Chapter 75
Chapter 75
Zhou Ming drew a deep breath and said solemnly, “I want to find… Renee!”
Renee!
She was the opponent he had faced in the fifth stage of the Talent Trial, and the person he currently considered the most likely recruit!
“Ding!”
[Bedrock Sovereign · Renee’s location has been found. You must provide the Heavenly Secrets Compass with one S-Rank item!]
“An S-Rank item shouldn’t be too hard…”
Zhou Ming headed to the auction house and opened its interface. Every piece of equipment he had listed was already sold.
“Ding!”
[Your equipment Blackrock Staff (Silver) has been sold. You have received 62 gold coins!]
“Ding!”
[Your equipment Wolf King Helmet (Gold) has been sold. You have received 85 gold coins!]
Little gains added up.
Just because he had acquired a million gold coins through abnormal means did not mean he would grow arrogant and look down on the income from selling equipment.
Zhou Ming opened the auction house’s filters and selected A-Rank items. Hundreds of results appeared before him in an instant.
Truthfully, no matter how difficult high-rank items were to acquire, the Eastern Region had such an enormous player base that they could never be truly scarce.
He soon found exactly what he needed.
[Color-Changing Card] (A-Rank Item)
Description: It does nothing except change colors. Only players obsessed with fashion would find it appealing.
Item Effect: Changes the color of a piece of equipment, with a small chance to add an extra visual effect.
Current Bid: 63 gold coins
Buyout Price: 110 gold coins
As everyone knew, every item rank contained both treasures and trash. The best items might be worth tens of thousands of gold coins, while the worst could sit unwanted even at a price of a few hundred.
The Heavenly Secrets Compass had not demanded a specific treasure. Since the item would merely be consumed to locate someone, the cheaper and more useless it was, the better.
“Ding!”
[You have spent 110 gold coins to purchase the Color-Changing Card (A-Rank Item)!]
Zhou Ming used Xiaoyou’s daily Super Lucky Star to advance the Color-Changing Card to S Rank, then formally activated the Heavenly Secrets Compass.
Whir, whir, whir!
At his command, the compass needle began spinning violently as if sensing the target’s location.
“Ding!”
[The target you seek is currently located at Eastern Region – Giant Rock Peak (1,556, 4,567, 4,556)!]
“As expected of an item provided by the Sword Saint. Its usefulness is beyond imagination!” Zhou Ming marveled.
Time was short.
Zhou Ming and Qianying hurried toward the target location.
They crossed through several regions densely populated with wild monsters. Under Qianying’s protection, Zhou Ming reached a place far beyond the limits of any current player with ease.
“Ding!”
[You have entered the Giant Rock Peak map!]
The sun hung overhead like a furnace, roasting the earth below.
Standing at the foot of the mountain beneath the blazing light, Zhou Ming looked up. The whole of Giant Rock Peak was bare, with nothing but naked stone as far as the eye could see. Occasionally, a terrifying beast prowled past, and every field on its inspection panel was filled with question marks.
“I’ll take you there!” Qianying extended a hand toward him.
“All right!”
Zhou Ming naturally had no reason to refuse. He took her pale hand and held on tight.
Come to think of it, as her affinity had risen, Qianying no longer seemed to make a point of avoiding physical contact with him. Back when they had first flown away together, she had insisted on grabbing the armor at his shoulder instead.
In the span of only a few breaths, Zhou Ming crossed the danger zone and arrived at the summit of the towering peak.
At the exact coordinates, he looked around but saw no trace of anyone.
“Renee!”
Zhou Ming called out loudly. “Would you come out and speak with me?”
The cold wind continued to howl at the summit, but no other answer came.
Was she deliberately refusing to appear?
Or had the Heavenly Secrets Compass given him the wrong location?
Uncertain, Zhou Ming raised his voice again. “Renee, are you really too afraid to come out?”
Still no one answered.
Dawnbringer!
Zhou Ming raised a hand and began charging the skill, then guided the giant sword down into the mountain to force a reaction.
Clang!
To his surprise, the blazing sun sword had lost its usual destructive force. Even when it struck the rock with all its power, it left behind only a faint white scratch.
Rumble!
Yet the instant Dawnbringer’s power dispersed, the whole of Giant Rock Peak began to quake violently. Loose stones tumbled away as though the mountain itself were about to collapse.
“I understand!”
Qianying hurriedly carried Zhou Ming into the air to avoid being caught in the upheaval. Astonished, she said, “The entire mountain is her transformed body!”
She had merged with the mountain and made it her resting place.
No wonder the gods had never encountered this young woman who had quite literally emerged from a rock.
“Who is it?!”
A deep voice boomed like thunder, thick with the fury of someone rudely awakened. “Who’s messing with me on purpose? You even jabbed me with something hard! Have you no decency at all?!”
Zhou Ming fell silent.
Flash!
The uppermost section of Giant Rock Peak erupted with brilliant golden light, then rapidly shrank. Under Zhou Ming and Qianying’s watchful eyes, it transformed into a girl of sixteen or seventeen.
She had bright eyes, pearly teeth, and delicate beauty as fresh as a lotus rising from clear water. Yet she wore extremely heavy, stone-colored armor that clashed completely with her gentle, sheltered appearance.
At that moment, she was rubbing her lovely amber eyes with one hand. Still half asleep, she looked deeply annoyed that someone had disturbed her rest.
[Bedrock Sovereign · Renee] (God-Tier Boss)
Level: ???
HP: ???
Attack: ???
Defense: ???
Skills: ???
Description: Tens of thousands of years ago, a mysterious meteorite fell from beyond the heavens onto Destiny Continent. Tempered by the passage of time, the stone gained sentience, cultivated, and assumed human form.
Her title had changed, but fortunately, he had found the right person.
Zhou Ming returned to the now truncated Giant Rock Peak and cupped his hands. “Renee, do you remember me?”
“Hm?”
Renee had been about to demand an explanation. She froze, studied Zhou Ming carefully, then exclaimed in recognition, “It’s you! The guy from the Talent Trial!”
She had encountered Zhouyou Shijie inside the Talent, and although she had not been able to learn his name, his appearance had not changed. She remembered him clearly.
She simply had not expected him to seek her out in person.
“That’s me!”
Zhou Ming smiled with perfect friendliness and innocence. “I came to visit you for two reasons!”
“So you came all this way for another round, huh?!”
Renee’s drowsiness vanished. She pulled a heavy shield and long spear from her inventory, brimming with fighting spirit. “Come on! This time, let’s see you break through my defense!”
“First, I hope you’ll consider joining the organization I’m building,” Zhou Ming said, getting straight to the point.
Renee pulled herself together, her fighting spirit blazing. “I wasn’t prepared last time. There’s no way I’ll slip up again!”
“I know you must have doubts and suspect I have some ulterior motive…”
“I hadn’t been cultivating for long when I took part in the Talent Trial. That’s the only reason you found an opening. Don’t think you can break my defense a second time!”
Qianying fell silent.
Could the two of them stop having entirely separate conversations?
“A fight on equal ground!”
Zhou Ming switched to a simple, direct proposal that any normal person could understand. “If I win, you’ll seriously consider joining my organization!”
“Well…”
Now Renee was the one who did not dare agree.
“Didn’t you just say there was no way you’d slip up again?” Zhou Ming asked.
“But…”
“Don’t tell me you think I can break your defense a second time.”
“Fine!”
Provoked again and again, Renee flushed bright red. She glared at Zhou Ming and ground her pearly teeth. “You think I’ll let you keep pushing me around? I’m going to beat you until you cry today and wipe away my humiliation!”
…