Inside the basket were nearly a dozen yellowish bars that gave off an odd sweetish smell, but a fiery and demonic aura that made the space around them tremble.
[Exotic Basket[4]] (Fragmented Divine Artifact Rank Item)
A gift left behind by Demon Emperor Afton for future rulers of the demon race.
Active Skill: Severance Package
Put 100 Mana Stones in the Exotic Basket to create an Exotic Butter.
Cooldown: 6 hours
[Exotic Butter] (Consumable, Inferior Divine Artifact Rank)
Permanently increase the effects of all fire-type and dark-type skills and spells upon consumption. Affinity with fire-type Mana increased by 50%. Increase the Power of Darkness possessed by the consumer and Demon Noble rank by one (up to Marquise rank) if the consumer is of a demonic origin. Decrease all hostile dark-type effects on the consumer by 30%.
Cooldown: 3 hours
The description of the Exotic Basket was simple, but its implications and ability were far from ordinary. An item with a skill that could create Inferior Divine Artifact ranked Consumables of this level for just one hundred Mana Stones was a priceless treasure.
Moreover, it came with ten Exotic Butters already in it.
Consumables that could increase a demon's or Demon Player's Demon Noble rank were incredibly valuable since one could normally only receive such an increase by doing Quests for powerful Demon Kings or Demon Gods and achieving great things for them. Even with a limit of upgrading their Nobility level to Marquise rank, it was still of immense value to get a good start, and one could even raise a powerful army of demons using them.
Exotic Butters would also serve to easily neutralize the penalty Demon Players received for dying since their Demon Noble rank would decrease every time they died.
Though, even for creatures like Feng, who is, technically, among the Forces of Light, Exotic Butters were of great value since they also carried some amount of Fire Law within them and gave a huge increase to one's fire-type abilities upon consumption.
Additionally, it could help in dealing with things like dark-type attacks or curses.
Wanting to see how much he'd benefit from an Exotic Butter, Feng took one of the butter sticks from the Exotic Basket and ate it. The creamy taste of the Exotic Butter was very quickly overpowered by the scorching feeling brought about from swallowing it, and Feng felt like his throat was on fire.
At the same time, he could feel his ability to sense and manipulate fire Mana exponentially increase, as well as his perception of the Power of Darkness within this trial space growing much keener.
However, the effects did not stop there, and Feng's greatest benefit, which was also what he had hoped to achieve by consuming the Exotic Butter, was the decrease in the pressure his soul was receiving from the Power of Darkness assaulting it as Moloch's Ring tried to devour Feng's soul.
Although Feng wasn't sure if it was reduced by the full 30% like in the Exotic Butter's description, the Power of Darkness was definitely pushed back considerably, relieving some of the stress Chibi Sherlyn was enduring by the devouring.
With this, Feng could buy himself some more time before the Legendary Ring kills him.
After reviewing the benefits from eating the stick of butter, Feng was a bit surprised as it wasn't his first time consuming Exotic Butters, having received five of the Inferior Divine Artifact Consumables in the previous timeline among the rewards gained from the Asura Mode World Summit Trial, whereas the person who cleared Hell Mode got one Exotic Butter.
Though, he guessed that it was simply because he was Tier 1 right now, while when eating the butter sticks before he had been a Tier 6 Sword God with a Superior Divine Body, and went back to admiring the Exotic Basket.
For organizations that were comprised of Demon Players, the Fragmented Divine Artifact would be of even more value than the previous rewards Feng had received, or perhaps even more than some Divine Artifacts.
Feng didn't plan to let its potential go to waste, of course, and decided on using it to create a powerful Dark Guild for Zero Wing that could do some of the business that a guild belonging to the Forces of Light could not afford to be caught doing.
But he'll have to restore many more of Zero Wing's former members before he could set that up.
"Want one?" Stretching out his hand holding the Exotic Basket to Celestina, Feng offered the demon girl an Exotic Butter from the basket.
"Are you messing with me?" Despite his polite offer, the Demon Empress was far from appreciative, her brows furrowing at the smiley human and his teasing expression.
As a being whose physical body was only a manifestation of her soul, aside from Consumables that were used for recovering things like Mana, Stamina, and Concentration, Celestina couldn't eat or drink anything else, not even being able to consume them properly let alone gain anything from them.
Naturally, Feng should know that since they had tested it out in the past, yet he still offered her the basket filled with Exotic Butters, letting the smell of her favorite snacks wash over the demon girl as if to simply annoy the Demon Goddess.
"Mayhaps," Taking back the basket and storing it along with the Inferior Divine Artifact Consumables in his bag, Feng then moved on to one of the rewards that had drawn his attention the most.
A large dark purple chest with black gems decorating it, while the chest's lock was made from Seven Luminaries Crystals, sat silently on a pedestal. From the purple chest's sides, two slick and elegant curved horns protruded, extending out higher than the chest itself.
Unlike any of the previous items, the Treasure Chest didn't give out any powerful aura or pressure, seeming like a completely normal chest with some fancy designs. However, Feng got an ominous and dark feeling as he approached the chest and inspected it.
[Empress Treasure Chest]
A Treasure Chest created as a reward by Demon Empress Celestina.
Seeing the Treasure Chest's description, Feng immediately grew excited.
Treasure Chests such as the Empress Treasure Chest were also known as Divine Treasure Chests. Meanwhile, the value of a Divine Treasure Chest could range anywhere from an Inferior Legendary Treasure Chest to an Inferior Mythical Treasure Chest.
