Chapter 57: Triggered a Hidden Challenge Quest!

After examining Coal Ball's new skill, Han Xing turned his attention to the other rewards from the system's settlement.

The first of these was the "Strongest Fragment."

[Strongest Fragment]: Upon collecting 100 fragments, they can be synthesized into a Strongest Mark, which can be used for "Abyss Rift" challenges.

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

"Abyss Rift? Is this related to the Abyss Realm?"

He acutely caught onto the word "Abyss."

This was because, when he had encountered that terrifying demon earlier, he learned from its own words that it hailed from the Abyss Realm.

That place seemed to be the lair of the demon race, teeming with countless terrifying entities.

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

With his current stats, going to the Abyss Realm would probably result in him being obliterated into nothingness in an instant.

Or rather, even if all the survivors across the entire Blue Star were dumped into the Abyss Realm, they wouldn't even stir up a ripple.

But upon second thought, the system shouldn't send them to such a high-level map at this stage; that would be no different from courting death.

Therefore, Han Xing clicked on the description of the "Abyss Rift" right below the Strongest Fragment.

[Abyss Rift (Special Scenario)]

Tens of thousands of years ago, the Demon Emperor sacrificed his entire strength, unleashing a supreme sword strike that cleaved a path from the Abyss Realm to the Holy Spirit Realm. A mighty demonic army surged through this passage, wantonly invading the Holy Spirit Realm, and a protracted war to exterminate the demons broke out.

Amidst the war, nation after nation fell, and the populace suffered immensely. In the end, the four strongest existences in the Holy Spirit Realm united, paying with their lives to severely wound the Demon Emperor.

For the next several centuries, the battlefield between the Holy Spirit Realm and the Abyss Realm shifted into this newly forged passage.

Countless demons and warriors of the Holy Spirit Realm died in battle here, countless treasures were lost here, and centuries later, the demon race was defeated. The entrance to the Abyss Rift was thus sealed, and all these countless treasures remained lost within the Abyss Rift.

Only those holding a Strongest Mark may enter the Abyss Rift.

Note: The Abyss Rift is a special scenario divided into 1-100 floors. Survivors must begin challenging from the first floor and delve progressively deeper into the rift.

Required level to enter the scenario: Lv. 10.

...

After reading this lengthy description, Han Xing finally understood.

So the so-called Abyss Rift was a special space that, a long time ago, seemed to serve as the main battlefield and passage between the two worlds.

Inside, there might be extremely powerful monsters, as well as countless rare treasures.

As long as one gathered 100 Strongest Fragments, a Strongest Mark could be synthesized to enter the Abyss Rift for challenges.

Moreover, the challenge started from the first floor, following a tower-climbing mechanic.

"Sounds not too bad, though the difficulty of this map shouldn't be low, requiring at least level 10 to enter."

"And gathering 100 fragments is quite a challenge."

After all, when Han Xing challenged a one-star secret realm, it only rewarded him 3 fragments. At that ratio, he would have to conquer over thirty one-star secret realms to put together a single Strongest Mark.

This indicated that Strongest Fragments were likely quite precious items.

Thinking of this, Han Xing suddenly had an idea.

Gathering 100 fragments on his own would be rather difficult and consume a lot of time.

However, if he relied on the nearly ten thousand survivors in District 107, it would become much simpler.

He could use what he had in hand to harvest—no, trade for—a large quantity of Strongest Fragments from other survivors, allowing him to rapidly synthesize many Strongest Marks and continuously venture into the Abyss Rift.

This idea needed to be tested, but Han Xing felt its feasibility was very high.

At the current stage, he didn't believe any survivor could resist the temptation of a spatial backpack.

Han Xing immediately decided that once he got out, he would start mass-producing spatial backpacks and then find a suitable opportunity to put them on the trading market.

Having finished checking the description of the Strongest Fragments, Han Xing turned his gaze to another material in his backpack.

[Rune Crystal]: One of the main materials for crafting equipment runes, requiring the corresponding rune blueprint to craft.

The description was simple and clear.

Han Xing glanced at it and looked away, casting his gaze forward.

He hadn't forgotten that among the secret realm settlement rewards was also a Silver Treasure Chest.

The system had stated that this chest needed to be found by himself within the secret realm map.

Han Xing searched among the ruins and spotted a silvery-white corner beside a collapsed stone pillar.

Han Xing's eyes lit up. "Over there!"

Beneath the rubble, a completely silver-white treasure chest was pinned under a rock.

Han Xing hurriedly walked over and directly opened the Silver Treasure Chest. A dazzling array of materials instantly appeared before his eyes.

[Successfully opened the Silver Treasure Chest, obtained Spirit Core *124, Mithril *17, Rare Earth *243, Aether *147...]

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

"A rune blueprint?"

Han Xing picked up the blue blueprint from the chest. "So soon? My luck isn't bad!"

He immediately clicked to learn it.

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

Han Xing checked the blueprint's stats.

[Chaos Rune (Weak)]: Grants equipment a rune effect, slightly increasing one random attribute.

Materials required for crafting: Rune Crystal *100, Spirit Core *10, Aether *200.

