Although it had been difficult and had taken him and Ning Xi half a day, they had successfully completed the first stage of the SSS-rank hidden class Ghost Emperor advancement quest, Ghost Domain Conqueror.
This was the first step toward success.
Lin Mo put the first Eye of Chaos fragment he had obtained into his inventory.
Then he opened the quest list to check the second-stage quest.
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Ghost Domain Conqueror (SSS-rank Hidden Class Ghost Emperor Exclusive Advancement Quest · Stage Two)
Difficulty Rating: 8200
Description: Legend says that the Ghost Clan once possessed an ancient demonic artifact known as the Eye of Chaos. It is said that whoever obtains the Eye of Chaos can become the Emperor of the Ghost Clan, with all ghosts submitting before them! However, during the Ancient War a thousand years ago, the Eye of Chaos was shattered on the ancient battlefield, and its fragments were scattered across the Divine Oracle Continent. Follow the guidance to travel to Fallen City and find one of the lost Eye of Chaos fragments hidden there...
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'Good grief!'
Compared to the first stage, the difficulty rating had jumped by a full thousand points.
Lin Mo was stunned.
The first stage had still been nearly three thousand points below the S-rank hidden quest Heart's Knot.
This second stage was practically catching up to Heart's Knot.
Lin Mo opened the map and searched for Fallen City, only to discover that it was a Level 80 area.
Moreover, there was no marker for Fallen City on Ning Xi's map.
Only Lin Mo could see its location.
That clearly meant...
"It really is another hidden map."
If every fragment was hidden inside a hidden map, that wasn't bad at all.
After all, the rewards for clearing hidden maps were genuinely amazing.
If he could get the reward for clearing a hidden map every time he found a fragment, that would be even better.
However, the rank requirement for entering Fallen City left Lin Mo shocked, minimum Entry Requirement: Gold V
Going from the first stage to the second, jumping from the Level 72 Nightmare Town to the Level 80 Fallen City was one thing.
But the required rank had gone directly from Silver V to Gold V.
That was an entire major rank higher.
"Alright, alright, so that's how we're doing this?"
In that case, Lin Mo was even more excited.
The same saying still applied.
The harder the challenge, the greater the reward.
The bigger the waves, the more valuable the fish.
Since that was the case, he would set the second stage of the class advancement quest aside for now.
That gave him time to finish his other tasks first.
"After tomorrow's Super God Arena matches, once I reach Gold rank, I'll be able to enter the Dark Dungeon and complete Ah Li's second-stage growth quest."
"While I'm there, I'll also find Mo Chen and repair the Heart of Eternity for Siya."
There were still treasure chests worth over ten billion waiting for Lin Mo inside the Divine Tomb.
As soon as Siya's Heart of Eternity was repaired, he could head back to the Divine Tomb and quickly collect them all.
Besides, after being busy all day, he was getting tired.
Next, Lin Mo planned to go out with Ning Xi, Zhao Lingyun, and the others like they had the previous night, to eat, drink, have fun, and relax.
People needed a balance between work and rest.
Otherwise, how were they any different from beasts of burden?
With that, Lin Mo and Ning Xi immediately crushed Return Scrolls and disappeared from Nightmare Town.
They returned to Inferno City and logged out.
———
[Night]
[The Real World]
[Luoyang, Central Province]
Traffic flowed endlessly beneath an overpass.
Pedestrians came and went above it.
At the center of the bridge stood a girl with long, fair legs, dressed in a black skintight outfit.
She had a graceful figure that invited endless imagination, and a cold, beautiful face framed by curly hair.
Ignoring the strange looks from passersby, she silently lit the candles on a birthday cake in front of her.
She murmured, "Brother, happy twenty-sixth birthday."
After saying that, the girl lit a cigarette for herself.
As the smoke drifted around her, her gaze grew distant...
———
[Flashback]
Ten years earlier, on a snowy winter night.
"Brother!"
"Brother!"
"Please stop hitting my brother! Waaah..."
In a secluded alley, a little girl who was only ten years old watched with her own eyes as her only older brother was beaten to death by a group of thugs after trying to save a girl they were harassing.
.
.
.
The scene shifted to a courtroom.
