158: Chapter 158 The Abyss Demon City and the Strange Guide

Lu Chen found his parents. Ophelia had already arranged a detached villa for them.

Lu Chen took out the Tier 7 Advancement Divine Stone and submitted the advancement quest Materials. With a flash of light, his quest list refreshed.

[Ding! You have accepted the Tier 7 Beast Tamer advancement quest!] [Quest Name: Abyss Demon City] [Quest Difficulty: Increases per round (Total of 10 rounds)]

[Quest Description: Travel to the "Ancient Abyss City" deep within the Abyss Rift land. This forgotten city is a twisted place where Chaos magic and Abyss aura intertwine. The rules within the city are bizarre, and the creatures are treacherous. Only those with a firm mind and extraordinary strength can uncover its secrets and complete the quest.] [Quest Rounds: 10 rounds]

[Quest Hint: Upon entering the Abyss Rift land · Ancient Abyss City, a corresponding NPC will guide you. You need to complete at least 6 rounds of quests to meet the advancement conditions. If the quest fails, you must wait 3 years to retake the Tier 7 advancement quest!]

"It's the same as the Tier 6 advancement quest. There is no difficulty selection, and it's also a ten-round quest..."

Lu Chen's gaze was sharp. Far from feeling fear, a strong desire for a challenge arose within him. He knew very well that the higher the number of rounds, the better the rewards.

The only thing that surprised Lu Chen was that this Tier 7 advancement quest location was actually the Abyss Rift land again. He wondered if it was a random coincidence of the rules, or the arrangement of the gods behind the scenes.

"I wonder if I will run into that eccentric Abyss merchant NPC, Guru Du, again!"

With that thought, Lu Chen stepped into the quest teleportation array. The surrounding scenery changed drastically, and a thick, familiar, and inescapable Abyss aura rushed towards him.

Lu Chen found himself standing outside an incredibly massive black city. The city's architectural style was bizarre and grotesque; twisted spires pierced the dim sky, and demon fire that never extinguished burned at their tips.

The city walls were forged from some kind of dull, shimmering metal, covered in mysterious magic patterns and dried, strangely colored bloodstains. This was Abyss Demon City!

Stepping through the city gate, the scene before him made Lu Chen pause slightly. The interior of the city was not the deathly silence or Chaos he had imagined.

On the streets, various Abyss monsters of different shapes and ferocious auras were walking side-by-side with some black-robed, uniquely shaped NPCs. There were even sounds of haggling!

A spider monster with eight compound eyes, its abdomen constantly dripping corrosive slime, was using its arthropod limbs to tap on an Ore flashing with Soul fire at a stall.

Nearby, an elemental monster made entirely of lava, constantly sparking, was crouching there, seemingly... setting up a stall to sell equipment?

Even more absurd was a seductive-looking lady, whose main body was a giant magic flower that constantly opened and closed, revealing sharp teeth and fangs inside. She swayed her thorn-wrapped waist as she walked past Lu Chen.

It sensed Lu Chen's gaze, and the giant flower suddenly turned toward him. Its petals opened and closed, emitting a sharp, yet strangely seductive voice: "What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a beautiful monster lady?"

"..." Lu Chen was speechless for a moment. The ecosystem of this Abyss city truly exceeded his expectations.

These Abyss Invading Monsters possessed significant intelligence, and they seemed to be protected by the rules here?

Lu Chen wanted to test if he could take action within the city, but the moment he had the thought—

[Ding, you are currently in the Abyss Demon City safe zone! Except for the City Lord or their authorized personnel, any unit is prohibited from using force. Forcible attacks will trigger sanctions from the Abyss Demon City rules!]

A cold rule notification sounded. At the same time, Lu Chen could feel an extremely terrifying force of rules slowly condensing above the city. Lu Chen had to abandon the thought of taking action.

The magic flower lady seemed to have sensed the fleeting Killing Intent from Lu Chen earlier and let out a harsh, cackling laugh: "Kid, first time here, right? I bet you won't survive 1 day!"

