Chapter 1455: Mad God Lunge
While I was flying, my body automatically enveloped itself in a sheen of protective divine energy and changed the color of my eyes from red to black. There was only a tinge of red around the edges. The appearance of an Asura God was cool and handsome to the maximum degree alright. If I had an in-game appearance like this from the beginning, I would never have to worry about not being able to find a wife!
Flight plus the Ancient Divine Dragon equaled insane movement speed. I shot through the clouds like a rocket and flew straight toward Dragonbone Mountain Range where the residence—or should I say his tomb, since he was dead?—of my mentor, Rinser, resided.
……
Swhoosh!
I landed on a patch of snow at high speed and skidded for a fairly long time before I finally came to a stop. Then, I began walking toward Rinser. The old man was narrowing his eyes and murmuring dreamily, "Fresh mushroom and rabbits… fresh mushroom and rabbits… Ah, I suddenly feel so hungry!"
I stopped in front of Rinser, but he still didn’t notice me. To be fair, my boots only left behind shallow footprints on the ground.
"I’m back, mentor!"
The greeting finally broke Rinser out of his reverie. He stared at me and exclaimed with astonishment, "Is it really you, boy? I heard that the War of Sainthelm Ruins ended with Dragon Speaker Binglan being grievously wounded, and Xinran being dragged into the infinite Purgatory by Lin Na. They said that it was a terrible war where countless people died and became food for the Corpse Eaters. I… I’m not still dreaming, aren’t I? I can’t believe you actually made it back here…"
I clenched my fists and walked closer. "Yes, I managed to return alive, mentor. Now, I wish to complete my next class promotion!"
"Promotion?"
The old man suddenly broke into laughter. "Quit the jokes, boy. There is no class promotion after your last one. I’m just a shitty old man who dabbles in sword and magic sometimes, what else can I teach a master swordsman like you? In fact, now that I think about it, why should I waste any more time on you now that Wind Singer Xinran is missing in action? Leave, boy. The times are changing, and the Purgatory Legions are soon to take over the continent… What I really should be doing is to figure out a way to get a job under Lin Na. Maybe I should offer your head to Linda the Whisperer as a tribute…"
The corners of my lips curled upward, but my eyes weren’t smiling. Bloody aura and divine energy suddenly exploded from my person, and my black pupils suddenly shone bright red. I pulled out my golden Xuanyuan Sword and sneered at Rinser. "You want my head? Come and get it then! Don’t think you can do as you please just because Xinran isn’t in the human realms anymore. In fact, since you have nothing left to teach me, maybe I should take YOUR head to Princess Karinshan instead. I’m sure she’ll make me a viscount or even a baron for my efforts!"
"Oh…"
Rinser’s complexion turned a bright green when he saw my divine transformation. He hurriedly said, "I was just joking, my brave, precious student! There is another realm above master swordsman, but you must first meet a very stringent requirement. I wonder if you can satisfy it?"
"Oh? And what realm is that, mentor?" I asked with a smile.
Rinser hummed for a moment before looking at the sky. He began, "For a swordsman, the realms of human cultivation are Swordsman, Greater Swordsman, Swordsman of Stars, Sword Saint, and Sword Emperor. To exceed that is to exceed the human limits. That realm is known as Divine Throne Guardian. Back in the days, every chief god had a divine throne of their own, and every divine throne had their own guardians. The system is still functioning even though Heaven Domain is but a pile of rubbles and remains these days. If you are fortunate enough to break through the limits of a mortal and become a Basic God, then you will qualify to become a Divine Throne Guardian.
Rinser shot me a glance before continuing, "My excellent and handsome student, you have cultivated into a Basic God in your own way. Therefore, you are already qualified to become a Divine Throne Guardian…"
I nodded. "In that case, promote me now!"
"Very well. Pay me 500,000 gold!"
"Take it!"
I tossed out the bag of gold without hesitation. I simply couldn’t be bothered to haggle with Rinser at this point, not to mention that I did need the stat and power from this class promotion to be able to survive in the Purgatory. Moreover, I wasn’t the only player who hit Level 250 or above. I had no intention of giving up the reward for becoming the first player to complete my ninth class promotion, also called ‘class ascension’ for a god like me.
After Rinser put the gold away, he immediately placed a hand on my chest and said in a trembling voice, "Gods of the nine heavens, please open your eyes and witness the birth of an expert in this world. I, Rinser, guarantee with my life that the man before me is qualified to become a Divine Throne Guardian. He is a master swordsman, and he will serve the empire loyally for eternity!"
Swhoosh!
A column of bloody light enveloped me, and sacred music began playing in the air. After a seemingly endless amount of energy seeped into my body, a system announcement resounded across the sky—
Ding~!
System Announcement: Attention all players, player "Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand" (China) has successfully completed the ascension quest and become the first Dark Divine Throne Guardian of the game. He has gained the ascension attribute "Divine Aid (Sword)". When using a sword, all of the user’s skill power, stats and resistances are greatly increased. Their level cap has also been increased from 255 to 275. As the first player to complete the class ascension quest in all the servers, they are rewarded the skill, "Mad God Lunge"!
