Inside the Level 6 Apostle dormitory.
Fang You lay on the bed like a dried salted fish, his eyes unfocused and staring straight ahead, appearing quite listless. He was, naturally, looking at the organization panel before him.
The [Abyss Exploration] module possessed three functions. The first was to scan the areas surrounding Apostles/Sub-Apostles for materials, treasures, and special locations, and to mark them.
This was the most crucial function of the exploration module.
The vast majority of materials were unremarkable, easily overlooked even when scanned inch by inch with the eyes. The Abyss was rife with treasures, but lacked a pair of eyes capable of discovering them. The 'Treasure Marking' function of the exploration module was that pair of eyes.
With this function, the Flame Pioneers could always bring back a large amount of materials whenever they went out. This was precisely why their organization rarely lacked low-to-mid-tier materials.
Of course, while the function was important, the diligent explorers were also important. Without their hard work, the organization's treasure trove could not be replenished.
The second function was 'Abyss Guidance.' By consuming blank clues and Destiny Points, one could obtain location hints for a specific type of treasure or a category of treasures. The more detailed the description of the treasure, the more precise the positioning, but also the greater the cost.
Flame Pioneers was now a large and prosperous organization. There were few treasures they urgently needed, and if a certain type of material was in short supply, they could completely trade with other factions. They no longer had to drudge around for a single clue, digging in the Abyss… that was a thing of the past.
Furthermore, how many materials could one obtain from a single exploration? While it was a considerable amount for an individual, it was merely an insignificant sliver for the entire organization.
Due to the limited number of blank clues, 'Abyss Guidance' could not be used as a basic function for daily use. Most of the time, Fang You used this function to 'randomly point to legendary materials.'
Random pointing consumed fewer blank clues, with two clues pointing to a location once. A month naturally yielded three blank clues, and they could be accumulated.
Sometimes, the destination indicated by a clue contained more than one legendary treasure. Overall, this function was not bad.
It could also point to certain 'special locations.' For example: Mistless Lands, Catastrophe Zones, etc., but Oases and Ruins could not be pointed to.
The third function, the Abyss Warp Gate, was now somewhat dispensable.
However, Fang You was preparing to relocate Blue Star. And once Blue Star began to wander along the Abyss's barrier, the old shallow layer of Blue Star would shatter and collapse, and a new shallow layer of Blue Star would be born. He wondered if, as old regions shattered and new ones were born, the mysterious materials scattered throughout the shallow Abyss would also refresh. If so, the Abyss Warp Gate would have considerable use, and he would have largely discovered a new method to 'rip off' the Abyss.
Fang You guessed that this bug-exploiting method was feasible. The difficulty lay in how to make Blue Star wander without leaving the Abyss.
…
The exploration module had not spawned a fourth ability. He didn't know if it was due to insufficient exploration steps or if this module had reached its limit.
Fang You pondered, then clicked on the [Instance Shuttle] module that he had skipped earlier.
Oh? So the panel had this sub-interface after all?
He fell into contemplation.
What was even more silent was that this 'Instance Shuttle' function had been running all along.
"Searching for instances…"
"Hint: No enterable instances found."
"Hint: Found instance 'Immortal Monument,' anchoring the Thread of Destiny… This instance has been cleared, canceling the anchoring of the Thread of Destiny."
"Hint: Found instance 'Mysterious Tide from a Hundred Years Ago,' anchoring the Thread of Destiny… This instance has been cleared, canceling the anchoring of the Thread of Destiny."
"Hint: Found instance 'Ancient Palm Light Envoy'… This instance has been cleared…"
"Hint: Found instance 'Fall of the Ancient God,' anchoring the Thread of Destiny… Failed to enter the timeline, instance disappeared."
…
"Hint: Providing 'Relic of Destiny' can greatly increase the probability of anchoring instances. Currently possess Relics of Destiny: 0."
Fang You: "…"
He didn't even know what a Relic of Destiny was, where was he supposed to find one?
However, as the motto etched on the instance interface stated, all instances were the choice of destiny. Since it was destiny, then let's wait with the tide of destiny.
He closed the instance module and entered the 'Destiny Apostles' section that he had skipped earlier.
There, circular avatar frames representing individual Apostles were arranged one after another.
The upper row listed the Destiny Apostles, with character avatars occupying more space and rendered in exquisite detail. The lower row listed the Sub-Apostles, with their avatar frames several times smaller than the former. Even with wide-open eyes, the character art on them appeared rather rough.
