MMORPG: The Elementalist

Putting together all the information Darius had given him, Qin Ruo was startled by what he came up with.

Down in the Buried City, there might be a quest-line involving Divinity! There might even be a quest-line going beyond Divinity!

This was not just a wild guess out of nowhere!

According to Darius, there were eight Demigod-level Tier 6 Revenants in the Buried City, each with power comparable to a Tier 6 Megaboss—perhaps even greater!

There was an unnerving number of Tier 6 Lich Bosses as well.

In addition, there was the Ruler of the Buried City, Ary Carqis—an entity of such immense power that, legends told, even Great Dragons bowed in his presence. If even Ary Carqis had joined the ranks of the soulless Undead, and now called Hades master, he would definitely be a Tier 6 Overlord-level Boss, or maybe an Ultimate Boss of legend.

And that wasn’t all!

The unholy power which had brought low the Buried City overnight was now concentrated at the city’s heart. Deep within the city, there stood a newly built structure (barely a century old)—the Tower of Hades.

That place was where the power of the Underworld was strongest! And then there was the Eye of Hades, and the Divine-level Spawn of Hades as well. They were avatars of the Lord of the Underworld, who had cast down Ary Carqis and brought the Buried City to ruin.

It was these Spawn of Hades which stood as the mightiest individuals within the Buried City. It was they who represented the true power in the area—the real main characters.

(Translator’s Note: Oh, are we going to do a few chapters from the perspective of the Spawn of Hades? I’m game.)

At this thought, Qin Ruo unconsciously licked his tongue across dry lips, finding it difficult to swallow this most horrifying of implications:

A Divine-level Boss…

Across the entire Mythical Continent, there was hardly anyone who’d ever truly encountered one! In the Graveyard of the Gods, the worst thing anyone had come across was only a Tier 6 Elite Boss.

There was a very high likelihood that the Spawn of Hades were at the Divine level. If that was the case, it would clearly be several degrees more challenging than the first five levels of the Graveyard of the Gods!

This also suggested that the Buried City, suffering beneath the yoke of Underworld powers, contained even more incredible dynamics compared to the fifth level of the Graveyard of the Gods, not to mention…

‘Opportunity!’

Qin Ruo clenched his fists. He should have thought of this sooner. After a minor trial, he’d been bequeathed with an Elemental Shard, granting him the temporary use of Angelic Wings—all things considered, it was quite out of the ordinary!

After a bit more thought on the matter, Qin Ruo confirmed with Darius that the Eight High Lords tended to collect Divinity.

That made up his mind for him. Taking wing immediately, he glided down from the heights of Eternity Peak.

***

On his way back down to the foot of Eternity Peak, Qin Ruo shared what he’d learned with everyone through their Party Channel.

Unsurprisingly, everyone responded with tremendous excitement!

The Graveyard of the Gods event, only available for three days each year, had always left everyone feeling somewhat unsatisfied. With Qin Ruo’s new revelations about the epic scale of the Buried City, who wouldn’t find their heart racing?

What Qin Ruo said next had such a tremendous impact that even Slayer’s Heart and Violet Orchid couldn’t restrain themselves:

“I have an idea, which might let everyone get more Divinity in very little time.”

“Out with it!” Slayer’s Heart and Violet Orchid blurted at once.

“If all goes well—and by that, I mean: If I can regularly make trips down to the Buried City and across the Mythical Continent, then I’ll spend the next few days training up here until I reach Level 49, while also getting Poochie up to Level 50. After that, I’ll return immediately to undertake my Advancement Quest.”

The resolute tone in Qin Ruo’s voice provoked various outspoken reactions from the party.

“Sounds good!”

“Once you get to Tier 5, no one from the Netherspirit’s Claw will dare bother you again!” To think that Wang Da was still worried about that.

With a little laugh, Qin Ruo touched down gently beside the Amethyst Orc, among the foothills of Eternity Peak, and folded his wings away. Then, he continued explaining his plan in the Party Channel.

“There’s no need to worry about that anymore—the Netherspirit’s Claw won’t get another chance to cause me trouble. For the time being, I’ll remain in the Buried City—even after my Advancement.

“The ‘Spectral Shaman Massacre’ quest was only the simplest one out of many more to be found in the Buried City. Darius and the other nine Guardians intend to break the Underworld’s hold over the Buried City, and restore it to its former glory. As such, there will be even more difficult quests awaiting us down the line, with commensurately more lucrative rewards.

