He recalled Yaoyao, took out a Guping Town Portal Scroll, and crushed it.
He had gone in for nothing more than a straightforward hidden quest to kill an unformed Undead Sovereign — and never imagined how many twists and impossibilities he’d run into along the way. Slaying the Sovereign had gone far more easily than he’d expected. And then came the Blood Phoenix, the blue wolf, and that blue-haired man. After that, with no warning at all, he’d fallen into the Hidden Dragon Abyss, met Long Moya, changed class into the shockingly powerful Rebel-Boned Evil Dragon, obtained two Heaven-Severing items whose power still slept — the Holy Dragon’s Fang and the Demon Dragon’s Fang — and finally, quite by accident, gained a new companion of enormous origins: Yaoyao.
The world’s changes are always unforeseeable; no one can truly predict what will happen in the next second. And it’s exactly that unpredictability that makes the tides of a man’s fate rise and fall. The moment Ye Tianxie accepted that Unique quest to investigate the missing city guards at the City Lord’s manor in the City of Stars was the beginning of a major turning point in his life in the World of Fate… And now, at last, he had taken the single largest step of his time in this world, and been remade from the bones out.
Back in Guping Town, he made his way to the chief’s house — and before he could get a word out, the chief had already hurried forward to meet him, his face shining with excitement. “Brave one! I have waited and waited for your return… You are indeed a true hero, worthy of the Hero’s Badge, just as Gu Ping was. We already know — not only has the Undead Sovereign ceased to exist, but the entire Skeleton Cavern has collapsed. The Undead Sovereign will never appear again… Brave one, you have not only strangled a terrible disaster in its cradle, you have severed the very source of that disaster for our children’s children… We truly don’t know how to thank you.”
Ye Tianxie paused for a beat, then immediately nodded with an expression of perfect humility. “Don’t mention it. It’s only what I should have done.”
He was certainly not fool enough to clarify that the Skeleton Cavern had been destroyed by the power of the Blood Phoenix and the blue wolf. He couldn’t possibly have leveled the whole cavern himself. And with quests whose rewards were unknown, what you received was generally scaled to how completely you’d fulfilled it — and he had, quite evidently, blown well past the requirements this time. What he received ought to be scaled up accordingly.
“It must be that our reverence for heroes moved the heavens to send you here to save this forgotten village,” the chief murmured to himself, which left Ye Tianxie both speechless and faintly ashamed. A hundred years ago, a man named Gu Ping bearing a Hero’s Badge had taken the invading Undead Sovereign down with him and saved all of Guping Town. Now Ye Tianxie had killed an Undead Sovereign a second time, and “incidentally destroyed the Skeleton Cavern” besides. It was easy to imagine that from now on, this village would revere anyone carrying a Hero’s Badge the way one reveres a god.
The chief went on for a good while, sighing and exclaiming in a mixture of excitement and gratitude, and then finally turned to the topic Ye Tianxie cared most about. “Great hero, please come with me. Guping Town has something to give you, as a token of our thanks.”
At the center of Guping Town stood a tall stone stele, carved with the image of a man and the name of a man… Gu Ping, who had saved Guping Town a century ago. Beside the stele stood a small hall, somewhat ancient and solemn — old, but clearly swept regularly, spotless both inside and out.
The chief brought Ye Tianxie there, bowed devoutly before the great stele, and then went into the hall. Ye Tianxie didn’t follow. He waited outside, taking an interested look around. Before coming here, he’d actually already heard the name Gu Ping — he’d heard it from the class instructor back when he first arrived in the City of Stars to change class. Because Gu Ping was, a century ago, the sole genius to have obtained both a Hero’s Badge and a Champion’s Badge; only afterward came Wuming. Had he not died young, he would surely have become a figure of towering renown by now.
The chief didn’t keep him waiting long, emerging soon with a strange steel-colored object in his hands. At a glance, Ye Tianxie couldn’t even tell what it was for.
“Hero from the City of Stars, this is what Guping Town has prepared for you… and it is a thing that only you are qualified to own.” The chief lifted his hands and placed the strange object into Ye Tianxie’s, his weathered face filled with melancholy and feeling. “When the hero Gu Ping who saved our town gave his life to bring down the terrible Undead Sovereign, before he died he asked us to bury his sword, his shield, and his armor — the companions of his life — together with his body. But he told us to keep this. Because a hero needs it. And only a true hero is qualified to have it.”
Ye Tianxie took it and immediately looked at its stats.
Hero’s Headguard: Special mask-type equipment. Obtained by Gu Ping when he received the Champion’s Badge. The material it is made from is unknown. When equipped, it may be worn against the forehead, or pulled down to cover the face above the nose. Requirements: possession of any one of the Hero’s Badge, the Champion’s Badge, or the War God’s Badge. Attributes: Strength +10, Constitution +10, critical rate on attack +3%.
