But before long, those powerhouses discovered that the Abyss-difficulty trial was flat-out impossible to pass. When these powerhouses died, again and again, all of them wiped out before even reaching the halfway point of the trial, they gave up, unanimously convinced that no team could possibly clear a trial like that. Abyss — it had meant hopeless despair from the very start.
And so this first batch of players to reach Level 10 began turning their attention to the Nightmare-tier trial. Nightmare stood for spine-chilling terror, and this tier of trial fully lived up to those two words. The powerhouses kept failing, time after time — but Nightmare-tier failure didn’t make them give up, because each time they advanced a step further, and thereby glimpsed a little more hope. Before long, someone was bound to reach the very end of the Nightmare trial.
But that was for those experts standing at the peak of power. For ordinary players without strong equipment or financial backing, even the Hard-tier trial was an enormous chasm difficult to cross.
Novice Village No. 12000.
Wave after wave of the leveling army streamed in and out of the novice village, and hawking cries of every kind never once ceased in each cramped little novice settlement. As more and more players’ levels drew near 10, the talk turned increasingly toward the novice village’s class-advancement trial. Though it was only a trial, once it was over, it would mark the first time the strength of the various groups pulled apart.
In an inconspicuous corner of the novice village, a man sat quietly on a rock that seemed to have stood there for ages, silent, like a lifelike statue. This man had a cold, proud air and a sharp gaze that set women’s hearts racing. He was a player of the Assassin class, his clothing relatively close-fitting, tracing out golden-ratio lines. Without a doubt, this was a man of great charm; wherever he went, he’d become the focus of people’s attention. But meet his gaze, and you’d know this man possessed more than just great charm… He was absolutely no ordinary man.
A tall, lean figure approached before him without a sound and lowered his head before him, his gaze — which had been fixed on the man — dropping to his own toes. If anyone had paid deliberate attention to the way he’d looked at the man beforehand, they’d have found it a devout gaze, almost like looking up at a god.
“Ying, is everyone assembled?” The man slowly lifted his head and asked calmly.
Feeling the man’s gaze upon him, Ying instinctively lowered his head a few degrees further. “Young master, everything’s ready. These twelve could be called the strongest twelve in Novice Village No. 12000. Equipment and consumables are prepared without the slightest oversight. This time we have absolute confidence we can pass the Nightmare-tier difficulty.”
The man nodded and said calmly, “We’ve already failed four times, and the last time we came within a hair of success. This time we have no reason to keep failing. Let’s go — we have to pass the trial before Wings That Shroud the Sky. This is a fine chance to knock down their arrogance.”
“Yes.” Ying answered, then hesitated and said, “Young master, there’s a piece of not-so-good news.”
“Oh?” The man frowned.
“Word came from Feng Ying of Novice Village No. 15000 — the Heaven-Blade Netherking seems to have already agreed to pass the Nightmare-tier trial together with Wings That Shroud the Sky. I’m worried…”
“Worried the Heaven-Blade Netherking, Sha Wujin, will join Wings That Shroud the Sky?” The man’s brow sank slightly, then he gave a faint laugh. “Ying, you’re overthinking it. A man like the Heaven-Blade Netherking would never be willing to join any faction, because it would cost him his freedom. His cooperating with Wings That Shroud the Sky is nothing more than wanting to borrow their strength to pass the Nightmare trial.”
Ying nodded quickly. “You’re right, young master. But with our Divine Domain Pact’s strength, even if the Heaven-Blade Netherking really did join Wings That Shroud the Sky, it would be no cause for concern at all. Even if Sha Wujin can carry on his Heaven-Blade Netherking legend in Fate, he’s still just one man in the end… and this time, doesn’t he likewise need to borrow Wings That Shroud the Sky’s strength to pass the Nightmare-tier trial?”
The man looked up and slowly shook his head. “You’re right, but you’re also wrong. One man’s strength is indeed feeble beyond words before tens of millions — but that’s relative to ordinary people. There are three people you must never try to underestimate… Do you understand who I mean?”
“I… understand.” Ying’s expression tightened. The people who could command the regard of the Divine Domain Pact’s Pact Master could be no one but those three.
The Undefeated Evil Emperor, Tian Moxie; the Heaven-Blade Netherking, Sha Wujin; the City-Toppling Asura, Bloodfiend Moon — three legends who shook Huaxia and indeed the whole world of online gaming. Lay out the deeds any one of them had done, and it would be enough to leave people pale with shock.
“Especially that Tian Moxie… Though I’ve never crossed blades with any of the three, whether in Skyholder or Slaying Gods, I’m confident I have the ability not to lose to Sha Wujin or Bloodfiend Moon — but I’ve never been confident I could defeat Tian Moxie.” The man said with a frown. Had that calm voice fallen on anyone else’s ears, they’d surely have gone pale with shock.
To be confident of not losing to Sha Wujin or Bloodfiend Moon — just who was this man…?
Zangshen, Pact Master of the Divine Domain Pact. A man who, by virtue of his enormous power base, never took action himself. Just how strong he was, only the handful who knew him best truly understood.
Ying said, his face full of shame, “Young master, there’s still no word on the whereabouts of Tian Moxie or Bloodfiend Moon.”
“No need to blame yourself.” Zangshen rose, the faint curve at the corner of his mouth there and yet not. “They’re both the sort who go wherever the crowds are thinnest; if they don’t want their whereabouts known, no one can find them. What I’m more concerned about is… whether the July Chamber of Commerce has made any moves.”
Ying shook his head. “None. We’ve been keeping watch these past days, but there hasn’t been any news about the July Chamber of Commerce at all.”
Zangshen sank into thought for a moment, then said, “Liu Qiyue won’t stay silent. There’s no telling what kind of surprise she’ll spring on us this time… Let’s go.”
Ying followed close on Zangshen’s heels every step of the way. Though Zangshen’s expression had stayed so calm throughout, when the July Chamber of Commerce’s “Liu Qiyue” was mentioned, Ying still caught threads of infatuation in his gaze. Liu Qiyue… that proud daughter of heaven with the face of an angel, the figure of a devil, and the methods of a fiend — she was the one and only woman who could draw such a look from Zangshen.
(End of Chapter 33)