Chapter 1 Undead

"Damn it! That Favored One really escaped!"

"We're finished! What do we do? How are we going to explain this to that lord?"

In the bottomless abyss, the three-headed dark wyrmlings, stirring up storms with their wings, stared at the spatial vortex Stone Peak had left through, their eyes filled with fury and terror. Even their voices trembled with helplessness.

"The inheritance was stolen by the Favored One, completely derailing the original plan. That lord will never let us off when he finds out. Our only option now is to scatter and flee, or none of us will survive..."

"That's all we can do. Hopefully, the lord will focus his attention on the Favored One in his rage, giving us a better chance of survival."

Following the lead dark wyrmling's words, the other two quickly agreed. Flapping their black wings, they flew away from the bottomless abyss, their hearts filled with anger and schadenfreude toward Stone Peak.

On the other side of the spatial vortex, Stone Peak was completely unaware of this. After a moment of dizziness, he returned to his Silverwing City residence.

"It's done!"

"Tier 4! A true Tier 4 class!"

Stone Peak couldn't help but watch as the surging liquid mana enveloped him, restoring his depleted mana and exhausted spirit, as if he were reborn. His heart was filled with indescribable excitement.

The goal he had never achieved in his previous life was now accomplished.

Moreover, he had advanced to a Tier 4 class as the Hidden Class Bladed Saint, completely outclassing ordinary Tier 4 classes in terms of basic attributes and magic skills.

He was now a truly powerful figure in God's Domain, an existence feared by the various NPC kingdoms.

Just as Stone Peak was overjoyed, a cold system notification suddenly rang in his ears.

System Announcement: The God's Domain system will undergo a major upgrade and will simultaneously launch the new expansion pack "Return of the Heroes." All players will be logged off within 30 minutes. The estimated update time is one natural day.

...

The system announcement repeated three times, leaving both the players in God's Domain and Stone Peak stunned.

"A major system upgrade?"

"How is this possible?!"

Stone Peak stared at the system announcement displayed in his vision, looking again and again, his eyes filled with deep confusion.

There had been many system updates in God's Domain, but only two major upgrades.

The first major upgrade occurred three years after God's Domain was launched.

By that time, there were already many Tier 4 players in God's Domain, and Tier 3 players were everywhere. Some players were even attempting to reach Tier 5.

But how long had God's Domain been open now?

That system upgrade was the most memorable event for Stone Peak, even shocking the entire world and truly making God's Domain the world's only game and form of entertainment.

If the previous system updates were a process of continuous self-improvement, then the major upgrade was a great transformation, completely changing the world and exceeding everyone's imagination of a virtual game.

Players were no longer just players, but merely a special group in God's Domain.

Whether NPCs or monsters, they were all as real as humans, with their own lives, personalities, and the desire to survive.

This made God's Domain completely different, no longer just a virtual reality game, but completely changing the real world.

At this moment, not only Stone Peak felt deeply confused, but also the vast number of players and the high-level executives of various forces in God's Domain were surprised and puzzled.

"A major system upgrade? And it's going to take a whole day? What's going on?"

"Damn it! I haven't even advanced to Tier 3 yet, and now there's an upgrade. The system is trying to kill me!"

...

For a time, the players in God's Domain were full of complaints, feeling speechless about the sudden major upgrade.

The update time of a whole day caught everyone off guard, leaving them wondering what to do with their time. God's Domain had long become a part of their lives, and logging in every day had become an instinctive habit.

Previous system updates usually took only a few hours or a dozen hours, but now it was a whole day, which was maddening.

On the other hand, those who had entered God's Domain early knew that after a system update, the difficulty of leveling up and fighting monsters would increase significantly, and the technical requirements for players would also be much higher.

This sudden major system upgrade was definitely a nightmare for players who had not yet advanced to Tier 3.

It was also a significant change for the various forces in God's Domain, because it meant that fewer players would be able to advance to Tier 3 in the future, and the difficulty and resources required to train experts within the guilds would further increase, rendering many planned development plans useless, forcing them to start from scratch...

However, while many forces were dissatisfied and angry about this, many new forces and large financial groups that had recently entered God's Domain were overjoyed.

The increased difficulty of leveling up and the scarcity of resources would undoubtedly be an opportunity for the various forces in God's Domain to reshuffle their ranks. As long as they seized it, they might be able to replace those old-established forces.

