. Obtaining Star-Moon City would be the equivalent of occupying a fifth of the entire Star-Moon Kingdom's resources.
As the capital city of Star-Moon Kingdom, beneath the flourishing appearance of Star-Moon City were piles and piles of pearly white bones.
The moment Feng arrived at the city, he could already sniff out the strong smell of blood.
When Feng walked the bustling streets of Star-Moon City, none of the players he saw belonged to small and unknown Guilds. Instead, all the Guild players he saw belonged to third-rate Guilds or above. As for the unrated Guilds, Feng could make a general guess as to where they had gone.
They had definitely been completely annexed by these large Guilds.
Furthermore, the average level of players in Star-Moon City was very high. In terms of equipment, the players of Star-Moon City were also a notch higher than the players of White River City.
Originally, it was a very rare sight to find average players possessing Bronze Equipment. At Star-Moon City, however, it was not a rare sight at all. Feng had even seen some independent players who possessed equipment of Mysterious-Iron rank and above. As for the players who wore a Guild Emblem on them, majority of their equipment were of Mysterious-Iron rank. Some elite members of Guilds were even fully geared with Mysterious-Iron Equipment. The standards of Star-Moon City were clearly a lot higher than White River City's.
When Feng arrived in Star-Moon City, he had removed his disguise, and chose to use his original appearance of Ye Feng to move around the city.
Not intending to waste any more time, Feng hailed a horse carriage and headed to the War God's Temple of Star-Moon City.
The War God's Temple of Star-Moon City was built beside the palace. From the outside, the building looked like a magnificent and majestic pyramid, and at the summit of this pyramid was a house-sized Sunstone, which exuded a divine light. Be it day or night, this Sunstone would shine brilliantly on the entire War God's Temple, and one couldn't help but admire this dazzling construction when seeing it.
As the main branch of the War God's Temple, it had Tier 3 NPCs roaming around outside the temple itself, and even a Tier 5 Shadow Saint would not be able to penetrate the tight security here. Just the NPC guiding Feng to this place was already a Tier 4 Glory Knight.
After entering the Eternal Throne, Feng immediately discovered one purple throne and nine golden thrones suspended in the center of the room. On the sides were fifty silver thrones. Aside from the empty purple throne, every other throne was occupied by a person. However, among all these people, only one of them had a real body; the others were simply phantoms.
Sitting in their thrones, these powerhouses quietly observed Feng. Meanwhile, as the recipient of these gazes, Feng could not help but feel that his life was no longer in his hands.
A feeling he didn't like at all. However, his face remained indifferent.
"What an interesting young man. However, I don't believe a little guy like you can accomplish that quest. This is something that involves the fate of the entire continent, after all."
"Since it is so, let us give this little guy a test. If he passes it, I believe that nobody here would have any other objections, right?"
"A test? This lady likes it! Let's go with that! If he passes the test, I'll throw in my vote of support. If he fails... Well, he'll already be dead at that point, so no punishment will be necessary."
"How are we going to test him?"
"Obviously, we are going to activate the Twelve Trials!"
"Hahaha! The Twelve Trials! I have only heard of it before and only treated it as a legend. The last time it was activated was more than 900 years ago. I didn't expect that I would be so lucky as to witness it being activated in my lifetime. I must really thank you, little guy! I do hope you can last a few rounds, though! Let this old man here widen my horizons!"
At this moment, a youth garbed in white robes, one of the occupants of the silver thrones, moved and instantly appeared before Feng.
This white-robed youth was none other than Ucarus, the Star-Moon Temple Lord of the War God's Temple, whom Feng had been instructed to look for.
"Young man, we already know your reason for coming to this place. Although the Endless Abyss has indeed been unsealed, this is something that would have happened sooner or later. After all, no seal is eternal. In the face of time, everything is powerless. It is already good that the seal could suppress the Endless Abyss for hundreds of years.
"In the near future, we will join forces to suppress the Endless Abyss, preventing this matter from escalating.
"However, before we go and suppress it, we need to choose a person to collect the materials needed to reseal the Endless Abyss. However, this person must be a heaven-blessed person, and you just so happen to be one. Hence, we've decided to send you to collect the materials for us. Before we send you on your way, though, we need to first take a look at your potential. If you are no good, we will have no choice but to look for someone more suitable for the task."
"We have decided that your test will be the War God's Temple's Twelve Trials. You will be considered to have passed the test as long as you can clear six of the twelve trials. Of course, we won't make you go through the trials for nothing. As long as you can clear up to the 2nd trial, you will be rewarded with 100 War God's Temple Merit Points. Also, the rewards will be doubled with every subsequent trial you clear. After you're done with a trial, you can use the treasury of the War God's Temple to exchange your Merit Points for treasures.
"You should know that the treasury of the War God's Temple contains the most treasure throughout God's Domain. An ordinary Secret-Silver ranked item only costs 200 Merit Points, while a Fine-Gold ranked item costs 500 Merit Points, a Dark-Gold ranked item costs 1,500 Merit Points, an Epic ranked item costs 4,000 Merit Points, a Fragmented Legendary item costs 15,000 Merit Points, and lastly, a Legendary item costs 60,000 Merit Points.
