Battle Region Honor Ranking:
First place: Huaxia battle region. Honor Value: 100.
Honor summary: On July 17, 2210, Huaxia battle region player Xietian successfully completed the Mercenary System quest “Relic of the Mercenary King.” The Huaxia battle region became the first region in the world to open the Mercenary quest.
Open the Battle Region Honor Ranking, and the Huaxia battle region’s name hung alone and proud at the very top, with nothing but emptiness beneath it — no second, no third, no fourth… only the one nation of Huaxia.
Open the Battle Region Honor Ranking, and all you saw was that single Huaxia name, and within the honor summary, that other name: “Xietian”!
After today, there would be no one in the world who did not know the name Xietian.
For Huaxia’s players, their shock was far outweighed by the exhilaration of their region’s honor hanging first in the world. When players anywhere on earth opened the Honor Ranking, all they would see was Huaxia up at the top… What a thing to hold your head high about.
And from this moment on, the impression Xietian’s name left in Huaxia players’ hearts took on a glow of glory alongside the mystery and the power. However he had done it, whatever his purpose had been, it was because of him… that the Huaxia battle region had been handed an honor the world watched and looked up to.
“Second Brother, he did it!” On North Street in the City of Stars, Zuo Pojun clenched his fist, looked at the sky, and said it with excitement.
“Oh! This is really quite an ordinary sort of thing, isn’t it? My dear Third Brother.” Murong Qiushui said it with a curl of his lips, but beneath that flat expression the burning light in his eyes betrayed the excitement and the turmoil inside him.
When one is honored, all are honored — that was the lift the two of them were feeling.
Amid the boiling and clamor of players worldwide, the System prompt did not stop; while countless people stared open-mouthed, it read out the attributes of the additional reward Ye Tianxie had obtained — the Mercenary King’s Badge of Glory.
“Ding… The Mercenary King’s Badge of Glory. Base attributes: Strength +5%, Constitution +5%, Agility +5%, Spirit +5%. The holder of this badge may found a new Heaven Soul mercenary corps; on founding, the corps immediately rises to level 2, and all money and experience rewards from completing mercenary quests are increased by 30%. Apart from the leader, any player who joins the Heaven Soul mercenary corps will receive the soul-blessing of the original Heaven Soul corps members — Warrior-class players receive the blessing of the war souls: Strength +5%, HP +5%. Guardian-class players receive the blessing of the Immovable Soul: HP +5%, Constitution +5%. Archer-class players receive the blessing of the Bow Soul: movement speed +5%, Agility +5%. Assassin-class players receive the blessing of the Shadow Soul: Attack +5%, Agility +5%. Mage-class players receive the blessing of the four magic souls: Spirit +5%, Magic +5%. Summoner-class players receive the blessing of the Summoning Soul: all attributes of summoned companions +5%.”
When the System prompt finally fell silent, Zuo Pojun and Murong Qiushui exchanged a look, and then the exact same two syllables came out of both their mouths…
“Holy shit!!”
Zuo Pojun hurriedly raised his wrist and bellowed into his communicator, “Second Brother! Get back here! I want to join the Heaven Soul mercenary corps, I want to join the Heaven Soul mercenary corps!!”
Nobody had ever heard of joining a mercenary corps raising your attributes. And this Heaven Soul corps — whatever your class, simply joining got you the corresponding attribute increase, two attributes at that, and by a full 5%!! A 5% bonus to a main attribute — how many levels, how good a piece of equipment would it take to reach that!
Zuo Pojun was hardly the only one worked up. When the System, for whatever reason, announced the Badge of Glory’s attributes to the entire world, it was like dropping an enormous bomb overhead; the already seething mass of players fell into chaos all over again, and Huaxia’s players in particular boiled over like a pot.
Join the Heaven Soul mercenary corps and your main attributes went up 5% — what the hell! Was anyone supposed to live with that… was any other mercenary corps supposed to live with that?
One could well imagine that once this news spread, no telling how many players would pour everything they had into finding Xietian, meaning to join the Heaven Soul corps and willing to pay enormous costs for it. Because the System had made it plain: become a member of this corps and, with no particular conditions required and no matter where you were, you got the attribute bonus. Short of quitting or being kicked out, it amounted to a permanent attribute increase.
If Ye Tianxie went into the city right now, set up a stall and shouted “one million to join,” the rich men chasing strength would come from every direction and form a queue of terrifying length.
“Ding… The player you are calling is currently in a special scenario and cannot communicate with the outside.”
Zuo Pojun: “……”
Lowering the communicator, Zuo Pojun said excitedly, “Fourth Brother, do you think Second Brother will let us join the Heaven Soul corps?”
Murong Qiushui looked at him the way one looks at an idiot. “Kindly do not insult my noble intellect with your idiotic questions. My dear Second Brother will shelter us beneath his dazzling radiance forever… Oh!! Why, why am I not a real woman, why…”
Zuo Pojun broke out in a sweat all over and very nearly shuddered. He turned his head quickly to look around… Thankfully there was nobody nearby… otherwise they would certainly have been on the receiving end of the sort of looks reserved for lunatics.