For a time, the atmosphere among the various forces in God's Domain became extremely strange. They were frantically digging up talent and acquiring resources, while also drastically reducing the resources for ordinary members with low potential, causing many guild members to want to leave and join other forces.

While the various forces in God's Domain were taking action, Liang Jing was also contacting Stone Peak in a hurry.

"Guild Leader, the various forces are collecting gold coins and resources on a large scale. Should we start acquiring them as well?" Liang Jing asked anxiously.

"There's no need for that," Stone Peak said with a smile. "Didn't those super forces always suppress us, preventing us from obtaining a large amount of funds? Now, we'll just sell the gold coins that Silverwing City has earned during this period and let them acquire them."

"Guild Leader?" Liang Jing was stunned, not understanding what Stone Peak was doing.

The various forces were rushing to acquire resources and gold coins, but they were going to sell them off on a large scale. They would be the ones suffering after the system upgrade.

"Just do it," Stone Peak said with a smile, not explaining further.

According to previous system updates, doing so would indeed be a mistake. But this time was different. It was a major system upgrade. Not only would resources not become scarce, but they would be easier to obtain, and even leveling up would be easier.

However, there were still some problems.

After the major system upgrade, the requirements for players to advance, both externally and internally, would be even higher, especially the changes in mana, which would require players to have a further understanding and control of mana. That was why the top experts in later generations were all magic array masters.

"By the way, after logging off, have You Yu Wei Xiao and the others come to the conference room. I have something to discuss with them," Stone Peak said.

This time, his advancement to Tier 4 had been extremely beneficial. Not only did he gain a new understanding of mana, but he also obtained a strange metal in the bottomless abyss that could dispel mana.

This was the first time he had seen this kind of metal. As long as it wasn't scrapped, it could potentially be refined into weapons and equipment.

The special effect of dispelling mana would be of great help to players. After all, in God's Domain, mana was everything. Without mana, there was no life, and even monsters couldn't survive.

If he could succeed, he would have the capital to fight against the various super forces.

After that, whether he went to the extremely dangerous forbidden lands or acquired the resources to advance to Tier 4, it would be of great help.

In God's Domain, most of the resources to advance to Tier 4 were hidden in those forbidden lands. Just relying on his Tier 4 class, he could only protect himself in such places. He couldn't really explore them. In his previous life, the various super forces would go to those places in groups of three or five Tier 4 classes. Acting alone was simply suicide.

"Okay, I'll contact them right away," Liang Jing replied before ending the call.

...

Frozen Earth World, Frost Heaven City, the headquarters of Frost Heaven Sword.

Due to the sudden system upgrade in God's Domain, Frost Heaven Sword was also holding a meeting to deal with the upcoming changes. More than a dozen people were sitting in the magnificent conference room.

Each of these people was a big shot who could shake the Frozen Earth World with a stomp of their feet. However, they were all extremely nervous in front of the middle-aged man sitting at the head of the table.

This middle-aged man looked amiable and kind. Although his face was resolute, his temperament was like a spring breeze, making it impossible for people to feel any hostility toward him. However, none of the people present felt relaxed.

"Let's end the meeting here. Mu Xin, Ke Rui, you two stay behind," the middle-aged man said softly, turning his gaze to Mu Xin and the petite girl next to her after the meeting.

"Yes!"

Everyone present left quickly as if they had been granted amnesty, leaving only Mu Xin and the petite girl Ke Rui sitting quietly in the huge conference room.

"Uncle Hong, is there anything happy?" Mu Xin asked, pretending to be cute as she looked at the serious middle-aged man.

"You little girl, stop pretending. Do you think you can really hide your invitation to Zero Wing from everyone?" the middle-aged man said indifferently. "You should know how rare this opportunity is. It's a grand event where many giants gather, and even those so-called super forces can only watch enviously without being able to enter. It's an opportunity for our Frost Heaven Sword to become a truly giant guild, but you're letting some insignificant outsiders participate."

As he said this, Mu Xin couldn't help but look at Ke Rui, who was sticking out her tongue and smiling faintly, indicating, "I told you, what can you do about it?"

Mu Xin shook her head helplessly. She couldn't do anything about her younger sister, Ke Rui, who always went against her.

