Chapter 687 - 432: Divine Hall Key (2)

Chapter 687: Chapter 432: Divine Hall Key (2)

In an empty Magic Classroom, Dean Gandoldov paced back and forth, his face flushed with excitement in a rare loss of composure. "You actually succeeded! This is simply incredible... Th-this is an unprecedented, epic feat!"

"Dean, all this praise is making my head swell," Zhou Chen said with an embarrassed smile.

He really did feel a bit light-headed. As soon as he had teleported back, he was met with an enthusiastic welcome from everyone; it was hard not to get carried away. Of course, having been through his share of major events, he had already calmed down.

"This praise is no exaggeration. Your deeds will be written into timeless epics and sung by Minstrels across all of Gaia, becoming a legendary tale for generations to come," Dean Gandoldov said excitedly.

Zhou Chen paused, taken aback. "Uh... doesn’t Gaia have the internet? Why do you need Minstrels to spread the news?"

"It’s a figure of speech." The Dean had finally composed himself. He then took out a golden key from his pocket, though it was only half a key.

"This is the key to the Divine Hall I promised you. The Holy Hall Church will give you the other half."

——[Key to the Divine Hall: A mysterious key that has been split in two. It is said that once whole, it can open a certain ancient Divine Hall.]

[Quest "Path of the King" Updated: You have obtained half of the Divine Hall key. Continue your efforts to find the remaining half.]

’Excellent, the main quest has progressed by a huge margin...’ Zhou Chen accepted the key and said, "Dean, I have one small request."

"Name it." The Dean’s attitude was resolute; he would do his best to grant whatever Zhou Chen asked.

"I want everyone to know that I was the one who reignited the Sun, and that I killed the Magma Giant Beast, the Sea Serpent Emperor Dragon, and our other enemies," Zhou Chen said with gravity.

The Dean was taken aback for a moment.

"That’s all?"

"That’s all."

The Dean sank into contemplation. Compared to everything Zhou Chen had accomplished, the reward he was asking for was utterly trivial!

"Although I don’t know what you’re planning, the Academy will take care of it... Hmm, it’s actually quite simple. We just need to mobilize everyone at the Academy to post the news online. In less than half an hour, every place on Gaia with network coverage will know you did these things." The Dean’s subtext was clear: Zhou Chen could ask for more.

Zhou Chen pondered for a moment. He was already decked out in luxurious equipment and didn’t really need anything, so he asked, "...In that case, does the Academy have any heirlooms left behind by a Master Forger?"

The Dean shook his head. "No, we don’t have any. Ever since Alchemy developed, Blacksmiths have become increasingly rare. At this point, you can count the number of Blacksmiths on your fingers."

"In that case, I’ll have to trouble you to post a bounty, Dean, to collect heirlooms from Master Forgers. And if any Blacksmiths wish to sell their forged items, I’m willing to buy those as well."

"The Academy will acquire them on your behalf. Just leave it to us."

·

Just as the Dean had said, in less than half an hour, news of Zhou Chen’s deeds had spread to every place with network coverage.

His wish points skyrocketed, smoothly breaking the one hundred thousand mark in just over ten minutes and shooting toward the two hundred thousand mark like a rocket.

Now, Zhou Chen had earned one use of a Tiny Miracle.

This was enough for him to wish for a direct promotion to Tier Four · Uncrowned. However, since he was inside the Restricted Area, he was subject to its suppressive Rules and couldn’t advance here. It wasn’t that the Tiny Miracle was incapable of overcoming the Rules, but rather that if he used it to advance, he would most likely be ejected from the Restricted Area.

Wishing for a promotion to Tier Five - Crowned King, on the other hand, would require one million wish points.

In the past, Zhou Chen would have found this goal to be distant and unattainable, but now he felt it was no longer an empty dream. It was something he had a real hope of achieving.

’If I can just lift the seal on the Restricted Area...’

Then, getting a million wish points would be far from impossible.

Granted, the vast majority of the Gaia People weren’t actually interested in unsealing the Restricted Area, but the population base was undeniable. Gaia’s population was five million; if just one-fifth of them provided a single wish point each, that would total one million.