The Heaven Soul Graveyard.
Holding the golden badge in his hand, listening to the prompt that had gone off in his ear without his consent, Ye Tianxie was speechless… The moment this news got out, parties hunting him through every conceivable channel would blanket the sky… all just to join his Heaven Soul mercenary corps.
And Ye Tianxie rather suspected this was some prank the System was playing out of boredom… because there was one extremely important point it hadn’t announced. The Badge of Glory’s attributes stated it plainly: the number of Heaven Soul mercenary corps members, the leader included, may not exceed 13.
No more than 13…
And at the same time, the System hadn’t announced another of the badge’s powerful properties either:
The Mercenary King’s Badge of Glory: a badge sealing a portion of the souls and wills of every deceased member of the Heaven Soul mercenary corps. The holder of this badge is acknowledged by the Mercenary King Ren Zhanqing and may found a new Heaven Soul mercenary corps; on founding, the corps immediately rises to level 2, and all money and experience rewards from completing mercenary quests are increased by 30%. Apart from the leader, any player who joins the Heaven Soul mercenary corps will receive the soul-blessing of the original Heaven Soul corps members — Warrior-class players receive the blessing of the war souls: Strength +5%, HP +5%. Guardian-class players receive the blessing of the Immovable Soul: HP +5%, Constitution +5%. Archer-class players receive the blessing of the Bow Soul: movement speed +5%, Agility +5%. Assassin-class players receive the blessing of the Shadow Soul: Attack +5%, Agility +5%. Mage-class players receive the blessing of the four magic souls: Spirit +5%, Magic +5%. Summoner-class players receive the blessing of the Summoning Soul: all attributes of summoned companions +5%. Additional attributes: on wearing, Strength +5%, Constitution +5%, Agility +5%, Spirit +5%. Additional skill — Glory of the Mercenary King: releases the conviction and soul-force sealed within the badge to resurrect every Heaven Soul mercenary corps member fallen in battle on the same map, restoring them to full health on revival. Usable once every seven days. Special — Owner-locked: Xietian. Cannot be traded, cannot be sold, cannot be stolen.
The Mercenary King’s Badge of Glory came with a resurrection skill shocking enough on its own — and a mass resurrection at enormous range at that, a resurrection even a Holy Bishop, the Priest class’s final form, could not possibly possess. The seven-day cooldown did nothing whatsoever to obscure its power.
“Ding…” Another voice sounded in Ye Tianxie’s ear. “For successfully completing the hidden branch of the System Quest ‘Relic of the Mercenary King,’ additional reward obtained: Heaven-Severing-grade scroll — Divine Gift.”
A grey-white paper scroll descended from above and settled slowly into Ye Tianxie’s hand… A Heaven-Severing-grade scroll. He began to hear the pounding of his own heart.
Divine Gift: a Heaven-Severing scroll, a miraculous scroll sealing the Creator God’s power of blessing. It is said that whoever receives the blessing-power of the Divine Gift gains the right to undergo one additional class change.
One additional class change?!
What a powerful and unbelievable property that was. Ye Tianxie’s hand tightened; he could hardly believe such a property existed at all.
If a person could hold two classes, what did that mean?
It meant a Warrior could use an Assassin’s speed and Stealth; that an Archer, once someone closed on him, could switch weapons at once and fight in melee; that a Guardian could defend with everything he had while summoning all manner of companions…
Two classes, more class attribute bonuses, more and more complete class skills. The fusion of two classes would inevitably produce a player powerful enough to break the balance.
Another item that shouldn’t exist, another balance-breaker, had landed in his hands. Ye Tianxie was silent for a moment, then closed his hand and crushed the scroll.
The grey-white paper broke apart, turning into points of grey light that flowed up his arm and merged into his body, and vanished…
“Ding… You have used the Heaven-Severing scroll Divine Gift. You may undergo one additional class change, to a class different from the one you already hold.”
Only when the prompt fell silent in his ear did Ye Tianxie truly believe that, with the help of a single powerful item, he had gained the right to hold two classes.
The scene of twelve powerful enemies reviving at once and attacking together would drive ordinary players to complete despair. A branch quest of such terrifying difficulty was bound to carry an extraordinarily rich reward… Even so, a scroll with a property this powerful and this unusual, at Heaven-Severing grade, was an absurdity of a reward that went beyond even his expectations.
The Mercenary King stood there quietly without any movement at all; even his grey eyes, though still open, had gone as lightless as a dead fish’s. Around him, in the silence, the twelve of the Heaven Soul corps lay sprawled in every direction across the ground, coloring the place with a soundless stillness.
The Mercenary King’s relic — the Mercenary King’s Badge of Glory — was in hand. Quest complete.
A white beam of light descended, enveloped Ye Tianxie’s body, and carried him out of that dark underground tomb.
(End of Chapter 178)