Just as the five of them lay sprawled among the ruins, savoring the peace of having survived a disaster...
"Ding!!!"
With an exceptionally sweet, clear chime, the final results panel for the Siege Battle burst into view before every player, glittering with golden light!
[Limited-time emergency event: Defense of the Deity Hall-perfect completion!] [Battle report: During this battle, the player team killed a total of 166 Mutants of various tiers, including Corrupted Villagers and Mutant Hounds!] [Jointly defeated boss-class Calamity Entity: Flesh Fusion (Lv.19, peak first tier)!] [For defeating an enemy above your level and successfully protecting the Church's divine statue from damage, rewards have been greatly increased!] [Distributing rewards...] [You received +830 experience!] [You received +150 Ash Coins!]
Seeing those figures, the five people lying on the ground instantly widened their eyes. Even their breathing stopped for half a second.
"Holy shit!!!"
Ma Lou let out a strange shriek and sprang off the ground like a corpse coming back to life.
"Over eight hundred experience?! A hundred and fifty coins?!"
[Passing Pure-Love Warrior] nearly popped his eyes out too. He hurriedly opened his stats panel.
His experience bar shot upward like a rocket, climbing at a frantic pace as several golden level-up flashes swept over his body in succession!
Lv.4... Lv.5... Lv.6...
At last, the light settled.
After that brutal defensive battle, all five of them had rocketed straight from level 3 to [Lv.7]!
"Rich overnight! This is fucking what they mean by getting rich overnight!"
Ma Lou trembled all over with excitement. "We've got over two hundred Ash Coins in our pockets now! Convert that into revives, and we could die twenty times in a row without feeling a thing!"
"That's not all. Look at our stat growth at level 7."
[Ji Luo] clenched his fists, feeling the abundant dark gray divine power within him.
Although they could still only wear those tattered burlap shorts, every aspect of their physical abilities had improved tremendously!
Their maximum mental power, in particular, had made a qualitative leap compared with level 1!
While the players reveled in leveling up and getting rich, Lin En sat inside the divine statue, studying the backend accounts with a grin that practically stretched around to the back of his head.
I've made a killing. An absolute killing!
Those 166 lesser monsters had provided Lin En with [2,360] Faith Points.
And Flesh Fusion had truly lived up to being a Calamity Entity connected to an evil god!
Although its failed advancement had dropped it back to the peak of the first tier, after its death, the system had extracted a full [2,000] Faith Points in one go!
This battle had brought in a total of [4,360] Faith Points!
Following the standard capitalist playbook, the system had ruthlessly skimmed off 90% and stuffed it into Lin En's pocket.
The remaining 10% had been converted into experience and Ash Coins, then handed to the five workers who had risked their lives as their "meager" wages.
Lin En glanced at his current balance panel:
[Current Faith Points: 6,075!]
Over six thousand Faith Points!
Lin En could not help throwing his head back and laughing in his mind.
This was the largest fortune he had ever seen since crossing over!
Enough! More than enough!
I've got reserves for revivals and the money to recruit fresh suckers! It's time to throw the Portal wide open and welcome those fifty hungry newbie workers!
Meanwhile, on the battlefield...
Once their excitement subsided, the players began their favorite time-honored tradition-looting corpses.
Ma Lou was the first to rush over to the pool of thick sludge the monster had become. Enduring the stench, he rummaged through it furiously.
"This was a big boss with an evil god behind it!"
"If it doesn't drop some top-tier gear or orange-grade materials, I'll drink this puddle of green goo right here!" Ma Lou declared as he searched, practically tempting fate.
Soon, his hand touched something hard.
"Holy shit, there really is something!"
With a powerful yank, Ma Lou pulled a dark red crystalline substance from the sludge. It seemed to still be pulsing faintly.
The crystal was only the size of a fist, its surface covered in eerie vein-like patterns. Holding it, he could even feel a cold, evil aura.
Ding!
[Obtained special epic-grade material: Evil God Flesh Remnant] [Item description: This remnant contains the power of an ancient evil god's authority over devouring.] [Use unknown. Please keep it safe. It may be a key item for unlocking a hidden class or offering a sacrifice to a great deity in exchange for supreme power.]
"Holy shit! Epic-grade material!"
Ma Lou held up the remnant, his hands trembling. "Guys, this description is insane! Not only can it unlock a hidden class, we can even sacrifice it for power! This is definitely a patch-defining super reward!"
"Put it away! That's our guild's crown jewel!" [Ji Luo] practically went green-eyed with greed and hurriedly told Ma Lou to tuck the remnant into a gap in his baggy shorts.
As the five excitedly divided up the loot, Sivir, the nun who had hidden inside the wooden Church and witnessed the entire battle, finally stepped out, trembling.
She looked at the devastated battlefield, then at the five honored emissaries standing there like gods of war.
"Praise my lord... Praise the valiant apostles..."
Sivir pressed her palms together, tears spilling from her eyes.
With a thud, she dropped to her knees and bowed deeply before Lin En's divine statue.
As she understood it...
This terrifying flesh monster had descended with an oppressive presence capable of destroying an entire town, yet these five followers had worn it down to death through tactics so fearless they could only be called insane!
Had the deity's power already grown this strong?
[Ding! Extreme devotion and awe from a native: +50 Faith Points.]
Lin En accepted the tip with satisfaction.
Then, watching the five players who had already begun cleaning up the battlefield, he willed something into motion.
Since I've raised all the money, it's time to deliver on my promise and give them a little shock.
At that moment, in the clearing directly in front of the Church...
The enormous stone gateway formed from ash, previously little more than half an outline, suddenly erupted with a pillar of icy blue light that shot into the sky!
"Holy shit! What's happening?!"
The group, busy prying teeth out of monsters, were blinded by the sudden glare.
All five turned to look in unison.
Under the wash of blue light, the magnificent Portal instantly transformed from insubstantial ash into solid, ancient-looking obsidian!
The intricate runes carved into its frame began lighting up one after another. Within the once-empty gateway, a spatial vortex radiating a mysterious aura gradually began to spin!
Ding!
A server-wide announcement scroll blazing with golden flames appeared simultaneously before all five players:
[Server-wide announcement: Reforge the Ashen Portal-progress: 100%!] [World event completed!] [The ancient sacred passage has been restored. The great Lord of Ashes will soon welcome new believers.] [Congratulations to the five first-test pioneers. You have received the exclusive, never-to-return title: Ash Guide!] [Awakening of the Old Gods version 1.1: "Whispers of Fog Town" will officially launch tomorrow at 7:00 a.m.!] [50 Second Beta Test slots are coming to the Wasteland!]
Staring at those glittering golden words, the five players stood rooted to the spot for more than ten seconds.
Then...
"Aaaaaaah!!! We did it!! All that grinding wasn't for nothing, guys!"
"Fifty newbies! Fifty little bros who'll look up to us!"
"A title only five people on the entire server will ever have! Hahahaha! Tonight, the forums are going to be all about us!"
The five burly men in baggy shorts embraced and wept in the cold winds of the Wasteland, as excited as five two-hundred-pound idiots.
Meanwhile, on distant Blue Star...
On the official Awakening of the Old Gods website, the progress bar that had been stuck at 54% for so long instantly jumped to 100%!
Blue Star's gaming scene was about to face a genuine tsunami!
Before you continue