As for why the vast majority of people were not interested in unsealing the Restricted Area—

—it was because the Gaia People, with the help of the Star Association, had long been living lives free from want. A considerable number lived inside stable cities, and many were even completely oblivious to the dangers of the outside world. Naturally, they wouldn’t be interested in unsealing the Restricted Area.

It was like telling an office drone, someone worked to the bone by a brutal overtime schedule, that you could send them to outer space. Even if you did, you wouldn’t generate any wish points, because they had no such desire to begin with. To them, a trip to space was less appealing than a cash bonus or a few days off.

It was the same now. Despite having reignited the Sun and killed so many monsters, he had only received a little over one hundred thousand wish points in total. Although the number was still growing, the initial amount was by no means large.

This meant that many people were actually indifferent to the Sun’s rekindling. Gaia had developed to its current state without a sun, so in the eyes of many, it made no difference whether there was one or not.

People were even more indifferent to the slaying of monsters like the Magma Giant Beast and the Sea Serpent Emperor Dragon. After all, most of them lived inside Barrier Cities and would never encounter such creatures in their lifetime.

If reigniting the Sun hadn’t also quelled numerous natural disasters, he probably wouldn’t have even gained this many wish points.

’To be honest, there is one method that might effectively solve this problem.’

’That would be to do bad things in secret—a lot of them. Plunge Gaia into utter chaos and extreme danger, destroy everyone’s stable lives, and usher in an apocalypse. Make people homeless and destitute, unable to fill their bellies or clothe their bodies, and force them to live in a constant state of immense terror and mortal peril.’

’In that situation, they would surely hope for someone to save them, long for someone to restore the stable lives they once had. All I would have to do then is show up, save the World, and reveal my power. The wish points would absolutely skyrocket...’

But he had a moral compass. He couldn’t bring himself to do something like that.

"Mr. Zhou Chen... Mr. Zhou Chen?"

The call pulled Zhou Chen’s thoughts back to reality.

Standing before him was the current Saintess of the Holy Hall Church, Lisi Jeanne, who had previously given him the cold shoulder. Now, however, this Saintess wore a smile, and her tone had softened. Her previously cold and dismissive demeanor was gone, clearly shaken by Zhou Chen’s accomplishments.

"Did you hear everything I just said?" Lisi Jeanne asked.

"The instructions for opening the Divine Hall, right? I’ve got them down," Zhou Chen nodded.

"In that case, I wish you success."

Lisi Jeanne respectfully presented him with a Golden Key.

[Key to the Divine Hall: A key that opens a certain Divine Hall. It gleams with a golden light, dazzling to the extreme.

This is proof of your approval by both the Magic Academy and the Holy Hall Church.]

[Quest "Path of the King" Updated: After enduring countless hardships, you have finally obtained the two keys to the Divine Hall and combined them into one. You are preparing to set off for the Valley of Miasma in search of the Divine Hall.]

"Before you depart, an old acquaintance wishes to see you," Lisi Jeanne said.

"An old acquaintance?"

’Is Tang Ling finally going to see me?’ Zhou Chen’s spirits lifted, and he quickly asked Lisi Jeanne to lead the way.

Lisi Jeanne led him to a magnificent, gilded reception room and then silently departed. A familiar figure was sitting on the sofa with their legs crossed, calmly sipping coffee.

"Jiang Che?"

Zhou Chen was stunned. "What are you doing here?"

"My teacher assigned me a mission, so I came in."

Jiang Che put down her cup, raised her eyes, and gazed at him calmly. "It’s been a while."

"Ah... yeah, it has been a while." Zhou Chen scratched his head awkwardly and chuckled. They hadn’t seen each other in person since Jiang Che became a global sensation. Even though they chatted every day, meeting so suddenly felt a little strange.

"So, what did you want to see me about?"

Zhou Chen sat on a nearby sofa, his eyes full of anticipation as he asked.

’Jiang Che did say she’d give me an answer the next time we met.’

’Now that we’re meeting, maybe...’

"The Satellite Cities have initiated the Artificial Sun energy supply project, and they require your assistance," Jiang Che stated evenly, her tone strictly business.