Chương 59: A True Godly Tool
Point out any errors I made in the chapters, as I'm very lazy and sometimes can't be bothered to reread them. Also give your opinions on something I should change or add.
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After Aqua had notified him of Overwhelming Smile moving its operations into the Watch Cemetery, Feng had her send several thousand unrestored members to the map where they were previously told not to go.
This was so when the Zero Wing members encounter an ambush from Overwhelming Smile, they could send their coordinates in the guild channel and be provided assistance, with Feng teleporting over to save them; or at least, that's what the Zero Wing members have been told.
Truthfully, though, Feng and Aqua treated these unrestored members as nothing more than sacrifices, attracting the attention of the pissed Overwhelming Smile members who will definitely grow much more intense and merciless when they encounter members of the guild which had drove most of their members to grind on a single map.
All of this was so Feng could farm Immortal Souls and Life Force while doing crippling damage to Overwhelming Smile. Of course, the unrestored members' deaths would be compensated accordingly to their losses.
Due to war, the Watch Cemetery had become a land of death. Even the sky here remained dusky, and tombs crowded the cemetery. The majority of the monsters that appeared here were Undead-type, and although there were a lot of them, their HPs were relatively low. As it was a Level 22 to Level 28 map with an extremely abundant amount of resources, over a quarter of White River City's Level 20-plus players had come here to level up.
The Watch Cemetery contained many treasure chests and Hidden Quests. However, the Cemetery was most famous for its treasure chests. In the past, countless lucky independent players had encountered Mysterious-Iron and even Secret-Silver Treasure Chests here, obtaining plenty of top-tier equipment and items.
Because of this, battles between players had frequently happened in the Watch Cemetery.
A pair of wings with a wingspan of ten meters flapped as Feng flew in the air and scoured the ground for any Overwhelming Smile members, before choosing to fly over to the place where he had upgraded the Abyssal Blade to Level 25 in the previous timeline to see if the first group he had killed would be there again.
Currently, Feng was using the Demon Mask to make his wings look invisible with him still wearing a Chestplate, so if anyone managed to catch a glimpse of him, they'll only see a man in the sky wearing a suit of armor; thus there was no risk of his wings being exposed.
While flying on his way and watching out for any prey, Feng called up the Seven Luminaries Ring's information and upgraded the Aura of Space a few times. Feng had received an abundant amount of EXP after killing the Orc King, his level increasing from Level 40 to Level 48.
After leveling up the Aura of Space three times, it reaching Tier 1 Level 4, Feng dropped to Level 22, his level being around the same as an average player's; but he disguised it as Level 25. Though, it would allow him to collect the Immortal Souls of the Overwhelming Smile members here.
Suddenly, a party moving quickly through a forest, with every member of this party being Level 25 and above, while all of them were as robust as a bear, caught Feng's attention. Increasing his speed, Feng flew ahead of the group by over a hundred yards and landed, before pretending to be resting.
Within a couple of seconds, the party Feng had previously spotted appeared and was quickly getting in the proximity of his location, causing the party's members to inevitably take notice of Feng. They sized him up and down during their approach while looking around to see if Feng had any comrades in the vicinity all the while not bothering to slow down.
Now, a small test of morality shall commence. If the party members decide to be decent people and not try to stir up any trouble with Feng, he will be a merciful god and let them be. Of course, if they decide to act like wild animals, Feng will put them down.
Though, it would seem that Feng had overestimated the humanity of God's Domain's players; even at the current stage of the game...
"Brother Deep, that fellow must be scared stupid; he isn't even trying to escape. How boring," a simple and honest-looking Berserker laughed as he watched Feng remain unmoving even after noticing their group. "And here I thought that we had encountered a somewhat powerful player that can use for exercise seeing as he's Level 25. Killing noobs has become really boring."
"Enough, Little Whistle. Don't think that I don't know what's going through your mind. You just want to test out your new battle axe. Since this player has a fairly high level and is traveling alone, he should be relatively skilled. You can take care of him." The Level 26 Assassin referred to as Brother Deep laughed as he glanced at the simple-looking Berserker. "Right, his items seem quite good. Don't forget to use that thing; we might get some good stuff from him."
"Leave it to me!" The Berserker, Little Whistle, squinted as he smiled at Feng, excitement flashing in his eyes; which he has but cannot see Mt. Shi. As he increased his speed and neared Feng quickly, Little Whistle also retrieved a black potion from his bag and emptied the contents into his mouth. "This thing seriously tastes horrible. If you didn't seem to have some valuable stuff on you, I wouldn't have to suffer such a nasty fate.
"Brat, stand still. I'll be done in just a second."
Saying so, Little Whistle raised his blood-red battle axe and abruptly pushed off the ground, swinging it down towards Feng when he got within range.
Although this swing seemed casual at first glance, it contained speed, accuracy, and ferocity that far surpassed any ordinary player's attack. Moreover, the battle axe flew towards Feng's neck, making the attack difficult to dodge. Little Whistle's casual, yet well-calculated, attack was clearly a habit developed after many years of training. He was unlike other players whose attacks would contain many unnecessary actions and were easy to dodge.
Glancing indifferently at the Berserker and his approaching battle axe, which seemed like they were moving in slow motion to him, Feng merely unsheathed his sword, slashed in the moron's and his party's direction while casting Earth Splitter, and immediately sheathed it again.
A swordlight flew at an incredible speed and sliced Little Whistle and the other five in half before they could react, their visions turning grey while remaining unable to figure out what just happened.
Picking up the items dropped by the party, which was nearly all of their equipment and weapons due to their high Crime Value and Feng's Luck, with the exception of the fool that had charged first, who dropped every item on him along with several dozens from his Bags; among which were many bottles of the black potion he had drunk before committing suicide.
This black potion was also why he had sought out an Overwhelming Smile's group in advance. Haunted[1]. Once consumed, the PVP drop-rate increases from 100% to 300%. Meanwhile, if the user is killed by another player, their drop-rate increases from 200% to 600%. Haunted has a duration of five minutes and a Cooldown of half an hour.
Meanwhile, the creator was displayed as "Unknown." It was clear that Haunted's creator wanted their identity to remain hidden.
Feng then began to search through the Guild channel, looking for any Guild members in Watch Cemetery who had encountered an ambush.
After a moment, sure enough, some members had reported through the Guild channel that Overwhelming Smile's experts had ambushed them. They were in the Watch Cemetery. Immediately, Feng input the coordinates into the Seven Luminaries Ring and activated Space Movement. He then jumped into the spatial crack that appeared before him.
---
In one of the gravel-filled prairies of the Watch Cemetery, a team of over a dozen players ran desperately for their lives. As they ran, the ranged classes on this team attacked the six robust-looking players pursuing them.
If this happened anywhere else, it would confuse any onlookers. The side with more players actually fled from the side with less players.
In the Watch Cemetery, however, nobody would find this scene surprising because the side with less players consisted of bloodthirsty lunatics with astonishing strength. Moreover, this party of lunatics consisted of only melee classes; there was not a single ranged class in their party.
