Black Stone Town's First Adventurer

Zhao He.

Ninety-one years old.

Adventurer codename: White Crane Hermit.

Black Stone Town's former number one adventurer!

He had once reached the Fourth Order. In Black Stone Town's hundreds of years of history, there were only a handful who could stand shoulder to shoulder with him!

However.

Ten years ago.

The Dungeon he had contracted with was defeated by the Dark Race.

Not only did this wipe out decades of work in that territory, it also implicated every adventurer contracted to it. While they did not lose their lives, their cultivation diminished and their lifespans were drastically shortened.

That high-spirited number one adventurer was no more.

All that remained was an old man in the twilight of his life, his face etched with hardship.

White Crane Hermit suffered a devastating blow.

From then on, he retired and gave up adventuring.

He took over the Black Stone Town Adventurer Academy and personally became its headmaster!

With his wealth of experience, he trained young adventurers and continually helped them solve the problems they encountered in various Dungeon secret realms.

After ten years.

His students could be found everywhere.

He was still one of the town's most prestigious leading figures!

Thousands of young adventurers had benefited from White Crane Hermit's teachings. As Black Stone Town's greatest strategy expert, he frequently cracked Dungeon secret realms, leaving hundreds of Dungeon Lords gnashing their teeth in hatred.

Today.

White Crane Hermit was furious.

He had always been known for his strict teaching.

Yet lately, his students had begun skipping class in groups.

Instead of promptly studying the latest updates and layouts of renowned Dungeons such as Sky Cloud City and Nine Stars City, or even completing their assigned Dungeon challenge tasks, these students had run off somewhere to fool around!

That alone would have been bad enough.

What enraged the old man even more was...

His most valued and treasured granddaughter, Zhao Xue—whose adventurer codename was Bright Moon Reflecting Snow—had actually joined the ranks of those skipping class. This was absolutely unacceptable!

Bright Moon Reflecting Snow had been raised as his Successor.

He had pulled countless strings for her and arranged for her to contract with Sky Cloud City, Black Stone Town's finest Dungeon.

As long as she followed his plan and continued developing in Sky Cloud City, it was entirely possible for her to reach the Third Order, the Fourth Order, or even surpass him in the future.

"Headmaster!"

An adventurer instructor hurried over.

"We've already looked into it. The young miss and Cat MeowMeow's group haven't been slacking off these past two days. They've just been exploring a new Dungeon called 'Miracle City.'"

"What kind of bullshit Miracle City?"

White Crane Hermit was so angry that his beard twisted crooked.

"What backwater little dump of a city just popped up? Does some nameless place like that have any value for exploration? Nonsense! Utter nonsense!"

Bring them back!

They had to bring every last one of them back!

The instructor quickly said, "Headmaster, I've checked. Miracle City is a newly opened city that has only been around for a few days. It's currently stirring up some attention and discussion on the forum!"

Anger would not solve the problem.

The urgent matter was to understand the situation.

White Crane Hermit immediately opened the Adventurer Forum to take a look.

There were already quite a few discussions about Miracle City.

The earliest was an evaluation report posted by the adventurer "Black Stone Hammer King," titled "Evaluation Report on Miracle City's Secret Realm, 'Doomsday Frenzy'!"

White Crane Hermit opened the post and skimmed it. It praised the place to the heavens—how was it any different from a scam advertisement for some trash Dungeon? A post like this was not worth reading at all!

He glanced through the remaining posts.

A sharp glint flashed in his cloudy old eyes.

One of the posts was signed "Sleeping in the Wind."

White Crane Hermit muttered to himself, "Sleeping in the Wind? Isn't that Other Shore Flower's younger brother? What's he doing fooling around in this Miracle City too?"

Sleeping in the Wind was not particularly famous among Black Stone Town's adventurers.

But his elder sister was quite remarkable. This female adventurer, codenamed Other Shore Flower, was the Leader of the Black Stone Town First Adventure Group and one of the leading figures among the younger generation.

Even her own younger brother was mixed up in it?

Could Miracle City really have something special about it?

White Crane Hermit opened Sleeping in the Wind's post, titled "Miracle City Experience and Strategy Guide."

"Hello, everyone!"

"I'm Sleeping in the Wind!"

"Recently, Miracle City's secret realm, 'Doomsday Frenzy,' has sparked some controversy on the town forum. Especially under @BlackStoneHammerKing's post, many people believe he is a paid shill bought by Miracle City."

