Flesh and blood rained down from the sky, falling to the earth like raindrops. The Arcane Giant landed steadily, still brimming with powerful energy. The Arcane Giant wasn't a summon that could last a very long time, but it certainly wasn't a one-hit wonder that would be useless after a single attack. Maintaining it for ten minutes was not a problem.
This meant that not only could the Flesh Moon not withstand this round of attack, but even if it had, Zhang Nu could have continued his offensive until it was completely obliterated. The gap in their strengths was just too vast. After all, one was a Level 5 mythic unit, while the other had already stepped into the threshold of a Level 6 legend.
Of course, the Flesh Moon, with its enormous size and strong vitality, was a top contender even among its peers in the Level 5 mythic class. It can be said that without Zhang Nu, the Darkness Three Dragons and the Succubus Queen, having to face such a monster, would likely have been unable to deal with it. Even if they had the ability to protect themselves under the onslaught of the Flesh Moon, they might have still failed the rift dungeon challenge due to the death of all survivors.
But now, such a terrifying existence was so easily dealt with. Han Kexin could hardly believe the reality before her eyes!
"Done! Let's wrap this up!" Zhang Nu focused his will, and the Arcane Giant rapidly disintegrated. The residual energy was recollected into Zhang Nu, bringing him back to full strength in an instant.
The newly acquired skills were all quite useful. Glacier Descent was a large-scale control skill. Although its destructive power wasn't strong, only capable of freezing targets rather than killing them, such a wide-ranging freezing and sealing ability would undoubtedly be a divine skill on the battlefield!
As for the Arcane Avatar? Even more so. It was a skill that released all power to gain tremendous burst strength in a short time. The strength of the summoned Arcane Giant was directly proportional to one's own power and mana. With Zhang Nu's power, if he converted all his mana into an Arcane Giant, its destructive and explosive power would be significantly stronger than his Evil Dragon's Descent mode, capable of instantly crushing powerful enemies.
Of course, this skill had its risks. While the Arcane Giant had strong offensive and defensive capabilities, it lacked the innate abilities or talents of the original's. If too much power was used at once and it failed to defeat the opponent in one round, the original's combat ability could be greatly affected afterward. Fortunately, as a summoning and avatar incarnation skill, it differed significantly from regular magic. The Arcane Avatar could be deployed remotely, anywhere within the direct perceptual range of the original, allowing for unexpected effects in many situations.
After Zhang Nu dispelled the magic, Han Kexin couldn't help but ask, "What level has your strength reached now? It's definitely not just a Level 6 monarch. It must be at least as strong as a Level 6 mythic!"
Zhang Nu didn't answer directly but just smiled and said, "How about it? Do you want to be the CEO of our group? If you're willing to join, I can help you reach Level 6 in minutes."
Han Kexin scoffed, "What's so great about Level 6? I can achieve it on my own. Thinking of recruiting me to be your CEO? It won't be that easy!"
Zhang Nu just smiled. The Queen's lack of an outright refusal indicated that there was hope for this proposal. She must be feeling quite conflicted at the moment. Zhang Nu wasn't in a hurry. After all, such a significant decision and merger required careful consideration by anyone, and there were many details to negotiate. Haste doesn't bring success.
The five returned to the base. Moji of the Xarian, still shaken, said, "When the moon of flesh and blood appeared, we thought we were doomed. We never expected you, the otherworldly ones, to be so powerful as to defeat the blood moon!"
Zhang Nu replied, "The blood moon is formidable, but it's just one of the Evil God's minions. Defeating it isn't something to be particularly proud of. How much do you know about this Unifier of All?"
Moji paused for a moment and said, "We only know that the Unifier of All is the Evil God worshiped by the Unity Cult. Legend has it that its true form sleeps deep in the vast cosmos, having destroyed and absorbed millions of civilizations. It might be one of the most powerful Evil Gods in this world. The Unity Cult appeared on Xar a hundred years ago and completely spiraled out of control in the last decade, leading to catastrophic consequences. Now, there's no hope for this planet."
Zhang Nu further asked, "How many such Evil Gods exist in this world?"
Moji shook his head, "Evil Gods cannot be looked at directly, cannot be peeked upon, cannot be comprehended. Everything about them is taboo. We don't know how many there are in the world, only that the vast cosmos is overshadowed by their presence."
Although these words didn't provide Zhang Nu with much new information, they did give him an insight into the nature of this world. Every world has a different structure. The main world of Darkness City, where he resided, was composed of nearly endless lands and oceans, with corresponding subterranean spaces - underworld beneath it, divine or abyssal realms above, and stars and moons that were not celestial bodies.
This world of stars, however, was more akin to the universe where Earth is located. Countless stars floated in the vast expanse of space, but this world was filled with eeriness and silence, dotted with ancient and forbidden entities. For billions of years, all beings had to tread carefully. This world was vast but consumed by darkness, and no one wished to venture far because exploration into the unknown often led to disastrous consequences.
