Cataclysm King

Chapter 405: Ruins of Holy Crown City

  One month later.

Deep in the Old Continent, on a rugged mountain road, a thousand-man mercenary group from the Southern Continent was camping and resting.

The team was huge and dozens of marching tents were set up.

 The main tent of the adventure group is hung with hammer and thunder flags.

 This is the "Thunder Hammer", one of the top mercenary groups in the southern continent.

 At this time, in a certain tent.

Ji Xun, disguised as a mercenary, is meditating with his eyes closed.

There is a complex forbidden barrier arranged in the tent to prevent the energy of the [Moon] hanging in the tent, which is like a beacon, from leaking out.

 The quiet tent was filled with a strange and confusing spiritual field.

I don’t know how long it took. Ji Xun opened his eyes and slowly exhaled a breath: "Huh."

 In an instant, his consciousness returned to reality, and the confusion in his eyes dissipated, replaced by the usual calm calm.

 After pondering for a moment, he muttered to himself: "The effect is getting worse and worse."

While Ji Xun was meditating just now, he also used the extraordinary characteristics of the moon to plunge himself into the illusion world of "The Illusion of the Sky Moon".

 He constructed a beautiful dream of joy for himself.

Ji Xun is not greedy for the illusory happiness.

 But to suppress the pollution of the [Black Demon].

　　When I fought against General Lagon before, the fight was satisfying, but I overused the ability of the Black Demon Seal, and was quietly contaminated by this relic.

 At first, Ji Xun thought that the pollution was just adding a "feminine" personality to his many personalities.

This time it was discovered that the problem was more serious than expected.

 After all, [Black Demon] is a relic of Emperor Lanlingst, and its contamination is definitely not something Ji Xun’s current rank can bear.

 A few days ago, Ji Xun discovered that not only did certain behaviors in his daily life have a tendency to become more feminine, but he also "naturally accepted" such changes.

 What’s worse is that not only are there psychological problems, but there are also big physical problems!

The effeminate pollution directly caused the body's estrogen secretion to become more intense. This made Ji Xun find that his skin had gradually become finer recently, and his beard, instead of growing, began to fall out. The whole person's temperament and appearance become "handsome".

  Completely changed the physical structure of the body!

Ji Xun didn’t want to turn into a witch physically.

I have previously communicated with Griffith, the leader of the Dragon Rebel Army, "The Faded One". This "witch transformation" is irreversible and can only be suppressed and alleviated.

 So Ji Xun took that person's advice and chose the most direct and effective method, which was to "addict to women."

But it’s not easy either.

 As Ji Xun's rank increases, his control over his will and body has become extremely high.

 Mere sensuality has little appeal.

And the female friends he has had close contact with are all extremely outstanding, whether it is Song Yu, Dong Qi, or Catalina, they are all peerless in beauty.

 The most important thing is that there is an emotional foundation, which is the best catalyst for happiness.

 This made Ji Xun's pleasure threshold extremely high.

 In addition to the physiological changes caused by pollution, the opposite **** is generally not noticeable at all.

 Not to mention that in this wilderness, it is difficult to indulge in female sex.

 Fortunately there is [Moon].

Just like a real happy dream, it can keep people in a state of high secretion of male hormones and prevent the body from being polluted and continuing to become effeminate.

  But this method also has disadvantages.

 After all, it is an illusion created by oneself. The scene in such a dream will be changed by one's own subconscious.

 In the previous few dreams, Ji Xun had fulfilled all kinds of sweet dreams.

 But that time just now, he found that even in his dreams, he had a tendency to become effeminate.

This also means that dreams can no longer meet his needs, and he needs stronger real-life **** to suppress pollution.

 But Dong Qi is now in Donghuang again.

Is it possible to go back to find Katarina?

Ji Xun pursed his lips.

Although he knew that Catalina would definitely not mind, he could even imagine being teased by her.

 But I always felt that something was wrong with me for going back to that old friend for this matter.

Thinking of this, he felt slightly helpless and said to himself: "Hey, this [Black Demon] really needs to be used sparingly."

It's just a sigh of relief, not really upset.

 Without this glove, he would not have experienced the excitement and fun of fighting a seventh-level card master.