After speaking, the magic flower lady swayed her waist and walked away. Lu Chen glanced deeply at this magic flower Invading Monster: "It seems that the "freedom of entry and exit" here is built upon absolute rules."

He composed himself, preparing to find the quest guide NPC first. Just as he was searching with his eyes, the space beside him rippled without warning, undulating like water waves.

In the next instant, a figure appeared silently before him, less than a meter away!

Lu Chen's pupils constricted slightly, and he calmly looked at the figure that had appeared out of nowhere. The person was wearing a wide, pitch-black cloak that seemed to absorb all light, covering their entire body tightly.

However, what was revealed beneath the hood was not a human face, but a wet, deep purple octopus head covered in suckers that was slowly writhing!

Several slimy tentacles hung from the edge of the hood, twisting gently and unconsciously. The several eyes on the octopus head focused on Lu Chen simultaneously, and a cold, slimy sense of scrutiny that seemed to pierce through his Soul enveloped him.

Immediately after, a low, hoarse voice with a strange echo, as if countless voices were overlapping, sounded and directly entered Lu Chen's mind: "Kid, are you the one who accepted this advancement quest?"

Lu Chen's eyes were calm, and he met the inhuman gaze without humility or arrogance: "It is me. Are you the quest guide?"

"Guide? Heh... I suppose so!" The octopus-headed NPC let out a low laugh: "You can call me 'The Ferryman', or you can call me by my name, The Ferryman, responsible for telling you the rules here, as well as... the content of your first round of the quest."

The Ferryman's tentacle extended from beneath the black robe. At the tip of the tentacle was a dark red token, seemingly made of congealed blood, which it handed to Lu Chen.

"Hold onto it. This is your quest credential and also proof of your temporary passage in Abyss Demon City. If you lose it, you will be torn apart by the 'residents' here as an illegal intruder, and even the city rules won't be able to protect you."

Lu Chen took the token, which felt cold to the touch. [Ding, obtained item: Abyss Demon City passage token!]

"Your first round of the quest." The Ferryman's voice sounded again, carrying a hint of amusement: "Go to the 'Rotting Swamp' in the west of the city. A group of disobedient 'little cuties' are entrenched there. Their leader, a mutated Three-Headed Sludge Hound, stole my... hmm, stole a little trinket from a certain big shot in the city."

"Go find it and bring that desecrated 'little trinket'—a 'starlight amulet'—back to me. It doesn't matter how many hounds you kill; I only want that amulet."

[First Round Quest: Retrieve Lost Item] [Quest Objective: Go to the Rotting Swamp, kill the mutated Three-Headed Sludge Hound (0/1), and obtain the "starlight amulet" (0/1)]

[Quest Hint: Sludge Hounds have a keen sense of smell and loathe Holy Light Qi; the starlight amulet seems to have been hidden by the hound leader deep in its lair.]

The quest content was clear and straightforward, a typical kill-elite-monster-to-obtain-quest-item mission. But Lu Chen frowned slightly, not because the quest was difficult, but because... it was too simple.

This first round of the quest sounded like a normal quest, not at all like an advancement quest. Is this really the start of a Tier 7 advancement quest? Will the later rounds become exponentially harder, or is this octopus-headed The Ferryman... hiding something?

He looked at The Ferryman, trying to discern some clues from that octopus head: "It's just this simple?"

"Simple?" The Ferryman's several eyes simultaneously curved into a strange arc, as if smiling: "In the Abyss, there is never anything simple. Underestimating the enemy... is often the beginning of corruption and death. Go quickly, little one, I will be here waiting for your 'good news'."

After speaking, its figure faded and disappeared silently, like ink dissolving in water, as if it had never appeared at all. Only the lingering echoes of The Ferryman's whisper and a faint Abyss aura remained in place.

Lu Chen rubbed the cold token in his hand and looked toward the west of the city: "Rotting Swamp... Three-Headed Sludge Hound..."

As his voice fell, he stepped forward and strode toward the west of the city, which was filled with an even stronger aura of decay. Along the way, the dark NPCs and Abyss monsters all licked their lips, looking at Lu Chen with bloodthirsty eyes.