"Damn, why aren't any of my attacks hitting them?" one of the escaping male Elementalists grumbled, dismayed as he watched the distance between his team and their six pursuers decrease.
"Hold on for a little longer. The Tier 1 experts of our Guild are heading towards us right now." A Level 24 Ranger, the leader of the team, tried to encourage his team members as he attacked with a Frostbolt.
Everyone on the team nodded to their team leader's words, newfound hope blooming in their hearts.
The group of Overwhelming Smile experts behind them was simply too powerful. Before they had realized they were being ambushed, four of their team members had died. Although they tried to retaliate, the experts dodged or blocked most of their attacks; only a small number of control skills had any effect. Unfortunately, none of those skills were fatal.
As soon as the battle had begun, they had sent out distress messages through the Guild channel, reporting their current location. Fortunately for them, one of their Guilds Tier 1 expert parties was only a short distance away from them. They would be safe as long as they could reach that Tier 1 expert party.
"Everyone, stop!" the Ranger shouted when he saw a cloud of cold air rising from the ground in front of them. Before any of them had noticed, another party had appeared. Moreover, the Shield Warrior standing in the lead was currently using a Magic Scroll.
Unfortunately, the Ranger's command was too late as a gigantic icicle suddenly emerged from the ground. The icicle struck the players at the forefront of their team, a damage of over -1,000 points appearing above their heads. Simultaneously, frost shrouded their bodies, massively reducing their Movement Speed.
"We're finished..." Despair filled the Ranger's eyes as he stared at the massive icicle in front of them.
They had barely survived the pursuit of a single party of experts. Now that another party had appeared, blocking their path, they no longer had any hope of escape...
"Hahaha! Come on! Keep running! I want to see how far you can get!" one of Overwhelming Smile's experts sneered upon seeing the Zero Wing team's predicament.
At this moment, however, a spatial crack appeared in the air, and a human figure suddenly emerged.
While falling, Feng took out a bottle of Haunted and chugged it, emptying its contents as he landed and casually slashed at the two parties of Underworld Guards with Thundering Flash.
The speed and suddenness of Feng's attack was simply too fast, resulting in none of the Underworld Guards being able to react in time except for Fifth Ghost and Sixth Ghost, the two Refinement Realm experts in the two parties, who had sensed lethal danger as soon as their eyes landed on Feng.
Still, even with them reacting in time and using skills in order to survive, with Thundering Flash's incredible speed from being executed with a Completion Rate of 118%, only Fifth Ghost managed to make it through the thunder streaks' barrage by immediately activating Defensive Blade and enduring.
However, before the Swordsman could celebrate, three swordlights suddenly appeared on his body, two eating through Defensive Blade's remaining block count while the last one devoured his HP. Collapsing to the ground, Fifth Ghost only managed to catch a glimpse of the cloaked Swordsman who had suddenly appeared behind him and was picking up the loot dropped by the two Underworld Guard parties.
"Pick up the stuff and share it with your fallen comrades. Place whatever is left in the guild Warehouse." Saying so after collecting the Haunted Potions from among the drops, Feng turned into an afterimage and disappeared.
"Who was that!?" A member of the Zero Wing team asked in shock after Feng disappeared.
"It should be Black Flame. Other than our Guild Leader, I doubt there is anybody who was capable of killing those experts with such ease and would even be willing to leave behind so much good equipment for us. Not to mention he said we should place it in the guild's Warehouse, implying we're from the same guild." The Ranger team leader guessed after a moment of deep thought, his heart filled with an indescribable sense of excitement.
"So cool!" A female Summoner fangirled out loud as she stared at the place Feng was just standing at, her gaze carrying a seductive charm.
"It really is great to be a member of Zero Wing," the others could not help but exclaim.
Despite the ongoing war between Zero Wing and Overwhelming Smile, as the leader of a Guild, Black Flame had actually taken the initiative to enter such a dangerous location all by himself. He had even rushed to their rescue at the first sign of trouble. With such a Guild Leader, even if they fell back to Level 0 as a result of battling Overwhelming Smile, they would still do so willingly.
---
Flying through the sky after disappearing from the Zero Wing team's view, Feng searched for more Underworld Guards as well as stopping to pick up any Treasures Chests worth the effort.
For the next couple of hours, Feng flew around picking off any Underworld Guards or Overwhelming Smile members that he manages to find from the sky, his hunt through the guild channel also being much more efficient than in the previous timeline due to Space Movement's decreased cooldown as well as having Spatial Shift at his disposal.
Apart from nearly killing all of the 240 Underworld Guards, with only two parties managing to escape his detection, Feng had also slaughtered many of the Overwhelming Smile members roaming around Watch Cemetery by the time Feng Xuanyang, who had been too busy dealing with Overwhelming Smile's lack of Gold Coins during this war where they were being practically butchered, along with handling the Candlelight Trading Firm, noticed.
During this time, apart from stripping nearly every player he killed of all of their equipment and weapons along with some bag items, Feng had nearly gathered enough Immortal Souls to complete the Immortal Crown quest, along with upgrading Icarus's Heart to Epic rank.
[Icarus's Heart] (Necklace, Epic Rank)
Equipment Requirement: All Attributes 120
Level 40 – Level 100 (Level 22)
All Attributes +44
Luck +18
Additional Active Skill 1: Divine Providence
Temporarily increases player's Luck by 50 points for 30 seconds.
Cooldown: 30 minutes
(Luck, Duration, and Cooldown can be increased, prolonged, and reduced by sacrificing Life Force. Maximum of 200 points of Life Force allowed to be sacrificed at a single time.)
Additional Active Skill 2: God's Blessing
Forcefully upgrades all Lifestyle classes learned by the user by one rank (up to a maximum of Master rank) for one hour.
Cooldown: 5 hours
(Duration and Cooldown can be increased, prolonged, and reduced by sacrificing Life Force. Maximum of 500 points of Life Force allowed to be sacrificed at a single time.)
Additional Passive Skill: Life Storage
Player can accumulate up to 10,000 units of Life Force. Current amount (1,903/10,000).
Though, it would seem Overwhelming Smile's higher-ups had finally taken notice of the massacre he had been conducting, causing all of Overwhelming Smile's members to retreat from the Watch Cemetery.
With that, apart from one more thing Feng needed to do, his job in the Cemetery was finished, so he could move on with the rest of his plans as he landed near the entrance of a dark, quiet tomb in Watch Cemetery's core region.
The tomb he currently explored was unique. It was a resting place for royalty. It was also known as a "King's Tomb."
Feng soon entered a majestic stone room, focusing on the tightly sealed white jade sarcophagus lined with gold that occupied the center of the room.
When Feng was only 20 yards away, the sarcophagus suddenly opened. Black smoke slithered out of the sarcophagus. Soon, the black smoke coalesced into a youth in golden armor. The youth had a white cape draped over his shoulders and a golden crown adorning his head. More importantly, the youth carried the air of a king; anyone who basked in his aura would tremble and submit body and soul.