It is precisely because of this kind of cross-level fighting that his understanding of various skills has skyrocketed recently.

 There are always gains and losses.

Furthermore, the blessing of the terms "Skill +99, All-Element Affinity +50%" on the gloves themselves made Ji Xun's understanding of the extraordinary feel better than ever before.

Thinking of this, he raised his peripheral vision and glanced at his own shadow.

If there are outsiders here, they will definitely be frightened by this scene.

 Under the moonlight, he actually had three shadows of different light and darkness.

I don’t know if it’s because of his recent combat experience or the influence of the [Black Devil] Gloves, but Ji Xun’s proficiency in the professional-specific skill [Joker’s Shadow Trick] has also skyrocketed.

 Then a few days ago, he suddenly discovered that he could condense two other shadows.

 Although the more shadows are divided, the weaker the strength.

 But it was already a great surprise for Ji Xun.

 Whether it’s asking for information or studying, it’s a huge improvement.

 During this period of time, he has been practicing the "Thousand Ji Puppet Divine Sect" which specializes in practicing the secret method of the [Juggler] sequence, and his ability to multi-task has become more and more proficient.

The divided shadow clone can also comprehend knowledge like the main body.

Although the efficiency is a bit low, and the comprehension is not blessed by the physical body, it is completely sufficient for reading some knowledge from classics that do not require comprehension ability.

This made Ji Xun's learning efficiency suddenly increase many times.

 The messy thoughts in my mind disappeared in a flash.

Ji Xun woke up from his happy dream and started his daily practice again.

The main body holds the [Space Rune] in its hand to understand the mystery of the laws of space, and the three shadows each read the classics.

 His entire body was like a whale swallowing, efficiently absorbing a vast amount of extraordinary knowledge.

Just like this, it was almost morning in a blink of an eye.

 Suddenly someone shouted outside the tent: "Everyone, get ready to break camp!"

“Thunder Warhammer” is the top mercenary group in the southern continent, with very strong overall strength.

 Speaking of a mercenary group, it is more like a large army that relies on hunting monsters and adventuring to open up wasteland, with hundreds of thousands of members.

 The legion commander is a genuine eighth-level powerhouse.

 As time went by, the main force of the mercenary group gradually entered the Old Continent.

Ji Xun’s team is a transport team in the Warhammer Regiment.

Their mission this time is to transport the legion's supplies to the core area of ​​the Old Continent.

 Others didn’t know the destination clearly, but Ji Xun had already guessed it.

About ninety kilometers further north there is a very large ancient ruins - Holy Crown City.

In the Talon period three thousand years ago, that city was the closest county to the imperial city of Behemoth.

 Obviously, the top leaders of the Airel Empire are also heading towards the capital of the Talon Dynasty.

But it was obviously discovered much later than the Dragon Rebel Army.

After all, the leader of the Dragon Rebel Army is Griffith, who is a descendant of Talon's palace officials. She has a lot of information that others don't know.

 After eating the marching rations, the team set off.

Ji Xun set off vigorously with the team escorting supplies.

 He is now at the sixth level and he no longer dares to lurk in the official legion, so he hangs out in the mercenary group.

 The transportation team took the safe route that the pioneer adventure group had used through the wilderness, and the journey of several hours went smoothly.

Not long after, Ji Xun heard the roar of people.

 After the transport team passed the ruins of a certain collapsed and cleared fortress, the view suddenly became clearer.

 This is a very large hunting camp.

 The lights are bright.

 Densely packed camps are scattered all over the mountains and plains.

All kinds of fancy flags fluttered in the wind.

Ji Xun has long been familiar with the meanings represented by various heraldic flags in the Southern Continent and recognized them at a glance.

In addition to the "Thunder Hammer Mercenary Group", there are also the "King's Knights", "Golden Spear", "Mountain Dragon Heavy Armor" and other top mercenary groups in the southern continent.

  There are dozens of other vassal mercenary groups, large and small.

 In the camp, some of the 100-meter-high magic towers have been built and some are under construction.

Ji Xun has seen the introduction of magic tower in the classics. This kind of thing is essentially a magic fort, a pure weapon of war.

 The power of a hundred-meter-high eight-story magic tower is almost equivalent to that of an eighth-level card master.

