System: Congratulations, player. You have accepted the Epic main quest, "Emergence of the Evil God." The quest objective is to eliminate the cultists of the Evil God within the Star Moon Kingdom. If the cultists successfully summon the Evil God's descent before they are eradicated, the Star Moon Kingdom will fall.
...
After the system prompt sounded three times in a row,
He had simply delivered a message, yet somehow triggered an Epic main questline for the Star Moon Kingdom. This was anything but good news for the
As the system prompts ended, the system announcements began to broadcast.
Star Moon Kingdom Regional System Announcement: New expansion pack, "The Calamity of the Evil God," has launched.
Star Moon Kingdom Regional System Announcement: Ruins of an Evil God Temple have been discovered in the
...
The system broadcast repeated three times, instantly sending all players across the Star Moon Kingdom into a frenzy.
"That's awesome! Who triggered the new expansion?"
"An Asura-rank regional dungeon! That's where we farm. The drops must be incredible."
"An Asura-rank dungeon! The monsters inside will definitely drop
Players everywhere were buzzing with interest over the new regional dungeon.
Previously, within the Star Moon Kingdom, only the Stone Claw Mountains dungeon yielded Magic Crystals. But every major guild in the kingdom had converged there. Even though the Stone Claw Mountains were resource-rich, the share each player could get was slim, and the competition grew fiercer by the day.
Now, with the appearance of a new Asura-rank dungeon, it was great news for the general player base. At least when it came to acquiring Magic Crystals, they finally had another option.
Moreover, the Undead Grand Canyon was much closer than the Stone Claw Mountains, separated by only one zone map. The only catch was that the monsters in this intermediate zone were rather high-level, all above level 50. Running through without sufficient strength meant a high chance of dying en route. However, this also served as a filter, weeding out weaker players and reducing competition.
The sole drawback was the matter of rest and repairs. Unlike the Stone Claw Mountains, which had Stone Forest Town nearby, the Undead Grand Canyon and its surrounding leveling zones had no town at all. Running from the nearest teleportation point took over three hours.
This was a headache for independent players, but not necessarily unacceptable for the major guilds. At least venturing to the Undead Grand Canyon meant avoiding the Zero Wing guild's exorbitant repair fees. Plus, once guild members obtained mounts, the travel time would be significantly reduced.
In short, all major guilds in the Star Moon Kingdom immediately began preparations to march on the Undead Grand Canyon.
A new regional dungeon meant abundant, untapped resources within. Being the first to enter the Undead Grand Canyon meant securing more resources than rival guilds.
"Young adventurer, I need your help with something." Duke Harte Filo looked at Shi Feng with a grave expression. "The cultists of the Evil God have resurfaced. I suspect it's the work of the legendary undead mage from fifteen years ago, Bane. I need you to locate him. To perform the summoning ritual, Bane will slaughter living beings on a massive scale to gather enough power to summon a fragment of the Evil God. Here, I have a Tracking Crystal. It has recorded the power of the Evil God and can detect its fluctuations within a certain radius. As long as Bane is absorbing life force, the Tracking Crystal will reveal their location. Once you find their hideout, leave the rest to us."
"However, you must be cautious. Bane is a legendary undead mage. The monsters created through the Evil God's power are incredibly powerful. Gathering the power needed to summon the Evil God's fragment requires immense energy, so he will definitely be cultivating monsters in secret to help him amass it. If you wish to deal with these monsters, I suggest you first visit the ruins of the Evil God Temple inside the Undead Grand Canyon. You might find a way to counter them there."
After Duke Harte Filo finished speaking, he handed Shi Feng a square, azure-blue crystal.
Tracking Crystal: When used, detects fluctuations of the Evil God's power within a 5,000-yard radius. Cooldown: 30 minutes. Each use consumes one Magic Crystal.
"Inconvenient is right." Shi Feng took the crystal cube in his hand, feeling inwardly helpless.
Fortunately, summoning the Evil God required enormous power. Those one-horned, humanoid monsters would surely continue their slaughter of creatures or players. As long as they kept doing so, they would inevitably be spotted. After that, using these monsters to track down their base should be straightforward.
Shi Feng then departed the Duke's manor with the Tracking Crystal and contacted
Meanwhile, in the Star Moon Kingdom's capital, at the Snake of the Body guild headquarters, a meeting that should have only included high-ranking guild members now had three additional players who were not part of Snake of the Body.
"Guild Leader Bai, directly becoming a subsidiary guild under our Blackwater Group comes with numerous benefits. Won't you reconsider?" A cold-eyed, short-haired young man at the front of the group asked Bai Qingxue with a smile.
"Numerous benefits?"
"Please, don't say that. The reputation and influence of our Blackwater Group, I'm sure you're well aware. Once we take over the Snake of the Body guild, it will surely become much stronger in the future," the cold-eyed young man chuckled. "Joining the Blackwater Group now is your best choice. Otherwise, the only path ahead is annihilation, and you'll end up with nothing."
"Are you threatening me?" Bai Qingxue's delicate brows furrowed.
"Not a threat, merely a suggestion. I imagine the investors backing you also don't wish to make an enemy of Blackwater, do they?" The cold-eyed young man said, glancing at the guild elders nearby. "Your guild elders should understand this best of all. Haven't they informed you?"
"What exactly is going on?" Bai Qingxue fixed her gaze on the guild elders beside her. These elders were representatives of the corporations that had invested in Snake of the Body, effectively speaking for those companies.
"The few of us investors have already reached a consensus. We've decided to join the Blackwater Group. Qingxue, don't blame us. We have no choice. Blackwater has been secretly suppressing our companies. Our capital chains are critically strained, and if things continue, we'll all go bankrupt. We had to compromise," one of the elders whispered an explanation.
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