The estate of former military judge Conca covered more than ten acres and was a self-contained stone fortress.
The manor features flowing streams, shady trees, and the sounds of birdsong and the fragrance of flowers. Most remarkably, in the central garden of the manor stands a towering fragrant tree that produces tiny, pale yellow flowers every autumn, like a giant yellow umbrella spreading across the sky and earth, filling the entire Chambord City with a sweet, intoxicating aroma. It could be said that this fragrant tree is partly responsible for the name Chambord City.
Sun Fei jumped off the Big Black, patted its head, and told it to go play by itself. He and the female warrior Susan walked through the tree-lined path in front of the manor, past layers of heavily guarded checkpoints, and were searched six times by the princess's guards before finally arriving at a quiet courtyard in the very center of the manor. There they saw Princess Tanasha sitting in a rocking chair under a huge fragrant tree, pretending to be asleep with her eyes closed.
This was the first time Sun Fei had met this mysterious princess.
The woman before him was thinner than Sun Fei had imagined. Her features weren't particularly refined, far from the stunning beauty of Angela or Elena. She was merely decent-looking. However, her lips were full, which seemed somewhat disproportionate to her thin frame and pale complexion. The vibrant red color gave her an undeniable allure. Her seaweed-like hair was soft and beautiful, shimmering with a strange luster under the sunlight.
What impressed Sun Fei most were her eyes—large and bright, with a pure, clear blue pupil like the autumn sky, exceptionally beautiful, as if they could see into anyone's mind in an instant, like a bottomless abyss that would easily make people sink into it without them even realizing it.
Princess Tanasha did not open her eyes when she heard Sun Fei enter.
The woman sat quietly in an exquisitely crafted rocking chair woven from bitter bamboo and vines. Her slender fingers tapped lightly on the armrests in an undefined rhythm. After glancing at Sun Fei for the first time, she seemed to be immersed in a serene and otherworldly atmosphere, completely out of place with her surroundings. She resembled a landscape painting, her eyes slightly closed, her red lips tightly pursed, and she remained silent.
After leading Sun Fei in, the female warrior Susan didn't say a word and simply turned and left.
Only Sun Fei and the Princess remained in the courtyard.
The atmosphere was very silent.
However, Sun Fei did not feel embarrassed at all. He swaggered over and sat down on a stone chair not far from Princess Tanasha. He looked around at the huge incense tree in front of him, which would probably take more than three people to encircle. His face was blank and he did not feel awkward at all because a princess of a monarchy was sitting next to him.
However, Sun Fei was secretly surprised.
Because of the keen senses of a melee expert honed in Barbarian Mode, Sun Fei knew that at least twenty sharp auras were lurking in the shadows within this seemingly tranquil courtyard. Coupled with the formidable checkpoints he had passed through along the way, Sun Fei had a strange feeling—it seemed that this mysterious princess was guarding against some kind of danger, which was why she had erected an invisible steel wall around herself. Under such tight protection, not even a fly, let alone a human, could get close to this frail princess without permission.
Sun Fei also had another feeling—the entire Zenit Empire's investiture delegation, like this pale and thin princess, was on extreme alert.
They seemed to be nervously guarding against an impending danger.
But... how could that be?
The investiture mission was sent to a small, sixth-rank vassal state like Chambord City to bestow an official title upon a newly adult King. It was more like a sightseeing trip than an adventure. The gentlemen from the Zenit capital could easily enjoy their visit and conclude the so-called investiture ceremony... However, what Sun Fei saw was clearly not like that. The heavy security made King Sun Fei almost suspect that Chambord City might soon face a brutal war.
This puzzled Sun Fei.
What exactly happened, or is about to happen?
Time continued to flow quietly.
The princess remained lying on the bamboo chair, slowly rocking back and forth. She neither opened her sapphire-like eyes nor uttered a word, but instead tapped the armrests of the chair with a rhythm that was sometimes slow and sometimes fast, as if Sun Fei, who was sitting beside her, was merely a wisp of air, a phantom, and not a real being.
Sun Fei was also unwilling to speak.
The two seemed to be playing a childish game where 'whoever speaks first loses'.
After another ten minutes or so, Sun Fei got bored and simply closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. Who knew that after a while, a faint snoring sound came from the quiet courtyard. This snoring sound was like a stinking stick that stirred up trouble, shattering the tranquil and picturesque atmosphere of the courtyard.