With how powerful and wealthy Celestina had been, standing at the very top of God's Domain with few beings who could match her strength, Feng was certain that her Empress Treasure Chest would be top-tier among Divine Treasure Chests. It wouldn't be surprising if the rewards inside the Empress Treasure Chest even surpassed that of Inferior Mythical Treasure Chests in value.
The only downside of Divine Treasure Chests was that each chest would only contain one item.
However, even if it was only one item, it was still a precious item from an Inferior Mythical Treasure Chest-equivalent. Moreover, since it was a Divine Treasure Chest of such a high caliber, there was a chance of even obtaining a Divine Artifact from the Empress Treasure Chest.
Though, it was quite unlikely as the higher-ranking an item is, the more unlikely it was to get it from a Treasure Chest from a lower rank. This especially went for getting Divine Artifacts from Inferior Mythical Treasure Chests.
If getting a Fragmented Legendary item from an Epic Chest was a one-in-one hundred chance, then obtaining a Divine Artifact from an Inferior Mythical Treasure Chest was practically a one-in-one trillion chance.
In fact, setting aside how incredibly rare Inferior Mythical Treasure Chests were since players could only get them from some one-in-a-thousand-year events or possibly by completing Inferior Mythical or Mythical Quests, being able to get a Divine Artifact from them was essentially a myth.
Among the cases known of the Treasure Chests getting opened, only one player had obtained a Divine Artifact from an Inferior Mythical Treasure Chest in all of God's Domans history. But that was a very long time ago, with the person having long since died from old age despite the greatly improved lifespan of creatures in the Greater World.
Of course, it's possible that other players had lucked out and obtained Divine Artifacts from them as well but chose to keep that information hidden, but the chances were still abysmally low.
Since Feng was the one opening it with his monstrous Luck and Icarus's Heart's powers, though, the probability of him getting a Divine Artifact increases greatly. If he decides to wait until Kismet Cascade's cooldown is over, Feng would be 99% certain of acquiring a Divine Artifact.
"By the way, what can I get from this thing?" While looking over the Empress Treasure Chest's design, Feng suddenly remembered that the person who this chest is based after was standing right next to him, so he decided to inquire about the possible rewards.
Usually, if a powerful being creates their own Treasure Chest, the items one could obtain from them would be related to that person and something the being had designated as a possible roll upon opening their chest.
Hence, Celestina should have some inclination of what he might receive from the Empress Treasure Chest.
"Dunno." Casually replying while playing with her violet hair, the Demon Empress proved to be of no help whatsoever.
"How the fuck do you not know when it's your chest." Baffled by her dismissive answer, Feng restrained his urge to pull on the demon girl's tail in reprimand and asked further.
"I just designed and made the thing a long time ago without ever putting something within the Treasure Space. It was supposed to randomly pick something out from my treasuries, but if this is how the World Summit ended up after my death, then I have no idea what has become of my other possessions or what you could possibly get from the chest. Only the Heavens know that at this point." Explaining how the Empress Treasure Chest worked in irritation, Celestina's frustration over the current situation was evident, clearly a lot more pissed off by everything that has happened than Feng initially believed.
He did realize the situation with this Divine Treasure Chest after hearing her words, though. When a being whose custom Treasure Chest exists with a setting like Celestina's, an item among their treasures, within a few designated limitations, would randomly be given to the chest opener.
However, when that individual dies, and all their possessions are no longer available for the loot pool of the chest, then the Main God's System steps in. In such a situation, the player would receive something from it that would still be of a value possible to obtain from that Divine Treasure Chest in the first place, but much more random.
Thus, while Feng's chances of getting a Divine Artifact did not decrease in his mind from this revelation, having actually even increased, the randomness of what he could get did diminish some of his previous assurance of getting something very valuable.
Nevertheless, he stored the Empress Treasure Chest, deciding to open it later when the time was right, and switched his attention to the vial on the next pedestal.
The inside of the vial was filled with some black substance that was neither liquid nor gas, the thing inside oddly moving around within the transparent bottle in a somewhat gooey manner.
But it was the boundless vitality and terrifying aura of the thing within the vial that was truly shocking.
[Demon Ruler Bloodline] (Demonic Bloodline)
Race Requirement: Demonic Being
Compared to the Demon Ruler Bloodline, the Life Force Feng had felt from the Draconic-Voidling Bloodline seemed meek, the two Bloodlines being on different levels.
Although it wasn't ranked according to the usual standard of Bloodlines, Feng was sure that the Demon Ruler Bloodline greatly surpassed even Apex Bloodlines.
Looking at the Demonic Bloodline which had been left as a reward by Celestina and contained the Bloodline of the Demon Empress's peak self, Feng even felt tempted to replace one of his Bloodlines with it.
However, he ultimately decided against it.
Apart from having to convert into a Demon Player, which would completely mess up his plans since there was no way Sharlyn would agree to turn him into a Hero if he became a part of the Dark Forces, the Demonic Bloodline would conflict with his Blessing and cause each other to grow weaker, possibly even create some account-threatening problems, making the Demon Ruler Bloodline no different from poison for the current Feng.
Moreover, possessing her Bloodline would in some way make Feng Celestina's descendant and follower. Naturally, Feng couldn't afford their relationship to develop in such a manner even if it didn't actually change anything nor would Feng consider it that way.
Though, he could let someone else use it among his guild members that go down the Demon Player path.
"Don't even consider giving that Bloodline to somebody! I need it to recover my Bloodline and strength." As if seeing through Feng's thoughts, Celestina immediately shot down his idea with extreme distaste in her voice.