Bonus skill — Hero’s Heart: Concentrates strength and conviction, turning your next attack into a terrible killing blow. Effect: after activation, your next attack triggers a critical hit with 100% certainty. Costs 20 MP. Cooldown 1 minute.
This…
It was a mask. A special kind of mask. And a mask with attributes on it — with a powerful bonus skill, even!
Holding the strange mask-type equipment called the Hero’s Headguard, Ye Tianxie thought at once of what the item shop owner in the City of Stars had said to him: “Strictly speaking, masks aren’t really equipment. They’re just items for concealing your face — at least, every mask in my shop is… Though, young man, as far as I know, there are a few extraordinarily rare and precious masks that do carry attributes, and some of them carry very powerful ones. Ah, how I’d love to lay eyes on one of those marvels someday…”
And what Ye Tianxie now held in his hands was exactly the kind of strange, attribute-bearing mask that the shopkeeper had marveled at and longed for. It carried 10 Strength and 10 Constitution — but given how special the equipment slot was, this mask was worth vastly more than an ordinary piece of gear carrying 100 points of attributes. It was more precious even than earrings, rings, and necklaces, the accessory types that almost never dropped.
And “Hero’s Heart” was a skill of enormous practical value. Consider: if Ye Tianxie fired off Hero’s Heart right before every use of his ultimate technique, Dragon Tornado Sevenfold Rend, then with the critical effect applied, the result would be a full fourteen times normal damage… What a terrifying, astonishing number that was.
“Ding… You have successfully completed the Unique Hidden Quest ‘Slay the Juvenile Undead Sovereign for Guping Town.’ Experience +32,000. Renown +50. Gold +100. Favorability with all residents of Guping Town +20. Bonus reward: the special equipment ‘Hero’s Headguard.’ As you have exceeded the quest requirements, additional reward: favorability with all residents of Guping Town +50.”
The chimes rang out and faded, marking the perfect completion of the Unique Hidden Quest he’d stumbled into in Guping Town. And the bonus reward brought on by the Skeleton Cavern’s destruction nearly cracked his face in half with grinning… Favorability with every resident of the town up by a full 50, on top of the original 20 — meaning every person in Guping Town was now at 70 or above with him. All of them at Heart-to-Heart, and not far off Utter Obedience.
That was more precious than any material wealth. A town where everyone was friendly to you, respected you, and would never show you malice, hostility, or deception — what a wonderful place for a holiday.
He removed the tiger mask from his face and put the Hero’s Headguard on. At once, a headband bearing a slanted shortsword at its center encircled his forehead. At a glance its material seemed to be steel, but on closer inspection you could see the metallic sheen flowing across it was something else entirely. Ye Tianxie reached up and pulled it down, and instantly the upper half of his face was hidden, leaving only his mouth and nose exposed. But strangely, though his eyes were plainly covered and no one could see them, his own vision seemed to pass straight through that strange metal, taking in everything around him with perfect clarity, without the slightest effect on his sight or his field of view. It was remarkable.
Having taken his leave of the chief with his haul complete, Ye Tianxie went straight back to the City of Stars. The Unique quest he’d taken at the City Lord’s manor — investigating the missing city guards — was now fully accomplished… more than fully, in fact. He was very much looking forward to seeing the City Lord’s reaction on learning the Blood Phoenix was dead, and to what reward it might bring… because he intended to produce that Blood Feather with maximum flair and announce that the Blood Phoenix had been slain by his hand.
Which is to say: between leaving the City of Stars yesterday and returning today, Ye Tianxie had undergone a transformation so total he might as well have become a different person. He now had a formidable, unique class; equipment ordinary players wouldn’t dare dream of; and a small pet of vast origins and astonishing ability — Yaoyao. And the starting point of all of it had been taking that quest to find some missing city guards.
The instant Ye Tianxie appeared in the central plaza of the City of Stars, the already-clamorous square erupted. The volume of the chatter climbed sharply, and a chorus of camera clicks ran together into a single wall of sound. Countless gazes — some envious, some astonished, some jealous — converged on him.
His shirt, his trousers, his boots were all still the same pathetic novice gear. But the pair of gauntlets on his hands, one black and one white, each set with a roaring dragon’s head, made players’ eyes go wide with shock and wonder the moment they landed on them — and refuse to leave. And his face, hidden behind that strange mask carved with a shortsword, was something none of them had ever seen or heard of before… Whether the gauntlets or the mask, their appearance alone was enough that even a fool would be certain they were no ordinary things.
(End of Chapter 118)