Chapter 436: Realm of Sacred Glory
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As he headed to the ground floor in a daze, Zhang Yang felt a rush of joy in his heart, but he also felt an unexplained sense of pure terror down his spine.
Deep down his heart, the shadow of Lin Yu was fading by the second. And on the other hand, Sun Xin Yu and Han Ying Xue had earned more ground in his heart. He could not help but think, it was possible that he might end up like the main character Zhi Zun Bao1 in the story of ‘A Chinese Odyssey: A Pandora's Box’ who finally finds his true love after time-traveling through 500 years of time?
But speaking of true love, one was enough as it is! If there were two true loves in one’s life, then the troubles would be endless!
Zhang Yang walked into the house to find Han Ying Xue and Wei Yan Er fighting over for a bottle of perfume that was deemed to be a limited edition, like their lives were depending on it. They did not realize that Zhang Yang had spent a longer than usual period of time outside.
After finishing up with his cooking in the kitchen, the three of them sat at the table and enjoyed the food. In the afternoon, they would be heading out to check on a new house. It seemed that Han Ying Xue and Wei Yan Er had finally picked a place for him.
The new house was located in an urban area. The environment was very good. Of course, transportation was convenient as well. There was an indoor swimming pool and a tennis court within the premises around the house. There were 21 bedrooms in the house itself! And as expected, the price of that house was really ‘something’! It would cost Zhang Yang about 40 million dollars!
However, the moment when Zhang Yang got off the car, he realized it straight away. This was definitely not just a coincidence! The house that the two ladies picked for him is actually the same house that he had stayed for two years in his previous life!
Well, this must be the will of god, or some butterfly effect that caused the timelines to fixed itself.
After entering the large house, the three of them began to pick their favorite rooms. Of course, Zhang Yang would naturally pick the one that he had stayed in in his previous life. But what he did not expect was that Han Ying Xue had also picked the same room as him. Both of them really had similar tastes when it came to picking rooms! Both of them did not plan to be polite, as they both wanted the same room. Han Ying Xue insisted that even if she had to sleep with Zhang Yang for the night, she will do it just to secure the room to herself!
Zhang Yang was left helpless, so he could only give in to the demands of Witchy Snow and let her have the room.
Peace was always a temporary state. Before the night fell, Sun Xin Yu had invited herself over, and she carried a small luggage with her as well, popping up at Zhang Yang’s new house. She seemed to have made herself at home, and planned to stay in with them. As she did not even greet any one of them, Han Ying Xue was furious, placing her hands on her waist.
The next morning, Daffodil Daydream took a plane and rushed over to pay a visit to Zhang Yang and the ladies. So, Zhang Yang and the ladies went to the airport to pick her up, then they escorted her over to the house. The initially quiet large house had suddenly become a ‘bird nest’! The smell of flowers were in every corner of the place, and there were many sights for sore eyes in the house now.
Safe to say, his house is now a barbie house full of pretty dolls!
Another fortnight had passed in just a blink of an eye. Zhang Yang and his small party had all been elevated up to Level 90, However, the Level 90 dungeon Rock Frost Palace was designed for players to explore in a large-scale of 50 players. Although there were only 6 bosses in the entire dungeon, they were extremely difficult.
Zhang Yang wrote down some battle tactics and passed it over to Endless Starlight. He planned to let Endless Starlight lead a party to explore and clear the dungeon. Meanwhile, he was making potions for future use, and he would also tease Han Ying Xue and Sun Xin Yu once in a while, while bullying the little girl out of boredom. His days were considered very casual.
One Sword Stroke, Liu Wei, and Humbly Gentleman had been laying low. They did not try to stir anything up. It seemed that everyone was trying hard to level up. Everyone was focused on becoming strong enough to breakthrough Level 100 so that they could explore the Realm of Chaos even further.
Now that everyone was still below Level 100 at the moment, whatever the players did were merely small things. To be known by everyone in the world, one must achieve great heights in the Realm of Chaos! With that, only then would players become recognized by the world!
Even though Endless Starlight had already acquired the battle tactics from Zhang Yang, they were progressing very slowly in clearing the dungeon of the Rock Frost Palace. They had not been able to take down the first boss, even after seven or 8 days of trying! Of course, one of the main reasons was because they were short in numbers. Only 34 members of the guild were over level 90.
