Age of Evolution#

Chapter 828: Chapter 831: Adventurer’s Guild_1

Setting off for Endless Star Sea is not as simple as just getting up and going.

The so-called Endless Star Sea broadly refers to the massive expanse of the endless starry sky within the Original World. Its span and volume are unimaginable, with no means of calculation.

Just like in the New World, no one could measure the area or volume of the universe; similar is the case with the Endless Star Sea in the Original World.

The place Lin Zhen wished to visit was part of the Endless Battlefield.

The Endless Battlefield is the place where the races of the Endless Star Sea and the Ground Clans of the Original World wage their wars. It is a narrow zone stretching for tens of millions of light-years and spanning a width of a million light-years across the starry sky of tens of thousands of kingdoms. However, despite its enormous size, this area is just a small fraction of the Endless Star Sea.

One would have to pass through the nearby starry sky, sail through a buffer zone, venture through a deserted area, cross a meteor belt, and then finally enter the Endless Battlefield. It’s a long journey.

Few people knew the location of the teleportation array within the celestial expanse after crossing the buffer zone. If one were to rely solely on their strength to get there, even tens of thousands of years would be insufficient to reach the Endless Battlefield. Hence, they must travel via the teleportation array.

If you’re to use the teleportation array, you wouldn’t find it alone. One must accompany certain groups headed towards the Endless Star Sea, groups such as merchant convoys or adventurers.

Lin Zhen was now quite famous in the Original World. His repeated exposure, coupled with his recent ascension to the status of a Saint-Level Alchemist, meant that hardly anyone in the entire Original World did not recognize his face.

Such notoriety would undoubtedly make his search for a group to venture into the Endless Star Sea very liable to exposure and likely to cause a lot of unnecessary trouble. Therefore, Lin Zhen prepared to alter his appearance slightly.

While Morphing Skill could change one’s look, it was merely a means of deception and easily seen through.

But Lin Zhen had other methods.

Qian Tong knew how to concoct countless elixirs. Apart from Yang Hua Pill, Mental power God Pill, and the Nine Revolutions Golden Pill, there was a very useful Disguise Medicine.

This drug, when evenly applied, could alter a person’s appearance and temperament. Although the change would not be vastly different from their original appearance, it was certainly untraceable, making one seem like an entirely different person at first glance.

After making some alterations to his face and concealing his aura, Lin Zhen transformed into a rugged, tough-looking man with dark skin.

He shed all clothes related to the Holy Land, stowed away all Alchemist-related items, put on a dragon scale’s sleeved vest, and wore a necklace made out of magic wolf teeth around his neck.

Light Annihilation was carried as a belt, and the long, black hair was tied up neatly with a silver hairband.

With black pants, black cowhide boots, and a not-so-advanced Space Ring on his finger.

Exposing his solidly built muscular arms, he emanated a ruggedly fierce aura when he stood there.

His current image was that of a seasoned adventurer – someone of moderate wealth, neither too rich nor too poor, someone who was skilled yet not overly powerful, someone with a taste but not outstandingly so.

Gently touching the stubble on his chin, Lin Zhen nodded satisfactorily.

In this guise, no one would have a hint that he was Lin Zhen.

“No problem now. All I need to do is find a group that is headed towards the Endless Battlefield and accompany them.”

Lin Zhen strode through the streets of Qin City and entered the Adventurers Guild.

The Adventurers Guild was actually the biggest organization in the Original World. The fate of the Martial Artists was to fight and explore, and there are dangers everywhere in the Original World. Every day, countless adventurers go through quests seeking resources, earning money to sustain their families and their cultivation.

It can be said that there is an Adventurers Guild almost everywhere in the Original World. Even a small city, a small town, or even a rural area would have one.

Compared to Alchemists, the number of adventurers was tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of times that of Alchemists!

Lin Zhen, due to the Black Hole Devour, followed the path of an Alchemist after coming to the Original World.

With this money-making tool, Lin Zhen didn’t need to wander around to cultivate, as he had a massive amount of money flowing into his hands, giving him a life better than anyone else.

In this respect, Lin Zhen didn’t truly understand the struggles of common people. He was oblivious to the dangers and trials common martial artists had to endure to earn money, and that too in meager amounts.

So, it can be said that adventurers are the true portrayal of most martial artists in the Original World. Lin Zhen belongs to those who always walked a high-end path, interacting with Alchemists and Holy Land Warriors, the lofty figures.

This time, was Lin Zhen’s first foray into the world of low-level martial artists.

*********

The Adventurers Guild was situated in the western part of Qin City, right in the civilian district, a bustling market area.

On the streets leading to the Guild, the place was teeming with people.

As Lin Zhen walked down the street, countless people were trying to strike up a conversation with him.

“Bro! Want some good stuff? Jar Flower from the Flying Phoenix County. Have a taste, and I guarantee you’ll never forget it!”

“My! Brother, you have such a fantastic body. You seem like the type who’s very capable. The girls at our Yihong Pavilion love guests like you. Why don’t you come and have some fun?”

