70

When Cheng Yang approached the class change statues, he could see Lau Hui walking towards him from a distance. Judging from his expression, something terrible must have happened.

"Hey Ox, what happened?" Cheng Yang asked.

"Our team suffered some casualties earlier, my Lord," Lau Hui said bitterly.

Cheng Yang frowned. "What happened? I ordered you not to stray too far from the walls, didn't I?"

Lau Hui shook his head. "We were only two kilometers from the gates and had just finished clearing the area when the gods made their announcement. Right after, two High-Grade monsters spawned right next to us! They attacked the same person simultaneously. We were powerless to save her."

Cheng Yang looked at him, shocked. Events like that were extremely rare. So rare, in fact, that Cheng Yang hadn't bothered to mention that they were possible.

After the first evolution, the chance of a High-Grade Monsters spawning in the wilderness was practically non-existent. Since soldiers regularly cleared the monsters around Phoenix Village, a Standard-Grade monster spawning was already a one in a million event. For two High-Grade monsters to spawn right next to each other was just inconceivable!

Lau Hui had been too busy to concern himself with what the appearance of those two monsters meant, but Cheng Yang knew that, in this world, whenever something unusual happened there was a treasure to be found. Several people in his past life had proven that abnormalities in the spawning mechanics were one hundred percent guaranteed to generate something interesting. If you weren't able to find it, it wasn't that the treasure didn't exist, but instead, you were too unlucky or incompetent to find it.

"Where did you get attacked?" Cheng Yang asked immediately.

"Two kilometers past the south gate in a sort of southeastern direction." Lau Hui said, unsure why Cheng Yang wanted to know since the monsters were already dead. "There's a hill nearby so it should be easy to find."

Cheng Yang was very familiar with the terrain surrounding Phoenix Village and was able to figure out what hill his friend was talking about.

"Ox, settle these people into the village while I go investigate." Chang Yang said.

Lau Hui glanced behind Cheng Yang to take a look at the people he had brought with him. When he saw Liu Wei, he was surprised. "My Lord, you actually managed to find her friend."

"I was lucky. When we arrived, Liu Wei was already in the safe zone." Cheng Yang said casually before leaving.

At the same time, Liu Wei recognized Lau Hui. As Pang Sun's best friend, she had already met Lau Hui even though they hadn't been dating for very long. The only reason she didn't take the initiative to greet him was her fear of Cheng Yang.

Once Cheng Yang was out of earshot, Liu Wei wasn't able to hold back her curiosity. "Lau Hui, why are you here? What about Pang Sun? Where is she?"

Lau Hui didn't answer immediately. Turning to Ma Tao, he asked, "Soldier, are these your family members?"

Ma Tao nodded, "Yes, General Lau."

Although Ma Tao wasn't in Lau Hui's battalion, who wouldn't recognize the five generals of Phoenix Village?

"Since they're family they're allowed to stay here in the Inner Village. Why don't you go help them settle into your home? As for allowing them to become Professionals, I'm sure our Lord will consider it."

"Thank you, General Lau." Ma Tao quickly led his family members towards one of the Standard-Grade Meditation Halls.

Turning back to Liu Wei, he gave her a friendly greeting. "Liu Wei, welcome to Phoenix Village. I hope that you'll soon be able just to call it home. Right now Pang Sun is buying some things from the Alchemy Tower, but she'll be back soon."

For a few moments, all Liu Wei could do was watch as Ma Tao and his family disappeared. "Ox… Are you a general? General of what?"

"General in the village's army of course." Lau Hui said with a smile. "I'm the commander of one of the village's five brigades."

Before the apocalypse, Liu Wei knew that Lau Hui was just an ordinary college student. Now, however, he had one of the most important job in this settlement. Even if she was proud and arrogant, she shouldn't have been so casual with him. She was the literal dirt underneath her feet compared to him!

Noticing her anxiety, Lau Hui said "Don't worry, it's not what you think. Don't tell anyone this, but the only reason I was able to become a general was my friendship with the Lord. We were roommates in college before the apocalypse, so he helped me out a little."