"I thought you couldn't use stuff like this." Not one to give up so easily on creating a powerful expert within his ranks, Feng commented while implying that the Demon Empress did not need it.
"Maybe not right now, but once I get a complete physical body, I'll need to purify its Bloodline in order to recover my full strength. I would have never expected that the portion of my Bloodline that I had left here as a reward on a whim would come around to serve such a helpful role." Celestina explained her situation, feeling wonderous about how the Demon Ruler Bloodline would end up having such a use after all this time.
Hearing the demon girl say so, Feng knew that having someone use the Demonic Bloodline was no longer an option. If Celestina truly needed it to recover her strength, then Feng had no choice but to agree due to their contract and the condition of him helping her recover in it.
Additionally, if he went against Celestina's will and allowed one of his guild members to absorb the Bloodline, the Demon Empress could possibly create other problems down the line, so it was for the best to just let her use it when she obtained a physical body later on.
Carefully storing the vial with a regretful look, Feng moved on to the miniature purple throne on the tenth pedestal.
It was small enough to fit within the palm of his hand, but it gave off an indiscernible aura and a heavy pressure that affected even Feng. Activating the Eyes of Truth, a Completion Bar appeared, slowly filling in and seeming like it would take a while to appraise.
After nearly five minutes, the identification was finally completed, revealing the little throne's details.
[Seat's Conquest]
Within the grand seat slumbers the power of a fallen ruler. If one can unlock the might sealed within the dusty seat and control it, one will gain the strength to rise on a throne of the universe.
Class Restriction: None
As the surprise from discovering the miniature throne's identity was sinking in, a system notification reached Feng.
System: Do you wish to accept the Legacy Trial?
Unexpectedly, the purple throne was a Legacy Item, and one belonging to Celestina going by it being a reward from the God Mode World Summit Trial.
The value of a Peak Legacy left behind by the Demon Empress, who had been one of the strongest beings of the Universal God's Domain's history, meaning her Legacy would be at the absolute very top of Apex Peak Legacies[5] or of an even higher rank, was uncalculatable.
A Apex Peak Legacy like Fire's Atrocity Legacy, that was only at the entry level of Apex Peak Legacies, was nothing before a Legacy from a ruler of the Demon race, but even it would be considered a priceless treasure.
Celestina's Legacy would be more sought after and far more valuable than even most of the Universal God's Domain's Ten Great Divine Equipment Sets in their complete state. Only a Divine Artifact Weapon that had control over a Peak Law could possibly match up to the Legacy's value.
Feng entered deep thought as he gazed down at the miniature throne in his hand.
This wasn't an opportunity he could casually write off.
Although the Blade Saint Legacy was powerful, rivaling some Apex Peak Legacies, and very suitable for him while also being a Legacy he was already quite intimately familiar with, it paled in comparison to Celestina's Legacy.
However, if he were to accept it, Feng wasn't sure if Sharlyn would be as willing to go through with turning him into a Hero. Yet it also wasn't impossible for her to agree if he were to only use the Legacy without converting into a Demon Player, even if that limited its power and potential by a considerable amount.
His bigger reluctance came from the fact that he'd have to give up on reforging the complete Destroyer of Immortality without going to the Tier 4 Promotion Land of the Blade Saint Legacy, and Feng wouldn't even be able to use the current Legacy Weapon anymore.
The Destroyer of Immortality was an incredibly powerful weapon, having been titled at one point as God's Domain's Deadliest Sword. Apart from possessing the Law of Destruction at the Full Mastery standard while a Divine Artifact, its far more deadly aspect was its second, Unranked Law.
That Law was the entire reason the Destroyer of Immortality had been so immeasurably powerful, and one of the main reasons for how the God Slayer had become as feared as he had been.
It was also something Feng couldn't afford to give up on.
But having both was impossible since, if he Class Changed from the Blade Saint Legacy, Feng would no longer be able to wield the Destroyer of Immortality.
While Feng was racking his brains over the choice and considering whether to just go for the Demon Empress's Legacy, Celestina walked over and snatched the small throne from his hands.
"Good, it still has the power I stored inside it!" An excited expression surfaced on the demon girl's face as she held the small throne and looked it over. "This will make things much easier."
"Don't tell me you need this Legacy Item as well?" Feng asked with some annoyance, not in the least pleased with where this was going.
"Of course! The portion of my power and Legacy that I stored inside the Seat's Conquest was originally meant to be obtained as a reward for someone who could become my successor, but now that I'm missing it myself, I can use the sealed power to recover once I recreate my body." The Demon Empress didn't seem to care about Feng's displeasure on her taking the Legacy Item for herself and simply explained.
Having died and lost her physical body, Celestina would need a lot of resources to recover even with one of her horns, so something carrying her Legacy, especially an item that had a portion of her power within it, was indispensable.
Since it was necessary for her recovery, Feng had to accept giving up on utilizing the Legacy and give it to Celestina due to their contract.
Losing both the Demon Ruler Bloodline and the priceless Apex Peak Legacy made Feng feel quite indignant and depressed, having to abandon to prospect of using such treasures because of the deal and give them all to the demon maid, inwardly complaining that Celestina was taking all the best rewards from him.
When he inspected the final item, however, all those thoughts disappeared from Feng's mind, being replaced by glee as a great opportunity to reap some more benefits presented itself.
On the eleventh pedestal was a short and delicate curved horn, giving off a feeling of grandiosity as it hovered over the purple surface. The Divine Might oozing from the pitch-black horn far surpassed all of the previous items combined, making it difficult for Feng to move as he was forced to activate Power of Darkness in order to approach and inspect it.
