The Beastman Empire.
The ancient walls, towering over fifty meters high, stood upon the barren, desolate land where Sacred Sculpture monsters ran rampant. Yet the squads of Tier 3 players patrolling along the ramparts paid them no mind whatsoever. They simply went about completing the guild-issued tasks, patrolling back and forth along the walls as though the masses of Sacred Sculpture monsters below simply didn't exist.
The Sacred Sculpture monsters that served as a nightmare for so many players on the
A merchant caravan composed of over a hundred players, pulling more than a dozen horse-drawn carts, made its way slowly toward Ancient Rock City, which loomed not far ahead. The countless Sacred Sculpture monsters in the vicinity seemed completely blind to their presence, utterly ignoring them.
A level 136 Tier 3 Swordsman escorting the caravan looked at the Sacred Sculpture monsters around them — each one above level 120 — and couldn't help but marvel inwardly. "The Sacred Heart Talismans sold by the Hand of Sacred Heart really are something else. The whole way here, even Exotic-rank Sacred Sculpture monsters within twenty or thirty yards of us couldn't be bothered to give us a second glance."
For the Sacred Sculpture monsters that now roamed freely across numerous kingdoms and even the
But now, by simply equipping a Sacred Heart Talisman, one could completely avoid attacks from the Sacred Sculpture monsters, making caravan transport even safer than before.
The level 137 Guardian Knight leading the group sat atop a cart, gazing at the Sacred Heart Talisman in his hand, a glint of ambition in his eyes. "Exactly! Once we reach Ancient Rock City, we need to buy as many Sacred Heart Talismans as we can. Then we can ship them to the surrounding kingdoms and the Empire and make a killing!"
Sacred Heart Talismans were unlike ordinary items — they were non-storable. While players could equip them, they couldn't be placed into spatial backpacks, nor could they be transported through teleportation magic circles.
However, Sacred Heart Talismans were only sold in Ancient Rock City. None of the Hand of Sacred Heart's other guild outposts carried them.
Because of this, many merchant players and adventure teams had spotted a business opportunity — buying large quantities of Sacred Heart Talismans in Ancient Rock City and then selling them in the surrounding kingdoms and the Empire.
After all, the Sacred Sculpture monsters now infested numerous kingdoms on the Eastern Continent and even the Black Dragon Empire. The moment players stepped outside a town, they had to contend not only with ordinary field monsters but also with the vast numbers and formidable combat prowess of the Sacred Sculpture monsters. The Sacred Heart Talisman offered an excellent way to avoid all of that.
That said, Sacred Heart Talismans were consumables, so demand in the surrounding kingdoms and the Black Dragon Empire remained enormous. As long as you could ship them there, you never had to worry about finding buyers.
This time, their Fighting Tiger Adventure Team had even emptied their entire coffers to hire more than a dozen high-grade transport carts — all in hopes of making a massive profit.
A level 136 Tier 3 female Ranger standing atop a cart pointed toward Ancient Rock City, now visible in the distance, and called out. "Captain, we're almost at Ancient Rock City!"
"Alright, everyone get ready — especially the newbies. Ancient Rock City isn't like other guild cities," the level 137 Guardian Knight called out through the team chat. "Private combat is forbidden in Ancient Rock City, but make no mistake — it's a bona fide Dark City, packed with dark players. Make absolutely sure they don't slap a tracking mark on you, because it'll cause you serious trouble once you leave!"
At this, the veteran members of the team each produced a first-tier Mana Guard magic scroll and cast it on themselves, ensuring that ordinary magical tracking marks couldn't be placed on them.
The new members, seeing this, immediately pulled out their own pre-prepared first-tier Mana Guard magic scrolls and quickly cast them on themselves.
As the caravan drew ever closer to Ancient Rock City, the team's newcomers — visiting for the first time — gazed up at the city towering like a mountain range and couldn't help but draw sharp breaths.
Ancient Rock City was simply far more magnificent than any other guild city they had ever seen.
Not only did the walls stand over fifty meters tall, but the entire city was comparable in size to a main NPC city. Standing at the enormous city gates were two Sacred Sculpture monsters that towered over thirty meters tall, clad in steel armor and carrying enormous battle blades on their backs — like ancient giants come to life.
If one used an Observation skill to examine them, one would find that these two Sacred Sculpture monsters, each over thirty meters tall, were in fact level 160 Upper Legendary monsters.
Sacred Sculpture Soul Slayers!