Chapter 971 - 554: Zong Shen: Cheating Is Truly Sweet!

He waved his hand and spoke bluntly.

"Alright, I just came here to fetch some water."

"If you’ve got time to chat with me, you’d be better off hurrying on your way."

"With the Grassland Horses’ speed, you should be able to reach the raid site within half an hour."

"You’d better get moving, or by the time you arrive the Boss might already be gone."

Zong Shen’s words gave these Lords a sudden jolt.

They remembered the situation with yesterday’s Boss raid.

They hadn’t managed to catch it back then.

Originally, they’d thought the Flame Demon Boss had a total of five million Life Value and 65 Double Resistance.

And would remain for 24 hours.

So it shouldn’t be that easy to wipe out.

As a result, they’d slacked off a bit when they set out.

For the nearby Lords, yesterday’s spawn point was quite a bit farther than today’s.

By the time the few of them were about to arrive, the Golden banner announcing the kill had already appeared.

The content on the announcement banner had shocked them even more.

Zong Shen was practically a God among men!

He perfectly fit the standard of an idol in the Lords’ hearts!

A textbook Lord benchmark!

So when they ran into Zong Shen by chance today, they just couldn’t resist coming up to talk.

During this period, Zong Shen had already started to take on a semi-mythic, Legendary aura among the Regional Lords.

Humans are pack creatures.

Especially when, at the moment, the inclination to cooperate outweighs the drive to oppose.

They need an idol to represent the Lord group.

Even if there were no Zong Shen, there would be a Chen Shen, Yuan Shen, or Wang Shen.

The symbol of an idol is never in short supply.

Not to mention, Zong Shen had already gone through two Golden Banner Universal announcements.

His feats would naturally spread and be discussed among all Universal Lords.

There were even plenty of bored Lords who’d compiled all sorts of bizarre stories about him.

And many Lords from other regions kept trying different ways to pry information about him.

The rumors surrounding him were all over the place; Zong Shen himself had caught wind of some of them.

The more outlandish ones claimed he’d received support from the Count or Marquis in charge of the local Giant City.

Some even said he’d won the favor of a Royal Princess.

And was about to become a live-in son-in-law of the Pandragon Royal Family.

Giving the whole thing a wonderfully absurd "War God son-in-law" vibe.

Of course, all of that was just street-level gossip.

When you put these rumors together, they actually only point to one deeper meaning.

Namely, that people don’t really believe Zong Shen’s current achievements come from his own effort.

Most folks, when they think of a way to rise rapidly in this world,

can only come up with clinging to some Indigenous People big shot.

After all, the strength Zong Shen displayed was too far beyond that of Ordinary Lords.

It’s not something you get by clearing a few more ruins.

Throwing in with the Indigenous People is the most reasonable explanation for the other Lords.

However, in truth Zong Shen really hadn’t attached himself to any Indigenous People big shot.

The Royal-family son-in-law rumor was even more ridiculous.

He wouldn’t mind being ravaged by a Princess, or ravaging a Princess, but the Princesses just wouldn’t let him!

Strictly speaking, Zong Shen hadn’t received any help from Native Forces.

Aside from the batch of supplies and the cooperation Baron Bezos had given him.

His current strength basically all comes from his own effort.

And from the information support provided by the Guide Module.

Even though the doctor once said his stomach was bad and he needed to "eat soft rice,"

he still tenaciously chose to cheat instead.

What can you do—he doesn’t have a face as handsome as the various Lord sirs.

Better to obediently be a hardcore cheater.

Cheating really is delicious!

So after Zong Shen finished speaking, those Lords decisively chose to leave.

They bowed slightly to Zong Shen to show their respect, then returned to their formation.

And moved out toward the Flame Demon Boss spawn point.

Zong Shen didn’t mind at all.

He kept using the Condensed Water Treasure Pearl to draw water.

He still remembered that beneath this Lake Heart Island lay an Arcane Crystal Fragment from the Otherworld.

According to the earlier Guide tips, this thing could even blow up a city.

That note was from a clue back in the early days after their arrival.

Zong Shen wasn’t sure what exactly "blow up a city" meant—whether it meant a Giant City or Bang City.

Either way, be it Giant City or Bang City, that Arcane Crystal Fragment definitely had great Power.

Back when he’d risked heading deep into the Burrow passage toward that Teleportation Gate.

The Guide notes had mentioned that, with that Arcane Crystal Fragment,

he could wipe out all the Burrow Monsters gathered in the canyon behind the Teleportation Gate.

That note alone was enough to show the Power of the Arcane Crystal Fragment.

"Maybe I should take the chance and just retrieve it now..."

Zong Shen muttered to himself, holding the Condensed Water Treasure Pearl, his hand immersed in the icy lake water.

Near the end of the Burrow Challenge, he’d had Tailor Alanna in his Territory use the skin left by the Evil God’s Forgetter (Orange) to make a Special hide bag.

The skin of the Evil God’s Forgetter (Orange) had a unique neutralizing Effect.

Similar to the Core of Chaos (Unknown), it could reconcile any violently conflicting forces.

The real purpose behind him asking Alanna to make that hide bag,

was actually to collect the Arcane Crystal Fragment.

Now, he was considering whether to take this opportunity and just retrieve it first.

But after thinking it over briefly, Zong Shen chose to give up.

The Arcane Crystal was buried deep under the lake, extremely dangerous; retrieving it would be very difficult.

Even with the Forgotten’s Hide Bag as a safety net, he didn’t have complete confidence.

He and Jiang Yi had already explored Lake Heart Island once again.

As for the other Lords nearby, when they came here it was either to draw water.

Or for the Water Elements that spawn around here.

These Water Elements had turned this place into a fixed "farming" spot.

As long as the Arcane Crystal Fragment remained and the lake didn’t dry up.

Then Manic Water Elements would keep being born here endlessly!