The second son was a profligate, just like the ones described in novels and movies. He was unruly and rebellious. After rejecting the marriage arranged by his parents, he left the family and went overseas. He even married a waitress from a fastfood restaurant during his time overseas and had a son with her. This caused much anger for the Old Master, and he had even disowned his second son.
After his second son ran away from home, the Old Master passed on all his responsibilities to his eldest son, thinking that his son would have more offspring that would be suitable heir candidates. Unfortunately, the Old Master's son had only had one son as well before he died young in a car accident. Carrying the sorrow of seeing his child die before him, the Old Master poured all his efforts into raising his grandson. But… The performance of this eldest grandson was somewhat dissatisfying. It was as if he was always lacking when it came to doing business.
At that moment, the Old Master received yet another terrible news. His second son, who was staying abroad, died in a fire along with his spouse, leaving their 15 year old son behind.
Despite being angry at his son's decision, blood was still thicker than water. Being curious about the innate talent of the child, the Old Master secretly went overseas and met with the child. After a few months of interaction, he noticed that the child was a more talented and suitable candidate to be his heir. He was happy. Fearing that the transition from being poor to suddenly becoming rich would spoil the child, the Old Master placed the child under the care of a normal family. He was, however, still prudent when it came to the child's education.
With that, the 2 children grew up without knowing about each other. They grew up, studied and began working… Until Fate was launched.
The Old Master, who had always been doing business through conventional means, was very interested in Fate before its open beta. He even made the decision to invest 60% of his assets into the game. With that, he ordered Thousand Sunsets to enter the game. The initial growth of Steel Blooded Battle Spear was satisfying, and the Old Master had even considered naming Thousand Sunsets as his heir. He did not anticipate the severe altercation Thousand Sunsets had with Ye Ci. If the incident provoked some dissatisfaction from the Old Master, the damage suffered by the guild and his fall out with Ye Ci caused his extreme anger.
After expressing his anger at Thousand Sunsets' stupidity, the Old Master told him about the presence of the other child and another heir candidate. He sent the child into the game as well, beginning the competition between the two.
The clearing of Castle Ruins this time was not the deciding factor of the two's position as heir, but it was an important way of indicating their abilities. That was why both of them were determined to win.
"And that person is Unbridled Willow?" Ye Ci let out a yawn after patiently listening to a gossip that had nothing much to do with her.
"Yep, yep, that's him." Green Hill's Moon nodded, "That's why I told you that they're rivals."
Ye Ci nodded. Apparently this piece of information had a very huge effect on her plan. In fact, it even made her original plan obsolete. All of a sudden, a question flashed across Ye Ci's mind, "Then who the hell is Zero Arsenic?"
"Oh, he's the Head Secretary of the Old Master, his trusted aide."
"He's not a subordinate of Thousand Sunsets?"
"Of course not! He answers directly to the Old Master."
"But why was he so loyal to Thousand Sunsets then?"
"He's loyal only to the heir appointed by the Old Master." Green Hill's Moon lifted the cup and took in a greedy whiff. His words were of great enlightenment to Ye Ci.
So that was why he wasn't with Thousand Sunsets.
Ye Ci could not hold back her laughter.
"Why are you laughing?" Green Hill's Moon stared at Gongzi You. The sunlight shone in through the colored glass, striking on her face. Her slight smile made her usually stern face much more gentle. Gongzi You was unexpectedly beautiful!
"What a lame story," Ye Ci pursed her lips, "Even I could come up with something like that. It's all over the novels and TV shows nowadays."
"It is lame. If not, why would people say that art is born from life, but is greater than life?" Green Hill's Moon agreed to Ye Ci's views. He was, however, paying most of his attention to the wine he held in his hands. He narrowed his eyes, appearing to be savoring the taste.
"Normal people like us will never understand the worries of the rich."
Green Hill's Moon could understand Ye Ci's meaning clearly. He let out a laugh, "Money is no good thing, but without money, it's really…"
Ye Ci lowered her gaze and dumped the remaining 500,000 gold coins onto the table, "I'm very satisfied with this tiny piece of gossip, keep up the good work."
Green Hill's Moon did not hold himself back. He collected the money calmly, "Of course."
