Artifact User

Double Moon Town is a small town in the Aoyu Empire.

The Aoyu Empire is the only nation on this planet. On this planet, only one-sixth of the area is ocean; the rest is entirely land. The vast majority of that land is covered in forests, and no one can say for sure exactly how many ferocious beasts dwell within them.

The Aoyu Empire is merely a small patch of habitat carved out for human survival. The total area of the entire Aoyu Empire is not even one-thousandth of the forests.

Yet, even in a country like this, there are various internal factions.

There is the Forest Goddess Temple, deeply rooted in the hearts of the people; the Council of Elders, representing traditional forces; and the Imperial Council, representing emerging forces. Not to mention civilian organizations like the Demon Hunter associations and the Crimson Moon Society. The entire Aoyu Empire is internally very complex.

These were things Guen heard from his father and mother. Even the "Twin Moon Wonder" unique to Double Moon Town was, in his parents' words, nothing more than two planets.

Planets—to Guen, this was still a strange concept.

All this knowledge was told to Guen by his parents. Although he had never seen these things himself, Guen dutifully memorized them, thinking they might come in handy one day.

"Hey, Guen, over here!" Just as Guen reached the edge of Double Moon Town, he saw a crowd of people and a young boy with green hair waving at him.

"Chen," a faint smile appeared on Guen's face as he urged his Horned Boar Beast toward Chen.

This was one of the few friends he had in the small town.

Chen was somewhat thin but exceptionally handsome. The creature he rode was the highly precious Diamond Unicorn. This type of ferocious beast was not strong in combat, but it could summon a very special Diamond-level shield capable of temporarily blocking even the defense of a Tier 9 Warrior. It could also fly, making it a very high-class mount.

Chen pointed toward the center of the crowd and said, "Why are you only just now arriving? A Demon Hunter was just giving a speech over there, trying to recruit those of us who pass the trial once it's over."

Demon Hunter!

A very special civilian organization with great fame among the populace.

"As if I'd join the Demon Hunters. Truly powerful organizations only recruit talent after the trial is completed. I wouldn't dream of joining a civilian organization that starts giving recruitment speeches before the trial even begins," a man wearing a bull-horn helmet patted his shield and curled his lip. "I advise you all not to join those civilian organizations either. What are the Demon Hunters or the Crimson Moon Society, anyway? How many Super Tier powerhouses do they even have? Among the official organizations, even the relatively thin-spread Royal Imperial Council has over twenty Super Tier powerhouses. Rumor has it that the Forest Goddess Temple and the Council of Elders even have Saint Tier powerhouses, who are above the Super Tier! Those are the ones worth joining."

"Right, we work hard to pass the trial so we can join these organizations and obtain the Transcendence Method. We must choose the best one," someone next to the bull-horn helmet warrior chimed in.

Super Tier.

Saint Tier.

These were the truly powerful ones.

Cultivators are divided into Warriors and Artifact Users.

Warriors fight with their bodies and weapons, while Artifact Users can command weapons to fight, avoiding the need to put themselves in danger.

But regardless of whether one is a Warrior or an Artifact User, the realms are universal. There are nine levels, from Tier 1 to Tier 9. There is a significant gap in strength at every stage, especially between every three levels, which is why they are further divided into Low Tier, Mid Tier, and High Tier.

Guen was a Tier 7 Warrior.

And above that, there were still the Super Tier powerhouses!

Super Tier powerhouses can traverse the sky; this is the hallmark of a Super Tier powerhouse.

But breaking through to the Super Tier is incredibly difficult.

Only by joining those organizations can one obtain the Transcendence Method to achieve Super Tier status. Can one break through to the Super Tier without joining them?

It is possible, but history has taught us that it is extremely arduous, which is why everyone is willing to join these organizations.

However, not just anyone can join these organizations. Whether it is a Civilian Organization or an official one, there is one requirement: pass the Jungle Trial to become a high-level member; otherwise, one can only be a low-level member.

High-level members obtain the Transcendence Method the moment they join, while low-level members require a long time to accumulate merit. Therefore, most people prefer to join only after passing the trial.

The requirement for the trial is to be between level six and level eight.

Although Ina felt that Guen did not need to participate in the trial—as she and Kolong both possessed the so-called Transcendence Method—Kolong still encouraged Guen to undergo some tempering, which is how Guen came to participate in the Jungle Trial.

Guen and Chen looked at each other and smiled without a word.

"Everyone, the time for the trial is almost upon us. We will now begin identity verification. Each person may participate in the trial a maximum of three times. We are conducting a screening now; once anyone is found to be participating for the fourth time, they will be executed on the spot!" a General encased in armor shouted loudly, drawing everyone's attention.

"Do not harbor any delusions of luck. Even if you ran here from the Northeast Province, you cannot impersonate others. If anyone is participating for the fourth time, it is best to withdraw now!"

The soldiers immediately began to screen everyone's identity.

Guen and Chen also honestly joined the line, waiting patiently.