"Uncle Hong, they may be outsiders, but their strength shouldn't be underestimated, especially their Guild Leader, Black Flame," Mu Xin said slowly.

"How strong can they be? Just a peerless expert in the eyes of ordinary people," Uncle Hong said, shaking his head. "You should know who the opponents are. They are all truly talented individuals with terrifying talents and special bloodlines. They also have the full investment of large financial groups, pouring in all kinds of resources. The top experts on the Heavenly Secret Pavilion's Wind and Cloud Ranking and the peerless experts of the various super forces are just the tip of the iceberg."

"Uncle Hong is right. Being able to fight is useless among these people," Ke Rui said, nodding with a smile.

"But that Black Flame is really strong. He can withstand a Tier 4 Legendary Saint Statue alone. Although he can't join the main force, he can assist from the side," Mu Xin explained.

"He can withstand a Legendary Saint Statue alone?" Uncle Hong asked, slightly surprised. Then he said, "It seems that person's strength is indeed not bad."

"Hmph, what's so great about withstanding a Legendary Saint Statue? I have many people under me who can do it," Ke Rui said dismissively.

Mu Xin couldn't help but want to pinch Ke Rui's little face, but she restrained herself and explained, "Uncle Hong, that person has mastered the magic domain, which will definitely be of great help to our future plans."

"He has mastered the magic domain?" Uncle Hong couldn't help but become interested. "That would indeed be helpful."

"But that's probably not enough. You should understand that one person's power is very limited in this operation. Moreover, the place we're going to is not ordinary. As for whether Zero Wing can join this operation, I'll have to personally examine them first."

"Personally examine them?" Mu Xin asked, shocked, her voice filled with surprise.

Uncle Hong's true identity was extraordinary. Even the heads of those large financial groups would have to treat him with respect, let alone the presidents of those super forces or super guilds. If the news that he was going to Zero Wing's headquarters spread, it would definitely shock the various financial groups.

"Of course," Uncle Hong said very seriously. "This operation is of great importance. We can't be careless."

"But time is running out. Now the system upgrade will take another day. It might be a little tight to go and examine them after that," Mu Xin said.

"Don't worry. You and I will just go to Zero Wing's headquarters to take a look. It won't take too long," Uncle Hong said with a smile.

"Since that's the case, Uncle Hong, let me handle this test for Zero Wing," Ke Rui suddenly said. "This operation is of great importance, and Zero Wing is a local tyrant. Whether they join this operation or not, they must be very arrogant. In addition, my sister is so impressed with that person's strength. This time, I want to take Libra, one of the Frost Heaven Ten Swords, with me."

"First, I can test whether that person's strength is as strong as my sister says. Second, I can let Zero Wing know that our Frost Heaven Sword's secret operation is not something that can be participated in so easily. Even if Zero Wing really passes the test, they will understand some rules for the future operation."

Mu Xin was speechless.

The Frost Heaven Ten Swords were geniuses that their Colossus Financial Group had invested all their technology and resources to cultivate. Each of them was a monster among monsters and one of the core combat forces in this operation.

Using them to test Zero Wing was a complete waste of talent.

"Mu Xin, what do you think?" Uncle Hong asked Mu Xin.

"I have no objection," Mu Xin said after thinking for a moment.

In her opinion, Stone Peak's strength should be enough to face Libra.

"That's good. If Zero Wing's strength is not up to par, your agreement will have to be changed," Uncle Hong said, nodding.

"I understand," Mu Xin said, nodding silently.

Even as the heiress of the financial group, she couldn't object to Uncle Hong's decision.

"Sister, I'm counting on you!"

Ke Rui revealed a cute smile as if her plan had succeeded and logged off.

"I hope his performance won't disappoint Uncle Hong too much."

Mu Xin looked at the departing Ke Rui and silently prayed. She had spent a lot of effort to invite Zero Wing. If the contract was voided, she would have to compensate a lot. Then she logged off and began to prepare for this matter.

In the conference room on the top floor of Zero Wing Headquarters, Stone Peak, who had just logged off, was sorting out the data on those unknown metals when he heard a knock on the door. The door slowly opened, and a clear and melodious voice entered.

"Guild Leader, they're here."

ps: Thank you Jiang Di for the 50,000 reward and Zero Wing's executives for the 25,000 reward!!! Four updates today, this is the first 4,000-word chapter!