The princess, who had been dozing on the bamboo chair, finally opened her eyes.
She glanced at Sun Fei, who was lying crookedly on the stone chair, a look of surprise flashing in her eyes. Her slender fingers, which had been gently tapping the armrest of the bamboo chair, finally stopped. She straightened up, observed him carefully for a while, and after confirming that the young King in front of her was really asleep, a wry smile appeared on her lips.
After a moment of stunned silence, the princess seemed to have gotten used to Sun Fei's increasingly loud snoring.
She lay back down on the bamboo chair.
This time, however, she did not close her eyes. Her large, beautiful, sapphire-blue eyes stared fixedly and indifferently at the azure sky, lost in thought. Pale yellow flower petals slowly drifted down from the giant tree above, scattering their fragrant aroma across the ground.
The snoring beside me was both jarring and harmonious.
The guards hidden in the shadows were all secretly astonished when they saw this scene.
"This King is truly ignorant and fearless, daring to be so disrespectful in front of Her Highness the Princess... Even Emperor Yassin of the Zenit Empire, in Saint Petersburg, the imperial capital, probably wouldn't dare to act like this?"
Little did they know that Sun Fei had already arrived in another world.
[ Rogue Encampment ].
The blazing red flames boiled and churned inside the furnace, Mars flying everywhere.
The beautiful blacksmith Charsi's magical hammer drew graceful afterimages in the air, striking the red-hot two-handed greatsword sandwiched between two wooden boards with a strange rhythm of light and heavy blows. Streams of sweat fell onto the blade, turning into wisps of mist with soft splattering sounds.
At the other end of the furnace, the Barbarian Sun Fei held the bellows lever, slowly pulling it in and out, controlling the rhythm so that the devil's tongue-like flames could lick the sword embryo in the furnace once every breath.
bite--!
When Charsi's final hammer struck the sword blank, it was like the end of a beautiful symphony of a raging storm. In the next instant, a faint magical power emanated from the sword blank, followed by the flickering of azure flames. The sword body emitted soft hums and began to tremble on its own.
"Thank God, it's finally finished!"
The beautiful blacksmith Charsi, was overjoyed. She didn't even bother to wipe the beads of sweat from her forehead. She grabbed the still-hot sword hilt, swung it forcefully, and a blue flame flashed. This casual swing actually cleaved a large gap in the blacksmith's wooden shed.
"Did it really succeed?"
Seeing this, Sun Fei was overjoyed. He took the blue two-handed broadsword from Charsi's hands, feeling the warmth from the hilt. Upon closer inspection, he saw the sword's attributes appear before him: one-handed damage 4-9, two-handed damage 8-14, plus 3 points of freezing damage, durability 1616, no level restriction, and no strength point restriction.
"Although its damage output isn't as high as the [ Purple and Azure Twin Swords ], its quality is definitely not low, and it doesn't even have level or strength point restrictions. For some low-level characters, it's absolutely a powerful weapon!"
Sun Fei was overjoyed.
Half an hour ago, unable to contain his impatience any longer, he sat next to the princess, feeling utterly bored. So, he seized the opportunity to enter the Diablo World through a dream, arriving at [ Rogue Encampment ]. Using [ Barbarian Mode ], he found the blacksmith Charsi and inquired about her progress in forging magical weapons using gems. Just then, Charsi was conducting her final experiment, and by assisting her, he witnessed firsthand how Charsi successfully crafted her first magical sword using [ Chipped Sapphire ].
Although the blue magic sword was useless to Sun Fei, it held extraordinary significance.
First, the creation of this ice-type magic sword signifies that the blacksmith Charsi's forging skills have finally advanced. She can now use gems to create more advanced magical weapons. As long as she continues to practice diligently, she will undoubtedly be able to forge even more formidable magical weapons in the future. With Sun Fei's almost limitless supply of gems, perhaps one day Charsi will be able to forge super weapons that surpass even gold or dark gold equipment. This way, Sun Fei won't have to painstakingly grind bosses again and again to collect all the equipment he needs.
Secondly, for Sun Fei, previously he obtained equipment and weapons by defeating monsters or purchasing them from NPCs. These weapons were all finished products, and Sun Fei only had the option to choose. But now it's different. He can directly ask Charsi to craft whatever style of weapon he likes or whatever magical attribute weapon he needs. He has more options and can be more targeted. He can even create new types of weapons on his own.