There are more than a dozen of them here, and with such an exaggerated firepower network, even those who come to the ninth level will feel their scalp numb.

Not only the magic tower, but also various huge war golems also stand majestically in the camp.

 It can be seen that these mercenaries are preparing to stay here for a long time.

Ji Xun's transportation team was here to transport camp construction materials. When they arrived at the camp, everyone began to unload the trucks.

There were a lot of powerful auras in the camp, and Ji Xun didn't dare to show off too much. He just followed other mercenaries to carry supplies while taking stock of the situation in the camp.

 Thick fog drifted in the camp, and the visibility was sometimes high and low.

Ji Xun was very interested in the magic tower and war golem in the camp, and was thinking about how he could find a chance to get closer and take a look.

However, unexpectedly, the wind suddenly picked up.

 The strong wind not only blew away the fog in the camp, but also the sea of ​​fog further away.

 Suddenly someone shouted: "The fog has cleared! Everyone, get to work!"

With this loud shout, the entire adventure camp instantly exploded.

  Well-armed mercenaries emerged from large and small tents one after another, and then excitedly gathered towards the north of the camp.

Only then did Ji Xunye see the situation north of the camp clearly, and his eyes froze: "This abyss rift? No, it's a broken space!"

At this moment, he realized the special location of this adventure camp.

This is not the ordinary mountain camp you first saw.

But it is built on the edge of a cliff.

At a location like the Nuggets Pier. Further north is an endless void like an abyss rift.

The clouds and fog dispersed, and the scene in the crack became clear.

Different from the abyss rift on the edge of Innocence City, the rift here is not an endless mist, but filled with countless "plane fragments" of various sizes that look like islands.

 “It’s really an exaggeration.”

Ji Xun's eyes trembled when he saw this.

On the map, this place was originally supposed to be a huge city with a population of tens of millions called "Holy Crown City".

 Normally, adventurer camps will be built near the ruins.

Ji Xun had previously wondered why the camp was not in the ruins, and there were no traces of ruins around.

 Bu Chengxiang, it wasn’t that these mercenaries didn’t want to do it in the first place.

But Holy Crown City has been beaten to pieces, and the fragments are in the endless void.

“Was that battle so exaggerated?”

Ji Xun knew that these were the relics left by the battle that destroyed Talun, and he also guessed that this was the result of the divine war, so he was so emotional.

Looking at the scattered fragments in the void in front of me, it was the first time I witnessed the exaggerated combat power of the **** level.

 At his current level, his power to smash mountains and crack rocks with one punch can be considered terrifying.

 And in this way, a large piece of the plane will be shattered, and it will no longer be a dimension at all.

This feeling is like tearing a two-dimensional piece of paper into pieces and scattering them in the three-dimensional world.

Ji Xun is currently unable to understand what is happening with those floating plane fragments, and why they can be made to float like the universe.

 But the facts are right in front of us.

That year's battle of King Talon's super-collapse directly shattered a large area of ​​land near Holy Crown City.

And this is the city closest to the imperial capital Behemoth. Not surprisingly, the situation over there is similar.

 No wonder the rebels of the dragon army wanted to rob the void dragon ship before.

These plane fragments floating in the void are like isolated islands in the sea. Without a boat, it is difficult to explore the depths.

 When the fog dissipated, the mercenaries gathered in groups towards the north.

There are directional teleportation arrays on the edge of the cliff near the camp.

 As the purple light on the teleportation array lit up, batches of mercenaries were teleported away.

Ji Xun's pupils were slightly gleaming, and he focused his gaze far away, vaguely watching the mercenaries appear in the air on pieces of continental fragments.

I thought that the card masters who had space capabilities made a little directional displacement, or used some special means of transportation to build teleportation arrays on those fragments, so that the mercenaries could teleport there.

However, the exploration efficiency is suddenly reduced.

It’s unclear how long it will take to get to the imperial capital Behemoth step by step, maybe a few years later.

Ji Xun looked at this scene and once again thought of those who rebelled against the Dragon Army.

They planned ahead and grabbed the dragon boat, so they would approach the ruins of the imperial city earlier, and presumably get more benefits.

