Chapter 169 - 140: The Six Major Teams of the Safe Zone

Chapter 169: Chapter 140: The Six Major Teams of the Safe Zone

Of course, as a product of the Nightmare World, the Dragon Scale Blood Fruit also had rather intense side effects. Consuming this Treasure Medicine would cause one to grow dragon scales—not true dragon scales, but a condition known as dragon scale disease, which came with terrible symptoms like itching and bleeding.

’But my Safe Zone has Purifying Water. Who cares about side effects? I can just take it with Purifying Water and ignore them completely.’

’However, my physical condition has almost reached the Mortal Peak. Even if I ate this Dragon Scale Blood Fruit, it wouldn’t do much. In fact, it would probably just leave me with a surplus of Qi and blood with no outlet.’

’Most Rare Level Treasure Medicines are meant for those in the Extraordinary Realm. Ordinary Dream Descenders can eat them too, but they can only scrape off a tiny bit. They can’t eat too much.’

This wasn’t the only Rare Level Treasure Medicine Shi An had obtained, but the Dragon Scale Blood Fruit was the most valuable.

Even the Value Assessment Machine gave it a remarkable evaluation.

The machine’s assessment even said:

「The Dragon Scale Blood Fruit is a primary material for the Dragon Blood Potion. Using a Dragon Blood Potion can grant a Transcendent a minuscule trace of a Dragon-man bloodline, with a small chance of growing true dragon scales that are impervious to blades and spears.」

But Shi An had never heard of this Dragon Blood Potion, and neither had the people from the Countermeasures Bureau or the Baijiang Research Institute.

’The Baijiang Strategy Bureau has a deep foundation, but for me, that foundation is gradually becoming insufficient.’

He had also obtained a few building blueprints these past few days, but they were all for Ordinary Level buildings. These buildings were either described as mundane or had functions that overlapped with existing ones.

For example, the break room he had once longed for.

But now he already had a much larger hotel.

Shi An actually tried building the break room anyway, since the construction cost was nothing to him. As it turned out, the building’s buffs were indeed limited, so he demolished it.

In addition to that, there were also blueprints for a "Washroom," "Garden," "Hot Spring," and "Meditation Room."

Among them, there were a few buildings that Shi An was actually looking forward to.

For instance, the hot spring and the meditation room.

The hot spring had a special effect.

The meditation room seemed to be helpful for silent cultivation and practicing Dharma Gates.

However, the Safe Zone had limited building space, and these blueprints were all single-use items, so Shi An could only store them for now.

’There are two potion blueprints that are quite good, though. I can put them into use immediately.’

’One is a blueprint for a Physical Potion, and the other is for a Purification Potion.’

The former, along with the Curse Power Potion and the Life Potion, were known as the three white, blue, and red potions. It was the cheapest of the three basic potions to make, but its effect was not insignificant.

As for the latter, the Purification Potion and the Purifying Water had no difference in effect.

But the Purifying Water had one drawback: it would lose its effect not long after being removed from the Purification Spring. Therefore, the powerful experts of the Safe Zone couldn’t carry a thermos of Purifying Water with them when they ventured into the Nightmare World.

The Purification Potion, however, could. This potion allowed the purification effect to last for two to three months, which was beyond the expectations of the Safe Zone’s members.

If it were brought to the outside world, it would be a life-saving potion that countless people would fight over.

...

「Three days passed in the blink of an eye.」

When night fell in the real world, more and more Dream Descenders gathered in the Safe Zone’s mission hall.

It was just like the night of the auction!

Here, the Manager was about to announce and grant six powerful individuals the status of Advanced Member. This wouldn’t have concerned most people, but the Safe Zone was also about to form six exploration and conquest teams, and that concerned everyone!

Members already spent most of their time in the Nightmare World. Now that there was a big event happening in the Safe Zone, there was no way they would miss it.

Not only the hall, but even in the garden outside, every single table had already been taken.

Some members who arrived late couldn’t even find a seat.

"There are so many people! Most of them are even Member Level experts!"

"Does our Safe Zone really have this many members? I thought there were only a little over a hundred?"

"Hehe, a little over a hundred? That was the number from a while ago. The member count has been growing significantly every day. You have to remember, a lot of old Dream Descenders had already saved up 80 or 90 Contribution Points, so they were just one step away from the Member Realm."

"In just three days, the experts in the first and second tiers have been sprinting ahead, and so have the Ordinary Dream Descenders! But this means the competition to join these first teams is probably going to be even more intense!"

