(For those wondering were the information of LOCs return is from, to my knowledge it comes from the website that releases the official untranslated version of the story. People in discord has translated the announcements, so shout out to the wonderful people of discord. I do not know when translations will begin but check webnovel or other novel sites that you frequent on November 15.)
Starmoon Kingdom, Starmoon City
With a flash a cloaked man appeared in the busy teleportation hall. Not a single player payed this person a single mind but went on with their conversations and business.
"Hey did you hear? Zero Wing has captured Ancient Rock City and kicked the Evil God's Temple away from the empire."
"Who hasn't heard that. What to know something even better?"
"What?"
"A friend of mine has informed me that the Asura Adventure Team is actually a subordinate adventure team of Zero Wing. The adventure team actually gets similar benefits to actual Zero Wing members and even access to combat techniques."
"Even though we're not strong enough to join Zero Wing, we can join Asura and grow stronger there. Want to join me?"
Adventure teams don't usually have strict recruitment requirements so it's hard to find a good adventure team to nurture yourself in.
"Are you kidding me, of course. Let me clear things up with my old team and I'll contact you."
Shi Feng couldn't help but smile at the similar conversations going on all around him. Zero Wing was shining like the sun these days. Once he turns the guild's home base into an empire things will get even better.
Competition is more intense in empires, and more competition means stronger players which Zero Wing can then recruit.
There's a high chance that more tier 5 and tier 6 players will be born in Starmoon kingdom, oh, Starmoon Empire then in his past life.
Shi Feng took a horse carriage to the adventure association. On the trip he not only saw quite a few tier 4 players but also more tier 3 and 4 NPCs. Players were selling their wares and services, NPCs were giving out quests, and stores were filled to the brim. The city was filled with people and prosperity.
"Looks like I have to station more people here." With all this prosperity in the kingdom, potential powers are constantly eyeing it. The minute the kingdom gets upgraded another struggle for dominance will occur.
Even though he doubts Zero Wing will lose any territory or influence here, better safe than sorry. He will also be in the Ruined Mountain Rage for a long while, he will probably have to ask Blue Frost to watch over things for him.
His other vice guild leaders are constantly busy with other tasks and Blue Frost just has to manage the Dark Den base. He can afford to leave for a week or two.
As Shi Feng was making plans he arrived at the adventure association.
He got off the horse carriage and entered the association's building making his way for a front desk.
"Hello Gold Legatee, how can I be of service to you?" The beautiful female receptionist asked with a heart warming smile.
"I've come to hand in my quest," Shi Feng said.
"Okay. Please tell me what kind of quest you're turning in to better assist you."
"The Undead Resurrection Quest," he nonchalantly said to her.
"Okay, the Undead Resu-" the female receptionist paused then looked at Shi Feng with great disbelief. "Forgive my rudeness Lord Gild Legatee but are you sure that is the quest you are handing in?"
"Yes"
"The Undead Resurrection Quest?"
"The very same."
A moment of silence occurred between the two. A second later the receptionist jumped from her seat. "Lord Gold Legatee, please take this and go to our top floor VIP room. Someone will be with you shortly." She then ran off to the back.
Shi Feng was a little surprised, he didn't expect turning a quest to be such a big deal.
As he waited in the VIP room a familiar figure walked in. This was none other than Renee, one of the Vice Association leaders of Whiteriver City. She is also Anna's teacher and his personal association assistant which is a privilege only the most accomplished players have.
Renee's beautiful eyes stared at Shi Feng like he was a piece of meat, her eyes drooling at the sight of him. This frightened him, he even suspected that Renee might jump him and have her way with him.
Even though he wasn't opposed to the idea, there's a time and place for everything.
"Lord Gold Legatee, may I see the items to confirm the completion of your quest," Renee asked as she sat across from Shi Feng.
Shi Feng brought out the Bone Staff, Book of Undead, and Ancient Contract, each of these items releasing an extraordinary aura. Shi Feng had already read through the contents of the Book of Undead. It contained methods on Necromancy and other things. Unfortunately no one in Zero Wing has an Undead related class.
The other items were powerful as well but needed to be repaired.
Renee inspected all the items and let out a sigh. "Lord Gold Legatee, you are incredible. You have completed all three SSS rank quests. Normally the association will reward you right away but if you are willing to wait two days, we will present you a bigger reward."
"That isn't a problem, I will return after two days." With Shi Feng's confirmation he heard the sound of the system ring in his ear.