Such an environment led to a situation where, although there were countless civilized races, there was almost no communication between them. Zhang Nu felt that under these conditions, civilizations would inevitably be diverse and imbalanced. For instance, some planets resembled classical martial arts worlds, some resembled the Victorian era of the steam revolution, others seemed like information-age societies, and still others appeared as primitive wildernesses or post-apocalyptic wastelands.
Zhang Nu suddenly became interested in the world rift beneath the Calamity Trench. But of course, it was just an interest. Zhang Nu hadn't even conquered the Thunder Empire yet and was already thinking about causing a stir in other worlds. That was perhaps too big a step, especially considering the danger of the world of stars, filled with ancient and unknown gods where one could easily capsize.
Soon, the teleportation formation was activated. Moji said, "We are about to head to an unknown star domain to seek a new home, to spread the seeds of Xar. To express our gratitude, here is a gift for you... May reason and wisdom be with you!"
[You have cleared the rift dungeon!]
[You received a "Perfect" rating!]
[You have obtained a "Rift Dungeon Treasure Chest." Do you wish to open it now?]
Zhang Nu opened the treasure chest.
[You opened the Rift Dungeon Treasure Chest. You gained "Gold" x80 million, "Blueprint: Blood Moon Altar" x1, "Sword of the Stars" x1, "Level 5 Building Upgrade Scroll" x1, "Spirit Gems" x8000, "Soul Gems" x4000!]
The rewards from the treasure chest made the twenty million gold entry fee seem trivial. Although the rewards were slightly less than those from clearing a Level 5 mythic wild area, this was a rift dungeon after all, and rift dungeons could be run repeatedly. This meant that once the cooldown period for entering the rift dungeon was over, Zhang Nu could return for another perfect rating.
However, this rift dungeon, named "The Ancient Lands of the Stars," was quite unique. Each visit presented different environmental scenarios due to its randomness, which meant there were no guides for this rift, significantly increasing its challenge. Not everyone could achieve a perfect rating. If the average power level of the team was at the overlord class, then managing around six rounds within the control time should suffice.
The earnings from a rift dungeon are mainly divided into two parts. One part is the direct rewards from the rift dungeon treasure chest. The other part comes from the rewards exchanged with rift dungeon points after leaving the rift. For a regular team clearing six rounds, the treasure chest's rewards roughly cover the cost of the entry ticket, while the rift dungeon points gained within the realm represent the net profit.
Upon exiting the Rift Tower, Zhang Nu immediately checked his points earnings. This instance run had accumulated 95 million points. Since he defeated the Flesh Moon boss, all points were doubled, resulting in a total of 190 million rift dungeon points!
Zhang Nu then checked the rift dungeon exchange list and found a variety of exchangeable items. There were at least dozens of types, including B-rank skill stones, purple grade equipment, high-tier potions, and consumable magic scrolls. For the vast majority of people, these items were incredibly practical and valuable. However, for Zhang Nu, they were of little worth. What caught Zhang Nu's interest were items like:
- Ordinary Elemental Gems, ??? points each.
- Rare Elemental Gems, 10,000 points each.
- Spirit Gems, 20,000 points each.
- Soul Gems, 30,000 points each.
The options to exchange for normal elements of wind, fire, water, earth, and rare elements of light, dark, and thunder, along with spirit and soul gems, all available for points, piqued his interest.
This meant that for future gem acquisitions, besides purchasing, there was now an additional path to obtain them. Apart from the nine types of elemental gems, there was a very special material among the exchangeable rewards in this Rift Tower. This material, known as Soul Crystals, was previously quite rare and unknown to most Demon Kings.
- Level 1 Soul Crystal, 5,000 points each.
- Level 2 Soul Crystal, 50,000 points each.
- Level 3 Soul Crystal, 500,000 points each.
- Level 4 Soul Crystal, 5 million points each.
- Level 5 Soul Crystal, 50 million points each.
These soul crystals had a straightforward function: they were used to enhance the quality of souls. A Level 1 crystal could upgrade a Level 1 soul to Level 2 and so on. Therefore, a Level 5 crystal could elevate a Level 5 soul to Level 6. This presented another method for improving soul quality, besides soul altar synthesization, and it did not consume any souls as well, which was significant for a Demon King.
Zhang Nu had felt pleasantly surprised because the soul altar was incapable of synthesizing Level 6 souls. He had been considering using his only Level 5 special building upgrade scroll to upgrade the soul altar to Level 6 at a great cost. However, it appeared that this was no longer necessary. With the new feature of the rift dungeon exchange store, Zhang Nu could steadily acquire soul crystals to upgrade soul levels, fully meeting his need for Level 6 souls.
With enough Level 6 souls, the upgrades for Zhang San and Li Si had become imminent. Once the strength of the Darkness Three Dragons uniformly reached Level 6, even if the empire were to launch an assault with all its might, there would be nothing to fear."