The Abyss Forest!

The mission details for the Hunter class awakening once again partially overlapped with the requirements of the Supreme Mission.

One required raising the duel rank to Diamond, while the other required raising it to Master.

"To me, whether it's Master or Diamond, there isn't much difference."

"It's just a matter of how much time it consumes."

Muttering softly, Chen Ming stretched and looked out the window.

It was now the early hours of the morning, and the sky was beginning to brighten.

Myriad Beast City, which had been noisy all night, was perhaps only slightly quiet at this time.

On both sides of the street downstairs, the aroma of breakfast was already wafting through the air.

"Next, I'll find a place to help Xiao Jin establish the Zerg Hive first."

Muttering to himself, Chen Ming performed a simple wash, went downstairs for breakfast, and then headed straight out of Myriad Beast City.

For the Zerg, only two things were most important.

The first was the Zerg Queen; she was the core of the Zerg and the foundation of their reproduction and growth.

The second was the Zerg Hive.

The hive was the dwelling place of the Zerg Empress and the best location to protect the Zerg Queen; not only that, the hive also supported the growth of Zerg larvae.

Some powerful hives would even give birth to various miraculous functions.

At this thought, Chen Ming couldn't help but quicken his pace.

In just a short moment, he arrived at the gates of Myriad Beast City.

Although it was only early morning, compared to other places, the gates of Myriad Beast City were exceptionally lively.

Countless players were queuing to leave the city, their noisy voices echoing in his ears.

"Don't pass by and miss out! Freshly made Gold-grade Red and Blue Potions, only 198 gold coins a set. They can save your life at critical moments in the wild!"

"Level 45 Warrior looking for a group! Target is the Mutated Bison Plains. Need a strong team to pull!"

"Level 24 cute newbie looking for a carry!"

"Level 67 Mage Lord carrying for leveling! 10,000 gold coins per slot. Great price! Come if you want to level up fast!"

...For the vast majority of ordinary players, the pressure of survival in the main city area was immense.

There was a fixed daily 'residency fee' of 100 gold coins, and on top of that, various miscellaneous expenses.

If they didn't have enough gold coins, they would have to wander into the wild, living in fear every day.

One must know that in the wild, players not only had to guard against monsters that could appear at any time but also against fellow players.

After all, in Eternal, killing for loot was a common occurrence.

Chen Ming followed the crowd and soon left Myriad Beast City.

"Brother, want to team up? Our team just happens to be missing a Ranger. We'll consider it a free carry for you."

Suddenly, an honest-looking middle-aged man called out to Chen Ming and sent a party invitation.

[Ding-dong! Player 'Yiyantang' has invited you to join the party. Do you agree?]

"Do you take me for a newbie pig?"

Chen Ming scoffed and decisively rejected the invitation.

In Eternal, some people would use the excuse of a free carry to lure newbies who had just entered the main city into the wild to rob them blind—commonly known as a 'honey trap'.

With the experience from his past life, Chen Ming saw through the intentions of this seemingly honest middle-aged man at a single glance.

"Heh, it seems I was mistaken."

Even though he was seen through, the honest middle-aged man wasn't angry. After cupping his fists toward Chen Ming, he walked toward a newbie player from the Orc race not far away.

Before long, the two of them left cheerfully.

Without a doubt, that Orc newbie was bound to be robbed blind.

Chen Ming shook his head, having no intention of meddling. He summoned the Ice Abyss Dragon from his summoning space, jumped onto it, and vanished from the spot.

Strong winds whistled past his ears. As Chen Ming reached level 49, the Ice Abyss Dragon's overall strength also surged, and its flight speed was terrifyingly fast. In less than an hour, he arrived at a forest of staggering proportions.

[Current Location — Abyssal Forest Lv25–Lv180.]

The Abyssal Forest was the most vast map around Myriad Beast City, bar none.

It covered tens of millions of square kilometers and bordered the Endless Sea and the Land of Collapse.

The monster levels within it spanned a huge range, from level 25 to level 180.

It was the preferred leveling spot for players from the surrounding main cities.

And Chen Ming's reason for choosing this place was simple.

First, the Abyssal Forest was vast, as large as a dozen Dragon Nations combined, and its resources were extremely abundant.

Second, although the monster level span in the Abyssal Forest was huge, it was strictly divided into three zones.

The Outskirts, the Inner Reaches, and the Core!

Monsters occupied these three zones based on their levels, and high-level monsters almost never crossed into low-level zones.

Third, the Abyssal Forest bordered both the Land of Collapse and the Endless Sea; if any accident occurred, he could retreat calmly.

In summary, this was simply the best place to build a Zerg Hive.

With this in mind, Chen Ming commanded the Ice Abyss Dragon to land in the Inner Reaches of the Abyssal Forest.

The monsters that spawned in this area were generally between level 40 and level 100.

Chen Ming found a cave, and after very 'amicably' asking a level 52 Grizzly Bear that originally occupied it to leave, he opened his summoning space and summoned Xiao Jin.

"Master!"

After absorbing the Ancient Demon Power, Xiao Jin's entire body was now covered in black patterns, giving her a slightly more ferocious aura.

"Build the Zerg Hive here. From now on, this will be our base of operations."

"Yes, Master!"

Xiao Jin spoke respectfully, then grabbed the Grizzly Bear's corpse on the ground and began to feast.

As the Zerg Empress, Xiao Jin did not have the ability to build a hive herself.

However, she could produce Engineer Bugs that could build the hive.

As Xiao Jin finished devouring the Grizzly Bear, she immediately gained 1,250 bio points.

Producing 1 unit of an Engineer Bug required 1 Bio Point.

Before long, a total of 500 Engineer Bugs were produced, consuming 500 bio points.

The remaining bio points became the energy for the Engineer Bugs' incubation and growth.

Soon, 500 Engineer Bugs burst from their eggs simultaneously.

Perhaps influenced by the Ancient Demon Power, these Engineer Bugs were pitch black all over, their carapaces gleaming with a metallic luster. Their forelimbs were similar to human hands but had eight fingers with exceptionally sharp tips, which could be used for various precision operations.

Chen Ming glanced at the attributes of these Demon Engineer Bugs.

They were very weak, not even comparable to monsters of the same level.

However, this was perfectly normal.

After all, the purpose of the Demon Engineer Bugs' existence lay in building and repairing the Zerg Hive.

The 500 Demon Engineer Bugs surrounded Xiao Jin in the center.

Protecting the Empress was a genetic instinct inscribed deep within all Zerg.

"Buzz! Buzz!!"

A mental wave spread out from Xiao Jin's body, and the 500 Demon Engineer Bugs immediately began constructing the Zerg Hive.

Seeing this, Chen Ming didn't waste words; he directly took out the Eternal Forge and spent 10 billion gold coins to exchange for 10,000 Eternal Stones.

Each stone was the size of a millstone, appearing a faint milky white and being incredibly hard.

The 500 Demon Engineer Bugs began building the hive using these Eternal Stones as raw materials...