A book of prompts and random ideas, don’t be surprised of diverse themes :’D

[Updates are entirely random, could be 3 in a day or 1 a month]

Ding!
________
[Omnipresence (Rare)]
Grade: Transcendent (C)
Birthed from the harmonious yet complex fusion of indifferent sentience, exuberant vitality, and unyielding willpower, this rare skill allows the user to do things that seem impossible for those that are not endowed with the same level of sentience.
>Deal 200% increased damage to enemies within a certain radius
>All short-ranged attacks become long-ranged
>Reduce the enemies' stats by 20%
Time limit: 5 minutes
FP Cost: 2500 FP 
________
"This skill is so powerful that it's incredibly disgusting." This was the only statement Aurus could let out after reading up on the description of the newly fused skill. Nonetheless, on the inside, he was looking at the skill in awe, wondering as to what the limits of skill fusion could be. Not only that, he was also pondering as to how he could make this newly fused skill a trump card of his in the upcoming battle.
After fusing the three skills that he thought were all useless into one skill that was actually incredibly powerful, Aurus could not help but have expectations for the skill fusions he was about to do next. Indeed, with the realization that he could create intrepidly strong skills, Aurus was now hooked on fusing skills together.
Whoosh!
Opening up the Skill Fusion screen once more, Aurus commanded the system to change the list of skills he was looking at to compose of all of his skills, not just limiting himself to active and hybrid skills. If active and hybrid skills could be fused, then why not passive skills as well?
To be honest, after his first successful skill fusion, he started throwing skills into the Skill Fusion screen at random, only obtaining prompts from the system that informed him that the skill combinations he threw in would not work. It also informed him that the skills that were going to be fused together should have some relation, or else fusion would not even happen. Surprisingly, there was no downside to fusing skills randomly, just wasted time.
After that, he also tried fusing skills with the Ruler skills he obtained from the inheritance. Of course, a prompt appeared in front of his field of vision once again, informing him that Ruler skills could not be fused as they were tied to a title of his. To be on the safe side, the system also informed him that he could not fuse two Ruler skills together. Obtaining a prompt like that, Aurus could not help but think that the system had some level of awareness.
After obtaining those prompts which told him about the limitations of skill fusion, Aurus decided to look at the list of skills once more, taking those words of advice into consideration as he made wiser choices this time, instead of just fusing random skills together willy-nilly, hoping that the fusion would succeed.
And so, a few minutes later, after being bombarded with prompts, Aurus used the Skill Fusion screen once more. This time, with the skills he chose having some relation to them.
"System, fuse [Flux Chiliocosm], [Chiliocosm of Spirit], and [Stick-Flux Unification] together," he commanded the system, slightly trembling as there was a chance that the fusion wouldn't go through. Nonetheless, he was pretty confident that this skill fusion would work as all of them were related to his energy source. To be more exact, the vessels where he holds the energy.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Not long after, three skill names appeared on the Skill Fusion screen, each and every one being the skills Aurus mentioned for the system to fuse. A few seconds later, these skill names started to faintly glow as a prompt appeared in front of Aurus' field of vision not long after. Reading through the prompt, Aurus could not help but radiate an aura of happiness as he muttered to himself in glee, "It finally worked!"
Ding!
'Would you like to fuse the three skills together? As all three of them are of the same grade, 5 of your levels shall be consumed.'
"Of course, I do," Aurus replied without hesitation, with three motes of light appearing inside his mind once more not long after. They collided once more with one another as usual, eventually melding into a giant ball of vibrant light. A few seconds later, a notification appeared in front of Aurus' field of vision, informing him of the newly fused skill that had just been created, as well as the fact that his level had dropped down to 9.
Ding!
'Skill Fusion is successful. The passive Species skill [Supreme Spirit-Flux Chiliocosm (Special)] has been created.'
Of course, since this was a new skill he had obtained, he could not help but read through the skill description, muttering praises in awe as to how amazing the effects were on the newly fused skill.
Ding!
_________
[Supreme Spirit-Flux Fabrication (Special)]
Grade: Transcendent (C)
Birthed from the fusion of three skills which served the purpose of containing a strong yet plentiful energy, this skill expands the limit of how much energy, energy being Flux Points, this skill could hold. As a resonance has formed between the three skills, a superbly great amount of FP can be held at once, as well as the fact that a great amount of energy can be regenerated at once. Not only that, the effect of the energy is also enhanced, allowing the user to exert more power into their abilities.
>Increases efficacy of FP-based skills by 30%
>Reduces cost of FP-based skills by 30%
>All that come close to the user gain a 15% increased energy regeneration rate buff
FP Capacity: 20000
FP Regeneration Rate: 500 FP per 10 seconds
________
"Tssss…" Aurus could not help but imitate the sound of sucking air between the teeth, aghast from the effect of the skill when comparing it to the effects of the three separate skills from before. "Although the amount of FP I can utilize is halved thanks to the Spirit Energy Core, that's still 10000 FP I can use at once! If I had that amount while I was making the Spirit Clone, I would've been able to create a Rank 1 Animate clone instead of Rank 0!"
As he continued to think about the possibilities of having a lot of SP, he could not help but say, "Then again, starting out as a Rank 1 Animate by relying through the system would probably be a worse choice than starting out from Rank 0 in the long run."
"Anyways, moving on." Placing these thoughts in the back of his head, he then continued to look at the list of skills that weren't fused yet, trying to formulate a skill fusion that would use up more than 3 skills as that would definitely result in an incredibly powerful skill.
A few seconds later in his attempt of formulating such a recipe of skills, he could not help but notice four Class Skills that were around the same line of thought, being around the manipulation of Flux for greater power. Well…at the very least, that's how Aurus interpreted it.
Looking at the Skill Fusion screen once more, Aurus commanded the system, "Fuse all of the active skills regarding Flux."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
At that moment, four intangible threads of light, that came out of Aurus' body, made their way towards the Skill Fusion screen, filling up four spaces as the four of them glowed with vibrant light not long after, a decent contrast to that from the skill fusion before.
Aurus could not help but notice it as well, asking himself, "Is the amount of light emitted by the skills in the resonance proportional to the possible power of the skill?"
He tried to recall the amount of light that was released by the first skill fusion he did, slightly surprised that it emitted a bit more light compared to the fusion of energy storage skills.
Ding!
'Would you like to fuse [Unworldly Flux Weapon Fabrication], [Unworldly Flux Armor Fabrication], [Third Heaven Flux Enhancement], and [Grand Flux Samsara] together? As all of these skills are of the same grade, 8 of your levels shall be consumed.'
"Hoh? 8 of my levels shall be consumed? Since a fusion of 3 skills cost 5 of my levels, then a fusion of only 2 skills would cost around 2 or 3 levels? I'll have to find that out later," Aurus muttered for a bit after reading up on the cost of the fusion. Nonetheless, he accepted the prompt, dropping his level down to 2 afterwards. Of course, he used up a portion of his unused experience once more, getting back to max level in an instant as four motes of light appeared in his mind.
Unexpectedly, while the four motes of light collided with one another in an elegant yet vibrant dance of sorts, Aurus could not help but hear a dragon's roar resound from the collisions, with it becoming more frequent the closer the four were going to fuse as one. Eventually, the four had fused into one entity of light, illuminating Aurus' mind in a vibrant light as multiple dragon roars resounded not long after.
Ding!
Which was followed up by a notification sound.
'Skill Fusion is successful. The active Species skill [Ancient Modular Flux Equipment Fabrication (Epic)] has been created.'
As Aurus read up on the notification he had received, he could not help but gasp in surprise, forcing himself to stay silent as he did not want to startle Fenrir and Charisa, shouting inwardly in extreme glee instead.
"An Epic skill! I can't believe it…I actually obtained an Epic skill!"
As Special skills were stronger variants of normal skills, Rare skills being stronger variants of Special skills, Epic skills were on a higher level compared to them. Once a skill had reached the Epic level, even if it was a Mortal skill, it would still output power equivalent to that of a Transcendent level skill, or better yet, a Divine level skill!
Although Aurus had obtained a lot of Epic skills back in ISE, Legendary skills even, this was the first time Aurus had obtained an Epic skill in his current life, which was based on ISE. Of course, since it was his first Epic skill, he was quite excited to read the skill's description, bringing it up not long after.
Ding!
________
[Ancient Modular Flux Equipment Fabrication (Epic)]
Grade: Transcendent (C)
Birthed from the fusion of four skills that specialized in the usage of Flux for greater power, a skill that could surpass the power of a lot of skills had been made, allowing the user to forge equipment out of the user's Flux. Not only that, the skill also allows the user to create modifications to the equipments made in terms of effects, even allowing the equipment to be given out to other users.
>Grade Range of Crafted Equipment: Grand to Mythic
>Attachable Effects to Crafted Equipment: Enchantment, Party Resonance
>Attachable Set Effects to Crafted Equipment: Rejuvenation, Arcana, Damnation, Fortress, Vitality
>Types of Craftable Equipment: Physical, Magic, Ignition
FP Cost: 500 FP
________
If Aurus had eyes, those eyes of his would definitely twinkle like a million shooting stars due to the sheer amount of awe and reverence he had for this skill. Not only that, multiple ideas for trump cards started to pop out of Aurus' mind due to the great amount of modularity Aurus could do to the equipment.
At the very end of his thinking session, Aurus could not help but mutter, "If this is what skill fusion can give me…why don't I fuse up even more skills?"
And so…that's what he did.
…
While Aurus was basking in the feeling of obtaining a lot of ideas, as well as greater combat power due to the fusions he was doing, something different was happening within a certain portion of the Celestial Plane.
Celestial Plane, Kurohana's plane.
"Success." Kurohana could not help but lightly chuckle as she looked through the white orb in front of her, looking at Aurus, who was currently fusing up his skills together.
While looking at Aurus, she raised both of her hands into the air, manifesting a few threads of green light that went towards the orb not long after. These threads were infused with the Law of Natural Flow, which Kurohana had asked for permission to manipulate as she did not want to be berated by Phatia again.
As she looked at the green threads slowly meld with the orb, displaying Aurus' surroundings, a light smile appeared on her face as she said in a slightly proud manner, "Finally, I removed that invincibility skill from his skillset. With him not having that skill, there would be greater chance for him to lose in the upcoming war that's going to happen, forcing him to recuperate. While he's recuperating, with the help of the threads I infused, that will make someone find him and use him as a weapon!"
"I'm a genius, a true genius." Kurohana could not help but laugh after going over through her plans. Not long after though, she continued to look at her orb, letting out a sigh as she muttered, "To be honest, I would have definitely waited for a year since that would allow Aurus to mature even more, increasing the nurturing speed of the weapon. But due to the plane's current circumstances, I have no choices but to do this."
As she said this, she could not help but recall the war that happened back then in the Celestial Plane, which killed off a lot of Lesser Gods, but allowed a decent number of Lesser Gods to become Greater Gods in the process. Nonetheless, the memories of the Divine Demon War to Kurohana was something she did not want for others to experience, which forced her to hasten Aurus' fate of becoming a weapon.
"Unfortunately, I wasn't able to stop him from forming a Spirit Clone." Kurohana sighed as she panned towards another section of Erudinia, the orb displaying an old yet wise-looking man drinking a bit of tea. She could not help but slightly frown as she continued to talk. "If he did not craft a Spirit Clone, then the strength of his soul would boost the nurturing speed of the weapon even further. Unfortunately, it seems that someone in my world has become aware of my actions…"
She let out a sigh not long after, muttering, "If I had the time to do so, I would definitely eliminate this fellow, but I have to focus all of my efforts to getting Aurus crafted into a weapon as fast as possible. The weapons I've crafted, although having a high grade, don't have enough power and affinity to fight against the demons."
"Only with a soul like Aurus' soul would I be able to create my true masterwork weapon, a weapon that can cut through anything and everything."
"By then…I would also be able to fight against those that plotted against me. Just you wait."