“I plan to keep doing more quests, until I find one that awards Divinity. Even if that doesn’t happen, the Eight High Lords will definitely have some Divinity hoarded away.”

By now, Qin Ruo had already stopped worrying about the Netherspirit’s Claw. As long as he was able to attain Tier 5 in the Buried City, meld with his Divinity, and trade for some Legendary Aquamancer equipment at the Casanova Clan’s Trading Hall, he felt confident that even if Dark Dragon himself sought him out, Qin Ruo could send him packing with his tail between his legs. With each passing moment, Poochie’s combat abilities were becoming ever more fearsome.

All nine party members nodded in agreement. The Buried City was an enigma, and they had only just begun parting the veil to its mysteries. There could be all manner of secrets and opportunities still waiting to be uncovered.

***

As everyone was mulling over all this new information, Qin Ruo was trying to make the most of his last moments with the Amethyst Orc. Wreaking havoc through the mountain pass, it wiped out every Undead monster in its path. Turning around, Qin Ruo used his Million Arrow Sleet to seal off the pass. He was determined to get every last bit of XP during these twenty-odd minutes they had remaining!

When he’d calmed down somewhat, Qin Ruo’s voice once again carried over the Party Channel. “The quests that Darius gives are probably only meant for Tier 5 champions, so the quest rewards will probably be Dark Golden items at the worst. Together with Poochie, I might be able to net myself some Legendary items.”

“Legendary?” There was a hint of awe in Violet Orchid’s voice. “Little Ruo, including the reward from this quest, that makes four Legendary items you’ve acquired now. Just one more, and you can trade for a full set of your own…”

“Yup, I’ve got enough for myself. Now I’m thinking about getting some for the rest of you. You all should hurry up and gain levels—train up your Pets as well. Rush to Tier 5, so that you can come in and help me out here. If I’m all by myself down here, things will be a lot tougher.”

When he said this, Violet Orchid chuckled mysteriously. “Relax. Latest by tomorrow, someone will come in and join you.”

“Ah!” Qin Ruo was surprised at first, but then he understood her meaning. Considering Violet Orchid’s connections, a major event like this would probably have been brought to the attention of the Scarlet Bauhinia Clan’s inner circle.

Since word of the Buried City had already been found out by Crackpot, there was no hope of keeping it a secret any longer, so Violet Orchid would do what was best for her Clan—such an important matter could hardly be kept from Scarlet Bauhinia.

Just that…

“Why tomorrow?” Qin Ruo quickly replied.

With a wry laugh, Slayer’s Heart explained, “We were mistaken. Regarding the Buried City, it turns out both our Clan as well as the Netherspirit’s Claw Clan have long known about it. Netherclaw and Scarlet Bauhinia have both been there before.”

“What?” This startled Qin Ruo.

It felt as though he’d discovered a well-hidden gold mine, and just as he was carefully making plans with his friends on how best to exploit it, one of them suddenly informed him that he wasn’t the first to find out about it. Although he’d been hoping to share this secret with only a select few, now he’d learned that there had already been others there before.

That really sucked!

Afterwards, Violet Orchid told him that, even before the ‘Entrance to the Graveyard of the Gods,’ Netherclaw and Scarlet Bauhinia had each led their own teams on a secret expedition into the Buried City. The only problem was that neither of their ventures had met with good fortune.

Once inside, things went as one might have expected.

Without potions or scrolls, working by yourself to take down twenty Spectral Shamans—a Tier 5 Miniboss—within three hours… it was a fool’s errand.

All the way to the end, everyone met with only failure.

Eventually, because of the Graveyard of the Gods event, as well as a new understanding about Divinity, the Tier 5 Supreme Champions were forced to postpone their campaigns into the Buried City.

And so, Qin Ruo had been able to become the first to taste the fruits of victory.

Violet Orchid also informed Qin Ruo about something of utmost importance—something that had occurred just over ten minutes ago:

Netherclaw was personally leading a force of the greatest champions from the Netherspirit’s Claw, on an expedition into the Aricus Ruins. With the Bauhinia Clan sabotaging their efforts, they had failed to acquire the Dark Gold Key, and had turned back empty-handed.

“They couldn’t get a Dark Gold Key? Did the Mannequin Spiders not show up?” Qin Ruo was puzzled.

“No, they did—but none of them dropped a key.” Violet Orchid ventured, “If I had to guess, maybe the portal to the Buried City only opens once per day.”

Qin Ruo’s eyes sparkled at this notion!