Segman knew the power of this strengthening machine, so he no longer tried to strengthen ordinary short swords. Instead, he took out a sacred artifact called the 'Magic Wand.'
This sacred artifact was obtained from the Tower of Trial, a rare item with a very small range of effect. Because its range was so small, its effects were extremely powerful. Within a one-meter radius of the wand, all the magic cast by mages would be more than double the usual power, and the magic itself would be enhanced.
In gaming terms, MP would be doubled.
Due to the settings in Sacred Spirit, sacred artifacts could only be placed in the manor or within a guild, making this wand very underwhelming for players.
After all, what's the use of doubling MP within a one-meter radius in the main city? To kill the main city guards?
This wand was one of Segman's crucial aids in acquiring the Stone Tablet of Sacred Records.
Just as he was about to throw the wand into the strengthening machine, an old mage finally approached him.
"Your Highness, Segman! Your Highness! We must return immediately!" The old mage gripped Segman's shoulders with his aged hands.
"Mentor, what's the matter?"
Segman was about to put the sacred wand into the strengthening machine when the old mage forced his arm back.
"Doomsday is coming! The prophecy is true! The end is near! The god of the Tower of Trial has revealed everything to me, a demonic star… a demonic star is heading towards this plane."
"Mentor, is what you said true?"
Segman looked at his mentor's twisted face. If anyone else had told him this, Segman would have assumed they were a charlatan.
But standing before him was the greatest sage and prophet of the Flowing Water Country. His greatness didn't come from his magical prowess but from his knowledge and ability to communicate with gods.
Since his youth, he had foretold three events that could have led to the destruction of the Flowing Water Country. The king didn't believe him the first time.
Though the country wasn't destroyed, it suffered heavy blows. The second time, the king chose to believe him, and the Flowing Water Country narrowly escaped destruction. By the third time, he was already the greatest sage in the Flowing Water Country, and the king followed his guidance, making the Flowing Water Country one of the most powerful nations in their world.
These events took place thirty years ago. The Flowing Water Country had developed smoothly for thirty years, and now this prophet was predicting the world's end.
"It's true! We must go back and inform your father." The old mage's mouth was already dripping with blood, making Segman believe even more that the old mage had paid a heavy price to obtain this prophecy from the gods.
But the price was truly heavy—the old mage's waist was injured by the tower spirit, but in his urgency, he hadn't noticed.
"What's the solution?" Segman asked the crucial question. "What's the solution after doomsday arrives?"
Whenever the old mage made a prophecy, he would spend his life and magic seeking a solution. That's why he was respected by the people of the Flowing Water Country, even though he wasn't the most powerful mage in the country…
"The solution… the solution…" the old mage muttered to himself. His neck twisted strangely, and his pupils turned a pure golden color.
When Segman saw the pure gold pupils, he immediately let go of the old mage, knowing that something… sacred had possessed him.
"Holy Spirit." The old mage's voice became devoid of any emotion. "These warriors called Holy Spirits are heroes I summoned from distant planes. As they fight in the Tower of Trial, they will regain their original power. These heroes… will help you resist the coming doomsday!"
Holy Spirits? Heroes? Heroes summoned by gods?
Segman followed the old mage's indication and looked towards the distant place where the fairy merchants were.
"Damn it! I'm only thirty magic stones short of getting the mane horse headpiece. How did those liver emperors manage to get the rare rainbow unicorn headpiece?"
"Brother, don't get a headpiece, get a mount! The Fatty Qiu walking bird is an out-of-print mount."
"Anyone for a dance battle? If no one answers, I'll ask again."
"First floor of the Tower of Trial! Looking for a strong MT! Health over 4000! Hurry and join the group!"
Seeing the scene in the distance, Segman could only describe it with one phrase: a carnival of chaos…
By the Flowing Water God! These people are the gods' chosen saviors? How could Segman… just not believe it? He felt like picking a random group from an asylum in the Flowing Water Country would be stronger than them!
But the images he saw and the sounds he heard told Segman that these people definitely didn't seem capable of saving the world, yet reason told Segman, 'No! They are!'
The most direct feeling was that the strongest among these Holy Spirits had broken Segman's sacred records with ease.
That was something Segman was unwilling to admit.
The survival of the country was far more important than Segman's personal feelings.
"Mentor, please go back and inform my father of these events. I have something else to do here," Segman said.
"What about you?" The old mage had regained his senses, and the tower spirit's consciousness had left him.
"Me?" Segman glanced again at the players who had started a dance battle. "I also want to be a hero. No… I must be a hero."
"Sigh… don't push yourself too hard."
The old mage knew his disciple Segman was the best and the most outstanding in the Flowing Water Country, but Segman had one flaw: he was too competitive.
So competitive that he wouldn't allow anyone to be better than him. If such a person appeared, Segman would go to any lengths to become stronger than them.
The players who had broken his sacred records were undoubtedly better than Segman, which had hit his pride.
Segman admitted that these Holy Spirits had the potential to save the world and become heroes, but he also wanted to be that hero!
The old mage disappeared from Segman's sight, and Segman looked at the strengthening machine in the distance, holding the wand in his hand.
"I can't embarrass myself in front of those bizarre folks tomorrow," Segman said as he threw the sacred wand of his country into the strengthening machine.
Jiang Qiao had been watching the exchange between the old mage and Segman. At that moment, Hai Lan floated over to Jiang Qiao.
"I'm hungry." Hai Lan puffed out her cheeks slightly and said the three words that made the nearby tower spirit tremble with fear.
"I know, but wait a little longer." Jiang Qiao gently pushed Hai Lan's cheeks aside, keeping his eyes on Segman, who was outwitting the strengthening machine in the distance.
From the conversation between Segman and the old mage, Jiang Qiao could tell that the old mage's status in their country was akin to that of a prophet.
This made the old mage's words more credible. It wouldn't be long before NPCs would appear outside the Tower of Trial, treating players as saviors. However, Jiang Qiao didn't rule out that they would send people to test the players' capabilities or to see if they could fulfill the role of saviors. The native inhabitants would also likely send heavy troops to guard this front-line battlefield.
To the players, this was just a world quest, but to the native inhabitants, it was a crisis of life and death.
Regardless… Jiang Qiao needed to spend some time preparing for the imminent battle for Hai Lan's godhood.
But before that, Jiang Qiao had another matter to resolve.
"Hai Lan, our world can still be invaded, right?" Jiang Qiao asked.
"Absolutely, there are many invading planes on the star map. Some invading planes seem to have already detected Blue Star's existence." Hai Lan also appeared very worried.
At this point, Jiang Qiao had two solutions. The first solution was to send players to the invading planes and eliminate them before they reached Blue Star, but this would introduce many… unknown troubles.
Each plane had different rules.
When Jiang Qiao brought players to this high tower plane fragment, he spent a lot of energy modifying the laws of this plane to integrate it into the Holy Spirit system.
Invasion planes wouldn't give Jiang Qiao that chance.
So Jiang Qiao had a second idea!
"Perhaps we should start creating a hidden world within Blue Star."
This was Jiang Qiao's second solution.
"Creating another world!? I don't have that much energy!" Hearing about creating a new world, Hai Lan immediately went into a state of alert.
"Not a complete new world, but a hidden world based on the framework of Blue Star. I can't explain it well right now, but I have an idea. Let's go offline first, your garlic butter lobster has arrived." Jiang Qiao said.