If you're not a fan of fourth wall breaking (which I'm also not a fan of), please try and get past Chapter 5 because that's when the novel truly starts to shine. This note will be removed once I edit out the fourth wall breaking.
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Under a planned twist of fate, Aurus was struck by a bolt of lightning, forcing him into the reality that he was never going to be able to play his favorite game ever again.

Fortunately, as if luck was on his side, a goddess took pity on him and gave him the choice to reincarnate as a stick? As to why she gave him that choice, I don't know but he still picked it anyway!

Witness the adventures of Aurus and his path to becoming a tree or probably something else. I don't know, I haven't planned much.

Join me on Discord: https://discord.gg/SRaEwGE
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If we reach a certain power stone ranking, additional chapters shall be uploaded! Note that all additional chapters shall be uploaded on Friday, 23:55 GMT+ 8!

Top 200 - 1 extra chapter
Top 150 - 2 extra chapters
Top 100 - 3 extra chapters
Top 50 - 5 extra chapters

----------
This novel is gradually being edited.
Latest edited chapter: C1

Cover by: yueyi

"Greetings"
"Quest Received: Tutorial part 1"

 After finishing character creation, the surroundings blurred as Elle, now Frigga, was transported to the beginner's area. When the sudden rush of vertigo subsided, she opened her eyes. She was lying on a bed, inside a room. The room was about fifteen square meters in area, with a wardrobe, a cabinet, and a bed. Sitting up, she tested her body. She looked at the rustic furniture, the mottled streaks showing the age of the wood. A heavy iron chest was sitting at the foot of the bed. She slowly stood up, detecting a faint mustiness to the room, as if it was some time since someone had opened it up. Outside, she could hear voices, seems like people and animals, walking about. She raised both her arms, then stretched upward, feeling the virtual blood circulating through her simulated body. Satisfied, she then opened up the system menu.

"Quest: Tutorial Part 1,
  
 Welcome to Age of Heroes Adventurer! As an Adventurer, you will need to know how to interact properly with your environment! Open the user interface and start exploring!
 
 Open the In-Game Menu (1/1)
 Open the Character Page (0/1)
 Open the Online Store (0/1)
 Open the Adventurer's Journal (0/1)
 Open the Inventory (0/1)

Quest Rewards: 1 Chest Key, 100 EXP"

  The first part of the tutorial consisted of familiarising with the user interface. Since the start of Deep Dive, a few command gestures have already been established as universal. It was also possible to use voice activated commands. The most common command gesture was the menu open button, which was done by tapping the user's temple twice, or by saying Open Menu.
  
  Manipulating the menu, she spotted four icons. The first was a stylised stick figure which represented the Character Page, then two dollar signs over a storefront, which represented the Online Store. Next was an open book and a pen representing the Adventurer's Journal, and finally a big leather pouch representing the Inventory. 
 
  She opened her Character Page by selecting it from the menu. Inside was a model of her character with its current equipment. She's wearing a white sleeping gown, since she had just started there was not much in the equipment section. To the side, the current character stats were displayed. 

"Character Page"
"Frigga Level 1 (0/100)
 Race: Daemon
 Class: None
 Subclass: None
 Title: None
 Affiliation: None
 --
 STR: 13                     Physical Attack: 21             
 DEX: 16                    Magical Attack: 14
 VIT 12                      Physical Defense: 18
 INT:  9                      Magical Defense: 17
 WILL: 10                   Maximum HP: 240
                                 Maximum MP: 190

Remaining Stat Points: 0
--"

 ...Pretty standard... She muttered in her mind. Closing the character page, she then opened the inventory, which was still empty. Then the online store, which showed some items obtainable using real life money. As the game was still new, there was not much there either. There were some name change coupons, a few sets of race costumes and some special potions. Finally, she opened the Adventurer's Journal.

"Adventurer's Journal"
"Chapter 1: Three Kingdoms and Five Nations
Prairie Town - Progress 0%

    Prairie Town is one of the several towns and villages in the province of Lorraine. The current population of this town is around sixty people, and the town head is Old Man Hall, a kindly gentleman who was a former adventurer. The people are kind and welcoming. The fields in the surrounding area are filled with low level monsters such as slimes and horned rabbits.
 
  On your 18th Birthday, you wake up to your house in Prairie Town. You have lived here for as long as you can remember, with the kindly villagers welcoming you and your mother, even though you are both members of another race. Now, as an adult, you are ready to explore the world."

...It seems that the starting village is called Prairie Town... She thought. 

 Ting! The system once again sounded out.

 "Quest: Tutorial Part 1 Complete!"
 "Received Rewards: 1 Chest Key, 100 EXP"
 "Level up! You are now Level 2!"
 "Stat Points Received"
 "Quest Received: Tutorial Part 2"
 "Quest: Tutorial Part 2,

 You are now an adult! As a young kid, you have always wanted to become an adventurer. Now, you can start your journey! First, open the heavy chest at the foot of the bed with the chest key and collect the basic equipment inside. Then equip the appropriate equipment into the corresponding slot.
  
 Adventurer's Cloth Upper (0/1)
 Adventurer's Cloth Pants (0/1)
 Adventurer's Shoes (0/1)
 Adventurer's Belt (0/1)
 
 Quest Rewards: 30 silver, 200 EXP"
 
 Frigga then opened up the inventory, selecting the chest key. Immediately, a solid, iron key appeared in her hand. Crouching down, she inserted the key into the chest's keyhole. She heard the sound of the key turning, and the internal mechanisms of the lock smoothly sliding before an audible click; then the chest shuddered. Now unlocked, Frigga proceeded to open it up. Inside, she could see a set of clothing. 
 
 "Would you like to collect the following items into your Inventory? Y/N
 Adventurer's Upper 
 Adventurer's Pants
 Adventurer's Shoes 
 Adventurer's Belt"

"Yes." She replied. She opened up the menu and started inspecting the items in her inventory.

 "Adventurer's Cloth Upper"
 "Basic equipment for a starting adventurer. A thick cotton long-sleeved shirt that can only protect against the weakest monsters but will not hinder the movement of the wearer.
 Phys. Def: +2-3
 Durability: 100%
 Weight: 0.8kg"

 "Adventurer's Cloth Pants"
 "Basic equipment for a starting adventurer. A thick pair of cotton pants that can only protect against the weakest monsters but will not hinder the movement of the wearer.
 Phys. Def: +1-2
 Durability: 100%
 Weight: 0.8kg"
 
 "Adventurer's Shoes"
 "Basic equipment for a starting adventurer. A pair of sturdy leather shoes that protects and comforts the wearer's feet against the ground.
 Movement Speed: +3%
 Durability: 100% 
 Weight: 0.2kg"
 
 "Adventurer's Belt"
 "Basic equipment for a starting adventurer. A thick leather belt with straps and pouches that can be used to hold many things.
 Weight: 0.2kg"

 All of them were starting equipment. As an experienced gamer, Frigga was already familiar with the inner workings of such games. One has to use their low level equipment to complete quests and hunt monsters. Which in turn will help one level up and collect better and better equipment. That will be used to hunt stronger monsters and complete more dangerous quests. And so on, the cycle continues. 
 
 Although such a thing might prove to be boring and repetitive; to gamers, it is the adventure, the constant grind of hunting stronger and fiercer monsters, and exploring through magnificent citcyscapes, through exotic forests and otherworldly places that gets their blood boiling. The thrill of battles, of experiencing success amidst constant death and defeat, and the hard choices that one must go through, that makes one truly feel alive.

 Unbeknownst to herself, Frigga was already smiling, reminiscing at the memories of her past. 
Ting! The system notified once again.

 "Quest Updated!"
 "Rewards Received: 3 silver, 200 EXP"
 "Level up! You are now Level 2!"
 "Stat points received!"
  "Quest Tutorial Part 2,
 
 You now look like a proper adventurer! You may now proceed to Drill Master Henry to learn the basics of being an adventurer. You can find Drill Master Henry by the village gate in the training grounds.

 Talk to Drill Master Henry (0/1)
 Learn the basic skill Throw (0/1)
 Learn the basic skill Bash (0/1)
 Learn the basic skill Pierce (0/1)
 Learn the basic skill Side Step (0/1)
 
 Quest Rewards: 1 Red Potion (Low Grade), 1 Blue Potion (Low Grade), 1 Basic Weapon, 300 EXP"

 Finally, she thought. She walked over the door. Gingerly, she turned the knob over and pushed, revealing a quaint living room. There was no one there, it seems like the house was generated only for her. She then quickly stepped outside, following the faint yellowish glow of the quest trail.

 ---

 Frigga was greeted by the bright mid-morning sun and a soft summer breeze. She followed a rough, cobblestone road that led into a small square in the middle of the village. Villagers were walking and working all around the village square. A few women were washing clothes by a well while children played around. There were men carrying chopped down timber. As she passed by them, most of the folk greeted her with smiles.  
 
 As the village was quite small, it only took a minute for Frigga to locate the training grounds. The spirited shouts of youngsters and the occasional clash of weapons led her to just outside the village gates. There was a small fenced area where a few target dummies, and a dozen youths were practicing with weapons.
 
 It was immediately obvious who the Drill Master was. Standing under a large tree was a stern faced man with graying auburn hair, a light stubble and wrinkles that snaked across his forehead. Arms crossed, he continuously shouted out instructions to the youth practicing. While she was walking over, the Drill Master noticed her and said.
 
