“Oh, what great gift do you have for me?”

“Remember that Level 150 Spirit Rank boss that I killed yesterday? The Earth Lizard Dragon? It dropped a very nice item. It’s a Spirit-grade sword. Do you want it? If not, I’ll give it to Beauty Lin…”

“Ah, please don’t. I want it, I want it…”

……

In a few seconds, He Yi’s beautiful figure appeared at the east gate of Sky City. She walked into the plaza next to it as she looked all around for me. The moment she spotted me, she sprinted toward me gracefully with the Soul-stealing Spear in hand.

To be brutally honest, it was clear that the Soul-stealing Spear could no longer keep up with the rest of He Yi’s equipment even though it was a Purple Gold–grade item. Normally speaking, weapons were the most important things to players who choose a combat class. If a player was decked out in a full set of Purple Gold–grade equipment, that usually meant that his weapon was one grade higher. If not, it wouldn’t look that great.

"Lu Chen, what happened? I didn’t hear you mention a single thing about a boss last night…"

I waved my hand and smiled, "Isn’t it because I had no time? I went out to have dinner with Beiming Xue, and by the time I got back, you had already fallen asleep. If not, I wouldn’t have delayed this until this afternoon."

"Okaaay. But just what kind of weapon is it?" He Yi laughed as she nodded her head. Her beautiful eyes were sparkling with anticipation.

I opened up my inventory and took out Whirlwind. I grasped its handle and twirled the blade in the air, causing a cold breeze to gently brush across He Yi’s face. The body of the sword looked as translucent as glass and it shimmered under the light. Tiny blades of wind seemed to be dancing around the edge of the blade and it was clear that it was no ordinary item. In fact, a bone-piercing cold had started to surge into my arm.

Hmmm, I had reached the required Level to equip it and the sword seemed to like me too.

"Ah!? How beautiful…" He Yi covered her delicate lips with her hands as she stared dazedly at Whirlwind.

I chuckled softly as I pressed the longsword into her hand.

I said, "Hmmm, this sword belongs to you now. When a rider is mounted, a spear has the most penetrative power, so it’s undoubtedly the best weapon for charging. But if you’re plunging into close combat, it is a sword that will bring out the best of your abilities. Hmmm, so I think it’s about time for you to switch to swords, Sister Yi."

He Yi was still filled with shock and her long lashes kept trembling as she stared at Whirlwind’s stats. When she had finally come back to herself, she raised her head to look at me. Her cherry lips parted as she mumbled, "Omigosh, this is a Level 120 4- star Outstanding Spirit-grade item? Isn’t this one of the legendary Level 120 signature weapons… To think that you actually managed to get one of them…"

I nodded my head as I chuckled. "Hmmm, the stats aren’t bad, are they? A 35% boost to your Attack and 19 Tactics. This is definitely the creme de la creme among all the Whirlwind swords in the server, so put it to good use. This sword is good enough to accompany you all the way to Level 150 and you might even still be using it beyond that…"

"Mmmm!" He Yi’s smile was as sweet as honey, and she actually stepped forward and stood on her tiptoes as she hugged me tightly. Her lips brushed my cheeks as she gave me a light peck and she smiled. "Thank you, let this act as your reward. Because... I don’t have anything else to give you right now…"

There were quite a few people in the plaza and He Yi didn’t hide her name either, so her action immediately attracted a lot of stares. Things got awkward very quickly for me, so I grabbed He Yi’s hand and ran into a small alleyway. Even though Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls wanted to become a world-renowned guild, we definitely didn’t want to become famous because of any sex scandals involving our leaders! The royal road in videogames had always come through absolute strength!

"Lu Chen, I’m only Level 116 right now, so I still need to gain 4 more levels before I can equip Whirlwind. Do you think I should slot it with a Convenience Gem so I can lower its Level Requirement, or do you think that I should wait until I hit Level 120 to use it?" He Yi asked me.

