Meanwhile, on the northwest side of the Starfall Wilderness.
"What?"
"How is this possible??" The youth with a demonic visage knelt on the ground, feeling a terrifying suppression enveloping his whole being, his body breaking out in cold sweat.
"Could there really be a high-ranking member of the cult... in this instance??"
"Damn it! Could it be that the news about this instance potentially hatching A-grade pets has leaked??" His face twisted in frustration.
What does an A-grade pet signify? It can be nurtured to level 100, the standard of a third-class professional!
It means, unless one ascends to legend, most players will never reach the power level of an A-grade pet in their lifetimes!
Such pets are incredibly rare treasures!
Ordinary third-class professionals, even after spending all their wealth and searching for many years, might not obtain one!
It was no exaggeration to say, despite Miste and others lamenting the loss of many talents outside the instance, if they knew the final reward was an A-grade pet egg, they would feel like taking the gamble was worth it!
"Hold on! Don't panic, it's very likely that those old fools were just attracted by the 1000 talented individuals from various races, hoping to transform the blood essence."
"But... if it's for the blood essence, spending such a huge price to downgrade and enter the instance doesn't seem worth it, does it??"
"Never mind. No matter who you are, those who block my path shall die!" The youth muttered hatefully.
The [Starfall Wilderness] instance might have a somewhat romantic name, but its nature was extremely brutal!
The entire map's purpose was to hatch the Starborne —
A special life form that players could tame as pets.
Currently, the instance was in its wilderness phase, where no pet eggs would appear. But as the number of monsters and players dying gradually increased...
The instance would slowly transition to a fertile phase. Then the instance would absorb the life force of the dead to create Starborne pet eggs. The more life energy absorbed, the higher the quality of the pet eggs.
This absorption process lasted three days, during which all the monsters' life forces would be extracted at once, and then the instance would automatically end.
Since the instance could be entered through multiple teleportation arrays, with a maximum capacity of 1000 players.
Thus, the upper limit of the quality of the pet eggs created is the death of all 1000 players, capable of hatching an A-grade pet egg!
This youth, with his demonic visage, had forcefully downgraded to level 20 and smuggled himself into the instance, spending years of accumulated chances and connections, all for this pet egg!
Should he succeed, he would be able to change his destiny against the heavens!
At the very least, he could reach level 100 with the help of the pet, becoming a third-class player.
That would make him a top-tier existence in the God Mountain Empire!
"The position of the next base leader will definitely be mine!" the youth grew more excited as he thought about it. But once he realized there was a higher-ranking member of the Blood God Cult also in the instance.
He became so irritated he almost wished to start a massacre.
"Excuse me, please..." Just then, a team of players dressed in attire clearly not of Earth's human race approached from a distance, seemingly wanting to ask something.
The youth's eyes lit up.
"Help!"
"Help!"
"No!!!"
Screams filled the air, but soon, tranquility returned.
At this moment, Sterl had no idea that his presence had brought such tremendous pressure to the member of the Blood God Cult.
He was currently tallying the gains from spending the blood essence, his eyes brimming with joy.
First was the [Visage of the Void], a semi-transparent blood-colored scarf. Upon equipping it, Sterl felt as though his face was veiled in a thin layer of gauze.
His senses became sharper, a testament to the mental amplification effect attached to this piece of equipment.
Then, a system prompt appeared:
[Please input your false information.]
After a moment of thought, Sterl quickly concocted some information for himself.
At this stage, he didn't have much to modify. He changed the [Visage of the Void] to [Silk Scarf] (a plain piece of equipment that adds 20 points to mental attributes), altered the quality of the skill [Flame Storm] to white, and hid [Blood Rush].
Of Sterl's two talents, [Descent of the God] was changed to an A-grade [Attribute Amplification], and [Soul of Arcane] to a C-grade [Enhanced Magic].
In an instant, Sterl's persona shifted from an obviously overpowered cheater to a reasonably talented genius.
Then, leaving his tent, he roughly tested the effects of Blood Rush.
It was very practical. Upon using the skill, Sterl felt as though he had transformed into a whirlwind, able to cross dozens of meters in just half a second!
And when activating [Descent of the God] to increase his agility by over 70 points, a single Blood Rush could propel him nearly 200 meters!
The only flaw of this skill was that as the rushing distance increased, Sterl found it increasingly difficult to control precisely, often finding himself much farther away than intended.
It was quite practical for escaping or covering ground quickly. But Sterl analyzed that the duration of Blood Rush was around one second, including an invincible 0.5 seconds, leaving the remaining 0.5 seconds in a boosted speed state.
If he could utilize this speed for attacking and dodging in direct combat, the value of this skill would undoubtedly increase significantly!
As for mastering this skill perfectly, Sterl naturally had a plan—He could increase the proficiency, and then directly break through the mastery limit with the power of the blood essence.
However, Sterl was somewhat regretful that since the Blood Ruby had already evolved to its peak, the skills and equipment it produced could no longer evolve.
"After collecting fifty strands of blood essence, will it continue to unlock the ability to learn new skills? Equipment crafting rights?"
"That works. The Blood Ruby will evolve again by then." Sterl reviewed the offerings in his hand, pondering.
Following that, Sterl didn't immediately continue to level up but chose to rest first, meditating to refine his experience points.
After about three to four hours, he successfully reached level 17. The free attribute points he had accumulated so far totaled 17, which he had yet to allocate.
In Transcendence, certain equipment and skills have attribute requirements, considering only the player's base attributes.
Moreover, after changing classes, different professions require different attributes – For instance, mage classes demand more in spirit attributes, while warrior classes lean towards strength...
Some special class changes even necessitate following a fixed method of attribute allocation, and generally speaking, the stronger the profession, the more systematic their attribute allocation tends to be.
Sterl has been holding off on allocating his attribute points, ready to use them in urgent situations where he faces unbeatable monsters, without hesitation.
Just as he stepped out of his tent, a sudden notification echoed in his ears.
[Current number of deceased players: 307!]
[The instance has officially begun.]
[Ding! Ding! Ding!...]
[Pet egg spawn locations have been marked on your personal map.]
[Note: After obtaining a pet egg, you can improve its quality by killing players who entered the instance through a different teleportation point. The lowest quality of a pet egg is F-grade, and it can be enhanced up to B+ grade.]
"B-grade pets?" Sterl perked up, knowing that B-grade pets could be trained up to level 60, equivalent to the combat power of a second-tier player.
And a B+ grade implies that the pet's maximum level cap is above 60 but below 100.
"No wonder they said to be cautious of players coming from other teleportation points..."
"An F-grade pet egg is basically useless after the player reaches level 30."
"But a B+ grade pet egg. Let alone me, even the big shots in the advanced bases might not have one!"
"So, as long as I don't see acquaintances, I can kill them! This can improve the quality of pet eggs!" Sterl realized that with this instance announcement, there would be no room for trust among players.
Even if they came from the same teleportation point. If you're not familiar with them, or forget they're on your side...
Since it's possible to use another's demise to enhance your pet's quality, it makes sense to strike first!
The monsters within this instance are already ridiculously strong. But the slaughter among players will be even bloodier!
Sterl sighed at this thought, feeling a bit melancholy.
He wondered, if he didn't belong to any teleportation point, could he eliminate all players? Could that potentially push a pet egg to A-grade quality?