Fang You: "…"
Of course, he had grown accustomed to it.
The number of Sub-Apostles was vast. After a year and eleven months of operation, the Flame Pioneers organization had grown into a super-large organization with over 3,000 official members. Unaffiliated personnel and trainees who had not yet formally joined were countless.
Of course, even with over three thousand officially enrolled members, they were still quite sparse across the entire Blue Star. For unaffiliated personnel and training camp students, passing the membership assessment was extremely difficult.
Each session had a fixed number of slots, and the number of competitors was increasing with each session, and they were becoming stronger with each session. The fierce competition would bring tears to the eyes of anyone who heard of it.
There were billions of people on Blue Star!
Not only that, but the Blue Star Alliance had also promulgated a pro-natal policy. After all, as Blue Star ascended and its overall strength improved, the base cities were continuously expanding outwards, and new development zones were also being planned. Blue Star people were no longer significantly restricted by living space.
It could be imagined that future competition would become increasingly fierce.
Moreover, in the future, it might not just be Blue Star natives competing for membership qualifications. Elites from Oases like Sword Blossom City and Silent Night Court would also join.
Uh, however… Fang You thought for a moment, the elites from the Oases might not be able to compete with the Blue Star students who 'cultivated to their dying breath' for a while.
Brother Black Blade had fostered a good atmosphere.
He sorted the Sub-Apostle list by 'Power Level,' and immediately, the characters at the front of the list looked familiar.
Ranked first was the Sub-Apostle 'Liu Ji.' She wasn't the first demon plant to be born, but she was the first to be nurtured by the essence of him and Liu Shang. Her starting point was much stronger than that of the tree demon Qing Mu, and she didn't have the tree demon's defect of difficulty in moving.
In subsequent large-scale battles, Liu Ji had served as Liu Shang's important deputy, acquiring a large amount of Mysterious Energy.
Fang You clicked on Liu Ji's panel.
"Liu Ji: Seven觉 Myth!"
Not long ago, during the defense of the Starfire Oasis promotion battle, Liu Ji had once again accumulated enough Mysterious Energy for Mythic Awakening. This was her second attempt at Mythic Awakening, and this time, she succeeded!
She was the first Sub-Apostle within the Flame Pioneers organization to advance to Mythic status – not counting peripheral personnel.
Following Liu Ji were Ming Deng, Roland, Luo Rui, Xu Tian, and other familiar faces. Among them, Xu Tian's potential was initially quite ordinary, but after using a portion of 'Water of Origin,' his potential had also increased to Epic grade, and he had awakened his personal talent.
With his drive to catch up to Black Blade, he quickly kept pace, ranking among the forefront of Sub-Apostles.
There were a total of 12 Destiny Apostles, all of whom already possessed Gold-grade potential. Fang You, being somewhat sentimental, had given Master Wang Chui, Yin Ling, Qian Mian, Pei Hongjing, and others the opportunity to exchange for Water of Origin at a low price. However, apart from sentimentality, these core operatives had also made immense contributions, and they held a sufficient amount of contribution points. Similarly, raising their potential to Gold grade helped improve their work efficiency, forming a virtuous cycle.
Not only Gold potential, but with Yin Ling, who had been dragging down the average, overcoming the Mythic Awakening tribulation, all Destiny Apostles were now Mythic.
12 Mythic beings!
Then, there were the three special Mythic units: the hanging ornament Xiao Huan, Hei Tong, and the War Golem Shallow Red.
And Liu Ji, Yun Ji, Dean Rose, and the First Tower Master.
The organization possessed a total of 19 Mythic units, among which Shallow Red possessed the combat power of a normal demigod. The number of Mythic units had not increased significantly compared to a while ago. However, experts like Roland, Ming Deng, and Fan Anyuan from Flame Pioneers now possessed combat power close to that of a divine descent avatar. If two or three of them cooperated, they might even be able to defeat a descending Mythic.
Ming Deng and other Flame Pioneers experts were not far from the Seven觉 standard, although their combat power was inferior to that of their peers Xing Jinglei and Iloxi, and their efficiency in hunting Anomalies to accumulate Mysterious Energy was lower. At the same time, the efficiency of Sub-Apostles absorbing scattered Mysterious Energy factors was also lower than that of Destiny Apostles.
To be precise, Destiny Apostles possessed an 'experience point acquisition bonus,' equivalent to a permanent double experience buff.
