Online Game: Starting with an SSS-Level Plundering Talent - Chapter 72

Chapter 72: Abundant Rewards, the Second Origin Stone
In the world of Gods.

John paid no attention to Toby.

After the fall of Silverleaf City, he led the beasts back to Flame City.

The army was still busy cleaning up the battlefield and taking stock of the loot.

“Boss, you’re back,” Ritchie greeted John with a smile, clearly pleased to see him.

He had heard the system announcement and knew that John had destroyed Silverleaf City.

John nodded, then turned to the group of beasts behind him and said, “Don’t resist. I’m going to transport you all to Death Land.”

The beasts all nodded eagerly, their faces full of anticipation.

Wrapped in spatial energy, they were transported into Death Land.

That is a place filled with the energy of The Tree of Life and Vein of the Earth. It was an ideal training ground that would help them quickly restore their peak strength.

“Both of you should return as well,” John said, addressing Black Turtle and Judy, the two powerful seventh-tier beasts that remained by his side.

Black Turtle agreed without hesitation, but Judy looked toward Ada for guidance.

Ada, still exuding an air of arrogance, looked at John and said, “Judy will stay with me. However, your strength has indeed impressed me. I hereby appoint you as the Grand General of the Gates Empire. You will fight for the empire!”

John frowned at Ada, thinking that there was definitely something wrong with this woman.

He couldn’t fathom how someone like her could become a princess—it just proved that birthright often outweighed effort.

Deciding to ignore her, John coldly said, “You should go to Death Land too.”

“No way!” Ada rejected the idea outright. Looking at Flame City behind her, she said calmly, “I need to stay here to handle matters and train your people.”

Ritchie, standing nearby, was visibly displeased. Who was this woman to assume that she could take charge of the city they had fought so hard to conquer?

“Princess,” Black Turtle said, with a sycophantic tone, “It’s better to leave the management of this city to Godslayer. You have a more important task—taming those beasts. Only you can do it.”

“Is that so?” Ada looked at Black Turtle with suspicion.

Judy added her voice, urging, “Miss, those beasts will be more useful to us.”

“Really?” Ada was tempted, though she still disliked the idea of going to Death Land, preferring the freedom outside.

She glanced at Flame City behind her. For the sake of restoring the empire, she decided to make a sacrifice.

“Godslayer, I agree to enter Death Land and manage those beasts,” she said to John, still with a haughty demeanor, as if she were doing him a great favor.

John didn’t bother with more words and simply transported her and Judy into Death Land.

After sending Ada away, John eagerly turned to Black Turtle and asked, “Senior, what herbs do you need? I’ll find them right away so we can take down that Judy.”

John could hardly tolerate Ada any longer. If it weren’t for his desire to win over Judy, he would have sent Ada packing a long time ago.

“Finally seeing things my way?” Black Turtle grinned slyly. “Refining a potion capable of subduing a seventh-tier beast isn’t easy. The herbs you need can only be found in one place.”

He handed John a scroll and a scale, saying, “This is the map to the Beast Clan’s Secret Area. The scale is my token. The beasts there will help you when they see it.”

Anna, watching Black Turtle hand over the items, was surprised and delighted.

The Beast Clan’s Secret Area was said to be prepared for the prophesied savior. Could it be that the senior now acknowledged John as that savior?

Black Turtle looked at John and warned, “This token will only help you collect the herbs I need. Don’t get any ideas.”

“Do I look like that kind of person?” John said, exasperated, as if he’d strip the Beast Clan’s Secret Area bare.

Still, he was curious about whether the Beast Clan’s Secret Area might hold some treasures.

The elves had something as valuable as The Tree of Life.

The Beast Clan, being even more powerful, must have some treasures of their own.

John examined the items in his hand.

[Beast Clan’s Secret Area Path: Special Secret Area, no entry conditions required]

[Dragon Scale: Beast Clan token]

Both items had only brief descriptions, revealing little information.

John stored the items away, then sent Black Turtle back to Death Land.

“Master, we’ll return as well,” Anna said, bidding farewell to John. She had refined the Death Land token and could now enter and leave Death Land freely.

With the beasts and elves gone, only John and a few others remained.

Armstrong, looking rather displeased, approached John and said pitifully, “Brother-in-law, do you have any powerful weapons or gear? Give me a couple of pieces. If not, I wouldn’t mind taking Ritchie’s Diamond Giant Shield.”

Armstrong had learned that Ritchie’s artifact had been given to him by John.

After being defeated by someone from Griffin Family, he was boiling with anger. The real issue, he thought, was that his weapons and gear were too weak.

Hearing Armstrong’s words, Ritchie immediately clutched his shield tightly, glaring at Armstrong in alarm.

The Diamond Giant Shield was an artifact, the only one of its kind in the entire world of Gods.

Tracy, unable to listen any longer, snapped, “Do you have no shame? If you want weapons or gear, go earn them yourself.”

“Exactly,” Ritchie quickly agreed, clutching his giant shield even tighter.

Armstrong shot a glare at Ritchie and turned to Tracy, grumbling, “Sister, I’m your brother, your real brother.”

“Enough,” John interrupted, saying, “I do have a piece of equipment that suits you.”

He thought of the silver spear, a third-tier legendary weapon dropped by the demon guardian Evan.