"If you have sufficient strength, you can even exchange for a Divine Artifact. However, that would require 200,000 Merit Points." Ucarus gave his explanation with a smile
After he finished talking, Ucarus started chanting some incantations, while drawing complex divine runes with his fingers.
After Ucarus finished chanting, a pair of large golden doors appeared before him. There were twelve scenes carved into the dazzling golden doors, and each scene told of a cruel battle. When the doors parted, a very ancient and violent aura gushed forth from within, as if there was a ferocious primordial beast housed beyond those doors.
"Young man, the Twelve Trials lies beyond these gates. Go ahead," Ucarus said slowly as he pointed towards the golden doors.
Feng nodded in reply. Step by step, he slowly walked towards and beyond the doors, soon vanishing from the Eternal Throne.
"Hahaha! That little guy sure is brave! Doesn't he know that the Twelve Trials is the cruelest trial of the War God's Temple?"
"Ucarus, you're a devious bastard yourself as well! You actually used such a temptation against that little guy! Moreover, you've only mentioned the abundant rewards he could gain, but not the penalty for death!"
"The Merit Points needed for the Divine Artifact... Even after saving for an entire lifetime, this old man still hasn't collected the necessary amount... If he wishes to obtain the Divine Artifact, at the very least, he needs to clear the 12th trial. Ever since the War God's Temple was established, from ancient times until now, only one person has ever managed to do so. However, that great personage was a mighty god who had saved the entire continent in the past."
"This lady has read plenty of ancient texts relating to the Twelve Trials. According to the information in those ancient texts, the majority of the people that had entered the trial only managed to clear up to the 3rd or 4th trial. Meanwhile, the ones that were capable of clearing up to the 6th trial were as rare as a phoenix's feather and a qilin's horn. Ucarus, your requirement for him sure is high."
"Collecting the Seven Treasures is a matter of great importance. Without sufficient strength, how can he expect to gather all of them? Besides, we can't afford to waste any energy on a weak little ant."
Just as the occupants of the silver thrones were having another round of discussions among themselves, one of the occupants of the golden thrones, who had remained silent throughout the prior discussion, finally spoke.
"This matter is decided. Just as Ucarus has said, the old monsters sealed within the Endless Abyss are becoming restless. We can't afford to waste too much energy on a single weakling. If he can pass the 6th trial, I will lend him a hand as well."
"As you command, my lord."
The occupants of the silver thrones could not help but feel astonished when they heard one of the lords of the golden thrones speak.
They never expected that this great personage would take action as well. This was a fortune that could not be obtained even if one begged for it.
Soon after, Ucarus waved his hand, summoning a water screen into the Eternal Throne. The water screen that was suspended in mid-air showed the image of Feng who was currently facing the 1st trial.
---
Feng's current location was at the summit of a precipice. Aside from the 100-yard or so plateau available to him, he was surrounded on all sides by deep cliffs. In addition, the winds here were extremely violent, and a single misstep could send him plunging into the endless abyss. Feng quietly sat on a platform paved with stone slabs.
He didn't bother checking his bag, knowing that, aside from the weapons and equipment he had on him, everything else he possessed was unusable.
---
Meanwhile, inside the Eternal Throne, the big shots of God's Domain were excitedly observing Feng's trial.
After all, it had been close to a millennium since the Twelve Trials had last been activated. None of the occupants of the silver thrones were that old yet, so they were naturally very curious about the Twelve Trials.
"I wonder who will be his first opponent?"
"Though there are no records about it in the ancient texts, I did hear that the creatures inside the Twelve Trials are all primordial beasts that are extremely ferocious. However, this is only the 1st trial. That little guy isn't even a Tier 1 Swordsman yet, so the monster's strength should be barely within the Tier 1 realm."
"Look, something's flying over."
---
Primordial Beasts. In the God's Domain of today, these creatures were either extremely rare, or had long since gone extinct. They were beings that one would not normally see.
At least that was the case in Feng's God's Domain. However, in the Greater God's Domain, there were plenty of them, and even rarer and more ancient ones, roaming around.
Above the stage of the 1st trial, a blurred figure slowly descended from the skies, remaining unperturbed even in the face of the turbulent winds of this realm.
This gigantic figure landed at the center of the stage, towering over the tiny Feng.
With the upper body of an eagle and the lower body of a lion, this monster was none other than the king of the skies, a Gryphon.
[Gryphon] (Elite Rank)
Level 50
HP 500,000/500,000
"Aight, lets clear this thing." Feng's expression remained indifferent as he stood up and patted the dust off his butt.
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1. If you think it's a lot, don't worry. I have some plans for them
2. I have no idea why, but for some time a few years ago when I was reading rssg for the first time, I didn't notice that it was written that Gentle Snow had black hair, and thought that her hair was snow-white, and that that's how she got her Snow Goddess name; which, for some reason, made sense in my head, becoming my headcannon. It was only later near the end of the original novel that I realized that she has black hair. Felt really stupid and disappointed at the time. Though I was wondering whether or not to change her hair to being white in my fanfic, since black seems a bit bland. Thoughts?