While the number of Mythic beings had increased slightly, the combat power had seen a significant improvement.
Fang You shifted to another position, continuing to lie on the bed, and cast his gaze towards Black Blade. He recalled that Black Blade was currently…
…
"Xin—!!!"
The blade sliced through the air, emitting a sharp hum.
In the spacious Level 6 training ground, a thousand-strong legion was distributed throughout, surrounding a sturdy figure in the center.
These legion soldiers were clad in black armor and wielded black bladed swords, shields, or spears. They were like a black tide. However, unlike the tide of Anomalies, the Immortal Legion led by Black Blade did not utter a single battle cry; they were utterly silent.
The entire battlefield was filled only with the sounds of weapons clashing and footsteps moving, with no other noise. It was as if a group of phantoms were besieging the small giant in the center.
It was not wrong to say so; they were heroic spirits, immortal heroic spirits.
Currently, the Immortal Legion was not in a complete formation, but rather dispersed, forming encirclement and encirclement-killing arrays. Within these arrays, each heroic spirit moved silently, cooperating with unparalleled默契. They acted like machines, performing various intricate tactical maneuvers under Black Blade's micro-management!
Yes, Black Blade was micro-managing.
The heroic spirits of the Immortal Legion, after all, were not true souls, but merely fragmented wills. They were not true life forms, and under Black Blade's command, they could act autonomously. However, Black Blade was not issuing rough commands at this moment; his commands were detailed to the extreme:
"Number 33, move left two steps."
"Number 119, lunge forward half a step and slash."
"Number 699, execute a 20-meter long blade slash."
How did Fang You know? He was, after all, Tutor Fang. Having borrowed the 'Immortal Legion' skill, all its secrets were transparent to him.
"Hmm? Black Blade's Immortal Legion has broken through to Master level? No wonder there are so many changes!"
The dispersed Immortal Legion formation was not weak. Any soldier, upon engaging the small giant, would receive the power boost of two to three hundred other soldiers, unleashing power that could startle veteran Mythics.
Black Blade, on the other hand, had been micro-managing the entire time, not making a move.
In the blink of an eye, the battle intensified.
The small giant Xing Jinglei, trapped in the center, had failed to break through multiple times.
Currently, as the battle continued, Xing Jinglei had stacked his 'passive' abilities to an extremely high level. However, his defense could not completely ward off the heroic spirits' insidious attacks. He could block frontal assaults, but his combat rhythm was tightly controlled, and his weak points were repeatedly hit.
His recovery speed was very fast, but the attack frequency of the legion was also extremely high. Several combos occurred in an instant. His… his recovery couldn't keep up with the rate of injury!
If Black Blade hadn't held back, he might not have been able to stack his stats to this level, but even so…
"I, a great lord, cannot lose!"
Xing Jinglei roared, his voice causing the space to hum. He unleashed a powerful cannon fist, cracks appearing in the space on either side as if shattered. A fearsome fist energy cleared everything in its path, hitting those who couldn't dodge in time… No, to prevent them from dodging, Xing Jinglei's punch covered an extremely wide area.
Elite battle spirits, including the dozen or so battle spirits behind them, were shattered into pieces, scattering like mud and rocks smashed by immense force.
However, in the next moment, these battle spirits revived from the legion formation, unharmed.
As long as Black Blade was alive, the legion spirits would be forever immortal!
"I… I'm not fighting anymore, not fighting anymore!"
Looking at Black Blade, who hadn't even made a move, Xing Jinglei slumped in defeat. He recalled that last time, he hadn't been able to force Black Blade to act either? Well, but the Immortal Legion was Brother Meng Nan's core skill, and the characteristic of this skill was commanding soldiers in battle. Therefore, rounding up, Black Blade had indeed made a move.
He, Xing the Great, would never admit defeat. Next time, he would regain his honor!
As for today, he would let it go for now.
His body gradually shrunk back to its normal size as he recovered. He looked at Black Blade, who had also withdrawn his battle spirits, and hesitated before asking,
"You, how much strength did you use?"
"Eighty percent…"
Xing Jinglei became energetic again.
High above, Fang You, observing from a god's-eye view, silently added, "Eighty percent was useless."
…
Xing Jinglei's combat system was not very suitable for individual combat. He had high defense but low attack and low agility, and he needed someone to compensate for his shortcomings.
Of course, he could also find ways to improve his core skills.
Black Blade's Immortal Legion also had its flaws, namely its battle spirits. If An Jianyou was playing a 'pet raising game,' then Black Blade was playing a 'real-time strategy game.'