"Not bad, the required materials aren't complicated either. I can mass-produce them once I get out."

Now, there was still one blue equipment piece left in the chest, the Barbarian Bracers, which he hadn't picked up yet.

The luck for opening this chest was decent.

Up to this point, Han Xing's rewards from this secret realm challenge had been quite impressive.

This last piece of equipment he picked up happened to be for the gauntlet slot, a part he had never dropped before.

Han Xing excitedly checked its stats.

[Barbarian Bracers (Blue) Lv. 6, Quality - Fine, Defense 4~5, Strength +10, Agility +5, Comes with Special Effect - Barbarian Might (When launching an attack, has a 50% chance to increase Strength by 20 points)]

"Another piece of equipment that increases Strength. If this keeps up, my Strength stat will soon surpass my Agility!"

While pleasantly surprised, Han Xing was also somewhat speechless; he didn't want to turn into a muscle-bound hunter.

Even so, he immediately equipped it. After all, it was blue gear, and the stat bonuses were formidable.

With this, the secret realm rewards were mostly gathered. Han Xing planned to finish disassembling the remains of the psychokinetic puppets on the ground and then leave this place.

Just at that moment, a different prompt popped up.

[Attention survivors: Because you cleared the secret realm solo, your strength has gained the recognition of the will of Keilon, Lord of the Lost Palace, triggering the hidden quest of the Lost Palace: Keilon's Experimental Report.]

[Accepting this quest will automatically initiate the third-stage challenge of the Lost Palace. Please make your choice as soon as possible, survivor.]

"Huh? A hidden quest?"

Han Xing instantly perked up.

In the Floating Island Paradise, hidden quests were something to be stumbled upon rather than sought, and behind every hidden quest lay a powerful opportunity.

For example, the request from the Demon Overlord he encountered in the Dark Elf camp; in that quest, he obtained "Coal Ball," a powerful pet.

Although he had been forced to accept it back then, and this palace's hidden quest didn't have the same grandeur as the Demon Overlord's quest, every hidden quest usually held unique rewards.

A trace of hesitation flickered in Han Xing's eyes; he really wanted to accept it.

But thinking of the flustered state he was in earlier while being hunted down by six psychokinetic puppets, Han Xing felt a lingering fear.

If the second stage was already this difficult, the challenge difficulty of this third stage would definitely be far more ferocious than before.

Just as he was hesitating, the system prompt appeared again.

[Please make your choice as soon as possible, survivor: Abandon or Accept.]

[If you do not respond within 60 seconds, it will be deemed an automatic abandonment...]

Han Xing was about to give up when Coal Ball nearby seemed to have discovered something. Its figure flashed instantly, and it appeared in a corner dozens of meters away.

Seeing the little fellow's speed, Han Xing's eyes suddenly lit up.

"After reaching level 6, Coal Ball's strength has massively improved, practically a qualitative leap. And I've also acquired a new piece of blue equipment, raising my damage output another notch..."

"Compared to when we were in the second stage, both of our strengths have improved quite a bit..."

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

He decided to accept this hidden quest.

[You have accepted the Lost Palace hidden quest, 'Keilon's Experimental Report.' The third-stage challenge will begin in ten minutes. Please make preparations as soon as possible, survivor.]

"Ten minutes of preparation time? That's not too bad."

At this moment, Coal Ball stood atop a collapsed stone pillar, its head lowered, sniffing with its nose from time to time as if searching for something.

Han Xing walked over to it and asked, "What's up? Found some treasure?"

Coal Ball lowered its head, using its small wolf paws to claw at the ruins' bricks. Seeing Han Xing approach, it eagerly bounded up and down.

It looked at Han Xing with clear eyes, then glanced back and forth at the patch of ruins, seeming to convey some information.

"Huh? Is there really treasure down here?" Han Xing asked doubtfully.

Coal Ball panted excitedly, then buried its head to continue digging, signaling Han Xing to come over and help.

Seeing this, Han Xing joined Coal Ball in clearing the surrounding building debris.

Less than two minutes later, the rubble in this area was cleared away.

Right on the ground appeared a wooden door, looking like the entrance to some basement.

Upon seeing this wooden door, Han Xing looked at Coal Ball in surprise; he hadn't expected there to actually be something down here.

Han Xing stepped up to the wooden door. Before even opening it, he smelled a scent of mixed herbs and fermentation.

"Hiss... Smells amazing!"

"Could this place be..." Han Xing impatiently pushed the wooden door open.

Sure enough, the moment it opened, the aged aroma of a seal kept for many years washed over him.

A system prompt appeared.

[You have discovered the Dwarven Wine Cellar.]

Inside was a narrow space that, in the past, seemed to have been used as a wine cellar.

Han Xing saw at a glance that at the bottom of the cellar sat several wine jars the size of water vats, having aged for an unknown number of years.

Pity that due to the collapse of the palace, most of these wine jars had been shattered.

The raw wine liquid on the ground had long since dried up.

However, right now, there was still one last wine jar that remained unbroken!

Han Xing's eyes lit up!