Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Hidden Challenge Quest Triggered!

After reading Coal Ball’s new skills, Han Xing began to check the other rewards that the system had just settled.

The first of which was the ’Stronger Fragment’.

[Stronger Fragment]: Collect 100 fragments to synthesize a Stronger’s Mark, which can be used for the ’Abyssal Rift’ challenge.

In the item description, Han Xing saw the name of a new map.

"Abyssal Rift? Does it have any connection to the Abyss Realm?"

He keenly noticed the word abyss.

This was because, when he encountered that terrifying demon, he learned from its mouth that it came from the Abyss Realm.

That place seems to be the stronghold of the Demon Race, where countless terrifying beings gather.

"Could it be that the system wants us to go to such a place to fight monsters?" Han Xing shivered instantly.

With his current attributes, going to the Abyss Realm would probably leave him in pieces.

Or rather, even if all the survivors of Blue Star were thrown into the Abyss Realm, it wouldn’t cause a ripple.

But thinking about it, the system probably wouldn’t let them go to such a high-level map at this stage, that would be tantamount to suicide.

So, Han Xing clicked open the introduction of the ’Abyssal Rift’ after the Stronger Fragment.

[Abyssal Rift (Special Scene)]

Tens of thousands of years ago, the Demon Emperor sacrificed all his power and wielded the strongest sword to open a road from the Abyss Realm to the Holy Spirit Realm. Through this channel, the grand Demon Army invaded the Holy Spirit Realm recklessly, igniting a protracted demon war.

Under the war, countries fell one by one, and beings were plunged into misery. Ultimately, the four strongest entities of the Holy Spirit Realm came together and, at the cost of life, severely wounded the Demon Emperor.

For hundreds of years, the battlefield between the Holy Spirit Realm and the Abyss Realm shifted to this opened channel.

Countless demons and Holy Spirit Realm warriors died here, and innumerable treasures were lost. After hundreds of years, the Demon Race was defeated, the entry to the Abyssal Rift was closed, and countless treasures remain lost within the Abyssal Rift.

Only those holding a Stronger’s Mark can enter the Abyssal Rift.

Note: The Abyssal Rift is a special scene, divided into 1-100 layers. Survivors need to start the challenge from the first layer and gradually deeper into the rift.

Entry scene level requirement: lv10.

...

After reading this long introduction, Han Xing realized.

It turns out that the so-called Abyssal Rift is a special space, which seems to have been the main battlefield and passage between two worlds a long time ago.

There might be very powerful monsters inside, along with countless treasures.

And as long as 100 Stronger Fragments are collected, a Stronger’s Mark can be synthesized, allowing entry to the Abyssal Rift challenge.

Moreover, the challenge starts from the first layer, similar to a tower-climbing mechanism.

"It sounds quite good, although the difficulty of this map shouldn’t be low, requiring at least level 10 to enter."

"Moreover, collecting 100 fragments is also fairly challenging."

After all, Han Xing only received 3 fragments from challenging a One-Star Secret Realm. Based on this ratio, at least thirty more One-Star Secret Realms have to be challenged to gather enough for a Stronger’s Mark.

This suggests that Stronger Fragments should be relatively precious items.

Thinking of this, Han Xing suddenly had an idea.

It’s difficult to collect 100 fragments on his own, needing a lot of time.

But if it is put on the shoulders of almost ten thousand survivors in Area 107, it becomes much simpler.

He just needs to use the items he has to harvest, no, exchange for a large number of Stronger Fragments from other survivors, synthesize many Stronger’s Marks quickly, and then continue to enter the Abyssal Rift.

This idea needs implementation, but Han Xing felt it’s highly feasible.

At this stage, he doesn’t believe there is any survivor who can resist the allure of the Space Backpack.

Han Xing immediately decided, that once out, he will begin batch-producing Space Backpacks and then find a suitable opportunity to put them on the trading market.

After checking the introduction of the Stronger Fragments, Han Xing looked at another material in his backpack.

[Rune Crystal]: One of the main materials for making equipment runes, requires the corresponding Rune Blueprint for crafting.

The introduction is simple and straightforward.

Han Xing glanced at it and didn’t pay further attention, instead, he gazed forward.

He hadn’t forgotten that there was still a Silver Treasure Chest in the secret realm settlement reward.

The system said that this treasure chest has to be found by oneself within the Secret Realm map.

Han Xing searched among the ruins, then discovered a silvery corner next to a collapsed stone pillar.

Han Xing’s eyes lit up, "There it is!"

Under the debris, a wholly silver-white treasure chest was pressed beneath stones.

Han Xing hurried over and then directly opened the Silver Treasure Chest, revealing numerous dazzling materials before his eyes.

[Successfully opened silver treasure chest, obtained Spirit Core*124, Mithril*17, Rare Earth*243, Ether*147...]

[Obtained Chaos Rune Blueprint (Weak)*1, obtained Barbarian Bracelet (Blue)*1]

"Rune Blueprint?"

Han Xing picked up the blue blueprint from the treasure chest, "It appeared so quickly? Lucky!"

He quickly clicked to learn it.