Although it is fragmented, the small one has an area of ​​dozens of football fields. Some areas are astonishingly large, almost like a complete continent.

There are not only ruins there, but also distorted light gates that represent entrances to extra-dimensional spaces.

Just for people to look at it, it seems as if an unexplored treasure house is waving towards people.

Three thousand years ago, during the Battle of Collapse, countless card masters died here, including some who were gods.

The treasures in this ruins can be imagined!

 But at the same time, there are countless secrets hidden in the dust of history.

Ji Xun's eyes gradually heated up as he watched, and the unknown brought about by this kind of adventure also attracted him deeply.

Just as he was thinking about it, the mercenaries around him were also shocked.

 “Ouch, Lao Mo, what’s going on?”

"You didn't know when you came here that you saw the Shattered Void in the north? That's the ruins of Holy Crown City, which was known as 'Talon's First Mechanical City' three thousand years ago! Oh, you don't know, this is an ancient battlefield. Countless treasures were left behind. The hunters who went exploring these days found many ancient weapons, armors, cards, books, secret scrolls, and countless rare treasures. One lucky guy even found a piece of divine weapon with residual divinity. As for Fragments, the adults of the royal family directly rewarded them with titles and territories!”

"Just the treasures scattered on the fragments of those ruins are already a huge harvest. Not to mention those extra-dimensional spaces. These days, anyone who goes to explore extra-dimensional spaces and comes back alive has made more money than can be used in several lifetimes. Our group Several branch leaders have already taken people to the depths and haven't come back yet."

“Huh? There are so many treasures in this ruins?”

"No! I'm sure that this is definitely the ruins that have produced the most and the best treasures since the Old Continent was developed. The several large-scale extradimensional spaces "Battle of Holder Fortress" and "Penlos Time and Space Labyrinth" that have been discovered so far ” and “Horror Worm Cave” are producing a large number of high-level treasures every day, including space crystal nuclei, precious metals, top-level energy stones, potions, and special cards. There are also many unexplored extradimensional spaces, and there are surprises every day.”

"But you should think carefully before going. This ruins is rich in products and the mortality rate is extremely high. Now there are not enough war slaves to visit the cave. The group leaders have received the 'limited time land reclamation order' from the Holy See and are in a state of distress. "

 “Old Mo, why don’t you go?”

“Haha, I only have this ability, and I’m satisfied with earning some labor money as a logistics worker.”

ˆ “.”

Ji Xun was also mixed in the crowd, listening to the bragging of a mercenary who had been here for many days.

  Putting aside those hearsay elements, he was also roughly certain that this ruins indeed produced countless treasures.

But it’s expected.

No one knows what happened during the final collapse of the Talon Dynasty, but Ji Xun speculated that the fall of Holy Crown City should be the last few key battles.

Since the entire continent has been destroyed, there must be top powerhouses and large legions involved.

 There are a lot of treasures left in the ruins, which is normal.

But Ji Xun is concerned about one thing. This Holy Crown City was the "Talun's No. 1 Mechanical City" back then. Will it produce some rare machines?

 It seems inevitable.

 After transporting the goods, Ji Xun and the other logistics transport teams will have nothing to do, and everyone will be doing their own business.

Ji Xun, like other mercenaries, excitedly went to the Adventurer's Guild in the camp to get information.

　　While the fog dissipated, a large number of mercenaries just left the camp.

But even so, when Ji Xun went there, the mercenary union's tent was packed to the brim.

“‘Black Light Fortress Attack and Defense’ war plot mode, recruits people who are good at plot and powerful output, and recruits a large number of main force [Black Knights] of level three or above.”

“‘Fadil Mine’ is a B-level difficulty for land reclamation, for healing professionals.”

"'Horror Worm Cave' generates space materials, survives and kills monsters mode, super large extra-dimensional space, unlimited levels, exploration A~D level difficulty. The highest level has produced legendary materials. Unlimited recruitment of violent output professional members, the main force of the Iron Boots Group "Output leader"

“The horror plot mode of ‘Horror Weird Victor’s Castle’ has only completed the D-level plot so far, producing mysterious relics and materials of gold or above quality, with an unknown upper limit. If you want to find a few people who are good at solving puzzles, please contact the Thunderbirds.”