I pondered her question for a moment before replying, "One slot can boost your attack by 5% at most. I think it’d be better if you were able to use this sword as soon as possible. That way, you’ll be able to level even faster, and the higher your level rises, the better equipment you’ll be able to find! Our strategy is to raise our fighting power through continuous battle!"

"Mmmm, okay!"

I passed a Convenience Gem to He Yi and she ran off to refine it.

I also had more pressing matters to attend to as well! It was time to find the Undead Trainer Rinser to undergo my fifth job promotion!

……

I used the city’s teleportation formation to send myself to the peak of the Dragonbone Mountain Range. It was time to find my trainer!

Whoosh!

Lights flickered all around me as my body was suddenly besieged by a sudden cold. Wild winds raged all around me, causing my cloak to fly wildly in the air. I tightened my grip on the Heaven-stealing Sword as I quickly pressed forward!

Cold winds washed over me as I climbed up along the steep mountainside. The Undead Holy Magus Rinser was standing in front of a sheer cliff which towered over him. He held his bone staff as snow flew all around him. He was standing on a gigantic blood-colored magic formation and he had a look of sheer concentration on his face. His eyebrows were knitted together as he chanted words under his breath. It looked as if he was casting some kind of mighty spell.

"Trainer, I’ve come!" I didn’t hesitate to walk up and interrupt him mid-cast.

"Oh, you’ve come…"

Rinser opened his bloodshot eyes as he stared at me. He let out a loud laugh as he said, "Kiddo, you’ve gotten even stronger. You really didn’t let me down, hahaha…"

I nodded my head and said, "Trainer, I want to undergo my next class promotion!"

"Okay!"

A bizarre smile appeared on Rinser’s face as he said, "Even if you didn’t come looking for me, I would have summoned you myself. Just yesterday, Shadow Dancer Xue Wei visited me and told me that our ally, the human alliance, has already been pushed to the brink of destruction. If we do not save them, Sky City will soon fall."

"What!?" Rinser’s words greatly shocked me. "How is it possible for Sky City to fall? I just came from there and it looked completely peaceful. There wasn’t a threat in sight!"

Rinser laughed before he raised his head to the sky and spoke in a somber voice, "I used to be a human, but when those necromancers used that forbidden art on me, it caused my heart and soul to begin decaying, even though my appearance remained the same. The current Sky City is exactly the same, its ten great armies are strong and robust, but the authorities that rule Sky City have already fallen into depravity. Kiddo, did you come for a class-promotion quest? If so, finish this quest that I have for you!"

I nodded my head. "Okay! I await your orders!"

Rinser’s expression grew grave as he said, "You are to immediately depart for Sky City. Go and find the Royal Magus Mylin. She used to be one of my students. Pass this Fragment of Phantasma to her and deliver this message—‘The forbidden spatial magic will soon be cast, Sky City is in mortal peril’. This will warn her to be on her guard against any visitors from faraway lands."

"Alright, I understand!"

Ding~!

System Notice: You have accepted the main quest [Betrayal]! (Current Quest Rank: SS)

Description: The first part of this quest is to find the Royal Magus Mylin in Sky City.

……

This was great! To think that it was an SS Rank main quest! I had lucked out again!

My heart danced with joy as I took out a return scroll and went back to Sky City!

I heard that familiar "whoosh" as a beam of light engulfed my body. By the time it dispersed, I was standing on the main road in Sky City. I opened up my map as I sprinted toward where the royal palace was. All the royal magi stayed near the altar which was located at the edges of the royal palace. As one of the royal magi, Mylin should be there as well.

I summoned the Sky Obsidian Greedy Wolf. An SS Rank quest was bound to be fraught with danger, so I was prepared for ambush at any moment.

This time, the group of NPC soldiers did not attempt to stop me as I entered the royal palace. Perhaps it was because my fame in Sky City had risen, so I didn’t have any trouble entering the area around the altar. I could see magic formations flickering in the distance.

