Chapter 49
Chapter 49
“Chirp, chirp, chirp…”
After leaving the pet space, Xuanniao chirped nonstop.
This so-called master had ordered it around three times in a single day!
Was something wrong with him?
Still, bound by his command, it reluctantly touched the skill book in Zhou Ming’s hand.
“Ding!”
[Through Celestial Spirit Beast · Xuanniao’s Super Lucky Star, your Rare A-Rank item Holy Flame Purification has advanced to Rare S Rank!]
[Holy Flame Purification] (Rare S Rank)
Description: After being touched by a Celestial Spirit Beast, even the skill’s power has undergone a subtle change.
Effect: Harness the power of the fire element to dispel all negative effects on the user and restore 20% HP.
Additional Effect: Gain Super Armor for 5 seconds after use, becoming immune to all control effects.
Cooldown: 5 minutes
Class Requirement: Fire-related class
…
There was nothing more to say. Healing plus control immunity made the skill more than worthy of a system reward.
Learn it!
“Ding!”
[Congratulations! You have successfully learned the Rare S-Rank skill Holy Flame Purification!]
“If you can truly keep Xuanniao by your side, I’m afraid every skill you learn will be A Rank at minimum!” Qianying clicked her tongue in amazement.
Even she felt a little envious of Zhouyou Shijie’s fortune.
Most skills regularly used by god-tier experts were only A Rank or S Rank. Anything SS Rank or above already counted as a killing move.
“I hope I can keep it!”
Zhou Ming glanced at his message panel and discovered that Xuanniao’s loyalty had dropped by another 3 points.
Afterward, he looked around the shop and bought another respectable B-Rank skill.
[Blazing Sword Art] (B Rank)
Description: A fairly common fire-element sword art on the Destiny Continent. Nothing particularly unusual.
Effect: Gather fire-element energy, converting all attacks made within the next 5 seconds into fire-element damage and increasing their damage by 10%.
Cooldown: 5 minutes
Price: 10 silver coins
…
The skill might be ordinary in someone else’s hands, but his ring increased fire-element damage by 20%. Combined with Demonic Flame Armor’s 50% increase to all attack damage, saying every swing would blaze with fire was no exaggeration.
Super Lucky Star could only activate once per day, so there was no hurry to learn it yet.
After buying the skill, Zhou Ming left the general store and entered the nearby teleportation array.
The moment he stepped inside, a list appeared before him.
Available Destinations: [Fengyuan Town] [Yunfeng Town] [Zisha Town] [Fengyu Town]…
Because he had not reached Level 50, he still couldn’t teleport to secondary cities.
“Fengyuan Town!”
After paying the attendant five silver coins, Zhou Ming activated the array. White light engulfed him.
When the light faded, he had arrived in another town.
“Ding!”
[Attention! Your origin region is near Qingshui City. You cannot change your affiliated territory yet!]
“Heh…”
Back in Qingshui City, Mo Yun watched Zhouyou Shijie leave and sneered. “Trying to run? Wishful thinking!”
Since they had set the trap in Qingshui Town, they were naturally confident he had no escape.
“They must have anticipated long ago that you might try switching towns to avoid the danger,” Qianying said.
“I know!”
Zhou Ming looked around Fengyuan Town, wandering aimlessly through the streets as though merely sightseeing.
At a certain point, he stopped and lowered his voice. “Qianying, if I remember correctly, you can secretly place a marker and teleport to it later, can’t you?”
He remembered the past very clearly.
Back then, Qianying had placed a marker right under Shui Zhanqiu’s nose, teleported Zhou Ming away, and stayed behind to face the gods alone.
The technique was clearly extremely discreet and difficult for outsiders to detect.
“Yes.”
Qianying was surprised that he would suddenly bring it up.
“Place a marker here.”
“All right!”
…
Zhou Ming then wandered around a little longer as though nothing had happened before visiting other towns.
At each one, he left another marker.
“What is he trying to accomplish?” one of the hidden pursuers wondered in complete confusion.
Did he truly believe visiting several different places would allow him to escape a death trap prepared by god-tier experts?
Ridiculous!
“I can mark at most three locations.”
Qianying was beginning to understand his true objective.
…
At first, Qianying had assumed the markers were for escape. After thinking more carefully, she realized that wasn’t the case.