Upon seeing its description and confirming his suspicions, Feng's excitement showed on his face as he gripped the delicate horn.
[Demon Empress's Horn] (Consumable, Divine Artifact Rank)
This is a Legacy item[6] recording all the complete information belonging to the last Demon Empress, Celestina. Activating the Demon Empress's Horn requires 30,000 units of Seven Luminaries Crystals. Once the activation is complete and the Legacy Guidance is transferred, all information recorded within the Demon Empress's Horn will disappear.
To both Feng's and Celestina's great shock, the final item was the demon girl's horn. Unlike the one offered for exchange in the Divine Hall's Advanced Menu which had been a Divine Artifact ranked material, though, this one is a Consumable.
Furthermore, it was a Legacy item containing the information of Celestina's prime self.
In truth, Feng had spotted this item from the very start, its enormous aura having instantly drawn his attention the most, and wanted to inspect it, but due to the World Summit Trial's claiming procedure, he had to go through the items from start to end; forcing Feng to leave the horn for last.
Now that he was finally getting to fully see its description and identity, Feng grew completely stupefied.
Legacies that record information from even Ancient Gods were treasures anyone would kill to obtain, especially those below Tier 6, as there was a chance that aside from gaining more knowledge on Mana, Combat Techniques, Mana Techniques, and Laws, one could even learn how to create a Superior Divine Body.
The main major distinction between Tier 6 players on whether they were just regular experts or apex experts was if they possessed a Superior Divine Body. Without one, most Tier 6 experts won't even be able to match up to regular Gods, much less surpass the limits and contend against Ancient Gods.
Gaining a Legacy with records of a Primordial God's information was considered to be something only the luckiest could accomplish, since it no longer depended on just one's ability. Such Legacies were far more valuable as they were guaranteed to hold information on how to grow stronger and to infuse more Laws into one's Superior Divine Body, along with plenty of other valuable information such as possibly Primordial God-ranked Mana Techniques.
Whenever one appeared, huge wars would be waged for them between the strongest guilds, with even Apex Powers not holding back as they sought to claim the Legacy for themselves.
Meanwhile, items that held records from beings who had mastered Half-step Rules were practically nonexistent. This was because, aside from their astronomical rarity, even Primordial Gods would compete over such Legacies, leaving players with a very low chance of getting them.
After all, within the Legacy containing information from those existences that stood at the absolute peak of the universe, one could find clues on mastering a Half-step Rule.
No creature would be willing to let an opportunity like that pass by them; and even other beings who had already mastered a different Half-step Rule would want to obtain it in hopes of mastering another and gaining additional knowledge.
However, above even those beings were existences like Celestina.
Unmatched overlords who possessed absolute power that other beings with Half-step Rules could not stand before.
A Legacy with all of the Demon Empress's information and complete knowledge like the Demon Empress's Horn was an item that would turn the entire Universal God's Domain upside down if people found out about it.
Since this thing is described to be holding Celestina's complete record of all her information, it was bound to possess information on the Demon Empress's knowledge over Mana, Magic Arrays, and all her techniques, from Basic, Advanced, Bronze, Advanced Bronze, Silver, Advanced Silver, Gold, Advanced Gold, and even Platinum ranked Combat Techniques, to her Basic, Saint-ranked, Primordial God-ranked, and even Ruler-ranked Mana Techniques.
Most importantly, though, the Demon Empress's Horn would have information on her Mastery over the Power of Darkness, Laws, and Half-step Rules; along with how to integrate a Half-step Rule into one's Divine Body during the Promotion to Tier 6 in order to create a Surpasser Divine Body.
The most critical difference between unmatched overlords like Celestina and the God Slayer, and beings like Seraphina who could only use or have mastered Half-step Rules, besides the obvious differences in skill and Mastery levels, was in their Divine Bodies.
That fundamental difference in their beings between someone who just possesses a Superior Divine Body and Mastery over a Half-step Rule and someone who has completely mastered a Half-step Rule and integrated it into themselves to create a Surpasser Divine Body was akin to the difference between a regular God who has mastered a Law and an Ancient God who has created a Superior Divine Body; except much more significant as the difference in strength between them can not be measured.
One is a small existence playing around with the rules of the world whereas the other is a being who has surpassed them and walks on the path of total liberation.
And one could learn how to achieve this through the Legacy of a being like Celestina.
Feng, too, had long sought to learn this knowledge, but never managed to find anything to discover it nor convince the Demon Empress of the previous timeline to teach him.
Holding that information in his hands right now caused even him to gaze down at it with bated breaths, having a hard time believing that it was possible for this to exist.
Even Celestina would not be able to impart all that information into a Legacy item while still alive due to the sheer size of it and no object being capable of withholding it.
Only something like her very own horn would be able to store all that priceless information, but she couldn't have put it there without first cutting off the horn on her own, which the Primordial Demon Goddess would never do, especially not while escaping for her life, and she'd never put it in a place like this.
The only explanation was that someone else had obtained her horn and imparted that information in it before placing it here as a reward for clearing the God Mode World Summit Trial.
However, the Demon Empress's horns had been lost when she died, disappearing forever due to the intensity of the fight that took her life, and the only thing that Kratos had been able to obtain from finishing her off was the heavily damaged Pandemonium Lashblade, which had fallen to Fragmented Legendary rank, with a small portion of Celestina's soul secretly sealed inside it.
After reviving during Feng's previous life, Celestina had turned over the entire Universal God's Domain while looking for her lost horns, but she never managed to find them. Even though she had reclaimed the World Summit sometime later for her leftover treasures, the horns' location remained a mystery.