 "Well, well if it ain't our little miss sunshine. What brings you here?"
 The young lads immediately stopped what they were doing and looked over in curiousity. Suddenly, Frigga felt a bit nervous. She gulped, unlike a computer screen, the level of realism was incredible, she almost suspected that the people were players instead of NPCs. Composing herself, she remembered the quest objectives and replied.
 
"I-I want to learn the basics of being an adventurer."
"Eh?" the Drill Master scratched his head. "Right, today is your 18th birthday. Could've sworn it was just yesterday you were a little lass playing by the river."

He cleared his throat, "You want to be an adventurer? Hmph! First you need to learn the basic skills"
"An adventurer always has good aim, see this axe?" 

The Drill Master strolled over to a wooden table with a few hand axes. Each one had about a foot long wooden handle, with a small but sharp iron edge. In one smooth motion, he picked one up, then threw it strongly at a nearby tree. Thunk! the axe spun a few times in the air before lodging itself deep into the wood. The Drill Master then straighted up and said,

"Your turn!"

Ting! A notification popped up in front of Frigga.

"Basic Skill 'Throw' can be learned."
"Do you want to learn the Basic Skill 'Throw'? Y/N"
"Yes" Frigga mumbled. 
"You have learned the Basic Skill 'Throw'!"
"Help: Learning a Skill

In Age of Heroes, skills are special abilities that your character can perform. There are many ways to learn skills, it is possible to learn skills through a teacher, through skillbooks, or through discovery on your own. To view skills, open your Character Page and select the 'Skills' Tab.

 In order to perform skills smoothly, there is a 'Movement Assist' system that guides you. Performing the skill correctly multiple times will increase Skill Mastery. Higher Skill Mastery helps you perform the skill better, decreases casting speed, and may allow you to learn stronger versions of the Skill."

Dismissing the Help window. Frigga walked over to the table. She picked up the wooden axe, studying it. She felt that the axe's balance was poor, but it was quite light in her hands. 

"Throwing-Axe"
"A wooden Throwing-Axe. Can also be used to hack at wood.
Phys. Attck: +2-3
Durability: 100%
Weight: 0.4kg"

Preparing herself, she eyed the tree which the Drill Master had targetted and mentally visualised throwing the axe. Raising her right arm, she twisted her body before releasing the axe. Thud! Although not quite as deep as the Drill Master, the axe was able to lodge itself atleast into the bark of the tree. As soon as they saw the axe in the tree, the young lads all cheered for her.

 ...So that is movement assist... She thought; it was overly difficult for someone untrained to throw an axe perfectly. But she felt as if an invisible force was guiding her body through the proper motions. In the end, she was able to execute it correctly without failing. However, it's probable that it was still possible to fail if one's form is too poor and the movements are lacking.
 
"Good!" the Drill Master said. Next, the Drill Master grabbed a practice sword before demonstrating the basic skills: Bash, Pierce and Side Step. After learning the skills and mimicking him, she felt that her control over her avatar was improving. The Drill Master nodded to the side, satisfied with her abilities. Breathing heavily, she tiredly collapsed under one of the trees, wiping the sweat off her brow. Drill Master Henry walked over, before saying,

"Good Work! Heh, here's a small reward." He then took out two small glass bottles from his pouch. Each bottle looked like a small round flask, slightly translucent, a cork prevented the contents from flowing. Inside was a thick, viscuous liquid, one colored crimson and the other a light, sky blue on the other. 

"Red and Blue Potions, Red ones help you heal up, while the Blue ones help you recover your energy."

 Frigga reached out to the bottles, before looking at them curiously.

"Red Potion (Low Grade)
"A crimson red colored potion synthesized by an amateur alchemist. It is capable of healing minor wounds and injuries.
+10 HP per 5 seconds
Heals for 50 HP"

"Blue Potion (Low Grade)
"A sky blue colored potion synthesized by an amateur alchemist. It is capable of replenishing mana and energy.
+10 MP per 5 seconds
Replenishes 50 MP"

"Store them in your pouch, you'll never know when you're gonna need it. Don't worry about it breaking, those are pretty sturdy, you'll need to smash it hard to break 'em." 

"Also, If you want to be an adventurer, you should have a proper weapon. We have some stored here, why don't you pick one out?" 

Drill Master Henry pointed at a bench repurposed as a weapons rack, were some weapons were haphazardly propped over. it was a mixture of swords, axes, polearms, daggers, bow and arrows, and a staff. 

Contemplating in silence, Frigga finally chose to pick up the sword. She held it in her hands, automatically equipping the weapon and inspected it. The edge seemed sharp, but the blade itself was slightly asymmetrical. Fortunately, it didn't seem to affect the balance of the sword itself. The handle was made from wood, with a leather strap wound around it to help the user grip it properly.

"Iron Sword"
"A sword forged from wrought iron.
Level Requirement: 3
Phys. Attck: +2-4
Durability: 100%
Weight: 0.8kg" 

"Hmph, if you really want to be a proper adventurer, you should not only know how to fight, you should learn how to cook, get food, and know at least the basic knowledge of the world. Unless you can do that, you will probably only starve in the slums of the big cities." Drill Master Henry finally said.

Ting! The quest completion message popped up as expected.

"Quest: Tutorial Part 2 Completed!"
"Rewards Received: 1 Red Potion (Low Grade), 1 Blue Potion (Low Grade), 1 Sword, 300 EXP"
"Level up! You are now Level 3!"
"Stat points received!"
"Quest Received!"
"Quest: Tutorial Part 3"
.
.
.

--

A new world, a new beginning, what path will you take?

[Natta Blades (Grade 2)]

Damage: 17-23

Effect 1: [Bleed]- Applies the bleed effect when hitting the target's skin. Deal 1 damage every 5 seconds for 1 minute.
Effect 2: [Pairing] - Natta Blades exist as a pair, without their twin blade, reduced the weapons stats and effects by 50%

Li Wei crouched next to Ranger Oleg's body and picked the two daggers. They were unexpectedly Grade 2 equipment! The Natta Blades were an excellent pair of weapons but they paled in comparison to Li Wei's Dark Runic Swords. He swiftly placed them in his inventory and continued to search Ranger Oleg's body.

To his disappointment, there were no more valuables aside from the ring at his finger and the keys to open the graveyard. Having been playing the role of the gravekeeper, Ranger Oleg did not wear any rare equipment. 

"Just too bad... But I hope your brother won't disappoint me."

Li Wei picked the ring and the keys and made his way to Mage Oleg. 

[Skull wand (Grade 2)]
Intelligence +1
Wisdom +1

Skill: [Summon Skeleton]

[Summon Skeleton (level 1)]
Summons a skeleton to fight for the user for 3 minutes. All the stats of the skeleton are equal to the caster's wisdom.
Mana cost: 60
Cooldown: 2 hours.

"What a powerful wand! I was so lucky he did not use this skill!" exclaimed Li Wei. In the hand of a priest who invested a lot in Wisdom, even at this stage, they could summon a skeleton with all stats set at 25. The skeleton would be much stronger than any players or even NPCs at that level.

[Magic Silk Robe (Grade 2)]
Armor +3
Magic resist +7

Skill: [Mana absorption]

[Mana absorption (level 1)]
A passive skill that increases the user's mana regeneration rate.
Mana Regeneration +1/second

"No wonder he was able to cast so many skills. He could regenerate so much mana... It is even better than my [Tear of Fairies]."

Li Wei sent the two pieces of equipment in his inventory and continued to loot.

[Boots of Gelor]
Armor: +6

Skill: [Blink]

[Blink (level 1)]
Instantly teleports the user a short distance away.
Teleportation distance: 3m
Mana cost: 40
Cooldown: 10 minutes

[Aquamarine Trousers]
Magic resist +10

Skill: [Refresh]

[Refresh (level 1)]
Instantly refreshes the cooldown of a skill whose cooldown time is less than two minutes, including itself.
Mana cost: 30
Cooldown: 2 minutes.

Li Wei's eyes widened. What a deadly combo. The Aquamarine Trousers combined with the Magic Silk Robe formed the ideal set of equipment of a mage. "D*mn, I could have been in so much more trouble. Fortunately, he did not blatantly attack me when I was close to his brother."

"Such a pity I am not a mage... These items are so good," exclaimed Li Wei. He looked at the pieces of equipment in his inventory with envy. They were all tailored for mages, however, Li Wei still decided to change his pants for the [Aquamarine Trousers] and his boots for the [Boots of Gelor].

Both items outclassed his previous equipment. He continued to search for more loot but unfortunately, Mage Oleg only had two more rings. He did not have any leg guards, gloves, armguards or hat.

Li Wei briefly looked at the rings but quickly lost interest. He could not take off his [Ring of Chaos] and the ring with [Earth Wall] was still very useful to Li Wei. Unfortunately, the Mage's pendant also exploded after activating its skill earlier.

These were all the equipment Mage Oleg had but aside from that, Li Wei also found an old yellow book in the mage's robe. It was already clearly damaged by time. However, when Li Wei grabbed it, he obtained the following system prompt:

[System prompt: You have found a tome containing the knowledge of the skill: [Roots of Magic]. Do you want to learn this skill? Once used, the tome will be destroyed.]

[Roots of Magic (level 0)]
Mana cost: 0
Cooldown: 5 minutes
Effects: Decrease the mana cost of all skills by 30% and decrease the cooldown of all other skills by 20%
Note: Roots of Magic will be automatically canceled if the user tries to move his legs or is affected by a strong crowd control effect

"D*mn... Another item useful for mages..." complained Li Wei. He thought he struck gold but in truth, all these items were not suitable for him. However, they would still be valuable and would bring him a large sum of money when sold.

"This should be it."

Li Wei stood up. The quest had been completed. He did not need to spend the night here since he now had the keys to the gate of the graveyard. However, as he was about to walk out of the house, Li Wei's gaze briefly landed on the small opening next to the hobs from which Mage Oleg came out.

"Now that I think about it. Since they have been robbing graves, they should have a few good things in there."

He hesitantly went through the small opening which led to a small cache. As soon as he entered, Li Wei was momentarily blinded by the glistening sight. The cache was filled with gold coins and jewels.

After plundering the graveyard for weeks, the twin brother accumulated quite a bit of gold and items. They did not hesitate to sell the items to the black market and had accumulated a small fortune by doing so. They were planning to run away very soon to enjoy their gold in a different town but unfortunately, the sole beneficiary of their shady business would be Li Wei.

[System prompt: You have found a hidden cache. Do you want to automatically add the following items to your inventory: 592 gold, 20 Grade 0 Jewels and 20 Condensed Crystals. Note that non-craftable jewels have already been converted to gold.]

[System prompt: You have found the Quest item: Chalice of Harmony. Do you want to accept the quest: The long lost Chalice.]