Zhou Ming nodded. “Thanks for the hard work.”
Once everything was in place, he returned to Qingshui Town and quickly found a suitable leveling area.
…
Elsewhere, the two factions watching Zhouyou Shijie’s every move immediately received their reports.
“He tried to escape his cage by visiting several towns. Once he realized his efforts were useless, he chose to level in the wilderness instead.” Blood Elf · Amy, the Ninth Demon God, listened to her subordinate’s report with a mocking smile. “An ant remains an ant. Completely powerless!”
She had genuinely been intimidated before, imagining Zhou Ming might attempt something earth-shattering.
After all that, every one of his actions fit her exact image of a weakling struggling desperately to survive.
“Do not underestimate him!” Cangxuan warned. “I refuse to believe someone bold enough to wager against the gods has made no preparations.”
“I think you’re overestimating him!” Amy replied dismissively.
“…”
Cangxuan fell silent.
Looking at the simple, straightforward report, even his own estimation of Zhouyou Shijie began to waver.
Could it be…
Was Zhou Ming truly nothing more than an arrogant fool who had survived through sheer luck?
…
Night fell, and the temperature in the wilderness dropped.
Whoosh!
Zhou Ming cut down a lizard, and golden light rose around him.
“Finally, Level 44!”
He released a breath of relief and immediately equipped the Crimson Flame Ring, causing his Attack to surge once again.
Everything was ready. Beneath the moonlight, Zhou Ming returned to the city.
On the way, Qianying asked, “Are you truly confident about tomorrow?”
“No!”
Zhou Ming answered without hesitation.
Qianying: “…”
“I have some chance of winning, at least, provided my Talent can play a major role,” Zhou Ming admitted.
Sovereign’s Descent!
He had a feeling it would be the key to overturning the entire situation.
“I’ll do everything I can to help you,” Qianying said earnestly.
“Thank you!”
Zhou Ming felt sincerely grateful, and a proud confidence rose within him. “With you and Xuanniao helping me, I’ve decided to reach the end of the Trial of the Seven Sins. How could I possibly fall at the second stage?”
…
The next day marked a moment destined to become extraordinary in Destiny.
The black pillar pierced the heavens, shaking the world.
Endless monsters poured from the mouth of the Abyss and surged like an ocean tide toward every national region. No city would be spared the coming catastrophe.
“Ding!”
[Attention! The flame army led by the god-tier Boss Flame Giant King · Rod will attack the primary capital Tiandong City in the Tsar Region at 10:00!]
“Ding!”
[Attention! The frost army led by the god-tier Boss Mystic Ice Dragon · Leng Xin will attack the primary capital Baigui City in the Merica Region at 10:00!]
…
System chimes appeared continuously in every message panel.
These grandly introduced bosses were powerful beings that players would normally encounter only in the late game.
“Why hasn’t he logged in yet?”
Gaibang Laoda asked everywhere but found no trace of Zhouyou Shijie.
Unlike previous quests, this mandatory main quest carried a severe penalty for failing to participate.
[Hold the Line] (Difficulty: S)
Description: Monsters from the Abyss are sweeping across the Destiny Continent. Adventurers bear a grave responsibility and must fight with all their strength to hold the city.
Objective: Defend Qingshui City.
Reward: Based on the point rankings.
Failure Penalty: Level -2
Nonparticipation Penalty: Level -10 and All Attributes -100
…
Many players might not understand why the game had imposed such an unreasonable penalty to force everyone’s participation, but Gaibang Laoda knew the gods had undoubtedly interfered.
“Maybe he’s going to play dead and refuse to log in?” Gaibang Laoer asked, looking delighted.
Every member of the Gaibang Guild had gathered today.
With their leader personally commanding them, they would give Zhouyou Shijie more than he could handle.
“Zhouyou Shijie is in serious trouble this time!”
“He’d rather lose ten levels than join the event?”
“It’s possible. Zhouyou Shijie’s Infamy is so high that he’ll definitely drop a mountain of items if he dies!”
…
Reputation cast a long shadow.
Thanks to the battle videos and first kills that had exploded across the internet, even players who had never met Zhouyou Shijie knew his ID by heart.
He had been raised too high!
Now countless people wanted to watch him fall and shatter against the ground.
…