However, this youth's body was currently in a half-transparent, ethereal state. He was not a physical entity, but a ghost. To be precise, this youth was the ghost of a king.
[King of Ghosts, Monroe Bell] (High Lord)
Level 30
HP 4,000,000/4,000,000
Being capable of receiving the title of King proved that Monroe Bell had been a Tier 3 class before he died. The pair of swords in Monroe's hands indicated that he had been a Tier 3 Sword King, the equivalent of a Great Lord, during his lifetime. However, after Monroe Bell died, he had weakened significantly. Now, he was only as strong as a High Lord.
"Graverobber, receive the Sword of Justice's retribution!"
Monroe Bell's pitch-black eyes locked onto Feng. Taking a step forward, the King of Ghosts dashed towards Feng as he sent a flurry of sword thrusts at the intruder with his King's Sword.
In the next moment, though, Feng was opening the Treasure Chest within the sarcophagus, while the king of Ghosts froze in his spot. Monroe Bell looked at the place Feng had just been standing at, seemingly wondering where the intruder had suddenly disappeared to as his HP bar emptied and he collapsed to the floor.
Not minding Monroe Bell being put to rest or the bit of EXP it provided him, Feng looted the Treasure Chest as well as the King of Ghost's corpse for any valuable items before storing them in his bag.
Although there were some decent items among the ones Monroe had dropped, Feng cared for none of them nor for the two Level 30 Dark-Gold Weapons he acquired from the Treasure Chest, or even for the Secret Sword Technique; which didn't have much value to him since only unrestored members could benefit from it, while they'd need to at least be Intermediate Magicians and know how to produce Intermediate Magic Arrays in order to use them.
Instead, the only item he valued was the glittering silver token in his bag. This was 2-Star Residence Promotion order.
All Guild Residences started out as a 1-star Residence when established. If a Guild wished to upgrade it to a 2-star Residence, they needed to meet two requirements. First, a Guild needed a sufficient amount of Guild Popularity; the second thing they needed was a 2-star Guild Residence Promotion Order.
If a Guild Residence reached 2-star status, the Guild could establish certain facilities that were unavailable to a 1-star Residence. More importantly, a Guild Residence's Private Rooms would change.
Guilds could only establish 1-star Private Rooms in a 1-star Residence, whereas 2-star Private Rooms could be established in a 2-star Residence. By resting for 24 hours in a 1-star Private Room, players could store up to 20% of the Double EXP buff. In a 2-star Private Room, however, players could store up to 25% after 24 hours.
In addition, a Guild could establish a Smithy inside a 2-star Residence, allowing members to have their weapons and equipment repaired. Moreover, the repair fees as the Guild's smithy were 10% cheaper than elsewhere. Repair fees were always expensive. Although there was only a 10% difference, players could still save a significant amount of money.
Currently, Zero Wing's Popularity had exceeded 5,000 points; it had met that requirement for the upgrade. Hence, now was the perfect time for Feng to collect the Promotion Order.
---
Information regarding Black Flame's feat spread like wildfire throughout White River City.
Players who received this piece of news were thoroughly amazed.
One hit per person. Black Flame had actually managed to suppress a powerful Guild all by himself, slaughtering Overwhelming Smile to the point where it had no choice but to recall all its members from the treasured land known as the Watch Cemetery.
This was simply too frightening...
For a time, Zero Wing was once more the topic of conversation in the entire White River City.
Although the fight in Watch Cemetery had not been on a large scale, it had dealt a massive blow to Overwhelming Smile.
This was not a matter of winning or losing. Instead, it was because Overwhelming Smile had conceded.
This one point proved that Overwhelming Smile was inferior to Zero Wing.
In addition, Black Flame's stunning performance had calmed the rush to join Overwhelming Smile.
Previously, they all had an optimistic view on Overwhelming Smile, believing that the Guild was about to overtake the position of White River City's overlord. Now, however, the situation had taken a 180-degree turn.
Needing only one hit per person, Black Flame had wiped out all of Overwhelming Smile's members within the Watch Cemetery.
The Watch Cemetery was White River City's most resource-rich Level 20 to 30 map. Losing it would undoubtedly be detrimental to Overwhelming Smile's future development.
Although Overwhelming Smile was wealthy, that wealth would be meaningless if they could not convert it into leveling resources.
---
At this moment, in the rooftop dining room of a high-class restaurant, two female players feasted on delicacies as they enjoyed the view of White River City. Many male players present snuck glances at these two women.
Of the two female players, one was petite and lovely, while still sporting stunning curves.
The other was even more beautiful. Her face was so pure that it put flowers to shame and outshone the moon. Her snow-white skin looked so delicate that it seemed as if it might break from the gentlest touch. Currently, although she wore a long, aqua-blue mage robe, trimmed in gold, the clothing failed to conceal her graceful body.
These two were none other than Blue Bamboo and Thoughtful Rain, who had already become a member of Zero Wing.
Although her memories have already been restored, Rain still chose to let Blue accompany her due to their past friendship, teaching the girl and helping her improve enough so that she could pass Zero Wing's entrance test; as well as coming to this restaurant so that she could attract Everlasting War's attention per Feng's orders.
Blue Bamboo glanced at Rain from the corner of her eye, rolling her eyes upon seeing her friend's I-told-you-so expression, feeling slightly annoyed as this was worse than her actually saying it.
Previously, due to Rain's refusal to join Overwhelming Smile and instead choosing to join Zero Wing, Blue Bamboo had pestered her ceaselessly, giving her a headache. Only now that Zero Wing had forced Overwhelming Smile to submit did the girl finally relent.
"Overwhelming Smile is truly disappointing! To think that I thought so highly of it, it actually dared to let me down! I don't want to join Overwhelming Smile anymore, either!" Blue Bamboo pouted, disappointed.
"I already told you that Zero Wing is far superior to Overwhelming Smile. After all, it was the first Guild to own a Guild Residence in White River City. Not only that, it claimed the best residence available in White River City. It also has plenty of experts. Currently, the various Guilds in White River City barely have any Tier 1 experts in their Guilds. Yet, Zero Wing already has over 300. Zero Wing has long since taken the lead. Furthermore, its Guild Leader, Black Flame, is a titled expert." Thoughtful Rain's thin lips shifted slightly as she explained, smiling tenderly.
"Since that's the case, I'll join Zero Wing." Blue Bamboo could not help but have expectations.
"Zero Wing's exam is very strict. Although I was able to pass it, and you've improved a bit, I'm afraid that at the moment..." Thoughtful Rain shook her head after evaluating Blue Bamboo.