[Quest: The long lost Chalice]
Return the chalice to the church at the capital of an empire.
Reward: 10000 exp and a follow-up quest.

"This... This is too great! I knew the rewards for completing the quest would be huge but I did not expect so much!" exclaimed Li Wei. Without hesitation, he agreed to both system prompts. The cache was emptied in an instant as Li Wei's inventory became full.

He looked at his inventory with interest. He now had 619 gold, much more than any player could hope to obtain through normal means. The Grade 0 jewels were materials that could be embedded into weapons. They were not very useful to Li Wei as only Jewellers could use them and this profession could only be unlocked at the capital. As for the Condensed Crystal, they immediately attracted Li Wei's attention.

[Condensed Crystal]
Consume to obtain 1000 exp

Li Wei was delighted. The harvest this time was huge! He was about to use the Condensed Crystal when a thought suddenly crossed his mind.

'Since all these items were essentially robbed from the graves, will I get into trouble if I do not return them all? They should all belong to rich NPCs and their families might come after me... The Condensed Crystals coincidentally give me the exact amount of exp I would have obtained if I submitted the quest.'

He was in a dilemma. The harvest looked too good to be true and after thinking for a while, Li Wei came up with a potential scenario. In the end, he chose to not touch the Condensed Crystals yet. He would first go to the Warrior Association and see whether they would ask for the items. 

'If it was a subjugation quest, it would have been fine to just take everything but this quest is a bit different. It is better to be safe. Using them now won't have much effect anyway. I need more than 40 thousand exp to level up again.'

Li Wei was about to leave the house when suddenly, two system prompts sounded:

[System prompt: An emergency quest has been issued: Save the warehouses!]

[Quest: Save the warehouses(Unique)]

[Information]

The warehouses of Verdan Town have all mysteriously caught fire. Help the guards put out the fire and save the food stored in the warehouses

Task 1: Go to the well near the warehouses and help the guard put out the fire by carrying buckets of water from the well to the warehouses.
Task 2: Save the items still in the warehouses.

Reward: 100 exp per item saved or 100 exp per bucket of water carried

Note: This is an emergency quest. Players do not have to participate. Not participating in any emergency quest will worsen their relationship with the citizens of the town.

[System prompt: An emergency quest has been issued: Find the arsonists!]

[Quest: Find the arsonists(Unique)]

[Information]

The warehouses of Verdan Town have all mysteriously caught fire. The guards have identified that the incident was man-made due to the fire's abnormal resistance to magic. Help the guards find clues about the arsonists.

Task: Find clues about the arsonists and report to the barracks

Reward 1: 20000 exp for each clue given if the arsonists are caught.
Reward 2: Alternatively, players would receive a mysterious reward for arresting the arsonists by themselves.

Note: This is an emergency quest. Players do not have to participate. Not participating in any emergency quest will worsen their relationship with the citizens of the town.

"What? What on earth is happening outside?" exclaimed Li Wei. Having received the system prompts, Li Wei was certain that all the players have also received it and considering the negative effects of refusing, everyone would definitely participate. 

"This is bad." Li Wei briefly looked at his character window. His fatigue was already at 54. It was quite high and after passing 60, his stats would be affected. He was reluctant to take part in the quests but he knew all the other players also had high fatigue levels. Some might even be in worse shape than him.

He quickly left Oleg's house and went to the entrance of the graveyard. In the distance, he could already see part of the town brightly emitting an orange light. He took out the keys and opened the gates but at that moment, two more system prompts sounded:

[System prompt: An emergency quest has been issued: Defend Verdan Town!]

[Quest: Defend Verdan Town(Unique)]

[Information]

The scouts caught sight of a wave of flying demons. They should arrive at Verdan Town in the next ten minutes. Help the town defend against the demons

Task: Go to the barracks and enroll yourself for the night. Assist the guards in killing the flying demons

Reward: 10000 exp 

Note: This is an emergency quest. Players do not have to participate. Not participating in any emergency quest will worsen their relationship with the citizens of the town.

[System prompt: An emergency quest has been issued: Escort the Royals!]

[Quest: Escort the Royals(Unique)]

[Information]

The aim of the flying demons is the Earl's castle. The Earl has ordered for his two sons, the 6th prince and the 7th princess to be evacuated.

Task: Go to the barracks and volunteer to escort one of the four characters during their escape to the next town.

Reward: 10000 exp 

Note: This is an emergency quest. Players do not have to participate. Not participating in any emergency quest will worsen their relationship with the citizens of the town.

"What is this? Two more emergency quests? This cannot be a coincidence. Is it an event? Did somebody trigger it?" 

...

In the middle of the night, Skywalker rushed across the streets, wearing his trusty cloak. "Are you sure we made the right decision? There is a quest that has been released to hunt us!"

Dark King bit his lips. "We knew something like that would happen but as soon as we leave the town, everything will be fine. Nobody will know that we were behind this."

Followed by a group of players, the two players went into a dark alley where a cloaked figure was waiting for them.

"Sir, we have done our part of the plan. As you requested, we swapped some of the fruits for the explosives and put them in the warehouses. At the same time, my men have set the other warehouses on fire. They should be on their way here," solemnly said Dark King.

"Hmmm." The cloaked figure took out his cloak and nodded. If Li Wei was here, he would immediately recognize the cloaked figure as the old identifier!

"You did well. This should have caused enough chaos to split the guards." The old identifier nonchalantly pressed onto one of the bricks behind him. It activated a secret mechanism; with a muffled cranking noise, the wall behind the old man slid open.

"Follow me. Everything you asked for has been prepared. We also prepared an escape path as you requested. However, it is also being used by our men to infiltrate the town." The old identifier guided the players to a secret warehouse where countless boxes full of potions were waiting for them.

Dark King grinned as he saw the glistening potions. At the same time, he received a system prompt:

[System prompt: You have completed the quest "Cause chaos", 100000 exp awarded.]

In an instant, Dark King leveled up to level 18. He received an absurd amount of exp just for completing one quest, allowing him to completely skip level 17. Furthermore, he was not the only one, all the members of Exodia, currently in Verdan Town, received the exact same notification.

The rewards were bountiful. He also got all these boxes of potions that would further increase the stats of his guildmates. However, this quest had a huge risk. If they were caught, not only were they guaranteed to die, they would also suffer in the future as they would be labeled as criminals. This quest was a high-risk high reward quest!

"Dark King. Will our guildmates be fine? They are still running away from the guards. They might get caught," murmured Skywalker.

"Since when did you start to worry about your guildmates? A few losses are inevitable but the majority should be able to make it here. Send them a message and tell them about the brick that opens the wall."

Dark King swiftly commanded the players who transferred all the potions to their inventory. He was delighted. With the massive boost of power they have just received, Exodia should not have any trouble settling in a nearby town. At worst, if they were caught, they would be able to make a name for themselves at the Dark Cities.

The old identifier nodded as he noticed all the potions were gone. He pointed at one of the dark tunnels. "This is the exit. It leads directly outside the town."

However, at that moment, a dark figure emerged from the tunnel, followed by several other men.

The old identifier's eyes lit up. "Gogius! It has been a while. You are still as ugly as the last time I saw you."

"Old man. Time was not very kind to you either. Who are these guys?" asked Gogius as he took off his hood.

"They are the little helpers I found to cause some chaos. Some of the guards of the castle should have left to deal with the fire and with the incoming wave of demons, the castle would be even more defenseless," said the identifier.

"Good. Let's move quickly then. Our goal this time is the Eye of Mydas. It is one of the jewels found in the treasury of the Earl. According to the Messenger, it is a very powerful item that would be useful for the Heir of Darkness to release his third seal. He has already dispatched the flying demon corps to help us with this task."

"Got it. Looks like the faction is sparing no efforts in getting the best materials for the heir. Any regular jewels would have been alright but they are going for the best of the best," commented the old identifier.

"Do not question the orders of the Messenger." Gogius took the lead as several cloaked figures emerged out of the tunnel.

Dark King and the other players froze as they observed the long line of powerful NPCs making their way out of the secret tunnel. 'Looks like it was the right decision to not oppose these lunatics'

At that moment, a voice sounded next to Dark King. "By the way, Dark King. I have a proposition to make. Since you have already helped us cause chaos, why don't you help us in our next task?"

In 2050, an unprecedented nuclear disaster forced all human beings to find shelter in undergrounds refuge. Not knowing when the level of radiation will reach acceptable levels, the world leaders decided to bet everything on the next generation. They reallocated all their resources into a single project. A new VRMMORPG about to be released is redesigned to accommodate the world population. It will not only provide people with a goal and leisure but also serve as a test to find the future leaders that will rebuild Earth.


Follow the adventures of an orphan as he climbs from nothing to the very top. He will face many difficulties, venture into a boundless world and finally build up his own kingdom. Caught in the storm of the struggles for power, he has no choice but to grow stronger. This is the story of the man to be known as the Emperor of Chaos.

Here's an edited version available on Amazon: 
Book 1: https://amzn.to/2MuPDF6

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nikostar2

dear journal i guess my therapist says it's good for me to write in a journal cause of all you know stress. anyway I guess I should write about my day, let's see well my day was crap, at least Mary wasn't at school that was the only good thing today besides the new episode of mha. I forgot to mention I'm a weed and have been for years I love anime it's awesome, anyway Mary reminds me of bakugo when he was in middle school, she's a jerk. she's my bully, she's been my bully sense grade school she's the worst I mean who in there right mind would be dumb enough to make fun of anime like cmon. anyway I just watched season 3 of mha it was pretty good although I haven't watched the first episode of season 4  I'm to scared so I don't think I'm gonna until the entire seasons out anyway.
that's it bye bye.

Five: "Just letting you know. I just signed a contract with the Hurricane Alliance. I have the [Void Contract] with me in case something happens though. I'll look into what they are doing to deal with the E26. They have so many dungeons in the empire; they have most probably already found the dungeon."

Iris: "The Hurricane Alliance? They wanted to recruit me earlier but I turned down their offer. They were quite persistent and sent a few threats but became silent all of a sudden after your battle with Farsight. They probably asked you to meet the other players there. You should be careful with who you interact with at alliance."

Five: "I was not aware of this. What do you mean by that?"

Iris: "From your answer, I can tell you never accepted the friend request of any other player."

Iris: "In every alliance, there is a group called 'Anarchy'. They are a group of players who used to be members of an international criminal group in reality before the game. They still maintained contact with each other and although they were forced to sign contracts with the alliances to develop quickly, the members of that group are all actively seeking to break free from their contract and reform their group."

Iris: "Actually, they have a few members who refused to join any alliance and these people have already formed a group. They invited all the dungeon masters not affiliated with any alliance, including me. To be honest, I am considering joining them. It would be more accurate to describe them as a community; they have no actual obligations. They are more like a mercenary group and if the reward you offer is high enough, they will lend you a hand."

