The coffee in the cup rippled, becoming increasingly violent.
The desk began to shake as well.
The entire office trembled along with it, the wall clock swayed, the bookshelf slid, presenting a scene of an earthquake.
The assistant startled, "Could it be that there are still malevolent spirits destroying the base? Leader, I'll go out and check immediately!"
"No need."
The leader's voice was steady, calming the assistant as well.
The tremors gradually ceased.
The assistant looked at the leader with admiration and respect. This was the leader of their Sector 51, exceptionally powerful and composed in the face of crisis.
He was sure the leader had instantly identified the cause of the recent tremors.
However, why was the leader's face so grim? Had he been injured in the previous battle!
"Continue, tell me about the situation in various countries."
The assistant recounted everything.
Many small countries were powerless against the Gates of Hell. This was logical and within the leader's expectations.
But something unexpected occurred.
"You're saying that mysterious powerful individuals appeared and intercepted the malevolent spirits emerging from the Gates of Hell?"
"Yes, our people don't have clearer details."
He then spoke of the situations in the Sunset Country, White Bear Country, and others. Many countries faced greater crises than their White Eagle Federation.
Take the Sunset Country for instance; Fog City was once again ravaged by a tide of malevolent spirits. Normally, the Sunset Country's strength would have resulted in considerable losses, yet...
"Mysterious powerful individuals appeared?"
"We are still investigating the news, but according to intelligence received intermittently, the Night Watch organization of the Sunset Country completely repelled the surging tide of malevolent spirits. Many powerful individuals, whom we did not anticipate, appeared within the Night Watch."
"For example, Princess Anna, the pearl of the Sunset Country. Our intelligence only indicated she was an ordinary Awakened. However, the information conveyed by our agents this time reveals that Princess Anna of the Sunset Country is a third-level Awakened!"
"Leader, I believe our intelligence agency has a problem, a big problem!"
He went on to describe the situations in the Wave Country, White Bear Country, Dello Country, Rome Country, and so on.
There were losses, but they were not significant, much smaller than the 'minor losses' of their White Eagle Federation.
Were the Gates of Hell faced by these countries not strong?
Not at all. Their agents had successively transmitted intelligence that the Gates of Hell had persisted for a long time; longevity meant strength and disaster.
Regardless of the reason, during this global disaster of Gates of Hell, their White Eagle Federation suffered considerable losses, while some countries incurred very little.
Especially the Eastern Golden Country, which suffered almost no losses!
The assistant also found it unreasonable.
He glanced at the leader and noticed that apart from his complexion appearing darker against his black leather suit, the leader remained composed.
As expected of the leader.
Since that was the case, he had no reason to hesitate.
The assistant continued, "Leader, there's one more thing. While you were in seclusion for your promotion to third awakening, we also discovered some secrets about countries like the Eastern Golden Country and the Sunset Country."
"They... they seem to possess some means, having completely cleared out the malevolent spirits within the city limits, and have basically restored order."
"Leader..."
The office suddenly began to shake again, this time more intensely, with cracks spreading outwards non-stop.
Dust and debris rained down.
The assistant was greatly alarmed and was about to run out when he saw the leader, still seated, as steady as a stone sculpture.
He also calmed down.
Unmoved even when the heavens crumbled, ah~ having such a leader was truly the fortune of their Sector 51.
...
The Hearth Fire Secret Realm,
Level Three Apostle Dormitory,
Fang You lay on a rocking chair, resting, swaying gently. The game panel appeared before him, and he began to check the status of the secret realm.
The Heavenly Phenomenon Finger had consumed a considerable amount of secret realm power.
The previous secret realm level was Lv3 plus 20%, and now it had dropped to Lv3·19%. A single strike consumed 1% of the secret realm's level, equivalent to approximately one-tenth of a Secret Realm Stone!
Of course, based on the integrity of the secret realm itself, this consumed secret realm power could recover slowly.
The time required might be slightly longer.
"Secret realm power is indeed potent."
"This time, I over-utilized the power of the secret realm to deal with the Mountain Giant. It was an excessive use of force."
But there was no other way; it was also his first time using the secret realm's power in combat.
He could only rely on his existing experience to estimate the level of this strike.
"It might be close to the Half-Step Mythical level."
"Combining the secret realm's power with my own abilities seems to unleash greater power, but my application is still too crude."
Fang You recalled.
The Heavenly Phenomenon Strike, the Thunder Finger from before, replayed in his mind.
It might be a little stronger than simply using the secret realm's power, perhaps 2% or 3% more destructive power.
There was still significant room for improvement.
If he could perfectly integrate the secret realm's power with his own skills.
Proficiently using the secret realm's power could also unleash greater strength.
"But to use it proficiently and integrate it perfectly requires sufficient practice. However, the secret realm's power cannot be used daily."