"Humph. Who says my techniques are bad? I've only recently begun playing virtual reality games. After some time, I'll be more amazing than even Black Flame. Besides..." Blue Bamboo's ink-black eyes suddenly shone as she revealed a meaningful smile, saying, "Rain, I know that you've encountered one of the higher-ups of Zero Wing before. His name was Ye Feng, I think? He gave you a permanent pass to the library. All of my classmates turned green with envy when I told them about that item. Since he gave you such a precious pass, he should be able to admit me into the Guild without any issues with his position as long as you ask him."
"I am only acquaintances with him. Blue, stop overthinking things," Thoughtful Rain hurriedly explained, though feeling slightly complicated inwardly about Feng. "Besides, if he invites you into Zero Wing, and you perform badly, what then? Others will question his ability to manage the Guild."
"Are you my best friend or his? You're actually defending him, yet, you claim that there is nothing going on between you two? I don't care. In any case, I want to join Zero Wing! I have always wanted a piece of Level 25 Fine-Gold Equipment. With your felonious body, you just have to say the word, and he'll let me into the Guild and smother us with Fine-Gold Equipment!" Blue Bamboo stated as she swept a glance at Thoughtful Rain's graceful body, her lips hooked up into a deep, suggestive smile.
At this moment, a party of six suddenly appeared before the female duo. The leader of this party was a middle-aged man with a burly body, examining the two with world-weary eyes. None of the party could be underestimated as the other five also gave off an air of danger.
The party's stance alone left the surrounding witnesses breathless.
Their Levels were even more astonishing. Of these six, the lowest leveled player was Level 26, while the leading middle-aged man was a Level 27 Guardian Knight.
"Excuse me, ladies, I couldn't help but overhear that the both of you are familiar with the higher-ups of Zero Wing. I wonder if you can introduce us to them? If you do, this Level 25 Morning Dew Staff will be yours," the leading middle-aged man said, smiling warmly. He then retrieved a two-handed staff made of pure white jade from his bag, placing the weapon on the table.
Red gemstones were inlaid in the staff, and with a glance, it was obvious that the staff was no ordinary weapon.
"Wah! This is a Secret-Silver staff! Its Attributes are awesome!" Blue Bamboo was immediately mesmerized by the Morning Dew Staff. She then turned to Thoughtful Rain, saying, "Rain, we're heading over to Zero Wing anyway, so why don't we take them with us?"
"Why do you want to meet Zero Wing's higher-ups?" Thoughtful Rain only swept a glance over the Morning Dew Staff before shifting her gaze back to the middle-aged man.
"Miss, please don't misunderstand. My name is Everlasting War. We seek the higher-ups of Zero Wing purely with the intention of conducting trade. This trade will only benefit, not harm, Zero Wing, so you can rest assured. If we really wanted to cause trouble for Zero Wing, we would have already done so. We wouldn't have to go through this much trouble," the middle-aged man explained, giving Rain another, more careful, look.
Previously, he had only felt that there was something odd about this beauty's aura, but upon closer inspection, Everlasting War felt there was something much more to the girl in front of him than he originally thought. However, after he examined Rain for a few seconds, he still couldn't detect what made him feel so on edge, so Everlasting War just dismissed his thoughts and continued with business.
Even though Everlasting War was a Refinement Realm expert, in front of Rain who was actively concealing her aura and her attainment in the Realm of Refinement, he was as clueless as a child and remained ignorant of her actual combat standards.
"Alright, then. I'll contact him for you, but it will be up to him whether or not he meets with you," Thoughtful Rain nodded in agreement.
Following which, Thoughtful Rain called up her friends list and contacted Feng.
---
Just as Feng arrived at White River City, his communicator rang, the caller none other than Rain from whom he was expecting a call soon.
"What's up?" Feng asked after picking up the call.
"I came in contact with Everlasting War as you've ordered. He's hoping to meet you now." Rain got straight to the point, not wishing to engage in meaningless chit-chat with Feng, or really hear his voice at all at the moment.
"Alright, then let's meet at Zero Wing's Guild Residence." Feng nodded upon noticing Rain's attitude before disconnecting the call.
In actuality, there was no need for Feng to meet Everlasting War in this timeline, as he already knew that not only would he never join his team in the Dark Arena, but will actually lead Phoenix Rain's later on.
However, considering that he needed the person behind Everlasting War's team, Hua Qiushui, to be pissed off by his existence in order to increase the wager for the first Dark Arena match as much as possible later on, Feng decided to do same thing as in the previous timeline in order to offend the arrogant bitch.
Passing through the lively streets, Feng soon arrived at the Bank. He then stored the equipment and items he had obtained in the Guild's Warehouse.
He also placed the Level 30 Dark-Gold staff, the Roaring Blaze Staff, and the Level 30 Dark-Gold greatsword, the Azure Heart, on full display in the Guild's Warehouse, while also revealing the many other Level 30 items obtained from the Wolfstein Palace raid and allowing players to exchange for them.
For a time, the members of Zero Wing went into an uproar.
The war between Zero Wing and Overwhelming Smile had depleted the stock of equipment inside the Guild's Warehouse a bit. Now, however, over 1,000 pieces of equipment had suddenly appeared. Aside from the large amount of advanced equipment, the stock of top-tier equipment had already exceeded 100 pieces.
Beyond that, there were actually over ten thousand Level 30 pieces of equipment and weapons ranging from Iron to Dark-Gold rank!
Currently, the players of various large Guilds still struggled to obtain Level 25 equipment. Bronze Equipment was a challenge to obtain, much less Mysterious-Iron. On the other hand, their Guild had more Level 30 items than Level 25 ones; there were many Dark-Gold items to boot! They were definitely the best equipment and weapons in all of God's Domain right now.
However, shortly after everyone in the Guild started spreading the news, Feng had arrived at the Adventurer's Association. He handed over the Guild Residence Promotion Order, officially promoting Zero Wing's Residence to a 2-star Residence.
Star-Moon Kingdom System Announcement: Congratulations to Zero Wing for becoming the first Guild in Star-Moon Kingdom to own a 2-star Guild Residence! Rewarding 30,000 Guild Popularity, 500 Gold Coins to the Guild, and one Guild Smithy Promotion Order.
White River City System Announcement: Congratulations to Zero Wing for becoming the first Guild in White River City to own a 2-star Guild Residence! Rewarding 10,000 Guild Popularity and 200 Gold Coins.
...
The system announcement repeated three times, and every player in White River City heard it loud and clear.
"Damn! What is this crap? Our Guild hasn't even obtained a Guild Residence, yet, already, Zero Wing has a 2-star Guild Residence?"
"What's this 2-star Residence thingy?"
"Lots and lots of money!"
Suddenly, Star-Moon Kingdom's official forums exploded with activity. Everyone discussed Zero Wing, and the various large Guilds had also begun asking around about the benefits of a 2-star Guild Residence. Also, what was a Guild Smithy Promotion Order?
However, the activity on Star-Moon Kingdom's forums paled in comparison to White River City's.
"Zero Wing is simply too amazing! It has already obtained a 2-star Guild Residence!"