“Young man, looking for work? Catch barbarian women in Heavenly Ridge, catch one for three thousand dollars. You’re in the Longevity Realm, just listen to me, you’ll earn tens of thousands in a day!”

Lin Zhen hummed and hawed as he walked forward, not speaking much with anyone. He knew that these touts outside the Adventurers’ Guild were generally no good.

If they’re not dealing with contraband, they’re slavers, all involved in the business of murder and smuggling. Of the people he’s seeing now, at least a third are probably wanted criminals.

Although Lin Zhen himself was once the most wanted criminal, he really couldn’t respect these people.

Seeing Lin Zhen’s expression, those people knew there was no hope, and since Lin Zhen seemed like a seasoned veteran who wouldn’t fall for their tricks, they gradually dispersed.

Upon entering the main door of the Adventurers’ Guild, the atmosphere inside isn’t much better than outside, a strong smell of cheap tobacco and alcohol hits him square in the face.

Lin Zhen slightly wrinkled his brow; he was already used to good drinks, suddenly smelling these scents was somewhat foreign to him.

But he quickly adjusted, heading to the Guild’s front desk.

“What would you like to drink, sir?” a tavern keeper asked.

Lin Zhen didn’t ask for the fancy stuff, but pointed to the massive beer barrel and said, “Give me ten pounds of the yellow beer!”

“You got it!”

The tavern keeper showed a smile and filled a huge cup for Lin Zhen to the brim.

Taking the beer in one hand, Lin Zhen took a hefty gulp; some of the liquid splashed out and slid over his solid muscles.

“Sir, are you about to travel?”

“Yes, I’m planning a trip and wondering if there’s any caravans on the same route?”

“There’s a notice board over there where a lot of teams recruit and post tasks. You can go and check.”

Lin Zhen had already seen the wall in the distance. With his keen eyesight, he could clearly see the tasks on the the wall, but none of them were headed to the Endless Battlefield, so he didn’t bother going over.

“None of these tasks are headed where I’m going, so I’m wondering if there are any other teams?”

“Where are you trying to go, sir?” the tavern keeper asked.

Lin Zhen took another swig of beer, gulping down about five pounds worth: “The Endless Battlefield.”

The tavern keeper seemed to pause for a moment, then gently shook his head: “Sir, your request is a bit farfetched. The Endless Battlefield is an extremely dangerous place, even the warriors in the Longevity Stage seldom go there, let alone the Endless Battlefield. Even the tasks to the Endless Star Sea are rare. That place is the turf of the Imperial Clan, it’s best for us Ground Clans not to go there if we can avoid it.”

“I know all that, but I have to go there, so… ”

Lin Zhen lifted his hand, revealing several gold coins in his palm.

A gold coin was worth one hundred, so five gold coins here made five hundred, not a small figure.

The tavern keeper glanced at it and said somewhat hesitantly, “Sir….”

Lin Zhen lifted his hand again, and the gold coins had become ten: “I know there are many teams operating under the radar, so they won’t post their missions on the board. Introduce me to one of them, and these are all yours.”

The tavern keeper glanced around and swiftly pocketed the gold coins in Lin Zhen’s hand.

“Sir, it’s not that I don’t want to help, but there really haven’t been any teams going to the Endless Battlefield recently. The reason being that the people of the Imperial Clan in the Endless Star Sea are frantically searching for someone. It seems that an important person from their side has gone missing, and it seems it happened near the surface of the Original World. They’ve already traced the disappearance to the Buffer Zone, so many teams dare not go there at the moment.”

“So there’s not a single one?” Lin Zhen frowned.

“There is one. A few days ago, a team from the northern plains of Heavenly Ridge was recruiting martial artists as bodyguards, requiring at least the Longevity Stage. As you know, Heavenly Ridge is very far away. This team plans to pass through a section of the Buffer Zone, crossing the edge of the Endless Battlefield to reach the other side of Heavenly Ridge directly. If you want to apply, I can introduce you.”

Lin Zhen knew that to cross the Heavenly Ridge, apart from climbing the mountain there was a better way: going through the star space. Because the interior of the Original World is actually egg-shaped, there’s curvature, making the star space often a shortcut.

“I’ll give it a try, what kind of team is it?”

The tavern keeper whispered, “It’s a poaching team. They specialize in hunting rare spirit beasts and taking them to the other side of Heavenly Ridge for the pleasure of the nobles.”

Lin Zhen nodded. This kind of thing is not uncommon in the Original World.

Once captured, the fate of the beasts is often tragic. Some would be youthful-looking girls, taken away to be used for pleasure. Others are killed for making medicine or clothes.

This kind of poaching is illegal, all countries have banned it, and poaching teams cannot cross towns.

So these teams always need to hire bodyguards and follow very covert routes to ensure they’re not caught.

Lin Zhen, being a Galaxy Beast himself, doesn’t like poachers either; however, right now, he doesn’t have the time nor the energy to worry about these things. Since this team is headed for the edge of the Endless Battlefield, he should give it a try.