"Haha, that's fantastic! I swear, I've witnessed the birth of a new great blacksmith on the Rogue Continent..." Sun Fei flattered her, then took out over twenty pieces of various gems and more than a dozen pre-prepared parchment manuscript scrolls, handing them to the female blacksmith. He then said with a smile, "This time, I'll need your help to forge some armor for me. Just make it according to the designs in these manuscripts..."
"These are... the blueprints for armor?"
Charsi unfurled the sheepskin scroll, examined it carefully, and frowned, saying, "Beautiful armor design... but armor is much harder to forge than weapons. Lord Sun Fei, with my current forging skills, I'm afraid I can't achieve a 100% success rate. Completing the forging of these armors will probably waste a lot of your elemental gems."
"No problem, we have as many as you need." Sun Fei said this with complete confidence.
With the Horadric Cube, he could craft a Flawed Gem by spending 3 Chipped Gem. A Flawed Gem could be exchanged for 100 Chipped Gem in the real world. This trade deficit made Sun Fei practically a gold mine, and he would never have to worry about money again.
"Oh, right, Charsi, you could actually try forging these weapons in the real world. There are a few blacksmiths in Chambord City with good forging skills who might be able to help you," Sun Fei suggested.
Charsi wiped the sweat from his forehead and smoothed his damp, fiery red hair. Remembering the [ Rock ] Samuel and his men, and the magnificent, perfectly crafted iron furnaces he'd seen in the Underground Grotto Labyrinth City behind Chambord City, his eyes lit up. Hearing this, he exclaimed with delight, "That's right! How could I not have thought of that? Lord Sun Fei, I'll go find them right now..."
The blacksmith was an impatient woman.
After seeing off the beautiful blacksmith Charsi, Sun Fei put the ice sword he had forged earlier into his backpack. Then he found Sister Akara and began to learn from her how to identify herbs, prepare potions, and make magic scrolls.
Of course, what I learned at the beginning were all very basic things.
Sun Fei was initially quite impatient with these things, only reluctantly learning them after being forced to sign an [ Apprenticeship Contract ] by the cunning and shrewd Aunt Akara. However, as he delved deeper, Sun Fei was surprised to find himself slowly becoming interested in this knowledge. It's just that his memory remained as hazy as in his previous life, often leading him to misremember things...
Sun Fei's time learning from Akara was very short, only half an hour. After half an hour, he exited Barbarian Mode, came to the 3D holographic projection screen, selected Druid Mode, and entered a parallel space of another Diablo World to begin his attempt to clear the first small map.
In this space, the mercenary Sun Fei acquired was a female rocket pilot named Kyle.
However, there is always a difference compared to Barbarian Mode. This mercenary is far less lively and lifelike than Elena, appearing somewhat rigid and seemingly lacking in intelligence. Their teamwork is also a bit awkward. In fact, apart from Rocketeer Kyle, even the other NPCs in [ Rogue Encampment ] in Druid Mode look like computer programs, far less flesh-and-blood and emotional than those in Barbarian Mode.
This situation seemed extremely similar to what Sun Fei encountered in the city of [ Lut Gholein ] on the second map, leaving Sun Fei completely baffled as to why such a strange situation had occurred.
Of all modes, only the NPCs in the Rogue Encampment in Barbarian Mode are truly living, breathing human beings.
Filled with doubt, Sun Fei actually managed to clear the final level of [ Druid Mode ] in one go over the next three hours, defeating Andariel, the chief boss of the Rogue Continent, in the temple's basement and obtaining several decent pieces of gold equipment.
At this point, the Druid Mode had reached level 16.
After being fully equipped, its actual combat strength in the real world is roughly at the level of a mid-tier Mid-Stage Three-Star Warrior. Of course, if combined with the various magical Summon and transformation skills of a druid character, it is estimated that it can also put up a fight against a beginner four-star expert.
Another four thousand words, eight thousand today, which is basically the word count of three chapters.
From now on, I'll still update twice a day on Saturdays and Sundays, as I need to spend time with my wife. From Monday to Friday, unless there are special circumstances, I'll update three times a day.
Thank you, brothers and sisters.
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