"I've just received news that Zero Wing's Warehouse has received an influx of top-tier equipment! There are even Level 30 Dark-Gold Weapons in there! Now, Zero Wing's Guild Residence has been promoted to 2-stars! Zero Wing is simply overpowered!"
"It seems that Zero Wing is still the true overlord of White River City. Although Overwhelming Smile is rich, it still cannot compete with Zero Wing. Now, even Overwhelming Smile's financial power in the game is no match for Zero Wing. We will have a better future if we join Zero Wing."
"That's not all. I've just made some inquiries and found out that Guilds can establish a Guild Smithy inside a 2-star Guild Residence. The repair fees there are 10% cheaper than elsewhere. Meanwhile, that Guild Smithy Promotion Order can be used to promote a 1-star Guild Smithy into a 2-star Guild Smithy. The repair fees of a 2-star are even lower, 15% cheaper. You can save so much on repair fees alone. Other Guilds have no chance against Zero Wing."
"All hail Zero Wing! I want to join Zero Wing!"
For a time, Zero Wing became the number one Guild in the hearts of White River City's players of White River City. Suddenly, White River City went into a frenzy as players tried to join Zero Wing.
---
Inside the Adventurer's Association, Feng was currently applying to establish a Forge inside Zero Wing's Guild Residence.
"Sir, this is the model list for Smithies. In addition, there is also a list of Blacksmiths; you may choose any of the names listed there," the NPC at the counter smiled as she passed two lists to Feng.
In God's Domain, buildings were not limited to a single model; there was a large variety of models available for players to choose from. Players could even design their own buildings, though designing one from scratch required a lot of time. If not for highlighting the uniqueness of one's own Guild, most players would choose one of the hundreds of models that were already available.
Promotion of buildings only required a Promotion Order; there was no need to spend any money. However, constructing a new building or reconstruction required a large sum. Depending on the size of the building, the materials required, and the building's function, the price of construction would vary.
A Guild's Smithy was extremely important. Hence, Feng needed to decide carefully.
Smithies were differentiated by three grades: Ordinary, Refined, and Luxury. Though the price of each Smithy was higher than the last, each grade was also more efficient.
Ordinary Smithies cost between 100 Gold and 200 Gold. Aside from repairing weapons and equipment, Guild members could also sell their unwanted items to the NPCs at the Smithy.
Refined Smithies cost between 300 Gold to 500 Gold. Aside from having all the functions of an Ordinary Smithy, Refined Smithies had a more refined and luxurious appearance. Refined Smithies also had a Weapon Maintenance function. If a player left their weapon in the Smithy's care, its Durability consumption rate would drastically reduce for a period. At the same time, one could also hire Intermediate Blacksmiths if they had a Refined Smithy.
One should not underestimate the function of Blacksmiths. These Blacksmith NPCs all possess different capabilities. For example, some Blacksmiths might take less time than others to repair weapons and equipment; other Blacksmiths' might produce stronger maintenance effects. Hence, hiring a powerful Blacksmith was of utmost importance.
Lastly, Luxury Smithies cost between 800 Gold and 1,000 Gold. Aside from having all the functions of a Refined Smithy, Luxury Smithies had a Rest Area that allowed Guild members to accumulate the Double EXP buff. However, 48 hours of rest was required to accumulate 20% of the buff. In addition, Luxury Smithies contained Forging Rooms. Moreover, these were Advanced Forging Rooms, which were far more effective than those at the Starstreak Trading Firm. One could also hire Advanced Blacksmiths.
After glancing through the model list, Feng chose one of the largest Luxury Smithies available that allowed him to invite up to 10 Blacksmiths. After deciding on the model, he began to choose his Blacksmiths.
Following which, Feng chose to hire ten Advanced Blacksmiths. These ten NPCs were the most skilled Blacksmiths one could currently find. Their monthly wages ranged between 3 and 5 Gold.
After Feng finished dealing with the Smithy, he searched for a secluded location to adjust his appearance back to Ye Feng. He then returned to Zero Wing's Guild Residence.
When Feng arrived at the Residence, he discovered a sea of players crowding the entrance, creating an extraordinarily lively atmosphere.
There were currently two Berserkers in Dragonclaw Set Equipment standing guard and maintaining order at the Residence's entrance. The Dark-Gold rank glow from the sets thoroughly awed the players who had come to sign up for the Guild.
"Is that a Dark-Gold Set Equipment?"
"I've seen it on the forums before. I think it's the Dragonclaw Set Equipment. Currently, a single set costs more than 700 Gold. Zero Wing is just too rich; they actually bought two sets!"
"Not just two. I hear that Zero Wing's Warehouse also has one set available for trade."
As the crowd discussed Zero Wing's wealth with astonishment, the newly-constructed Smithy also attracted their attention.
The Smithy's construction was not as tedious as the Guild Hall's. The Smithy required much less time as it had fewer functions. As long as the Guild paid the construction fees, the Smithy could be completed in less than ten minutes.
Zero Wing's Smithy was three stories tall. The Smithy's Luxury-grade appearance dazzled the onlookers, and many among the crowd even believed that they had arrived at the capital city's Advanced Smithy. The Smithy was large enough to accommodate several hundred players, and it was even larger than an Ordinary Guild Hall.
"This is my first time seeing such an extravagant Smithy!"
"Zero Wing isn't giving Overwhelming Smile any chance of survival!"
"From what I heard from Zero Wing's Guild members, this Smithy even has a Weapon Maintenance function that reduces the Durability consumption rate of a weapon for a certain amount of time. With this, who knows how much money we can save when grinding monsters and raiding Dungeons?"
"For this Guild Smithy alone, I'll do anything it takes to join Zero Wing."
The independent players who had come to participate in Zero Wing's test watched the Guild's transformation with reverence, their desire to join Zero Wing intensifying.
Morale among Zero Wing's members soared when they saw the growing flood of players coming to join their Guild. Now, whenever they strode down the streets with their six-winged Emblem revealed, they would receive countless envious stares.
Standing a short distance away from the Residence's entrance, Thoughtful Rain quickly noticed Feng's arrival. Waving her hand, she shouted, "Ye Feng, we're over here."
Feng promptly walked over.
Standing beside Thoughtful Rain was a person Feng was familiar with, Everlasting War.
"Ye Feng, let me introduce you. This man is Everlasting War; he wishes to discuss business with you," Thoughtful Rain introduced Everlasting War's party to Feng, as if she hadn't already done this before in the previous timeline.
At this moment, Everlasting War was shocked after evaluating Feng, who had toned down his aura and displayed the standards of a Flowing Water expert.
The pressure he felt from Feng was intense!
He had not expected Zero Wing to possess another unfathomable expert besides Black Flame.
"Hello, I am Ye Feng," Feng said, smiling faintly at Everlasting War. "This place isn't suitable for a discussion. Why don't we head inside to chat?"
Saying so, Feng led the group into the Rest Area in the Guild Residence's Smithy.