System: Congratulations on completing all three SSS rank commission quests. Rewarding +2 levels, 50 legacy skill points, one superior epic treasure chest, and the Passive advanced title Adventure of Fate.
Advanced title, Adventure of Fate: All B rank and higher adventure quests rewards increase by 20%. Obtain 5 star status in Adventure Association.
Shi Feng's mouth dropped at the sound of the system notification. This is just the rewards of the system, I wonder what the actual reward will be. Not only did he reach level 145 after so long, the legacy points he got is more than enough to get him a powerful tier 4 legacy skill. But he plans to save it for his tier 5 skills.
"Thank you Gold Legatee. Now please excuse me, we have a lot of preparations to make." Renee bowed and immediately left the room and with her exit the system sounded throughout all of God's Domain.
System: God's Domain system announcement- A player has activated the Kingdom's Rise expansion. In 10 minutes God's Domain will undergo a real world 30 hour system update, please prepare to log out.
"Who was the bastard who activated the expansion pack!? I was just about to challenge my promotion exam!"
"Woah, another update. I wonder what will change this time."
"Quick find out as much info about this update. We need to pull ahead of the other guilds."
"30 hours. This must be a big one."
Excitement and anticipation rang throughout the whole game. Shi Feng who just left the association wasn't surprised by the update length. With the birth of a new empire many things will change.
The nearby kingdoms and neutral maps will be annexed into Starmoon Empire. The new emperor and government officials will have to discuss with the nearby empires.
Basically a lot of politics and war will be going on during the system update. With this in mind Shi Feng contacted Youlan. "Youlan, start assigning more members into Starmoon Kingdom and tell Melancholic to transfer a few more combat puppets and other war weapons to Zero Wing City."
Hearing his words, Youlan's eyes lit up with excitement, "Guild Leader, is the system update talking about Starmoon Kingdom?!" Based on the word choice of the expansion pack even a fool can tell that a kingdom was about to grow stronger.
Shi Feng gave her a sly smile as he said, "that's right. There's a chance that the kingdom will turn into an empire, but try to keep this secret okay. Now that you know, I will leave everything to you."
Youlan's smile became even brighter, "leave it to me Guild Leader! I'll make sure nothing goes wrong."
"I'll do just that then." Shi Feng hung up and proceeded to quickly handle other business and make preparations for the update. Starmoon is not guaranteed to succeed in becoming an empire even though the chances of that happening are low.
With less than 60 seconds till he needed to log off, Shi Feng activated the log off procedures. The thirty second countdown timer was about to begin.
30....29....28....27
When 24 seconds were left another system update rang in everyone's ear once more.
Northern Continent, Blue Star Mountain Range, Neutral Map
A giant 30 meter portal suddenly opened up in a forested mountain area. The death energy escaping this portal scared away the local wildlife. Surprisingly enough a young man walked out of this portal of death.
The young man clearly had a rough time. His HP was in the red and his armor was visibly damaged everywhere. He looked like he just exited an intense battle field.
The young man raised his head to the sky, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His voice rumbled through the forest as he yelled, "I did it, I finally did it. Now that I'm tier 4 I can challenge that asshole, Shave again. just you wait."
He was truly excited. His tier promotion quest required so much resources just to activate it. If he didn't beg his father to provide him the things he needed, it would've taken him months just to gather the required materials.
If he failed there wasn't a single word to describe how depressed he would feel.
While he was enjoying his success he heard the system notification.
Wind Storms Empire, Wind Storm City
A handsome and muscular middle aged man was currently in an enclosed room with several cloaked figures.
Each one of these people released a nonexistent aura making them feel like plants rather than humans, but just looking into their eyes can kill a normal person.
This didn't affect the middle aged man whatsoever. He crossed his leg and leaned forward on the meeting table, his body language signifying that he was completely relaxed in this tense atmosphere. With a slick smile he started to speak to the cloaked figures.
"I can give you access to three kingdoms. Based on the information my men have gathered, that item should be in one of them. But there's nothing I can do about the local superpowers there, that's your business."
"You let us worry about that. Just finish your job," one of the cloaked figures responded emotionlessly.
The middle aged man started to chuckle, "sure, just make sure to have my payment ready. We're leaving guys!" He then got up, walked to the door with his entourage, turned around and blew a kiss at the cloaked figures, "it was a pleasure doing business with you."