Liu Wei's eyes widened. "You're saying the person who brought me here was our classmate? This…"

"Isn't it incredible? I also felt that it was pretty unbelievable but since that earthquake struck, what hasn't been unbelievable?"

"That's true." Liu Wei said with a wry smile.

"Don't reminisce on the past too much. Life here in Phoenix Village will be better than in Cloud City, but it still can't compare to our lives before the apocalypse." After giving her some advice, Lau Hui greeted the two other people Cheng Yang had brought. He didn't understand why Cheng Yang had brought these people to Phoenix Village, but since he was asked to entertain them, he would do a good job.

When Cheng Yang left the village, it was already dark. All he wanted was to find that treasure and couldn't care less about the light levels.

A few minutes later, when Cheng Yang reached the hill, he wasn't able to find anything abnormal. Except for the occasional monster, the woodland scenery was peaceful.

Even so, Cheng Yang didn't give up. If it was hard to find that just meant it was valuable!

Since he couldn't rely on his eyes, Cheng Yang would have to use the passive energy fluctuation created by the anomaly. When the gods transformed the world, everything began to emit magical energy. The more useful and powerful an item, person or monster was, the more apparent they were.

After more than ten minutes of fruitless searching, Cheng Yang grew anxious. The opportunity might have already passed, and any valuables had already disappeared. Concentrating more intensely, Cheng Yang let his perception sweep past the grass and trees, searching for anything unusual.

A few minutes later, Cheng Yang felt a sudden burst of energy fluctuations.

Cheng Yang quickly rushed forwards, clawing his way through the overgrown grass until he found himself in front of a shimmering screen of light. The portal was nearly horizontal with the ground and had an aura that caused his heart to stop for a moment.

"An instance dungeon?" Cheng Yang muttered with confusion.

After a moment, Cheng Yang realized that the gray oval on the ground was actually a Mystery Dungeon. Unlike instance dungeons which were permanent structures, Mystery Gate's appeared and disappeared randomly.

The other significant differences were that the Mystery Gate didn't have a limit to the number of people who could enter. Instead, each Mystery Gate would only exist for a brief time before expelling anyone inside.

The final difference was that Mystery Gate's would lead to somewhere on Earth instead of a different dimension. This meant it was possible to get lucky after entering a Mystery Gate. For most people, earning something from an instance dungeon was hard. If they were unlucky, the dungeon might not even have a single piece of decent equipment in it. However, Mystery Gates were guaranteed to have something valuable on the other side.

Of course, nothing in this new world was free. Even if someone wanted to rely on their luck, a certain level of strength would still be needed.

Although Cheng Yang wanted to try his luck, he was conflicted. It was entirely possible that on the other side of the Mystery Gate was a monster or Ascendant powerful beyond imagination. Even as the strongest human on Earth, he wouldn't be able to resist in the slightest.

Once you entered a Mystery Gate, there was nowhere to run. You needed to stay where you were transported until time ran out. Only nine Mystery Gate's were reported in his past life. Of which, only three were successfully explored. As for the others, no one who entered returned.

Of the three where people returned, most who entered died trying to obtain the fabulous treasures they found.

As rare and valuable as they were, Mystery Gate's were incredibly risky to enter.

In his mind, he chided his cowardice. Go in, damn it. You've died once already. What's there to be afraid of?

With his decision made, Cheng Yang returned to Phoenix Village to prepare.

After buying a large number of potions from the Alchemy Tower, he passed down an order for Zhao Chuan to come to find him.

Ever since being rescued by Cheng Yang in Huimin, Zhao Chaun had always revered him. After being made a general, that feeling had turned into loyalty.

Noticing this, Cheng Yang decided that Zhao Chuan was the perfect person for a task he had in mind.

"My Lord, why did you call for me?" Zhao Chuan asked when he entered Cheng Yang's house.

"Zhao Chuan, I need you to find a soldier that is willing to give his life to me. Although that soldier might survive, the probability of dying is quite high. Make sure to mention that I'll reward them handsomely if they survive."

"My Lord, let me do it." Zhao Chuan fervently replied.