The Rest Area was very elegant. Even having beverages available for Guild members, this Rest Area was no less impressive than the city's restaurants.
"Wah! Is this really a Smithy?" Trailing after Thoughtful Rain, Blue Bamboo's eyes shone brightly as she entered Zero Wing's Residence. It was as if she had just stepped into an entirely different realm. Secretly, she said, "Rain, look! That's the Weapon Maintenance Room! There are such high-quality weapons inside! Even the Blacksmiths are the rarely-seen Advanced Blacksmiths! Rain, make sure you say something to Ye Feng later! With such awesome Guild benefits, it would be a huge shame if I didn't join!"
"Sure, but don't expect too much," Thoughtful Rain replied softly through their private chat.
"Mhm." Blue Bamboo nodded vigorously.
Compared to Blue Bamboo's fascination, Everlasting War and his companions only considered Zero Wing's benefits and environment decent. However, compared to a small, unknown Guild, the sudden emergence of a great expert like Ye Feng was what truly shocked them.
Carefully observing his surroundings, Everlasting War suddenly realized that Zero Wing's members were actually quite powerful. They were much stronger than the members of other Guilds.
As the rumors had said, Zero Wing was the true overlord of White River City.
A moment later, Feng had led the group to one of the small rooms located in the Rest Area. The environment inside the room was excellent, and the pleasant aroma filling the air soothed everyone's tense spirits.
Feng had not spent 1,000 Gold Coins for nothing.
"What would you like to talk about?" Feng asked casually as he looked at Everlasting War.
"Originally, I had hoped to ask Brother Ye Feng to introduce us to your Guild Leader, Black Flame. However, seeing as Brother Ye Feng possesses such strength and is one of the upper-managers of Zero Wing, discussing this matter with you should have the same effect," Everlasting War said leisurely. "Truth be told, we are not players from Star-Moon Kingdom. Rather, we are from the Beast Empire, the eighth strongest country in God's Domain. As you can see, although we are independent players, our weapons and equipment are not the possessions of ordinary independent players."
"Indeed. The majority of your party's equipment consists of Level 25 Fine-Gold Equipment. The Level 25 shield and weapon in your hands are even Dark-Gold rank, something extremely rare throughout God's Domain. There are not many Guilds in Star-Moon Kingdom capable of obtaining those items." Feng nodded in agreement, as there really weren't many guilds who could obtain such items. Of course, when compared to the items Zero Wing's restored members were equipped with, Everlasting War's party was wearing trash.
"Their weapons and equipment are all Level 25 Fine-Gold and Dark-Gold rank? How is this possible?" Blue Bamboo looked at Everlasting War's party, her eyes widening with surprise.
Blue Bamboo knew that Everlasting War was very powerful. She could tell that just by looking at his Level.
All this time, however, Blue Bamboo had thought that the Fine-Gold and Dark-Gold rank glow effect surrounding Everlasting War's body originated from Level 20 weapons and equipment. She never considered that he had Level 25 weapons and equipment.
Level 25 Fine-Gold Equipment was a luxury to any Guild, much less Dark-Gold rank.
"Is this the gap between a kingdom and empire?" Blue Bamboo couldn't help but ask.
Upon seeing the shock on Blue Bamboo's face, Everlasting War's companions felt proud even though they had long since gotten used to the shocked expressions of White River City's players. However, when they noticed Rain's and Feng's completely unimpressed looks, their confidence and pride wavered for some reason.
"You're mistaken. Although there is indeed a gap, it is not as large as you imagine. Moreover, they are no ordinary independent players. Someone has sponsored them," Feng explained.
In God's Domain, both players in kingdoms and in empires face similar difficulties when leveling up. However, since empires mirrored the major cities in the real world, claiming the players who lived in said cities upon character creation, empires had far more players within their borders. As a result of the astounding player population of an empire, the competition in an empire was far more intense than in a kingdom. The intense competition, in turn, gave birth to greater motivation, which resulted in empire players improving their techniques faster. Naturally, the levels and equipment of empire players were slightly better than kingdom players.
As for Everlasting War's party, even in empires, they were far above ordinary players. So, how could the ordinary players of White River City possibly hope to compete with them?
Feng's declaration stunned Everlasting War's companions, shock coloring their expressions as they stared at Feng's indifferent expression. Feng's words were not incorrect in the least. It was as if he had seen through every detail about them.
"Brother Ye Feng is as amazing as expected. Someone has indeed sponsored our weapons and equipment. This is also why we have come in search of Guild Leader Black Flame." Everlasting War did not deny Feng's statement. Slowly, he said, "You might not know this, but a few days after God's Domain launched, the various major corporations around the world began to invest in the game. In order to prevent an overly intense struggle, these corporations began hidden competitions with each other.
"These competitions take place in the Dark Arena. The various major corporations send their experts to face each other, taking the chance to probe the opponent's strength. The victors earn large amounts of Gold, Credits, rare materials, and other benefits that you cannot even begin to imagine.
"I have come here today with the purpose of inviting Guild Leader Black Flame to join our battle team.
"If our battle team wins, it will benefit a Guild such as Zero Wing that lacks funding. Not only can you obtain a large sum of Credits, but you can also obtain a large sum of Gold Coins and top-tier equipment that you cannot even imagine exists.
"Now, however, I want to invite Brother Ye Feng to join us, instead. What are your thoughts on this?"
"I understand. I can agree to your invite, but I have a request." Feng let Everlasting War finish his dialog like a player waiting for an NPC to finish rambling on so that they could finally get to the point, before calmly saying.
"Request?" Everlasting War could not help his surprise. He had not expected Feng to maintain his composure. However, he decided to ask, "May I know what this request is?"
Although Everlasting War had already spoken, his companions had frowned in response to Feng's reply.
They had never expected that Ye Feng would try to negotiate.
Countless people yearn to join a competition of such level. Yet, even many of the experts on the God's Domain Experts List had been rejected. They were already stooping pretty low by willingly inviting an unknown expert such as Ye Feng.
Even world-renowned players fought to join the Dark Arena. Participating in the Dark Arena was already a supreme honor in and of itself. Not only could one win endless riches, but they could also receive the admiration of millions. It was even possible for one to become an international celebrity with a single battle.
Not even the ruler of Star-Moon Kingdom was a match for the Dark Arena's participants in terms of status. After all, that was a stage at the international level.
Blue Bamboo's little jaw hung in shock, her eyes filled with disbelief as she watched Feng.
The competition between Guilds in God's Domain was intense. Almost every Guild was supported by many corporations. However, not even the backer of a first-rate Guild could compare with international corporations; it was merely an ant in the eyes of such giants.
Although the virtual gaming industry's total value rose with each passing year, it was still significantly inferior to other top industries. If a Guild could obtain the financial support from such a corporation, they could instantly become a Super Guild, surpassing any first-rate Guild in God's Domain.
With such a good opportunity at hand, Feng actually had a condition...