He shook his head.
After pondering for a while, he explored how far the previous strike was from his limit, how long he could fight if he fully unleashed the secret realm's power, and so on.
There was too little information; he could only think of what he could.
"Let's look at some more pleasant things."
"Little Illusory, open the task list for the Gates of the Demonic Realm."
"As you command~!"
The record information for each Gate of the Demonic Realm task appeared before him.
This disaster had spread globally, and a large number of Hearth Fire personnel were deployed. He, Fang the Savior You, descended in various places, reaping immense rewards.
Of the 75 Gates of the Demonic Realm, over 70 had Hearth Fire personnel involved.
This meant rewards could be obtained.
And unlike before, where many ordinary Hearth Fire soldiers could only gain participation points, now an elite team could dominate the battlefield.
What appeared on the game interface were high ratings for each Gate of the Demonic Realm task.
Grade S, S+, SS+.
Among these were over a dozen tasks completed by him, Fang the Savior. Some were critical interventions, while others were in the wilderness. When the last wave of malevolent spirits surged out, he descended in a golden light, unleashing radiant lightning.
For the latter, his output accounted for 100%!
For the former, as in the battle in the Sunset Country, the initial resistance relied entirely on the local forces of the Sunset Country. He only descended at the last moment, but he still annihilated three Calamity-level malevolent spirits, reversing the tide of the battle.
The rating directly soared to SS-.
"Tasks rated below Grade A only yield basic rewards, but those above Grade A can additionally obtain sub-apostle recruitment tokens, skill seeds, and other important items."
No need to mention tokens; skill seeds were also essential items, no less important than cultivation cards.
These had consumption.
Although the consumption was significantly reduced due to Liu Shang's care and the plantation's augmentation, it still existed.
The more skill seeds, the better.
"And for Gate of the Demonic Realm tasks rated four stars and above, as long as they have high ratings, a few additional skill selection scrolls can be obtained."
He began to tally.
"Beginner Skill Selection Scroll (Green) x35"
"Intermediate Skill Selection Scroll (Blue) x4"
"Sub-Apostle Token (Green) x404"
Sub-apostles were about to experience a massive surge!
In other words, the highly competitive admission assessment could be made easier.
"Well, it can't decrease too much. These slots will be distributed in batches."
"Even if the number of slots per batch expands from the previous seven or eight to thirty or forty, the degree of competition is estimated to... not decrease too much compared to half a month ago."
The number of slots was increasing, but so were outstanding graduates.
Oh, wait, recent graduates basically had no ability to compete for admission slots. After all, before them were veterans who had graduated for half a month or a month.
They were all eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new batch's assessment.
The harvest of Destiny Points was not as exaggerated as the Apostle Recruitment Tokens, but it still exceeded ten thousand points.
Combined with his previous accumulation, he now had 17,000.
Enough for many draws from the high-level card pool.
Thus,
"Use Beginner Skill Selection Scrolls."
"Use Intermediate Skill Selection Scrolls."
Beginner draws yielded green skills, intermediate draws yielded blue skills. Many were duplicates, but he also acquired multiple new skills.
Duplicates were directly placed on the exchange list, priced high.
New ones were examined one by one.
"Charge (Green)"
"Gale (Green)"
"Frozen Fist (Green)"
"Power Up (Green)"
The effects of these skills were as their names suggested. Among them, 'Power Up' was a skill that caused muscles to explode, temporarily boosting strength.
It was similar to awakening abilities that amplified strength.
Its value was quite high.
The other skills also expanded the skill pool of Hearth Fire, allowing trainees to choose more skills based on their preferences and strengths.
"Iron Bones (Blue)"
"Telekinesis (Blue)"
Two new blue skills and two duplicates were obtained. The duplicates were also quite valuable—it was far more difficult to learn blue skills through seeds than green-level ones. Directly learning from skill books saved a lot of time and was a favorite of 'whales'.
Iron Bones was an advanced skill of Copper Skin and Iron Bones.
Telekinesis was a support skill, similar to Invisible Hand, which could be quite useful in daily life and for showing off.
Neither was bad.
His luck today was pretty good.
Therefore, Fang You didn't wash his hands and opened the high-level card pool costing 1000 Demonic Crystals, and began to draw.
"Ding!"
"Notification: Obtained 'Inheritance Land' (Gold)"
...
"Notification: Obtained 'Secret Realm Stone' (Gold)"
...
"Notification: Obtained 'Angel's Tear' (Purple)"
...
"Notification: Obtained 'Skill Seed' (Purple) x6"
...
"Notification: Obtained 'Demonic Spring' (Purple)"
...
"Notification: Obtained Demonic Artifact 'Shrogga's Leaf' (Gold)"
"Notification: Obtained Demonic Artifact 'Vessel of Life' (Gold)"
...