In the crafting interface, a Rune Blueprint column was added, currently containing only this Chaos Rune Blueprint.

Han Xing checked the blueprint’s attributes.

[Chaos Rune (Weak)]: Adds rune effects to equipment, slightly increasing a random attribute.

Materials needed for crafting: Rune Crystal*100, Spirit Core*10, Ether*200.

"Not bad, the required materials aren’t complicated, I can mass-produce it after going out."

There was still a piece of blue equipment, the Barbarian Bracelet, left in the treasure chest that hadn’t been picked up.

The luck with the treasure chests was pretty good this time.

So far, Han Xing’s secret realm challenge had yielded quite decent results.

The last piece of equipment he picked up was something he had never obtained before from the gauntlet slot.

Han Xing excitedly checked its attributes.

[Barbarian Bracelet (Blue) lv6, Quality - Refined, Defense 4~5, Power +10, Agility +5, Attached Effect - Barbarian Power (When attacking, 50% chance to increase Power by 20 points)]

"Another piece of equipment that increases power; if this keeps up, my strength attribute will soon surpass my agility!"

Han Xing was both delighted and speechless; he didn’t want to become the Muscle Bully Hunter.

But he still equipped it immediately, after all, it was a piece of blue equipment, and the increased attributes were quite powerful.

By now, the rewards from the secret realm had almost all been collected, so Han Xing planned to decompose the remnants of the spiritual puppets on the ground before leaving.

Just then, a different kind of prompt appeared.

[Attention, Survivor, as you have completed the secret realm alone, your strength has gained the recognition of the Lost Palace’s master, Kaelon’s will, triggering a hidden task, Kaelon’s Experimental Report.]

[Upon accepting this task, the third stage of the Lost Palace challenge will automatically begin, please make your choice quickly, Survivor.]

"Hmm? A hidden task?"

Han Xing was instantly invigorated.

In Sky Island Paradise, hidden tasks are rare opportunities, each hiding significant chance.

Just like when he engaged with the Great Demon Monarch’s request in the Dark Elf Camp, in that task, he gained the powerful pet ’Coal Ball’.

Though at that time, he was forced to accept, and this palace’s hidden task didn’t have the same prestige as that of the Great Demon Monarch’s task.

But each hidden task often comes with unique rewards.

Han Xing hesitated slightly, very much wanting to accept.

Yet, recalling the earlier chaos when he was chased by six spiritual puppets, he felt a bit apprehensive.

The difficulty of the second stage was already so tremendous, surely the third stage challenge would be even fiercer.

As he hesitated, the system prompt appeared once more.

[Survivor, please make your choice swiftly, either give up or accept.]

[If you do not respond in 60 seconds, it will be considered an automatic forfeit...]

Han Xing initially intended to give up, but just then, a hint from the side, Coal Ball seemed to discover something, and its silhouette flashed instantly, appearing dozens of meters away in a corner.

Seeing the little one’s speed, Han Xing’s eyes suddenly lit up.

"After Coal Ball reached level 6, its strength underwent a massive enhancement, almost a qualitative leap, and I also acquired a piece of blue equipment, further boosting my damage..."

"Both of our powers have notably increased compared to the second stage..."

After thinking for a moment, Han Xing gritted his teeth and said, "Let’s do it!"

He decided to accept the hidden task.

[You have accepted the Lost Palace hidden task, ’Kaelon’s Experimental Report’, the third stage challenge will start in ten minutes, please prepare quickly, Survivor.]

"Ten minutes to prepare? That’s alright."

At this time, Coal Ball was standing on a collapsed stone pillar, head lowered, nose twitching from time to time, as if searching for something.

Han Xing walked over and asked, "What’s up, found some treasure?"

Coal Ball, with its head down, was using its little wolf paws to paw at the rubble, and upon seeing Han Xing approach, it excitedly jumped up and down.

It frequently looked at Han Xing with its clear eyes and then at the pile of ruins, seemingly trying to convey some message.

"Hmm? Is there really treasure down there?" Han Xing asked somewhat unsurely.

Coal Ball panted with excitement, then resumed digging, gesturing for Han Xing to join in.

Seeing this, Han Xing also began clearing the surrounding debris with Coal Ball.

Within two minutes, the stone fragments in the area were cleaned up.

Revealed on the ground was a wooden door, looking like the entrance to some kind of basement.

Upon seeing this door appear, Han Xing looked at Coal Ball with surprise, not having expected there to actually be something underneath.

He approached the wooden door, and before even opening it, caught the scent of mixed herbs and fermentation.

"Hmm... smells good!"

"Could it be that there’s..." Han Xing hurriedly opened the wooden door.

Sure enough, as soon as it opened, a long-sealed brewed fragrance wafted up.

The system prompt appeared.

[You have discovered a Dwarf Race wine cellar.]

Inside was a small space that seemed to have been used as a wine cellar at some point.

At a glance, Han Xing saw several jar-sized wine pots below, having been stored for an unknown amount of years.

Unfortunately, most of these were shattered due to the palace’s collapse.

The wine mash on the ground had long since dried up.

But now, there was still one last wine pot that hadn’t been broken!

Han Xing’s eyes lit up!

...

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