Five: "Never heard of it. But I will keep an eye open for this. Thanks for the info."

Iris: "No problem. Look for any information about the owner of the E26. The problem is intensifying at my dungeon; my monsters are catching at least one title holder per day."

Five: "Build a quarantine at the gates and deny them entry. You cannot continue killing them or the inhabitants of your town will start worrying about their own security."

"Cough Cough."

At that moment, Dreidus lightly coughed, bringing Five back to reality.

The latter embarrassedly glanced at the lich. 'D*mn! I got engrossed in the conversation. I said I would keep my distance and only send one message per day. She just had to reply so quickly and hit an important point at that...'

"Master, look at the screen. The monsters are coming," said Dreidus as he pointed at the screen. With the Eye Extender having fused with the dungeon core, they were now able to see the forest outside the dungeon.

On the screen, several black dots in the sky were making their way toward the dungeon. Five nodded and quickly typed on his chat log.

Five: "I got to go. Something to do with the alliance."

Iris: "Gotcha. Remember to keep your [Void Contract] in your inventory in case something happens."

Five closed his interface and focused his attention on the screen. On a second screen, he saw Harriet, Ignis, and Ishan waiting at the entrance. The monsters had rather gloomy expressions.

Harriet had been in this mood since her defeat against Ivan. She blamed herself for the death of so many monsters and wanted to get stronger. She wanted to prove herself and show to everyone that she was strong enough to be the guardian of the dungeon. This wave of monsters was a huge opportunity for her. She would get to level up a lot and once she reached her level cap, the rest of the monsters would be given to Ishan and Ignis.

"Don't you think that Ishan is in a bad mood? I said nothing yesterday but he looks like he wants to murder someone," commented Five.

"Yeah. If we mentioned it yesterday, it would be like rubbing salt on his wounds. He failed his evolution." Dreidus explained.

"So that's why. No wonder he wanted Ignis to come with him. His level cap is only level 45. He should be able to quickly reach that level. When you see him, tell him not to worry, he will have other opportunities to evolve. By the way, are you sure you do not want to join them, Dreidus?" 

The lich shook his head. "No. After our defeat, I fell down to level 39. This is perfect for me if I want to become a high-quality Lich Journeyman. If I was at level 40 and went through the ritual, I would just become a low-quality Lich Evoker. Because going through the ranks using the system only increases levels by ten, it is better for me to be at high quality."

"I see. This way, the last digit of your level will always be a '9' rather than a '0'."

On the screen, Five saw his monsters retreat into the dungeon, allowing the enemy monsters to enter the dungeon. If they were killed inside the dungeon, he would obtain the full amount of DP. 

The monsters were a large group of birds. There were level 20 Black Ravens, level 25 Flying Rainbow Pheasants, level 30 Dark Hawks, and so on. The birds entered the dungeon and obediently landed in front of Harriet, waiting to be killed.

Five watched the scene with interest. The old dungeon masters were not allowed to directly send their monsters to younger ones and among the players, no one could afford such a large army of birds. It could only mean that all these birds were wild animals, just like the Black Raven who agreed to join the dungeon a few days ago when delivering the letter. 

'So many birds... Just like Entomology, someone has a core of Ornithology? I would not be surprised if that was the case.' 

The massacre started. With the birds not resisting, they all perished after a few hits but there were so many of them that Harriet's attacks seemed to be ineffective. Outside, a massive flock of birds was circling around the dungeon.

Five briefly glanced at his DP count and saw it increasing rapidly. There was no point in watching his monsters dealing with the birds. instead, he took out a few items from his inventory.

[Demonic Shackles]

Activate to bind the prisoner of a dungeon core. Once bound, the prisoner will be forcefully weakened and require more resources to break free from his prison.

Max upgrades of Dungeon Core before the prisoner can break free +1

The Core of Madness reacted as soon as the Demonic Shackles appeared. It flashed emitting a dim light. It was scared; Lavenus instinctively knew the effects of the Demonic Shackles.

Five was amused by the Core of Madness' terrified reaction. "What? You are scared now? You say you were wrong and want to apologize?"

He smiled evilly. "It is too late."

The Demonic Shackles shone and like two snakes, they rushed toward the Dungeon Core and disappeared inside. Five received the notification that the Demonic Shackles were in effect, but there were no signs showing it. 

"Good. Now, let's feed you the Cores and see what we'll get from you," said Five. He took out the two Phantom Cores and the Core of Wilderness.

Starting with a Phantom Core, Five fed the core to the Core of Madness.

[System prompt: Your Core of Madness has successfully consumed a Phantom Core.]

[System prompt: You are awarded 400000 DP.]

Five disappointedly looked at the system prompts. "That's it? Nothing else? Quite disappointing."

He grabbed the second Phantom Core and again pushed it into the Core of Madness. The Phantom Core disappeared and the same system prompts appeared but that was it.

"What? Where is the upgrade? You already had three cores if we count the Core of Flames from before. Still no upgrade? You are going to cost me a lot to upgrade!"

Five narrowed his eyes as he grabbed the Core of Wilderness. "There better be some results this time." He brought the two cores together and to his delight, he received the following system prompts:

[System prompt: Your Core of Madness has successfully consumed the Core of Wilderness.]

[System prompt: You are awarded 400000 DP.]

[System prompt: Congratulations Player Five. The Core of Madness has been upgraded to Grade 3]

[System prompt: The Core of Madness can now display an additional effect. Please choose from the following:
1. Entomology - Increase the breeding rate of all insect type monster by 150% and increase all their stats by 3
2. Flame Birth - Unlocks the ability to Build Flame Nests. Each Flame Nest can give birth to one societal Fire-type Monster per day.
3. Wilderness - Increase all the stats of non-societal monsters by 10%
4. ??? - ??? (Currently locked due to low level)] 

"Finally!" exclaimed Five as his eyes lit up. The dungeon core finally upgraded itself after consuming four cores! 

'Looks like the number of cores required doubles each time... It is going to be hard to upgrade it again.'

He turned his attention to the new options available to him. He was familiar with Entomology; it was one of the bonus he was offered last time but its buff was improved. It now increased all stats by three instead of two. The breeding rate was higher too.

However, Five was more interested in the other two buffs. Both were extremely useful; Flame Birth would allow him to save a lot of DP while Wilderness would greatly boost the power of his monsters. Non-societal monsters represented the majority of a dungeon's monsters.

'Only two new buffs and they seem to be associated with the Core of Flames and the Core of Wilderness. I suppose Phantom Cores are just bad quality cores that do not offer any bonus,' thought Five. He turned toward Dreidus and explained the different buffs to him.

After a few minutes, they came up to a conclusion and another system prompt sounded:

[System prompt: You have chosen Flame Birth. Updating the Core of Madness]

[Information]

[Core of Madness](Grade 3)(Upgradable)
Controls the overall operations of the dungeon. Once taken out of the dungeon or destroyed, the dungeon and dungeon master will be destroyed

Effect 1: DP gained +8%
Effect 2: Dwarfism - Increase the crafting success rate of all monsters shorter than 1.5m and increase all their stats by 1. 
Effect 3: Flame Birth - Automatically builds two Flame Nests. Each Flame Nest can give birth to one societal Fire-type Monster per day.
Effect 4: The Dungeon Master and all the dungeon's Boss Monsters will also learn the skills provided by the Core of Madness.

Skill: [Frenzy], [Hysteria], [Berserk], [Surrender to Madness]

[Frenzy(level 2)]
User temporarily sacrifices part of his Intelligence and Wisdom in exchange for an increase in Strength and Dexterity:

Intelligence and Wisdom -5
Strength and Dexterity +8
Duration: 4 minutes

Can be used thrice per day.

[Hysteria(level 1)]
User sacrifices HP and MP in exchange for an increase in Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom.
HP & MP - 8/second
Strength and Dexterity +4
Wisdom +4

The skill automatically comes to a stop if the user's HP or MP is insufficient.
Can be used twice per day

[Surrender to Madness]
Exchange one-third of your soul and obtain the power of the Mad King Lavenus for one hour.
Cost: One-third of your soul
Duration: One hour

[Berserk(level 0)]
User becomes unable to distinguish between allies and foes in exchange for an increase in all stats.
All stats +2
Duration: 2 minutes
Can only be used once per day and in the presence of an ally.

Five wore a satisfied smile. All the skills given by the dungeon core improved. As for the new skill, [Berserk], Five did not know how to react to it. Its effects were definitely powerful but so were the drawbacks! Furthermore, it could only be used if an ally was present; it was like the dungeon core was saying that it wanted the user to harm his allies.

Five did not need to explain the detail to Dreidus. Due to one of the effects of the core, he automatically learned about the properties of the new skill.

The dungeon core flashed as two bright orange spheres emerged from the galaxy inside the orb. They landed on the wooden table and roll toward Five.

The latter briefly glanced at the orange spheres and an information window appeared.

[Flame Nest]
Sacrifice one monster to the nest. Every day, the Flame Nest will give birth to a new monster from the species of the sacrifice.

Note: Boss Monsters cannot be sacrificed.

After being betrayed, framed and kicked down to the ground, our protagonist was sentenced to life imprisonment. But a few days later, a global disaster occurred, people from all nations migrated to underground refuges.

As a prisoner, he thought his life was over, abandoned by everyone. However, he wakes up, greeted by Gaia, the person responsible for New Earth.

New Earth was a second chance for him, watch as he builds up his own dungeon and become known by all as the Emperor of Madness

Note that this is a slow novel and dungeon building only takes place after 40 chapters

[Note: I am also posting this novel on RoyalRoadLegends: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/18115/new-earth--the-dungeon-of-madness]

Here's an edited version available on Amazon: 
Book 1: https://amzn.to/2MwyMBG
Book 2: https://amzn.to/2U9R6lp
Book 3: https://amzn.to/2UdVbVx

Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/nikostar2

While Sukehime was stalling for time outside the Nether flame array, Inside it unlike the rest of the team James did not go back to practicing, Instead he was in a deep thought, this thought has been bugging him from the very beginning the team had entered the Terror world but rest of the team seem to have forgotten about this. With a frown on his face he was intently staring at the prompt logs of his status screen.

The prompt at which James was looking at was the one which appeared informing him about the scenario and main taskline. 

This prompt not only informed them about the Scenario and its Main taskline but it also Alerted them about Leon using the scenario search prop ' Nether Flame Fiends Bone fragment '. not only it alreated them about his betrayal but also about the consequence of using the Scenario search prop. 

The team is now facing two penalties for the usage of the Scenario Search prop. 