And again, another fortnight passed, and Lone Desert Smoke, Crimson Rage, Imperial Sky and other large-scale guilds had gathered enough number of players who were at least Level 90. Once again, the competition of securing the First Clear of the dungeon in Hardcore Mode had begun once again. Although Level 80 and Level 90 was just 10 levels of difference, players had spent about 3 months, just to close the gap and elevate themselves up to Level 90 and above!
For most of the players, the last time they had competed for a First Clear had been a lifetime ago. So, when the competition sparked up once again, players were all agitated with excitement. There would be people posting on the forums and walls of the game’s official website. Countless players appeared to predict the outcome as they were guessing who would get the First Clear of the dungeon this time around!
However, the Rock Frost Palace was extremely difficult to manage! Although players had only taken about 2 days to clear the Hard Mode, the first boss of the same dungeon in Hardcore Mode had stopped all guilds, possibly for good. No one had been able to break through the defense of the first boss, until now!
The main reason being, the boss had too many AOE skills that he could use to wipe out players in seconds! The entire party had to make sure that they ducked and rolled perfectly in order to survive the attacks of the boss. None of them could afford any mistake, not even a small one! If any of them made a small mistake, the entire party could be wiped out!
A boss like this required absolute precise coordination among the entire party, which meant that 50 members of the entire party had to remain perfect throughout the battle!
Even Zhang Yang was helpless. It was impossible to single-handedly take out these kinds of bosses that turn the sky upside down. So all Zhang Yang could do was to let all of his guild members practice, and practice.
After filtering out the good and the bad, the 50-member party had been reduced down to a 42-member party. Although their numbers were a little smaller, their efficiency had greatly increased. After a dozen times of being wiped out, the Lone Desert Smoke had finally succeeded in slaying the first boss, being the first party to ever slay the first boss of the Rock Frost Palace.
Although the remaining 5 bosses were very difficult to deal with, after experiencing the excruciating suffering in battling the first boss of the dungeon, everyone had already gone through a hellish nightmare that trained them to become stronger. Their efficiency in clearing the remaining bosses of the dungeon had obviously increased a lot. They were breaking through hordes of monsters like a hot knife cutting through butter, solving their problems with their crushing force! In just a brief moment, they had already slain the second, the third, the forth, and the fifth boss of the dungeon, heading straight into the deeper site of the dungeon, ready to face the final boss.
On the other hand, Imperial Sky, Crimson Rage, the Radiance and other guilds were performing with the strength of a large-scale guild. They had also managed to slay the first boss and progressed through the remaining bosses, heading straight to the final boss. Now that everyone performed outstandingly, it remained unclear on which guild would be able to secure the First Clear of this dungeon!
Just when things were getting hotter, Zhang Yang and his party members joined the fray! After making up the strongest formation of the party, they took down the last boss Longrich Doc like an unstoppable trunk hitting straight into the face of the boss! There, they had secured the First Clear of another dungeon.
With everyone acquiring an additional skill point, having their Level 90 equipment, and slaying quite a number of Violet-Platinum bosses over the month, the capability of the party had increased tremendously, in terms of equipment!
Zhang Yang was planning to activate the [Dimensional Key] and lead his party into the Heavenly Might Imperial Kingdom to acquire the [Ancient Godly Weapon, Meteor Sword]. With that sword, he would be able to complete the long-winded Main Quest that Princess Serena had bestowed upon him. However, it was really a bad timing for {{God’s Miracle}} to celebrate their one year anniversary since their launch. And for that, the official activated an event that rewarded players who participated.
After reading the description of the event, everyone went mad! Even Zhang Yang, who had lived twice, was agitated with excitement! Without hesitation, Zhang Yang postponed the ‘Meteor Sword’ quest and participated in the anniversary event!
According to the official announcement, in the upcoming three days from 28th June to 30th June, all monsters would have a certain chance of dropping an item called the ‘Glory of Stardust’. This ‘Glory of Stardust’ did not have any function on its own. It could not be sold to the merchants in the game as well. However, on the 1st of July, the game would open up the ‘Realm of the Sacred Glory’. Players would only need to turn in 10 of the ‘’Glory of Stardust’ to the NPC that would spawn in the main city during the period of the event in order to enter the Realm of the Sacred Glory.
