NIP Chapter 266 - 225: Starlight Altar, Ruling the Mystic
Chapter 266 - 225: Starlight Altar, Ruling the Mystic
"Very well. That’s a reasonable request!"
Jelena looked at Zhao Wukang. She didn’t dare to underestimate him in the slightest, because her father had solemnly told her that Zhao Wukang was no Mortal and was capable enough to enter the Military Affairs Office.
"How many Gold Coins do you need, Deputy Zhao?"
Zhao Wukang said, "670,000!"
"670,000?" Jelena raised an eyebrow and smiled. "It seems Deputy Zhao has done his research. Eggshell Village’s reserve of Gold Coins is just over 600,000. Are you trying to empty our coffers?"
In reality, Eggshell Castle’s reserve of Gold Coins exceeded 800,000. Jelena was saying this deliberately because Eggshell Castle had recently received two large deposits: the 200,000 left by Wang Yi and the 470,000 brought by Lu Aqi.
She figured Zhao Wukang must have known about these two sums. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have stated such a precise number.
"670,000 isn’t much!" Zhao Wukang said. "In this battle, our gains will far exceed this expenditure."
"But Eggshell Village needs to develop, too. We’re currently facing the city-building mission, and Lord Lu is going to be sending 100,000 able-bodied youths over. We have to keep some Gold Coins for emergencies!"
"660,000 is the minimum! Not a coin less. Young Miss, just think of this as an investment. Trust me, we’ll see a return in the short term!"
"Well... alright! Deputy Zhao is trustworthy. Eggshell Castle will invest this 660,000!" Irina said with a nod.
Zhao Wukang was overjoyed and quickly cupped his fists in a salute.
"So, it’s settled!" Nangong Jin said. "Then we shall await the triumphant news from General Man and Deputy Zhao!"
Man Datou laughed heartily and said, "Victory is certain!"
Lu Aqi said, "Then I’ll get to my arrangements as well and quickly form a joint force. Actually, the troops from the Dongsheng Prince Mansion could also be used by us..."
The meeting continued. Sending troops to support the border and fight the Ancient Barbarian Army was just one topic on the agenda. The group also had to discuss many other matters, such as how to settle the 100,000 able-bodied youths who would soon be arriving, how to construct Eggshell City, determining the products and trade routes for the Fire Dragon Trading Team, production planning for the paper mill and other factories, and so on and so forth.
Half a day later, the Manzi Camp set out.
Besides Man Datou and Zhao Wukang, the camp comprised a total of 800 Taisen Soldiers, all equipped with Flying Bags. Among them were seven King Level Fist Emperor Taisens!
Zhao Wukang had no class, but he was equipped with a large number of firearms, grenades, and the like.
They took a small train all the way to Jinyuan County, then flew from Jinyuan County to the border, encountering soldiers from the Ancient Barbarian Country that very night.
The soldiers of the Ancient Barbarian Country were slave soldiers. Slaves were not worthy of blades, spears, or iron weapons, let alone Battle Armor. Their weapons were wooden clubs, and their combat effectiveness was actually very low.
But the generals of the Ancient Barbarian Country were very powerful. They possessed technological weapons like Bronze Rocket Cannons and even Bronze Fighters, which made them very difficult to deal with.
Fortunately, in this first battle, Man Datou and his men did not encounter any generals from the Ancient Barbarian Country.
After one battle, the 800 Taisens had killed 3,000 soldiers of the Ancient Barbarian Country, with only a single Taisen suffering minor injuries.
By morning, they faced their second battle, charging straight into a legion of ten thousand men.
Also on this day, the Jinluan Great Hall of the Imperial Palace in Quejing City, Golden Sparrow Country, was quite bustling.
The war between the Northern and Eastern Domains did nothing to diminish the cheerful atmosphere here.
Because the peace-seeking delegation from the Celestial Net Country had arrived.
It was called a peace-seeking delegation, but in reality, it was a surrender delegation.
They came bearing vast quantities of supplies and a letter of surrender, as if presenting tribute.
Zhao Wenliang of the Imperial Censorate was experiencing the highlight of his life. This was because the surrender delegation would only surrender to him, showing disdain for the other ministers and even Empress Dowager Liang.
And at this very moment, in the Green Demon Territory, Wang Yi had finally finished checking in and had now arrived before the three exit portals of light at Water Mist Mountain.
[Exit 1: Leads to a Three-Star Station: The Ice Demon Sea in the Odin World, a Newbie World. You can salvage Ice Demon Fragments there!]
[Exit 2: Leads to a Four-Star Station: The Starlight Altar in the Mysterious Land. Rewards uncertain.]
[Exit 3: Leads to a Three-Star Station: The Molten Fire Divine Palace in an abandoned Chaos City. You may obtain Flame Crystal Stones there.]
"The Starlight Altar!"
Wang Yi’s spirits rose.
From an Information Scroll he had obtained earlier, he knew that there was a hidden World Secret Treasure within the Chaotic World Royal Court. To get that Secret Treasure, he had to clear the Starlight Altar.
’The Starlight Altar is a rare opportunity. Since I’ve found it, I can’t miss it!’
Wang Yi quickly made his decision and led his group into a strange space.
Floating in this space was a golden altar shaped like a flat-topped pyramid.
The altar shimmered with brilliant starlight, looking truly extraordinary.
This was the seventh station on the route Wang Yi had chosen.
A system prompt sounded, informing Wang Yi that there was no combat in this station. He only needed to go to the top of the altar and make offerings to the four statues there. If all four statues were satisfied, the exit to the next Secret Realm would appear, and the station would be considered cleared.
But if the offered items were not acceptable and failed to elicit a response from the four statues, then after one day, they would be sent back to the previous station.
’This station is pretty interesting! Let me go see what this "offering" is all about!’
Wang Yi strode up the Starlight Altar with his group and saw the first statue.
The statue was dressed in a wide-sleeved robe and a tall crown. In front of it was a large cauldron. When Wang Yi looked at it, the statue actually spoke: "I command the Mystic, I am the Master of Xuanhuan! I used ten suns to fill the sky and refine the world! Make an offering to me, and I will grant you a Mystic item in return!"
’Command the Mystic, ten suns in the sky, refine the world? Who the hell are you?’
Wang Yi muttered to himself, squinting at the large cauldron in front of the statue. ’So-called "offering" probably just means putting items into it.’
’But what should I put in?’
Wang Yi opened his Starlight Bracelet and tried placing some fragments of a Green Demon Corpse into the cauldron.
The fragments entered the cauldron and immediately vanished in a flash of light.
A progress bar then appeared above the statue’s head: Current Offering Progress: 0.1%!
’Once the progress bar is full, the offering should be complete, right? Since fragments of the Green Demon Corpse work, I’ll just give you some more. I’ve got plenty anyway!’
Wang Yi took out more fragments of Green Demon Corpses and dumped them all into the Sacrificial Cauldron. The offering progress bar grew slowly.
Five minutes later, after offering an unknown number of Green Demon Corpse fragments, the progress bar above the statue finally reached one hundred percent.
The statue flashed with light and spoke again: "Your offering is accepted. I grant you one [Nine Dragon Divine Fire Refining]. Please accept it!"
As the statue finished speaking, a speck of light flew out from between its brows. The speck of light came before Wang Yi and suddenly transformed into a strange, three-legged furnace. The furnace was only as tall as a palm, but it was a Magical Treasure that glowed with green light.
[Nine Dragon Divine Fire Refining: A Magical Treasure, a refining furnace. Suitable for use by Artifact Refiners. Can be activated with Spiritual Power to control its size, causing nine dragons to appear and refine the contents of the furnace with divine fire.]