Originally intended for Ritchie, it seemed better suited for Armstrong, who, as a disciple of Ancient Martial Arts, had more combat experience.

Armstrong had been ambushed by Griffin Family disciples led by Skywalker and had died once, but he had managed to retain his third-tier status at level 60.

“A legendary weapon!” Armstrong marveled as he held the silver spear in his hand. He twirled it effortlessly, the blade flashing coldly as it cut through the air with a sharp whistle.

Then, with a sly grin, he turned to Ritchie and said, “Ritchie, let’s have a duel. The stakes will be the silver spear against your Diamond Giant Shield.”

“A duel is fine, but there’s no way I’m putting my Diamond Giant Shield on the line,” Ritchie replied firmly. Though he didn’t think Armstrong could beat him, he wasn’t about to risk losing his artifact in a bet.

“Captain!” A soldier suddenly ran over, excitement in his voice as he reported the results of the battle: “We’ve finished tallying the spoils. We’ve got 1,100 sets of second-tier premium gear, 5,400 sets of third-tier premium gear, and over 900 sets of fourth-tier premium gear, plus countless other materials…”

“That much?” Ritchie was overjoyed.

John had the unique ability to make even ordinary monsters drop high-quality equipment.

And the lowest quality among the spoils was premium.

With over five thousand sets of third-tier gear, they could outfit the entire Flame Legion.

On top of that, there were numerous skill stones, enhancement stones, and gem materials for equipment.

It was no exaggeration to say that after this battle, the Flame Legion had become the strongest force around.

“Boss, how should we distribute these items?” Ritchie asked, knowing that most of the loot technically belonged to John.

John considered for a moment and then said, “Set aside a thousand sets of the second- and third-tier gear for Blues Family. The rest, you can distribute among yourselves.”

“Thank you, brother-in-law,” Armstrong said, his eyes shining with gratitude.

Then, as another thought struck him, he asked excitedly, “Brother-in-law, when will you help us establish our own city?”

He had been envious ever since seeing Ritchie successfully establish a city and reap such rewards.

“No rush. You need to focus on strengthening your forces first—make sure everyone reaches the third tier,” John advised, planning to help Blues Family establish a city in The Land of Elves.

The Land of Elves was located within the Eternal Forest, a place even more dangerous than the Dark Forest. Even with the assistance of Black Turtle and the other beasts, John wasn’t entirely confident.

They needed to be fully prepared—not only did the Blues Family disciples need to increase their strength, but John also needed to enhance his power as much as possible.

During the recent attack on Flame City, nearly all the top-ranked factions in the world of Gods had participated, and they suffered significant losses.

It was unlikely that any of these factions would successfully establish their own cities in the near future, giving them some breathing room.

“By the way,” John suddenly remembered something and turned to Ritchie, asking, “Is there a city Secret Area?”

Ritchie nodded and replied, “Yes, there is. Besides the skill stone Secret Area you mentioned, there’s another one, the Demon King’s Treasure.”

So, the Demon King’s Treasure was indeed a city Secret Area.

“Grant me access,” John requested, curious to explore what the Demon King’s Treasure was all about.

In a city Secret Area, only the city lord could grant entry, so anyone else wanting to access it needed the city lord’s authorization.

Without hesitation, Ritchie granted John full access to both city Secret Areas.

[Skill Stone Secret Area: Level 1, Entry Requirement: Second-tier or higher profession; Cooldown: 7 days]

[Demon King’s Treasure: Unknown Secret Area; Entry Requirement: Seventh-tier or higher profession]

John was already familiar with the Skill Stone Secret Area—completing a Level 1 Secret Area would reward only 100 skill stones.

While he wasn’t too concerned about that amount.

He knew the rewards would become more substantial as the city and Secret Area levels increased.

However, what really piqued his interest was the Demon King’s Treasure, an unknown Secret Area that required a seventh-tier or higher profession to enter.

Since advancing to the seventh tier was an increasingly difficult and time-consuming process.

This Demon King’s Treasure would have to wait.

John had a feeling that there was something significant hidden within this Secret Area, and he suspected that the demon race wouldn’t let the matter rest easily either.

He instructed Ritchie, “Ritchie, keep an eye on the demon race’s movements in Dark Forest. If there’s any danger, let me know immediately.”

“Don’t worry, boss. I won’t let anything happen to Flame City,” Ritchie promised with conviction.

Flame City was the stronghold of the Flame Legion, where they had invested everything. It was crucial that nothing happened to it.

John nodded in agreement and decided to head to the Beast Clan’s Secret Area to gather the herbs that Black Turtle needed.

The location was also within Dark Forest, but much deeper inside.

After bidding farewell to his companions, he mounted the black dragon Avis and took off.

Sini and Tracy chose not to accompany him; they decided instead to help the Blues Family strengthen their forces.

Their primary reason was that they didn’t want to hold John back.

By assisting the Blues Family, they were indirectly supporting John as well.

…

As the wind howled, a massive shadow streaked across the forest below.

John lay comfortably on Avis’s back, inspecting the spoils he had collected from defeating the demon guardians and the demon general.

“Origin Stone!” he exclaimed, sitting up in excitement.

He had unexpectedly acquired another Origin Stone, dropped by the demon general, Bolt.