City of Holy Light

The borders of Huaxia are currently ablaze with the fires of war. To the north, the Tsar Empire watches like a tiger stalking its prey; to the south, the various nations of Little Viet are encroaching; to the left, the twenty-three nations of Little India pose a threat; to the right, the provocations of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla continue; and there is also Oda Kamiya, led by the descendants of Oda Nobunaga, casting covetous eyes upon Huaxia.

From afar, the powerful Ancient Roman Empire has awakened, the Holy See has begun forming a Crusader Army in the name of faith, and Arthur Tina, descendant of the most legendary king in the West, King Arthur, is rumored to have already grasped the Sword of the King.

Simultaneously, the Land of Pharaohs has been established, and numerous tribes are expanding with barbaric ferocity.

The entire Apocalypse World appears to be in a state of chaos, stripped of all constraints. Whether due to differing nations, faiths, or races, a simple reason is enough to incite mutual slaughter. The system-run main cities at the borders are the most intense areas, where blood has already begun to stain the ground, and naturally, Huaxia is the most chaotic of all.

As the former hegemon of the East, Huaxia has offended many throughout history and is coveted by countless others. Its borders touch those of innumerable nations, making conflict inevitable.

Zhao Fu read several posts detailing how Huaxia people at the borders were being bullied. Some even posted in the real world mocking Huaxia for being weak and incompetent, fueling a volatile atmosphere in reality as well.

This completely enraged the inheritors of the various Huaxia states. Zhao Yang, the inheritor of the Zhao State, happened to be at one such border and immediately rallied all the players, slaughtering ten villages in a row and gaining a massive amount of prestige.

The situation at the borders is essentially like this: either you kill me today, or I kill you tomorrow. It is filled with endless slaughter and darkness; one could say the game has yet to truly begin, but the board is already in disarray.

If things are like this now, one can only imagine the future.

Zhao Fu returned to the Apocalypse World and spent a few days sealing most of the passages to the Bone Space, leaving only a few behind for future exploration. At the same time, Zhao Fu ordered his men to continue scouting the surroundings of Great Qin Village for other villages to annex and increase his manpower.

He had no choice; the threat posed by the five-thousand-strong Orc Tribe was too great. If Great Qin Village were unlucky enough to be discovered by them, Zhao Fu would have no way to resist five thousand orcs.

Arriving at the research lab, Zhao Fu saw that there had been no news regarding the Teleportation Array for quite some time. He decided to put that aside for the moment and instead research a skill capable of assessing the potential of corpses. While a Lord has the ability to view the potential of their own subjects, they cannot do so for others. Now that he had obtained the Heaven and Earth Refining Array, this skill had become exceptionally important.

As soon as he entered the lab, Bai Shan greeted him with a joyful expression. "Your Highness! We have successfully researched the Teleportation Array."

Hearing this, Zhao Fu was pleasantly surprised. He immediately ordered his men to construct a Teleportation Array next to the Village Hall.

This was only a basic Teleportation Array, capable of transporting only two to three people at a time. More advanced versions would require further research, but it met Zhao Fu's current needs. Thus, he instructed Bai Shan and his team to begin researching the skill to assess corpse potential.

Now that he had a Teleportation Array, Zhao Fu changed his plans and decided to visit a system-run main city. Once the array was built, it could connect to the one in the system city, allowing for direct travel.

He called for Bai Qi and brought along the 236 silver coins he had saved up over the past few days, as well as several blue-quality weapons, just in case he encountered something good and found himself in the awkward position of having no money.

Zhao Fu stood on the Teleportation Array, reached out, and an option popped up: "City of Holy Light," "Forest of Soldiers," "Demon Tree City."

Zhao Fu thought for a moment. He and Bai Qi each donned a black cloak to conceal their appearances, as he did not want their faces to be leaked. As for the city selection, Zhao Fu thought of the undead within the passages and chose the City of Holy Light.

After a wave of dizziness, Zhao Fu and Bai Qi soon arrived on a large platform. Heavy crossbows were mounted all around, and the area was guarded by heavily armed soldiers, ready to shut down the array and strike down any invaders should an accident occur.

After a casual glance, Zhao Fu and Bai Qi stepped onto the main street. The road was very wide, lined with various shops, and the street was bustling with a dense crowd of people.

Beyond that, there was something interesting: various players were setting up stalls, hawking all sorts of equipment and skills, though most were naturally quite ordinary.

Zhao Fu looked around with interest. He didn't have any specific plans, intending to just wander around the system city first.

As he walked along the street, Zhao Fu realized that the City of Holy Light was truly massive, comparable to the great fortified cities of ancient times. It could easily accommodate over a million people, and it would likely take days to explore it all on foot.

He arrived at the quest board!

There were five stone tablets here, four meters high and two meters wide, displaying quests of different levels from left to right. The quests were primarily divided into five levels: Simple, Ordinary, Difficult, Extremely Difficult, and Hell.

Ordinary quests mainly involved finding materials or helping someone—very simple tasks. Residents could post quests here for a few copper coins.

The first stone tablet was currently surrounded by people, all waiting to snatch up quests. A single copper coin was now worth ten yuan, so even a few coins were worth more than their daily wages, attracting many ordinary people to spend all their time in the Apocalypse World.

The second tablet, for Ordinary quests, was also crowded, and Zhao Fu couldn't even squeeze his way in.

At the third tablet, for Difficult quests, the number of people dropped significantly. These tasks involved killing various tribal leaders or searching for rare materials.

Zhao Fu walked to the fifth tablet, the Hell-level one, and examined the quests with interest.

1. Kill [Six-Eyed Demon Flood Dragon]. Quest Description: The Six-Eyed Demon Flood Dragon is a monster living in the deepest part of the Terror Forest. A Lord-level creature possessing terrifying, soul-crushing power. Reward: 100,000 merit points, one legendary-grade piece of equipment.

2. Kill [Orc Kaji]. Quest Description: Orc Kaji is a small-city-level Lord residing in the north of the Terror Forest, commanding over 40,000 orcs. Reward: 50,000 merit points, one semi-legendary piece of equipment.

3. Find [Holy Source Fruit]. Quest Description: The Holy Source Fruit is a Tier 7 spiritual herb capable of healing all wounds and improving potential. Reward: 20,000 merit points, one gold-grade piece of equipment.

Looking at these quests, the first one, the Six-Eyed Demon Flood Dragon, was undoubtedly the greatest boss in the Terror Forest. It was likely that even the system-run main city wouldn't dare provoke it; who could possibly complete such a task?

The second, killing Orc Kaji, was also clearly impossible. Those forty thousand orcs were not to be trifled with. At the same time, Zhao Fu understood why there were no system-run main cities in the north of the Terror Forest—it was because of these powerful non-human races.

The third was entirely a matter of luck. Perhaps one might get lucky, fall into some cave, and discover it. However, Zhao Fu was somewhat unimpressed by the reward for the third quest, as Bai Qi already possessed a gold-grade weapon, making gold-grade equipment less attractive to him.