God-level Hero

At 8:50 p.m., after easily shaking off the surveillance of the Japan players along the way, Da Fei’s Sky Ship arrived at the first target of his sweep plan: a huge Mushroom Forest in a series of underground rift gorges, a place marked as Rift Valley Forest on Lamia’s map. A very ordinary name, but it had a very different vibe!

Sure enough, Da Fei’s Dark Spirit Technique saw faint Dark Natural Power drifting above the fissures, and the radar showed a thin layer of dark mist as well. As expected, wherever there’s a Mushroom Forest, there’s Dark Natural Power.

Nothing more to say then—time to collect Mushroom Robes for the Master-level Treasure Appraiser and witness the moment when 100,000 Elite Beetles swarm across like locusts. But before that, better confirm if there’s any danger, even though nothing dangerous showed up on the radar.

So Da Fei called Elena and Hillsea to the cockpit.

Before Da Fei could speak, Elena chuckled: "My lord, we’re harvesting Mushroom Essence again? We’re really looking forward to it. I believe a Mushroom Forest of this scale will definitely let the Dark Elf warriors raise their Mushroom Breeding Skill Level by one."

Hillsea was even more proactive: "Master, this is the Rift Valley Forest. Rumor has it only Earth Worms that travel underground appear here. They pose no threat to our floating warship and beetles at all, so Master can harvest with peace of mind."

Da Fei said in surprise: "Earth Worms?"

Elena’s brows twitched: "What kind of Earth Worms?"

Hillsea shook his head: "This is Demon Bone City’s territory. I’ve never been here before, and I’ve only heard some vague rumors."

Elena let out an "oh": "My lord, ’Earth Worm’ is a generic term for all monsters that live underground. Earth Scorpions, Earth Dragons, Eyeless Monsters are all Earth Worms. These three kinds of Earth Worms eat everything, especially minerals. If a large number of Earth Worms are found in one place, you can usually infer there’s a mine there. Oh right, the sandworms in your Sandworm Mining Machine are also a very typical kind of Earth Worm, though rare. Wherever sandworms appear, there will definitely be highly concentrated Crystal Ore. Sandworms feed on rich Crystal Ore and excrete high-grade stone materials. They’re the most hated and feared pests of all rich underground mine owners. If we find sandworms here, or rather, find sandworm droppings, then we can be sure there’s a rich Crystal Ore vein here."

Oh yeah, that description of sandworms is exactly the same as what I ran into back on the tournament server!

Da Fei let out an "oh": "So that’s how it is! You’re saying there might be a mine down in this rift?"

Hillsea nodded: "As expected of Lady Elena. But there probably isn’t a mine here. Otherwise the City Lord of Demon Bone City would have used the movement pattern of Earth Worms to prospect long ago. This place is named Demon Bone City because it used to be a giant beast graveyard from ancient times. These Earth Worms also feed on giant beasts’ bones, since some bones are very similar in nature to minerals."

Eat bones for extra calcium? Da Fei said in surprise: "Giant beast graveyard? An underground Dragon Tomb?"

Hillsea nodded: "There might be Dragon Bones too, I’m not sure. But one thing’s certain: the site of Demon Bone City must contain the corpse of an Ancient God. The purpose of building Demon Bone City was to fence off that corpse for long-term study. Oh, and Demon Bone City’s signature troop type is the Bone Demon Army, a strange creature somewhere between Undead and Demon."

Makes sense! Da Fei checked Lamia’s map again, then found a wild monster gathering spot named "Ancient Ghost" in the Demon Bone City area. Da Fei had been torn over whether he should sweep all the way through there, or skip ahead to take down the Swamp Prison Demon Dragon first.

What made it worse was: these four known underground cities were all so loaded with content that clearing them all was basically impossible within the timeframe of this National War, right? And there were eight such rich Hell Cities just in Japan’s underworld; then the China Region definitely had similar Hell Cities too, right?

No denying it, this game is insanely deep. Anyway, no point overthinking it now. Since there’s no threat, stick to the original plan.

Da Fei gave the order: "Sky Ship, descend over the forest in the rift. All Evil Demons, Vine Demons, Flower Demons, as well as Miss Savara and Miss Ror, get into position and prepare to collect mushroom spores!"

Tamilia, Savara and the others replied in unison: "Got it!"

As the Sky Ship continued to descend into the rift, Da Fei suddenly noticed that the dark clouds of Dark Natural Power on the radar were getting thicker and thicker!

Da Fei hurried to the bow of the deck, activated the Ann Su Totem, and checked the Totem attributes:

—Brutal Tooth Ann Su Totem: Divine Artifact, necklace. Raises Attack Skill Level cap by +1. Personal Life +1390 (can grow), Personal Mana +1390 (can grow). Troops have a 1% chance to trigger Tear Strike, 1% chance to trigger Shattering Strike, 1% chance to trigger Crushing Strike, 1% chance to trigger Dragon Slayer Strike. Special skill: Dark Spirit Technique, Ann Su’s Resurrection. Current stored Dark Natural Power: 14250, Dark Natural Power currently converting.

This was the attribute the Ann Su Totem had gained after a day of conversion. Compared to when they were in the Mushroom Forest of the bat cave yesterday, it had 150 more Life and Mana. Da Fei couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

For normal players, getting 150 Life and Mana from equipment in a single day would be an absurd, heaven-defying growth. But for Da Fei, who was determined to become a Saint Level boss, this conversion speed felt unbearably slow.

Especially after Da Fei had witnessed in Sate’s Rotten World Tree Space those scenes where tens of thousands of Dark Natural Power flowed in and out at a time. After seeing the vast ocean, plain water really doesn’t cut it anymore; he just couldn’t stand such a slow pace now.