"The things those soldiers are holding seem to be some kind of detection instrument?" Guen glanced at the iron boxes flashing with green light in the soldiers' hands, feeling somewhat puzzled. He remembered his parents saying that this was an Ancient Martial Planet and that there was no technology here.

Yet, those iron boxes called instruments were clearly products of technology.

I must be careful. According to my parents, I am only a Tier 7 Apprentice, not even a Cosmic Citizen, Guen warned himself inwardly. I wonder what the universe is like?

He had often seen such things at home. His father said they were salvaged from a wrecked spaceship. Guen was skeptical about the spaceship—which was nothing more than a giant turtle shell—but he had used many of the instruments himself, so he naturally believed in them.

Chen was curiously examining these iron boxes. "I heard from the town mayor that these iron boxes can store our information. As long as they point the box at us, they can determine our status based on the stored data. If it's a green light, you can participate in the trial; if it's a red light, it means you are participating for the fourth time."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a "beep-beep-beep" sound rang out across the plaza. At the same time, a red light shot out from a box, illuminating a bearded man.

"Damn it, I was detected after all," the bearded man's expression changed. He immediately drew the javelins from his back and threw them one after another.

The inspecting soldier hurriedly blocked them, his long spear dancing. The sound of the air being torn apart echoed out. Just as he was about to block them, the javelin suddenly veered, piercing through the soldier's head and instantly crushing his skull. The javelin then flew back into the bearded man's hand on its own.

"Audacious!" The General suddenly moved, his body leaving a trail of afterimages as he threw a punch. The distance of over a hundred meters was covered in the blink of an eye.

Oh no!

The bearded man's hair stood on end. He hurriedly jumped onto his javelin, controlling his body to fly into the sky.

The General snorted coldly and leaped up. Just as the bearded man took flight, he was grabbed and pulled back down. The General's strength was immense; no matter how hard the bearded man struggled, he could not break free.

Sweat dripped from the bearded man's forehead as he continuously exerted his Telekinetic Power onto the General's armor, desperate to force the General away from him.

But the General remained unmoved. Instead, the massive hand gripping the bearded man's shoulder tightened.

"Snap."

"Aaahhh!!"

The bearded man's shoulder was crushed instantly.

"A Tier 6 Artifact User, daring to act insolently before me? Die!" The General threw a punch. No matter how hard the bearded man tried to dodge, he couldn't escape, and his head was shattered by the blow.

The crowd gasped.

"See that? Anyone who dares to lie will be executed on the spot. However, as long as you withdraw before being tested, you will be safe," the General said in a calm tone, as if nothing had happened.

But how could everyone act as if nothing had happened?

"This General is likely a Tier 9 Warrior. He's only one step away from the Super Tier."

"Even so, the Super Tier is not so easily reached. Look at the emblem on the General's chest; his rank is not low. He must have obtained a Transcendence Method, yet he still hasn't broken through. Tier 9 and Super Tier are only a step apart, but is that step really so easy to cross?"

"I must pass the trial. I, too, will definitely become a Super Tier powerhouse."

"So strong. Guen, did you see that? Just one step, one punch, and he executed a Tier 6 Artifact User. This is a Tier 9 expert. I wonder how strong a Super Tier powerhouse, who is even stronger than a Tier 9 expert, must be?" Chen exclaimed in awe.

Guen nodded. "He is very powerful."

Artifact Users were extremely rare. Double Moon Town was famous throughout the Aoyu Empire, and even compared to the seven existing cities, it didn't fall far behind. Yet, Guen had only ever seen three Artifact Users.

Every Artifact User, as long as they were willing to join an organization, could generally become a high-level member regardless of their rank. Guen couldn't understand why this Artifact User would rather lie about his count just to participate in the Jungle Trial.

The combat power of an Artifact User was also formidable; they were known to be invincible among their own tier!

Guen had once fought an Artifact User who used a bow and arrow. The Telekinetic Power unique to Artifact Users, when imbued into the arrows, could unleash attacks with immense threat. Furthermore, the arrows didn't even need to be fired; under the influence of Telekinetic Power, they could attack Guen again and again. If they were actually fired, the power would be even greater.

That Artifact User was only a Tier 4 Warrior, but his Telekinetic Power level was equivalent to Tier 6, which had caused Guen a great deal of trouble.

Guen and Chen soon passed the inspection.

Aside from that previous Artifact User, no one else lied about their count.

Lying about the count was foolish.

"Alright, there are a total of four hundred and twenty-one people from Double Moon Town participating in the trial. I hope all of you can pass, though that is impossible. In every Jungle Trial, the completion rate is only twenty percent, while the mortality rate is as high as thirty percent. In other words, only half of you will survive. Therefore, do not take this lightly," the General said, his gaze sweeping over the crowd. "Maps will now be distributed. The location for this trial is the Starlight Forest. You must hunt Golden-Bearded Mastiffs in the Starlight Forest and then reach Stardew Valley. Each person must submit at least fifteen golden whiskers."

"Remember, it is not just the people from Double Moon Town participating. There are over twenty surrounding small towns and others from Leiquan City also testing in the Starlight Forest. You will all be testing there together for a period of one month. Come collect your maps now, and you may depart."