Chapter 1776 - 454: War Library, Traveled Through? (Part 3)

Chapter 1776: Chapter 454: War Library, Traveled Through? (Part 3)

Right now, the Illusion Spirit Wilderness is the trial field where the Jile Army clashes with the players.

At this moment, a 32?man player squad is moving through the vast ruins south of the "Ah Le Training Camp."

"I gotta say, the Dream Weaving Clan really had great taste back in the day."

The Damage Taker captain with the ID "Hard" tapped a broken Crystal Stone pillar that was slanted into the ground with his finger, making a crisp echoing sound:

"This material, this light effect, tsk tsk... If we can get a guild base in Imperial Tomb Village later, we’re coming here to scavenge renovation supplies."

"Come on, Brother Hard, looking good is useless. Only if we hand it to Brother Di Zhao can it be exchanged for 0.23 sacrificial power. I’d turn my nose up at it even if it was free."

The squad’s assassin "Drifting with the Wind" made a nimble leap, landing on a floating chunk of broken wall and scanning the surroundings:

"There aren’t many monsters around here. Should we go deeper? But if we keep going, we’ll be entering the Mist Zone, and that’s not safe."

"Safe? I didn’t plan on going back in one piece on this run anyway. The Mist Zone is awesome, man. I keep seeing those Exploration Faction guys hitting it big. I wanna try that once too." The squad’s Support "Little Milk Bottle" joked, smiling as he lifted his hand and triggered his Rejuvenation Attribute, pulling the captain’s HP bar back up after the last fight.

"You only see the Exploration Faction getting rich. You don’t see them grinding a whole year without a single big haul. Forget that jackpot dream." The squad’s Mage couldn’t help shaking his head, then went on:

"Speaking of going back, I’ve got a suggestion. I’ve got post?tournament trauma after watching the Peak of the Stars recently. Captain, think about joining a Warband, or recruiting newbies so we can grow big and strong. That special title ’Master of Stars’ is way too cool. With that title, I’d run three laps back and forth on Colorful Mist Coast every day. Just thinking about it feels great."

Captain "Hard" raised his hand and pushed away the building rubble entwined with Light Silk ahead, heading deeper into the scene. He nodded as he walked, his tone holding a bit of longing:

"Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that too. The tournament was insane. Those big Warbands’ mass charges and synchronized casting are way beyond the small?scale chaos we’re doing now. When we get back, we really should talk it through—whether we find a reliable Big Guild to carry us, or... we fly solo and see if we can build a Warband of our own."

As soon as he said that, the squad channel instantly became lively.

The assassin "Drifting with the Wind" was the first to respond:

"We gotta do it ourselves, obviously. We bros have been playing together for so long—our synergy isn’t any worse than those elite groups in the Big Guilds. What we’re missing is resources and scale."

"Starting our own thing takes a huge upfront investment. Battle Formation costs are a bottomless pit. If you don’t have a good Battle Formation, other players definitely won’t want to run with you." Support Little Milk Bottle analyzed calmly:

"But... if it works out, it really does have more potential. I suggest we wait for the next recruitment wave and go grab some newbies. They basically don’t have any requirements, and with some luck we might recruit a whole batch of potential players, then grow big and strong and take the championship at the next Peak of the Stars."

"Heh heh, if we really can raise a Warband, I’ve already thought of the name—let’s call it ’Peak of Insanity’..."

Just as everyone was getting hyped talking about their grand blueprint for the Warband’s future, the captain at the front, Hard, suddenly stopped and made a warning gesture.

The teammates immediately stopped chatting and looked up ahead.

They saw that beneath a particularly massive chunk of building rubble ahead, the ground had caved downward, revealing a subterranean entrance half?covered by Shattering Crystal Stone.

Carving marks remained along the edge of the opening, and a flow of air thicker than outside, tinged with a strange, faint fragrance, was slowly drifting out from the hole.

"We going in, Brother Hard?" Drifting with the Wind asked in a low voice, tossing his Dagger up and catching it in a reverse grip.

Hard examined the area around the entrance for a moment, then nodded decisively:

"We’re already here, so we explore. Little Milk Bottle, prep Light Shield. Everyone else hold formation and follow me down!"

"Got it!" Little Milk Bottle raised a hand, and a glowing Shield enveloped Hard at the front, like a moving light source, pushing back the Darkness at the entrance.

The group carefully made their way down the slanted ramp. The glow of the Light Shield pierced the underground Darkness, illuminating a passage that seemed to lead deep toward the planet’s core.

As they went deeper, the walls of the passage were no longer dirt but damaged Crystal Stone conduits.

After descending several hundred meters, the view suddenly opened up.

The Light Shield’s glow extended forward, illuminating an unimaginably vast underground space.

A towering, ruined palace stood silently at the center of this subterranean world.

The palace’s dome had already collapsed, broken beams jutting upward like giant beast ribs, yet the remaining parts still hinted at its former magnificence.

"Holy crap... there’s actually a whole palace hidden down here?" The Mage couldn’t help exclaiming.

The squad cautiously approached the palace’s main gate. The two ten?meter?tall Metal doors had long since rusted and fallen apart.

They stepped over the threshold and entered this hall that had lain silent for untold ages.

The Light Shield’s glow flickered through the empty hall, sweeping over one shattered statue after another.

Eventually, they arrived in the main hall.

At the center of the hall, a tall corpse clad in torn Armor leaned against half a broken stone pillar, frozen in Time in a seated posture with its head bowed.

The Armor on its body was ornate, and even covered in thick dust, you could still feel how exceptional the material was.

The corpse’s bones hadn’t decayed, instead showing a crystalline texture. Its hand bones were clamped tightly around a giant sword that was still radiating ripples of surging Energy.

"Sacrificing this corpse to Emperor Zhao should give us quite a bit of sacrificial power." Hard suddenly said.

"Captain, that’s dark as hell... But keeping it here is a waste anyway, so yeah, might as well sacrifice it." Drifting with the Wind chimed in with a grin.

At that moment, Hard stepped forward, reaching for the giant sword in the corpse’s hand.

Vmm!

A deep Space rumble erupted without warning.

Centered on that corpse, the Space in front warped and tore like fragile glass, opening up a rift of eerie light out of thin air.

A terrifying suction burst out from within, instantly grabbing hold of Hard, who had just touched the giant sword.

"Captain!"

"Brother Hard!"

The teammates’ shouts had barely begun when Hard didn’t even have time to make any Resistance move—his entire body was yanked violently upward by the brutal Space force and dragged into the rift.

The next second, the rift snapped shut and vanished.

The main hall returned to Deathly Silence, as if everything that had just happened was only an illusion.

Only the corpse in Armor, clutching the giant sword, remained with its head bowed.

"Hard, can you hear us? Say something!"

"Captain, make a sound!"

"Bangbang? Are you still alive, Bangbang?"

The teammates all checked the situation over the squad channel, discovering that Captain Hard’s HP bar was normal, but no matter how they shouted there was no response.

"Where’d he go?" Everyone looked at each other, utterly stunned by the sudden turn of events.

"Did he get sent to some otherworldly place and reincarnate as a goblin?"

The squad’s Support, Little Milk Bottle, analyzed with a serious expression, making the whole team burst into laughter.