Penalty 1 : Scenario reward decreased by 10%

Penalty 2 : Explore by oneself

The first penalty is not that serious but still causes a huge loss to the team as the scenario clearing rewards are decreased by 10%. a 10% reduction may sound less but it is enough to decrease the grade of the reward by one level but at least it did not bring any risk or threat for the survival of the team or affect their main task. Even though James was not rich enough to ignore this penalty, he valued his life more. Therefore this penalty did not trouble James very much. 

The Second Penalty was tricky, Explore by oneself ? What do you even make of it? This penalty raised red flags in James's head. It was like the system was telling the team that it had hidden a landmine in the scenario and they had to be 20 times more careful than they are to avoid stepping on it.

Fortunately, this type of penalty was mentioned in one of the books of the school library. According to the predecessor's memories this kind of penalty is not new, previously Terror walker teams have faced this penalty for using different scenario props, but the success rate of clearing a main task with this penalty could not be calculated because of insufficient data. as only two teams ever made it out to report such a penalty. Even though these two teams made it out alive they had faced heavy casualties and deaths. The surviving members had to disband their team and join other teams.

Even though both teams faced the same penalty 'explore by oneself' they faced totally different enemies.  

The first team found out that one the character of the main task in their scenario was not who he claimed to be and he would kill one team member every night. unable to find out the culprit their team slowly fell apart with internal dispute. But fortunately they were able to finish the main task on the 4 day after the 3rd night, but by then they had already lost 3 team members. The remaining 2 team members after the completion of the Main task did not dare to spend an extra second in the Scenario and return to the earth. After submitting their completed task to World Terror they came to know how their comrade's died in the scenario summary prompt shown in their Status screen. 

The second Team faced a different type of an situation, their scenario main task was to join the main lead and stop a group of cult people from summoning the demon but when they were about to stop the cult people their penalty kicked in and their main task suddenly changed from joining the main lead and stopping a group of cult people from summoning the demon to Joining the cult people to successfully summoning the Demon and then slay the demon. Clearly the world terror wanted them to face the Demon as penalty. Inprocess of slaying the demon their team once again joined the Main Lead shamelessly and finally managed to kill the demon. But in this process they lost the strongest member and the medic of their team. Once they got back to earth they had to disband and join other teams because their team could not find a trustworthy Medic and damage dealer.

Either case would be a disaster for the team as they are very weak, anyone one of Sukehime or Hito or Masako could easily massacre the entire team without breaking a sweat. Clearly, the 2 penalty is a serious threat but the team could not do anything about it except be more alert. 

James wanted to tell the team about the 2 penalty at the beginning but then he decided against it because at that time the team was already at the brink of breaking apart under the pressure of the terror world and the fact that one of them betrayed them all. At that time telling them how serious the 2 penalty is, would be like dropping a bomb on an already demolished building.

With passing time even James had put this issue on the back of his head, but James noticed an unusuality a few moments ago which made him think of the 2nd penalty again. 

Fortunately this unusuality was also recorded in the prompt log of the status screen, proving that James' doubts were not unfounded. James scrolled through the prompts in the Status screen, the more he looked at these prompts the more confused he became. 

[ Ding! Host has received a 9 star occupation prop ' Animal Totem ']
[ Ding! Host has received a 9 star occupation prop ' Elemental Totem ']
[ Ding! Host has received a 9 star occupation prop ' Teacher Totem ' ]
[ Ding! Host has received a 9 star occupation prop ' Healer Totem '  ]

These were the prompts James read when he got the 4 totems from Sukehime, then James scrolled down again and saw the prompts he received after taking the Vitality core from Masako.

[ Ding! Host received a 7 star Scenario Item 'Vitality Stone' from Npc Masako. ]
[ Ding! Check status for further information on 'Vitality Stone'. ]

Looking at both the prompts in the log James easily spotted where the unusuality was.

When he received the totems from Sukehime there was no mention of Sukehime in the prompt, this did not look suspicious it looked like a normal prompt but when you compare this to the Masako's prompt, it raises flags.

In the prompt received after taking vitality stone from Masako it clearly mentions that the vitality stone was given by NPC Masako. 

The system seemed to clearly identify Masako and her NPC status but for some reason it does not seem to identify Sukehime. Clearly it is a clue left by the prompt for them to explore the 2nd penalty. 

Though the clue did not clearly mention the penalty, it was clear that it had something to do with Sukehime and her Identity. 

Then James compared his current dilemma with what his predecessor had read in the school's library and came to a conclusion that what he was facing right now was somewhat similar to what team One from the book faced. 

According to Team one Survivors one of the Characters of the main task line was not who claimed to be and killed one team member from their team every night in their sleep, which they knew from the Scenario Summary in the Status screen. So, the Identity of one of the characters was false and he seemed to want to kill one member every night in their sleep. 

The Identity problem with one of the characters in the main task was similar to James's problem with Sukehime and her identity. As for the killing part, James thought Sukehime would not do such things as she can kill the entire team with a wave of her hand, but he still can't be sure because still 20 hours has not passed since the team has entered the Terror world therefore they never slept not giving the chance to Sukehime to kill them in their sleep.

After all the brainstorming even though James could not solve the mystery to why Sukehime's name did not appear in prompt but one thing was clear that Sukehime was not who she claimed to be and the team was in grave danger.

James wanted to alert the rest of the team but then thinking about their acting skills he decided not to do so because Sukehime knows that they are on to her will only hasten their demise. And also because even if the team knew about this they could nothing but panic adding to James' currency problems.

So James decided to improve his strength for now and see what sukehime as planned for them. Thick of increasing strength James thought of learning the four totems given dy Sukehime. 

James chose Elemental totem as he had attained a wind elemental Natural rune 'boundless wide' so it would be easier for him to master this totem first. Thinking that James used his Soul organ to connect with totem and make a copy of it. 

[ Ding! Host used Moneta's Fork on 'Elemental Totem' ]

[ Ding! Moneta's Fork connected with ' Elemental Totem']

[ Alert! A harmful Inscription detected ' Charm slave Inscription ' ]

[ Warning! Requesting host not to use spiritual strength to scan Elemental Totem, Using spiritual strength on Elemental totem will lead to Host being attacked by ' Charm slave Inscription ']

Reading these Prompts on his status James cursed inwardly 'WTF!'

World Terror is about a male lead who reincarnates in a parallel world which is facing Apocalypse under the threat of World Terror, the ruler of Terror multiverse. Terror Multiverse is a dark sandy cloud above the Original Multiverse, Terror Multiverse is formed of every Dreams, Imaginations, fears, fantasy's, wishes and regrets ever thought or created in the original multiverse. Terror Walkers, the heros and the last hope of this parallel world's Humankind walk the various Terror World's while gaining strength and continuously evolving themselves in order to save the Human Kind from World Terror and other foreign Invaders. The Male lead having reincarnated into a fantasy world decides to climb the top of the new world's food chain with the help of his powerful and unique soul to ensure his and his loved ones safety.
...................
Schedule - 7ch/week.

Join my discord - https://discord.gg/MkKyRg

Ara ran inside the house, kicking off her shoes while Mrs. Choi yelled at her. She sheepishly stood in the doorway before rushing up to her room. Ara came out of the bathroom in pajamas with dried hair. She looked in the mirror. She was a taller girl standing at 5'5. She was averagely built, long wavy coal black hair. She wore rounded black glasses, but her skin was average. She had slightly crooked teeth, but not overly noticeable.

  Ara sighed softly as she gave herself one more look before walking over to her bed. She sat at her desk and looked through her things. She pulled out her journal, examining it. "It didn't get wet, thank goodness" she had a soft smile as she flipped open the book's cover and wrote her contact information. She looked out her window in front of her desk. She clearly could see a back way of arches. She sat looking out the window sketching it quickly. Her sister, Eunji, ran up behind her. Eunji's hair was a mess as she held a broken doll. A small sigh escaped Ara as she closed her journal and put it into her bag. She took the doll and opened her desk drawer. She pulled out some string and tweezers. She re strung the doll's joints and handed it back to Eunji, "Jiji be more careful". Eunji smiled widely and then ran off jumping and going onto her bed to play with her newly fixed doll. 

 A voice yelled from downstairs, belonging to the mother of the two girls.

"Ara, Eunji go to bed!"

The girls both looked at each other and then ran to their beds, getting under the covers before both yelling back 

"Ok"

      Loud noises rang throughout the house as Mrs. Choi rushed her daughters awake. Ara sat up easier then her sister, Eunji, who whined. Ara got changed into her uniform and checked through her bag before running downstairs. She grabbed her lunch card off the stand and slid her shoes on. She waved goodbye and slightly tripped as she ran off. She followed behind some other students who were walking in a group. As she walked a girl was running to catch up with the group when she saw Ara. The girl approached, 

 "Hi! I'm Min Haeun"

 Ara turned to look over the girl. Haeun was tall, standing at 5'6 with long black straight hair down to her lower back. She had deep brown eyes with a natural double fold. She smiled with perfect teeth. Ara was caught off guard by this clearly pretty girl's overtly niceness. 

 "I'm Choi Ara"

 Haeun walked next to Ara, talking to her about what Ara's old school had been like. Ara wasn't an overly social person, and usually didn't talk to too many people but she continued to talk to Haeun anyways. By the time that they arrived at the school Ara had learned a lot about Haeun, and Haeun had learned the basics about Ara. They found they were both in the same grade and class. 

    The girls were walking when a guy pulled up to the school on a scooter and parked it. Some girls looked at him and smiled. A younger girl with curly brown hair and braces walked up to him sheepishly, holding a lunchbox in her hands. She offered it to the male who stood at 5'9, he had dark black slightly wavy hair, he wore it in a middle part with slight bangs and otherwise pretty short hair. Haeun pointed him out as Park Changmin, a guy in the same grade as them.

      Changmin rejected the girl who went back to her friends looking at the ground. He grabbed his bag off his bike as Ara rushed Haeun to hurry to homeroom. The girls looked around at seats. Haeun said goodbye to Ara as she was pulled off to a seat with a shorter girl. Ara looked around and saw the last two empty seats. She shrugged and sat in one, to which she was instantly called to by Haeun "Big mistake" she said. She went to get up and the teacher told her to sit down. Ara nervously mouthed to Haeun "What? Why?" to which Haeun replied "You chose a seat next to, just you'll see in a minute"

     Ara nervously took out her books and put her head down ever so slightly. Then in walked Park Changmin. Who sat next to Ara. As soon as Ara saw a figure in the seat next to her she looked over slightly before realizing it was the guy who harshly rejected the girl this morning. She looked over to Haeun "Really?" she mouthed. Haeun nodded sheepishly and then the teacher coughed to break the silence, "Welcome back to school students, please welcome our new student Choi Ara". The teacher was a male standing at 5'11 with brownish black hair. He was in his mid 20's early 30's. He motioned for Ara to stand up. She did and bowed slightly "Hello, I'm Choi Ara."

