The Temptation of Divine Artifacts

The next morning, as the first rays of sunlight shone on the white sands of Lost Island, the adventurers of Yarvis City logged on one after another. They gathered in small groups or guilds, excitedly discussing the great battle of the previous day.

Although both sides suffered heavy losses and incurred considerable expenses in yesterday's battle, resulting in a lose-lose situation, the adventurers experienced an unprecedented level of excitement. They witnessed a rare spectacle of tens of thousands of people clashing, a scene even more thrilling than a war movie, not to mention that they were personally involved in it.

Furthermore, they witnessed firsthand the battle between the Elemental Lords and the Chaos Dragon, and saw the Lightning Storm summoned by Azshara. Such an epic storyline is truly exciting.

Secondly, their gains yesterday were also considerable. In yesterday's battle, the Naga / Elemental Will Alliance killed over a hundred bosses of varying sizes, most of whom were defeated by adventurers, resulting in countless drops of various equipment, including a significant amount of story-related gear. As a result, several guilds experienced a substantial increase in strength, and the equipment of their top-tier teams was upgraded by a whole level.

Moreover, this battle doesn't require spending money to enter like running dungeons or battlegrounds; instead, it earns you a lot of the Immortals reputation, making it incredibly enjoyable.

From the adventurers' perspective, it would be incredibly exciting to have more of these major battles in the future, even more so than running dungeons, fighting battlefields, or battling sirens.

However, it seems that a battle is unlikely today. The Elemental Will and Naga armies around the Lost Island have retreated a distance, maintaining a long encirclement without any intention of attacking. On the other hand, the Water Elemental bosses in the city have issued many new story quests. Story quests are tasks related to story events and are generally one-time events.

There are monster-hunting quests to hunt down Naga /elemental creatures on the Lost Island, reconnaissance quests to scout out the movements of nearby enemies, and resource-gathering quests—in short, all are related to war.

One of the tasks is to scout the Naga Cavern. This task requires adventurers to investigate the movements of the remaining Naga forces in the Naga Cavern northeast of the Lost Island, and see if there are any signs that they are cooperating with Azshara's army from within.

So many adventurers accepted the quest and set off.

Among them was Jing Wuming.

Jing Wuming was one of the high-level assassins among the first group of the Alliance to enter the Lost Path. After spending so much time on the Lost Island, his equipment level had greatly improved. He was wearing Wild Gladiator Set (battleground gear) obtained with honor points, and his weapons were the Fang of Sgelari) and the Fang of Sgelari). He also had several pieces of top-tier random gear that he obtained from Naga Treasure Chest. His equipment was top-of-the-line.

Having accepted the reconnaissance mission, Jing Wuming didn't team up with anyone; he easily found his way to the vicinity of the Naga Cavern by himself.

He had already run this dungeon several times, so he was quite familiar with it. He wandered around the Naga Cavern, killing a few monsters that spawned automatically, but didn't hear the system notification to complete the quest. Just as he was about to venture deeper, he suddenly noticed something unusual.

(Hey, what's that?--)

A Naga called the Naga Messenger, protected by two Naga Guards, was walking towards the beach.

Hmm, this monster seems interesting. Usually, these messenger-type monsters carry quest items like letters, which can trigger quests when used, and they are usually quite valuable. So Jing Wuming dismounted without hesitation, activated his Stealth skill, and approached the Naga messenger.

Sap! Directly knocking a Naga Guardian unconscious.

Ambush! Two daggers simultaneously pierced the back of the second Naga Guardian. A critical hit, triggering the Execute effect, caused the Naga Guardian to scream and fall to the ground.

Hearing the screams, the Naga messenger was so frightened that he hurriedly ran away, but Naga Jing Wuming used Shadowstep to appear directly behind him.

Backstab! With a soft thud, the sharp edge of the Fang of Sgelari easily pierced the Naga's skin. The Naga courier screamed in agony and was instantly killed.

A Blade Flurry wiped out the last Naga guard, ending the battle before it even began.

Hmph, it really has become quite powerful. These ordinary monsters of level 30 or 40 can now be killed instantly.

While thinking smugly to himself, Jing Wuming happily began searching the corpse.

Sure enough, after clicking on the Naga messenger and checking the loot, in addition to 26 copper coins, there was also a letter.

[Title: Letter to Queen Azshara]

[Category: Letter (Quest Item)]

[Quality: Average]

[Function: A letter (readable); using it will trigger a quest.]

