Hanging the Hero’s Badge at his chest, Ye Tianxie crouched down and cast “Gathering” one after another on the Amethyst War Tiger’s corpse.

“Ding… You have gathered one Amethyst Tiger Hide.”

“Ding… You have gathered seven portions of Amethyst Tiger Meat.”

“Ding… You have gathered the special item ‘Amethyst Stone Fragment.'”

“Oh?” Ye Tianxie pinched between thumb and forefinger a little stone the size of a grain of sand, yet glinting with a dazzling purple light. Threads of flowing, eroding lightning came through his two fingers, and faintly, a thin net of lightning swayed and drifted across the little stone, giving off a soft crackle of electricity.

Amethyst Stone Fragment — Originally a jade stone that had existed for several thousand years, it was later struck by the lightning energy released in the battle between the Lost Continent’s Twelve Sages and the Eight Demon Kings, and thereby came to hold a high density of lightning power. Later the Tiger King inadvertently swallowed it, thus evolving into the Level 20 Lord, the Amethyst War Tiger, and gaining the power of lightning. Because the Amethyst War Tiger had swallowed the amethyst stone for too short a time to fully absorb its power, this last small Amethyst Stone Fragment remained within its body. Effect: after consumption, lightning-attribute resistance permanently raised by 5%, lightning-type magic damage bonus of 1%.

Ye Tianxie swallowed this Amethyst Stone Fragment without hesitation. An item that permanently raised attributes — the odds of such a thing appearing were exceedingly, exceedingly small, its value so high as to be nearly immeasurable, a true priceless treasure.

“Ding… You have used the ‘Amethyst Stone Fragment.’ Lightning-attribute resistance permanently increased by 5%. Damage bonus of 1% when using lightning-type magic.”

The Amethyst War Tiger’s corpse, gathered clean, vanished from the ground. Ye Tianxie stood up and looked ahead, and far off in his line of sight, the stone gate that had been closed was now open. With a satisfied, faint smile he walked in… and the instant he stepped through the gate, a soft sound came to his ears, everything before him turned pure white, and then the surrounding space switched over rapidly.

In the blink of an eye, he was back outside the novice village. Holding the “Proof of Abyss Trial Completion” in hand, he walked into the village, straight toward the chief.

“Village chief, I’m back.” Ye Tianxie greeted the chief in a very friendly manner. On seeing him, the chief’s eyes brightened as before, but he didn’t speak right away; instead he looked Ye Tianxie up and down, then nodded and said, “Not bad — you came out much later than I imagined… heh heh heh heh, now you should understand that the Abyss trial simply can’t be passed, right? It’s all right; to have held out so long, you’re already an outstanding…” The chief’s words stalled halfway, his old eyes suddenly going wide, fixing fast on Ye Tianxie’s chest, staying frozen there for a long while before he stammered, “The Hero’s… the Hero’s Badge… you… you actually passed the Abyss trial? This, this, this, this…”

NPCs couldn’t hear the World of Fate‘s system chimes, so the novice village chief had no idea Ye Tianxie had passed the Abyss trial — hadn’t even conceived of it. Just how arduous the Abyss trial was, no one knew better than he; even the final trial, that invincible Amethyst War Tiger, he knew of perfectly well. With the strength attainable in the novice village, forget a full party of twelve — even dozens or a hundred-odd people had no possibility whatsoever of defeating it… all the more so when Ye Tianxie was but a single person. Though he’d encouraged Ye Tianxie earlier and done his best to help him, it had only been helping as best he could out of goodwill toward him; never had he imagined the man would actually pass the Abyss trial… Only by passing the Abyss trial could one obtain this Hero’s Badge!

“Yes, and for that I have to thank you for your help, village chief; otherwise, with my personal ability alone, there’d have been no way to pass.” Ye Tianxie said with a smile. Indeed, without the 20 special recovery potions the chief had given him, and the special items obtained through his recommendation to Yuan Que, he might have passed the earlier gates, but he’d have had almost no hope at all of defeating the Amethyst War Tiger.

The chief looked at him dumbly for a long while before his flustered old face finally recovered its calm. He reined in his smile, shook his head, and said in earnest, “No. I know perfectly well what things old Yuan has there; even if you got hold of all of them, without world-shaking ability you could never have defeated the powerful enemies of the Abyss trial on those alone.” He paused, then said with feeling, “Though I’d always been certain you’d become an outstanding brave one, I still underestimated you… You are the second person in all these years able to obtain the Hero’s Badge. To witness the appearance of this miracle with my own eyes — I truly am gladdened beyond measure. My greatest longing now is to see you one day obtain the legendary Champion’s Badge and War God’s Badge, and then set foot in the mysterious Tower of Fate.”

“Champion’s Badge… War God’s Badge… the Tower of Fate?” Ye Tianxie showed puzzlement, looking questioningly at the chief.

The chief lifted his head slightly and reminisced for a short while, then said, “Having obtained the Hero’s Badge, you’re qualified to know these things. Ah — back in those years, the Eight Demon Kings who plagued the Lost Continent were, through the efforts of the Twelve Sages, at last sealed within the Tower of Fate by the Hour of Eternal Fate. The Tower of Fate has one hundred and eleven floors in all, imprisoning and sealing countless living beings, every one of them some savage demon-beast or fiend-lord. The Tower of Fate’s sealing power grows stronger the higher one goes, and the higher one goes, the stronger the monsters sealed within the tower. At the same time, the Tower of Fate stands at the very center of the Lost Continent, and what supports its existence and maintains its sealing power is this continent’s power core — the Hour of Eternal Fate. Yet three years ago, the Hour of Eternal Fate suddenly vanished from the top of the Tower of Fate, and its disappearance made the sealing power that had held the tower weaken by the day, until one day, a vast demonic energy was released from the top of the Tower of Fate — the powerful aura of the Eight Demon Kings sealed within. Not long after, they all fled the Tower of Fate, whereabouts unknown.”

The chief let out a sigh, then continued, “Back when they contended with the Eight Demon Kings, five of the Twelve Sages perished, and the remaining Seven Sages vanished after that final battle, no one knowing where they went… And with the power core gone, the demonic energy that had been suppressed on the Lost Continent grew thicker by the day, and disasters from nature grew ever more frequent. Countless people searched for the whereabouts of the Hour of Eternal Fate, all the more eager to know what exactly had happened within the Tower of Fate. And so countless brave ones entered the Tower of Fate, but… once inside, not one of them came out alive. From then on, the Tower of Fate was sealed off completely, and ordinary folk were no longer allowed to set foot in it. That place became a forbidden ground worthy of the name.”

Ye Tianxie: “…”

“And to enter the Tower of Fate, only by obtaining the Hero’s Badge, the Champion’s Badge, and the War God’s Badge is one qualified — otherwise it’s simply going to one’s death. Later, one brave one finally obtained these three badges after a hellish trial and entered the Tower of Fate. But… he still couldn’t reach the top, and nearly lost his life on the eightieth floor, returning in the end with regret. That person is the Lost Continent’s foremost expert at present, one whose ability rivals the Twelve Sages of old — Wuming.”

(End of Chapter 49)