However, Feng naturally did not care about what others thought about him. Taking a sip of tea, he returned his gaze to Everlasting War, saying slowly, "My request is very simple. I hear that each battle team participating in the Dark Arena consists of ten members. Seeing as you only have six members at the moment, I wish to invite three of my people to join. That way, we will have a full battle team. What do you think?"
"You must be insane! Just inviting you is already Leader's limit, yet, you still want to invite three others to join the team? Who do you think started this battle team?" a youth of in black armor shot up from his seat in anger.
The other members of Everlasting War's party were also clearly angry. Everlasting War, on the other hand, watched Feng seriously.
The member limit for each battle team had only been recently confirmed, so only an extremely small group of people know this information. How did Ye Feng, an upper-manager of a small Guild, find out about this?
Suddenly, Everlasting War realized that the young man before him was shrouded in mystery.
"The only goal of the corporation sponsoring your battle team is to secure victory. Naturally, the stronger the chosen team members are, the better. I can guarantee that the players I want to include are all very formidable," Feng explained.
"Brother Ye Feng, I am afraid that I am really powerless on this matter. There are a limited number of slots for the battle team. Although I am the team leader, I only have one invitation for the test, not the member slot for the battle team. Originally, I intended to test Guild Leader Black Flame's qualifications. However, even if he is qualified, I believe that, as the leader of a Guild, he should be very busy with its management. Even if he has the strength, he should not have that much time to spare. That's why I wanted to invite Brother Ye Feng," Everlasting War said, smiling bitterly.
The competition between these international corporations was extremely intense. Every position on the battle team was unimaginably precious, so how could they give them away to Feng so easily?
"I expected as much. Alright, I accept your invitation. When will the test be held?" Feng nodded. He had merely wanted to test if the power Everlasting War, this battle team's leader, wielded had changed at all due to his interference in the timeline.
"The unified testing time has yet to be determined. Let's add each other as friends for now. Once those in charge have decided on a time, I will contact Brother Ye Feng immediately." Everlasting War promptly sent a friend request to the Swordsman before him.
After Feng added Everlasting War as a friend, they chatted about matters relating to the Dark Arena. Seated by the side, Blue Bamboo was utterly stunned by the two's conversation. She had never imagined that Zero Wing was so amazing. It had actually received an invitation from an international corporation. If the Guild received support from such a corporation, its potential would be unimaginable.
Blue Bamboo's decision to join Zero Wing solidified.
After both sides chatted for another half an hour or so, Everlasting War's group departed.
---
"Big Brother Everlasting, there are countless experts in God's Domain. Aside from Black Flame, how could you invite Ye Feng so casually? What if he fails to pass the test when the time comes? It won't look good to our superiors. Why don't we head over to Star-Moon City and take a look? There might be some other amazing experts there," a beautiful female Elementalist wearing crimson robes suggested.
"I know. Our superiors gave me an invitation slot precisely because they wish to test my judgment and to see whether or not I am suited to lead this team. They will definitely replace me if I fail. Knowing this, I won't act recklessly. However, this Ye Feng is indeed amazing. Based on his appearance, I'm guessing he is only around 20 years old. Yet, when he moves, not a single action reveals a weak point. There were not even any excess actions in his movement. I have already been in the Refinement Realm for close to 27 years already, so I can tell that he has clearly already set foot into the Refinement Realm. Moreover, his progression into the realm is also not shallow. This Ye Feng is simply unbelievable. He is truly a young genius.
"As for Black Flame, I have already watched his battle videos. Although Black Flame is indeed amazing, his performance shows that he has a similar combat standard to Ye Feng, but being the Guild Leader of Zero Wing, he is less likely to have the time to join.
Otherwise, I would not have chosen Ye Feng. Refinement Realm experts are as rare as phoenix feathers in God's Domain. We are already very lucky to have encountered one. Even if we went to Star-Moon City, it is unlikely that we will find another such expert. Alright, let's return to leveling up for now."
His teammates could not help their surprise after listening to Everlasting War's reasoning. They had not realized that Everlasting War had such a high opinion of Ye Feng. However, they also had to admit the scarcity of Refinement Realm experts. Even the five of them had only taken half a step into that realm.
---
After Everlasting War and his party left, Feng chatted with Rain for a bit before leaving. She had asked him about the matter of Blue Bamboo joining Zero Wing, and Feng judged that, with Rain helping her improve, it wouldn't be difficult for her reach the necessary standard to pass the entrance test, so Feng let Rain with the decision on when to allow her to join.
As for restoring Bamboo's memories? Unfortunately, that was impossible, as she had died in the previous timeline. Bamboo's death was also one of the reasons Rain was insistent on bringing her along and training her; along with guilt. She didn't wish for her friend to meet the same fate as before.
On his way to the Bank, Feng received some information from Aqua that made him faintly smile. Overwhelming Smile has retreated from White River City and all of its members were moving to Maple City. The ones that wanted to stay in that clusterfuck of a guild, anyway.
Apparently Feng's massacre in Watch Cemetery was the straw that broke the camel's back, and Overwhelming Smile's branch could no longer endure the heavy loses.
Of course, that didn't mean that the war between it and Zero Wing was over, as it would definitely try to get revenge, as well as that it had to occupy White River City on Underworld's orders. Not to mention Feng would never let them go once they've made themselves his enemy.
Feng soon arrived at his Private Warehouse and entered, immediately retrieving the Holy Grail from its cabinet. Feng then tapped on the touchscreen that was very close to the Holy Grail, choosing to use Power of Evolution and proceeding to select Icarus's Heart as the target of evolution.
System: Are you willing to permanently lose 50,000 HP to evolve the Icarus's Heart?
"Damn, that much?" Feng couldn't help but grow slightly surprised upon seeing how much HP was necessary to upgrade Icarus's Heart.
Fifty thousand HP was by no means a small amount, even for Feng. It was around a tenth of his total HP, and would be a significant loss. Though, upon considering the value of a Fragmented Legendary rank Icarus's Heart, it would be worth it; not to mention Feng doesn't use his HP for much, so a loss of 50,000 would be fine.
Although Feng could also wait to upgrade the Icarus's Heart to Fragmented Legendary rank by other means before turning it into a Legendary item through the Holy Grail, it would take a bit of time to obtain such means, and the value a Fragmented Legendary Icarus's Heart could provide in the meantime would be much grater than waiting and then upgrading it.
Also, Feng had other ways to upgrade items to Legendary rank even without the Holy Grail, so he'll still upgrade Icarus's Heart to Legendary eventually.
Thus, Feng clicked "Agree" without much hesitation, and suddenly, the strength of the Holy Grail's Divine Might soared.
In the next moment, strands of green light flowed from Feng's body and into the Holy Grail. After the Holy Grail absorbed 50,000 HP from Feng, it fired a purple ray at the Icarus's Heart.
Immediately, the Icarus's Heart released a brilliant golden glow, forcing Feng to squint his eyes.