Feng found it unbelievable that Celestina somehow didn't locate them, when he had simply found the first one in the Divine Hall and the second one just here, yet none in the previous timeline seemed to know where they were.
How could have someone obtained both horns and placed them on the World Summit without Celestina being able to find them, even recording all of her information on one of them?
No living creature in God's Domain is capable of that.
Of course, Feng knew the answer, but still found it off, so he decided to first confirm its identity with the horn's owner before deciding what to do with it.
"This yours?" Holding up the horn in front of Celestina's stunned face, Feng asked despite already knowing the answer.
His question shook the demon maid out of her daze, having been too baffled by her horn's appearance as a reward, and she instantly appeared in front of Feng.
Hastily grabbing it out of his hands, Celestina closely inspected the horn, sensing the familiarity from it.
"My precious." Gently stroking the horn like it was a long-lost child, the Demon Goddess held it tightly, leaving Feng both amused by her reaction to the horn, as well as curious about its appearance in the first place.
"So I don't suppose you know why that horn would be here, as a reward for your God Mode World Summit Trial? Or why it has become like this?" This was the major detail Feng felt would confirm his suspicions.
"No, there shouldn't be anything else here. I only left ten rewards for whoever passes the trial;
"A Legendary ranked Replica of my armor Set, three pieces of equipment I got from killing that annoying white haired guy, the Ring from wiping out those birds, Early Morning Halo, the basket Senior Afton gifted me before I became the new Empress, my custom chest, the Bloodline formed from my own blood, and Seat's Conquest that held the power I left behind inside it, my Legacy for a possible successor, as well as recorded information for helping in their Tier 6 Promotion.
"I have no idea how one of my horns could have been placed in the Core Shrine, since no one aside from me should possess the authority to do such a thing. Whoever did this must have some inconceivable means, and a massive pair of balls to treat my horn like this; going so far as to even turn it into a mere Legacy item." The demon maid hissed out the last part, Celestina's anger being quite evident from her infuriated expression and shaking hands.
To demons, their horns were nearly as important as the soul, possessing a great portion of their power and identity, so such a part of their body being disrespected would enrage any demon.
Sullying the horns of a deceased demon is often frowned upon even by other demons and it rarely happened between demons themselves unless the horns belonged to a mortal enemy who another demon hated with a passion.
Still, the horns of Demon Emperors and Empresses are still usually treated with respect by other demons regardless of circumstances.
It was other races who didn't feel the same sentiment towards demonic horns that used the precious parts as materials for various tools or Consumables due to how much power of a demon's power is stored inside their horns. Hence, creatures from other races constantly used the horns, especially from powerful demons, as mere tools; which is considered blasphemy by the demon race.
Not that anyone cared for their feelings on the matter, of course.
However, to not only somehow obtain Celestina's horn after her death in this fashion but to also reduce it to such a state, and then put it in one of her treasuries among the main part of it meant to be a trial, was a great humiliation to the Demon Empress.
Being so blatantly disrespectful to her naturally pissed Celestina off. But the more concerning part was who could have done all that.
Both of them knew no creature in God's Domain could done it as recording all that information on the Demon Goddess's horn should not be possible, but Feng was aware that only the Main God's System had the ability to freely manipulate everything in God's Domain to such a degree.
He just didn't know why the system had chosen to transform the Demon Empress's horn into a Legacy item and put it as a reward in the God Mode World Summit Trial; as well as placed the other one in the Divine Hall.
"Never mind that, though. It's still great news that I can get both of my horns. This will make recovering my strength much easier." Choosing to set the matter aside for now, Celestina's expression brightened as she looked down at the delicate pitch-black horn.
"Who said anything about me giving you the horn?" Feng chuckled humorously as he grabbed the horn out of Celestina's hands.
"What do you mean!?" Seeing him taking away her horn, the Demon Empress's face darkened, glaring at Feng and questioning in a demanding tone.
"Of course, I'll be using it for myself. We already have that other one available, don't we? And I know that you don't need both to properly reconstruct your original body, so it's only natural that I take this one for my own purposes." Explaining matter-of-factly, Feng toyed with the horn in his hands as if it was just some random tool for him to use, and smiled at the demon maid.
"I won't accept this! Don't think that you can do whatever you want, human. You'll obediently give me the horn, or our cooperation is going to have problems from now on." Fully displaying her terrifying aura, the Mana in the surroundings rippled powerfully, causing an immense pressure to weigh down on Feng.
Celestina had no intention of playing nice and revealed her true presence as the Demon Empress, commanding Feng with an aura of authority.
"I think you're grossly misunderstanding the positions of power here." Feng remained completely composed without Celestina's dominating presence affecting him in the least and gave her a reality check as the contract's power restrained the Great Demon's powerful aura "I'll use the horns however I want. Your opinion is irrelevant."
"You!" Celestina couldn't find the words to express her anger, wishing for nothing more than to tear Feng's limbs off, but she did her best to calm down, immediately switching attitudes and attempting to convince him first, as the Demon Goddess knew Feng was the one in control right now "Even so, I'd be able to recover a much more significant portion of my strength if I used both horns. The process would also be much faster and more efficient. With my full power after the reconstruction of my physical body with both horns, you'd be able to benefit from our contract much more as well."
It was true that she didn't actually need two horns to create a new body for herself as one held all her physical information and would technically be enough to get the job done, however, using both would make everything much easier, and having both's information together to form a body would not limit Celestina's potential, along with making her much more comfortable in a fully compatible body for her soul.