In the Realm of the Sacred Glory. Killing a monster would give players 3 times of experience points. Furthermore, that map would spawn a large number of new treasure chests. Although most of the treasure chests did not give good equipment or items, but a very small number of the treasure chests did. They might drop top-tier equipment, skill books, or even skill points!
Other than that, treasure chests might even give ‘Glory Points’. Players would be able to collect the glory points, as much as they can. The game would keep count on the ‘Glory Points’ each player can collect every 12 hours. Players with the least scores would be eliminated and sent out of the realm. This process would be repeated 6 times, and the last player remaining in the realm with the highest score would be awarded with levels and the title reward!
The fact that the treasure chests had a certain rate of dropping attractive rewards like equipment and skill books, already motivated everyone to act on it. Now that they added rewards like a level and a title reward, players would, of course, be crazed over the event! Furthermore, the Realm of the Sacred Glory would only be opened once, so every single player in the eight main cities would only have one chance to compete in becoming the top 1 and claim the title of this event!
Number one in the world!
The glory of achieving this height was just mesmerizing!
The moment when the officials released the news, all players were boiled with excitement, and they were all sharpening their blades and cracking their fists.
The system did not seem to trouble the players at all. Although the drop rate of the [Glory of Stardust] wasn’t really that high, at least it wasn’t too low to the point where players would not get even one after an entire day of killing the monsters. To get 10 [Glory of Stardust] in 3 days time was just like a walk in the park. Anyone could complete the task very easily!
Therefore, on the 1st of July, 90% of the players have managed to collect 10 [Glory of Stardust]!
On the night of 30th of June, almost every player was already waiting at the site of the Teleportation Circles of the main cities where the NPCs were going to spawn. They were all eager to enter the Realm of Sacred Glory the moment it opened, because the earlier they could enter the realm, the longer they got to stay in the realm to progress on their accumulation of the ‘Glory Points’, and the more ‘Glory Points’ they would be able to collect.
Zhang Yang had also gathered his usual party members and waited at the site, just like the others.
The moment when the clock struck 12 and marked the beginning of the 1st of July, a beautiful lady NPC in a crimson red chinese traditional wear ‘Qi Pao’ spawned right in the middle of the crowd. The lady looked gentle and lovely with her outfit. A few male players around her were trying to put their dirty hands on her boobies and her ass with some dirty thoughts in their mind. However, thunder strikes came out of nowhere and struck those players until they were all fried. Then, the system locked them up in the prison of the main cities, forbidding them from taking part in the event!
The beautiful NPC did not waste any time and she went straight to the point. With her hands waving in the air casting the spell, a large portal appeared right in the middle of the city square in an instant.
‘Ding! The Realm of Sacred Glory has been opened. You can use 10 ‘Glory of Stardust’ to enter the realm. Note: You only have 1 chance to enter!’
"Let’s go! Time to go in!"
Zhang Yang and his remaining 9 members stepped into the portal at the same instant, as the portal was as large as the widely opened mouth of a big blue whale! The portal was ‘sucking’ in the players into the realm like a gushing tidal wave. The width of the portal did not seem to be narrow at all, even with all the players being ‘sucked’ in at the same time.
‘Ding! You have entered the Realm of the Sacred Glory!’
Everything that Zhang Yang saw in front of his eyes instantly changed, and now, he found himself on a mountain. He could see a few zombies lurking around the vast space of the area from afar. The zombies seemed like they were wandering about without any sense of purpose. But he suddenly frowned and shouted out into the party channel all of a sudden, "Witchy Snow, Ice Queen, little girl, are you guys standing together next to each other now?"
"I’m alone all by myself!"
"Me too!"
The remaining 9 members of his party were shouting into the party channel as well. They had entered the portal at the same time, however, they had all been teleported into a different area of the realm. Furthermore, there were no coordinates at all, they could not access their world map! They could only see about a 200-meter radius of the area around them.
"Then, let’s proceed on your own and see who’s luckier!" since things had already been laid out, Zhang Yang could only accept the fate.
"Wa! Healers like us will definitely suffer more than you guys! Not fair!" Han Ying Xue let out a miserable sigh.