As the golden glow enveloped Icarus's Heart, causing the Necklace's aura to change and increase, a small, purplish-golden ball of light suddenly came out of the Holy Grail and slowly floated towards Icarus's Heart, reaching it after a few seconds and seemingly fusing with Icarus's Heart upon contact.
After the golden radiance faded, Feng fully opened his eyes and looked at the Icarus's Heart, discovering that the necklace now emitted a faint purplish-golden glow; and he couldn't help but wonder what the sudden change was during the evolution process, as he had never seen something like it ever happen during his previous life.
"Was it a success?" Feng was somewhat nervous as he examined the necklace's Attributes.
If it had failed, then he had permanently lost 50,000 HP for nothing. Moreover, he would also have to wait for ten days before the next sacrifice.
However, after investigating the Icarus's Heart's Attributes, Feng's tightened fists relaxed as excitement quickly overtook him.
That's right; it was a success!
[Icarus's Heart] (Necklace, Fragmented Legendary Rank)
Equipment Requirement: All Attributes 500
Attributes will be adjusted according to user's level. (Level 22)
All Attributes +70
When Equipped:
Luck +50
Luck increased by 40%
All allies in a 50-yard radius receive Luck +5
All attributes increased by 10%
Ignore Levels +10
Additional Passive Skill 1: Probability Manipulation [2,3]
Drastically increases the chances of obtaining a result according to the wielder's wishes.
Additional Active Skill 1: Divine Providence
Temporarily increases player's Luck by 140 points for 30 seconds.
Cooldown: 20 minutes
(Luck, Duration, and Cooldown can be increased, prolonged, and reduced by sacrificing Life Force. Maximum of 500 points of Life Force allowed to be sacrificed at a single time.)
Additional Active Skill 2: God's Blessing
Forcefully upgrades all Lifestyle classes learned by the user by one rank (up to a maximum of Advanced Master rank) for three hours.
Cooldown: 5 hours
(Duration and Cooldown can be increased, prolonged, and reduced by sacrificing Life Force. Maximum of 1,000 points of Life Force allowed to be sacrificed at a single time.)
Additional Profound Inheritance: Kismet Cascade
Sacrifice all of the accumulated Life Force to increase the effects of one of Icarus's Heart's skills.
Cooldown: 100 days
Additional Passive Skill 2: Life Storage
Player can accumulate up to 30,000 units of Life Force. Current amount (1,903/30,000).
"What?!" Feng became completely shocked and blinked a few times upon seeing Icarus's Heart's information, specifically when he saw Kismet Cascade.
Although he had indeed upgraded Icarus's Heart in his previous life, and had obtained Probability Manipulation before, this Profound Inheritance had never appeared even when Icarus's Heart became a Legendary item.
Probability Manipulation, with its vague description, was an incredible skill that had allowed Feng to obtain the items he needed whenever necessary. It was a skill that increased the chances of him obtaining the result he wanted, be it a specific items dropping from a monster kill, or when he kills a player, or be it opening a Treasure Chest and obtaining an item that had a possibility to appear in it; or even during Forging or making Magic Arrays to increase not only the chance of success, but also when he was trying to create a new item with some effects.
Apart from getting positive results, he could also greatly decrease the chances of a negative result happening to him, while increasing the chances of either a good or bad result to happen to others as well according to his desire.
Of course, there were limitations as well, and he wouldn't get the wanted result 100% of the time, but still, the ability is incredible.
Overall, it is a godly skill through which Feng could practically manipulate fate itself, and it had allowed him to obtain many of the impossible-to-get items, resources and opportunities during his previous life.
It was one of the main, probably within the top five, reasons he and Zero Wing had managed to survive in the Greater God's Domain and Universal God's Domain. It was also the reason he had been so eager to upgrade Icarus's Heart to Fragmented Legendary rank as soon as possible; aside from the incredible Luck it brings.
However, Kismet Cascade was not at all something he had expected. If its description was correct, then it is a skill possibly surpassing even Probability Manipulation. If he were to sacrifice 30,000 point of Life Force and increase the effects of Divine Providence, the possibilities would be unimaginable.
From his previous life, Feng knew that 100 Life Force sacrificed would increase Luck by 20 points, extend duration by 10 seconds and decrease cooldown by 10 minutes. Though, when the cooldown gets lowered to zero, whatever amount of Life Force was not used for decreasing the cooldown would be split evenly between Luck and duration. [4]
In his previous life, when Icarus's Heart was at Legendary rank, one thousand Life Force could be sacrificed to Divine Providence at once, which had possessed a duration of thirty seconds and cooldown of ten minutes, so the highest increase in Luck Feng had ever seen was of 290 points.
Even then, that amount of Luck was incredible, and along with the rest of Icarus's Heart's and Divine Providence's point in Luck, Feng could achieve amazing things.
But with 30,000 worth of Life Force sacrificed, an unworldly amount of nearly nine thousand Luck would be granted. With such an amount, the rest of Feng's Luck from his other items and even of the default Divine Providence would be inconsequential.
"Could this be the effect of Goddess's Grace?" As Feng wondered how such a heaven-defying skill came to be, he was suddenly reminded of the purplish-golden ball that had appeared during Icarus's Heart's evolution as well as the Power of Evolution's description which only appeared once the Holy Grail's power is restored.
Feng had always regarded that part of Power of Evolution as either an extra part to make it look cool or a tease to the players by the Main God's System, since, even after using it hundreds of times, the evolution process was always the same and nothing special ever happened.
This didn't change even with the Legendary rank Icarus's Heart's Probability Manipulation, which was even more powerful than the one Feng currently had.
Yet, on his first try in this timeline, it actually triggered?
The thought of it possibly being an extra reward for immediately gaining the full power Holy Grail also appeared in Feng's mind, but he wasn't too sure.
Regardless, Feng wasn't complaining, and he now had something else to look forward to. Originally, Feng had intended to upgrade Icarus's Heart to Fragmented Legendary rank and open all of the Treasure Chests he had gathered up to now.
But he has changed his mind with the addition of Kismet Cascade.
Since he had the option, Feng might as well fill up Icarus's Heart to the brim with Life Force before sacrificing it all to get as much Luck as possible and obtain an astronomical amount of loot.
Thinking as so, Feng immediately left the Bank and teleported to Maple City, where plenty of sacrifices waited for him.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. I know Haunted was most likely crated by Silent Aspiration, who Youlan had invited, so it doesn't make sense for it to appear now when Youlan can't log in, but I'll just say that Overwhelming Smile still managed to recruit him even without her, or that someone else invented Haunted.
2. Idea for skill from anime "That time I got reincarnated as a slime".
3. Another good name for the skill is also Plot Manipulation.
4. In case this isn't clear how it works, if 1,000 Life Force is sacrificed, the regular boost to Luck is 200, but since a ten minute cooldown can only be decreased once, 900 Life Force remain, which get split into 450 to increase Luck and 450 to extend duration, and 450 Life Force = 90 Luck, so the total increase in Luck is 290.
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