But since it wasn't completely necessary for her to recover, the contract could not force Feng to give the horn to her as long as he lets the Demon Goddess use the other one, unlike for the Demon Ruler Bloodline that was necessary to purify the new physical body's blood or the Seat's Conquest's Legacy that held the Demon Empress's sealed power and would be fully needed for her recovery.
Feng was naturally aware of this, and he could choose whether to give Celestina her horn or not. Even when the demon maid put it that way and it truly being in Feng's interest that she quickly restores her full power, the horn was not something he could afford to let go of under any circumstances.
Hence, Feng wasn't simply going to hand over this precious opportunity to become many times more powerful, the information being far too valuable for him to give it up to Celestina if he didn't have to.
"Sorry, but using the horn myself would be far more beneficial for me than letting you waste it when it's not even necessary. But since they are your body parts, I'll be generous and give you two options.
"One, I use this horn's power and obtain the information on it before giving it and the one in the Divine Hall to you for reconstructing your physical body when the time comes;
"Or you can decide to keep this one without me touching it, whereas I'll take the horn in the Divine Hall to make up for the loss and use it as a material for Forging or Alchemy.
"Pick between those two whichever scenario suits you better."
Giving the Demon Empress that ultimatum, Feng seemed casual about the entire matter while looking relaxed at Celestina and taking out a Chocolate Stick to munch on, as if he was making a regular business trade.
Celestina's rage reached a new-time high. Although she was aware of both of their circumstances in this situation, the demon girl had still hoped to get both her horns, them being something incredibly precious to any demon, and that Feng would be more considerate and willing to let her use the horns for the purpose of remaking the destroyed physical body.
Him so blatantly disregarding and disrespecting her horns without a care made the Demon Goddess's opinion of Feng worsen much more dramatically than from any of his previous sexual harassment.
Feng could see the anger in the girl's eyes as she silently glared at him, what's more, some building hatred as well, and knew he had to quickly enact his plan into motion before the situation derailed into a very bad outcome.
"Though, if you really want to, I suppose we could come to an agreement in which I give you both horns." After pretending to be in deep thought for a moment, Feng broke the silence, coming up with the option of another possible offer that would be to Celestina's liking.
"Really?" The Demon Empress was a bit surprised to hear Feng say so, along with feeling immense relief, but she could not help posing the question at his change of heart.
She was very aware of how valuable the horns of a powerful Overlord Demon Goddess like herself were to other creatures, especially the importance and opportunity this one had for Feng.
Of course, even if Celestina understood his seeking of the horn recording all that information, that didn't mean she could accept it, and Feng giving her such options aroused extreme disgust within the demon girl.
Thus, now that there was hope for her to claim both horns completely untouched for herself, Celestina felt unexpected gladness towards Feng. But the faint smile on his face gave her a sense of unease, while his next words nearly made the Demon Goddess explode from anger.
"However, in return, you have to teach me everything that's recorded on this horn; or at least everything that I'm interested in. Also, you'll have to allow me to use the Demon Ruler Bloodline and Seat's Conquest as I please."
Having long since learned the importance demons placed in their horns, Feng had naturally been aware of how Celestina would react upon hearing his options, and that anything except getting both horns would leave her extremely unsatisfied; to the point that it would affect their relationship and his plans to seduce the Demon Empress.
In the end, he'd have no choice but to concede and let Celestina use the two horns in constructing her body for the sake of the future.
After all, Feng didn't want Celestina to resent him. But at the same time, he could not simply give up on the Divine Artifact Legacy item either.
So, he decided to first make his attitude and their positions clear while invoking a sense of crisis in the demon maid's mind after thinking up a quick course of action, showing her the possibility of not getting a horn, before making a third offer from which Feng would benefit greatly and get what he wanted; making Celestina much more likely to agree to it after the initial grievance.
Feng didn't actually need or care about the horn that was a Legacy item, just the information recorded on it. As long as he could get that, there was no problem with letting Celestina use both horns.
To begin with, even if he had the horn on him, it would be nothing more than decoration for a while due to Feng not being able to absorb the information inside the Legacy item right now.
In his previous life, despite having Concentration at the Tier 5 Intermediate standard, Feng had nearly failed to absorb 100% of the Legacy Guidance from an Ancient God's Legacy from a Divine Artifact ranked Consumable.
Celestina's Legacy Guidance, which contained all her information, would naturally be many times larger, and without having Tier 6 Peak Concentration, Feng's head would immediately explode if he tried to absorb the information. Moreover, even that would probably not be sufficient to fully cram all that knowledge inside his brain, and Feng would only have one shot at absorbing it completely at once.
It would be much better to have another option for obtaining all that information and the important bits in detail whenever Feng wanted and however many times he needed.
And what better way to learn all the information he wanted on the horn than from the person it belonged to in the first place?
Since the information originated from Celestina, she was naturally capable of teaching it to Feng or creating a different Legacy item with some of the information that was important for him that he could use, and even give his guild members to learn from as well.
Once Feng had her in the palm of his hand, it would be possible for him to have the Demon Goddess create several Legacies with insights and instructions on mastering Laws and constructing Superior Divine Bodies, which would allow Zero Wing to gain many more powerhouses; and Feng could even get a few of the strongest members Legacies that could help them with gaining Mastery over a Half-step Rule, along with how to construct a Surpasser Divine Body.
But first Feng had to get Celestina to be agreeable to that point with his methods while also guaranteeing that he would gain the knowledge he wanted regardless. This deal was the perfect opportunity, with the demon girl getting her horn and Feng making her teach him.
In such a way, both of them would be able to obtain the things they desired, and Feng could even get his hands on the Demon Empress's permission to use the powerful Bloodline and Apex Peak Legacy.