Healers had weaker DPS capabilities compared to all other Classes, so they were at a major disadvantage.
But there was no point in complaining any further. As Zhang Yang attempted to activate his [Party Summon Order], the system notification popped up, informing that it cannot be used. Well, it was understandable. The initial intention of the system is to separate all players from each other and let all players proceed by themselves individually. If players could easily work in a group, then the purpose of the event would be defeated.
Zhang Yang deduced that the system was doing all this is to prevent some players from helping other players to gather the ‘Glory Points’. Or else, if all members of one entire guild helped only one player to collect the ‘Glory Points’, then it would become a competition between guilds already!
Zhang Yang summoned out Whitey and charged straight up to the zombies around him.
With a blast of {Spear of Obliteration} striking out, a damage of ‘-5,499’ was inflicted on the monster nearest to him. That blow actually took off half of the health bar of the monster!
Zhang Yang was a little bit shocked, and he suddenly said, "The damage output of the tankers and healers are boosted in this realm!"
On the other side, Han Ying Xue had also realized that her attacks had been increased by 30%. That increment could already make up for the weak spot of the Priest’s in their magic attacks.
Zhang Yang swung his sword at the zombie and killed it. Upon his kill, he acquired about 20,000 experience points! Outside of the Realm of Sacred Glory, players could only acquire about 9,000 experience points in similar situations. So, the experience points that they can acquire in this realm was about two times more!
Unfortunately, the monsters in this realm were rather scattered, with one in the north and one in the east. If Zhang Yang could lure the monsters to one spot and kill them all in one shot, then he could have earned tremendous experience points!
The loot that the monsters dropped was very normal. They would only drop some copper coins, and some [Inscribed Clothes]. Zhang Yang progressed forward and slew another seven to eight zombies. Then, he found a scarlet treasure chest lying quietly right behind a large rock!
He quickly hustled over there on Whitey. As he arrived closer to the treasure chest, he jumped down from Whitey and began to put his hands on the treasure chest, trying to open it up.
A 10-second progress bar appeared right on top of his head and began to fill up by the seconds. That was a process of opening up a chest. Players would not be able to make any movements while the progress bar is filling up, or else the process would be interrupted, and the players will have to restart the process all over again.
"Wa! I’ve just got a Yellow Gold equipment! And 12 ‘Glory Points’!" the cheerful voice of Wei Yan Er was heard through the party channel.
That little girl really had good luck this time!
‘Ding! You have opened a Glory Treasure Chest!’
‘Ding! You have acquired Inscribed Cloth X 3!’
Right after that, the treasure chest closed automatically and vanished after 1 second.
What bad luck!
Zhang Yang let out a sigh, but then he gave it some thought. If equipment and ‘Glory Points’ were easy to come by from opening up treasure chests, then {God’s Miracle} would descend into chaos!
As he proceeded forward, Zhang Yang slew all the monsters that he came in contact with and opened up all treasure chests that he found along the way. After opening up 11 treasure chests, the best he could get from the chests was a Green-Copper grade equipment. He was so infuriated! Even the Hard Mode of the Rock Frost Palace would drop Gray-Silver grade equipment or items at the very least! Following the increasing numbers of Level 90 over time, the Green-Copper equipment would eventually be phased out by the Gray-Silver equipment, and the Gray-Silver grade equipment would become the accepted norm for regular players soon enough!
To give him a Green-Copper equipment at this time was like throwing rotten sludge straight at his face!
As Zhang Yang was struggling in such regard, the exciting voices of his party members filled the party channel. Most of them were bragging about their finds. The luckiest one was, of course, that Witchy Snow, who had already managed to collect 89 ‘Glory Points’ at the moment. That number was about two times of the number of ‘Glory Points’ collected by Sun Xin Yu, who was the second highest achiever in the entire party!
Unfortunately, Zhang Yang was still stuck at having zero ‘Glory Points’ at the moment. If this went on, he would definitely be among the first batch that is going to be eliminated and be kicked out of the realm!
TL Notes:
1. Zhi Zun Bao - the main male character in the story of ‘A Chinese Odyssey: A Pandora's Box’ where he travelled through time 500 years earlier and miraculously met his true love.