"Official recruitment of the Black Dragon Royal Family: C3 area land reclamation, large sums of money to recruit land reclamation hunters. In addition, a large number of cannon fodder hunters will be acquired"

Ji Xun took a general look and saw that it was no different from hunter unions in other places. They were announcements of missions and invitations to team up for exploration.

But the difference is that those tasks are really tempting.

Ji Xun quickly scanned the information he had access to, compiled countless fragments of information in his mind, and then spliced ​​together some relatively complete storylines.

　　It’s roughly the plot related to “The Battle of the Collapse of Holy Crown City”.

Ji Xun wasn’t surprised either.

What was slightly surprised was that the number and risk of different dimensions were the most he had ever seen.

According to the estimates of the Mercenary Union, the number of living people currently exploring the extra-dimensional space near the ruins of Holy Crown City is less than 5% of the total number!

This also means that trying to explore these spaces may be spent here in the next few years, and countless people will be buried here.

Ji Xun looked around and saw several extra-dimensional spaces that interested him.

 The inevitable mortality and rewards of space have always been of great interest to him.

 The sixth level, from a senior card master to a top card master, requires a lot of insights and understanding of the rules.

  Ji Xun now also needs some external help.

 According to past experience, extradimensional spaces usually understand their own needs better than card masters.

As long as you can come out alive with a high rating, the harvest will definitely not disappoint.

 But he was not in a hurry.

 Having just arrived at the camp, it’s not too late to collect some information before making a decision.

Ji Xun wandered around the camp after visiting the Hunter Guild.

 Prudence allows him to observe the environment and retreat in every new environment.

The camp is very large, almost a large city.

However, the major mercenary groups separated most of the area, and there were only a few streets in the public area.

 Besides the tavern street for entertainment, the most lively place is the mercenary market.

The mercenaries brought out all kinds of strange things from the ruins. Many people who didn't leave for a while would choose to set up stalls to sell off their inventory.

  After all, the camp is filled with stewards from major chambers of commerce in the Southern Continent who are responsible for receiving goods, so it is easy to carry the cash.

Ji Xun walked and also came to Fangshi.

 He wanted to see what the ruins produced and add more information needed for deduction.

 Most of the vendors who run the stalls are lone mercenaries or small teams. The quality of the goods is not high, and there are various appraisers who are always scouring the market.

Ji looked around for a while, but there was no chance of "missing something".

But he discovered another striking building.

 Next to Mercenary Square City, there is a large building that is always emitting black gas.

Ji Xun didn’t know what the building was for at first.

But after watching a group of mercenaries pull a pile of large items covered with gray cloth in on a dragon cart, he immediately understood.

 This is the "financial workshop".

 Machine is a forbidden art in the Southern Continent.

 So all the mechanical equipment found in the Old Continent was basically destroyed on the spot, smelted into metal materials, and used to forge weapons and armor.

Anyone who hides mechanical equipment will be detained as a "heretic" by the Holy See.

 And Holy Crown City was originally the first mechanical city in Talon, so there must be a lot of mechanical fragments produced in the ruins.

By coincidence, just now when Ji Xun was watching the group of people unloading the goods, he found a few familiar iron lumps in the pair of mecha fragments.

Aren’t those just some fragments of Hunter God armor?

 Higher armor requires a large amount of rare metals.

People in the Southern Continent only valued the raw materials of these machines and did not care about the technological value of those mechas at all.

Ji Xun's thoughts suddenly became active when he saw this: "The Mechanical Legion still needs a large amount of rare magic metal. Isn't this coming?"

Whether it's Katarina's Alliance Army or Song Can's Black Gold Chamber of Commerce, rare metals are far from enough to create legions.

Now the ruins of Holy Crown City produce a lot of mechanical materials, isn't it just right?

  And looking at the quantity of transportation, it is quite large.

  It should have been discovered in some mechanically related extradimensional space, or in a ruins.

Thinking of this, Ji Xun planned to ask where these mechanical wastes were produced.

And he was also curious about whether there was a [Titan Armor] or any clues about the mysterious [Mechanical Angel] that he had seen before.

 It would be a big surprise if we could really find it.

 (End of this chapter)