Nonetheless, Celestina was still pissed off from a mere human putting her in a position where she had to negotiate, and even demanding so much.
"Fine, I can teach you some of the core parts as long as you're not slow, and I can agree to letting you use the Bloodline, but I won't allow anyone to obtain the power sealed inside Seat's Conquest." Gritting her pristine teeth, Celestina went along with some of Feng's terms.
Her horns were far too important for the Demon Empress to give up and allow someone to use, so she had to secure them no matter what. Sacrificing the Demon Ruler Bloodline and demeaning herself to being this bastard's instructor was a price Celestina could live with.
One horn would be enough to recover some of her original Bloodline and somewhat improve whatever body she constructs to some degree, but it would still not be to a satisfactory extent.
With two, the Bloodline's condition would be substantially greater than just using the singular horn, and as long as the materials used in the body's constructions were good enough, there wouldn't be much of an issue; with Celestina being able to obtain items for further purification from other sources and ways.
Hence, even though the Demon Ruler Bloodline would still be of help to fully perfect the body's Bloodline, she could manage without it and could afford to let Feng use the Demonic Bloodline if it meant securing the second horn.
However, Seat's Conquest was far too important. The Demon Empress had sealed a portion of her power inside it, which would be essential to fully recover all her strength once Celestina constructed a physical vessel, and she was not willing to give up on the miniature throne.
"Not using the sealed power isn't a problem for me since I wasn't planning on taking it anyway, but I want the Legacy inside Seat's Conquest. You can have whatever power you've left behind in Seat's Conquest for yourself so long as you agree to activate the Class Change Quest and Promotion Quests for whichever heaven-blessed individual I choose to obtain your Legacy from Seat's Conquest."
Setting down his final offer, Feng did not plan on letting go of the Top-tier Legacy of Seat's Conquest. As for whatever power was sealed inside and the information recorded on the purple throne, Feng didn't really care much about it since he had Celestina.
Though, after taking the time to consider how to use the Legacy, Feng eventually decided to let someone else inherit it while he sticks to the Blade Saint Legacy.
The Destroyer of Immortality was too important for him to give up, especially since the Blade Saint Legacy itself isn't bad, even being quite suitable for Feng. If worse comes to worst, he could always just have Celestina create another Legacy for him later on.
Still, he could create an extremely powerful player using this Legacy. If they absorbed the Demon Ruler Bloodline as well, that person would be practically unmatched even in the Universal God's Domain once they reached Tier 6 with Feng's support. The player would even be able to potentially use the Legendary Absolute Demon Set Replica when Celestina moves on to higher-ranking items and no longer needs it.
Having such a powerhouse would be extremely beneficial for Zero Wing, and by establishing a Dark Guild for them to lead, along with using the Exotic Basket to quickly create a powerful force of Demon Players, it would make multiple things much easier for Zero Wing while also nurturing a large number of strong players.
All that was left would be to find the person who could bring out the Legacy's full potential and create the Dark Guild. Feng already had a pretty good candidate in mind, but that would wait for when Feng restores enough qualified players.
"Alright, I'll allow it. But you better pick someone good enough to inherit my Legacy or else you can forget about it." Brooding over it for a moment, Celestina unwillingly came to terms with his conditions in frustration through gritted teeth.
With both parties having agreed to the deal, Feng took out a parchment and wrote up a contract of the same type as the one he and the Demon Empress had previously signed, creating another one for this deal so that both of them could feel rest assured.
For Feng's conditions, he wrote that Celestina had to teach him whatever he wanted as long as it wasn't to an excessive amount, that she had to grant Feng permission to give someone the Demon Ruler Bloodline and assist them in fully absorbing it, and that Celestina would activate the Class Change Quest of the Legacy in Seat's Conquest for whoever Feng picks to inherit it, along with activating the Tier Promotion Quests when the time comes for that person to promote their tier;
Whereas Celestina begrudiangly wrote down that Feng had to get the second horn as soon as possible and keep both of her horns secured until when the time came for her to construct a physical body, and she added that he had to get her high-quality materials of at least an Ancient Demon God, but preferably better, for her to make a vessel.
Feng agreed to all her conditions, such things having already been what he was planning to do.
When the two of them signed their names on the contract, the ritual circle on the parchment's back page lit up with a red glow, before the entire piece of paper combusted into purple flames and disappeared.
Having that contract in place settled their short dispute, and Feng moved on after storing the incomprehensibly valuable Demon Empress's Horn.
Aside from the set reward Celestina designated to be given to whoever passed the God Mode World Summit Trial, the system also awarded him for clearing the trial.
Of the rewards, his Authority on the World Summit increasing to Vice Administrator was the most shocking one for Feng, as well as the most beneficial one. Not only could Feng now have Serena remove the restrictions she had placed on the Manager's Token, but he'd also have multiple privileges as a challenger on the World Summit.
Feng would receive a discount on the minutes necessary to enter all Shrines on the World Summit, the limit on the number of Shrines he could enter would be increased, and he'd get more discounts and less limits on the items he wished to retrieve from the Divine Hall.
With the improved authority, Feng could act much more freely on the World Summit and get much more from it.
The second amazing reward was the large number of Legacy Skill Points. Normally players would only receive a small amount of additional points even when completing high-ranking Quests, yet Feng had obtained three hundred Legacy Skill Points from the system by clearing the God Mode World Summit Trial.