……
I felt as pleased as Punch. Now I was truly ready. As long as I wielded a sword-type weapon, my Attack would be massively increased. Since I was using the Xuanyan Sword, the strongest weapon of the Twelve Divine Armaments, it meant that I would probably be stuck with a sword-type weapon until the end of the game, not that I minded one bit. Finally, I was rewarded with a skill book called "Mad God Lunge" for becoming the first player to complete my ninth class promotion. It was sitting in my bag right now. Let's check it out!
I opened my bag and took out the skill book. It was blood-red in color and overflowing with murderous intent. Physical contact with it instantly filled me with a surge of great energy. Not bad! Powerful is exactly what I am looking for right now—
Mad God Lunge (Ancient Divine Rank Skill): Lunge toward your target, knock them back 10 yards with a 100% success rate, and stun them for 3 seconds. Ineffective against Invincible targets. Level Requirement: 250. Reputation Cost: 500,000
……
Swhoosh!
The skill book scattered into a shower of sparks before entering my body. Then, a new skill appeared in my skill window. Mad God Lunge was an excellent skill because it had a 100% success rate, meaning that it was effective even against bosses unless they were invincible. I was guaranteed to encounter at least one ridiculously powerful boss in the Purgatory, and this skill would make my life so much easier...
While doing so, I selected the new tab that was just added to my interface. It displayed the seven great Divine Thrones and the number of players under these categories. Obviously, I was the only person on the interface right now—
Light Divine Throne Guardian: None. Effect: Melee skill proficiency, increased resistances of all types, increased Attack, and random attribute granted.
Dark Divine Throne Guardian: 1 player. Effect: Melee skill proficiency, increased resistances of all types, increased Attack, and random attribute granted.
Order Divine Throne Guardian: None. Effect: Ranged skill proficiency, increased resistances of all types, increased Attack, and random attribute granted.
Chaos Divine Throne Guardian: None. Effect: Melee skill proficiency, increased resistances of all types, increased Attack, and random attribute granted.
War Divine Throne Guardian: None. Effect: Melee skill proficiency, increased resistances of all types, increased Attack, and random attribute granted.
Ice and Fire Divine Throne Guardian: None. Effect: Ranged skill proficiency, increased resistances of all types, increased Attack, and random attribute granted.
Death Divine Throne Guardian: None. Effect: Melee skill proficiency, increased resistances of all types, increased Attack, and random attribute granted.
……
The Seven Divine Thrones were tied to the player's class ascension. According to the system rules, players could seek out their trainers and activate the opportunity to become a Divine Throne Guardian after reaching Level 250. After that, they would have a miniscule chance to achieve ascension every time they leveled up. However, their Level was capped at 255, and it was unknown if there were other factors in play that might or might not improve one's ascension chances. At any rate, I was probably the only player to be made a Divine Throne Guardian after ascending to become an Asura God.
I checked my character introduction next. My title had been changed to "Dark Divine Throne Guardian", and a devilish symbol had been attached to my ID. It would tell everyone that I wasn’t someone to be trifled with no matter where I went[1]!
……
I spent a little while packing my things before teleporting away. I had squeezed all that was worth from Rinser, and I even found out that the old bag of bones was plotting treachery. I’m going to boil him like a frog after I bring Xinran back from the Purgatory!
After I returned to Dark Moon City, I repaired my equipment and groaned at the amount of gold I had to pay. My Xuanyuan Sword seemed to have become even more expensive to repair after it went through an evolution. In fact, despite the ever-hiking price of Magic Repair Oil, with the cost of repairing my Divine Armament, it was still the more frugal option of the two…
Beep!
It was at this moment Chaos Moon sent me a message: "Are you departing for the Purgatory yet? If not, then come to Dragonbone Mountain Range (17277, 62372) and help Gui Guzi and I to kill a boss!"
"Sure. I’m coming right away!"
Lin Yixin was still preparing the Rank 14 Health Potions and the Magic Repair Oils I requested from her, so it still wasn’t the right time to enter the Purgatory.
……
I exited my territory and took to the sky. Then, I locked onto the coordinates and flew straight toward it. Less than two minutes later, I descended in a forest and met up with Chaos Moon’s party. I counted about a dozen or so people, and Chaos Moon, High Fighting Spirits, Gui Guzi, Moon Dew and Moonlight Stone were all present.
"Wow, this is quite the formidable party. Who was the amazing boss that thwarted you all?" I asked.
Gui Guzi raised his Ghostblade Halberd and explained, "Sky City is temporarily under the control of Linda the Whisperer, and she sent a Sovereign Rank boss to guard Dragonbone Mountain Range. Coincidentally, it spawned right at the map we were grinding and even party-wiped us. It was because my Defense wasn’t good enough to tank it[2]. That is why I invited not just you, but Boss Eve, Sister Mingyue and Lian Xin as well. They should be arriving very soon…"
"Got it!"
Half an hour later, after everyone who was contacted had arrived, our party of one hundred marched toward the mob’s lair together. It was a bloody and eerily silent forest.
……
We saw the axe-wielding boss standing in the middle of a blood pool. It had a pair of intimidating horns on its forehead. It glared at us with its sinister eyes before breaking into a malicious grin. "Have you come to die again, shameful humans?"
Xu Yang raised his Omnislash and taunted, "You’re the one who’s going to die, idiot boss! Come face our newly minted ninth-promotion tank extraordinaire already!"
Chaos Moon: "..."
1. E/N: Yo, Mr. Amazing Gamer, can you check if that shit sticks after using the Master of Disguise Ring? ☜
2. E/N: ☜
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