"Here!"

"I would like to make a solemn clarification!"

"First, Doomsday Frenzy is a real, one-of-a-kind masterpiece of a secret realm!"

"Second, we have not received a single grain of Soul Sand from Miracle City. If there is even the slightest falsehood in my words, I am willing to leave Black Stone Town and never appear on the forum again!"

"Third..."

White Crane Hermit's expression gradually turned serious.

Sleeping in the Wind had long been overshadowed by his sister's brilliance.

As a result, outsiders had severely underestimated this young man.

But White Crane Hermit knew.

This young man was extremely ambitious.

Sleeping in the Wind dreamed of surpassing his sister. While that truly was just a dream for now—he could not possibly surpass Other Shore Flower—he was certainly no good-for-nothing playboy!

The fact that he had personally stepped forward to make a post defending this unknown Dungeon, even staking his reputation on it, was enough to show that this Dungeon truly had merit!

He continued reading.

"..."

"Today is my second day experiencing 'Doomsday Frenzy.'"

"I've become more and more obsessed!"

"I can barely pull myself away!"

"With Lord Qi Ji's astonishing design skills and imaginative concepts, he has created a bizarre, unprecedented secret realm world for adventurers!"

"That's right!"

"I believe!"

"This is not a secret realm!"

"It is a world!"

"According to what Lord Qi Ji revealed."

"The Doomsday Frenzy Secret Realm will feature at least a dozen different kinds of monsters!"

"Not only are these monsters uniquely designed and unlike anything anyone has ever seen, they are also closely tied to the background of the secret realm world."

"This is what I admire most about Lord Qi Ji. I feel that he is not merely trying to create a top-tier secret realm, but polishing a living, breathing work of art."

"Every time I walk through this apocalyptic world, I get a feeling."

"It is as though we have not come here to hunt, but to explore a genuine Different World. We cannot help wanting to learn about this world's story and history. I have never experienced such immersion or sense of involvement in any other secret realm!"

"Lord Qi Ji has promised us!"

"He will create a Story Mode for this secret realm. When the time comes, we will be like the protagonists of a biographical novel, truly experiencing and taking part in everything that happens in this world, learning the story of a Different World!"

"On that point alone!"

"I am willing to call Lord Qi the strongest in Black Stone Town!"

"Enough nonsense."

"Starting today, I will join forces with friends such as Bright Moon Reflecting Snow and Black Stone Hammer King to create a Miracle City strategy post from scratch, detailing the abilities of various monsters and providing a reference for friends who will be joining us soon."

"And a little announcement while I'm at it!"

"I, Sleeping in the Wind, plan to establish an adventure group!"

"Friends from all walks of life who share our ideals are welcome to join. Our goal is to create Black Stone Town's strongest adventure group!"

"..."

Sleeping in the Wind's post was very long.

But it was written with great care.

He lavished Miracle City with praise.

He also introduced the monsters that had already appeared in the secret realm.

White Crane Hermit began with disdain, gradually became doubtful, and finally felt astonished and curious.

Was it really as good as the kid claimed?

White Crane Hermit still found it hard to believe.

Perhaps it was merely a fun secret realm with mediocre potential. These young adventurers had been blinded by its entertainment value and simply could not distinguish a Dungeon's true potential!

"No!"

"A Dungeon like this!"

"This old man must see it for himself!"

"If these young people have gone astray, then no matter what, I must pull them back!"

"Sky Cloud City is Black Stone Town's number one Dungeon. I refuse to believe this so-called Miracle City can be better than Sky Cloud City!"

White Crane Hermit had not personally entered a Dungeon in many years.

Today, to understand Miracle City and bring back his students.

He decided to personally enter Miracle City. At this moment, less than ten minutes remained before the Dungeon Opening, and the application channel to enter the Dungeon had already been activated.

You are applying to enter Miracle City...

Ding. Miracle City's current applicants: 953/160. You are currently ranked 953rd. Would you like to pay Contribution Points?

"What?"

The old man was dumbfounded.

A Dungeon that had only been open for a few days.

Was actually this popular, packed to capacity, and required lightning-fast reflexes?

Unless one had Miracle City's Contribution Points and could cut in line through bidding, there was simply no way to get in!

Without a doubt.

This former number one adventurer.

Was about to be turned away by a new Dungeon today!