His saved-up Legacy Skill Points had grown considerably after passing the trial, increasing to 1,147[7]. Feng will be able to afford many more high-ranking Legacy Skills thanks to those three hundred points, and he's probably already able to buy all of the Blade Saint Legacy's Tier 6 Skills.
Apart from Legacy Skill points, Feng had also received 1,000 Free Mastery Points, which he immediately put into One-handed Sword Mastery; pushing it to 6,316 points and reaching Intermediate Sword Saint in Mastery which increased his damage with One-handed Swords by 560%.
Upon upgrading his Mastery to Intermediate Sword Saint, a system notification sounded in Feng's ears.
System: Conditions met. Your Swordsmanship Great Grandmaster Title has been upgraded!
A bit surprised by the notification, Feng checked the Title he had received after becoming the first Basic Sword Saint in One-handed Sword Mastery.
[Swordsmanship Great Grandmaster]
When using sword-type weapons, Attack Speed increased by 145%. When attacked by sword-type weapons, Evasion +800. All Sword-type Skills effect +1 tier (Up to Tier 5 Intermediate rank at maximum).
(You may only use one title at a time. Effects will not stack with other titles.)
Normally, once a player obtains a Title, that Title doesn't change and its power remains the same. Due to that, Basic Titles gradually lose their value later in the game once players achieve higher tiers and their effects become limited.
And considering how rare Advanced Titles are, much less the rarity of higher-ranking ones, expert players don't use Titles all that much unless they are of a nature like Feng's Demon Hunter which increases one's Nobility where they go.
Though, those lose value as well since the authority they give is usually less than what one receives for just being a Tier 5 existence.
But there were a few rare Titles whose power and rank it was possible to upgrade by meeting certain conditions, such as Feng's Tyrant Title, which he had upgraded from the Basic Tyrant Basic Title into the Advanced Tyrant Epic Title.
Unknowingly, some Titles could also be upgraded even without having their conditions stated, and it would appear the Swordsmanship Great Grandmaster Title is one of them; and the Swordsmanship Grandmaster Title could have possibly been one as well, but Feng had immediately upgraded his Mastery all the way to Basic Sword Saint, so he might have only gotten it in its peak state.
It was naturally a very welcome surprise, as the additional Attack Speed and being able to upgrade his skills' power even further would be of great help, especially for a skill like Worldly Purification which had hit a limit.
Apart from all that, Feng had also received an increase in twenty Levels, but since he had capped his Level to not go beyond Level 99, that reward got turned into EXP that went into Feng's Levellume Capsules for however much would be necessary to push him to Level 119.
Looking at everything he had received from clearing the God Mode World Summit Trial, Feng could not help rejoicing. He had not expected the difference between Asura and God Mode to be this huge.
After clearing the Asura Mode trial in the previous timeline, Feng had only received several Legendary items, a few Fragmented Divine Artifacts and Inferior Divine Artifact Consumables, a Legendary Treasure Chest, and an item with a Legacy Guidance of a slightly higher quality than the Ancient God's Eye Feng had used way back.
Those rewards couldn't even begin to compare to what he had received from God Mode.
Having finished his business with the World Summit Trial, Feng stored Celestina's armor and recalled her into the Spectral Animacell, choosing to leave the trial space.
---
Appearing on the throne inside the Legendary Shrine at the very top of the mountain, Feng's vision recovered. He was instantly greeted by over a dozen loud clanking sounds.
Twenty Fragmented Legendary ranked swords clattered to the ground as they got expelled out of the trial space along with Feng. These were swords that Feng had used in fights during the First and Second Phase for Blade Dance, but didn't have the time to pick up at the time due to the nonstop intense fighting.
Having no idea where they were after teleporting around and traveling great distances, Feng resolved himself to never see them again. Thankfully, the World Summit Trial was nice enough to bring them out for him.
However, it wasn't the twenty swords that attracted Feng's attention, but a beautiful woman with two pairs of pitch-black wings standing in front of the throne, looking up at him with a complex expression.
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1. Changed to using quotes for items and system notifications like Hellscythe does. Couldn't do it before on Wattpad, and it still doesn't work there, but I can use the feature here on Ko-fi. Should I put all items in quotes like this in the future or go back to how I usually do it?
2. Obvious JJK reference and inspiration.
3. Idea from a Yu-Gi-Oh card.
4. Idea for item came from the basket of exotic butters in FNAF Sister Location.
5. I've decided to change the Top-tier Peak Legacy rank to Apex Peak Legacy rank because it sounds a lot better.
6. I'm pretty sure this Legacy item is different from Legacy Items that players can use to Class Change. Bit confusing but it's the terminology used, got it from the Ancient God's Eye in OG chapter 2899, for stuff that holds recorded information, and I guess is actually a Legacy Guidance. Also used before for tablets that have Combat Technique, having called them Legacy Tablets just in the OG, and I think there was more in the SS. Guess I'll just try to explain with further context which one is which in chapters.
7. I've increased the original Legacy Skill Points he got after receiving Sharlyn's Blessing after reviewing it and realizing how little it was for Feng's achievement considering he's received more for doing less.
Question 1: While looking through items on the fandom for research purposes, I noticed that there were practically no Fragmented Divine Artifact or Divine Artifact pieces of equipment or weapons whose information was shown, only the Chaos Windblade, and I guess the Abyss Eye. Not sure if Shadow Incinerator counts since it's a Godly Relic whose stats should be similar to a Fragmented Divine Artifact item. Are there any I missed?
Question 2: I was looking through the descriptions of various items and couldn't find eras of God's Domain mentioned in any of them. Are things like Primordial Era and Ancient Era something players and NPCs had named those periods of time as or are they titles stated by the system?