"Ok guys when you log off, make sure to contact those old guys at the Gemini Union"
"You got it boss."
When the middle aged man and his group walked out the door, they heard the system ring in their ears.
Neutral Map, Warring Sands.
The mana in a 500 yard radius was constantly absorbed into a cave in the center of the phenomenon.
This caused the cave to glow a brilliant glow. Inside the cave a few players waited by the exit as they watched the ritual. Eight tier 5 magical class NPCs sat in a circle. In the center of that circle sat a beautiful and graceful woman and above her a giant ball of pure mana hovered above her.
The tier 5 NPCs finished reciting an incantation and streams of vibrant red mana entered the hovering ball of mana. After a while a singular drop of liquid like mana diverged from the ball.
That drop of mana then fell on the graceful woman's forehead and lines of magic arrays and divine runes made or dense mana covered her body. The women then felt a pleasant sensation coarse through her body, as she held back a seductive moan from escaping her vibrant red lips.
After some time, the runes and array lines disappeared from her body.
"Big Sis Gem, did you manage to finish?" One of the players by the exit asked.
The women exited the circle as the tier 5 NPCs focused on recovering their mana. She walked towards the group of players and said, "luckily I managed to finish before the system update. You guys helped me a lot. Thank you."
The woman's voice was so seductive and elegant that a person could fall in a trance just from the sound of her speaking. If they didn't get lost in the beauty of her face and bombastic figure.
"Big Sis, no need for thanks. We're a team now and helping each other out is only natural," a young man said.
The women gave them a grateful smile. An older looking girl then said "Okay let's log off now. We have a big day ahead of us."
Before they even started to log off, they heard a new system notification.
Western Continent, Chaotic Wave Forest Neutral Map
On Top of a giant 200 meter tree, sat an assassin youth. He calmly stared down at a campsite. The inhabitants of the camp all wore the Mythology guild emblem.
As the assassin youth watched the camp a ranger walked out of the shadows, his body seemed to become adjusted to reality as he did. The ranger then walked next to the assassin youth.
"What is it Night?" The assassin youth was the first to speak.
"Always so cold I see," the ranger teased. "The boss wanted me to give you the details of the next mission. He said you have one day after the system update."
The ranger then handed him a memory crystal.
"After this one, I can see her again, right," the youth asked.
"That's not for me to decide but the boss is a man of his words, so don't worry too much," the ranger nonchalantly said.
The youth took the crystal and put it away. "As long as you keep your end of the deal. I don't care if it's Mythology or anyone else, I'll get the job done," the young man said, determination filling his voice.
"That's the spirit I guess. Maybe if you do good the bos-" before the ranger could finish, the system cut him off.
Northern Continent, Fire Storms Empire
A young woman with the guild emblem of Olympus Palace barged into the guild leader's office. Quickly she said, "guild leader, did you hear it? What are we going to do about the system announcement?"
The man in the head desk stopped what he was doing. "For now it will take some time for any noticeable changes to happen. We will keep things the way they are." He thought to himself for a moment. "Rose, send more people to Starmoon Kingdom. I might have to accelerate my plans a little."
"Roger that guild leader," Rose said.
Starmoon Kingdom, White River City
When there were 8 seconds left till Shi Feng logged off the sound of the system rang in his ears once again.
System: God's Domain system announcement. The final Saint has been born. The rage of the Old Gods will tear through the continent. Choose your king for The War to determine the end approaches. A sea of power will wash over all who fight. The fate of balance rests in the Saints. Only one can be the Strongest God.
System: Players have activated the expansion War of the Ten Saints. The level limit has now increased to level 300, spawn frequency of mutant monsters and awakened NPCs will increase, Unique quest will increase, maps will now be updated, and the free story system will now activate. In 1 minute, God's Domain will undergo a 72 hour real world system update. Please log off.
When the system announcement finished, Shi Feng who had just heard this had hundreds of thoughts run through his mind.
War of the Ten Saints? Does it mean the Ten Saint Empire, have players reached tier 5, is it about some powerful NPCs, or about the Ten Great Saint Legacies? But why was it announced in the form of a prophecy, that's never happened before. Wait why is the free story system happening so soon, there should still be a couple years left. Level 300 limit, does that mean tier increase to?
Shi Feng just couldn't come up with an answer. When 1 second was left on the timer, he blurted out
"Wait! What the!"
His screen went black.
System: You have logged out of God's Domain. Thank you for playing.