His calm demeanor aroused Ye Ci's curiosity, "You seem to be very sure that I will pay you the down payment."
"Of course. Just like I'm sure that I will run into you in certain places." Green Hill's Moon stood up and turned around. He waved his hand as he left the room, "I'll be on my way, don't miss me."
As expected, he was a smart man. Ye Ci smiled at the figure that was Green Hill's Moon. She enjoyed having dealings with people who were smart. Of course, it would be better if that person was less shameless.
Ye Ci shifted her gaze from the closed door to the windows. The golden sunlight was unforgettably glaring. However, it was just a normal afternoon.
Ye Ci then retracted her gaze and looked at the mural painted on the ceiling, and the corners of her lips lifted up. It was such good news.
These days were always so tranquil.
Whenever Upwards Ho! was not involved in dungeon exploration, Ye Ci was very idle. At times like these, she would explore the maps that were rarely frequented by players. It would be great if she happened to run into any unopened treasure chests.
The Mausoleum of Blades.
This was the least visited map in the entire Eastern Continent. Despite having a high experience drop from monsters and an abundant amount of quests, there were hardly any players in the map.
The reason was simple. Just as the name Mausoleum of Blades implied, the terrain was rocky and hilly, with the peak of each hill sharp as blades. One would easily fall down while climbing, with only death awaiting them.
That was why the map was once known as the most useless map in Fate. The monsters here were lvl 40, but they were very scattered. This made it a very good training spot for ranged players. However, in this ravenous terrain with hardly any footholds, it was very difficult for players to travel from one spawn point to another. A player would need to be at lvl 80 to be able to traverse the map safely.
If Ye Ci had remembered correctly, when players have reached the lvl 80 cap in her last life, Fate released a patch that raised the maximum level of players to lvl 120 and introduced a Flying System. In that version of the game, there was no longer any barriers keeping players out.
However, if the Flying System would only be introduced when players were at lvl 80, they could only traverse this map safely by then. Monsters in this map however, were all lvl 40. That was why the map was said to be useless. It was something that Ye Ci believed in her last life. In her current life, Ye Ci began to doubt that theory.
Fate was a game ahead of its time designed by experts from all over the world. How could they make such a silly mistake? This was a fact that nobody had realised in Ye Ci's last life. That was why Ye Ci, who was already reincarnated, grew more and more suspicious about this map and decided to have a look.
Ye Ci rode Ol' Four through the narrow road with caution so that she would not fall down into the deep ravine and suffer unnecessary damage. Ye Ci thought to herself as she traversed through the map. Perhaps the secret of this map was discovered by someone, but was never announced, and that was why she never knew of the anything about the map. This time, however, she would not miss that chance.
Ye Ci saw the monsters unique to Mausoleum of Blades, which were Ogres. Despite having a low movement speed, Ogres could deal high amounts of damage and preferred to live alone. A capable ranged player could easily fight these monsters to level up.
Ye Ci would never miss a chance to slay any Ogres she encountered. Even after a few days of exploration without discovering the map's secret, Ye Ci was already at lvl 42. For Ye Ci, who had not leveled up for quite some time, it was a rare chance to come by indeed. Of course, other than scouting out the Mausoleum of Blades, there was another reason that drove Ye Ci to level up. The first spot on the leveling leaderboards was now taken by NightAndDay. Ye Ci felt pressured when the person was able to increase his level to 43 within the span of a few months.
As a person who had reincarnated with almost all of the game's secret, wouldn't it be shameful for her to be surpassed by someone who was not a reincarnator?
After exploring the Mausoleum of Blades without discovering any clues, Ye Ci took a rest at a relatively flat hillside, since Ol' Four was hungry. She began feeding the hungry beast while filling up her own grumbling tummy.
The Mausoleum of Blades was at the north eastern side of the Eastern Continent and was the highest spot in the entire continent. This meant that the wind was strong. As she sat on the hillside, the strong wind blew Ye Ci's hair all over her face. Sweeping her messy hair aside, Ye Ci gulped down some water from her bottle.
All of a sudden, her ears twitched.
The Elven race had a better perception about their surroundings when compared to the other races. Any subtle changes and movements would not be able to escape their sense.
That being the case, Ye Ci tilted her head slightly, listening intently to the movement behind her…