[Note: This is a secret letter to Queen Azshara, signed by -- Lady Xiwadelin, forever loyal]

Jing Wuming was overjoyed, thinking to himself that there was indeed something there, and tore open the envelope to read it.

My beloved Queen Azshara:

It has been so long since we last met. I have been away from you for several months since I accepted your command to make contact with the Old Gods N'Zoth. I miss you every moment.

I have faithfully completed the task you entrusted to me. The Old Gods have been released, and soon darkness and destruction will descend upon this world. No one will be spared. The age of the Naga is about to begin.

The Lost Island, a sacred place for my race, has been occupied by elemental creatures and mermaids—an intolerable act. Even more intolerable is that I have discovered they are excavating the ruins of the ancient War of the Gods the War of the Gods are buried. As far as I know, the Elemental Lords Azathoth has already unearthed one of them and used it in the last war.

Now, having absorbed the power of the artifacts, he has become incredibly powerful. These artifacts will be key to defeating the Old Gods, so in order to obtain more artifacts, he is now speeding up his excavation. Soon, more artifacts will appear on the Lost Island. If he were to obtain other artifacts, the consequences would be unimaginable. He will definitely hand over the artifacts to the adventurers who are helping him, so that these adventurers may have a chance to defeat the Old Gods.

Therefore, we must seize this island as soon as possible to stop Azathoth's plan. I have prepared enough troops and can act at any time. I have also scouted the Lost Island. The number of guards on the island is not large. Apart from those troublesome adventurers, there is nothing that can stop us. As long as we take back the Lost Island, these ancient artifacts will never appear before the world again.

Forever loyal – Lady Xiwadelin.

System notification: The story quest [The Naga's Conspiracy] has been triggered. Deliver the secret letter addressed to Queen Azshara to Azathoth in the Yarvis City.

After reading the letter, Jing Wuming was completely stunned. Holy crap, it seems he'd accidentally stumbled upon a shocking secret! Divine artifacts! Those are divine artifacts! And the Old Gods! The War of the Gods! Those Naga actually colluded with the Old Gods! How wicked! But the fact that divine artifacts would even appear is astonishing news. And judging from the contents of the letter, these artifacts seem to be prepared for adventurers.

He suddenly remembered what Big Water Cunt had told him before. Big Water Cunt had said that the Immortals' reputation would be very important in the next expansion because it might lead to artifact quests. Damn, could this be it? No, I have to go tell the guild leader about this right away.

Thinking of this, he didn't bother to return the quest and took the letter back. However, what Jing Wuming didn't notice was that as soon as he left, several other players' oracle appeared nearby. A few minutes later, another Naga messenger passed by under the escort of two Naga guards, and then, another battle with no suspense began.

Ten minutes later, Jing Wuming returned to the city and found the War Soul King repairing his equipment.

"Boss, look! Boss, look! I've discovered a major secret!" Jing Wuming said, handing the talisman to the War Soul King.

The War Soul King took the letter and read it through. He was immediately stunned. He thought to himself, "No wonder that Azathoth was so powerful last time. It was the power of the divine artifact." His judgment was very similar to Jing Wuming's. It was clear that a divine artifact would be born on this Lost Island, and these artifacts would be rewarded to adventurers.

Of course, it won't be an authentic story item, but even a knock-off artifact is awesome enough. And it will probably require reputation, but luckily my reputation is already quite high. Also, I'll probably need to do some quests, but I can accept any difficulties, after all, it's an artifact.

But all of this is predicated on the Lost Island not falling. So what I need to do now is to find more people, firstly to gain reputation and build good relationships with the Immortals' bosses, and secondly to ensure that the island is not captured.

If Azathoth himself had said these words, he certainly wouldn't have believed them. However, since they came from the mouth of his enemy, the Naga, they are more believable.

Thinking of this, he said, "We need to call some more people, but we must keep a low profile and not let anyone find out."

After saying that, he started calling for help.

However, despite his repeated instructions not to leak the news, it seems that the news was still leaked. It was only noon when his subordinates reported to him that when the people of Glory War Soul were organizing to take the ship, they discovered that the War God Hall was also organizing people to come to the island. In addition, the Assassins' Alliance, the Black Spear Knights, the Laval Heroes' Alliance, and many other guilds were also organizing people to come to the Lost Path.

(Damn it, did the news leak out?) War Soul King thought angrily. (Whatever, let them call for help. Anyway, this kind of thing can't be hidden forever. I have the advantage of striking first, and I'll definitely be able to get my hands on the artifact eventually.)