Chapter 72 – Gathering at the Ancient Settlement

Gray Forest Mountain Range, Tifa Mine:

Inside the dull-gray mine illuminated by magic light, thousands of sword-wielding Level 105 Elemental Golems laid motionlessly in front of a metal door measuring several dozen meters in height.

If one looked carefully at these Elemental Golems, one would find that they were coated with anti-magic metal, which granted them superb resistance to magical attacks. Meanwhile, due to the nature of golems, the Elemental Golems also possessed superb physical resistance.

Most importantly, every one of these Elemental Golems was a Great Lord. With several thousand of them gathered together, even a team of several thousand ordinary experts would have a tough time going up against them. Yet, now, these Elemental Golems had lost to merely a team of 500 players.

“As expected of an Ancient Demon Court’s guards. I didn’t think they could form a Super Gravity Domain when gathered in groups of one hundred,” a one-eyed man carrying a greatsword on his back said as he kicked the Elemental Golem before him. Then, he turned to the beautiful and curvaceous woman beside him and said, “Thankfully, we have you leading the team, Goddess Rue. If it weren’t for your Frostflame Domain counteracting their Super Gravity Domain, we would’ve had much greater difficulty getting to the Ancient Demon Court this time.”

When the one-eyed man spoke up to this point, many of the surrounding people also turned to look at the beauty wearing a red robe and wielding a crystalline staff, their faces filled with admiration and reverence. This was because this beauty was none other than God’s Domain’s famous Frostflame Goddess, Cleansed Rue. Not only was she a Vice Guild Leader in the first-rate Guild Hundred Flower Palace, but she was also one of the top 100 experts in the God’s Domain Experts List.

Ranking within the top 100 might not seem like anything special, but it should be noted that the Secret Pavilion only recorded 1,000 players on the God’s Domain Experts List. Moreover, even the weakest player on this list was at Tier 5. Thus, anyone capable of ranking within the top 100 was a top-tier Domain Realm expert.

Meanwhile, in response to the one-eyed man’s flattery, Cleansed Rue simply kept her staff away and indifferently said, “Even without my Frostflame Domain, nothing can go wrong here with you around, One-eyed Ghost.”

One-eyed Ghost was the most recent player to become one of God’s Domain’s Eight Sword Meisters. Apart from being an Honorary Elder in the first-rate Guild Nature Hall, he was also one of the top 100 experts in the God’s Domain Experts List. Moreover, he was even in possession of the incredibly powerful Darkness Domain. Before entering the Miniature Ancient World, he was regarded as one of the experts with the highest chance of reaching Tier 6.

Meanwhile, One-eyed Ghost was known for being a smiling tiger in God’s Domain. He might have a cheeky personality on the surface, but he was actually an incredibly ruthless person on the inside.

If their two Guilds hadn’t partnered to raid the Ancient Demon Court, Cleansed Rue wouldn’t have been willing to interact with someone like One-eyed Ghost.

“I might have a Mana Domain, but I am still only a Swordsman. How can my Mana Domain possibly compare to that of a Tier 5 Divine Mage like yourself, Goddess?” One-eyed Ghost said with a light smile. Then, he sighed as he continued, “But it really is a pity. I thought I would get to travel with two great beauties this time. I didn’t think that the other beauty would give up on partnering with our two Guilds.”

“It is indeed a pity.”

Cleansed Rue also sighed when she heard One-eyed Ghost’s words. Su Qianliu was someone whom she had her eye on. Before, she had even tried to recruit Su Qianliu into the Hundred Flower Palace. After all, Su Qianliu was not only a great beauty, but she also possessed excellent management capabilities. People like her were rare in God’s Domain. Unfortunately, Su Qianliu had rejected her invitation. Now, Su Qianliu had even strangely given up on their partnership and the Ancient Demon Court to join a newly-established Guild called Zero Wing. Cleansed Rue found this to be a truly bizarre situation.

“That’s because Su Qianliu is stupid, Big Sis Rue. Not only did she reject our Guild invitation, but she even gave up on our partnership to join some no-name Guild. She’ll definitely regret her decision later on,” a Level 102 female Knight said contemptuously.

Many of the Hundred Flower Palace present silently nodded in agreement.

While Tier 4 experts were indeed rare in God’s Domain, they could, at most, serve as mainstays in the various first-rate Guilds. A single Tier 4 expert wasn’t enough to let a Guild dominate an entire region.

Meanwhile, Su Qianliu’s decision to join a newly-established Guild and abandon the opportunity to raid an Ancient Demon Court was no different than putting the cart before the horse. It was an incredibly foolish action.

However, Cleansed Rue didn’t comment on the matter. After all, everyone had their own decisions. Immediately, she commanded through the team chat, “Everyone, rest up! We’ll be going inside in a moment!”

Although the Ancient Demon Court was an ancient settlement, its nature was more like a Trial Dungeon. The level of the monsters inside would change according to the player’s level, and their levels could increase up to Level 150. Meanwhile, after players successfully raided an Ancient Demon Court, they would be rewarded according to their performance.

An Ancient Demon Court was essentially a Dungeon that players could raid infinitely. Moreover, the rewards one could acquire would change every time depending on one’s level and performance. Thus, one could also say that an Ancient Demon Court was a treasure trove.

Of course, this treasure trove didn’t come without restrictions. Specifically, players could only enter an Ancient Demon Court once every seven days. In other words, a team could only raid an Ancient Demon Court once a week.

However, while this restriction might be severe toward individual teams, it wasn’t as significant to a Guild. After all, a Guild had more than one team under its command.

This was also why the Ancient Demon Courts found on the main continent had become private grinding spots for the various powers. Meanwhile, in the Miniature Ancient World, where Dungeons appeared randomly, the value of an Ancient Demon Court was many times higher than on the main continent.

“Goddess Rue, I’ll say this first, but, as per our agreement, you must let Nature Hall have the Ancient Demon Court’s key if it drops,” One-eyed Ghost said, smiling as he looked at Cleansed Rue.

“Naturally. But don’t forget that the inner zone’s teleportation stone belongs to Hundred Flower Palace,” Cleansed Rue reminded.

Although the Ancient Demon Court resembled a Trial Dungeon, it also possessed the properties of a settlement.

So long as players acquired the key to an Ancient Demon Court, they wouldn’t have to worry about others occupying the Ancient Demon Court in the future. This was because the key could be used to open or close the entrance to the Ancient Demon Court.

In addition, the inside of an Ancient Demon Court could be split into two zones—outer and inner. However, players would need a specific teleportation stone to enter an Ancient Demon Court’s inner zone. Without the teleportation stone, players wouldn’t be able to enter the Ancient Demon Court’s inner zone and acquire its true treasures.

“You can rest assured, Goddess Rue. Nature Hall sticks by its words. Not to mention, our two Guilds have already signed a contract on this,” One-eyed Ghost said, chuckling.

After both sides verified their arrangements once more, Hundred Flower Palace’s and Nature Hall’s members finally merged into an actual 500-man team, which was also the Ancient Demon Court’s maximum entrance limit for a team.

…

TL Notes:

I will be using the word “settlement” when the author is referring to both towns and cities simultaneously(城镇) from now on. I’ve been making do with “towns and/or cities” thus far, but “settlement” sounds like a better alternative.

For those curious, 城镇(chéngzhèn) can mean either town(镇, 城镇) or city(城市, 城镇). Usually, the author uses 城镇 when referring to both/being ambiguous. When the author is being specific, he will use 小镇 for towns, and 城市 for cities.

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