The members discussed among themselves.

Just then, a Dream Descender with two Curse Treasure Swords hanging at his waist walked into the hall.

He was followed by several other experts who had equally impressive auras.

"It’s Xuan Jian!"

"I heard he’s probably the Elder Level Member with the most Contribution Points right now! They say he’s already led a team to conquer at least three deep Nightmares!"

"And not only that..."

Another well-connected and well-informed Member Level expert spoke up.

"Although Xuan Jian hasn’t officially entered the Second Refining Realm, several of his Curse Arts have already reached the Peak of Perfection. A Deputy Captain from the Countermeasures Bureau who is in the Second Refining Realm personally admitted that Xuan Jian’s combat power is greater than his own."

It was safe to say Xuan Jian had all but locked down a spot as an Advanced Member.

Moreover, Xuan Jian already had a fixed team of six or seven members, all of whom were experts from the Extreme Intent Martial Arts Hall.

Most members, however, were hoping to see an unaffiliated expert rise to the occasion.

After all, that would give them a better chance of joining one of the first teams.

"I think Old Wang has a decent chance."

"Boss Ye has also formed a team and is offering excellent benefits. It’s just a shame he entered the Safe Zone relatively late, so he probably doesn’t have much of a shot this time."

"Speaking of which, Cheng Ping, the ’Heaven-Peacing King,’ is also one of the top experts among the members. I think he has a fighting chance too."

"What about the Countermeasures Bureau? Among our Safe Zone’s members, there must be twenty or thirty Elites from the Bureau, right?"

However, the Countermeasures Bureau operatives were swamped with work.

Although there were many of them, Contribution Points in the Safe Zone couldn’t be traded or sold.

Sharp-eyed members could all see that the Countermeasures Bureau would likely have a hard time competing for an Advanced Member spot this time.

"But they’re the Countermeasures Bureau, after all—the largest and most powerful faction in our Baijiang City. The Bureau itself possesses numerous Treasures and offers first-class benefits. Maybe they just aren’t that concerned about this Advanced Member competition?"

The time quickly reached midnight.

Shi An emerged from a passage behind the platform, wearing a silver-white coat and wielding two Excellence Level Curse Objects: the Night Concealment Mask and the Fearless Insect Armor.

He scanned the crowd and nodded to everyone.

"The Safe Zone was founded with two initial goals. First, to give Dream Descenders a place to be safe from being slain by Nightmares. And second, to help our generation of Dream Descenders face Nightmares without fear, treating them as challenges to be conquered and enemies to be defeated."

"During this time, you have all conquered countless Nightmares. The Safe Zone would not have reached its current scale without everyone’s help."

Even though the Manager said this, the members knew better.

’Without everyone’s help? But in reality, their contributions to the Safe Zone’s development were minimal.’

’Does conquering Nightmares help the Safe Zone develop? No!’

’The Safe Zone’s development has actually been carried entirely on the Manager’s shoulders.’

’But as our strength grows, we will definitely be able to make some real, meaningful contributions to the Safe Zone!’

...

Shi An didn’t know what his members were thinking. After a few brief words, he got to the main point.

"We will now begin awarding the Advanced Member badges."

Shi An took out a round, silver-textured badge.

He announced, "The first Advanced Member is Xuan Jian!"

Xuan Jian couldn’t help but break into a smile. He stepped forward and accepted the badge with both hands. "Manager, I, Xuan Jian, will firmly remember the initial declaration: I will face the Nightmares, conquer the Nightmares, and forge a path through the Nightmares!"

Shi An immediately announced the second Advanced Member.

It was Xi Xue.

This was also within everyone’s expectations.

Both of them were powerful experts with strong backgrounds and long-standing seniority.

The third Advanced Member, however, was a surprise to everyone.

"Jiang Peng!"

Shi An said, "Researcher Jiang has delved into Nightmares many times to investigate them and has written numerous Nightmare guides. I believe many of you have witnessed his contributions firsthand."

The powerful members might have overlooked him.

But many newly promoted members, or even non-member Dream Descenders, had relied on Jiang Peng’s guide posts to conquer Nightmares step by step.

The others came to a sudden realization.

Researcher Jiang might not be strong in terms of combat, but his contributions were truly undeniable!

"The fourth Advanced Member..."

Old Wang!

"The fifth Advanced Member..."

Li Wei!

"The sixth Advanced Member..."

Chen Baichuan.

With that, Shi An had distributed the first batch of six Advanced Member qualifications.

And with them, the six core teams were born.