The girl her brother had sacrificed his life to save instead turned around and accused him of trying to force her. She insisted that the thugs had acted bravely to defend her and had accidentally beaten her brother to death.
The thugs were acquitted in court.
Outside the courthouse, the little girl clutched the teddy bear her brother had given her for her tenth birthday and cried her heart out.
Nearby came the unrestrained laughter of the thugs and the girl he had saved.
At that moment, someone appeared behind the little girl, "Do you want revenge for your brother? I'll help you."
The next day, the news reported that the thugs and the rescued girl had accidentally fallen into the water and drowned.
At the same time, that person appeared before the little girl once again, "Come with me."
"From now on, you're my adopted daughter."
"From this day on, your name is Ji Ningshuang."
————
[Present]
Just as the girl was lost in her memories, her ringing phone suddenly pulled her back to reality.
She wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes and answered the call.
An excited voice came from the other end, "Sister Ningshuang, we've found information on Rulebound's pet, the Divine Descent Seraph!"
Hearing this, Ji Ningshuang's eyes turned cold, "Good. I understand."
She hung up and disappeared from the overpass.
———
A short while later, a Rolls-Royce drove out of the parking lot beneath the bridge.
Half an hour later, the car entered a seaside villa district on the outskirts of Luoyang.
Ji Ningshuang stepped out of the car on her long legs and entered the villa.
After returning to her room and turning on her computer, she sent Nether a message through Divine Oracle.
"Log in. We have a mission."
The next second, she put on her helmet and logged into the game.
[Ding! Honorable Inferno City Heavenly Ranking No. 4 player, Witch · Frost Dance, welcome back to the world of Divine Oracle!]
A beam of white light descended.
Frost Dance, the Heavenly Ranking assassin in her black skintight outfit, appeared in Inferno City.
At the same time, another beam of white light descended elsewhere in the city.
Nether used a Return Scroll to return from the wilderness.
The two met in the city.
"We've found information on Rulebound's pet."
The moment Ji Ningshuang saw Nether, she got straight to the point.
"You were right. That pet really is a Divine Pet, and her status is extraordinary. She's the Seventh Princess of the Divine Clan, one of Divine Oracle's Supreme Races."
"Didn't you say that as long as we can get rid of the Divine Descent Seraph, you're confident you can deal with Rulebound?"
Nether's expression remained calm, "How do we get rid of the Divine Descent Seraph?"
Ji Ningshuang folded her arms, her expression indifferent and full of confidence.
"I had someone investigate the game's background. According to Divine Oracle's lore, Inferno City suffered a great catastrophe twenty years ago."
"A member of the Divine Clan personally came to Inferno City and gave up her life to stop the disaster, protecting the city. Later, the people of Inferno City built a tomb for her called the Divine Tomb."
"And that Divine Clan member who gave her life to protect Inferno City was the Divine Descent Seraph, Siya."
Seeing that Nether remained completely calm after hearing her, without the slightest surprise at her findings, Ji Ningshuang seemed to realize something.
She asked in astonishment, "You already knew?"
Nether replied casually, "When the Divine Clan princess came twenty years ago, an artificer family in Inferno City had contact with her."
"An artificer named Mo Chen once repaired an artifact called the Heart of Eternity for the Divine Clan princess. In Inferno City, that isn't difficult to learn."
Ji Ningshuang couldn't help feeling surprised.
She clearly hadn't expected Nether to have uncovered this information before she had.
It seemed she had underestimated him.
Ji Ningshuang asked, "What else do you know?"
Nether said, "As long as we find Mo Chen, we can learn more about the Divine Descent Seraph, Siya, from him. That will give us more ways to deal with her."
"As long as we can cripple the Divine Descent Seraph, we can deal with Rulebound."
Ji Ningshuang nodded in approval.
"Not bad."
"It seems that although you're a bit indecisive, you're still capable."
Nether continued, "But Mo Chen disappeared from Inferno City twenty years ago."
"Someone later spotted him in the Dark Dungeon."
"I've already been to the Dark Dungeon, but only players who have reached Gold rank can enter."
Clearly, for Nether, the trail ended there.
But Ji Ningshuang simply crossed her arms, looking as though she had already prepared a solution.
"I called you here to solve exactly that problem."
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