Chapter 3269 - Chapter 343 - Terror Descends!

Chapter 343 – Terror Descends!

Regional System Announcement: Ten players have gathered in the Ancient River’s Heart. All ten players are required to enter the temple’s ten side doors. Once all players enter a door, the Ancient River Trial will officially begin.

Regional System Announcement: The temple has a total of two floors. Players will pass the trial once they conquer both floors. Players who die in the temple will be automatically teleported out of the Ancient River’s Heart. If no player can pass the trial, the last remaining player will be the Rookie Competition’s champion.

Regional System Announcement: There is no time limit set for the trial this time.

…

The regional announcements echoed in everyone’s minds three times, the announcements’ content surprising and confusing many of the people present.

“What’s going on?”

“Weren’t the finals supposed to be a series of duels? Why did it suddenly change into a trial?”

“Two floors? Hasn’t this temple always had one floor only?”

“Did we trigger some kind of hidden event or quest?”

…

The players present were both surprised and excited by this unexpected turn of events. Even Empress Blood Arrow and the Undefeated Battle Maniac were not an exception.

The Ancient River Secret Land was incredibly mysterious, and it had existed long before even the Ancient River Kingdom did. According to rumors, a peerless treasure was hidden inside the Ancient River Secret Land. Only, even after so many years had passed, nobody had actually found this supposedly “peerless treasure.” The greatest finding made was only the ancient stele scattered across the secret land’s central zone.

The only benefits players stood to gain from entering the Ancient River’s Heart were the opportunity to fight against other experts, the incredibly dense mana in the temple, and the drawings on the temple walls.

The temple’s wall drawings were incredibly magical. If players observed these wall drawings for a long time, not only could they improve their Concentration standards, but they could also receive help in improving the Completion Rate of their Mana Bodies.

Although the wall drawings’ effects were negligible to high-tiered players, their effects were precious to Tier 4 players. Because of this, the various powers assumed that the wall drawings were the Ancient River Secret Land’s so-called “peerless treasure.”

Now that the temple’s rules had suddenly changed, this could be considered a good thing in a certain sense.

Pass the temple’s second floor?

Shi Feng, on the other hand, got a mild headache when he saw the system notifications.

He was 99% certain that the sudden change of the secret land’s rules had something to do with the Seven Luminaries Codex in his possession. This was because the moment he got teleported to the Ancient River’s Heart, he immediately sensed the dense aura of one of the Seven Luminaries Codex’s fragments. He could even pinpoint the fragment’s location to the inside of the temple.

However, the problem now was that the system had clearly stated that the newly-introduced Ancient River Trial would only begin after all ten players here had entered the temple.

In other words, the trial wasn’t targeted at him alone. If someone managed to clear the temple’s second floor before him, the Seven Luminaries Codex’s fragment would go to them. If he didn’t want that to happen, he would have to compete and beat everyone else.

What a lucky kid. It seems I can only take care of him afterward, Leroja thought as she glanced at Shi Feng. Then, she made her way into one of the temple’s side doors.

After Leroja disappeared into the temple, Cross suddenly walked up to Shi Feng and patted him on the shoulders before heartily saying, “Little Brother Black Flame, while I find it unfortunate that I cannot exchange moves with you this time, I will be waiting for you at the Galaxy Conglomerate’s invitational competition.”

After saying so, the Undefeated Battle Maniac walked into a side door with a big smile. Seeing this, the other people outside the temple also quickly entered the temple one after another. In no time, the only ones left outside were Shi Feng, Midsummer, and a savage-looking young man.

When Midsummer saw this savage-looking young man, a flash of fear appeared in her eyes.

Players from other countries might not be familiar with the savage-looking young man, but there was nobody living in the Ancient River Kingdom who did not know about him.

Saint Three!

A once-in-a-century paragon from the Twin Saints Alliance!

He was an existence even the Ancient River Kingdom’s six ruling hegemonic powers had to show respect to.

“Black Flame! You’ve lucked out this time! Originally, even if Empress Blood Arrow did not make a move, I would have let you know who the true First Paragon of Ancient River is. But now it seems that I can only wait until Galaxy’s invitational competition,” Saint Three said in an arrogant tone to Shi Feng. “Use this extra time to find a way to improve. I don’t wish to see you getting disqualified in the group stages’ first round. Otherwise, the entire Starlight Realm will think the Ancient River Kingdom has no talent!”

After saying so, Saint Three also entered one of the side doors, disappearing out of Shi Feng’s and Midsummer’s sight.

When Midsummer saw Saint Three was gone, she clicked her tongue and said, “Isn’t this guy a little too arrogant? I doubt he even knows about your achievements, Brother Black Flame. If he learned about your achievements, he’d definitely be frightened.”

Shi Feng’s achievement of holding back a Silver Combat Puppet and instantly killing nearly thirty experts was something Saint Three couldn’t even hope to replicate. Out of the players who had gotten into the Ancient River’s Heart, the only ones who could possibly surpass Shi Feng were Empress Blood Arrow and the Undefeated Battle Maniac.

“No, he indeed has the qualifications to be arrogant,” Shi Feng said, shaking his head in response to Midsummer’s comment. Then, with a serious look, he continued, “If my guess is correct, the stone spear he carried on his back is most likely a Legendary Weapon.”

“What?! A Legendary Weapon?! How is this possible?!” Midsummer was shocked by this revelation.

Legendary Weapons and Equipment were regarded as guild treasures by the various hegemonic powers. Many Tier 6 experts couldn’t even get their hands on a piece of Legendary Equipment, let alone a Legendary Weapon. The average hegemonic power would have no more than a handful of people wielding Legendary Weapons.

So, to say that Saint Three had a Legendary Weapon was simply absurd.

“That stone spear might be his personal fortuitous opportunity,” Shi Feng said. Then, after taking a look at the time, he continued, “Time is almost up, so we should get going as well.”

There was a five-minute time limit for them to enter the temple. Anyone who failed to do so would be automatically seen as forfeiting their right to compete, and this definitely wasn’t something he wished to do.

Midsummer nodded in response and quickly entered one of the two remaining side doors.

…

Temple’s first-floor hall:

After entering through the temple’s side doors, everyone seemed to have entered a different space. Although they were in the same temple, they did not appear in the same same.

Before the ten challengers could inspect the stadium-sized hall they entered, nine familiar figures appeared at the center of their respective halls. These figures belonged to the nine other people who had entered the Ancient River’s Heart this time.

The nine doppelgangers were a perfect copy of their original. On top of having the same items, the doppelgangers even moved the same way as their originals. The only way everyone could tell that they were going up against fakes rather than the real deal was the diamond-shaped icons hovering above the doppelgangers’ heads, an indicator that they were NPCs.

I had wanted to teach that Black Flame a lesson, but I guess I can use his doppelganger to test the waters first.

After taking a look at an inconspicuous man standing among the nine doppelgangers, Leroja immediately drew her bow and sent over twenty arrows flying at the other party.

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