480: Chapter 480: Is my Immortal Pioneer level being blocked again?

City Lord Bingbingde's hands holding the seal were shaking as if she had Parkinson's.

She stared fixedly at that ice-blue stone, a circle of redness welling up in her eye sockets.

"Aurora City... is finally saved."

"The glory of our ancestors shall be rekindled in my hands!"

Chen You stood in front of the desk, arms crossed, watching her performance quietly.

After waiting a full minute, City Lord Bingbingde was still being sentimental there.

Chen You tapped the table impatiently.

"City Lord, let's discuss the glory matter later. Can we settle the bill first?"

City Lord Bingbingde's voice stopped abruptly.

She carefully tucked the seal into her bosom, cleared her throat, and assumed the dignified posture of a City Lord.

"Warrior, your heroic deeds will be sung by the bards of Aurora City for a hundred years."

"As for the material rewards..."

She pulled open a drawer, fumbled for a long time, took out a shriveled bag, and pushed it in front of Chen You.

[System Notification: Completed main quest "Frozen Throne". Obtained 20 million experience points, Aurora City reputation +5000.]

Chen You looked at the numbers on the panel, then looked at the shriveled bag on the table.

He picked it up uncertainly and opened it.

Inside were only a few materials that looked worthless.

Chen You took a deep breath and gripped the hilt of the yuhuang sword backhanded.

"City Lord, do you think I can no longer lift my blade?"

City Lord Bingbingde shrank back in fear, her back pressing tightly against the wide chair back.

"Warrior! Calm down! The treasury of Aurora City is truly so empty it could starve a mouse! Once I open the treasure vault, I will definitely reward you heavily! However..."

She changed the subject, her tone becoming official.

"The disturbance in the Abyss has temporarily subsided, and Aurora City needs to recuperate."

"As for the upcoming work, I won't trouble you with it for now."

"If there's nothing else, you can go wander around other main cities."

Chen You frowned.

Burning bridges? Discarding the donkey once it's done with the mill?

He had just drawn the +16 yuhuang sword half an inch when a blinding red light popped up on his retina.

[System Notification: Detected that the player does not meet the requirements for the main quest, quest aborted.]

[Acceptance Requirement: Player level must reach level 55.]

Chen You's sword-drawing motion froze in mid-air.

The air suddenly became quiet.

City Lord Bingbingde swallowed, watching the longsword shimmering with dazzling colorful light nervously.

"Stuck on level again?" Chen You spat out the four words through gritted teeth.

He slammed the sword back into its scabbard.

Does the developer of this crappy game have a problem?

He had been steamrolling everything by relying on stat superiority, yet the main quest had to stubbornly stick to a level threshold.

"Fine." Chen You pointed at City Lord Bingbingde, "You'd better pray there are actually good things in the treasure vault."

After saying that, he turned and strode out of the City Lord's mansion.

It was windy and snowy on the streets of Aurora City.

"So, when are we going to my treasure vault?"

A faint voice suddenly came from his backpack.

An ice-blue soul bead automatically floated out, condensing into Alice's translucent phantom in mid-air.

This former City Lord's wife crossed her arms, looking down at Chen You with a hint of impatience in her eyes.

Chen You glanced at her sideways and unceremoniously reached out to press the soul bead down: "Plans have changed; the treasure vault matter has to be put on hold."

"Put on hold?" Alice's willow eyebrows stood up, and the temperature around her dropped a few degrees, "Little kid, are you even capable?"

"What, got dismissed by that yellow-haired girl with just a few words? I was counting on you to raze the City Lord's mansion."

"What do you know? This is called force majeure." Chen You rolled his eyes and explained irritably while walking toward the Supreme Tower.

"The system is gating me by level; I need to reach level 55 to accept the follow-up quest."

"Even if I tore down the City Lord's mansion right now, I wouldn't be able to see that crappy treasure vault of yours."

"Level? What is that?" Alice clearly couldn't understand this kind of rule and sneered, "If you aren't strong enough, you aren't strong enough. Why make excuses?"

"Fine, fine, fine. You're noble, you're amazing." Chen You couldn't be bothered to explain game mechanics to an NPC.

"You'd better pray your treasure vault really has treasures that satisfy me, otherwise I'll embed this soul bead of yours into a public toilet as a night light, letting you experience what 'stinking for ten thousand years' really means every day."

Alice was so angry that her phantom flickered violently, and she couldn't speak for a long time while pointing at Chen You.

Finally, she decisively dove back into the backpack, no longer paying attention to this guy who frequently used vulgar language.

Chen You snorted coldly and summoned the system panel.

[Countdown to the arrival of World Boss "Star Sea King": 18 hours 15 minutes]

There was still plenty of time.

Without further hesitation, Chen You finished his daily tasks and dove into the training room.

He didn't deliberately farm experience, but instead chose mage monsters to grind proficiency for "Closing Moon".

One hour. Five hours. Fifteen hours.

"Hum—"

A low hum suddenly emanated from within Chen You's main body in the training room, as if breaking some kind of shackle.

He opened his eyes abruptly, purple light flaring brilliantly in his pupils.

A spiritual power fluctuation several times stronger than before erupted, turning into a tangible shockwave that spread outward.

Late Foundation Establishment stage!

"That feels good." Chen You twisted his neck and let out a long breath.

He glanced at the time.

[Countdown to the arrival of World Boss "Star Sea King": 00 hours 31 minutes]

"The timing is just right."

It was dusk at Cangxing Bay.

The sea breeze carried a salty, fishy scent, wrapped in extremely violent spiritual power pressure.

The phantom of the Star Sea King stood in the center of the sea level.

Its originally translucent body had condensed into tangible dark blue scales.

Around the gulf, the crowd was surging.

Millions of players filled every inch of the beach, reefs, and cliffs, extending all the way to the coastline at the end of their sight.

The reflection of weapons merged into a single piece, and the noisy discussions even drowned out the roar of the waves.

But the three areas closest to the core of the gulf were surprisingly empty.

The Three Great Divine Races had designated absolute restricted zones.

Due east, the Berserkers of the Titan Temple formed a human wall.

"Back off!" A level 90 Titan Warlord swung a giant axe, cleaving a deep trench in the sand, "Titan Temple has reserved this area. Trespassers will be killed without mercy!"

A few lone players who had walked a bit too close were swept by the axe wind, their health bars instantly wiped, turning into white light and dissipating.

The crowd erupted into a commotion, but it was quickly suppressed by fear.

Facing the guild where Salos, the number one on the level ranking, was located, ordinary players didn't even have the right to protest.

Due west, the pointy-eared Elf God Clan fully drew their longbows, lethal cold light shimmering on the arrowheads.

Arrow of the Moon stood on top of a vehicle, her gaze coldly watching the sea surface, turning a deaf ear to the clamor below.

Due south, the Oracles of the Shadow of Roman chanted incantations, and a translucent golden barrier rose from the ground, forcibly pushing thousands of small and medium guild players back hundreds of meters.

Oro sat upright on a floating throne, the scale-like stripes on his chin emitting a sacred halo.

A great battle was on the verge of breaking out.