The strength of the legion was inseparable from his command and micro-management, but the soldiers were the foundation of the army. As the skill level increased, the strength of the legion spirits also grew. However, Black Blade's legion lacked 'hero-level' battle spirits. These hero-level battle spirits could not be born through training; they could only be absorbed from outside.
"Even so, Brother Black Blade is still strong, not just in his skills, but more so in his command and control techniques."
He glanced at An Jianyou's panel.
This girl's core skill had also recently broken through to Master level, and she had developed a brand new mode.
—Fusion Evolution!
She could use 'Netherworld Emissary' as a bridge to communicate two Anomalies with similar energy levels, allowing them to fuse and temporarily possess power far exceeding their previous level.
The increase brought by this fusion evolution even surpassed the increase when An Jianyou activated her non-human form and transformed into Blackened An Jianyou.
However, fusion evolution also had its limitations; it required two Anomalies to be relatively compatible to fuse. Currently, the only Anomalies An Jianyou could fuse were the Red Robe and the White Scarf.
This was also her new trump card, possibly stronger than her activating her Mythic form.
… Although An Jianyou had yet to use her Mythic form.
Just as Fang You pulled up his panel to check the progress of his 'workers,' Iloxi, who was idly bored in the Blazing Fire Mall, also received a letter from Yun Ji.
She let out a joyful cry.
"Oh ho ho ho ho~!"
"Kandelra Ruins? Trial Ground? How could something so interesting be without me, Empress Iloxi!"
She placed her hands on her hips, wishing she could immediately depart for the dusky ruins domain, but she still remembered that she was currently the guardian of the mall and a salaried employee.
So, she sent a message to her mentor, along with a request for leave.
…
More than half a month later,
Outside the Kandelra Ruins, Durruk, the Hand of Dusk, looked at the rising divine charms from afar with a ghastly pale face.
The owners of these divine charms did not diffuse oppressive Mythic pressure, merely revealing the insignia of being Mythic. At the same time, they were telling the Sunset Kingdom that they should not be unappreciative; the Kandelra Ruins belonged to all of humanity.
When the Mythics from the Seven Stars Alliance, the Ancient Moon Dynasty, and the Scarlet Lotus Empire arrived, the Hand of Dusk and the Wings of Sunset completely caved in.
"The mysterious sound of the ruins opening actually traveled so far that people from the Shattered Sea have also come!"
"It might not have reached the Shattered Sea, but the influence of the Four Overlords extends to the surrounding great regions. If certain super Oases obtained the news, it would be equivalent to the Four Overlords receiving the news."
"The three families of Sun, Moon, and Stars have arrived together. Will these ruins be monopolized by them? I will not allow it!"
"No, the Four Overlords would not dare to incur the wrath of the masses. Look at how many Mythics are around, likely over ten, and it's still two months before the Trial Ground opens."
"The Four Overlords wouldn't go that far. After all, this is the Kandelra Empire's Trial Ground. Seizing it would be meaningless. In fact, I heard that a certain faction was blacklisted by the Trial Ground for attempting to seal it."
"??? There's such a miraculous thing?"
Most Mythics had heard of the Kandelra Trial Ground, but only heard of it. Very few had actually seen or ventured into it. Moreover, the internal situation of the Trial Ground was not uniform, and most Mythics were very curious.
They were not only curious but also expectant.
"Looking at this style, these special patterns, these magnificent light screens… it's the Kandelra Ruins for sure! Quickly, quickly notify the Oasis and organize a group of geniuses to come as soon as possible!"
"The content of the ruins trial is unknown. Our Oasis needs to prepare all sorts of talents, not just battle-hardened simpletons."
"Who are you calling a simpleton!"
"Quickly notify the ancestor!"
"With the emergence of the ruins, a new storm has appeared!"
The Mythics from the Scarlet Lotus Empire, the Ancient Moon Dynasty, and the Seven Stars Alliance who had arrived at this location also wore solemn expressions.
They had witnessed the Kandelra Ruins, and precisely because of this, they understood the significance of this Trial Ground even better. This was not a mere Trial Ground; it was a glaring treasure basin that could continuously produce high-end resources and technology!
The three Mythics exchanged glances briefly before quickly looking away.
On the surface, they smiled and spoke nonchalantly, but behind the scenes, they quickly transmitted messages to their respective factions.
"Trial Ground has emerged, come quickly!"