"It's not expensive."
At this moment, the balance of Fate Points on the game's main interface was: 2066 points.
Just a little bit more to the eighth Fate Draw.
This time, according to his estimation, he would be able to draw the talents he wanted... like a planter.
He was looking forward to it.
But he couldn't control his impulse to spend.
Fifty Fate Points weren't expensive anyway; a mission could earn it back.
Use it!
"Ding!"
"Notification: Clue consumed, location hint for 'Defensive Treasure' obtained."
The map interface of the Ghastly Realm exploration, just like when he upgraded 'Map Range,' kept shrinking. An Jianyou and the other two's avatars shrunk to the size of grains of rice.
What was different was that the surrounding map was still dark, but within the darkness, far away from An Jianyou's position, a special treasure icon appeared.
Click.
"Defensive Treasure (Unknown)"
It was just a bit too far.
The treasure icon that appeared around An Jianyou's team, after shrinking, was almost touching their avatars. Judging by this proportion, the defensive treasure was still...
"Six to seven hundred kilometers away!"
"In the Ghastly Realm, let alone six to seven hundred kilometers, even a few kilometers are considered very far!"
Currently, a single exploration mission could at most cover a few kilometers.
Midway, they had to be extremely cautious, evade the terrifying entities in the dense fog, and constantly battle against ghastly fiends. Even those who had awakened three times had to be on high alert at all times. Over time, their condition would decline, leading to danger.
Therefore, a normal exploration usually lasted about an hour to an hour and a half.
First, to gather intelligence from the Ghastly Realm; anything the Apostles saw along the way was meticulously recorded as game data.
Second, to search for treasures; along the way, they would also encounter unmarked mysterious materials, herbs, plants, etc., on the interface—this was why they needed to learn to identify various materials. Otherwise, even with treasures in front of them, most people would still miss them.
Third, monster drops.
The ghastly fiends in the Ghastly Realm did not dissipate after death, and often a lot of mysterious materials could be salvaged from their bodies. This was also a major harvest, with drop rates at least a hundred times higher than those in the real world.
Of course, there were drawbacks. Ghastly fiends killed in the Ghastly Realm, if not within the mission scope, would not yield rewards from the 'Mission Dispatch' module.
Fourth, exploration evaluation. After the exploration concluded, based on performance, a certain amount of Fate Points, Ghastly Crystals, and other items would be settled.
It was just not much.
In the previous few explorations, only when they discovered the 'Black Stone Tower' was a 'Special Building' recorded, and they received a slightly higher evaluation.
Overall, the gains were significant, which was why he was keen on exploring the Ghastly Realm.
"However, currently, only my 'Spark's' main team has the ability to survive in the Ghastly Realm. In the future, as the Spark warriors become stronger, multiple teams can be dispatched for exploration simultaneously, or even allowed to explore freely, with the organization merely serving as a platform to charge fees."
"Of course, by then, at least the conditions of being able to freely enter the Ghastly Realm and establishing safe zones within it would need to be met... If conditions permit, it could be fully open to the public."
"The world being devoured is a general trend, and the increasing number of awakened individuals is also a general trend."
Even though the awakening process was still very dangerous and the success rate was low, if the grey fog tide were to engulf everything, with a large enough base number, many awakened individuals would still emerge.
It was just that society would be even more chaotic then.
His 'Spark' organization had to prepare in advance.
Guidance, containment, stabilization, teaching... various thoughts flashed through his mind, all rather rudimentary plans that needed refinement.
"The more I think, the further I stray."
Fang You tapped his forehead. Thinking so much every day, dwelling on each problem, would make his hair fall out.
But he still had to think about it.
Who asked him to be a Spark mentor?
"Getting back to the point, the current problem is that the defensive treasure is very far from An Jianyou and the others. With normal exploration, it might take hundreds of days to reach the target location."
"Well, that's not entirely true. As the Spark Apostles' strength increases, their actions in the Ghastly Realm will become easier, and they'll be able to cover more distance in one exploration, but..."
This was not something that could be achieved in a short period.
Was the Lv2 function useless?
Wait a minute!
"I almost forgot."
"Normally speaking, a clue pointing to a treasure hundreds of kilometers away is indeed rather useless, you can see it but can't get it, but..."
"But my Spark has An Jianyou!"
"There's no need to enter the Ghastly Realm through the main entrance. You can enter and exit through back doors or side doors as you please."
"Hundreds of kilometers is a very long distance in the Ghastly Realm, but in reality, it's just a short train ride away."
He immediately assigned a mission to An Jianyou and the others.
Leave the Ghastly Realm, drive or use other means to reach the destination, then re-enter the Ghastly Realm in reality to obtain the treasure!
The process was quite perfect.
After assigning the mission, he didn't pay further attention. There was no need to constantly monitor even if they entered the Ghastly Realm. It wasn't like An Jianyou was a novice; she had already explored many times and was an experienced explorer.
He merely instructed Xiao Huan to keep an eye on them for him, to provide hints about the treasure, and to call him over for rescue if there was danger.
True 'idle exploration.'
Mature Apostles and mature assistants should know how to handle difficulties themselves.
Fang You began to busy himself with his own affairs.
Cultivation.
Checking the status of the Apostles.
Arranging for new recruits to join and awaken.
Allocating the organization's resources and supplementing the exchange list.
Remotely monitoring the situation in Langhua Nation and continuing to provide reinforcements.
Making an appearance to comfort Apostles who failed to awaken and provide psychological guidance.
Organizing information from the Ghastly Realm.
Writing project plans, and so on.
Headache!
This was even with Xiao Huan's assistance.
