Initial Exploration of 121
"Ah..." Upon hearing Aoyagi Lantern's reply, Feng Xue suddenly felt that she understood something. After thinking for a moment, she realized that the Yan people seemed to be invisible in the "Hell Joke Universe," and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Seeing that he couldn't get any more information from Aoyagi Lantern, he simply said:
When do we depart?
"I've already used up my resurrection chances for this year, and the other floor masters are in the same boat. The resurrection time in the Infinite City refreshes on January 1st every year, so if we're going to team up, we'll have to wait until at least next year. But you can try it out on your own first, and you'll at least get some understanding of that world. Anyway, the floor master has to fulfill their annual exploration quota."
Aoyagi Lantern took out a map and spread it out on the tea table. Before Feng Xue could ask any questions, she continued:
"This is a rough map summarized by the previous poster. Currently, that world has four major powers known as the Four Extremes, as well as a large number of smaller countries sandwiched between them. Other posters certainly have more detailed information, but what they are willing to share is only the most basic intelligence."
Aoyagi Lantern glanced at Feng Xue, and seeing that he didn't interrupt, pointed to one of the four largest countries on the map and said:
"This place is called the Bailin Country. The chief god is a war god with the power of [war]. This country worships physical strength, and most of its gods are martial gods. It is said that every four years, all the martial gods of this country will gather together in the Sacred Arena to engage in fierce battles. The final victor will become the chief god of the entire pantheon for the next four years."
"Mortals can participate in this kind of competition. If they are recognized by the gods, they can be promoted to Martial God. This is the simplest and most direct path to Ascend to Godhood. However, Martial Gods are all stubborn. To gain their recognition, you basically have to beat them into submission. The fact that no one has succeeded so far shows how difficult it is."
As she spoke, she pointed to another country:
"This place is called Budali. The main gods are four Elemental Lords, who seem to be equal in status. Most of the gods in the pantheon are elemental gods or phenomenal gods. It is quite exclusive here, and there is no stable path to ascension. At least from the current information, all the gods here are born gods, which is to Innate Supernatural Tale."
After saying that, Aoyagi Lantern pointed to the third major country:
"This is the Ideal Country, that's right, that's the name. The supreme god is the God of All Machines, and the technology here is the strongest among the four great nations. The fighting style here combines powerful Divine Power with various high-tech equipment, making it strong in every aspect. It is said that as long as you can achieve enough in a certain field, you can become a god, but as I said before, no one has ever succeeded."
At this point, Aoyagi Lantern looked directly at Feng Xue, and upon seeing this, Feng Xue immediately said:
"I'm listening, so what's the last one?"
"The Undead Kingdom, Bailang, is a kingdom composed of undead creatures and souls. It controls souls, resurrects corpses, studies life, and desecrates death. Here, there are only two kinds of living people: either slaves brought from other countries, or mages who, realizing they cannot Ascend to Godhood before their lifespan ends, have chosen to die."
After listening to Aoyagi Lantern's explanation, Feng Xue's hand held a glass of salt that gleamed from side to side, but in the end, she shook her head and said:
"It sounds just like Game World, but according to you, the entire Bailin Country is full of musclemen, the Budali is full of mages, the Ideal Country is full of mecha pilots, and the entire Bailang is full of necromancers?"
"No, that's not the case." Aoyagi Lantern shook her head. "Their mainstream is more of a style than a profession. For example, in Bailin Country, although they admire physical strength, it doesn't mean they only cultivate their bodies. They also have traditional warriors who cultivate Battle Qi and rage, as well as professions like Martial Monk and warriors. Of course, there are also mages, but most mages in Bailin Country choose to use Magic Power their bodies and then rush into hand-to-hand combat."
"What Budali reveres is less magic and more the control of energy. They also train their bodies, but they tend to focus on increasing their physical endurance. They also have Martial Artist, but they prefer... well, have you seen Dragon Ball?"
"I've read it, please continue." Feng Xue immediately affirmed, Aoyagi Lantern promptly said:
"If Bailin Country is the kind of Martial Artist is truly skilled, then the Martial Artist of Budali are more inclined to accumulate qi and then bombard with energy such as spell Kamehameha. Of course, their control over energy is no weaker than that of mages."
"The same goes for the Ideal Country. There are also Martial Artist and mages. However, their Martial Artist are somewhat like those who follow the stream of Stream of Consciousness and focus on mental intentions. This also leads to a great fluctuation in their strength. According to the 101st floor master, the people of the Ideal Country have everything in terms of aura. When their aura is high, they can shatter True God with one punch. When their aura is low, they will be beaten up by an old lady on the street with a cane."
"As for Bailang, this country has a very small real population, and its system tends to focus on the use of souls. You've probably heard of Death Knight, Necromancers, and the like. They're basically all the same thing."
"I understand more or less." Feng Xue nodded. Aoyagi Lantern didn't say anything more, only offering a final reminder:
"If you're planning to try, you'd better prepare a backup plan for suicide, because resurrection in the Infinite City won't take back items that aren't on your person, so..."
"I understand, I understand." Feng Xue nodded gently, but her mind couldn't help but recall the time when she went to the real world and stuffed all her savings into the Golden Cabinet. For a moment, she didn't know whether to be speechless or nostalgic.
After leaving Aoyagi Lantern's house, Feng Xue did not go to exchange information with other floor masters.
It's not that he's still socially awkward, but rather that there's no basis for intelligence exchange.
Intelligence is something everyone risks their lives to obtain. Even relatively common intelligence isn't something you can just ask for and expect to be given to you. Aoyagi Lantern got it because she knew Feng Xue's strength, but if she wanted intelligence from others, she couldn't exactly fight every single one of them, could she?
Simply asking for something could easily lead to problems, so he planned to try it out himself first, and then use the information he gathered to make an exchange.
As for suicide, Feng Xue has no shortage of such things. Even Abe no Hirakiri Ya has already used it (the protagonist has many identities, and he can shoot himself as the Heavenly Emperor as Libra - Oath Keeper). He also has the Kamen Rider System. He can just pull out a belt with strong enough side effects and become the Beach Guardian.
Back on the 107th floor, Feng Xue pondered for a while, bought some potentially useful gadgets from the Mystery Shop, then made another trip to the South District, filling up all the bases she had used up before. She then undertook two more large-scale constructions, creating a bunch of comedic items, and replenished the black orbs consumed by the School Hell event. Only then did she down a bottle of Lucky Milk and issue a command to the Tower of Babel—
[Start the exploration quest for floor 121.]
[Learn.]