 Silence, then some murmurs, then the teacher spoke "You can sit now". Ara nodded slightly and sat down. She looked over to see Changmin with his head half laying on the desk. She shrugged and pulled out her math book. "Turn to page 13, and try practice problem 3" Ara did the problem looking it over and then setting her pencil down.

 During the break Ara took out her journal and continued to refine the sketch she was working on last night, a hand reached over and grabbed it.

Highschool transfer student Choi Ara is your classic case of a cliche highschool girl. If this is the part where I tell you she is rich, wealthy, and beautiful you could not be more wrong. She is your cliche, average girl. With a talent for design, she works hard to achieve her dreams. With a goal of attending the famous college in Seoul, Seoul National University, and graduating with a degree and internship/job at a company. She won't let anything stop her, not bullies, boys, romance, or will she?

  But with every school you have your hierarchy, she just happened to stumble into the turf war between Lee Seongjae, and Park Changmin. Lee Seongjae, or Jae for short, was raised in the nicer area of Seoul. Top student in the year above Ara, a strong love for the arts and medicine. Natural beauty, overly sweet and caring to everyone. Park Changmin, was raised in the lower income area of Seoul. Was a top student in the same year as Ara. He isn't known to have a strong love for anything other than sports, a preference for basketball. Working multiple part time jobs, seemingly a cold shoulder type of guy.

It can't go that bad can it? I mean it's only highschool, college, friendship, love and boys...right?

In short, by sending out all this kind of stuff that is not useful at all, Zhou Xuan can not only save a lot of time, but also be appreciated by the uncles and granddaughters in the village.

Kill two birds with one stone

"I'm definitely a cleaning genius"

Zhou Xuan quickly acted according to the plan, clearing out all the worthless things in the Zongmen.

Then, greet the uncles and uncles in the village to come over and make a point.

"Ding"

"Total score of the current Zongmen environment 3 points"

I have to say that Zhou Xuan's plan has made great progress in stages.

After the worthless stuff was sent out, although the carefrees became much more empty, the spacious environment was undoubtedly more comfortable.

The overall score also jumped from 1 point to 3 points.

"Next, it's all on my own."

Folding up his sleeves, he took brooms, wooden buckets, rags, etc. Zhou Xuan didn't waste a little time, and devoted himself directly to the cleaning.

Night is already deep.

There are countless clear glows on the moon.

At this moment, five hours have passed since Zhou Xuan began cleaning.

Although tired enough, his whole body is sore and numb, but Zhou Xuan's "war result" is undoubtedly extremely brilliant.

The floors and walls of several halls were polished by him.

Numerous furnishings have also become orderly.

The worry-free faction is completely ruined and renewed.

"Ding"

"The total score of the current Zongmen environment is 5 points."

"Congratulations to the host, complete the difficult task, and get a counterattack of the lower grade."

"Within 10 minutes after the use of the Xiapin Anti-Wound Charm, monks below the fifth level of true vigor, all forms of killing punches, kicks, knives, sword stabs, poisoning, etc. on the host will remain intact Ground to hurt him. "

After a series of system prompts sounded in his mind, Zhou Xuan felt that a red spell appeared in his space ring.

This spell is very simple, small and similar in style to the previous one.

It's just that the light spot it shines on is the word "anti-injury".

"That is to say, as long as I use the anti-trauma, others will hit me, and it will become his own hit."

Zhou Xuan's eyes brightened and she was pleasantly surprised. "The effect of this stuff is absolutely amazing."

Obviously, Zhou Xuan was very satisfied with the rewards for the ordinary and difficult tasks.

The successful completion of two consecutive times also boosted Zhou Xuan's confidence and thought that hell-level difficult tasks could be challenged.

So, after shaking his spirits, he began to urge in his heart.

"System, show me, hell-level missions"

As soon as the words fell, Zhou Xuan's eyes appeared with a golden text.

Currently groundable missions

It 's ridiculous that there is n't even a decent disciple, so please ask the host to recruit a suitable disciple as soon as possible

It is required that the qualifications of the disciples recruited shall not be lower than the top grade.

Time limit of three days

Mission Reward Extreme Temple of Heaven Junior School Construction

"This hell-level difficulty is too exaggerated."

After reading the mission description, Zhou Xuan's smile instantly freezes, and her face is irreplaceable.

The reason is very simple. After Zhou Kong, the patriarch of the creative school, was deceived by heavy begging sons, the worry-free school was reduced to the laughingstock of major gates within dozens of miles.

I don't know how many people sneered at the carefrees.

I'm just afraid that no one wants to join.

It is conceivable how difficult the carefrees are now

During this time, despite Zhou Xuan's best efforts, he even cheated, and even promised to send a rock candy gourd every day, he still could not recruit one of the most ordinary disciples.

As for recruiting a disciple who is not inferior to top grade

Ha ha.

This is basically the same as saying that dreams are not much different

Qualification and quality, what is the concept

To put it simply,

Possessing top-quality qualifications is definitely a genius who is one of the best

The worry-free ancestral ancestor and prestigious Zhou Kong, who are so famous for more than ten years, are just Chinese-style qualifications.

And well known.

As long as a qualified genius grows up smoothly, he will definitely be able to dominate a town in the future and become the object of admiration by countless people.

Therefore, once the qualified genius appears, it will cause a lot of madmen to compete.

Under such circumstances, I would like to ask, where can Zhou Xuan have the opportunity to recruit a talented disciple who is not inferior to top grade?

"This, system, are you making a typo? It should be that the qualification is not lower than the lower grade," Zhou Xuan asked with a bit of hope.

In front of Zhou Xuan, a paragraph of text appeared again

Task description is not wrong

Please bear in mind that not everyone can join our carefree

In addition, given that our worry-free faction is the most compelling sect of the Yanhuang continent, the current worship fee for this sect is Xiapin Lingshi, which changes at any time according to the status of the sect.

According to this rule, the system has set up a wooden sign in front of the mountain gate for notification, and the host must not change or void it without authorization.

"Bai Zong Fei, 1 Xing Pin Ling Stone"

Taking a sigh of relief, Zhou Xuan was already shocked and his entire face was stiff. "This, this is a bit exaggerated."

No wonder Zhou Xuan would have this reaction.

You know, a good spirit stone can be worth two hundred gold.

In the area around Qingyang Town, the most powerful 3-star Zongmen Boxing faction, Baizong fee is only a small amount of gold.

The one-star worry-free worship fee is 100 times higher than the three-star worship

If such an outrageous thing is known to outsiders, I am afraid that on the spot, I will doubt whether the head of Zhou Xuan is crazy.

"In three days, I want to find a person with a qualification above the top grade, but also willing to pay a lower grade spirit stone as a disciple of worship."

Shrugging his shoulders, Zhou Xuan's face was filled with helplessness, "Even if I have the ability to perceive qualifications, I'm afraid there is no hope."

Thinking of this, Zhou Xuanwei only secretly began to pray. He has helped the grandmother to cross the road and accumulated the character that can erupt once.

Otherwise, his first hell-level mission can only end in failure.

"Anyway, sleep peacefully before talking"

The next day.

The gentle sun shines on the earth.

Tete, Tete, Tete.

An elegant carriage is now on the road to Qingyang Town.

"Hundred flowers are blooming, birds singing and dancing, the scenery here is really good"

On the carriage, a teenager who was a little closer to his sister-in-law in temperament was looking through the curtains and was too lazy to admire the beauty of the outside world.

"Master, it's Yingge Yanwu, not a bird song." An old white-browed man in the carriage couldn't help but correct it.

The strongest invincible Zongmen system. There is a mysterious and strange Zongmen. This sect is very small, but its rules are amazing. Even heavenly pride of God's quality comes to worship, and he is rejected. Someday. The overwhelming suzerain suddenly announced to the public that "there is a lack of miscellaneous people, who would like to come to me, me, and me" For this miscellaneous