"Master, An Jianyou and the others are back. Their mission contribution has been issued, and the items have been delivered to the organization's warehouse."
It seemed the trip was smooth.
He didn't go to find An Jianyou. Instead, he directly opened the 'Ghastly Realm Exploration' module, where there was an unread notification.
"Ghastly Realm Exploration: An Jianyou Team's Exploration Record and Settlement (Click to expand)"
---
"16:25, An Jianyou's team entered the Ghastly Realm through the Eye of the Nether."
"16:27, An Jianyou's team killed '3-star Ghastly Fiend x2', '2-star Ghastly Fiend x15', '1-star Ghastly Fiend x198', obtaining: Green-grade materials x2, White-grade materials x26."
"16:29, An Jianyou discovered that the target location was not in front of her. Based on more detailed hints, the treasure was located hundreds of meters directly below. In reality, this was an open space."
"16:33, An Jianyou's team began to venture into this special area. It was a region spiraling downwards with strange crystals, as if it were a chasm leading to hell. [Image1.jpg], [Image2.jpg], [Image3.jpg]."
"16:35, Xing Jinglei attempted to collect some crystal fragments but found them to be indestructible. To avoid causing a major disturbance, Xing Jinglei did not dare to unleash his full power and chose to give up."
"16:39, the team of three continued to go deeper."
"16:49, the team of three continued to go deeper."
"16:51, the team discovered a Calamity-grade ghastly fiend blocking the downward path. After waiting for three minutes, the monster finally moved away."
"16:59, An Jianyou's team reached the destination. It was a small patch of blue ore, where strange silver scales grew, moving like live fish, [Image1.jpg]."
"17:02, there were not many surrounding ghastly fiends, so the three began to mine, extracting the silver scales and some mysterious materials, and loading them into the Flesh-and-Blood Flying Birds, obtaining: 'Ghastly Item: Silver Scale Heart Armor (Blue) x6', various mysterious materials."
"17:28, after careful collection by the three, all the silver scales and some mysterious materials were finally obtained and stored. Xing Jinglei was bitten by a silver scale during the process. His Copper Skin skill couldn't even defend against it. The wound was bleeding profusely and quickly grew flesh buds. Xing Jinglei immediately used a purification potion, using three bottles consecutively, finally containing the deterioration of the wound."
"17:32, because Xing Jinglei was injured, the three immediately returned."
"17:33, An Jianyou attempted to return using the 'Eye of the Nether' but failed. This area did not correspond to reality."
"17:41, on the way back, An Jianyou glimpsed that this area was vast and could be explored further, but it seemed there was a great terror in the depths. The three quickened their pace back."
"17:51, the three left the 'Spiral Land' and returned using the Eye of the Nether."
"This exploration discovered a 'Special Land', evaluated as A-. Exploration settlement obtained: Fate Points x60, Ghastly Crystals x200, Cultivation Cards, and other items."
"An area that doesn't correspond to reality?"
"So, this area is an entrance from the shallow layer of the Ghastly Realm to the deeper layers?"
There were not only pictures in the exploration summary record, but Xiao Huan also recorded the entire process from An Jianyou's perspective. He now opened the recording and played it at fast-forward.
He sat at his desk and pondered for a while.
"Mark this place for now."
"And the treasure 'Silver Scale Heart Armor' obtained this time is indeed a defensive ghastly item, but it has the side effect of biting the user's flesh..." He frowned, this side effect was a bit too strong.
Never mind, Master Wang Chui knew how to forge ghastly artifacts. He would try it first.
...
In Langhua Nation, a certain place.
"High Priest, our strongholds in three cities and eight towns have suffered attacks of varying degrees, and our followers have suffered heavy losses."
A black-robed follower spoke, but without much fear.
The priest, dressed in a suit and appearing as a normal human, was also very calm.
No matter how many followers were lost, it would not shake his foundation. These followers, like ghastly fiends, were just cannon fodder.
'However, to have found so many strongholds, the humans of this world are quite capable.'
'There also seems to be a not-weak awakened individual, whom even black-robed followers are no match for.'
'But they are just ordinary humans, heh heh.'
He shook his head.
Human resistance was the most foolish and meaningless. In the end, they would realize that only by throwing themselves into the embrace of the Lord, bathed in the Lord's divine radiance, could they gain true rebirth.
Humans were merely ants, mere sustenance, mere vessels, but from them, the Lord's believers could be born, and that was enough.
He did not care about human resistance, just as humans would find the fighting of ants laughable.
What he cared about were the believers of other great beings.
His Lord, the Great Scarlet Moon, was the most supreme existence, but other beings also possessed supreme power. Their priests were rivals hindering his propagation of the Lord's glory.
As far as he knew, the priest of the Shadow of Darkness had descended upon this world.
Compared to humans who posed little threat, he was more eager to find that priest and eliminate him.
But even after searching until now, there was no clue.
The Scarlet Priest's expression was somewhat solemn.
"That guy, can he hide better than this priest?"
"Never mind, proceed according to plan."
"The deaths of followers and humans are all part of this priest's plan, but more, much more blood is needed."
"A grand ritual is needed to please the Great Lord."
"At that time, perhaps this priest can advance further and gain divinity!"
He became fervent.
...
The cultists seemed to be brewing a major event. Fang You guessed it, but he could only proceed according to his plan to find and curb the cult's development.
If he couldn't eradicate the cult's priest, then he would try to improve himself.
As long as he was strong enough, he would fear no demons or monsters.
"So, let's do a draw."
The next day,
Fang You looked at the Fate Points displayed as "2222" on the panel and returned to the organization's secret realm to begin the Fate draw.