Rustle...

I climbed up the stairs leading to the altar and in the distance, I could see a group of grand mages standing around it. All of them wore somber looks of concentration on their faces as they raised their staves high in the air, their magic energy pooling around the staff that stood in the center of the altar. The staff looked extremely unique. It was about two meters long, and it looked rough and sinister, a scarlet gem crowning it. All in all, I could sense a malicious energy deeply buried inside of it.

As my eyes swept over the gathered mages, I saw a female mage standing at the corner of the altar. She looked to be about twenty-seven years of age and her long golden hair was tucked inside her hooded robe. She had an oval-shaped face and her features were exquisite. Her beautiful nose had a high bridge and her skin was flawless and white as snow. Both her eyes were closed as she chanted a sonorous and ancient spell

I gripped the Heaven-stealing Sword tightly as I walked forward and whispered, "Mylin?"

"Hmmm?"

Mylin opened her eyes and shot me a look that contained both curiosity and confusion. "Adventurer, you’re looking for me?"

"Yes. My trainer is Bone Soul Rinser. He was the one who tasked me to find you!"

"What? Lord Rinser…"

A strange look crossed Mylin’s face as she broke off her spell mid-chant. She reached out to grab my arm and said, "Follow me, this isn’t a suitable place to have a conversation…"

"Oh…"

It was only when Mylin brought me to the back of an artificial mountain in the corner of the altar that she stopped and started speaking again, "Lord Rinser, is he… is he doing well?"

I nodded my head, "As a spirit, he’s both eating and sleeping well. He’s so energetic he might as well be called immortal."

Mylin, "..."

I retrieved the Fragment of Phantasma from my inventory and said, "This is something that Rinser told me to pass to you. He also told me to tell you this—The forbidden spatial magic will soon be cast, Sky City is in mortal peril."

Mylin looked slightly taken aback at my words. She then stretched out a hand and lightly brushed her fingers over the Fragment of Phantasma. A burst of light suddenly erupted from the Fragment of Phantasma, causing a scene that looked like it had come straight from the apocalypse to appear in front of us.

The first thing that caught my eyes was the lava. All around me stood blood-red volcanoes that were bubbling over with lava. A crystal coffin quietly lay in the middle of those volcanoes and after a gentle ring, the lid of the coffin began to slowly move. A hand the color of the deep ocean appeared to grasp the corner of the coffin and the arm connected to the hand was covered in a shiny metal bracer that matched the color of its skin. After the lid had slid off the coffin, the man inside of it began to slowly climb to his feet. He was fully clad in armor and he held a longsword that was inscribed with flickering runes in his hand. As he gazed at the world around him with eyes that were filled with a haughty condescension, he suddenly let out a long howl before saying, "So this is hell? I, the ever-victorious Coldblade, have returned once more!"

After that, the armored general stretched out his hand and summoned a magic circle on the ground below him. A long and spindly magic staff that resembled human bones rose up from that magic formation and it was the exact same staff that I had seen in the middle of the altar! The magic staff shone with a cold light and the general’s mouth curved up into a sinister grin. He rumbled, "My previous capital, accept my return! Those lonely and discontent warriors who dwell restlessly in hell, rise up! All of you will soon return with me to the human world!"

At his command, the entire earth started rumbling and shaking violently. Bumps began appearing in the earth and the ground started breaking apart in explosions of dirt and ash as countless dark creatures of the night began crawling up from the ground. There were beastmen warriors with rotted skulls, who trundled along the ground as they dragged their war mauls behind them. Huge Death Beasts whose bodies were swathed in chains and countless skeleton warriors and dark knights. All of the sudden, the volcanoes were swarming with monsters as far as the eyes could see, sending a chill down my spine. I was utterly shocked by what I had just seen. If such a strong army of Night Creatures were to invade the human world from hell, there was no way the current players would be able to overcome it!