"Dragon's Blood Elixir?"
Lu Changkong took the satchel from Ni Yu, who had been exhausted. It still had fifteen Dragon's Blood Elixirs in it.
Ni Yu nodded feebly. She was a little depressed.
Others took elixirs to improve themselves, while she almost died from taking these elixirs…
She almost could not breathe…
Not until then did she recall how the Young Master had warned her before she had taken the elixir. The side effect of Dragon's Blood Elixirs turned out to be so severe for her.
No wonder he did not let Ning Zhao and Yi Yue take any.
Lu Changkong took one Dragon's Blood Elixir from the satchel. Observing the crystal red Dragon's Blood Elixir, he noticed that it had three patterns on it, which moved like small snakes.
"This elixir…"
Lu Changkong fixed his eyes on it. He could feel that the energy contained in the elixir was powerful.
"Young Master said these elixirs are used to build foundations. They can give martial arts practitioners a solid foundation and improve their strengths," Ni Yu said feebly.
"Young Master refined these elixirs in person. It only has a moderate side effect."
Lu Changkong was stunned. A moderate side effect?
Was she serious?
Looking at Ni Yu, quite limp at the moment, Lu Changkong was a little speechless.
"Lord, let a subordinate take one first," Luo Yue said seriously, cupping his hands.
"Now that since the Young Master refined these, they must be harmless."
Lu Changkong did not refuse. He gave Luo Yue the Dragon's Blood Elixir.
Luo Yue was not a Grandmaster, but he had been stuck as a first-class martial arts practitioner for many years.
Luo Yue put the elixir into his mouth without hesitation.
Soon enough, something was changing in him.
Beads of sweat formed in his head, and then he felt his blood was boiling.
Luo Yue took two or three steps back, roaring in a low voice.
It seemed like energy was gushing out of every pore in his body.
Lu Changkong turned serious when he sensed the tumbling Qi and blood.
Luo Yue's eyes were bright and clear as if a jiao dragon was tumbling in his pupils.
"Lord!"
Luo Yue roared in a low voice.
He turned aside suddenly and threw several punches in a row.
An unreal shadow in the shape of jiao dragon gushed out and hit the white jade rail.
The stone rail was smashed into pieces.
Suddenly, Qi burst from Lu Changkong's body. He stopped those stone pieces from flying all over.
He also looked excited.
Luo Yue had just realized a breakthrough!
And it was not an average one. It was a heavenly breakthrough. The power of that punch could even be compared to Lu Changkong's attacks!
After all, Lu Changkong was a martial arts practitioner who had refined Spirit Qi!
"Young Master said the Lord could use these elixirs to train a team of guards, and they could be Beiluo City's trump card."
Ni Yu's lips drooped down at the edges.
She was upset. Why didn't Luo Yue fart after taking the elixir, while she farted in such a shocking manner?
"Good. Good. Good."
Lu Changkong's eyes lit up when he had heard Ni Yu.
"Use Dragon's Blood Elixirs to train a Dragon Blood Army. Together with the cultivators trained in the Dragon Gate in the Secret Realm… Such an army will absolutely be invincible in the Great Zhou Dynasty!" Lu Changkong said, closing his fist.
Next to him, Luo Yue was feeling uncomfortably hot, but he was as excited as Lu Changkong.
"Old Luo, you and Luo Cheng will be the Dragon Blood Army's generals! You will lead the army to protect Beiluo and White Jade City!" Lu Changkong said.
Luo Yue knelt down on one knee. Cupping his hands, he answered, "Copy that!"
******
Lake Island, Beiluo.
It was late and dark.
Sitting straight in the wheelchair, Lu Fan stopped before the rail. He was gazing at the stars in the sky, like an old monk in meditation.
Lu Fan was focusing on the system page at the moment.
[Host: Lu Fan]
[Title: Qi Refiner (permanent)]
[Refined Qi Level: 3 (progress toward Refined Qi Level 4: 1,000/10,000 wisps)]
[Soul Strength: 85 (exchangeable: 0)]
[Physique Strength: 6 (exchangeable: 6)]
[Spirit Qi: 900 wisps]
His Spirit Qi had reached the maximum amount of 1,000 wisps. He was qualified to level up to Refined Qi Level 3.
In fact, Lu Fan had been expecting Refined Qi Level 3 for a long time.
Lu Fan got 20 Available Points when Li Sansi had reached Internal Organs Realm. The Torch Dragon became a heavenly dragon descendant, so he got 10 extra Available Points. Lu Fan added all of the 30 points to his Soul Strength, and that was converted to more than 800 wisps of Spirit Qi. Together with the Spirit Qi he received from the breakthrough of Li Sansi, Nie Changqing, and Ning Zhao and the Spirit Qi he received from the many cultivators born in the eight Dragon Gates, Lu Fan's Spirit Qi finally reached 1,000 wisps.
["A high-rise building needs a solid foundation. Congratulations, Host. You have achieved Refined Qi Level 3. Your Spirit Qi stock has reached 1,000 wisps. Phoenix Feather Sword and ten seeds of random species of Spirit Weeds awarded."]
["Host has achieved Refined Qi Level 3. Spirit Qi Deployment range expanded, self-recovery ability strengthened (Spirit Qi, Soul Strength, and Physique Strength), and the method of manufacturing Spirit Stone awarded."]
The system prompts kept scrolling down before Lu Fan.
The prompts were about the prizes Lu Fan received.
Lu Fan was pretty satisfied with the prizes he got this time. He was even a little pleasantly surprised.
He threw a careless glance at the prizes. Spirit Qi Deployment range expanded and self-recovery ability strengthened—these two were enough to evoke excitement in Lu Fan.
His Spirit Qi Deployment range had covered more than half of Great Zhou's territory.
And now, it had been expanded again… Would it go beyond the Great Zhou Dynasty?
Lu Fan would try it when he had the time.
The benefits of a strengthened self-recovery ability were beyond doubt.
But what made Lu Fan most pleasantly surprised was the method of manufacturing Spirit Stone.
The appearance of large numbers of Spirit Stones would shock the world. The circumstances for cultivation would also be changed entirely.
Spirit Stones functioned similarly to the warriors in Secret Realms that Lu Fan created, but there were no killings or life-or-death situations involved. In fact, cultivators could easily take in wisps of Spirit Qi from these stones.
The efficiency of training cultivators would also be improved.
That was what Lu Fan valued.
The more cultivators were born, the more wisps of Spirit Qi Lu Fan would get, and the faster he would refine Qi.
It would not be a dream anymore to refine 100 levels of Qi.
He contained his excitement.
Lu Fan opened his eyes.
It was late in the night. The wind was a little chilly.
Leaning against the Thousand Blades Chair, he calmed down little by little.
His Soul Strength reached 85 points. Because of that, he felt his mind was clearer and more powerful.
However, Lu Fan felt like he was stuck.
"There could be a quantum leap in Soul Strength… Maybe 100 points will lead to a quantum leap," Lu Fan said in a low voice.
His fingers were tapping on the armrest of the Thousand Blades Chair.
He figured he should speed up the refining of Soul Strength.
He could try to set up the second strategy in the Heavenly Go Manual.
"Phoenix Feather Sword?"
Lu Fan's eyes narrowed.
The prize he got for reaching Refined Qi Level 2 was the Spirit Pressure Chessboard. And now that he had reached Refined Qi Level 3, the prize was a Phoenix Feather Sword.
Buzz…
He shifted his consciousness.
An extremely mysterious force that seemed to involve the laws spread throughout.
The great Dao was roaring.
The void was being torn apart.
A dark opening appeared with a dreadful power. A loud phoenix chime came out of the opening.
A long red sword was floating before Lu Fan.
"The sword is called Phoenix Feather."
An airflow caused by a Spirit Pressure stirred Lu Fan's hair.
Lu Fan's eyes were very bright, with the sword reflected in them.
The sword did not have a handle. It looked like a phoenix's tail feather, and it released extremely dreadful energy.
"Interesting. Does this go with my Thousand Blades Chair?"
A light flashed in Lu Fan's eyes.
["Phoenix Feather Sword (defective): Heaven Level High Grade Spirit Tool, made of phoenix's tail feather."]
The introduction of Phoenix Feather Sword evoked more interest in Lu Fan. This Phoenix Feather Sword turned out to be defective.
A defective sword was already of Heaven Level and High Grade. If it were complete, would it reach Ground Level?
The new prize made Lu Fan wonder what on earth was behind the system.
However, with his current strength, he certainly would not be able to know what was behind the system.
He always said it was fun to fight the Immortal. It did make some sense. In Lu Fan's eyes, the system was just like an Immortal.
Lu Fan looked at the red Phoenix Feather Sword and then waved his hand gently.
A red light flashed by. Descending on the right armrest of the Thousand Blades Chair, the red light pushed the silver blades on the armrest aside.
The silver blades Lu Fan refined were only Earth Level Low Grade. They certainly were not a match for Phoenix Feather Sword, so they had to concede.
Lu Fan put his hand on the red armrest. He felt the Thousand Blades Chair had been totally changed.
The Phoenix Feather Sword seemed to have become the leader of the 1,000 blades that comprised the Thousand Blades Chair.
Lu Fan breathed out.
He fixed his eyes on another prize, seeds of random species of Spirit Weeds.
Lu Fan still remembered how the ten Heaven Facing Spiritual Chrysanthemums made the Spirit Qi on Lake Island nourishing.
And now, he had new plant seeds.
He raised his hand to hold.
Then he spread his hand. A green seed called Biluo Peach Blossom lay still on the palm of his hand.
"Peach blossoms…"
"The peach blossoms on the island died not long ago. Now I have these seeds."
"Well, only having chrysanthemums on the island does look a little ugly. The peach blossoms will add some flavor to the island."
Lu Fan smiled.
He shifted his consciousness.
Instantly, ten seeds floated before Lu Fan.
He raised his other hand. The long sleeve of his white robe slipped down. He flicked the ten seeds gently with his long fingers.
The ten seeds flew out immediately in the shape of flowing light.
There were chrysanthemums on one half of the island, while peach blossoms on the other half.
Those peach blossom seeds have been sowed.
They broke through the soil right away. Madly taking in Spirit Qi, they started to grow. Taking root in the soil, their branches extended, and green leaves grew out.
One by one, the buds popped out on the branches, waiting to bloom.
In an instant, the Spirit Qi on Beiluo Lake Island became richer and more nourishing.
******
South County.
At daybreak…
Tang Xiansheng had changed into some luxurious clothing and got onto his luxurious carriage.
"Yimo, do you want to accompany your father to the capital city?"
Tang Xiansheng looked at Tang Yimo with affection.
Tang Yimo was wearing a poker face. Tang Xiansheng's intention was obvious. He wanted Tang Yimo to go with him because he needed the latter to ensure his safety.
However, Tang Yimo did not reject his father's request.
Tang Xiansheng told some maids to send many satins and silks and valuable jewelry to his mother and his sister.
Tang Xiansheng even went to his mother's room to talk with her.
Tang Yimo, lying on the roof with a weed in his mouth, saw how happy his mother and his sister were.
That was why he agreed to go to the capital city with Tang Xiansheng.
"Okay," Tang Yimo said.
Tang Xiansheng was pleased.
Tang Baiyun cupped his hands at Tang Xiansheng with respect.
"Yun'er, put effort into expanding the South Manor Army. When I come back from the capital city, I hope the South Manor Army will grow to 100 soldiers."
Tang Xiansheng told Tang Baiyun.
Tang Baiyun nodded and then bowed.
Tang Xiansheng did not say more. He told his servants to prepare his luggage. Then he told the coachman to set out for the capital city.
Tang Yimo was riding a red horse next to the carriage.
South County Mayor Tang Xiansheng went to the capital city in person.
This news spread far and wide as soon as he left Nanjiang City.
Tang Xiansheng was famous for being too afraid of death.
However, Tang Xiansheng went to the capital city in person. Although he had never accused the Imperial Advisor in public, some of his actions actually echoed that of West County.
Once he went to the capital city, if the young emperor imprisoned him brutally, Tang Xiansheng would be half dead.
After all, the capital city was not under Tang Xiansheng's influence.
Therefore, many people did not understand this move of his.
However, some people smelled danger.
Tang Xiansheng might have gone to the capital city to deal with West County and North County…
South County had never meddled in the wars between Great Zhou and West County and North County. But now, South County was finally going to participate.


A young man sat on a chair and looked out at the ocean. With one wisp of Spirit Qi, he could point anywhere on this vast and expansive world, pointing at any place that didn’t look right.
Someone once became the last one to wield a knife that could decapitate huge dragons and bathed in dragons’ blood. Someone once loved treating others to chicken soup, so he kept nine phoenixes in his backyard. Someone once sat lazily on the top of mountains as his words flooded river banks, and his qi could hold a million soldiers back. Someone once moved mountains and shifted hills with just one brush, his paintings so captivating it could enchant immortals and deities. That year, the warmth of spring made the flowers bloom. They were merely an ordinary butcher, a bookworm, a chicken farmer and a poor artist. This is the story of how a Low Level Martial World Continent was transformed into the Ultimate Fantasy Universe. 


grade 3 journal prompts

What A Strange Day...

I Reincarnated As A Stick

Age of Heroes

New Earth- A world of Chaos

diary of a tired weeb

New Earth- The Dungeon of Madness

World Terror

10 second reset

The Strongest Invincible Gate System (DROPED)

Building The Ultimate Fantasy

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